Rootbound (The Elemental Series, Book 5) Read online

  We reached the end of the tunnel we were in and Flint held out his hand to stop me. He put a finger to his lips and peered around the edge. His whole body stiffened. I hurried to his side and looked out.

  The main floor of the living area was a wide plateau, and in the center was a living oasis I’d created with Cactus’s help. That had been my gift to Fiametta and the Salamanders before I’d left.

  Where it had stood was a monstrous fire that licked the ceiling of the cavern, thick black smoke filling the room. The fire crackled and hummed, happily destroying every living thing in its path.

  “She has everyone here,” Flint said quietly. I put a hand on his arm.

  “Where is her familiar?” Fiametta had had a black panther named Jag as her familiar the last time I’d been in the Pit. I’d hoped she would listen more to his advice, but it looked like he was being ignored once more.

  “She killed him,” Flint said, his voice flat.

  Holy hell on fire, she was as lost as my father. I could not understand how either of them had the ability to kill their familiars. The thought of Peta dying had sent my mind into a state of sheer panic, but to be the one who’d killed her? What had that done to Fiametta when she realized she was the hand of death? I remembered all too clear my father’s attempt to destroy the Spiral and the Rim.

  There were more children than Flint who belonged to Fiametta. I didn’t want to ask, but I made myself spit the question out. “And your younger siblings?”

  He shook his head and his eyes blurred. “She sent me to the Rim. She knew I was interested in Bella. When I came back they were buried . . . I should have been here, Lark. I could have stopped her.”

  “Why would she send you away?”

  He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them once more. “I have always led her to believe I am weak, uninterested in the throne. She has believed me all these years. The others openly spoke of being the ruler one day. It . . . saved me, even while it damned my brothers and sister. If I had known what she was about, I would have taken them with me and left them in the Rim, come back and faced her on my own.”

  I put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the loss of Bramley and understanding all too well the desire to protect your siblings—and failing.

  “I doubt that. You would have died too and then where would your people be? You are here now. We can make this right. Or as right as is possible.” Goddess, I hoped we could. “What are the chances we’re going to make this happen without a full-on war? You know her mental state, if she killed her own familiar and children . . .”

  He drew in a slow breath. “I think we will have to kill her. I don’t see her backing down, or seeing any sense.”

  That was what I was afraid of. “And are you ready to lead your people if that happens?”

  He nodded. “I am.”

  “And marry my sister, uniting two families?”

  His eyes widened. “Pushy much?”

  I tightened my hand on him. “For her? Yes.”

  He grinned. “Yes, I plan on it. She and I will change things.”

  I nodded. “Good enough for me. I want you to go to the other side of the plateau, get your mother’s attention and keep it. I’m going to hit her from behind.”

  Flint clapped me on the back, turned and disappeared into the tunnel we’d just left. I crept out and onto the ledge. Shimmying down the rock face, I dropped to the main floor with a soft thud. No one looked back at me. So far so good.

  Fiametta was yelling at someone, and though I couldn’t hear the words, I knew it wasn’t good. The tone was that deadly mixture of anger and calculation that only she had, of fire and ice that made you want to shiver and melt away at the same time.

  I hurried along the curve of the room until I was as close as I could get without exposing myself. Crouching next to the edge of one of the living quarters, I peeked around, trying to get a look without being seen myself.

  Fiametta strode back and forth in front of her people; I could only catch glimpses of her.

  “Time and again, I’ve protected you, and what do I get for it? Suspicion, my own people plotting against me, my own son defying my commands!” Her deep red hair flew behind her, she strode so fast. “And then, a spy is sent, a spy that tried to use my love for him against me.”

  Worm shit, that had to be Cactus. The crowd in front of me shifted and for a split second I saw my childhood friend on the ground, a pool of blood around him, before the crowd closed again, hiding him from view. My heart clenched at the thought of him dying. No matter that we would never be a couple, I still cared for him. He was still my friend.

