Source Fire: A Young Adult Fantasy (Arcturus Academy Book 5) Page 7

  “Eight more hours buddy,” Ryan said when Tomio lowered his head to the floor. “Just eight hours and you’ll never have to feel that kind of pain again.”

  Tomio rolled onto his back on the mat and nodded. “Yeah.” His voice came out dry and raspy. He looked at me and, incredibly, found a smile as he put a knuckle against my cheek. “Don’t look so worried, I know what’s coming. I’m concentrating on what will come after, and that is helping.”

  We played the second LOTR movie, but again I couldn’t focus. Normally I enjoyed a fantasy escape, but all of my attention was on the Burning man at my side.

  We were prepared to handcuff him when the first cracks in Tomio’s resolve revealed themselves, but he never whined or begged. Moving made the pain worse, I remembered this from when I threw fireballs at the prison door in the basement of Dante’s villa. So Tomio remained mostly still, sometimes on his stomach, at times rolling slowly onto his back.

  We abandoned the last LOTR movie half way through, when the smell of burning flesh began to taint the air. The sun was well into the sky when Tomio looked at me with glowing eyes and opened his mouth to speak. Only smoke issued from between his lips, and a soft moan of pain. His eyes, always so keen and perceptive, were glassy and bloodshot.

  My own eyes misted up and before I could gather any rationality into my thoughts, I got up and headed for the door, unable to bear the sight and the smell. I used the washroom near the lobby, splashed cold water into my face, had a good cry and then headed back.

  I did this twice more over the next several hours, while the smell of smoke and charred meat grew worse. Tomio’s fingertips began to smoke. I used evanescent vision on him and wished I hadn’t. The line of fire creeping through his insides and leaving charred ruin in its wake was moving far too slowly. I left the fire-gym for a third time, but when I returned to the double doors, I found them locked. Frowning, I knocked. “Ryan? It’s me.”

  “I know,” he said from somewhere on the other side. “Go away.”

  My gut cramped with worry and I felt like I had to go the bathroom again, though I’d just gone. “What do you mean? Why?”

  Ryan’s voice came closer to the door. “Nothing has happened. You’re driving me crazy with all the histrionics; back and forth and huffing and puffing. Your eyes are all red and you can’t stop sniffing. You’re seconds from falling to pieces. I can’t keep an eye on Tomio and you, too. It’s better if you let me take it from here on my own.”

  I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind when his dig about fragility echoed from the halls of recent memory. Turning my back to the doors, tears dripping down my cheeks, I sank to the floor and allowed myself another silent cry. Maybe I was fragile at times, but so what? When it came to the people that I loved, maybe a little fragility wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe suffering alongside those who were in pain, whether it was physical, mental or emotional, was actually a little more of what the world needed.

  Exhaustion crept into my bones as I wiped the tears away from my face and began to feel a little better, now that I wasn’t watching Tomio roast himself into Burned status. Maybe it was better to let Ryan help Tomio creep up to the finish line. But just to be sure, when the deadline was closer, I would break down the doors if Ryan didn’t let me in. There was no way I would miss giving Tomio the life-saving, Burn-halting water, the first drink of his Burned existence.

  I lay down on my side and curled up in front of the doors with my back against the metal.

  The solid support moving away from my back woke me as I rolled over the threshold into the fire-gym. I suppressed a groan at the stiffness in my shoulder and neck. I felt like I’d been lying on the floor for days.

  I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the sunlight flooding into the lobby from the gym’s skylights. Tomio and Ryan stood there looking down at me.

  I rubbed my eyes, certain I was dreaming, then blinked up at them again, wondering if I was hallucinating. How could Tomio be on his feet already? And what time was it? I didn’t have my phone and there was no clock in the gym to reference, but all that daylight suggested high-noon.

  “Tomio?” I croaked.

  He held a hand down to help me up. Feeling his palm against mine yanked me the rest of the way into lucidity. He pulled me to my feet as I drank him in from head to foot.

  “You’re…up!”

  Ryan patted my shoulder and went around me, his footsteps receding.

