Chapter Eighteen
Dahlia carried a bucket of barley over to the last stall. She sat it down in front of Firefly, Sir Reeve’s horse, who wasted no time before plunging his long face into it.
“Take it easy there,” she said, laughing.
When he finished eating, she pulled out her brush and began giving long strokes down the horse’s mane.
The stables had become a peaceful place for her to heal, and she enjoyed working with the horses.
They didn’t judge her nearly as much as she judged herself.
All they cared about was food and attention. Mostly just food, though.
Looking out through the stable doors, the sun was setting, creating a marbled sky of pink and orange. It was beautiful. She could appreciate it a little more now, seeing how she’d come dangerously close to never witnessing the sun rise or set again in her life.
She had a lot to be thankful for—more than just her rescue.
Dagan had been able to heal almost all her wounds from Vallica’s whip.
She only had two scars on her back that didn’t disappear.
Strangely enough, the scars crossed, making an ‘x’ shape.
Bree had joked that it turned her body into a treasure map.
That was another thing she was grateful for. Her new relationship with her cousin was incredible. Bree had somehow forgiven her for the things she’d done at her father’s behest and even the slights that were of her own design. Some that she couldn’t say she would have forgiven herself.
Her cousin was much more understanding than Dahlia thought she deserved. Yet she was really growing to love Bree and wished dearly now that she had just run away from Sire when her father had first begun to manipulate and abuse her, when she’d barely entered into womanhood.
Maybe she could have found solace with her family in Junacave back then and avoided all the heartbreak that everyone had endured.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t change the past, but she would try to carve out a new future for herself.
One far away from Sire and the painful memories that haunted her there.
Firefly noticed Dahlia had stopped brushing when she became lost in thought. He nudged at her arm.
“Sorry,” she said and continued again, humming a quiet tune while she worked.
She looked back out at the horizon and froze when she saw it.
Smoke.
Immediately, she dropped the brush and ran to alert the queen. The attack on Junacave had begun.
Wildfire was there.
The queen shouted orders and the men around her sprang into action.
The guard and knights were prepared in case Dagan and Sidonie didn’t return in time, which now proved to be the case.
Bree hadn’t heard a single word of their progress, if any, even though they were supposed to return today.
It seemed that Junacave would have to defend itself.
Rowan left with Nick and a large percentage of the guard to meet Sire’s cavalry, south of the castle grounds. Bree and the rest of her family went up to a balcony in the guest wing to watch from afar while there was still some light in the sky.
Sarita was scared and clung to Cicilly’s gown. Bree tried to stay strong but watching the man she loved ride away with the rest of the brave men who were about to defend her kingdom was too much for any woman to bear. When Rowan disappeared over the hill, her tears began to fall.
Smoke poured into the sky. Fields were burning and there was nothing they could do about the fire. No weapon could stop it. They would just have to deal with Sire’s military and hope that a miracle would occur.
Rowan caught up with Reeve at the top of the next hill. From there, they could see Sire’s troops riding toward them. Their father, Nick, was already on his way down the hill, charging toward the rival cavalry and ground soldiers.
They weren’t outnumbered, which was a good thing, but the blue fire was spreading rapidly on both sides of them. Soon, they would be surrounded. Rowan gave Dragon a gentle pat on his neck to reassure him, then he pulled his sword and kicked his heels. They sped off toward the enemy and the flames.
~*~
Dagan, Sidonie, and Edmund were exhausted from riding night and day to get back to Junacave. The moment the ship pulled into port in Sire, they’d learned that Queen Vallica’s troops were already on their way to Junacave. They took Donner Trail, through the brush, in an attempt to make up lost time.
“Dagan, look!” Sidonie shouted, pointing up through the trees ahead. Smoke was billowing into the sky.
“Remember the plan, Sid. Your only focus is to find the wizard. You only need to touch him to seal his magic and prevent him from making any more wildfire.”
“You can’t possibly extinguish the fire yourself, Dagan!”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said, slowing his horse to a stop. From there, they could barely see men on horseback, fighting each other on the next hillside. Dagan turned to Edmund, “Go with her. Help her find Mereck.”
