Page 20 of Within the Flames
Dread flowed through Macey at the instructions. What could she be about to face if that was the list of things she couldn't do.
"I understand," she acknowledged.
"Then proceed." The fire-woman lifted her arm and waved to the entrance, which turned out to be nothing more than another cave entrance.
The main difference was that this cave was covered in a ring of fire. One Macey knew she'd have to step through.
"Thank you for your guidance."
"You're welcome, Water Warden."
Macey nodded, but said nothing else. She stepped towards the cave, her heart pounding in her throat. She didn't want to be scared, but there was a part of her that was. She didn't know what lay in wait for her beyond this cave and from the sound of it, she didn't want to either.
The heat batted against her skin as she stepped through the entrance. She closed her eyes, mustering up all of the courage she could.
The flames were even hotter within and she tried to ignore the overbearing heat of it all.
Before her, the flames began to rise, forming shapes within them. Shapes she recognised.
An orca dived between a sea of fire waves. A beithir flew high above. Selkies, cat-sith...just about every other creature she'd met on her journey appeared in the flames.
While she longed to stop and see what else she could spot, she knew she had to ignore them. They weren't real. They were just apparitions sent to distract her from her purpose.
"Macey!" someone called.
She ignored it.
"Macey!" another voice called.
She swallowed hard. She recognised those voices. She knew them as well as she knew her own. She tried to ignore them. She tried to remind herself they weren't real, but the voices continued to shout and she wanted to answer them. She'd never ignored her men's pleas before. It didn't feel right to do that now.
"Macey!" This time, it was Amber's voice calling, but she didn't sound in distress. She sounded gloating. "Macey!" she called again, drawing out her name.
Knowing she had to ignore it, Macey carried on down her path, one step after another, her focus on getting to the other side and meeting the lampads.
"Your fate was so tragic," Amber called. "Died trying to save one of the people you loved. It's a shame you weren't enough. But that just left more for me. All we had to do was invest someone else as the Water Warden. So easy to replace." Amber's voice came out like a sneer, and unlike any Amber Macey had ever encountered.
She ignored her, even as jealousy tugged within her. She knew she wasn't as easily replaced as that, either in her men's hearts, or in her position as one of the Seven Wardens. She also knew Amber was far too happy with her mage to go after Macey's men for herself. The beithir just wasn't that way inclined.
"Our hearts were easily given again," Cam's voice came. "We've shared before, we'll share again. Sharing with Izban is a small price to pay for someone's love."
"I had to do it, Macey. Losing you was too much for me to take. I'm an incubus, I need someone who is always going to be there to sate me. And you weren't. You were too busy saving another man for my needs. Amber is everything I truly need and desire."
"She sparked my flame to life," Flint joined in. "Not like your water dousing flames. She can create them."
Macey's gut twisted in on itself as she listened to the cat-calls of the fake apparitions. They just wanted to stop her on her journey. The lampads had chosen their test well. It sent needles of pain through her heart unlike any she'd ever experienced before. There was no way she could ignore this, and yet she knew she had to.
A tear splashed onto the floor and gave a hiss as it evaporated into the air. The heat was crazy and Macey was surprised it hadn't burned through her shoes and clothing already.
If this was the test just to meet the lampads, then she dreaded to think what they had in store for her once they heard what she wanted.
"I was never sure if you loved me as much as the others. I came in later after all. And I'm not a Warden. It was easy for me to accept that role. I'm another water being after all. And with me as the Water Warden, with Amber at the centre, we can be Wardens in truth," Rónàn sneered.
Another tear fell.
"Why did you have to leave?" Izban demanded. "Now I have to share the woman I love. You left, and now she has everyone and everything. Yet another thing you ruined for me."
"Ruined?" Cam laughed. "It's hardly ruined. Everything is how it was meant to be. The Wardens are one in spirit as well as in body."
