Neovina Lantis's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Inside the cave, the male Cinder's flame shrank. Neovina watched the red circle pull tight around them. His cracked coal skin dimmed. The fire in his chest guttered like a candle in wind. Behind her, the winged spirit's ember was almost out. Two fires dying at once. When both went dark, the black water would swallow them whole. She needed a new source of flame, and fast. "Cinder," she said. "How long?" "Not long," the male Cinder said. He held up a hand and studied the light through his own fingers. "Turns out coal burns. Who knew." The winged spirit drifted to the wall. Cinder Ashwing pressed her burning palm flat against the black stone. "Wait," she said. Her voice cut sharp. "Feel that." The rock under her hand was warm. Neovina swam close and touched the wall. Heat. Faint, but there. She dug her fingers into a seam and pulled. A slab of stone came loose. Behind it sat a small chamber, and inside rested a golden compass with an emerald face. Its needle glowed. When she lifted it, warmth spread into her palm. The warmth reminded her of the shell she once held. "This is old work," she said. "Left here on purpose." Then a new voice spoke. "That's a firekeeper's compass." A merman rose from a crack in the cave floor, one Neovina had not seen enter. His skin was black ink. His tail burned ruby red. Fire tattoos wrapped his arms. He looked at the dying fires and his jaw tightened. "You're letting them go out. Both of them." "And you are?" Neovina asked. She gripped the compass and put herself between him and Cinder. "Pyros Ember. I carry the flame." He nodded at the tattoos. "Last one who does." He reached toward the winged spirit. Cinder Ashwing bared her teeth. "The compass finds heat under stone. There's a vent below us. Feed her to it, or she's ash." Neovina looked at the compass needle. It no longer pointed at directions. It pointed down, into the cave floor, where the warmth was strongest. "He's right," Cinder Ashwing said. She hated saying it. Neovina could see that. Neovina made the choice. She followed the needle to a narrow crack and pried it wide. Hot water poured up, thick with the smell of ash. Cinder Ashwing dove into it. Her ember flared. Her wings snapped open, bright again. The male Cinder pressed close to the vent and drank the heat. His chest cracks flooded with light. The red circle grew until it filled the cave. Neovina breathed. They had flame now. But the vent's glow lit the far wall. Frost-veined black stone climbed high, threaded with icy crystals. Mermaid statues stood frozen in the rock, mouths open in silent screams. Their faces looked like hers. Pyros stared at them. "So this is where they ended up," he said quietly.