Feudlings in Flames Read online

  Feudlings in Flames

  by Wendy Knight

  Published by Astraea Presss

  www.astraeapress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Feudlings in Flames

  Copyright © 2013 Wendy Knight

  ISBN 978-1-62135-205-1

  Cover Art Designed by AM Designs Studios

  To Twitchy, Talky, and Tiny Terror.

  You give mama the courage to chase her dreams.

  Chapter One

  The spells were coming so fast Shane Delyle barely had time to breathe before the next one flew at his heart. If he were anyone but the Prodigy, he would have been dead hours ago. But he was the Carules Prodigy, and he flung bright blue flames back at his attackers, one after another, until he was surrounded only by smoke and the dead Carules.

  "Finally," he gasped.

  "Shane! I could use some help here!" Hunter Millen bellowed. Shane jerked toward Hunter's voice to see his best friend and Guard surrounded by more warriors, Carules and Edren. Shane raced toward him, throwing spells as fast as he could, leaping over dead, smoking bodies.

  "Where is she?" Hunter yelled over his shoulder as Shane got near enough to hear him over the roar of the battle. Shane didn't answer, but he knew Hunter would read the worry on his face.

  "Incoming!" Will Delacour bolted around the corner of the building, followed by at least a dozen more warriors.

  "Tell them to take a number. We're busy!" Hunter snapped as he dove out of the way of several oncoming spells. Shane heard him swear under his breath before jumping to his feet, burning a spell into the air. With a ferocious snarl, he pushed it at the warriors nearest him before spinning on the next ones. Will fought his way to the middle, his red Edren flames leaving a trail of scorched bodies behind him.

  "Have you seen her?" Will asked, daring to cast a quick glance at Shane and then Hunter. Both shook their heads.

  "We could kinda use her masas right now," Hunter said, but Shane was struggling to concentrate on the battle before him; his metallic blue eyes searched above the warriors, looking for her.

  "Shane! Look out!" Will yelled and Shane barely had time to duck before a vicious lirik flew over his head.

  "Pay attention or we're all gonna get killed here!" Hunter barked.

  "They might not be able to kill you, but they can still kill us." Will's voice was hard as he hurtled over a burned corpse, landing in an awkward heap and tumbling into a roll.

  She can take care of herself, Shane thought as he struggled to focus on the warriors attacking Hunter and Will. He knew she could. And Will was right. All these warriors couldn't kill him, but they could make him hurt. A lot. And they could kill Will and Hunter.

  Shane would rather they kill him.

  He shoved the overwhelming worry for her to the back of his mind and jerked his attention back to the fight in time to realize they were surrounded and both his friends looked completely exhausted. Where was she?

  Shane threw another spell as his eyes swept the room trying to decide who to attack first. "We are so screwed," Hunter muttered, somehow having ended up right next to Shane's elbow.

  "She'll be here!" Will yelled.

  The wall behind them exploded.

  Bright red flames swept the room, a huge canine monster with burning eyes. The warriors surrounding Shane and Hunter screamed in terror, but it was too late. The fiery monster chased them down, enveloping them. There was no escaping.

  The smoke cleared, and Shane spun back toward the gaping wound in the wall. In the dust, a tall, striking figure took shape.

  "Ari." Shane blew out a pent up breath.

  She moved like lightning, exploding through the doorway, spells already burning from both her hands. She shoved the fiery magic away from her, and it exploded into a wide, flat triangle of flames, like a human flame thrower. She called them masas, and they were the only spells in the world that could take out several threats at once.

  And Ari was the only person in the world who could throw them.

  "What took you so long?" Hunter bellowed, but Shane could hear relief in his voice. He would try to hide it, of course, but they had already lost too many to this war. They couldn't lose Ari, too.

  Ari said nothing, just cast a half-amused, half-annoyed look over the head of the warriors still surrounding them. Hunter shook his head and turned back to fighting. Will, on Shane's other side, grinned at his sister before he also returned to the battle. Shane met her gaze and felt the electric current slide through him that always came with meeting those dark brown eyes.

  "Hey," she said, and smirked. Shane shook his head, but a smile played around his mouth as he returned to fighting. With Ari, it didn't take long to even the odds, and most of the warriors fled when they realized who she was.

  Ari, of course, went after them.

  "Ari! Don't kill them all. We need to question them!" Hunter yelled, chasing after her.

  "Shane!" Shane whipped around to see Loyals flooding the room from the hole Ari had left. Will was already burning spells into the air, and Shane leaped to his aid. At the sight of Shane's blue flames, much brighter than any normal Carules, the Loyals realized who they were fighting. Those still able ran, scrambling back through the hole they came from. Shane took off after them. He threw a ward spell past them, watching in satisfaction as it bloomed to life, blocking two of them in.

  "We don't know anything!"

  "I don't believe you." Shane advanced on them, leaving Will to watch his back.

