Fifteen minutes after dropping Nexin and Sol through their exit from the In-Between, El and the others stepped out of another flaming gateway into what could only be described as a forest of rocky spikes. No trees and only the occasional low-lying plant could be spotted amongst the spikes standing straight up.

  “They kind of look like tree trunks,” Laze said, stepping over to one of the rocks and putting her hand against it. The observation was an accurate one, with the dimensions being similar to a full-grown pine tree, though completely bare of branches.

  “Do you hear that?” Nidina asked a second later.

  At the question, everybody stopped their small exploration of the space around them, and El cocked her head to the side to listen.

  “Running water?” she asked. “A river maybe?”

  “It would make sense. Series of islands and all that,” Nidina said with a nod.

  “Plenty of space to walk between these rocks,” Dayne said. “Even more room to fly above.”

  El looked up at the clear sky—not a cloud to be seen—then back to the strange rock-forest. Through the space between the spikes, she spotted small, jagged mountains. Dozens of them in every direction.

  “Rocky islands,” she said. “Was it always like this? Or is this because of the storm?”

  “Not sure,” Nidina answered. “Nothing I read mentioned it, but it might’ve been such common knowledge, they didn’t think to put it in the report.”

  “The stone isn’t strong enough to stop our weapons,” Laze said, an electrum hilt and fiery dagger in one hand. In her other, she held a small, carved section of stone, with the damaged spike right beside her. “Nidina’s probably right about them not thinking it was very important.”

  El looked again at the strange terrain around them. Nexin was correct in that their wings likely wouldn’t be the most welcome sight for the Pilish people, but it could take them a long time to find their destination. The stone spikes were numerous and tall enough—not to mention the small mountains—to block their view. No, upsetting to the locals as it may be, taking to the sky was what their mission needed.

  “We’re flying,” El said, igniting her blue wings behind her.

  “Thank the Pyre… er…” Nidina started and stopped. “I keep doing that.”

  “Old habits,” Dayne said, his wings already billowing behind him.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Nidina responded, igniting her own wings at the same time Laze did. “Seriously, though, I thought you were going to make us walk like you did in Guld.”

  “Considered it,” El said. “You know what we’re looking for?”

  Nidina nodded. “The Pilish capital is on one of the largest islands inland and away from the coast…”

  “I thought this was all coast,” Laze interrupted.

  “Not exactly. The islands stretch inland, but there is a series of rivers separating them. On the west side of the nation, there’s an actual sea, though the islands as a whole kind of stick out like a peninsula, according to the map I saw. The capital, Fort Prominary, is almost all the way inland to the east. There are trade hubs along the coast, but I guess relations with the island nation in the middle of the sea weren’t always friendly. The Pilish kept their capital safely back.”

  “And the Ember’s resting place is in this Fort Prominary?” El asked.

  “Yes,” Nidina said. “The city takes up almost the entire island, with tall walls pressed right up against the rushing rivers on three sides. Practically impossible to assault from the ground.”

  “Which wouldn’t have stopped the Firestorm in the least,” El said.

  “Didn’t even slow them down. The battle was over before it began, really,” Nidina said.

  “If it went that badly, they may’ve done something to prevent a repeat?” Laze suggested. “A… roof… or something?”

  “From the reports I read, the battle was so one-sided, I don’t think anybody expected Pycrin to bother coming back. It was obvious from the beginning we weren’t after their land, and with the Ember gone…”

  “Still, it’s been a long time since then, not to mention the snow they dealt with. There’s a good chance things will be different,” El said. “Not that it changes our plans at all. We’ll head for the city without hiding who we are—Nidina, it’s up to you to spot the temple where the Ember goes—drop it off, then get out. Hopefully, we won’t scare too many people or…”

  Bang!—and El cut off what she was saying as everybody stopped cold at the sharp sound echoing through the stone spikes. The sound hadn’t been close, but—bang!—there it was again.

  “Came from that way,” Dayne said, pointing at the same time more of the strange bangs echoed.

  With how the sound bounced off the stone, El couldn’t be sure where the source was—or what it was—but she’d trust Dayne on it. Even in the brief seconds she paused to listen, dozens more of the bangs sounded, almost like small peals of earthbound thunder, the pace building frantically.

  “What is that?” Laze asked.

  “We’re going to find out,” El said, lifting off the ground and shooting into the sky. Three sets of flaming wings followed in her peripheral vision, and she climbed to almost five hundred feet in a few seconds. More and more bangs resounded, their origin easier to pick out without the crazy echoes off the stone forest—Dayne was right about the direction.

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  And… between the sharp, percussive sounds, something else reached El’s ears—voices. Shouts, no, screams.

  “Anybody see anything?” she asked, eyes scanning along the jagged mountainsides and into the rocky forest. Even with the constant sound, it was…

  “There!” Laze said. “About a third of a mile away, down between the two cliffs that look like they’re giving us rude gestures.”

  It didn’t take El more than a second to spot the mountains in question—Yeah, that is rude—and then movement and flashes caught her attention. There were people swarming through the warren of stone spikes. Most of them ran in a panic without looking back, while others turned with strange metal tools in their hands. A bright flash accompanied another of the snapping bangs. Bang, bang, bang, bang, the flashes came one after another until the person turned and joined the running masses.

  That tool… is that what Nidina was talking about? It kind of reminds me of one of Felps’s devices, though smaller. Which would make sense since their Sparks must be so weak.

  “What are they running from?” Dayne asked.

  Good question.

  “Scaled bears,” Nidina said. “A whole pack of them.”

