Chapter Twenty-seven

By the time we got back to Gran’s house, picked her up in Izzie’s car, and headed toward town, it was nearing five o’clock in the morning.

According to Gran, sunrise in the Smokies today happened at exactly twenty after six.

If the earthquakes occurred now, then the people in Firefly Valley would have only under an hour and a half to get out.

That had to be enough time.

Just as Izzie swung down the turnoff into the downtown area of Firefly Valley, the earthquakes started. At first, it was subtle, hardly able to tell, but the next one created ripples in Izzie’s water bottle just like a T-Rex was coming for us.

Izzie went above the speed limit but still moved pretty slow thanks to the streets clogged with festival preparations, much of which had already gone up yesterday.

Many of the residents of the valley had their booths prepped—ready to make money and ready to showcase crafts and baked goods they’d slaved over. I imagined them all going up in flames, and my heart ached.

As we neared the end of the small street, I could see a stage in the meadow that stretched behind Ms. Tilly’s café. It was set up with speakers and wires, awaiting the musical instruments of a local Tennessee bluegrass band. Farther out in the meadow sat the great pile of wood for the bonfire. The whole tower glowed a sheer, yet vibrant, white. It was full of everyone’s mana. From all over the valley, they had taken their spare wood, their chopped trees and loaded them and driven them here. Each piece of wood was their connection to the valley.

“It makes us feel connected.”

Izzie parked in the same spot as she had before when she and Gran went to play bridge. It already felt like a lifetime ago.

Being not much of help hobbling around in crutches, Gran stayed in the car, while Izzie and I jumped out. As our feet touched the gravel, the biggest earthquake yet shook the valley.

It made Izzie and I stumble, and I had to grab hold of the car door to stay upright.

Another earthquake and then another caused shouts of alarm from nearby houses. Ms. Tilly was actually the first to emerge in a bathrobe, her hair done in curlers and her face white with panic.

“Briony? Izzie?” she called from her porch. Her two cats ran out from behind her and darted down the steps, right under Izzie’s car. “What’s going on?”

Following Ms. Tilly were the rest of the residents, each of them stumbling, bleary-eyed, as they came out of their homes and wandered into the streets.

Izzie cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Everybody, get yer asses over here!”

It took much, much too long for all the residents to gather at Ms. Tilly’s porch. While precious minutes ticked by, I scanned the horizon. It was still dark, but the sun was coming. Very soon.

How was Alder? Had he found Mom in the astral plane, yet? Would he have been able to get her past the fire god and through the boundary? And Mom? Was she still all right?

I prayed to Bruley that he’d kept watch over her body. That she was unharmed and safe, and ready for her spirit to be whole once again.

“Brye? You okay? You’re shaking.” Izzie rested a hand on my shoulder, her brows furrowed in concern.

It was lighter outside, just a bit, just a small bit, but I could see the outline of the houses better. Something jolted inside me, telling me to look up and look out.

My stomach sinking to my knees, I zoomed in on something in the distance. A dark column of smoke outlined against the dim, but lightening sky.

Fire. The wisps were starting to take on the element.

Izzie followed my gaze and her touch on my shoulder turned into a squeeze.

“We’ve gotta tell everyone, c’mon.”

Just as a car’s headlights swung into the town, hopefully a resident from the mountains that had felt the earthquakes, another tendril of smoke curled up into the heavens.

It was starting. Where was Alder? Where was Mom? If the wisps were igniting, then didn’t that mean the barrier was thin enough for Mom to pass through? Why weren’t they here yet?

I started to move with Izzie, up the steps, when I caught sight of a tall silhouette standing out in the meadow, with sharp, growing branches climbing into the sky.

The earth god was in the physical world.

I sucked in a breath. “Something’s wrong.”

“You mean besides the entire valley about to go up in smoke?” Izzie asked, exasperated, then she, too, caught sight of the god at the edge of the meadow. “Oh, shit.”

Before I could say anything else, she hugged me. “Go, girl. Go. I’ll make sure they get out okay.”

With a quick nod, I raced down the steps, pushing past people in their night clothes and robes, my heart rate accelerating to a dangerous point. Over my shoulder, I called, “Make sure they set up road blocks! No one into the valley!”

Just as I was about to sprint into the meadow, Gran caught my arm. She took my cheeks in her hands and my breath hitched.

“You have to go, I know,” she said, her voice tight, but steady. “But listen to me, Briony. This is important. You bring yerself back here. All right? Your momma wanted you to live. But she and I… We both forgot something important. Sending you away, it killed another part of you. This valley is you.” She took a deep breath. “That boy didn’t give you that magical energy or whatever it is—he brought it out. That’s all.”

My frazzled brain tried to make sense of what she was saying, but only some of it seeped through the constant screaming of fire in my head. I kissed her cheek. “I love you, Gran.” I peeled her hands away from my face. “I’ll bring Mom back. I swear.”

Then I took off running past Tillywater’s Café and through the tall grass, fear making my legs move faster. In one single jump, I leaped onto the back of the earth god and they galloped across the meadow, straight back into the valley where the fire gate was beginning to open.

“What’s happening?” I yelled over the hoof beats. “Where’s Alder?”

I couldn’t lose him again. Not when we were…whatever we were. Labels aside, he was special to me.

He had to be okay. They both had to be.