  Fiametta spun suddenly and the crowd gasped. Whatever Flint was doing, this was my cue. I sprinted through the crush of bodies, pushing elementals out of my way as fast as I could. I broke through, and saw Cactus. There was nothing I could do for him if I didn’t stop her. I leapt at Fiametta.

  She spun at the last second and raised her hand to me. Brilliant red lines of power rippled up her arms and the blast caught me mid-air. I was flipped over backward, the front of my vest on fire.

  I hit the ground, rolled and put the fire out. “Fiametta, you are going to kill your own family!”

  She didn’t answer me. Flint crept closer, but she seemed to sense him. She spun and flicked a hand at him. A pure rope of lava sprang from her hand and wrapped around his waist. If it tightened . . . he’d be cut in half.

  I called up my connection to the earth and opened the ground under Fiametta, drawing her attention back to me. She snarled and dropped her son. I closed the ground around her feet and drew her further down into the stone until only her head was visible. The same trick I’d used on her the last time I’d been in the Pit.

  Only this time, it didn’t work the way I’d hoped. The lava and fire didn’t stop. If anything, it ramped up to an even greater rate of death and destruction. The lava that cut through the plateau rose and swept toward me at an unnatural speed, heating the air to the point where breathing was a serious effort.

  Flint and Cactus would be hit first, and I wasn’t sure they’d survive the lava in their injured states, despite their bloodlines.

  I didn’t have time to consider the consequences, it was either act now or die as the lava closed in on me. I grabbed my leather pouch and pulled out the sapphire. Gripping it, I tapped into the water available, the river that ran perpendicular to the lava flow.

  Using all three powers open to me, I poured Spirit into Earth and Water, boosting what I could do with them. I opened the earth in a line in front of the oncoming lava. Diverting the river, I flooded the banks and drew it toward the burning oasis, putting the fire out.

  Fiametta stared at me as she pulled herself from the stone inch by inch, dripping with sweat, and I realized how she’d done it. She’d melted the stone around her, softening it so she could free herself.

  “You lying little bitch. You are taking the stones for yourself. You think you can rule our world? That isn’t possible. None of it is possible, no matter what he says.”

  At the far edge of the plateau, four Firewyrms emerged from a sidewall entrance I’d not seen.

  Flint groaned and pushed himself to his feet, one arm clutched around his middle. “Lark, you must end this now. They will kill us all if she gives the word.”

  Fiametta snapped her fingers as if his words had reminded her that she had that ability. The Firewyrms surged forward, teeth snapping, scales sparkling. The crowd didn’t move, though, as if they were held by unseen bands.

  “Run, you idiots!” I yelled, and the spell over them was broken. They scattered.

  “The main door!” Flint commanded. They listened to him, and the Firewyrms seemed uncertain about whom to attack—the Salamanders, or me. The pause gave me a chance to stave them off.

  I spun my spear out and sprinted toward Fiametta. Weaving Spirit and Earth together again, I used them to tear up the ground in front of the Firewyrms. There was no finesse needed here and my elements reveled in the l
ack of control. Chunks of rock and dirt exploded in a line, smashing into the big lizards. At another flick of my hand the ground rippled and threw them to the entranceway. I couldn’t stop them completely, but I could buy some time.

  Flames burst up at my feet, burning the side of my leg. I jumped to one side, rolled in the dirt, and up onto my feet again. But the flames did not slow. I spun and saw Fiametta through the fire, and another figure behind her.

  I threw my spear, deliberately aiming to one side. Fiametta dodged the weapon easily and laughed.

  “You are a failure, just like your friend.” She motioned to the ground behind her. Only he wasn’t on the ground.

  From behind her, my spear was shoved through her back. She stiffened, a scream on her lips, but no sound came out.

  Cactus caught her as she slumped. “I’m sorry, Fiametta. It had to be done.”

  “And so did this,” she whispered. Her hands clutched his face and they lit on fire. He screamed, and I ran to them. I tackled Fiametta away from Cactus, slamming her against the hard-packed dirt, which jammed the spear in further. She laughed, blood flowing over her lips. I grabbed her hand and pulled the ring off.