Sidonie pulled the reins to the side and took off.
She glanced over her shoulder once more and watched Dagan disappear over the hill.
She needed to find Mereck and assumed he would stay back from the fire.
But after riding all the way around where it was apparent the wildfire had started from, there was no sign of him.
“I still don’t see him,” she said, panicking. “Should we keep looking? The sun will be gone by the time we make it back around, if we keep going.”
“We can’t waste too much time looking for him. Dagan needs our help.” Edmund replied.
Dagan rode past the flames in frustration.
He’d tried everything he could think of to put out the fire.
Water didn’t work fast enough so he attempted to summon air magic at the same time, hoping to place a wet blanket of air over the fire and snuff it out.
That might have worked if he’d had the strength to hold the air down long enough.
Not only did he have to worry about the raging fire, but he also had swords randomly flying at his head and horse every few moments.
He’d been able to dodge them thus far, but it was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
Couldn’t the Sire queen have just unleashed the wildfire on them? Did she have to send her army too?
When Rowan rode up alongside him for a moment and tossed him a small dagger, Dagan hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, but he also didn’t know how much longer he could focus on the fire and avoid fighting the soldiers who were after him.
“I’ll try to keep them away from you!” Rowan shouted, swinging his blade at one of Sire’s soldiers.
Another horse came charging at Dagan and with Rowan occupied by the first soldier, Dagan threw his arm out to the side and shot out bolts of lightning. The lightning hit the man’s armor and flowed through the metal, burning his body and horse as they fell to the ground.
Another soldier rode up to attack and Dagan had to turn away from the fire to fight the soldiers alongside Rowan instead. The clanking of metal against metal was barely noticeable with the sound of the raging wildfire. The firestorm was growing in height and in strength.
By the time Sid made it to where Dagan and the Junacave guard were fighting, darkness had taken over the sky.
Blue fire was in every direction. Torches lit along the southern wall of the castle grounds were the only indication of how close they were.
Soon, the fire would cross the last hill and lay waste to the tall walls.
Even stone would burn by wildfire. There was simply no manmade object that could contain it.
She rode as fast as she could to get in front of the fire.
The flames were pushing the guard back toward her and the castle.
She dismounted and slapped her horse, sending it fleeing away from her.
If she couldn’t save anyone or anything else, she wouldn’t subject the poor horse to this certain death.
The flames rose up the hill, scorching the ground as it crawled toward her.
She put her arms out in front of her and summoned water magic.
Streams of crystal-clear water flew out of her palms and shot toward the fire.
It hit the flames and sizzled, causing steam to rise up with the smoke.
It slowed the fire, but it didn’t extinguish it.
“Ice, Sid! Use ice!” she heard Dagan shouting from somewhere in the distance. It was too chaotic to tell exactly where he was.
She summoned water magic again, only this time she envisioned the frosty mountaintops in Vale. The water coming out of her hands turned cold and instead of a steady stream of liquid, tiny shards of snow flew out and into the fire.
It was working. The fire immediately in front of her was starting to become smaller.
She turned to her left and used the magic to suppress the flames.
But by the time she made any progress on that side, the fire on the opposite side of the hill was roaring again.
Horses flew by her in every direction. Edmund stood behind her with a sword in his hand to ward off anyone who tried to get close to her.
Sid caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to the right but kept her magic concentrated in front of her. From the light of the fire, she could see a man in dark robes walking toward her.
The wizard.
She held one hand on the flames and moved the other one to the side, ready to strike at Mereck. Only the wizard wasn’t even looking at her. He was walking behind her. He was walking straight at Edmund. She flung her arm behind her and shot out a bolt of lightning.
He was too quick. He used air magic to send the lightning off in a different direction. Then he lifted his hand and used the same air magic to knock Sid off her feet. She flew sideways and hit the ground with a thud. Dagan ran up to her and knelt to the ground, pulling her to him.
“Are you alright?” he said, breathless.
“I’m fine. Dagan, your father,” she said, pointing.