Chapter 95 Keldarion #2
His words are fitting, for a literal star—a glowing boulder encased in ice—plummets through the sky before slamming into the side of the volcano. The molten rock sizzles and bursts, then hardens. The lava hit by the star cools instantly, becoming nothing more than a second skin.
“That’s insane,” Dayton breathes, then turns to me. “Do it again.”
Wiping my forehead of its icy sweat, I reposition my feet and reach up.
It’s easier this time, my blessing dancing in my chest. I picture one of Rosalina’s radiant arrows with a golden tail, surging out of me and lodging in the next star.
Then I grab its trail and pull. The gleaming star plunges, this one landing at the base of the mountain.
But the volcano does not give in. More lava sloshes out of the top. The first wave of lava has reached the bottom of the volcano and begins to wash across the tundra. A glowing red tide of destruction.
Again, I hook another star and yank it down. It smashes into the tundra, solidifying the surrounding lava into rock.
A massive rumble shakes the ground, and I nearly lose my footing. The earth gives a pained groan as a fissure appears in front of us, cutting its way across the frozen landscape.
“Between the volcano and the stars, it’s causing a fracture in the earth,” Farron exclaims.
“I’ve got it!” Ezryn runs to the start of the fissure. He sinks to his knees and throws off his gloves, hands on the ground. Ezryn lets out a bellow that sounds like the earth creaking. The fissure stops, then trembles, trying to knit back together. “Keep going, Kel!”
I grit my teeth. There’s no going back. I must shake the very sky. My mind is aglow with the light of the cosmos. I sink my magic into two stars this time and pull. The ice answers my command, toppling from their seats and cascading toward us.
An explosive whoosh sounds as three fireballs spew from the top of the volcano, one after another.
“Run, Ez!” Farron shouts.
“I c-can’t let go!” Ezryn responds. His body shakes with the effort of keeping the plates of tundra together.
The first fireball careens toward him. “Ez!” I shout.
Dayton lets loose a roar as he runs forward. The snow changes form, and a vast wall of water appears before Ezryn. The fireball hisses straight through it, hurtling to the ground only twenty feet from him. It skids through the snow, showering his body in embers. A line of lava ripples in its wake.
That was close. Too close. But the second fireball is following, this one closer to Ez—
“Ice!” I cry to Dayton. “Turn your shield to ice!”
Dayton looks over his shoulder, giving me an insulted look. “I don’t know how to do that!”
“Yes, you do. Water is both Winter’s and Summer’s domain. Trust yourself and feel for your connection to the world around you.”
There’s no time for Dayton to second-guess himself. He raises his hand, crafting another giant wall of water. But then it trembles, shifting, materializing into a solid screen.
The fireball speeds into it. The shield hisses at the impact, and the fireball falls to the earth, still glowing, still dripping with lava, but collapsing onto the earth. This fire from the Above is stronger than ice from the Vale, but the defense holds.
“Don’t let the shield fall, Dayton,” I call.
“I won’t.”
Seconds turn into minutes that turn into an hour as my body verges on breaking.
Star after star, I pull from the sky, freezing lava running down the side of the volcano and across the tundra.
Ezryn shakes with the force of keeping a full earthquake at bay, and Dayton’s shield has broken and been rebuilt more times than I can count.
“It’s not enough,” Farron says beside me. “That lava will keep coming until you’ve run out of stars in the sky.”
My heart thunders against my chest. No. We can’t give up. This can’t be it. I won’t let my people fall. But there’s something about Farron’s words. He’s been thinking.
“What do you suggest?” Each word is a struggle as I keep my focus on the world above me.
“We need to plug the volcano.”
“How?”
“Pull the stars as close as you can to the volcano’s opening. I’ll do the rest.”
I stare into his eyes, searching to see who is in control. My friend, my brother, the mate of my mate, or the other presence within him.
“Kel,” he says, grabbing my arm, “trust me.”
I let loose a sigh. “This trusting thing is going to be the death of me.”