  Not that it would do us any good now.

  Flint was at my side, tugging at me. “We have to go.”

  “She’s dying.”

  He jerked me hard. “She’s unleashed the lava.”

  I snapped my head up as the lava burst out of the seam in the earth I’d sucked it into. “Worm shit.” I considered putting the ruby on.

  This world is dying, child. Let it die. Let us start again, fresh and new.

  The voice was the same as the one from the Deep. The same voice from the Eyrie when the mountain had spoken to me, told me it was time to take it back from the Sylphs. A shiver rolled through me. I was not going to argue with something that felt as though it was every element in the world wrapped into one consciousness.

  At the same time, I didn’t agree with the voice. Not for a second was I going to just let this world die.

  “Worse,” Flint said, pulling me back to the present, “this is far worse than worm shit.”

  I stood, and pulled my spear from Fiametta’s back. She continued to laugh.

  “I’ve killed you all, and now I’ve done what he’s been telling me to do.”

  I crouched beside her, tempting fate, but I had to know. “Who’s been telling you what to do?”

  Her blue eyes were wide, rimmed with white and suddenly afraid. “I can’t tell you that, no not that.”

  “You can,” I whispered, knowing this was it, the moment Talan would be outed in his games, his subterfuge. “You can tell me. He won’t hear you. I promise.”

  Her hands gripped my forearms suddenly, with a force that pinned me down so we were nose to nose. She shook, the intensity of her grip not slipping an inch though I could feel her dying, could almost see the life slip from her. “He will kill us all if he is the chosen one. You can stop him, Lark. You must, you will save us, or you will destroy us, but both will save us.” Her hands slipped from my arms, leaving perfect imprints of her fingers. She fell back, her head thumping the stone with a sickening thunk.

  As if a signal were given, Fiametta’s death rolled through the volcano in a ripple. Her body sank into the mountain and I took a step back, the slow-growing sinkhole around her body opening further.

  “Lark, what are you doing?” Flint yelled.

  “This isn’t me. This is the mountain on its own.” I glanced at the ground, as if it would give up its secrets. The hole spread farther and a blurp of lava spit up as Fiametta’s body slid into the crevice. Gone.

  As if she never existed.

  I spun, grabbed Cactus from the ground, yanked him up across my shoulders, and broke into a sprint. He let out a low groan but otherwise kept his mouth shut. There was no time for niceties. Whatever was happening would swallow us all if we stood still.

  Flint herded his people ahead of him, even as I saw the lines on his arms. He turned and tried to slow the lava, but it had a life of its own. “It’s tied to her death somehow.”

  “Booby trap,” Cactus mumbled.

  I flicked a hand behind us and pulled the stone down. The mountain shuddered and rumbled. “Move it!” I could feel the lava splash against the stone, and begin to creep through the blockage.

  The feel of the heat on the stone slowed my feet and I stopped where I was. My eyes fluttered closed as warmth spread along my skin, as though I were the stone and the lava was caressing me. Spirit flared through me and I rolled my head back; there, at the edge of my conscious was something I’d been searching for—

  “Lark, run!” Cactus broke my concentration.

  Shock and anger coursed through me. “Damn it, Cactus.” I ran forward once more, wanting that feeling of warmth, of a connection to an element that wasn’t my own.

  “Sorry for keeping us alive,” he muttered. He was right; if I’d stood there we both would have been swallowed up in the lava.

  And I’d wanted it.

  That should have scared me . . . and the worst part was that it didn’t. I wanted to feel that heat coursing through me again.

  No matter the cost.

  CHAPTER 16

  he obsidian doors were behind us and we were free of the Pit, but we had to keep moving. Lava flowed out of every crevice of the mountain in gulping spurts as though it wanted to eat us, the brilliant red against the green grass and trunks of the cherry trees not slowing even though it was far from the source. The crack and rumble of falling stone, the splash of boulders crashing as the mountain crumbled. It reminded me all too well of the Eyrie. I glanced back in time to see the top of the mountain sink from view, sucked down with a boom that felt as though thunder rocked the earth.