The stag said nothing, continuing to run at an impossible, breakneck speed.

It felt like I was running alongside them with how hard my heart was pounding. I kept thinking about Alder leading me through Gran’s garden and pulling out the silver pail of our adventuring kit, of the bracelet on his wrist he’d never removed, and that precious memory of him pulling back the sheet hanging on the clothesline and finding me, winning our game of hide-and-go seek.

But those were only hints of our past, and while they had influenced my feelings, they had not dictated them. His presence to me now—kind, sincere, protective, with a corny sense of humor. He had wound his way into my heart again.

I was about to yell at the earth god to ask what the hell was going on, when I noticed a glittering of gold light through the trees ahead. The mana flew out of the wisp like a trail of shimmering gold thread—being offered up to the illusive god. The wisp pulsed red once…twice…

The wisp exploded into a ball of flames—pure, hot, astral energy burning up into the sky. The sparks leached themselves onto the bark and started the easy, fast climb up into the branches. The trees caught fire, and before I could tell the earth god to stop, the deer dove through the flames, bringing back a horrid memory.

Smoke, heat, ash…a voice calling for me. Calling for my spirit.

I’d wanted to follow it. But it was so hot. Unbearably hot.

I missed crisp autumn wind and cool spring water.

I gasped into the god’s fur. They’d never slowed as they cantered deeper into the forest, following the flames into more of the unknown. As we journeyed farther, I began to see a faint hint of mana brushing against the trees and radiating off the early morning dew on the grass.

The two worlds were becoming one.

Alder should be back by now.

He promised me.

Please, please, please be okay. I bowed my head and blinked back tears of panic, hopelessness, and fear, as I prayed to him.

More smoke climbed into the sky, carving dark, twisting pathways of gray into a light purple and pink sky. Dawn was cresting over the mountains and the stars were disappearing behind me, to the west.

Finally, I couldn’t take another second. I yanked on the antler-branch, and the deer slowed, driving hooves into the earth, creating large divots. Their legs pranced and they shook their head irritably, leaves and twigs falling to the ground while grass and flowers sprouted where they landed.

“Those are attached, you foolish girl.”

“Use your words!” I snapped. “What. Is. Going. On?”

“Your boy is losing.”

My blood ran cold. “What are you talking about? What’s happening? Is he fighting the fire god?”

“If that were the case, he’d be dead. I’ve brought you to him. He’s just there beyond the trees. Save him, or we’re all doomed.”

Numb, my mind reeling, I dropped off the stag’s back. As soon as my feet touched the ground, the earth god galloped away, and I was left alone in a shadowy forest that looked somewhat familiar.

But I didn’t have time to figure out why, because to my right, a wisp whirled and twisted in the air and then burst into flames, its combustion showering sparks and igniting the grass. The flame skipped up, claiming the trees for its own.

I threw up my arms just as the fire roared upward, catching the dry leaves and bark of the surrounding trees. An inferno rose before me faster than I could’ve ever dreamed. Orange flames licked the trees and crawled across the ground like little fire demons grappling for my soul.

For a moment, I could do nothing but stare. Haunting memories had me rooted in place.

I’d spent the better part of the past six years avoiding anything with fire or extreme heat. No Girl Scout bonfires. No candles or incense. I preferred swimming and electric stove tops.

And now here I was, faced with an entire forest of fire and smoke, and it was real this time. Not visions or nightmares. They hadn’t been any less scary, but I was distinctly aware of the fact that I could truly be consumed by these flames this time. Flashbacks of that day threatened to pull me back in, while I struggled to stay in the present, to concentrate on this fire.

I was going to do this. I had to do this.

I forced my feet forward. Move!

And I did. I had someone who needed me, someone who relied on me and trusted me. I wouldn’t let Mom or Alder down. I ran through the fire because I had to.

As I neared the lakeshore, I caught sight of a wisp flying high above the top of a tall mountain ash tree. Just as the other one had, it sparked once, twice, and then erupted into a ball of flames.

It caught in the tree and the fire surged downward, eating up the bark.

A crack came from above and the trunk splintered, falling toward the road, blocking it.

I was out of its range, but I still felt the wave of heat wash over me. It made my throat dry and singed the air on my arms. Turning away from the burning tree, I focused on the forest. It wasn’t yet fully consumed, but it was only a matter of time.

A matter of very short, short time.

Whirling around, I looked for a place to maneuver around the fire—to keep going. There was no way I was turning back. To my right there was a clear gap between two big trees, so I charged through. Branches and brambles clawed at my clothes and legs and arms as I charged through the growth of the forest. Mana whirled around me like I was caught in a tornado of soft colors and translucent fog. As the fire spread, it sucked the life out of the mountains, turning everything into ash—matter devoid of life and spirit energy.

Still I ran.

My lungs burned with the hot air and the distinct lack of oxygen from all the smoke wafting through the forest. Ash clung to my hair and arms, and my muscles screamed in protest from pushing them to the limit. Brambles and thorns nicking my skin as I crashed through the forest and emerged past the tree line to the edge of a lake.

Of course it was familiar. This was the place I’d first seen Alder transform.

Ironically, it might be the last place I’d ever see him.

Because there he was, in the middle of the lake, swarms of wisps dotting the sky, with streaks of fire climbing up and down the mountainsides, battling a monster fox.