  “Where…?” El started to ask, but then she spotted the first of the monstrosities. Calling it simply a scaled bear didn’t really do the thing justice. Even from the distance, the things looked huge. If they stood on their hind legs like a normal bear did, they’d have to be somewhere between twelve and fifteen feet tall. Their bodies were covered with their namesake scales, though it honestly looked more like plate armor. Each “scale” was as big as El’s hand, and they overlapped protectively across the bear’s entire body.

  The only thing that was a little odd about the beasts was how… scrawny they looked. Like they hadn’t eaten in forever. That didn’t seem to be slowing them down, though, with their long strides devouring the distance between them and the fleeing crowd.

  And if they catch up, distance won’t be the only thing getting devoured.

  “We’re helping,” El said, then flared her wings and burst towards the front line of bears. The others wouldn’t be able to keep up with her initial rush, but they’d catch up within a few seconds. Judging by how close those bears were to their intended meal, those few seconds could make all the difference.

  El counted seven of the bears on her right, with the nearest of the fleeing people a scant thirty feet ahead of them on her left. There was no way she’d be able to stop all seven bears at once, but maybe she could at least get their attention. Her flare ended as she closed the distance to the pack, and she reignited her wings at the same time she formed a sword of solid blue flame in her hand.

  A twist and a slash, El was a blue blur in front of the closest monster, her sword cutting up across its shoulder before she zipped past. Immediately rolling right in the air, El brought her sword and wing back down on the next bear in line. This time, her sword caught the monster on the top of its plated head—the impact making a strange gong—while her wing splashed blue flame across its back.

  Again, she was past before the bear had a chance to react in any way more than surprise at the attack.

  Already so close to the ground now, El continued her spin and pulled her body around until her boots skidded across the rocky terrain. Small bursts of flame at her heels turned her sideways and then launched her at a ninety-degree angle from her original path. The sudden change in direction torqued her body, but the power of her frost armor kept her in one piece.

  Two monstrosities reared up as she cut straight between them, sword flashing one-two to cut them both along their flanks. Then, when she was right between them and their heads swiveled to follow her, she flared her wings. Wide cones of flaming backwash shot her forward while completely engulfing the front halves of the bears. If that doesn’t get their attention, nothing will. She didn’t have time to dwell on that thought, though, the fifth bear right in front of her and closing fast.

  Momentum like a runaway carriage, El ignited a thick shield on her left arm. Layer after layer of blue flame reinforced the barrier in the split second before impact, and El put it between herself and the widening maw of the beast in front of her. Time seemed to slow as the double-row of finger-length teeth spread, even the tongue between sporting small scales, and a growl like an earthquake rumbled up from the bear’s chest.

  The moment ended with a titanic collision, WHAAAM, El’s shield smashing into the spread snout of the bear. Like hitting a wall! Blue sparks spat off where the teeth dragged over her shield, tearing through the first layer of protection. The second layer shredded an instant later, and the third… the third held! A stomach-curdling crunching of bone, like chewing on cartilage, and El’s frost armor flashed to protect her extended left arm. Moisture in the air around her elbow instantly crystalized—her armor turning kinetic force into cold—and her body began to buckle. Legs and back compressing as her own momentum came to a grinding halt, El thrust her right hand straight down.

  Her sword vanished like it was never there, and a flare of blue flame erupted from the palm of her hand to carry her just up and over the still-moving bear.

  El flipped end over end in the air while the bear tripped and fell to the ground. A pained wheeze escaped its flattened face, its whole bottom jaw jutting out to the side at an unnatural angle. One of its paws moved as if to try and straighten the gruesome injury, but El didn’t have time to sit and watch, a bow of flame already forming in her hand.

  A quick scan of the field showed two of the bears she’d intercepted turning in her direction, while Nidina, Laze, and Dayne crashed into first ones on her left side. That still left at least two more looking to make lunch out of the people running away.

  Back and release, she launched her first arrow in one fluid motion. Blue flame like a spinning drill slapped into the side of her first target… and did absolutely nothing. Whatever the scales were made from, they were tough. Worse, the bear didn’t even flinch when her arrow had struck it, and it continued barreling towards the people trying to scramble away through the forest of spikes.

  Smash, smash, smash, the bear charged straight through the spikes like a bull, powdering stone across its powerful shoulders. El’s second arrow pinged off the top of its head, ricocheting to blast a nearby stone into sharp shards. Again, the bear didn’t even seem to notice her attack, and it twisted as it caught sight of a man who’d fallen between the stones.

  Terrible claws gouged deep furrows in the ground as the bear dug in to slow its momentum, and its back end twisted around, back legs scrabbling. Finally, they caught, the beast coming to a complete stop then bounding ahead to pounce on the unfortunate man.

  No!

  El flared her wings as the man’s eyes widened in fear of the bear rearing up in front of him. Bigger and bigger it seemed to grow, its shadow lengthening across the man like the spectre of death itself. Fifteen feet, easily, the monster towered, then came down with both front paws like it meant to completely flatten the man beneath it.

  Instead, blue flame washed across its paws as they slammed into El’s shield. She dropped to her knees under of the force of the blow immediately, the ground cracking and then cratering beneath her. The temperature dropped so suddenly from the kinetic conversion of her armor, clutching ice spread almost as quickly as the cracks in the ground did.

  A gasp at the sudden cold came from behind her—At least he’s still alive to gasp—and El put her right hand on her left forearm to support her shield. Above, the bear seemed to lean forward, pressing down like its weight alone would be enough to crush her.

  And it almost was.

  Without her frost armor, she would’ve long since become an Anella-shaped puddle. But… if she could… just… hold out…

  “El! Your right!” Laze’s voice called over the communication magic of their armor, and El’s head snapped in that direction.

  Just in time to spot a second bear charging right for her.