And with a magnificent leap, the little jair’oa sprang into the air and soared over the magma like a bird taking flight. The lava boiled and popped, almost seeming to reach for him as he arched gracefully over the surface then came down in the center of the first large boulder, well away from the magma. Turning, he stood tall on his hind legs and looked back at us, ears pricked and waiting.
I swallowed hard. There was no way Ratuk could move as athletically as a jair’oa. And if his wings gave out while we were hovering over liquid hot magma...
I tried not to think about that.
“Ratuk,” I whispered, praying I wasn’t sending my beetle—and us—straight to a fiery doom. “Up.”
Ratuk crouched slightly, then his carapace split open, unfurling transparent green wings. I glanced over my shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the injured one, but I was too late as the membranes began vibrating, filling the air with the sound of buzzing, and Ratuk rose slowly. He wobbled for a moment, as if remembering how to balance in midair, and my stomach churned painfully as he righted himself. But then he raised hishead and shot skyward, the drone of his wings in my ears, and the ground fell away below us.
“Ratuk!” Quickly, I leaned forward to stop his upward climb. The rock beetle slowed, then hovered, wings moving in a blur behind Raithe. For a moment, I gazed out over the World Scar, seeing how sprawling and massive it truly was, lava and shattered stone stretching on until they disappeared into the haze. The temple on the spire seemed an unreachable distance away.
“Down, Ratuk,” I said, and the rock beetle obeyed, drifting from the air until he landed beside Meeka on the rock. His wings slid back beneath his shell, but I turned just in time to catch a glimpse of them before they disappeared. The gash in the green membrane of his right wing was still there. Smaller, but still a long way from being fully healed.
With another droning of wings, Rhyne descended and hovered in front of me, as there wasn’t enough room on the rock for both him and Ratuk. Kysa peered down from his back in stern disapproval. “What happened?” she asked, making me wince. “I thought the plan was going to be short flights over the rocks. For a moment, I feared you would go flying off toward the temple yourself.”
“Ratuk got excited,” I answered, which did not appease her.
“Control your mount, rider,” she said. “Ratuk is not as headstrong as Rhyne, but he is a rock beetle. Youmustbe the one in charge, for his own well-being. I will not have either of you falling into lava because your mount decided he was not going to listen.”
Raithe’s arms tightened around me. “Should I dismount,then?” he asked the insect rider, who frowned at him. “If it will make it easier and lighten the load on Ratuk, I can find my way across on foot.”
“Raithe...” I began, but Kysa shook her head.
“It should not matter, kahjai,” she told him. “The beetles are strong enough that a single person’s weight is nothing for them. You would have to remove all his gear and supplies for it to make a difference, and we cannot do that now.” Her attention shifted back to me, eyes narrowing. “Just follow the plan we spoke of, Fateless—short flights from boulder to boulder. Try to be in the air as little as possible. Rhyne and I will be close should you get into trouble.”
I nodded. “Okay, Ratuk,” I said, and the beetle flicked an antenna back at me. “Follow Meeka. Meeka...” I glanced down at the jair’oa, who peered up at us with pricked ears. “Lead on.”
The jair’oa bobbed his head, hopped to the edge of the boulder, and, without hesitation, sprang into the air. As before, he soared over the lava and came down safely on a second rock, bouncing once as he landed. Ratuk shifted to follow, and I tensed, but Raithe leaned in behind me, his lips close to my ear.
“Breathe, Sparrow,” he murmured. His warm breath feathered over my skin, making me shiver. “I can feel your tension, and Ratuk can as well. Trust your mount. He knows what to do.”
I took a furtive breath, forcing myself to relax, and nodded. “All right, Ratuk. Let’s go. Up!”
We followed Meeka across the magma pools, flying swiftly from rock to rock, staying well above the lava. The little jair’oa did seem to know the best path to take, leading us safely across thedeadly landscape. The heat radiating from the magma field was unlike anything I’d felt before, even during Demon Hour. It was a heavy, suffocating heat that seemed to press down on us from all sides. The air smelled acrid, and sweat kept running down my face, stinging my eyes along with the smoke. Thankfully, Ratuk seemed to have no trouble navigating the lava field, buzzing over the bubbling magma and landing quickly. Perhaps he could feel something wrong with his wing, or maybe he was just happy to be flying, because he obeyed my commands flawlessly, trailing Meeka across the scarred landscape without hesitation. Rhyne flew close by, landing briefly on the rocks around us, with Kysa’s gaze on us the whole time.
We were deep in the center of the magma field, and I was just beginning to think we might make it across with no problems, when the lava began to stir.
For once, Meeka had landed on a shard that was large enough for both rock beetles to stand on. But as Rhyne dropped down and landed beside Ratuk, the surface of the magma started to bubble even more furiously than before.
“Oh, I don’t like that,” Halek sighed, as a second section of lava swelled, engulfing a smaller boulder beneath the magma. Heart pounding, I watched something enormous slide beneath the surface of the lava like a massive fish.
“We need to move,” Raithe growled behind me. “Sparrow, get us out of here.”
The lava exploded, sending gouts of molten fire into the air, as something huge and terrible rose out of the lake. A massive worm, covered in plates of obsidian, with a hideous circularmouth ringed with thousands of teeth, towered in the air in front of us. A second surged out of the lava behind us with a high-pitched scream I felt in my bones, and the entire magma field began to boil.
“Ratuk, up!” I cried, as the first giant worm lunged, its terrible sucking mouth gaping wide. Ratuk leaped off the boulder, wings buzzing as he shot away, and the worm crashed mouth first into the rock with an echoing crunch.
The lava field erupted with worms. They were suddenly everywhere, a forest of pulsing, writhing tendrils and gnashing teeth. Lava rained down from overhead, making Ratuk swerve wildly to avoid being hit. Raithe’s grip on me tightened, and he pulled me close, hunching his body over mine as we flew through the sea of lashing worms and falling magma.
Raithe jerked against me, a hiss of pain escaping him. Alarm flared, but something struck my leg, and it felt like a dagger had been driven into my skin. I clamped down on a shriek, striking my leg with my gloved hand, and liquid magma burned through the fabric. Instantly, I stripped off the glove and hurled it away. But my fingers were already red and scalded, and my leg felt like it was on fire.
The forest of worms seemed to be closing in. Screaming, they lunged for us, forcing Ratuk to dive and swerve wildly. Liquid fire rained around us. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, expecting another blaze of white-hot agony at any second.
A tooth-filled maw curled around a boulder and flew right at us, and Ratuk jerked to the side to avoid it. More droplets fell, landing on Ratuk’s shell, smoldering where they touched, andthe beetle shuddered. Another worm rose from the lava right in front of us, its jaws opening like a black hole, a red light blooming from that darkness.
“Ratuk, up!” I cried again, leaning back, and the rock beetle shot skyward. With a hiss, the worm disgorged a stream of magma that seared the air where we had been and splashed down on the rocks.
We rose above the pool, and I saw Rhyne bobbing and weaving through the air, Kysa with her spear raised toward the worms that lunged at them. Halek was shouting something behind her, but with the screaming worms and hissing lava, I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