  I took Tomio’s face in my hands. He looked tired and moved a little stiffly, but seemed otherwise fine. “I can’t believe it. I slept through the hardest part.”

  Tomio smiled, his eyes flickering momentarily like the eyes of a Jack-o-lantern on a dark night. He took me into his arms. “It’s over now. We did it.”

  Tomio’s selflessness made me feel ashamed. I shouldn’t have allowed my fretting to get so obvious. It’s no wonder Ryan locked me out. Tomio had enough on his mind without worrying about how I was coping, while he snuck right up to the edge of death.

  “How do you feel?” I hugged him but didn’t squeeze too hard, remembering how tender my innards had been for a day after my Burning. I was amazed Tomio was standing already. Even Ryan had been unable to stand for a day after his Burning.

  “I’m sore, but otherwise I feel absolutely fine.” He buried his face in my hair and inhaled. “Better than fine.”

  6

  Inside the Arctic Circle

  I gripped the armrests of my seat as our eleven passenger Bombardier Challenger skimmed off the runway at the London City Airport. The small transcontinental jet—piloted by a former non-supernatural colleague of the agency—was set to take us on a direct overnight flight to Yellowknife. It required the maximum endurance of this aircraft, but meant the agency wouldn’t have to rent the larger Gulfstream G450, the next step up and too big for our needs. From Yellowknife, we would fly a much smaller Embraer Phenom 300 to the landing strip at Mahoney Lake. We’d been warned that the strip had only ever been used by small bush-planes, and to expect a bumpy landing. We’d given Ms. Shepherd our passports and she would deal with all the red-tape of international travel so we didn’t have to; a plus of being part of the intelligence community.

  Tomio sat in the single seat facing me, gazing sleepily out the window as the city dropped away into oblivion. Basil had scheduled our flight to Yellowknife for 9 p.m., which meant leaving the academy around supper time, so I’d taken over packing Tomio’s duffle bag while he guzzled water and lay on his bed directing me.

  I was thankful the plane’s seats were comfortable and reclined almost all the way. The moment the plane hit cruising altitude, Tomio adjusted his seat back, propped a pillow under his head and closed his eyes. Ryan sat across the narrow aisle from me, while Mehmet, Ms. Shepherd and Basil occupied a table with four seats nearest the cockpit.

  Still stiff from napping in the lobby of the fire-gym, I rolled my neck and stretched my arms overhead. Ryan looked up briefly from his cell phone to glance at Tomio, who let out a quiet snore.

  “Too bad we can’t teach him alchemy on the plane,” I whispered. I was still so relieved Tomio had survived his Burning that I felt giddy when I looked at him.

  Ryan snorted. “No flight crew worth their salt would let most of those chemicals on the plane, let alone allow us to play with them.”

  “Plus, it’s probably best for him if he just sleeps.” I sat back against the cushy seat, finding the button to recline it. Just watching Tomio sleep was making me want to sleep.

  Basil had told us on the road to the airport that he had Burned magi meeting us in Yellowknife, though there wasn’t time to explain much more than that, let alone discuss a plan. The headmaster and Ms. Shepherd had assured us that a small team of competent naturals had been recruited and were working on a strategy. Since the physicist had narrowed our target to a point on the map that was less than a quarter-mile wide, the most important thing was to get to this location before Nero did. The last known sighting of Nero had been at the Verona a
irport where he’d boarded his own private flight to Yellowknife. He was ahead of us, and that had everyone on edge, but Nero’s flight had been scheduled to make a stop in Montreal—whether to refuel or for passengers, we didn’t know—but it was the reason Basil had booked the Challenger. It was the smallest, fastest aircraft which could manage the distance without having to stop for fuel.

  How Nero planned to get from Yellowknife to the incredibly remote epicenter of supernatural effluent wasn’t as clear. How we were going to get there from the bush-plane landing strip hadn’t been made clear either, and I figured that was part of what Basil, Ms. Shepherd and Mehmet were whispering about up at the front.

