Wyld Fire (Wyld Heart 2)

Chapter 6 - The Gift of Purpose

RED

As soon as Rana slipped out of my arms, I threw them around Eddy, squishing my face against the filly's neck. Her scales were cold against my cheek, belying the warmth of the golden light pulsing just below the surface. She seemed to lean into the hug, but a slight tickle -- followed by a pinch at the base of my scalp -- revealed that she was more interested in chewing on the ends of my hair.

"I can see where all that food has been going," I muttered, pulling away to catalogue all the ways in which she'd grown. It defied understanding; Eddy had shot up from waist to shoulder height in the span of a week, her twiggy frame starting to fill out with supple muscle. Her mane, which flowed upward like it was caught in a stream of water, was also twice as thick and long. The undulating strands made her look especially wild.

There was something grounding about our reunion. With Eddy came the return of my purpose; my solemn pledge to reunite the lost filly with her family in the Grey Fist Mountains. She'd been snatched by Blood Moon hunters twice now, and despite no longer affiliating with them, I felt doubly responsible for seeing her home safely.

It was only when she started trying to uproot the hair from my scalp that I finally pulled away, laughing. "Let's get you home, eh?" I said, petting her on the neck for good measure. "I haven't forgotten my promise."

"Home?" Rana asked, sidling into my line of sight. There was a sharp edge to her tone that caught me off guard. "In the Grey Fist Mountains?"

"Yeah," I said, rising from my crouch. "We met shortly after she escaped from her kidnappers, and I promised I'd escort her home. Why?"

The wyvern was already shaking her head. "That'll take too long. We need to head straight for the Hidden Vale."

Something about the way she squared her shoulders and dug in her heels rubbed me the wrong way. "I didn't realise you were in the business of making decisions for me," I said shortly. I'd had more than enough of that in my lifetime.

The stars in her eyes wavered, but Rana held her ground. "Think about it," she insisted. "The longer we wait, the more horrible things are going to happen to everyone in the Hidden Vale. Now that you have Rya's Blessing, we can finally go in with a chance at --"

"Getting slaughtered?" Sebastian interjected, fury limning his features. "Have you already forgotten that Red nearly died the last time she tried to channel the Sun Goddess' magic?"

"I've been looking for someone with Rya's Blessing for years," Rana ploughed on. "Hell, I was about to go on a suicide mission into the Thornwood to try and beg it of the Phoenix himself. That's how urgent this is."

Sebastian's hair fluffed up, like the fur of a riled cat. "Don't start acting all high and mighty. There's only one person in the Hidden Vale you care about saving, and I'm beginning to think you'd trade anyone's life for his."

Rana flinched, but she didn't deny it. "Leave my brother out of this."

I stepped between the wolf and the wyvern, shaking my head. "Enough," I said. "I fully intend to aid you in your quest, Rana, but now is not the time. I don't know a single thing about wielding Rya's Blessing -- if that's even what that magic was," I added, thinking back to that blinding instant of searing pain. The power had been astronomical; was that why Rogan had poisoned me for so many years, to keep me from tapping into it? "Without training, there's a good chance I'd destroy the very people we're trying to save."

"So what? We just abandon them?" she asked.

"Of course not."

"The trip to Kirin territory will take days on wing, weeks on foot. And that doesn't even take your training into account," Rana stressed. "How long are we looking at? Months -- years, even?"

What she left unsaid was written all over her face. Her brother had already been subjected to the horrors of the Hidden Vale for months; if he's even still alive, I thought grimly, acknowledging the bitter possibility that Rana was determined to ignore.

"I don't know," I ground out, feeling the weight of another purpose settle on my shoulders. This one felt like less of a gift. "But I do know that you and your brother rushed into things once already. It was a noble attempt to rescue your stolen kin, but it backfired horribly. We can't afford to make the same mistake now."

Sebastian nodded, a sharp gesture that was only barely human. "We're the only chance they have at getting out alive. We have to make it count."

Rana's mouth started wobbling along with the stars in her eyes. She sniffed once, a sharp intake of air, and blew it out in a carefully controlled stream. "How?"

Sebastian shrugged, and I had more questions than answers. Until yesterday, I'd thought I was just a lycan with a heart condition. I'd spent my life with my head in a bucket, struggling to hold down my lunch, and so it was baffling to think that Rana expected me to save her people now. I was about to confess as much when a strong breeze kicked up around our feet, picking up a flurry of ashes and weaving them in intricate patterns.

"I will train you."

The words were brittle as fall leaves, but they carried easily across the clearing. We all turned to see Gretchen walking around the side of the dilapidated cottage, a satchel thrown over one shoulder. She looked especially severe this morning, dressed in form-fitting leggings and a blue leather jerkin, laced up the front like a corset. Her auburn hair was braided back, emphasising the sharp slant of her cheekbones.

"You know how to wield Rya's Blessing?" Rana blurted out. The desperation in her eyes was a difficult thing to witness.

"No," Gretchen said, her tone softening slightly as she turned towards me. "But I can teach you the basics of magic while we travel. Strategies you can use to avoid burning out, like you did last night."

"What about your Gardens?" I asked, taken aback by the offer. "Don't you want to stay and rebuild?"

The Witch of the East looked over her shoulder, taking in the remains of her iron cottage with woeful eyes. "For a long time, this place was my home," she said, more to herself than to us. Then her expression hardened and she turned towards the future. "That time is over. There is nothing left for me here."