Four small wings sprouted from El’s electrum nubs, and she dropped into a crouch, blades extended to either side of her in By Burn or By Blaze.

  “This ends here,” she shouted at Sol, and flared her wings.

  Sol’s arms came up to block her weapons, but she’d shot up at an angle instead of straight at him. Bursting over his head, she cut her flare and used her smaller wings to rotate in the air, then flared again. He spun to follow her, but too slow, and she was far to his side by the time he looked to where she had been.

  Another twist in the air and another flare, and El rocketed straight for his exposed back. But it wasn’t enough! She needed more momentum, and brought both blades to her right side and flared just her right-wing nub. The one-sided burst set her spinning like a top, and Sol barely even turned in her direction when both blades sliced into his body.

  El went through Sol like a hot knife through butter, her boots skidding on the training room floor, then flipped up and over to hover in the air to control her momentum. Three pieces on the floor. That was how Sol should be…

  But he wasn’t.

  Sol’s “body” crumpled to the ground in a pile of snow, and he stepped out of thin air to El’s right.

  “Learned that trick from your brother,” Sol said, with an odd nod of his head. “Now, if you’re finished, we really need to talk.”

  “You think I’m going to talk to you after reminding me you took my brother from me?!” El yelled, and extended her weapons point-first at Sol. Her… frozen weapons.

  Burn it.

  El dropped the swords and slung a two-handed axe from her belt. The double blades ignited to life and El flared her wings, launching straight at Sol this time. A vertical overhead chop with all her strength, and the added oomph of her wings, missed completely as he stepped out of the way, but El wasn’t done yet. Practically upside down from the force of her swing, she flared the axe, the weapon bursting out of control, and hurled it back at him, the axe spinning end over end as Sol’s eyes widened.

  Weren’t expecting that, were you?

  Sol’s hand snapped up to parry the blade aside, and the axe hilt clattered to the ground as the ignition faded. By the time he looked back up, El was already on top of him, shield leading the way.

  El spun hard, slamming the shield into Sol’s upraised arm. Freezing on contact, the shield blocked Sol’s view of her, and a quick flare of her wings launched her straight up above him. Kicking her legs up, she used the momentum of her pivot to swing the flaming war-maul, with a flare of its own, in her other hand up and around, straight into the back of Sol’s unprotected head.

  The hammer froze and shattered on impact as El sailed past, but not before staggering Sol forward.

  El landed in a crouch, then drew two more weapons. If it was like last time, he’d be right in front of her by the time she turned around, and she spun, slashed, and leapt back in one quick series of movements.

  Except Sol was nowhere near her.

  “That was pretty good,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “You’ve gotten stronger. And smarter. But, please, can we just talk?”

  “You killed my brother!” El shouted. “Why would I…?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Sol interrupted calmly.

  El’s mouth worked and she took a breath. “Don’t mince words with me. You. The golem. It’s the same thing. You’re the one who finished him off.”

  Sol shook his head. “I didn’t ‘finish him off,’” he said with air quotes. “I saved him.”

  “Just like you ‘saved’ them?” El said, with her own air quotes, and pointed at the six ice-encased Firestorm on the floor.

  “Yes, just like them,” Sol said.

  “They don’t look saved to me. They look dead,” El snapped.

  “I haven’t killed anybody. Not. One. Person,” Sol said.

  El paused, though her weapons flamed in her hands, itching for action. “They aren’t dead? Nexin isn’t dead?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Why… why was she even entertaining that thought after everything she’d seen?

  “He isn’t, though he was very close to it,” Sol said. “I didn’t realize who I was fighting until you said his name. I tried to stop at that point, but… then the golem showed up. The ice, well, it was all I could do.”

  “Why should I believe you?” El asked, a thread of hope reaching into her chest. “If you’re lying to me…” she threatened and took a step forward.

  “I’ve never lied to you, El,” Sol said.

  She took a breath. “Start talking. If I don’t like what I hear…”

  “The ice isn’t a death sentence,” Sol said with a shake of his head. “Though I can understand why you might think that. It’s more of a safety net. I can’t… I won’t kill your people if I don’t have to. It would only work against me in the end.”

  “How?” El asked.

