Flame Caller (32 page)

Sean shrugged. “I just wanted to make
sure you were safe. I don’t know if we’re actually going to make it
through this sailing trip alive. It could be the last thing we all
do together. I just didn’t want things left, you know,
unsaid.”

Jessica arched an eyebrow but her gaze
didn’t seem full of condescension like he was used to seeing. “Why,
Sean, what exactly hasn’t been said between us?”

Sean flushed a brilliant red that was
visible even through the gloomy darkness of night. “It’s just that…
well… um…”

“
We’re going to be hitting
the edge of the storm soon,” Patrick said as he approached the
pair. “It’s going to get really rough so you both might want to
head below deck while we try to ride this out. It’ll probably be
the safest place.”

Sean sighed, though he wasn’t sure if
it was from relief or disappointment. “Yeah, let’s go ahead and
head there, for safety.”

Jessica smiled at Sean. “Mind if I
lean on you for support? I haven’t quite found my sea legs
yet.”

“
Of course,” Sean said,
brightening considerably.

He glanced over his shoulder as they
crested another wave. The storm looked ominous, even in the
darkness. The brilliant lightning flashes split the night sky like
rumbling warnings that they, much to Sean’s chagrin, obviously
weren’t going to heed.

The lock was slid aside on the door
and it swung open. The light from the torches in the hallway was
temporarily blinding and Sammy raised her hand to cover her eyes.
Dark shadows stepped in front of the light and she squinted to make
out the features.

“
It’s time,” her father
said.

A pair of Fire Warriors entered the
room and pulled Sammy to her feet. Their traditional, dark leather
armor had been replaced by ornately carved leather breastplates and
brilliantly dyed, fur-lined sashes. Whatever the end result of her
meeting with the Fire Elemental, it was clear this meeting would be
a ritualistic event for her former clan.

Sammy didn’t offer any resistance as
they led her out of her cell and down the spiral staircase. She
knew the stairs would end near the formal exterior hall that led to
the throne room. From there, her path was one she’d traveled once
before and dreaded ever since.

The shadows danced around them as they
entered the stairwell. The torch she had seen when they opened her
door was now carried by one of the warriors and its light cast dark
shadows around the walls that encircled the twisting
stairs.

Her father walked before her, his pace
slow and deliberate as they marched down the stairwell. Like the
Fire Warriors, he was dressed in livery, though his outfit was far
more regal and affluent than those of the warriors. She was almost
surprised not to see a golden crown resting upon his
head.

“
Will this be the last
time we get to talk?” she asked.

Her father was silent for another full
rotation of the spiral staircase and she feared he would simply
ignore her for the rest of their journey. As he rounded the next
corner, he looked over his shoulder with sadness in his
eyes.

“
I hope not.”

“
You don’t have to do
this,” she whispered as she leaned closer to her father. “You can
let me go. There’s still time.”

Lord Balor shook his head. “That time
has passed. I can’t deny the will of my master.”

Sammy frowned as she resumed her spot
between her father and the Fire Warrior that followed dangerously
close behind her.

“
At least tell me what it
wants,” she said, loudly enough that the warrior behind her could
hear the conversation as well.

“
I don’t know. That’s the
truth.”

They reached the bottom floor of the
castle and Lord Balor led her to the throne room. A pair of guards
pulled open the large doors as they approached, granting access to
the pillared room beyond. Without hesitation, her father walked
past the throne and pulled aside the tapestry that hung against the
wall. A press of a specific stone opened the secret door, leading
to the dark passage beyond.

The guard behind Sammy handed Lord
Balor the lit torch. The black smoke from the tip of the flame
stung Sammy’s eyes as it washed over her. She blinked away the
burning sensation and rubbed her face with the back of her hand.
Without looking behind him, Lord Balor ducked into the passage. A
rough shove from behind her forced Sammy to follow, despite her
desire to put space between herself and the sooty smoke.

Her father resumed his deliberate pace
once more and Sammy was glad for his slow movements. His pace
delayed the inevitable and hid the fact that her legs and hands
wouldn’t stop shaking. One glance of the eye before had haunted her
ever since, as though the Fire Elemental had taken up residence in
her subconscious during their meeting. She was mortified to think
about what would happen during this encounter.

She squeezed by one of the support
pillars without any thought to what she was doing. Her mind was a
maddening mess of her wild imagination and what would happen when
she was dragged before the Elemental. The further down the tunnel
they walked, the less sure she was that she wouldn’t have to be
dragged the last few feet into the massive chamber. She wasn’t sure
her legs would support her weight or if she would make it all the
way down the tunnel before her insides revolted and she vomited
into the narrow passage.

When she had snuck into this tunnel
previously, it seemed to take a lifetime to traverse its length.
She was surprised when her father suddenly stopped, his feet
teetering at the edge of the inky blackness of the room beyond. It
seemed impossible that they could already be at the end.

“
Fleshling
,” it
hissed, its voice filling the vaulted chamber.

Despite her father’s body blocking the
entrance, she could easily see the draconic eye emerge in the
darkness. It was joined by a burst of flame propelled from a long,
scaly snout.

“
Bring her to
me.”

