The city’s lights glimmered gently against the dark backdrop of the mountain, with streetlamps scattered on every level and lining each alley and set of stairs. I looked up, watching the dark blue sky expand overhead, myriads of stars waiting to greet me in space.
The purple asteroid belt twinkled in the distance, stretching from the east to the west in a lazy arch. It kept its distance from Neraka’s atmosphere. The light sphere trembled as it picked up speed, swishing toward the vast cosmos above.
Time to kick back and enjoy the view…
Harper
(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)
We all saw the light sphere take off and go up into the night.
It went smoothly for about thirty seconds. It shrank as the distance between it and Neraka’s surface increased.
Then it exploded into a bright yellow flash that rippled across the sky.
It was followed by a loud bang and our gasps and screams, as we helplessly watched the disaster unfold.
My stomach dropped, and I clutched my throat, heat burning through me as if I’d been up there with her.
“Avril!” Heron roared, frozen in place.
Blaze darted toward the edge of the terrace. He leaped over the stone fence and burst into full dragon mode, stretching his wings. His clothes were torn to shreds, blown away by the wind.
“Avril…” Fiona breathed, tears glazing her eyes.
We were all stunned and broken. I could barely breathe.
“Stay here,” Jax urged Heron, holding him back, though the Mara desperately tried to free himself and go after her. “Blaze will handle it. There’s nothing you can do.”
“She… Avril… I… I have to…” Heron was at a loss for words, pale and stricken with horror and grief. Tears rolled down his cheeks, his lower lip trembling as he tried to keep it together but failed miserably.
“Blaze will get her.” Jax tried to reassure him, but the tremor in his voice left room for doubt.
We couldn’t do anything other than wait. Fiona dropped to her knees, sobbing. Scarlett and Caia got down and held her close, no longer able to control themselves, either, as tears sprang to their eyes. The pain was almost palpable, and it burned through my chest, clawing at my heart.
I used my True Sight to follow Blaze as he cut through the sky at high speed. I followed the smoke trails left behind by the explosion, and saw Avril falling.
“She’s up there—she’s falling,” I breathed, my fists balled and tightening till my nails pierced the skin on my palms and I drew blood. I yelped when Blaze managed to catch her on his back, breaking her fall, then turned around and glided back toward the city. “He got her! He got her!”
The girls jumped back to their feet, their eyes wide and suddenly hopeful.
Blaze landed on the terrace with a bone-chilling growl, and lowered his head. Heron pushed Jax off and rushed to get Avril off the dragon’s back. He scooped her into his arms and brought her over to us, while Blaze shifted back to his original form. The Correction Officers were fearful of his presence, but one still found the courage to remove his cloak and give it to Blaze for cover.
Avril was severely burned, her skin red where it wasn’t completely missing. She was unconscious, but I could still hear her heartbeat. It was strong and willing to put up a fight.
It’ll take a lot more to kill you, Avril…
Her leather suit was destroyed, just patches clinging to her body here and there. Heron put her down and bit into his palm, lifting her head slowly. We gathered around her.
“Come on, beautiful, drink,” he murmured in her ear. “I’m here, Avril, I’m here… Just drink and you’ll be okay… Drink.”
Avril’s eyes peeled open. She moaned from the pain, but her lips parted as Heron put his palm over her mouth. She suckled slowly, her burns healing right before our eyes. The tissue regenerated, and her skin grew over strips of raw flesh, brand new and smooth.
I exhaled, able to function again when Avril’s instinctive hunger kicked in, her eyes wide open as she looked up at Heron and continued to feed on his blood. He pulled her closer so she could rest her head on his chest, and held her tight for a couple of minutes.
The smile on his face said everything. Relief washed over us all as Avril slowly recovered.
“What the hell happened?” Hansa said, still pale from everything that had just happened. She ran her fingers through her hair, then looked at Patrik with sheer befuddlement.