  The headmaster had given us a very important directive just before we’d taken off. All three of us were to get as much sleep as possible while the plane was in the air, because once we landed, there wouldn’t be time for rest. Basil had been so distracted that he hadn’t even noticed Tomio’s lower-than-usual energy level. Tomio had told me that he’d tell Basil that he’d joined the ranks of the Burned, but when I’d asked him when he planned to do that, he’d only shrugged and said, “When the time is right.”

  I had argued that the sooner the better. Basil and Ms. Shepherd were making plans, wouldn’t it be best to let them know that they could factor another Burned mage among our assets? Even if he hadn’t had much time to exercise his new-found depth and powers. But Tomio had whispered back, as we’d thrown our duffle bags in the back of the black cab parked outside the academy, that at least it would be an addition of fire-power and not a subtraction, and to leave it to him. It was his secret to tell, not mine.

  Fair enough.

  We had additional questions for the headmaster, but he’d told us that we did have a plan to set in motion when our boots hit the ground on the other side of the Atlantic. Until then, there were some details that needed ironing out and we’d be briefed once we’d arrived.

  So, with the hushed murmurs of the headmaster and his aides drifting to my ears from the front of the plane, I closed my eyes and let the white noise of the Challenger lull me into something that loosely resembled sleep.

  Four trips to the bathroom, and two meals consisting of cold sandwiches and juice later, we began our descent. Our pilot’s voice came over the intercom about the local time being four am and the temperature being a balmy thirteen degrees in Yellowknife. The disorienting Arctic sun was so bright it almost hurt when I lifted the shade over my window, although the ground was still in twilight. Gaping down at the terrain of my home country, my heart cramped briefly with a strange combination of excitement and dread. This whole thing hadn’t felt real until I saw the small city banking into view.

  I looked at Tomio to see how he was feeling, and gaped again. His cheeks were flushed with pink, his eyes were clear, the whites very white. “You look…amazing.”

  He ran a hand through his thick, black hair. “Do I? Thanks. I slept hard.” He turned down the volume of his voice. “Kind of can’t believe I didn’t do the Burning thing sooner. Why didn’t you tell me it felt like having your batteries super-charged?”

  I gave him a bemused smile, casting my mind back to the bedroom in Raf’s villa where I had woken up and explored how it felt to be Burned. “I’ve been so prejudiced against the process that I put the reality of how it feels out of my mind. I mean, something that could kill people isn’t something that should be glorified. You know what I mean?”

  Tomio propped his elbows on his knees, letting his hands dangle between them. I did the same, which brought our faces close enough together that we could talk without being overheard.

  He whispered, “You sound like Basil. I get it. A huge number of mages have died in the past. But, with Ryan’s formula, and with evanescent vision, no mage ever has to die again. Nor do they have to live with the daily pain of carrying a fire around in Unburned insides.”

  The plane tilted as we headed for the runway.

  I took Tomio’s hands. “Let’s first make sure there are magi left to Burn.”

  Tomio’s eyes flared and he squeezed my hand in answer.

  Yellowknife had a small and quiet airport, the only part of which I saw was the lady’s bathroom, a coffee kiosk, and a statue of a polar bear chasing a seal. After we were ushered off the plane we were given fifteen minutes to be present on the tarmac and ready to board the Embraer Phenom.

  As Tomio, Ryan and I approached the Embraer, our eyes were captured by two burly men arrowing for the small plane from the terminal. They were dressed in black cargo pants and vests, wearing black ball-caps, and carrying black duffle bags.

  “Who’re the special ops?” Tomio murmured, as these men stopped in front of Ms. Shepherd to exchange a few words.

  I appraised the strangers, thinking these must be the Burned magi Basil had mentioned would be joining us. The men looked to be Basil’s age, and moved with confidence. But where Basil was refined and well-dressed, with nicely coiffed hair and a posh British accent, these men were tanned, scarred, and craggy-faced in a pleasant way. I had just managed to tear my eyes from the men, wondering what Ryan and Tomio thought of these strangers, when a third person approached. She was taller than both the men, and reedy, but with super short hair and cool gray eyes she was just as intimidating.

  “How many mages does it take to stop one super-charged psychopath?” Ryan said, under his breath.