  “You call it the Spark. That touch of the Pyre that exists in all of you. When we spoke before, I said it was a leash, but, really, maybe ‘infection’ would be more accurate. The Pyre has spread His touch by infecting you all with that Spark. And, when you die, that Spark returns to Him. But, by then, it has grown in strength, as you have. For Him, your Spark is like an investment that he gets back with interest.

  “If I were to kill your people, all of those Sparks returning to Him would only make Him stronger. The ice,” Sol pointed at the Firestorm on the floor. “It keeps the Spark from making the return trip, keeping the Pyre weaker. I can’t face Him at His full strength. He is a god, after all, but if I can keep Him weak until the storm arrives, I have a chance.”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  “What happens to the people in the ice if you win?” El asked. “What happens to my brother?”

  “The ice melts and they’re freed. As an added bonus, the ice also heals them,” Sol said, almost off handed, but his eyes never left El.

  “Nexin’s injuries…?”

  “As if they were never there in the first place,” Sol said with a spreading smile.

  “The storms?” El asked.

  “Storm,” Sol corrected. “Just one.”

  “No, that can’t be right. There was one down in Salid, then another up in Guld. How could that be a single storm? Those two places are thousands and thousands of miles apart.”

  “Just one,” Sol repeated.

  “You’re saying that one storm is covering the entire continent?” El asked.

  Sol shook his head. “Not at all. I’m saying one storm is covering the entire world.”

  El nearly choked. “Why?”

  “I am not a God, El. Maybe an avatar? I’m not entirely sure. Maybe a weapon is the best description. But I can’t face the full might of the Pyre by myself. I need my God’s aid to do that. The storm is an extension of Her power, and it passes more quickly over areas free of the Pyre’s infection.”

  “Areas we’ve taken the Embers from,” El said.

  “Correct. But, even then, it’s not a quick process. The storm moves slowly. It has taken centuries for us to get to this point, and barely in time. If you take Guld’s Ember before the storm arrives, we all lose.”

  “The whole world will burn?” El asked.

  “Ah, so it was you who took my journal,” Sol said with a nod. “I knew there was something different about you when you were able to see this,” Sol said and hooked the locket around his neck with a finger.

  “What’s so special about the locket?” El asked.

  “It contains a small piece of my God, one of Her Embers, if you will. It connects me to the storm and allows me to travel to and from it. Likely how you got here from the other side of the mountains,” Sol explained.

  El nodded. That made sense. Wait. No. No. No. That didn’t make sense at all.

  “So, the entire time you’ve been here, those times we talked, you’ve been planning this?” El asked, trying to get back to a point she could understand. “To destroy our country?”

  “I told you; I don’t want to destroy anything. I want to save everything.”

  “Why are you here?” El asked.

  “I just told you,” Sol said.

  “No. I mean, why are you in Balacin? You’ve been here for weeks. Months. Cleaning floors. How is that part of the plan?”

  “Ah,” Sol said. “That’s a bit complicated.”

  “Try me.”

  “My Goddess does not share Her power freely with others, like the Pyre does. It is not spread out or diluted. When She gave it to me, it nearly froze me solid. My emotions, my thoughts, they all ground to a standstill. For centuries. I was little more than a lifeless shell when I first entered the city.

  “Then I was exposed to the Pyre’s flames. Somehow, they helped balance me out. Thawed some of the ice around my heart and mind. Let me think again. The longer I stayed here, or, I’m sorry to say, the more I fought your troops, the more I became myself again.

  “As for the reason I came to Balacin in the first place,” Sol held up the locket again. “It’s easier to pull the storm to one central place than it is to push it from all directions.”

  “So,” El said, eying the necklace. “If I took that from you, I could stop the storm?”

  Sol shook his head. “It’s too late for that. The storm is coming. And there is a reason I am telling you all this instead of… well…” He pointed at the other Firestorm encased in ice.

  “Because you enjoy our witty banter?” El asked.

  “That’s partially true,” Sol said. “More because I think you can help me. The same reason I didn’t encase you in ice the last time we… fought.”

  “Oh, that time you burn-near ripped my Spark out?” El asked. “That burning hurt, by the way.”

  “I’m sure it did,” Sol said. “And for that, I am sorry. I was trying to free you from the Pyre’s grasp. You, the one person who’d been kind to me. I… didn’t want to see your face frozen behind a wall of ice. You have such… life… in your eyes.”

