Chapter 13: Let It Burn

Ahead, The Ranges loom. Stretching like strokes across a painting – vivid, yet unreachable. Drinn cowers below, its distant streetlights clustering like a live flame. A mere speck in the valley, framed by the most expansive backdrop the universe has to offer.

My entire life fits inside that speck. Every worthwhile memory, every fleeting spark of light, outweighed by so many moments of darkness. It’s hard to grasp that something so big to me, my life, is held by something so small. I lift my thumb to the center of my vision and close one eye.

The twinkle slips away into darkness.

Maybe this is all just a painting and I'm the artist’s twisted muse, I think. How convenient that would be. The artist could tear up the page, or paint something brighter over my corners. Maybe that’s my best hope. To fade away quietly, waiting for someone else’s brush to sweep me from existence.

Snow crunches against leather soles, the world cracks underfoot. Three steps ahead, the cliffside waits. I pivot left, but something digs into my forearm. I wrench my neck back.

“Wait,” Leo mouths, his grip tight. He glances past me toward Rain, who’s already watching us from a few paces back. Past Leo’s shoulder, a weathered post leans crooked, “Death’s Door” scrawled in something red. Maybe blood.

I step closer to see, brushing past Leo’s shoulder. The cliff drops. Switchbacks swinging back and forth for eternity, each no wider than a boot. Below, spear-like rocks stand ready to catch those who wobble. My heart ricochets, then sinks to my feet.

“We’re taking Death’s Door into town,” Rain says, stepping forward until he’s level with us, his calm voice echoing below.

I shift toward the safer stretch of trail. “Not a chance. I’m cutting east and circling the valley. You two can do whatever you want.”

Rain’s eyes narrow. “You’ll end up directly in front of the Enforcers’ Northern post by sunrise. They’ll pull you for questioning. They won’t accept any excuse you give.”

“I can shave the hike in half if I jog,” I argue, flicking my gaze between them. “This trail is a death sentence. Read the sign.”

I point, but neither looks. Leo keeps his eyes on me, unreadable, while Rain folds his arms and exhales. “I’m not going to stop you. But if you don’t want to be behind bars by lunch, I suggest you listen to me. I can help you on this hike. I cannot help you in custody.”

We all stand there for a beat, the wind sliding between us. I weigh the dangers. This steep descent with two rebels I barely know, or waltzing directly into the Enforcers’ posting at dawn.

A rock snaps under Leo’s boot, making me jump. Rain steps closer to the edge, peering down as if sizing up the drop. At the end of this trail is reality, waiting for us to tip over its plank. I’m no one’s muse, and the painting of my life can’t be torn to bits. I’m in the open world, hovering above the most dangerous hike in the Western region – riddled with corpses from past attempts.

I step away from the edge. A gust of wind shoves me into Leo’s side; he steadies me with a quick grip before letting go. I’m doomed.

“If you don’t follow us, we don’t exist. This is your only chance,” Leo says, his voice cracking in the wind.

Drinn glows faintly below, people are starting to wake. Rain shifts his sack higher on his shoulder and lowers his hood. “We need to go. Keep your eyes on the path ahead. Never look down.”

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Leo crouches to tighten his laces, brushing snow from the tops of his boots, then smacks his cheeks. Rain plants a hand on the post for balance as he swings one leg over the first drop-off. My heart stops.

After a moment of adjusting his footing, he takes his first step with a limp I hadn’t noticed before. Arguably the most dangerous part. Starting.

Leo falls in behind him, glancing back at me once before following the narrow path. Rain is many things, but young and sprightly is not one of them. He grows smaller ahead, his head dropping deeper into the center of the world. I can’t do this hike. I know I can’t. But with the moonlight fading and the black sky turning gray, I may have no choice.

I approach the crooked sign, staring at the words one last time. The winds rage without a care in the world. Certainly not considering my journey ahead. I glance at The Ranges, lying dark and still. I need a sign. I need a…

A hand clamps over my mouth, yanking me backward. My boots skid across the snow before I crash into a wall of muscle. The air is knocked from my lungs.

“Let me go,” I demand, my voice muffled through the grip.

A low voice rasps in my ear. “Not another word.”

I thrash, screeching, “Help! Let go!” I slam my elbow back, but it thuds uselessly against steel.

It’s an Enforcer.

“Jo!” Leo’s voice echoes from far below. He’s too far. He can’t reach me.

The Enforcer’s arm is like a steel beam across my chest, his armor scraping against my cheek. His breath is foul, thick with rot. My heels dig into the snow, but he hauls me like I weigh nothing.

“I’m allowed to hike,” I grit out. “Let me go.”

“Don’t mistake me for a fool. You seekers take this path often. It was only a matter of time before one of you slipped.”

My breath catches. Is that true? Did they set me up to fail?

The blade at my neck presses deeper. Warm blood trails down my shoulder. My lungs heave. I force in the air, slow and deep, my mind scraping for any way out. I growl low in my throat at the steel biting my skin, the hands locking me in place. I am trapped. I am powerless.

He jerks my head back by the hair. My boots drag in a staggered rhythm as he pulls me toward the edge. Panic and fury surge together, and with them, heat. It swells in my veins, rising fast and hard. My father’s blade digs into my hip bone, cold against my burning skin.

“Fuck you!” I yell.

He freezes and glances down the edge. “Let’s have you join the others rotting below.”

My heart races, trying to outpace its demise. The ground tilts under my feet until all I see is darkness. I close my eyes and scream, the echoes traveling to places I’ve never been. For a moment, the world stops. I’m in the same darkness. Basking in its familiarity, ready to meet it for good. My heart slows, ready. Willing.

Then, a whisper.

“Find it,” it hisses. My mother’s voice.

One hesitant step, one moment of clarity, I inhale. The fire in my veins burns with the heat of a thousand suns, melting the flesh that binds me.

Then,

I wrench my arm free, draw my blade, and fling it backwards. Praying for the bite of steel in flesh.

It lands.

Fire floods my palms and pours into him. He jerks, choking on his own blood, eyes wide in shock. Flames race across his body, orange bleeding into black. The stench of burning flesh sears my throat, but I don’t look away.

I watch him crumble to ash.

~

The sun peers over the Ranges, a beam of light striking my chest. I draw in the warmth, then slide the blade into my waistband. My lungs open, the tightness gone, air flowing freely again. Heat still thrums in my veins, as if the fight is still happening somewhere inside me.

Mana, I say quietly. But how?

The question lingers like smoke I can't wave away.

I look down Death’s Door, the jagged trail sharper and less ominous in the light. Two figures, small as ants, move along the path. Rain and Leo made it.

The wind shifts, carrying the faint scrape of boots on rock, the rustle of a coat.

A voice breaks the air. Low. Calm.

“Jo?”

My heart lurches, then stops. The sound freezes me in place, as if the cliff has found a new way to hold me captive. I turn, my shadow stretching across the snow.

Colin.