Lord Balor stepped into the room and
those marching behind her forced Sammy forward. She moved into the
room but immediately hugged the wall beside her, too afraid to
fully enter. She had no doubt that the Fire Elemental could reach
her regardless of where she stood but there was a psychological
sense of safety by keeping her back pressed against the hard
stone.

Her father moved the torch to the wall
beside his and set its flame in a recessed crevice. The fire
ignited the stream of oil within the canyon and flames raced along
the wall. The chasm connected to other similar recesses and the
flames lit braziers setting in the stonework alcoves. Foot by foot,
illumination from the racing fire pushed back the darkness, leaving
the room brightly lit.

Sammy’s stomach dropped at the sight
and a whimper escaped her lips. She had to tilt her head backward
to take in the full size of the monster before her.

The Fire Elemental tilted its serpent
head to the side so that the giant orb of an eye watched Sammy’s
every expression. Deep red scales as broad as Sammy’s hand coated
its long neck and bled into the thick plates of scales that covered
its back and chest. Long spines rose and fell with its heavy
breaths.

The rise and fall of its chest was
echoed in the furling and unfurling of its long, leathery wings,
which scraped the vaulted ceiling as they expanded. The membranes
of the wings were nearly translucent and the glow of the braziers
was easily visible as the Fire Elemental stretched them upward,
though the distant walls made it hard for them to expand to their
full span. Sparks flew from the stone ground and gouges appeared in
the obsidian floor as it slid its clawed feet further underneath it
for support, as though it was preparing to take flight.

Her mind struggled with the vision
before her and spots danced in her vision. Reality and fantasy
crashed together and, despite everything she had experienced with
the elemental powers, she was dumbfounded by the sight before
her.

Sammy couldn’t believe she was staring
at a dragon.

“
The final piece is
finally in place
,” it hissed. Fire dripped from its maw like
saliva as it spoke. The flames seared the ground beneath it.
“
Welcome to your destiny, young Lady Balor.
”

“
You can’t be real,” she
mouthed, though she was uncertain if she actually made any noise or
not. Her mind tried to fathom standing before a creature of
mythology, but instead she struggled to even keep herself
conscious.

“
I assure you I’m most
definitely real
.”

“
You’re a myth,” she
replied weakly.

“
He’s your new master and
you’ll show him respect,” a figure said from the far side of the
room.

Glad to look away from the dragon, she
followed the curve of the monster’s coiled tail. Standing before
its scaled tip was a familiar, cloaked face. She didn’t need to see
beneath the hood to know that a disfigured face stared back at
her.

“
This thing will never be
my master,” Sammy retorted, finding a fire within her that she
feared had been extinguished in the presence of the Fire
Elemental.

She turned toward the beast. “Tell me
what you want.”

“
So brash and full of
life
,” it replied as though not hearing her demand. “
She’s
perfect.
”

“
What do you want of me?”
she repeated, though some of her bravado had already
faded.

“
In time, Lady
Balor
.” The long, draconic head swung toward General Abraxas,
its horns nearly scraping the wall as it turned. “
The time for
our ascension grows near. Go and tell the other clans to
prepare.
”

General Abraxas knelt in genuflection
to the dragon. “I will do as you ask, my master. My soul exists to
do your bidding. However...”

“
Go on,
General.
”

“
My flesh has been
weakened by the actions of this girl. It’ll be difficult to contact
all the other clans in time.”

The dragon swung its head closer until
its massive maw hovered inches from Abraxas’ prostrate form. The
Fire Elemental breathed in sharply and Sammy felt the heat leave
the room.

When it exhaled, a thin ribbon of
flames slid from between its elongated teeth. The tendril consumed
the General’s head. As he threw his head back to scream, the flames
raced into his nostrils and down his gullet, igniting him from
within.

A bright white light illuminated his
skin as though it were made of paper. His body rocked backward and
he shook violently. His screams became a garbled groan as the
Elemental’s power changed him. The waxy skin of his face slowly
receded, uncovering the sealed corner of his mouth and reforming
his decimated nose. The skin on his hands and arms relaxed and the
high, burned ridges were smoothed. From beneath the folds of
retreating flesh, a fiery red eye emerged to replace the one he had
lost.

As quickly as it had begun, the flamed
poured from General Abraxas like water. The Fire Warrior slumped to
the ground but managed to catch himself before his face struck the
hard stone. Slowly, the man pushed himself upright before climbing
all the way to his feet.

Gone was the desiccated man Sammy had
tried to kill. General Abraxas was reborn like he had been before
her attack.

He turned his glowing red eye toward
her and smiled, exposing his pointed teeth.

“
I feel incredible,” he
said. “I’ve never felt such incredible power before. I didn’t know
it was possible for so much strength to exist in such a soft
frame.”

“
I’ve given you a gift,
General Abraxas. Go and tell the other clans of my return. If you
fail me, the fire that still burns inside you will turn you to ash
at my whim.
”

Abraxas bowed to the dragon. “I won’t
fail you, my master.”

Standing upright again, Abraxas
stretched his arms out wide and large flaming wings erupted from
his back. Mimics of the leathery dragon wings that towered over
him, the fiery wings pulled him aloft and he hovered a few feet
above the ground.