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“WHAT? ARE you serious?” Ivory appeared panic-stricken. The look did not suit her.
“Get Calla and me close to the Falls,” said Valcas. “She’ll be her own decoy. You will need to leave us where the flames are shallow. Then you and Ray must take the boat and drive the Uproar toward us, to Calla, which is what it wants. We will escape through the Falls, and hopefully it will come after us and be extinguished.”
Ivory pressed her lips into a tight line, her steel-gray eyes glaring.
Ray raised his eyebrows. Frowning, he shoved his hands into his pockets.
Only then did it strike me that all the training in the world could never have softened the blow of the danger my team of protectors and I were about to face. My hands trembled as they covered my face in horror.
“You can’t expect me to just let you and Calla waltz right in there,” Ivory said tightly. “It’s too dangerous. We never discussed this—this wasn’t part of the plan.”
Valcas raised his voice over the crackling of flame. “You were chosen to obey commands on this mission, and our course has changed.”
My jaw dropped. Was Valcas in charge now because he transported us with his travel glasses? I wondered whether taking control over the travel made him captain. More importantly, how did he know the Uproar would show up here? Once again, I couldn’t shake the thought that the Uproar’s attacks seemed to coincide with Valcas’ presence.
“I will accompany Calla through the Fire Falls,” he repeated. “You and Ray will see to it that the Uproar follows us and is extinguished, and then your roles in this mission will be complete.”
With my face still covered, I felt two pairs of arms around me and the wetness of tears that fell from the direction of muffled sobs.
I looked up to see Ray’s blue eyes, glassy with tears. Saying nothing, he kissed me on the forehead and hugged me good-bye. Ivory did the same, surprising me with a kiss on the cheek.
“I figured sooner or later Valcas would want you all to himself,” Ivory whispered in my ear. “Follow whatever instructions he gives you and keep safe. He won’t hurt you. You’re too important to him—to all of us.”
I nodded, and then stood there with wet eyes, sniffling, as Ivory let me go.
My team and I sat in somber silence as Ivory maneuvered the vessel to a spot with rocky footing, high enough for Valcas and me to stand as close to the Fire Falls as possible. As the flames from the Falls drew nearer, I could feel my own temperature rise from their dry, sweltering heat.
Sooner than I would have liked, I found myself pressing the hands of Ivory and Ray one last time before Valcas and I disembarked.
Valcas reached out to Ray, who accepted and briskly shook his hand. “Excellent work detecting the Uproar’s weakness. Thank you, Technician. I wish you the best.”
Then, to Ivory, Valcas made a gesture with both hands open with outfacing palms, his fingers pointing upward and thumbs crossed.
Ivory nodded and returned the sign while softly speaking what I assumed was the gesture’s verbal meaning: “Peaceful parting and rapid reunion.”
Valcas and I stepped down from the boat and onto the island, the ground of which stretched mere inches above the pool of fire and less than a few feet away from the cascading Falls. He took my hand. His grasp was firm, but not threatening. He kept his distance as we watched the blue-raspberry boat float away across the orange pool of fire.
I reached down, feeling Valcas bend down alongside me, and tentatively touched the nearest flames. I pulled my hand back immediately. My fingertips tingled with a sour, burning pain. The flames were real. Instinctively, I pressed my fingers to my lips to try to ease the pain. I shuddered at the realization that soon my entire body would be engulfed in fire. I wasn’t sure I could do it.
Valcas tightened his grip on my hand. “This is a life or death situation. We cannot time travel through to the other side of the Falls. We will need to run through them. Running is something that I know you can do. We’ll be fine once we reach the other side.”
I smiled bleakly, remembering how I’d once run to the dock, around Lake Winston, and how, later, I’d run after stealing his travel glasses to escape his palace.
“You really are willing to risk your life for me,” I murmured aloud. “I’m sorry about what I said at the campground... about whether it would be easier to fix your eyes or your personality. That was a low blow. This—all of this—has been difficult for me, emotionally, physically and mentally, but that doesn’t make it right... what I said to you.”
Valcas removed his glasses. His colorless eyes reflected most of the flame around them. “No matter what you may think of me, I will protect you to the end. I will keep my promise to your father.”
He bent his head down, toward me. “And, I will prove myself to you.”