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“Why would something be burning?” I whispered in an attempt to truly figure out what was happening here. I would have sensed if Baker was already in the Valley, and I knew that his shifter side was about to have a lovely face-off with my sister, Nathan, and Astra Lexianne.
That took Baker off the list, which meant there could be a potential third party attempting foul play.
But how did they enter this place? Especially the lagoon, which is hidden deep in the depths of the valley.
I was positive it wasn’t Malifer. He’d never do something harmful to the very foundation he spent years building as a safe haven for all of us sacrificed beings.
So who is this invisible enemy?
Colton skidded to a stop at the wall of flames that rose to block us off, but then he muttered a multitude of words before multiple strings began to form upward.
He pushed off the ground seconds later, landing on a thick rope of string that immediately lowered at our combined weight, but he used it as leverage to push off and land on a sturdier set of strings that were crisscrossed in the middle to make a solid platform for him to land upon.
The strings below had already snapped and were burning to ash like the plentiful flowers that surrounded the sacred waters that had yet to be hit by the blaze.
Lauren was already at the edge, her hands clasped together as she looked in deep concentration. After a few blinks, she pushed her arms outward from her sides with open palms while her aura spiked with the intention of unleashing a counterattack.
“Levalso a De Lay Windchanto!”
A burst of white strings of wind ignited into existence and rushed to push the blaze away.
Lauren was already crouched before the lagoon and scooping up a pool of water in her grasp before rising up swiftly and turning around.
She lifted her open palms that were pressed side by side before she took a deep breath. The spell she’d unleashed had to be in her mind for she blew into her palm, and the water morphed into a massive stream of water that worked on combatting the flames.
I felt relieved that she’d moved so quickly and was so knowledgeable of such swift spell work, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that her efforts weren’t working.
No. They weren’t just not working. They were feeding the flames.
"Lauren, STOP!” Colton called out before he summoned more strings ahead of us so he could quickly jump from thread to thread until we reached her side.
“Your magic is feeding the flames!” I acknowledged, which made Lauren stop and look around to prove the flames had simply grown in strength and height.
“Shit. Why?” she cursed and retracted the winds before she moved her arms upward, which ignited walls of glimmering gold and white that shielded us from the collateral damage.
It seemed like the three of us remained quiet for a full minute to assess if the barrier would hold, which it did, but we could already see that it, too, was aiding the flames’ growth, though at a slower pace.
"Any type of magic contributes to the growth of the flames,” Colton cursed as he tried to figure out something to combat this new dilemma. It would be hard for any of his skills to aid with the situation, and yet it didn’t stop him from at least trying to figure out a way to contribute.
He helped lower my feet until I managed to stand on my feet. He waited to ensure I had enough strength before he let go of me. The two of us looked to Lauren as if she had some sort of solution to this.
From the look on her face, she was just as conflicted as we were.
“The flames are being contained by the looming magic within the lagoon, but if it gets hotter in here, the sacred waters will begin to evaporate and that will only lower the energy levels within this sacred space.”
“Which will encourage the flames to spread throughout this place and down the exit,” Colton reasoned as his eyes further narrowed and shifted to black. “We can’t leave it like this. It’ll kill everything we know from those places.”
“Trying to ignite them with any elemental trait will only empower them further and make their burning force and speed rise tremendously. It’ll spread at double the rate If anyone tries to take it down, it’ll only contribute to its growth and capabilities,” Lauren explained and bit her bottom lip.
“There has to be a way to counter it,” I reasoned, and a thought came to my mind. “Why don’t I attempt to stop time again? Like when I was Voodoo Doll Lexi?”
It seemed like a good idea as the three of us considered it, but Lauren crossed her arms while her eyes darted between the lagoon and the blaze outside the gold-and-white walls.
“Stopping time seems like the best option, but you can’t stop time and waltz into the deeper chambers of the valley to find Malifer,” she admitted.
“Why not?” I inquired. “Multitasking wouldn’t work? I know it would be draining but if it’ll protect everyone in the valley from being burned to ash, I’ll do it.”
Colton reached out and lightly karate-chopped my head.