  "We don't! They don't share information with us." At the sight of Shane's flames shooting from his fingertips, one of the Loyals flung up his hands, warding him off. "The— there are rumors that she's being kept in L.A. in—in a high end hotel. That's all we—"

  He was cut off as the wall next to him exploded, knocking both men into the opposite corridor. Before Shane even had a chance to react, a dull blue lirik shot through the opening, hitting one man. Shane leaped forward, but he was too late as another lirik followed. Both men were dead before Shane got to the hole. He burst through it, Will on his heels, but there was no one in sight.

  "They must have portaled out," Will said, swinging around, his eyes searching, but there was nothing to see.

  The office was smoke-filled, making it difficult to breathe. They had intended to search the building for any clues that might lead them to Charity, but they had been ambushed almost as soon as they walked in. Now the building was in flames, the acrid taste of burning flesh and charred sheetrock coating Shane's tongue.

  "You okay, bro?" Will asked. He was leaning over, his hands on his knees. When he straightened to face Shane his face was smudged with black soot, and his red and black hair stuck up in wild streaks. Will looked like a chimney sweep. Shane gave him a crooked smile.

  "Yeah. I'm good. Do you think Hunter can contain your sister, or should we go help him?"

  Will shook his head, wiping his face with a dirty sleeve. "Good question," he muttered, turning toward the hallway Ari and Hunter had disappeared through.

  ****

  "Hunter! Stop them!" Ari screeched. She wasn't throwing spells anymore — trying hard not to kill anything else. Her spells were so powerful; it was difficult for her to fight if she wasn't trying to destroy everything.

  H
unter raced past her, throwing a ward spell and shoving it into the air. It swept past the two warriors they were chasing and bloomed to life, cutting them off. The Edren turned and escaped down a side hall. The Carules warrior stopped and turned to face Hunter, who skidded to a stop, spells blooming to life in his hands. Ari wove between him and his Carules and spun around the corner after her Edren. As she dove, tackling the man to the ground and sitting on top of him, she heard Hunter yell, "That's my girl." She glanced over her shoulder and grinned.

  "Who sent you?" Hunter snapped at his captive. The Carules just stared at him, looking petulant. Hunter sighed, sending Ari an exasperated look. Clearly, this was going to take a while.

  Ari hauled her Edren up to a sitting position, propping him against the wall. She sat back on her haunches and stared at him, waiting for him to regain consciousness. As soon as his eyes opened, he hissed at her. "Traitor." Ari didn't flinch. She didn't blink, even though it felt like he had just shoved an icy blade through her chest.

  "The war is over. The traitors are the ones who refuse to admit that," she snapped, letting flames burst from her fingertips. She admired her nails while sparks flew from her hands. The man scrambled backward, trying to climb up the walls. "I'm looking for my friend. The Carules Council has her. Tell me where she is and I'll let you go. No reason to have to kill you," she said, her voice deceptively calm.

  "The Carules Council is—"

  "Look out!" Hunter bellowed. Ari spun toward him to see a Loyal burst into flames as a lirik from the dead man's hands flew past Ari's head.

  And into Ari's captive.

  Ari's eyes widened as she whirled around, searching the hallways. The spell that had killed him was thrown from an Edren hand. Not from Hunter, who was a Carules and threw blue spells. Ari just caught sight of a shadow, darting around the corner away from her. Leaping to her feet, she took off after it. "Wait!" she cried. "I won't hurt you!" Right, and if you believe that, I'll buy you a unicorn when we're through here.

  "Ari?" Hunter, several twists and turns away, was calling her name, but Ari didn't pause. She bolted around yet another corner and skidded to a halt as a great metal door slammed shut in her face. But not before she got a glimpse of bright red and black streaked curls disappearing into the darkness beyond.

  "Mom?" she whispered.

  ****

  Two hours later, Shane watched Ari pace around Will's living room, her furious eyes shooting sparks of their own.

  "It wasn't Mom, Ari." Will's voice was harsh with pain. Shane knew Will hadn't gotten over their mother's death, any more than Ari had. But he, apparently, was not seeing Vivian's ghost every time he turned around. Although he was twenty-seven, ten years older than Ari, he'd been forced to leave Vivian when he was sixteen. Which might be why she wasn't haunting him now. Although… Shane didn't know how ghosts worked, but last he'd heard, they couldn't throw spells.

  "Will, I know what I saw! She saved me!" Ari whirled on him, throwing her hands in the air. Will opened his mouth but Hunter beat him to it.

  "You're losing your mind. You know that, right?" he drawled lazily from where he sprawled on Will's couch, watching the argument. Hunter was big, like a football linebacker, and took up the entire couch.

  "Enough. We've had this argument. Nothing is gonna be gained." Shane put himself between his best friend, who was also his Guard, and the girl he loved more than life itself. He would hate for either of them to kill the other one.

  Ever since they had lost Charity, Hunter had been more ornery than normal. And that was saying a lot. Shane continued. "Ari will try to kill Hunter for telling her she's crazy. Will, you'll spend the next hour sulking. So just leave it. Ari — sit. Now. I need to heal you." Ari's eyebrows went up but she thunked down on the couch, Hunter hastily moving his legs out of the way. Will smirked but said nothing.

