Page 41 of Crown of Flame

Though I can offer the humans no food, I promise to return for them and tell them to be safe. This group appears even weaker than the one we liberated.

“Perhaps this will convince Serena of my loyalty,” I say to myself, secretly glad it was less trouble than I thought it would be.

I try to scan the book as I levitate it in front of me, turning the pages with my mind. But I can’t read any of this world’s languages, so it’s effectively gibberish to me.

“I found your book and freed the tower, just like you asked,” I tell her upon returning to the hovel. “But they’ll need food.”

Serena instructs me on where to find fylvek grass and rirzed herb, which I mash together into a powder. She consumes it, and we wait.

While she recovers, I retrieve food from nature to give to the survivors, even finding a far-off garden. The creature there has wings but still speaks intelligibly. In an unlikely pairing, he’s also settled down with a human woman, who helps me find what I need.

I marvel at the flowing river in front of their home, amazed at the variety of geographical features this world offers.

Serena rests peacefully when I return. As she sleeps, I sense a lot less distress in her and notice that her wounds are nearly gone.

“Hopefully, that was enough,” I muse to myself.

15

SERENA

“Thank you. Truly.”

I find myself surprised by this strange, fiery being. He could have easily abandoned me to the cold. In fact, it would have only been logical. What do I really mean to him?

Perhaps more than I thought. While he was nursing me back to health, he apparently accomplished a great deal, feeding the humans in the tower we liberated and even liberating two more.

The only thing that bothers me is that for some reason, I can’t find my mother’s amulet. I don’t want to accuse him of taking it from me, but I fell asleep with it mere days ago, and I haven’t been able to find it since.

“I didn’t evacuate all the towers,” he replies. “So if you want, you can still have your fun.”

The frozen wasteland is so much less foreboding by his side. In spite of my reservations, I should have realized how crucial he is to the cause. Now I can walk among the fields and tundras without worrying about freezing to death.

And before I met him, even when the people I loved were by my side, that was an impossibility.

But lately, he’s been sulking more than I remember.

“Are you okay?”

He looks back at me, not really engaging with me or seeing me like he usually does.

“I’m fine,” he confirms, though the way he says it contradicts his point.

“You don’t seem fine.”

He stops moving in his tracks, the snow melting underneath him and giving way to rubble.

“Oh, am I worthy of your kindness now that I’ve done what you asked?”

I try to meet his gaze, but he won’t look at me.

“Cinis, I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I wasn’t myself. I’ve been through a lot.”

He shakes his head, and the flames that break off him, which I used to find cute or alluring, now seem intimidating.

Something’s very different about him.

“Can you please talk to me and tell me what’s wrong, so we can work it out?”