“Opposing elements, Ellie,” Kit continued. “Even if I could conjure enough ice to cover the expanse—already an impossible task, mind you—it would melt before we made it halfway.”
“And even if we were to make it there, how do you suggest we do so without melting ourselves?” Nox added, wiping their hand across their sweat-drenched brow as if to make their point.
“What about a mist?” Cedric asked. “A fog—just enough water in the air to cool it slightly, and just enough of it to cover us while we cross.”
Elyria sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “To what end? Wouldn’t it also evaporate in seconds?”
“Not if Cyren disperses some of the heat at the same time,” he said. “You can do that, right?”
Cyren glanced up from where he was still whispering pleadingly in Gael’s ear. “What?”
“Can you use your wind magic to keep the air moving? Help disperse the heat while we cross?”
“I...Yes, I think so. I’ll have to be careful not to fan the flames instead.” He rocked his head from side to side, weighing his options. “But if I balance depriving the fire of oxygen while circulating the air around us...it might work. I might be able to lower the temperature by a few degrees if we work together.”
Zephyr cleared her throat. “This still doesn’t solve the issue of how we’re supposed to walk across a sea of flames though.”
“True, not all of us are fireproof.” Elyria dared a small glance at Gael while the other champions continued discussing possible strategies. The flamecaller’s gaze had roamed to the island in the midst of the lake, the shiny black stone reflecting the flickering flames.
A thought struck Elyria. She let her consciousness drift down, sinking into the ground searching through thick layers of sand and rock and sediment until she hit something cold, sharp. Dangerous.
Her eyes snapped open. “Thraigg,” she said, interrupting Cedric mid-sentence and relishing the pinprick of satisfaction that brought her. “Can yousensewhatever is below the fire? The material that lies at the bottom of this lake?”
The dwarf knelt, placing his hands on either side of his bent leg. “Mmm,” he started, eyes closed, head tilting from side to side as if trying to obtain some kind of magical equilibrium. “Yep. Obsidian,” he said, standing back up after a few moments. “Sheets of it, from what I can tell. Same stuff making up that bit in the middle.”
Elyria nodded at the confirmation, her lip finding its way between her teeth once more. It wasn’t ideal, but it’s not as though they had many options at this point. “Okay. I can work with that.”
Kit’s eyes widened as the realization of what Elyria was about to attempt sunk in. “Ellie, are you sure you can?—”
“Yes,” Elyria said, cutting Kit off.
“Can what?” Cedric asked, eyes darting between them.
“But won’t it?—”
“Maybe,” Elyria replied, again not giving Kit time to voice her concern. “But I don’t see many other options.”
“What were you going to say?” Cedric asked, his voice growing louder, sterner. “Won’t it what?”
“Won’t it be dangerous for her,” Nox answered on Elyria’s behalf, stepping forward. The indigo skin on their forehead was creased, and for a second Elyria thought they might genuinely be concerned.
Every cell in Cedric’s body seemed to go still. “Why would it be any more dangerous for her than the rest of us?”
“It won’t be,” Elyria said, eyes narrowing at Kit and Nox alike—a silent command to shut their mouths. “I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t know that,” Kit said, brushing off Elyria’s glare like it was a pesky bug. She turned to Cedric. “As we said earlier, obsidian has the potential to interact with magic. There’s no way to know what kind of reaction it’ll have to being manipulated.”
“Manipulated how? Stars above, is it truly so difficult to tell me plainly what it is you’re planning?”
“Don’t trouble yourself with the details, Sir Worrywart,” Elyria said, twisting her head until her neck bones cracked in a simultaneously satisfying and revolting way. “Let us do the heavy lifting and you just worry about scurrying your handsome self across.”
Cedric’s stern expression seemed to falter for a moment at Elyria’s deliberately chosen words, but it didn’t last. “Tell me,” he pleaded.
Kit blew out a sigh. “She means to tear some of the rock from the bottom of the lake and bring it to the surface, so that we can get across. And she means to do it with her magic.”
“Yes, but with mywildshapermagic, not my shadows,” Elyria said. “Thus, your concern, while appreciated, is wholly unnecessary.”
Kit’s mismatched eyes met Elyria’s. “You know better than anyone that it’s never that simple.”