Farron smiles, then steps away. “I don’t know, Kel. I think it suits you.”
Heat rushes over my body as Farron disappears into orange flame; his hair, his skin, even his eyes are a bonfire.
“See you soon,” he says and then, as if he were his own volcano, erupts skyward.
I tear my gaze away from him and back to the gap in the clouds. Inside me, my wolf howls in encouragement. In my mind’s eye, I see arrow after arrow darting into the cosmos. I tug the stars free, balls of ore and ice clattering down, as close to the volcano as I can maneuver them.
Dancing in the air between them is a streak of orange light as Farron uses his flames as combustion to propel himself forward. He looks like a flaming bird, his speed incredible as he surges toward the volcano.
“Farron!” Dayton screams, his shield faltering, then shattering to the ground. He runs after him, as if there were any way he could catch up on foot.
“Stop, Dayton!” I call. “You have to trust him.”
Dayton drags his hands through his hair, then turns back and begins rebuilding his ice shield.
My stars plummet toward the volcano. What are you planning, Farron?
That bright streak heads straight for the first star. My heart leaps into my throat. He’s going to get himself pummeled—
But Farron slams into the side of the star instead. With incredible force, he pushes it toward the top of the volcano. The hiss sounds across the tundra as Farron drives the star right into the heart of Mount Rhuvenmark. The flow of lava doesn’t stop, but it slows. Farron lurches for the next star.
My breath is rapid, heart like a drum, but I can’t let Farron do this alone. With a roar, I reach back into the cosmos. Farron slams his body against another star, his fire blazing with the effort. A great crackle sputters out as the star plummets into the volcano.
A couple more, Farron says in my mind, his voice fractured with exertion.
Again, I throw everything I have into tearing down the stars. Pain radiates through me, not my pain but Farron’s as his body slams again and again against the plummeting stars, redirecting them. I think my bones may crack open, my spine split down the middle—
Then a huge, rumbling silence echoes over the tundra. The glow of light that is Farron stands on the edge of the volcano, atop newly hardened rock. No more lava pours off the side. No fireballs shoot from the top.
Still, there’s remaining lava spreading across the tundra. Part of it has solidified from the falling stars, but I need to stop the rest.
The earth has ceased quaking, and Dayton and Ez return to me. I point to the smog-filled sky. Let the sky shine once more.
In unison, Ezryn, Dayton, and I reach up to the sky.
Torrents of wind erupt from our hands, our blessings weaving together, strong and unbound.
Now the scents of pine forests and cranberry and a crisp frost mingle with theirs.
Our hole in the smoggy canopy begins to widen.
But it’s not enough… I need to clear the sky completely if this is to work.
A wave of heat crests over us as Farron lands beside me. His flames fade, revealing my friend, golden-eyed and flushed of face. His hand juts up to join ours, and a torrent of Autumn wind blows forth.
I gasp, my blessing strengthened, renewed. The magic of the four realms, together for the first time in decades. It is as if the very fabric of the Enchanted Vale is crying out in joyous harmony.
One by one, stars spark to life. Smoke drifts away, and the glittering crown of the Vale reveals itself. The night sky as perfect and beautiful as its princess.
Emboldened by my friends, I stretch out my consciousness. A volley of my magic hurtles skyward, grasping tight to the stars. I give a final tug.
The sky rains with sparkling boulders. They shower the tundra, covering the remaining lava. One by one, the horizon is filled with the glowing light of the cosmos. Like the fae of the Above, the stars fall to the Vale, becoming part of our world forevermore.
When the tundra has become something new—a battlefield of fallen stars and hardened lava—I collapse to the ground, Ezryn, Dayton, and Farron beside me. I grab Dayton’s hand on one side and Farron’s on the other. They join hands with Ezryn until we lie in a circle, staring up at the sky.
A distinct navy meadow lies straight above us. A few stars still hang within that darkness. I squint. Yes, when I look at it from this angle, the stars seem to form an arrow.
I told you I’d bring the stars down for you.