Light the Fire

6

I had the opposite of the problem my mother had when she was younger: I had four men I could see potentially marrying, but my relationship with each one was complicated and in the end I was with none of them. Besides, how could I ever pick one when I had feelings for all of them? Yes, even Derel, though I hated to admit it to myself.

I’d heard that in the Air and Water Realms many people took multiple partners the way the Spirit Goddess and the Black Dragon did. Some considered it a way to honor them and believed it was normal to love more than one person. But here in the Fire Realm we were more traditional and it was almost unheard of—I certainly knew my mother would never approve.

“Now you’ve scared her,” Falon said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Blane picked up one of the fireworks. “Come on, the town will love it. Help me light one.”

“I want no part of this,” Roth said, stepping back.

“Nothing is going to happen, I promise. Besides, there’s nothing here but sand and water.”

“And us,” Roth muttered. He threw an arm in front of me, as if to block me from the fireworks.

“Let’s do one and see how it goes,” Derel said. He was always the first one to jump on Blane’s wild plans, despite being the town guard. After he joined in, Falon always did too, and then Roth would finally cave in. And me? I was always happy to be near them, no matter what trouble we were getting into.

I watched as the guys debated the best way to light the fireworks. Eventually they decided to prop one of them up in the sand right next to the water, in case it went wrong.

But then a huge rumble sounded in the distance coming from Valefire. The ground beneath us shook violently, making me lose my footing in the black sand. I clutched onto Roth for support as the world trembled and the mountain roared. We all stared as ominous white smoke burst from its peak in a huge plume, illuminated by an eerie light coming from inside of Valefire.

The volcano had awakened.

Chapter Four

B

lane scooped up his fireworks while the rest of us rushed across the sand back toward Sparkport. Another earthquake swept through the land, this one so strong it made me stumble into Derel, who caught my arm to steady me. Fear made me scramble back up again, along with worry for my family. That rumble had been so loud and there was so much smoke rising into the sky, it made me nervous the volcano could erupt at any moment.

As we entered the village the crowd was screaming and running about, the mood changed from festive to chaotic. The music had stopped, the stage where the dancers had been was on fire, and worst of all, a crack had formed down the middle of the town square. Not large enough to truly injure anyone, but not a good sign either.

Derel kept his arm around me as people shoved and pushed against us in their frenzy, but we lost the other men in the crowd. He didn’t let go until we found our family’s stalls, where my mother threw her arms around me.

“Calla! I was so worried.”

“I’m okay.” I gave her a squeeze, and then hugged Krea next.

“Thank you, Derel,” Mom said. Now she’d never let up on us getting married. He gave us both a nod, before moving to speak with his own parents at their stall. Mom turned back to me. “Have you seen Loka?”

“She’s not here?” I glanced quickly through the crowd, but then remembered seeing her at the docks with that girl. “I think I know where she is. I’ll get her quickly.”

Mom grasped my hands tightly. “Please be careful, and head back to the house as soon as you find her.”

“I will.”

I slipped back through the crowd, which was quickly dispersing as people ran to their homes or found shelter in case the volcano began raining lava, rocks, or ash from the sky. We’d all heard tales of when the Fire God was displeased with his subjects and had nearly destroyed the entire Realm with his wrath, and how it wasn’t just the lava that had taken so many lives but the poisonous smoke and the fiery rocks that descended on the land. We were close enough to the volcano that if it did erupt and the lava flowed in our direction we could lose all our homes—and possibly our lives.

Long ago, the five Gods had created this world, and each one represented the elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. The Spirit Goddess was their leader, and took the other four Gods as her mates. Later they created the five Dragons to act as their representatives in the world, and then the Gods vanished. Now the five Dragons—Black, Crimson, Azure, Jade, and Golden—ruled over the different Realms and its people, but many people believed the Gods would one day return. I’d never thought it would happen in my lifetime, but now I was starting to change my mind.

I ran back toward the dock, but when I arrived I didn’t see a single soul, only the fishing boats tied to the wooden pier. “Loka?” I called out. “Are you here?”

When I couldn’t find her I headed down the beach in the opposite direction from where Blane had hidden the fireworks, hoping Loka and her girlfriend might be scared and hiding somewhere. I continued around the bend, calling her name, climbing onto the large rocks where she’d liked to play where we were kids. But I didn’t see her anywhere.