Fan the Flame: The Elemental Gods Book Two by September Thomas

Author:September Thomas [Thomas, September]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2020-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

“We have one, maybe two days of water left.” Maat flung the broken end of a tent pole away in disgust. “Even if we had horses and we were able to push them harder, we’d still have a good five days ahead of us.”

Finn swore and Ryder threw his arms up as he stalked away. I pressed my fingers to my burning eyes and wished this were all some great nightmare I’d wake up from soon. My thirsty veins shriveled up even more.

Behind me, the flames of the funeral pyre lapped hungrily at the broken remnants of our camping supplies. Alongside it lay seven bodies covered in sheets. Six nero had given their lives in the fight against the ramalia. With a pang, I glanced at the smallest sheet and immediately wished I hadn’t. Wisp, one of the quieter pixies with a knack for fletching arrows, had died in Briar’s arms as she tried to stop the flow of blood from a gaping chest wound.

Rose swiped at the black lines of mascara trickling down her cheeks and clutched at Briar’s hand. “Basically we’re screwed, yeah? All that for nothing?”

Finn was still wrangling our animals. The ramalia had killed a few, but most had survived. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same for many of our supplies—of which many had gotten trampled or were missing. Joseph and I had thankfully gotten our bags back, though I really only cared about the copy of The Word he still hid.

“Not necessarily.” Maat leaned against his staff, the very one that I’d chucked at the Great Beast. He eyed me skeptically, the gem on his forehead flashing in the sun. Something about it drew me in now that I could see it in the daylight. I’d always sensed magic from the stones before, but had dismissed it as part of the powers inherent to the nero. Now I wasn’t so certain. Maat wasn’t the only one looking to me for answers. The other nero ranged from curious to resentful.

I splayed my fingers wide, shaking my head from my cross-legged position on the ground. I’d felt broken and beaten before the fight, now I was drained of everything except my desire to live. “I can only work with what I’m given. You already know there aren’t any tributaries nearby, the air is some of the driest I’ve ever felt, and while I can sense a reservoir below, I’m not able to reach it.”

It itched like mad, too, because I was so close I could practically taste the sweet, cool water.

Maat wasn’t giving up the good fight. “Maybe if you tried a little harder, dug a little deeper…”

“Not gonna happen.” My spine curved and I stared at my blood-speckled hands, then out over the battlefield where the corpses of the ramalia heated under the desert sun. Before long the stench would grow overwhelming. I hated what I was about to suggest and I met Maat’s hard expression head-on. “The only thing I can do is maybe, maybe purify what little liquid I can pull from the sand.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.