  I shot him a glare, a rebuke coming to my lips, when I registered the obvious pleasure on his face. He was pleased to see our ranks bolstered by these additions. I’d thought he was being sarcastic and macho.

  All three of our new teammates headed toward us, followed by Ms. Shepherd, whose expression was inscrutable.

  “I’m Greg,” said the one in front, holding out a hand to Tomio.

  Thus began a flurry of handshakes and quick first-name-only introductions. The men were Gregory and Frederick, the woman was Shereen. Their expressions were unguarded and unassuming. If they were concerned about going into this mission with three teenagers, none of them showed it, and I appreciated that. They were professionals, that meant keeping their emotions under wraps. It inspired me to do the same.

  My resolution lasted approximately half a second, until a blast of heat flared up my arm as I shook hands with Shereen. I couldn’t stop the huge grin that split my face.

  She chuckled at my clear acknowledgment of our bond and grinned back, highlighting an arrowhead shaped scar at the outer corner of her right eye. She held my hand in a firm grip and shook, letting heat swirl and flare back and forth between us. “Nice to meet you, Saxony.”

  “Pleasure is all mine, Shereen.” I hoped she could see I meant it. Having grown up with two brothers, it didn’t bother me to be the only female mage in the group, but damned if it didn’t feel great to have another woman join the team besides Ms. Shepherd and her stress-rash. I briefly conjured the faces of Targa and Georjie, and felt momentarily consumed by a strange combination of longing and gratitude. I missed them, and it would have been amazing to have them here at my side. But flying made Targa feel ill, and Georjie—as amazing as her abilities were—wasn’t fireproof, neither of them were. No, they were better off safely away from Nero, and out of the kind of danger that fire presented to all living beings who were not magi.

  The three new soldiers ducked into the plane’s open door, and we followed. Ryan ahead of me and Tomio behind.

  I felt Tomio’s breath against my ear as we climbed the stairs and he leaned in close to whisper, “Feel anything?”

  I nodded and smiled at him over my shoulder. “Yep. Shereen. You?”

  Tomio shook his head, puzzled. This was anomalous. There were only two idles left, and if I had a bond with Shereen, then Tomio should have a bond with Fred and Greg. Unless they had some way of keeping a bond from flaring, but as far as I knew, that wasn’t possible.

  Basil was already on board, and clearly knew our additions. He greeted them like they were old acquaintances, if not quite friends. I wondered if they were A
rcturus assets or if they’d come from some other agency.

  As we settled into the bucket seats in the cabin of the Phenom for the over two-hour flight to Mahoney Lake, my heart expanded with an eager hopefulness I hadn’t allowed myself to feel since Naples. Witnessing the way Nero had so easily kept Ryan at bay as they danced across the molten heart of Vesuvius gutted me whenever I replayed it. But the addition of mature magi sewed up that feeling with a strong thread of hope.

  The little plane was packed with fire-power. Unless Nero had recruited magi to his side (and what magi would want to aid a madman who was bent on snuffing the fires of one’s own people?) this fight would be seven Burned against one. Surely the odds were for us. The unknowns were: first, would we arrive at the next location before him, and second, if we did, was our collective fire-power enough to stop his unquantifiable abilities?

  I thought I was prepared for the wilderness. I was wrong. Watching hundreds of thousands of miles of coniferous forest, then tundra, whiz by beneath the Phenom made me feel tiny and insignificant and awed. There were lakes as far as the eye could see, in every direction. I expected to see life forms and plenty of them, perhaps a herd of caribou, a wolf or two, maybe bear or a musk-ox, but there was nothing.

  Stepping off the plane on the narrow strip of packed earth beside Mahoney Lake made my eyes water and my mind stagger, as I strained to take in the seemingly endless land- and lake-scape. The sky overhead was vast and clear. And the smell of the air was indescribably pure, so clean and fresh it tasted sweet when I sucked it in through open lips, like it was laced with honeysuckle.

  “So, this is where the world’s oxygen comes to vacation,” Tomio said, as he came to stand beside me, clearly as in awe of the vast wilds as I was.

  Inhaling deeply made me feel deliciously dizzy, and even my fire seemed to flutter with pleasure as I soaked in the pristine environment.