I nod. As we go, Adraa sweeps her arms upward and calls to nearby roots to groove out the earth. She builds a trench on the left side, and I follow her lead and create one on the right. Suddenly, I know we can do this. It is Adraa and me. We understand how each of us is going to move. We are powerful enough.
So we keep climbing, increasing our speed with each step we take. Finally the air becomes heavy with heat.
“Tuhinadloc.”I blast at the earth. It crackles against the blaze, forming a plate of ice. Meters above us, the lip of a brewing cauldron bellows. I can’t see anything through the sheet of black and gray, but the smell of sulfur slams into my nose.
“I think this might be as high as we can get,” Adraa yells, hand outstretched as if to block the sheets of ash trying to consume us.
“Is it enough?” I ask.
“Gods, I hope so.”
Digging our feet in the ground, Adraa and I lock eyes and nod. We move in sync, weaving the toxic air out of this pit. Ria, Htrae, Erif, Retaw. We chant to the main four. Anything to release gas, calm earth, dull fire, and welcome water. Nothing seems to help.
“I can’t think of any more extinguishing spells!” Adraa cries.
“Do you remember the spell you cast against Ax that night I first saw you, in the Underground?”
“Which spell?”
“He was throwing purple flames at you and you contained them, like put them in a jar.”
“Oh yes! Yes, of course.”
“Well, if you—”
“If you ice it and I— Yes! Got it.”
“On three, then.” We don’t have much time left. This is our last shot. One last big spell from the both of us. I look over at her. She’s watching me, waiting for the count.
“Jatin? You ready?”
“I love you.”
She bounces up from her stance. “Are you serious right now? Jatin, the volcano.”
“Just needed to tell you.”
“Well, I love you too!”
I smile.If I have Adraa, we can do this.“On three. One…” I breathe in.
“Two…,” Adraa exhales.
“Three.”
“Himadloc!”I shout. The simplest ice spell I have. Then I build on it, adding all the layers of frost, slush, and snow I can think of. A blast of white erupts from my hands. Out of my peripheral vision, a blaze of red spews from Adraa, and I hear her containing spell trying to quell the heat beating me in the face. Slowly, a sheet of red magic blooms over the peak of Mount Gandhak, suffocating the ash and enveloping the terror.
Yes!
I yell louder and louder, until my vocal cords ache and my throat turns to ash. My limbs are numb, my body wrapped in ice as my white magic runs not only off my arms but also down my torso. My sweat turns to icicles. I can’t move with my magic anymore.
“Jatin, I don’t think it’s working!” Adraa shouts.
I open my mouth to agree, to spout one final ounce of encouragement, whenboom!Mount Gandhak rejects our magic. Adraa screams. With a blast of heat, all the ice melded to my body shatters and I’m blown backward.
The world blares awake. My ears ring. Ash floats from the sky in heavy heaps.
I struggle to right myself, to recapture reality.Where the blood am I?