“I don’t know.” Patrik shook his head. “I did the spell perfectly, just like Viola taught me. It was supposed to work and take Avril away, not crash into the atmosphere. I can’t… I don’t know…”
“It nearly killed her,” Jax muttered through gritted teeth, his eyes set on Avril and Heron.
“It… It was going smoothly up there,” Avril managed, gently pushing Heron’s hand away from her bloody lips. He didn’t let go of her, though. He stayed down there, his arms wrapped around her and his head resting on top of hers. His pained expression wasn’t something I’d thought I’d ever see on Heron. I had a feeling there was more beneath his playful façade, at least where Avril was concerned. I was even willing to bet that he was into her.
I waved the thought away, refocusing on the bigger problem. The interplanetary spell didn’t work.
“Then, as soon as it reached the atmosphere,” Avril continued, her voice weak as her body continued to mend itself, “it started buzzing a little too loud, and then… it… it just blew up…”
A minute went by as we all processed the outcome of our attempt at leaving Neraka. It didn’t look good. And I sure as hell wasn’t ready to endorse another attempt at the swamp witches’ interplanetary spell.
“Does this… Does this mean we can’t leave Neraka?” Caia croaked, looking at each of us with a hopeful expression, as if waiting for someone to tell her the opposite.
“I don’t know.” Hansa sighed. “I don’t think so… Damn it, this isn’t right! Telluris isn’t working! The interplanetary spell isn’t working! We’re completely cut off from Calliope!”
“We can’t risk another attempt, either,” Jax added. “It’s risky, and, by the looks of it, it might have something to do with Neraka’s atmosphere. It will most likely yield the same result, or worse.”
“So what do we do?” I asked, feeling my blood pressure rise.
“I’m not sure,” Jax murmured. “This wasn’t exactly part of the plan.”
“You mean to tell me we’re stuck here?” Caia asked, visibly infuriated. Her chest moved up and down with each angry breath.
“There’s something really shady going on here,” Heron hissed, then pointed at the upper levels of Azure Heights. “And these bastards have something to do with it, for sure!”
“Yeah, it really doesn’t make sense,” Patrik groaned, pressing his fingers against his temples to relieve some of the tension. “We were able to get here using the interplanetary spell, but now we can’t get out.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the asteroid belt?” Scarlett offered a potential source for our woes. We all looked up, glaring at the shimmering string of purple celestial bodies cutting through the night sky. The second moon was slowly coming up, casting its amber light over us.
“I wouldn’t exclude the asteroid belt. But Rewa was able to get out when she came to us for help. This doesn’t make sense…” Patrik’s eyebrow rose.
“Seriously, what do we do?” I asked, unable to get my own brain to function and produce some viable options. This was getting even weirder, and I hadn’t even thought it was possible.
Hansa opened her mouth to say something, but a sky-splitting bang erupted from above. My instincts went into overdrive. My muscles jumped and turned to stone as I looked up. Massive fires erupted from the top level, bright orange blossoms consuming everything in their path.
“Crap,” I breathed, my hands instinctively clutching my swords.
The entire top floor, the Five Lords’ mansions—it was all engulfed i
n fire, tall flames that licked at the sky and sent black columns of smoke billowing. People screamed. An alarm went off, a constant wail that made my blood freeze.
This was all too sudden. The first question that flashed through my brain was: did it have anything to do with what had just happened to Avril? Or was this something else entirely, with extremely odd timing? I’d thought I was done with the increasing weirdness and turns of events here, but… I had been wrong. I didn’t even have time to properly process this.
Imen and Maras alike tumbled down the stairs, some set alight by the greedy blaze.
The Five Lords… Caspian…
“Let’s go,” Hansa breathed, and ran up the main alley.
We followed, leaving Heron and Avril behind—she needed a bit more time to recover. The Correction Officers from the infirmary came with us, the horror on their faces almost heartbreaking. Their Lords were up there.
