Meraud emerged from around a corner as they made their way down to the refectory.
“It’s late to be about,” Meraud said.
“We’re just looking for some food,” said Donnan.
“Go through the refectory to the kitchens. Take what you like.”
“Thank you,” said Kaetha. Meraud bowed and walked away. “Wait. You’re chosen by Water.” Meraud turned, stepping into a pool of light from a lantern set into the wall. It held the same kind of white flames as the hearth in their chamber and gave Meraud’s face a spectral paleness.
“I am.”
“I know someone else like you. She can see where people are. The water helps her. My stepmother’s name is Mairi Baird. Can you find her in that way?”
“I have tried, I assure you. I see nothing that will help. You must be patient.”
“Well, we’re going to leave tomorrow anyway. I’m sure we’ll find her,” said Kaetha.
“Of course,” said Meraud. “You may leave whenever you wish.”
The creaking grunts of a ptarmigan woke Kaetha. Morning light streamed into the room and Kaetha got up, pleased to see her old clothes clean and dry on her bed. She dressed and laced up her boots.
Back on the canopied walkway, Donnan aimed and threw a stone down the rugged mountainside.
“Alright, Roddie. Best of three?”
“Alright Donnie!” chuckled the boy.
“Donnan?” she called.
She made him jump as he threw his next stone and Roddie laughed.
“That one doesn’t count,” he said as he left the lad to his stone throwing. “So, we’re going now?”
“I think we’ll need to take people with us, to get through the stone barrier of the cave tunnel. I’ll find out and meet you back here.”
No one was in the refectory and only silent ones were in the kitchen. Her footsteps echoed through the empty, great hall. Heaving the door open, she walked into the swirling wind outside.
“Deorsa?”
He turned around with a smile and a bow. “Kaetha. How is your hand?”
Preoccupied as she’d been, she hadn’t even inspected it herself this morning, only realising now that it hadn’t hurt to use it as before.
“Just a little tender,” she said, holding it out, noticing that the blisters had gone down. It startled her when Deorsa cradled her hand in his. Her eyes shot to his face and she drew her hand away.
“It’s healing well,” he said.
“Donnan and I are leaving shortly. Will we need silent— that is, Appointed ones in order to get out of the tunnel?”
“I can manage that for you.” Her gaze shifted uncomfortably as he studied her face. “Perhaps, before you go though, you might wish to talk with Naru about his search yesterday?” He descended a staircase. “Follow me.”
He led her to another walkway, lined by a shallow wall, little protection from the sheer drop below. Ahead was what looked like a natural cave. Kaetha gasped as roaring flashes of firelight lit up the rocks around the arched entrance. “What the—” she breathed. The scales, claws and teeth of a dragon carved into the mountainside caught her eye. “There’s no such thing as dragons, is there?”
Deorsa grinned. “There’s a whole herd of them in that cave. Go and see.”
As she peered inside, a blaze of fire circled the ceiling. Silent ones sat around the walls. When the fire went out, she blinked, seeing swirling patterns in her vision.
“I call them dragons anyway,” said Deorsa.
One by one, flames of different colours sprang into being, hovering in the air before each person. She walked into the cave. Naru approached, walking down the middle of the cave, bowing his head in greeting to Kaetha. He joined Deorsa outside but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. An exasperated sigh made her turn. A young silent one gritted her teeth, her flame sputtering and shrinking, as tired as she appeared to be. Then, she reached out to touch the lichen growing on the cave wall. The lichen turned brown and dry, dying, whilst her fire flared healthy and strong again. Even she seemed brighter eyed and more alert now but when Naru loomed beside her, she snatched her hand away from the wall.
“I did not give you permission to draw from other living things, Innes,” he said.
Innes bowed her head humbly and returned her attention to her fire. Kaetha thought about how she had drawn energy from the sea in order to free Tam. She hadn’t known that energy could also be drawn from living things too. Naru clapped twice. And the flames from the basins shot up, twisting into pillars of emerald green. Kaetha’s mouth hung open and Naru clapped again, the fires shrinking again.
“What do you think?” he asked her.
“It’s beautiful. But what’s the purpose of such tricks? To entertain people?”
Naru’s smile showed his gapped teeth. “No, Kaetha. Control over the flames is what the Appointed are practising today. It is not a performance but an exercise. Control is necessary in order to direct the gift effectively in its more practical uses. Deorsa tells me that, like the rest of us in this room, you are Chosen by Fire.”
“So he—?”
“Sensed your gifts, aye. Those with Earth magic can do that. I could teach you, if you are willing. Train you the ways of Fire.”
“I didn’t come here for a lesson, I came here to ask you about your search for my stepmother,” she said, hurrying along after him.
“I was unlucky.” He stopped. “At one point I found a trail of paw prints which might have been from the dog you spoke of, but the tracks ended near the village of Doocot and we lost the trail.”
Kaetha affected a puzzled look, considering that Tam had probably shifted from dog to squirrel. “Thank you. Donnan and I will be leaving soon. We’ll start by looking near the village.”
“I’m sorry I