  “Keep running!” I yelled. We were far from safety. With the mountain destroyed, the lava would flow for a long time. Whatever hold Fiametta had on the lava was keeping the Salamanders from even trying to control it.

  Ten miles away, the group finally stopped, the lava left behind to devour whatever it wanted.

  Flint kept a hand on Bella the whole way, I kept Cactus on my shoulders and Peta watched me from Bella’s arms.

  I wanted to ask her about what I’d felt inside the mountain. The sensation of the lava against my skin, hot but not hurting me. As if I were a Salamander. But that wasn’t possible. The ruby lay inside my leather pouch, and even if I’d been wearing it, there was no way the lava wouldn’t have swallowed me whole. It was as unnatural to the Salamanders as it was to me.

  Shazer landed ahead of us. “What the hell did you do?”

  I slid Cactus from my shoulders and took a deep breath. “I didn’t. Not this time.”

  It was only then I realized that none of the Firewyrms had escaped with us. I closed my eyes and went to my knees, the cool grass little comfort against the thoughts that raged in my head. Had they been condemned to death along with Fiametta?

  And worse, did I care?

  I swallowed hard and opened my eyes. “Bella, you’re okay?”

  She nodded. “You got what you came for?”

  I touched my leather pouch. “Yes. I don’t want you to come with me now. Go home to the Rim.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You will not order me around. I am your queen.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And you’re pregnant.”

  Flint went rather still next to her. “You’re pregnant.”

  Bella flushed. “I only just found out.”

  He pulled her into his arms and the crowd tightened around them, reaching out to touch them both. I looked for familiar faces in the crowd of Salamanders. For Brand and his wife Smoke. For their three boys, Stryker, Tinder and Cano. But they weren’t there.

  “The battle with Orion.” Peta trotted across the grass to me. “All five of them were lost in the battle.”

  I gave her a sharp nod of acknowledgment but could barely swallow past the guilt and grief that swelled. Once more I had to consider that Talan may have be
en right. What if I’d not needed to bring the four families into the battle? If I’d not done that, my friends would still be alive.

  “Do not doubt your choices now,” Peta said. “Whatever has you doing that is wrong. The world would not have survived without your help. Without the elementals stepping up to help the world. And it was their choice, Lark. You know that. Why are you doubting yourself now?”

  “Talan . . . he said things about the battle.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath.

  I looked her right in the eye. “I think I hate him, Peta.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I know.”

  Not that she hated him too, but she knew I hated him. Mother goddess help me if I lost her to him.

  Someone tugged at the back of my belt. “I know you all are busy, but do you think you could help me out?”

  I turned to Cactus. His injuries were bad, but mostly superficial. I ran a hand over his head. The imprints where Fiametta’s hands had gripped him were healing already. He’d have some scarring, from the burns, but they would fade with time. Even the injury that had caused all the blood was smaller than I’d thought. A gash at the back of his head that was only an inch long and already had slowed.

  “You’ll be fine.” I let go of him and stood, already thinking about the Eyrie.

  Cactus grabbed my leg. “Lark, please. Heal me. I’m in pain.”

  I blinked several times, unsure that I’d heard him right. “It costs me to heal, Cactus. A piece of my soul, maybe more each time. You’ll have some scars, but you’ll be fine.”

  His green eyes closed. “Please, Lark. The pain is . . . intense.”

  I went back to my knees and put my hands on his cheeks. “I’m sorry you’re in pain, but you will live and heal just fine on your own. Suck it up, buttercup.”

  His eyes flew open, all but crackling with anger. “I never thought I’d see the day you’d turn away from helping someone. Especially not someone you love.”

  “Loved,” Peta said. “Past tense.”

  His hand shot out for her, red lines of power curling to his fingers, the intent all over him.