Chapter 261: One a Day

The guards nearest the Hearthfire had stepped back.

Their spears stayed lowered, but there was more room around Ren than there had been a moment ago. Beyond them, the smiths had stopped working. The elder watched him across the platform, and nobody seemed willing to move first.

Ren backed away from the great blue flame, then turned toward the outer platforms. Spear followed him across the bridges.

Behind them, Hearth opened its mouth.

Small blue lights drifted out of the housemaw, and the Tidefire began coming forward. A few stopped short of its open doorway until their Cinders emerged; then they gathered the little flames against their water-bodies and carried them away. Ren kept walking so they would not have to pass close to him.

The injured guard was still on the outer platform, with Balm spread against its chest.

Ren crouched beside it. The shoulder had stopped sagging, and the arm that had been dripping into the sea now held its shape. When the guard shifted, it could brace itself on that hand without the elbow giving way.

Its flame was no bigger than before.

He watched it through the blue water, then checked where the moss clung to the damaged body. Balm had steadied what remained, but the part of the Heartflame the raiders had eaten was still missing.

Ren left the moss where it was.

Spear touched his sleeve and pointed beyond the last bridge.

[INTENT: HELP.]

Out across the black water, a bare rock rose above the surface. Ren could make out movement on it, though the drifting fires made it difficult to see much else.

"Yours?"

Spear answered with a short burst of the steam-and-stone sound and pointed again.

[CONCEPT: YOUNG.]

[CONCEPT: HURT.]

Ren looked back at the guards. Several were helping the wounded off the bridges; the others watched the water with their spears ready. Whatever was happening out there, the settlement had nobody free to deal with it.

"Okay. Show me."

He took Ward, Keep, Snap, and Hearth. Ward would carry them across, Keep would maintain the link, and Snap could cover the rescue while Hearth sheltered the young.

The rest stayed at the settlement. Riptide settled near the outer platforms, and Bolt finished another circuit before turning back toward the guards.

Ren waited until Keep was settled on Ward’s back, then stood where the small group could see him.

"Ward, if I go down, you’re in charge. Spear knows the way back. Hearth takes the little ones. Nobody waits for me."

Agreement reached him through the link, a little late.

"Get them to the Tide Hearth first. Once they’re safe, bring Keep home. The others stay with the settlement. I’ll meet you at the arch."

He climbed onto Ward beside Keep. Spear slipped into the water ahead of them, with Hearth following behind.

Spear kept close enough to point out the broken stone beneath the surface. Ward passed around it, giving Hearth room to follow. Ren watched the route as they went; bringing the injured back would be harder if they had to turn around in a narrow gap.

— • —

There had been a post on the rock.

The remains of its huts stood around a courtyard-sized shelf, their walls broken low enough for Ren to see across them. Five Cinders huddled at the far end. A Tidefire guard lay nearby with half its body spread over the stone.

A golden-white ring enclosed them.

One of the Cinders drifted toward the edge, touched the light, and jerked back. The injured guard tried to lift itself, but its arm collapsed beneath it.

Beside the rock stood a tall, narrow Pyreborn. Golden-white light formed its body, bright enough that Ren had to narrow his eyes. Its chest shone most strongly, while a separate flame floated on the water behind it.

Its Lawfire. It had left that to stand watch over the rock.

[RACE: PYREBORN.]

[HEARTFLAME: DAWNFIRE.]

[HEARTFLAME GRADE: PYRE.]

[LAW COMPOSITION: FIRE / LIGHT.]

[DANGER TO HOST: SEVERE.]

Ren looked from the Dawnfire to the five Cinders. It had them trapped, and it was making no attempt to help the guard. Another captive group waiting for the raiders, by the look of it.

Spear made a sharp sound beside Ward. The Dawnfire turned toward them but stayed between the rock and its floating flame.

Ren slid into the shallows along the shelf.

"Hearth, the far end. Spear, get ready to take the guard."

