Melting Stones (Circle Reforged) by Tamora Pierce

Author:Tamora Pierce [Pierce, Tamora]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic Books
Published: 2010-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

12

The Quartz Trap

It took me a long time to track the traces of their magic until I ran into Flare and Carnelian. When I had noticed those bubbles in the pond, then seen their power under it, I had been afraid they were close to the surface.

Both of them had kept their humanlike shape and seeming. I hoped that was a good thing.

Where were you? Flare circled me so fast I began to spin like a top. We looked all over the chamber but you were gone! We thought you had left us with everyone old.

Why did you go? We know you did. We didn’t like it. Carnelian stared at me. The stone around us softened and dripped down the sides of the crack where we drifted.

You almost crushed me up there. Although we were deep underground, I somehow knew where Mount Grace was. I pointed to it. I’m not like you. You have to see that. You nearly killed me. Of course I ran away. If you start trying to crush me against this roof here, I’ll leave again, I promise. You’re big and strong. I’m not. I have a right to preserve my life.

We couldn’t crush anybody here. The roof is weak, can’t you tell? There’s more bounce. Flare pushed the stone over us with his arms. It didn’t bounce, though parts of it melted away. I think it bounces. If we push…

The shimmering waves around him streamed into the thin crack in the stone. That was the poisoned air, I knew. It would speed to the surface far in advance of him, bubbling into the pond. Could it widen the crack and open the way for Carnelian and Flare?

I didn’t think Nory would like it if a volcano, or even a slowly leaking lava flow, came up out of Oswin’s pond.

Maybe if I help. Carnelian rose to put her shoulders against the crack. It widened under her pressure. More poisoned air rose into it.

I felt heat rise below us. I looked down. At the far end of the crack, where it entered the underground chamber, the others had noticed something was going on. A handful of them had swum up to stare at us. I had to get Flare and Carnelian out of here. The others might not follow if we moved quick enough. They weren’t as curious as these two. I wished I could get Luvo down here with his big noise. Luvo could teach them!

Luvo. Teaching. I thought of the crystals I had seen, the ones whose strength I had borrowed. Something about Luvo teaching crystals…

That morning on the mountain, above the canyon of the dead trees. Luvo was telling Jayat about the new line of power. He was saying it might be a trap for a mage, because of all the quartz crystals around it. The crystals would grab power and reflect it inside themselves. They would be a maze for magic. I might have a trap for my new friends. Of course, it would only work if pride wasn’t something common only to humans.

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