Chapter 45 Arrival at Cindercrest
Chapter 45 Arrival at Cindercrest
“MIRA!” Jax shouted, turning as he searched for her. “MIRA, WHERE ARE YOU?”
Leaves rustled behind him, and footsteps sounded just beyond the woodline. A twig snapped, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone stumbling to the ground.
“Shit… ah… that really hurt,” Mira muttered. “Who put that branch there?” A short laugh followed. “I’m still naked. If Jax sees me like this, I’ll die.”
Hearing her voice, he sat back down and pretended he had not heard anything at all. He let his focus drift again, hoping the turtle’s voice would return.
It did not.
“You let your guard down, Jax.”
Mira tackled him, sending both of them crashing back into the water. After that, neither of them seemed in much of a hurry to move.
They drifted through the hot spring, hands clasped beneath the surface, each stubbornly looking anywhere but at the other.
“Why’d you run off? I was yelling for you, you know,” he said, reaching his free hand toward the stone edge.
“‘Mira… where are you?’” she mimicked, trying to make her voice sound like his. She even made it crack a few times before breaking into laughter.
“Yes, Jax, I definitely heard you. I literally told you I was going to go pee.”
Pushing herself upright and stepping out of the water, she grabbed her clothes and began to get dressed.
“Jax, if you look right now, I’m going to hurt you.”
She pulled up her bottoms and fastened them, then slipped on her slim-fit top.
“Okay. You’re free to get dressed.”
“Why’d you make me wait naked, jerk?” Jax grumbled under his breath. “I would’ve stayed in the warm water if I knew you were going to threaten me.”
The last few words forced a smirk onto his face.
“We shouldn’t be far from the village. Want to eat lunch and head out?” he said, pulling two loaves of bread from his satchel.
“You know me so well. Food and adventure.” She took the bread and broke off a large chunk. “Let’s finish this journey.”
Without warning, Mira shot up and past Jax, frost trailing behind her and freezing the ground beneath her feet.
“You better catch up,” she yelled over the sound of her footsteps.
“That damn girl…” he muttered, shoving the last of his bread into his mouth and hauling up his bags. “Don’t just run off, you crazy woman. Wait for me!”
Like lightning, he shot forward, bursts of stone and waves of vibration propelling him ahead.
They emerged into a clearing where the road widened and flattened, lined with dark rocks on either side. A large wooden sign stood neatly at the crossing.
Cindercrest Village.
Pinned around the sign were scorched slips of paper, most too weathered to read. The few that remained legible all carried the same notice.
A quest to kill a feral Blazeback.
A faded drawing on one of them depicted a hulking, bull-like beast with flames pouring from its nape. Three horns crested its massive head.
The thing looked built for destruction.
“I sure hope we don’t run into that thing,” Mira said, studying the drawing. “It looks like a pain in the ass to kill.”
Beyond the sign and the cliffs, black smoke billowed into the sky. Ash drifted with the wind in dirty gray streaks across the road. A moment later, screams began to echo from somewhere ahead.
People were panicking.
“Jax—” She turned toward the village, dropping into a blitz stance. “We have to help them.”
Then she launched forward without waiting for his answer.
“Is that… Ana? What is she doing here?” Jax said aloud, astounded by the sight of her flying overhead. Each of her strikes produced a sharp metallic slap, loud enough for him to hear even from the sign.
He ran after Mira at once. Smoldering buildings flashed past as he crossed into the village, and by the time he caught up to her, he found himself in the middle of the chaos.
“Stone Shield!”
An instant later, a thick stone wall rose in front of Ana, blocking a strike from the Blazeback.
“Why did you fly here?” Mira blurted out. “How did you— dang it, you had to fly, didn’t you?” she finished, pouting at the small-framed woman.
“You haven’t figured out how to do it yet?” Ana asked, levitating higher. The force of it sent Mira’s hair whipping around wildly. “I was sure you’d find a way.”
She winked at Jax before darting away. “Good to see you again.”
A clash of steel echoed a moment later.
“Bahaha—you young kids seem to have this under control,” someone yelled, his voice deep enough to reverberate through Jax’s chest. “Thanks for the help. This guy’s been causing mayhem for… well, a really long time.”
“Ope, watch out, miss.”
The man lunged forward, fire coating his fist as he drove it into the beast’s head. One of its horns snapped off as it staggered back.
“Jax, force its front legs into the ground,” Mira shouted, her breath fogging when she spoke. “Big weird guy, when its head dips, punch it with all you’ve got.”
“Roger,” the man said, fire flaring back up as he crouched low. “Ready!”
Jax slammed his hands down, sending a shockwave through the stone and dirt. The Blazeback’s front feet sank deep before the ground hardened in an instant.
“Now that’s some fine magic, kid!” the man shouted, fire surging higher around his arm. “Keep it there!”
“Hugh!”
A blazing fist crashed into the beast’s lowered head, snapping it back so hard the hardened ground around its legs cracked from the force.
Following close behind, Mira came in with her entire blade sheathed in ice. The weapon had grown noticeably longer, sharpened by the dense mana in the air, and she aimed for a decisive killing blow.
Ana dropped from above at the same moment, using a burst of downward force to drive the beast’s balance even farther off center. The Blazeback lurched under the combined pressure.
Mira took the opening.
Then one of its remaining horns whipped sideways and caught her mid-lunge, scraping hard across her abdomen and cutting through the fabric of her armor.
“Mira!” Jax shouted.
She hit the ground and slid, one hand clamped over her side. The Blazeback tore against the stone holding its legs, smoke pouring from its nape as it lowered its head toward her.
“Oh, no you don’t,” the big man said.
Fire surged up both of his arms, bright enough to warp the air around him. He planted one foot, rolled his shoulder once, and glanced toward Jax with a grin.
“Kid, that earth magic of yours is nasty. Hold it there.”
Jax slammed his hands down again. Stone tightened around the beast’s front legs just as Ana dropped from above, driving a burst of force into its spine and forcing its head lower.
The man moved.
One step. Then a streak of flame.
He appeared beneath the Blazeback’s lowered skull with his fist already drawn back, fire compressed so tightly around it that it had gone nearly white.
“Eat this, you bastard!”
The punch landed like a cannon blast.
Flame erupted through the beast’s head, blasting upward in a pillar of fire and shattered bone. The force snapped its neck back and tore the rest of the way through. Its body convulsed once before crashing sideways, dead before it hit the ground.
The man straightened as the last of the fire peeled off him.
“Well,” he said, glancing back at the three of them, “that oughta calm things down.”
Villagers began to emerge from behind carts and half-shuttered doorways, staring at the corpse in the road.
Mira straightened with a wince, one hand pressed over the tear in her armor. “Told you,” she muttered toward Jax. “Pain in the ass to kill.”
A shaky laugh broke the silence.
Jax stood there breathing hard, Mira at his side, Ana brushing soot from her sleeve, and the corpse of the Blazeback cooling at their feet.
Cindercrest no longer felt distant.
It felt like the next place their lives were about to change.