Finding Fire -Book 1 of the Finding the Element Series

Chapter Seventeen

I stepped closer. The air between us was getting too hot, even for my liking.

“Where is Cal?” my voice rose as I got closer. If he wasn’t there, where was he?”

Camellia shifted back a few steps.

I was ready to jump on her if she tried to run. There was no way she wouldn’t tell me.

Closing the distance was getting harder saying that every time I took a step forward she took two steps back.

“Listen, it wasn’t my fault; I tried to burn the witch.”

“Camellia!” I screamed it so loud I swear the room shook.

“Levi and some knights came and took him away before the wedding, said they had something special for him.”

My heart had stopped. They took him away.

“Did they say where?” I asked. If they took him away it meant they could have figured I would do this, this could be a whole set up.

“No, just took him somewhere back there,” she pointed towards deeper into the cellar. I looked at Tobiah. I wouldn’t leave him, I couldn’t leave him.

“I have to find him.”

“Fiona, there’s no time left, we have to go now.” He reached for my arm but I stepped back. I’ve made my decision.

“No, I’m finding him, with or without your help. Without will take longer, please Tobiah.” I pleaded with him.

Breathing out, he bounced on his toes nervously before finally leading the way. We ran through the tunnels without a sound besides the light thumps of our feet against stone. The cells were mostly empty; the ones filled mostly were filled with rats or skeletal remains of what used to be prisoners.

“Whoa,” Tobiah held out a hand in front of me. The tunnel ended in a brick wall. I wanted to cry, to scream and burn the place down, but Cal was there, somewhere. I had to find him.

“There’s nowhere else!” I yelled. My voice bounced off the walls. I kicked the dirt, making a cloud of dust form and exit through a long crack in the wall.

“Tobiah?”

“Hmm?” His eyes widened as he moved beside me, closer to the wall.

“Did you see that?”

“You mean the dust escaping through that…then yes.”

 I crept closer, each step making a hollow eerie noise. I ran my fingers along the crack. It ran from the ceiling down the stone floor.

“Look,” Tobiah said kneeling. He ran two fingers along the floor line of the wall. “These are marks of a hard surface scraping against another surface. I reckon there’s something behind this.”

He stood up and rubbed his fingers against his pants. “Then help me move it.”

I dug my fingers into the cracks of the wall and began pulling the stone towards me. Tobiah stationed himself below me while Leer grabbed on above.

“Pull!” I yelled. All my breath was gone in seconds. Leer growled as he put all his weight into moving the wall.

“Almost there!” Tobiah yelled as the wall’s crack began to enlarge. “Pull!” He yelled one more time. The sweat ran into my eyes and my hair began to light up.

The wall slid open and beyond was a circular room, stone walls with a blue luminescent light, buzzing from a machine, and in the middle, was Cal.

I almost flung myself at the machine until Tobiah’s arms wrapped around my waist and he hauled me back.