Galaxy of Hyperion: Mystic Heir

Chapter Fourteen: Expansion

She felt cold inside despite the hot air of the desert as she thought about her battle in the remains of Nadia before Lana had joined her company. She hated this situation more than she could have ever hoped to describe, but there wasn't anything that she could do to unravel it. After all, she couldn't jump up to the top of the mountain and seal the mountain off no matter how much she wanted to. Her magic was too weak, and she didn't want to bog down the other members of her team by forcing them to look after her when there were so many lives on the line. 

So Jay kept looking up at the mountain, waiting for something to change. She knew that in this situation, no news was good news, but she still hated it. She needed to know something, to be sure that her companions were alright, but there were no signs of salvation that showed themselves, so she continued to stare silently while waiting for a reprieve. Jay needed to tell them everything about Ronan as soon as possible. She wasn't even sure if he was aware of who he truly was, but she was going to do what she could to help him through the revelation. 

Of course, that would have to wait until after the mountain was dealt with, and there wasn't anything she could do to fix the unfortunate circumstances she had found herself in. Jay pulled her knees up to her chest and continued to watch the peak that pierced the skies above. She had to bite back a pessimistic thought about how perhaps curling into a ball and letting the world pass her by wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. 

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As soon as Lana and Ronan touched down on the top of the mountain, she glanced around furiously to see where Cryai had sent his magic. After all, he had likely placed a sheet of Ice magic that kept the mountain from exploding, and it was there that they would have to focus their energy if they were going to prevent an eruption. 

Ronan seemed to know the area by heart though, and he didn't even give Lana a second glance as he dashed off to investigate. She swallowed dryly before chasing after him. Arian arrived behind her a moment later, but she didn't check to make sure that it was him. There wasn't exactly anybody else that it could have been. She had stabbed Cryai through the chest using a blade of electricity, and Jay was stuck on the ground because of her magical withdrawal. The occupants of Cloudpeak were too terrified to do much of anything, as fear was part of their daily routine, so there wasn't exactly anyone else that it could have been. 

Lana followed Ronan over to the area that had caught his attention, and she watched as he fell to his knees and clasped his hands together. He looked as if he was praying, but Lana knew better than to make such assumptions. The tremors of the volcano seemed to calm soon afterwards, and she couldn't help but smile to herself at knowing that Ronan was responsible. The ground was still shaking gently, but the trembling was nowhere near as violent as it could have been, and that was all she could have asked for given the situation at hand. 

Ronan's knuckles almost turned white under the force of his grip, and Lana watched as his face slowly grew tight with tension. Sweat started to bead on his face, and it had nothing to do with the heat that surrounded theThe volcano was still calming itself, and she bit down on her tongue to keep her nerves from getting to her. She knew that everything was going to be fine, but she still hated living in suspense. Ronan was an Earth mage, and if his story was to be believed, his family had been keeping the volcano under control for a great many years before Cryai appeared. He knew how to handle the peak's rage, so there was nothing to worry about, but that didn't keep her from practically vibrating under the influence of her own nervous energy, simply wanting everything to be over. 

Lana glanced out of the corner of her eye to see if the volcano was spewing anything hot or molten yet, but she was pleasantly surprised to see that Ronan was able to keep it all under control. He was starting to relax, and the trembling of the ground below was vanishing as well. They were actually going to be able to keep this under control. She was worried still about the potential for the situation to turn sour on a dime, but she decided to shelve her concerns in favor of the immediate danger staring directly at her and the rest of the group.