  “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” El asked.

  “Yes, more so than you can believe. The Spark can steal a person’s free will. Their dreams and personality. All of those things are merely fuel to the flame, feeding its power, and in turn, the Pyre’s. I know you’ve seen it. I don’t think the Church used it openly until recently; they didn’t need to. You, well, not you personally, but the army and the Firestorm, you hunted the Embers relentlessly.

  “For a long time, I didn’t know if it would be your country or the red lizards who ultimately made the final play. Both nations were working toward the same goal, bringing all the Embers together, but by the Pyre’s will, you were enemies. Only the strongest can serve Him. When you finally crossed the western ocean, I knew it would be you. That it was only a matter of time until you destroyed the lizards completely.

  “And you did. So, here we are. Me, looking into your eyes, free of the Spark’s control. Full of your own life. Your own mind. Your own will. I don’t know how or why that happened, but it has. And I could use your help, if you’re willing to give it.”

  The flame of El’s weapons faded, but she didn’t sheathe the hilts. “What could I possibly do to help you, if you’re even telling the truth? You’re so much more powerful than… anybody.”

  “More powerful than Firestorm, maybe. But the Pyre Himself? Not quite. No, I didn’t know it until right now, but I think I need you to be successful.”

  “Why? Just send the blue newts. You have an army of them, don’t you?”

  Sol shook his head. “They are powerful allies, but only when near the storm. And, even then, a protracted war, a siege, is not what I want. There would be a risk to the innocent people of Balacin. The Church would stop at nothing, wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice anybody, to keep the Pyre safe. Balacin is far too large to quickly capture. Blood would run like rivers in the streets as we fought to reach the Church.”

  “So, say I believe you, even for a second, what do you want with me?” El asked.

  “To be a bridge,” Sol said. “The Gods are pure. Opposites. Where they meet, there is conflict, destruction. And, yet, somehow, part of both of them is in you. You possess the Spark, yet you traveled the In-Between. I don’t know how that happened, but it may be our best chance at resolving this with the least casualties.”

  “The In-Between?”

  “The space between… everything. It’s hard to explain, but empty space is not… empty. It’s simply full of something we can’t see or touch, like an inverse, and a place we can enter. It’s what allowed you to travel from the other side of the mountains to here,” Sol said, then looked out the door before meeting El’s eyes again.

  “Will you help me?” he asked. “I sense something dangerous happening in the city. A powerful Spark, like nothing I’ve ever seen, is… awakening. I would like to take the time to explain more to you, but my hand has been forced. I need to find whatever this is, and stop it.”

  A powerful Spark? Wait, Oril had mentioned the cadets, just like she’d feared. Could it be…?

  “I think I know what it is,” El said. “A golem powered by the Sparks of Firestorm. The Church has already started with the sacrifices. It’s what Oril had planned for me before…” she trailed off and pointed at the blocks of ice on the floor.

  “I never liked that man,” Sol said. “But if he’s involved, we should hurry. Do you know what the golem is for?”

  “Probably to retrieve the last Spark from Guld. Our attack failed spectacularly, thanks to you,” El said. “But why didn’t you go into the capital yourself?”

  Sol held up the necklace. “This allows me to travel the In-Between, but the Ember on the other side of the mountains prevents me from getting too close. I needed to take the tunnel, but they closed it off. But if you can travel there, perhaps you can take me with you.”

  “I have no idea how I did what I did,” El explained and held up her hands like she was trying to keep the idea away. “Maybe we should focus on stopping the golem?”

  “So, you’ll help me?” Sol asked.

  This was it. The choice that would determine the rest of her life. Help her sworn enemy to save her country by betraying her country, or lead him into a trap? Could she trust the few words he’d said? The few conversations she’d had to get to know him? Or should she follow the centuries of tradition and history? The culture she’d lived and breathed her entire life?

  El looked at the back of her hands, her mind conjuring flames that raced across her limbs, charring flesh and wracking her body with pain. Flames like the ones that’d consumed General Cannon. Flames that would consume the entire country, no, the entire world, if they Church was successful.

  If she believed Sol.

  Did she believe him?

  El met Sol’s eyes.

  “Follow me,” she said.