I ran fast, shooting up the stairs and alleys with a thundering heart struggling in my chest.
Caspian was up there.
Harper
(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)
We reached the top level just as a second explosion burst from the Kifo mansion. The screams were unbearable, as there were dozens of Imen and Maras still inside, burning alive. I pulled my hood over my head to get some protection from the blaze, and ran across the front terrace.
The others spread out and helped get as many Imen and Maras away from the fire as they could. There must have been some kind of gathering in one of the mansions, based on the number of people present. The smell of burnt wood and flesh invaded my nostrils and turned my stomach upside down.
I used my True Sight to briefly scan the mansions—all five were engulfed in high flames, the windows broken and parts of the walls ruptured where the explosions had torn through. The sound of the inferno consuming everything inside came out in rumbling crackles, a spine-chilling background to the screams of those still inside.
Caia used her fae ability to draw water from the white marble fountain still standing in the middle of the terrace, but it wasn’t enough. She could only conjure brief sheets of water, which she threw at the houses.
Patrik muttered a spell and managed to draw out more, generating five thick columns of water, which he shot at the mansions, systematically tackling the fires on a local level. It still wasn’t enough, but it helped Jax, Hansa, Scarlett, Fiona, and Blaze with the rescue of several Imen trapped on the lower floors.
I couldn’t see Caspian anywhere, but his residence was nearly obliterated. Based on the damage alone, his mansion had been the source of both explosions. I saw Emilian running down the stairs of the Xunn house, with Rewa unconscious in his arms. He dodged falling chunks of burning wood and slabs from the ceiling.
The staircase collapsed, and they both fell through.
“Caia, give me some water cover!” I shouted, and ran toward the Xunn mansion.
She quickly shifted a stream over my head, enough to keep the flames at bay as I flashed through the broken front door and reached Emilian and Rewa. They were both injured but still alive, trapped under pieces of debris.
Scarlett joined me, and pulled Rewa out first. She carried her outside while I handled Emilian, who groaned from the pain. I caught a glimpse of his back and saw the severe burns through his tattered suit.
We made it back to the fountain, where Scarlett washed Rewa’s face with water, shaking her back into consciousness.
Rowan and Vincent escaped from their mansion, along with Arrah and two more servants. Farrah was brought out by Jax, while Hansa carried her two young sons in her arms as they ran over to the edge.
Correction Officers and Mara nurses had already gathered by the stone steps with first-aid supplies, blankets, and gallons of Mara blood in wooden jugs to assist the victims. Many of the Imen who escaped from the fire had already died. Others cried as they covered them with white sheets. Blood stuck to the fabric, blossoming in heartbreaking shades of crimson.
“I need some help here!” Blaze shouted as he emerged from the Kifo mansion with Caspian.
My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He was unconscious as Blaze carried him out and brought him over to the fountain. He laid Caspian on the ground, and I left Emilian’s side to kneel next to him. A nurse took care of Lord Obara, while Caia and Patrik continued to put out the flames and the rest of my team managed to rescue a few more people.
I applied pressure to Caspian’s chest with both hands, as I couldn’t hear his heartbeat.
“Come on,” I muttered, beads of sweat trickling down my face.
He coughed as he regained consciousness. I bit into my palm and thrust it in front of him.
“That’s it,” I said, my voice trembling. “Drink, Caspian… You’ll be okay…”
His lips touched my palm, and I couldn’t help but shudder. He drew blood, greedily sucking as his teeth grazed my skin. I held his head up. He blinked a few times, breathing heavily. Warmth filled my ribcage and expanded into my stomach as I watched him recover, the burns on his arms and legs healing fast.
“Thank you,” he rasped, then pulled himself to a sitting position.
“It’s okay, you did the same for me,” I said softly, unable to recognize my own voice until I understood exactly how incredibly relieved I was to see him again, and alive.
His gaze clouded as he looked at me, and his knuckles brushed against my cheek in a fleeting gesture of affection that made me tremble.
