Chapter 20 Light My Fire
Lyra
Jorin’s still injured, but that doesn’t really stop him from doing everything he needs to–even though it should. I’m constantly trying to get him to stop being so active, but he will not slow down, no matter what.
So… we are nearly ready for our next trap for Alpha Kaelen’s army hours before we expect the army to even start heading this way. I know from Bram that they should be coming through her today–if they are coming this way. If not, we will have lost our chance, and at least one pack will be decimated by an army they don’t see coming.
“This will work,” Jorin says, surveying what we’ve got set up for our enemy. “It has to.”
I can’t argue with him. We’ve worked harder this time than last time even because our plan had to be different. It had to be unexpected.
But this time, we will not go running away to hide to make sure we’re not found out. No, if I don’t give Bram plenty of warning, he’s going to die a horrible death. So… I am waiting until he is close enough for me to warn him. Then, we will run and hide and wait for the aftermath.
“I hope we don’t end up burning down the entire forest,” I murmur, not for the first time.
Jorin shakes his head and chuckles slightly. “I told you–with the rain, the rest of the woods will be wet enough not to catch, and we’ve spent hours building a mote. It’ll be fine. I wouldn’t risk the entire forest.
I nod and slump against a tree. Every few minutes, I send out a mind-link message to see if Bram is close enough, but so far, I haven’t gotten a response.
The smell of flammable liquid burns my nose. We’ve done our best to cover up the fluid we’ve doused a swath of the forest in, fluid we found in the destroyed village. We’ve also used a ton of dried out trees, hay, and other materials that will catch and spread toward the center of the area where we are hoping to catch the army. We had to make it a large area so that we can get the majority of the forces stuck inside of the flames.
The idea of burning Alpha Kalean alive makes me salivate.
“Anything from Bram yet?” Jorin asks, clutching his injured arm with his other hand out of habit.
“No, not yet,” I tell him. I hope we hear from him soon because I’m starting to worry. “I think we should use more of the skunk odor to cover our tracks, Jorin. I can still smell the fluid we used.”
“If we use too much skunk, they’ll get suspicious that rogues are waiting for them,” he points out, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
He’s not wrong. “Is there something else we can use? Maybe some kind of a strong floral?”
He scratches his chin, considering my words. Across from us, little white flowers rain down from a large blooming tree. There are a lot of them here in this part of the forest, but not a couple of hundred yards away where the road we are expecting the army to use cuts through what we’re calling the danger zone.
“What about those?” I ask him. “If Bram isnt close enough to hear my mind-link yet, we’ve got time to collect a ton of those flowers and sprinkle them through the first part of the danger zone they’ll cross into.”
“What if Bram just isn’t coming with them, and they’re just down the road from here?” he counters.
I can’t imagine Bram not coming with them. If he’s alive and well, he’ll be here, unless Alpha Kaelen discovered he’s been helping us. But Alpha Kaelen is an idiot, so I doubt that’s the case. “He’ll be here,” I tell Jorin, but he’s put an ounce of doubt in my mind that’s making me nervous. “Besides, even if he’s not, we’ll hear and smell them coming in time for us to get out of here.”
Without another word, Jorin gets up, with a groan, and walks over to the flowers. I get up, too, and we work together to gather as many as we can, storing them in our backpacks and then carrying them over and spreading them out. It’s taking a while, running back and forth, and after an hour or two, I am getting nervous that we’re going to get caught, even though I’ve heard nothing from Bram yet.
About two hours into our operation, the situation is looking promising. White flowers cover the ground, their scent masking the fuel smell. But they won’t keep the ground from burning once we light it on fire. Timing is everything. We have to start the fire at the perfect time to trap everyone inside.
“Bram? Where are you? Are you coming?” I try again.
This time… I get an answer. It’s faint, but I hear him. “We are about ten miles west of the green pass trail,” he says. “Do you know where that is?”
“I do,” I say. That means they’re only six miles from us. “Listen, when you get to turkey hill, you’ll cross over a small stream. Only a few feet after that, you’ll start to see a lot of white flowers on the ground. We are going to set a fire in a circle from that point a half mile up the road. You will need to do what you can to get out because the fire will already be started before you get here so it has time to trap everyone.”
“A fire?” he asks. “Holy fuck, Lyra. What if you burn the forest down?”
“That’s what the stream is for. It’s a moat. Just… don’t get trapped in there, okay? Where are you in the column?”
“I’m at the front. If I get out, some of the others will get out, and the army is almost a mile long, so you might want to just wait until I am there to start the fire.”
I consider what he’s saying. It makes sense. We’ll still get a big hunk of the army, even if the leading forces get out. “All right. Tell me when you get there.”
“Will do, and Lyra, be careful. If you get caught…”
“We won’t get caught,” I say with no doubt.
Jorin is further into the woods dropping the last flowers we have to sprinkle. “They’re six miles out,” I tell him.
HIs eyes widen. “All right then. I’ll run over and light the western perimeter.”
“We need to wait,” I argue. “Bram is at the front of the column. We can give him a chance to get out and still catch a huge amount of them inside of the ring.”
“That’s only if we time everything perfectly, Lyra. We need to get it lit now. They’ll be here before we know it. We might miss the entire army!”
“Jorin, if we burn Bram….”
“That’s a risk we have to take, and he knows it,” Jorin argues.
This is a side of him I haven’t ever seen. “I think we should wait.”
“And I think we’re wasting time. “You do what you want, but I’m going to light my side. Now.” With that, he turns and runs, shifting mid-air, and I know I can’t stop him.
“Bram, Jorin’s lighting the west side first. I can’t stop him. It’ll be burning by the time you get here. It’ll be far enough out that you won’t smell it right away, but don’t run that way.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “All right. Thanks for the warning. Do what you have to, Lyra. I’ll find a way to get out.”
All I can say in response is, “You’d better.”
With that, I take a deep breath and run to the area I need to light the first flame in. My heart is beating out of my chest. If I end up killing Bram, someone I love in more ways than I’m willing to acknowledge, I don’t know what I’ll do.