Xi boa's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

The pendant pulled Xi boa toward the peaks, but it showed no path. It only pointed. One wrong turn could carry him miles from where the flame last burned. The fox padded beside him, her purple tails dimmer now. "The jade knows direction," she said. "It does not know your feet. Choose well." He climbed until the trail split three ways. Left, center, right. The center dropped into a gorge. The right vanished into loose scree. The left ran smooth and wide, the safe choice. Xi boa checked the pendant. Its gold still pulled past the peaks. The left path aimed closest. He took it. The trail opened onto a flat shelf of stone. A man stood at its center, waiting. Black horns curled from his white hair. His golden eyes found Xi boa and held. Xi boa stopped breathing. He knew this face. He had known it since he was a boy. Drago, the Dragon Lord, whose bloodline had warred with his own before either of them drew breath. "You followed the stone here," Drago said. "You should have turned back." "Move," Xi boa said. "The path is mine." "Nothing on this mountain is yours." Drago raised one hand. "Your line already lost it once." Fire fell from above. It poured down in a sheet, roaring, straight at Xi boa's head. He threw up both arms and called his own flame. A shield of phoenix fire bloomed over him, red against the gold. It held for one breath. Then it cracked. Drago's fire punched through and struck Xi boa full in the chest. The blow lifted him off his feet. He hit the stone and slid, the pendant burning hot against his skin. Smoke curled from his sleeves. He pushed up on one arm. Drago walked toward him, unhurried, golden eyes flat. "The flame is not for you to find," Drago said. "I will not say it twice." Xi boa tried to stand and fell again. His vision swam. He reached for more fire and found only embers. Then a new flame crossed the shelf. Purple, bright, fast. It slammed into Drago's side and drove him back three steps. A woman landed between them, feet planted, a blade of violet fire in her hand. Dark hair spilled over armor marked with a phoenix in gold. Her eyes burned purple, the same shade as the fox's tails. "Dragon Lord," she said. "Step away from him." Drago studied her. "Another phoenix. The peaks grow crowded." He lowered his hand. The fire died. "Keep your king, then. He will not reach the flame." He turned and walked into the rocks, and the heat went with him. The woman knelt beside Xi boa. "You took the easy road," she said. "He waits on the easy roads." She pulled him upright. "My name is Azara. I carry a relic of the flame, like yours. And I know the only safe way up this mountain."