Soul of Flame (Imdalind Series #4)(103)

The three men jumped at hearing the wild woman scream, seeing the flash of light that had flown right over their heads. Their faces turned up to me in panic, but I only stood still, my chest heaving as I waited for my heart rate to stabilize after witnessing an attack on my family so close to me. Thom nodded toward me in thanks before he helped the two men into the forest, the Draks’ tired bodies making their movement slow.

Ice raced through my blood as Wyn’s scream rent the air behind me, the name on her lips igniting my fear “Ilyan!”

My magic surged toward him as I turned, almost expecting Ilyan to be writhing on the ground in agony. Instead he stood, his hand on Ryland as he put him to sleep, throwing his limp body over his shoulder before he turned to push the enemy that surrounded him back, their bodies crumpling to the ground.

“Ilyan!” Wyn screamed again, realization dawning on me. She wasn’t scared for his life, she needed him to move.

Ilyan, run. You need to be ahead of Wyn. Run, I rambled. His fear heightened as he heard me, his confusion at what was going to happen running wild.

Run! I yelled to him, pleased when he turned, ready to make his escape. I didn’t have time to explain.

“He’s coming,” I said to Wyn before turning to run after Thom, only to find him just beyond the clearing as he fought through a line of Trpaslíks who had hidden in the trees.

My magic surged as I threw one of the Trpaslíks to the ground, severing his spine as I pushed another away.

Ilyan ran up beside me, one swipe of his hand sending the remaining few ahead of us into the burning fire we stood beside, clearing the way for our escape. I lifted Dramin from where he had curled up on the ground, slinging his arm over my shoulder as I supported him, pulling him toward what I hoped would be security.

Our feet crashed through the undergrowth, heaving breaths and groans of pain sounding alongside the cracking of the fire that raged through the forest. I pushed ahead blindly, moving through a wall of smoke only to feel the earth begin to shake, the heat of Wyn’s magic surging through the ground as it rippled under us. I felt it move through the earth, a wave that heated the soil only to shoot through my feet and up my legs in a wave of fire.

I let out a gasp, my eyes darting to Ilyan in fear as I ran. The burn boiled through my bones, continuing up my spine in an uncomfortable pain that made it hard to move. I opened my mouth in horror before the pain lessened, just as Wyn came streaking behind us, a maniacal laugh on her lips.

“Run!” she yelled joyfully, as the heat in my feet sizzled in tiny points of pain and pressure.

I heard the screams behind us, and I didn’t dare turn to see what Wyn had done. I only ran, my feet picking up as I helped Dramin through the forest, toward the dark jaw of the earth, the jagged teeth of the ancient rocks welcoming us in.

Our breaths heaved in exhaustion as we moved, the opening growing wider and wider the closer we got until the blackness swallowed us up, leaving the flames of fire and the screams of pain behind us.

My chest ached, my stomach twisting in agony as it tried to rip open again. I ignored it all. I didn’t stop running.

Magic sparked around me in a multitude of colors that bounced off us and lit the way into what appeared to be an endless stretch of tunnel. The colors flickered against stone, the mixtures giving off rainbows of light that in any other situation might have been beautiful, yet right then, they were horrifying.

The sounds of our pounding feet echoed off the cave walls as the light did, our breaths coming in pants and spurts and grunts as we pushed ourselves beyond what our physical bodies would allow. My magic pulsed through me as I ran, but I could already feel my energy lessening, the power straining as I pushed. I didn’t dare stop, not yet; I could still feel the Trpaslíks, their pursuit resuming just behind us, their magic surging as whatever Wyn had done wore off.

“Does it strike anyone else as funny that I am in the same cave, running to the exact same city I escaped from less than a month ago?” Wyn asked, her voice coming in spurts as she panted in her exhaustion.

“Shut up and run, Wynifred,” Thom snapped, the red light he held in his hand flashing in his agitation. “At least you wanted to be here in the first place.”

“Through Germany or through Italy?” Wyn asked from ahead, obviously ignoring Thom’s outburst.

I looked ahead, part of me desperately hoping to see the end—to see something ahead that would mean some rest—but instead I saw a wall of rock with two smaller openings, each leading in an opposite direction.

One to Italy, one to Germany, just as Wyn had said. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the darkness of the caves, the endless pits desperately wishing to swallow us up, however, it was more than that. I had seen this somewhere before.

My feet kept pumping as my vision flashed to black, the recall of the sight I had right after I had healed Wyn blocking my vision in a spark of light before it was gone, leaving the same two caves I had seen in front of me.

“Take the left!” I yelled, everyone in front of me turning toward the left tunnel without question.

I had barely turned my feet toward the new destination before my vision blacked out again, my body only able to keep my feet moving forward as my mind filled with another sight: Edmund and his men digging away at a wall of rock at the right tunnel while leaving the left tunnel untouched.

I watched them dig, Edmund yelling, the slight shimmer over the other tunnel giving me all that I needed to know.