  Heat flew through Shane's hands as he pulled Ari's shirt aside, revealing a very bruised shoulder. He paused, trying to control sparks that leaped from his fingers. Being this close to Ari's skin made his powers, controlled by his emotions, do crazy things. He swallowed hard.

  "Shane?" she asked softly, turning her head to look at him. The long black and red curls brushed his hand, and flames leaped from his fingers. She gasped but didn't move away, and Shane let his healing powers seek the bruise, soaking into her skin. It always amazed him to watch her bright red flames war with his; it was visible just below the surface. Because of his overzealous reaction to Ari, his healing spell was much more powerful than it should have been. For most people it would hurt, even as it healed. But Ari, after her initial gasp, didn't even flinch.

  Instead she turned her attention to Hunter. "Not gonna comment on me having an itty bitty bruised shoulder when you and Will and Shane all had gaping wounds?"

  Shane hid a smirk, remembering when Hunter had made that mistake, after yet another frustrating battle. It had been brutal and turned up no information as to where Charity might be. Hunter had asked Ari why she didn't fight as hard as they did. Will had threatened to deck him, but Ari had said nothing.

  Until the next battle, when she had dragged Hunter with her all over the building, and then trapped him between wards so all he could do was sit and watch her fight. After that, he had ceased asking her if she fought as hard as they did. He knew better.

  Now he just narrowed his eyes at her, sidestepping her question. "We didn't have gaping wounds."

  "Done. As much as you'll let me do. The rest is up to you." Shane pulled her shirt back into place, letting his hand linger on her collarbone as the backs of his fingers ran lightly across her skin.

  Ari gasped again, her dark brown eyes widening as her gaze flew up to meet his. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

  Will cleared his throat, the sound reverberating across the room, and Shane jumped away from her, casting a sheepish look over his shoulder. Will glared pointedly at Shane's hands. "Easy, Shane."

  Hunter just shook his head.

  "So what's next? Where do we go from here? Ari, did you get any information from that Edren before we lost him?" Hunter leaned forward, studying Ari with his light brown eyes like he was trying to read her mind. She just shook her head, rolling her shoulder as she stood up and walked to the window. Hunter's head bowed to his chest in disappointment.

  "Well, we heard rumors on our side of the building," Will started, and Shane nodded, anxious to share good news for once.

  "The Council has taken up residence in a high-end hotel in Los Angeles. We can go there and see what we find."

  "Do you know how many high-end hotels there are in Los Angeles?" Hunter huffed as he threw himself back against the couch, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

  "I'm guessing not a whole lot that have traces of Carules magic surrounding the place," Shane pointed out.

  Hunter's eyes lit up. "When do we leave?"

  "We can go first thing in the morning. It won't do us any good going when we're all exhausted," Will said. Hunter and Shane both glared furiously. Will ignored them. Ari, still standing at the window, said nothing.

  ****

  She was an Edren. A red-flame-throwing sorceress. Not just any Edren, she was the Edren Prodigy — the most powerful sorceress ever. Her entire destiny lay in finding the Carules, or blue-flame-throwing sorcerers, and killing their Prodigy. But that was a problem, because the nemesis she'd been hunting her entire life was Shane. And there wasn't a force on earth that could make her kill him. A stupid three hundred year old war? That was definitely not reason enough. A prophecy saying the only way to end the war was for one Prodigy to kill the other? It was ridiculous. All that mattered now was rescuing Charity from the Carules Council. After they did that, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to graduate from high school. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

  Chapter Two

  Charity lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The room wasn't bad. Pretty much the same as the rest of the hotel rooms she'd been in the last three months. The Council
didn't feel safe anywhere, and the impenetrable safe house they kept talking about wasn't finished yet. So they kept moving. And moving. And moving. Why she was treated so well, though, she didn't understand. She wasn't tortured. She wasn't starved. She wasn't questioned for hours on end, and someone had healed her broken arm after a few days of letting her suffer. Her room was a comfortable temperature, and most of the time she had cable. Besides the threat of dying from boredom, she was safe enough. She hoped.

  Charity would give anything to be able to let Shane know that. Her gift allowed her to see Hunter sometimes, and occasionally even Shane or Ari, although she shouldn't have been able to. Seers couldn't see the Prodigies, or so the Council had always said. But sometimes she could see them — see how desperately they searched for her, and see the insanely dangerous situations they threw themselves into trying to find even a sliver of information. Charity could feel their hopelessness through her visions, and wished with all of her heart that there was a way to let them know they didn't need to search so frantically. She would give anything to be able to reverse her gift somehow, to send them a thought or an image. I'm okay.

  Charity rolled off her bed, heaving herself to her feet and ambling over to the window. But within arm's reach, she was stopped by a ward, like always. Often, in her more desperate moods, Charity liked to throw herself against them over and over. Today, though, she only dropped her head against the invisible wall and sighed.

  She was still standing like that when the door to her hotel room opened behind her. "Miss Delyle. How are we today?" a male voice said, smooth like snakeskin. It made her skin crawl.

  She groaned, turning to face him. "We are not doing so great, Lewis. I want to go home." Lewis came into the room, settled himself gingerly on the bed and steepled his fingers under his chin as he stared at her.