“Daddy!” Rewa’s scream pierced through the fabric of this disaster.
She’d fallen to her knees, her face covered in soot. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Scarlett held her close, giving me a wary look over her shoulder.
“Darius didn’t make it out of there,” she said.
Gasps erupted from the remaining Lords, who were sipping Mara blood as the nurses wiped their faces with wet cloths.
“Daddy, no!” Rewa’s wails were gut wrenching and raw, and I couldn’t help but feel her grief, as a daughter.
Blaze ran back inside the Xunn mansion, as he was virtually impervious to fire, while Caia and Patrik continued battling the shrinking inferno across the top level of the city. Avril and Heron joined us, helping carry more victims out as Jax, Hansa, and Fiona rescued the last survivors they could find. Darius wasn’t among them.
Caspian slowly leaned into me, his shoulder against mine, gradually recovering from his injuries. Farrah, Rowan, and Emilian came over, wrapped in blankets, as they, too, were healing. They were pale and distraught, tears glazing their eyes as they glanced at Rewa, who kept watching and waiting, crying her heart out. Scarlett held her close.
Blaze came out emptyhanded. Rewa doubled over, her forehead touching the cobblestone as she broke down completely. This was a tragedy unfolding at a rapid pace. And no one seemed to grasp its devastation, as shock silenced everyone, including the thousands of Maras and Imen who had gathered below.
The wounded Imen were carried downstairs to the infirmary, while the surviving Maras recovered once they had blood from their fellow citizens.
“What happened?” Jax asked, joining our side along with Hansa. They were both black with soot and ashes, their hair a little burnt and a sheet of sweat covering their faces. Hansa was worse, her wide eyes filled with tears and her hands trembling. Past the initial shock, I realized then that Hansa was experiencing terrible flashbacks from the Red Tribe massacre. Her pain poured out in ripples of red and orange.
“I… I don’t know,” Emilian mumbled, still processing everything. His gaze darted around.
“We were all in our homes,” Farrah breathed. “Just an ordinary evening. Darius was having some friends over for dinner, as far as I know…”
“Then the explosion,” Rowan sobbed, struggling to keep it together. “It started from the Xunn mansion, and it was so powerful, it burst all the way through our homes. The ground shook. The windows broke, and the fire spread so fast… so fast…”
“This was a vicious
attack,” Emilian said, gritting his teeth. “I don’t know who perpetrated it, or why… But this was evil! It was unnatural, and… and Darius…”
I got up to get a better look at the mansions, all burnt almost entirely. The upper floors were still collapsing, piles of rubble spilling out onto the terrace as dust and black smoke billowed and thickened the air around.
The fires died down eventually, and Correction Officers started combing all residences for bodies. I could see some from where I stood, charred remains crumpled beneath burnt wood beams and slabs of stone. I’d never seen something so horrific, so… heartbreaking.
Caspian stood, straightening his back. I heard his spine crack in the process, and I looked at him. Anger poured out of him. Confusion. Grief. His hand rested on my hip for a moment, his eyes finding mine.
“I don’t know what happened,” he whispered, as if trying to make sure that I believed him. Since when did it matter what I thought of him?
“I believe you.” I nodded slowly.
Two of the Correction Officers came out of the Xunn residence—or its remains, anyway—carrying the carbonized remains of what looked like an adult male. Something glimmered on his finger, a golden ring with precious gems, melted into the bone.
They brought him over, grief pulling their brows together as they lowered their heads and put the body down.
“That’s… That’s his Lordship ring,” Rewa cried. “That’s Daddy’s ring… That… That’s Daddy…”
Scarlett did her best to comfort the young Mara girl, but the poor soul was inconsolable. She’d just lost her father.
“Darius… Darius is dead,” Emilian murmured, then raised his voice for the rest of the people around and below to hear. “Darius of House Xunn, one of the Five Lords of Azure Heights, was murdered!”