Page 117 of A Dance With Fire
“No!” She grabbed his wrist, snuffing the light of his magic. “Save your strength.”
He looked ready to argue, but Shula was spared a lecture when Uric started letting out watery coughs. Her eyes widened as he doubled over and promptly vomited blood.
“Uric!” Valerio dashed to grab his friend before he fell. Uric’s already pale complexion seemed even paler, sickly, with bruises around his eyes. The prince lowered his friend to the ground, holding his head up until his heaving stopped. “Are you well?”
Uric straightened, but Shula could see how it cost him. His whole body shook with the effort. “I am fine, my prince. We must keep going.”
“No,” Valerio said. “We will rest. Gather your strength, eat, drink. Then we will continue.”
Shula couldn’t deny the relief she felt at those words. They’d been walking tirelessly. After a few hours of walking, they’d realized there were no wild animals, no sound or sight of any, yet they’d still stayed alert.
“Here.” Shula shook herself out of her thoughts to see Ryker handing her a skin of water. “Drink.”
She took it with shaking hands and after a generous swallow, handed it back to him. “Fucking Iron Mountains.” She scrubbed her hands over her face to take away the exhaustion.
“They didn’t used to be named that, you know.” Clay took a drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “These mountains got that name after the wars.”
“Yeah? What did they used to be called?”
Clay got quiet then. “I can’t remember. It’s been so long.”
Before Shula could reply, Uric started heaving again. Blood and spittle flew, staining the rusted iron on the ground bright red.
Ryker stood from his position and walked over to Uric. Ryker’s palms pressed against Uric’s chest. They glowed, the light infusing into Uric’s body. He gasped, arching, wheezing in breath after breath.
“There’s iron flecks in his lungs from breathing this air,” Ryker growled. “We need to hurry and leave here.”
Valerio looked away like he wanted to curse the world but held it back. The prince always looked so composed, even when facing the threat of death.
He loosed a breath.
“We need to keep moving,” Valerio decided. “Uric, can you walk?”
Uric’s face was grave as he nodded, though Shula suspected it was a lie.
“Then let’s go. We need to make it to The Seer before we get worse.”
Ryker grunted as he helped Uric to his feet. Julius positioned himself on the other side, throwing Uric’s arms around the two Fae. Together, they helped him walk.
It had only been a few minutes rest, but Shula wouldn’t complain. Valerio was right. They needed to leave and quickly. After picking up her discarded blade, she followed close behind.
Shula stared at the iron at her feet. She’d been able to melt the iron bars of Orna’s prison, perhaps she could burn this too. At least, to create a pathway that would allow them to walk without feeling the pain in every step.
She held her palms out to the ground and concentrated, focusing on summoning the flames. She could feel a sliver of her magic respond, and even that brought her pain. She tried to push past the sensation and focused.
Flames shot out of her hands and enveloped the iron on the ground only to diminish into ash. The simple act depleted her energy and had her coughing into her hand until her palm came stained red with blood.
“Stop it.” Clay grabbed her wrist. “It won’t work. You’ll just hurt yourself.”
“It’ll work.” She spoke the words like a promise. She refused to stand back while they all got hurt, especially if there was something she could do about it.
“Save your energy,” Clay echoed her earlier words. “You never know when you’ll need it most.”
Because he was right, she listened, tucking her palm into her pants pocket, her other enclosed tightly around the hilt of her dagger, where it stayed for hours, days.
They got little rest, all of them eager to make the journey quickly. The further they traveled, the denser the iron became. And while they hadn’t come across humans or animals, Shula swore she heard the scuttling of feet against the ground. It made her scan the ridges of mountains at their sides, but her senses were dulling, and she was exhausted.
So when Valerio announced the words she’d been longing to hear, she almost fell to her knees with relief.