He moved toward the ring while Ward drew alongside the rock. Snap stayed near the water, its claw raised.

Ren released a broad rush of his own sea across the golden line. Light flared beneath the cold water, then a section of the barrier broke apart. Hearth opened its mouth beyond the gap, and the Cinders hurried toward it.

The Dawnfire attacked.

Golden flame swept across the shelf. Ren raised water to meet it, and steam billowed between them as the two struck. Behind him, Spear reached the injured guard and got an arm beneath its shoulders.

Ren pushed forward through the steam, his hand forming a blade with a thin line of Death along its edge.

The strike split the Dawnfire’s body from shoulder to ribs. It staggered sideways, leaving the Heartflame in its chest exposed through the split.

Snap was approaching from the other side of the shelf. Ren could see its raised claw through the thinning steam, but the Dawnfire’s body was still turned away from its shot.

Ren turned his blade toward the split.

The Dawnfire moved to intercept him, and its chest brightened.

Gravebloom opened across Ren’s raised arms. Something struck the flowers before he could see a beam or follow its path, and heat burned through to his skin. Petals broke into ash and scattered across the water.

Light.

He tried to bring his water up in front of him, but the Dawnfire’s chest was already brightening again.

The second strike hit before another layer of flowers could cover him.

Ren looked down at the hole in his chest, and his legs gave way.

— • —

[CAUSE OF DEATH: SUNBURN.]

[REVIVALS REMAINING TODAY: ZERO.]

He woke among his mother’s flowers with a hand pressed to his chest.

Whole. His fingers moved up to the seed-torc, checking it before he had properly caught his breath. He lay there for a moment, feeling his heartbeat beneath his palm while the second panel remained in front of him.

Zero.

That had been his one revival for the day. Another death before the reset would be final.

He reached for Keep.

The connection had been slow throughout the crossing, but it had worked. Now he could not find it at all. Ren tried again as he sat up, searching for the familiar presence among the others linked to him.

Still nothing.

Ward and Snap had been close to the rock. Hearth had its mouth open for the Cinders, and Spear had reached the guard. That was the last he knew.

Ren got to his feet and headed for the northern shore.

At the arch, he slowed. He wanted to go straight through, but he had already told Ward what to do. Get the wounded to Tide protection, then bring Keep home. They would be moving away from the fight if the withdrawal was working.

Going back immediately would take him toward the rock before he knew whether anyone was still there.

He stopped beside the arch. He would give them time to reach the settlement and send Keep back. If they failed to return, he could decide where to look with his revival already spent.

The water washed over his boots while he waited. Once he caught himself reaching for the link again and let it go. Behind him, the Worldroot kept its familiar glow. Kaia was quiet.

He watched the entrance, trying to judge how long the journey should take with an injured guard and five Cinders. Hearth would be slower carrying them. Spear would have to lead it between the platforms.

He had begun wondering whether to cross when Ward came through.

— • —

The whale’s grey back filled the arch, with Keep still riding above the water. As they cleared the entrance, the connection returned.

Ren waded toward them.

"Where’s Hearth?"

Keep sent him the Tide Hearth’s platforms, with Spear standing beside the housemaw as the Cinders came out. The injured guard lay on the stone nearby, surrounded by blue figures.

Ren let out a breath and reached for Ward.

The old welt on its flank was uncovered because Balm was still treating the other guard. He checked along it and found no fresh damage, then rested his hand against the whale’s brow.

"You got them back. Good."

Ward held still while Ren looked over the rest of its side. Above him, Keep shifted, and he climbed far enough onto Ward’s back to check the pale plant. Nothing appeared broken or burned. He ran a finger along its edge before getting down again.

Snap followed through the arch, holding a golden-white coal in one claw.

Ren wrapped his hand in cold water and held it out. The cellarclaw released the Ember into his palm. It was about the size of a plum, and it continued burning inside the water.

He set it on the wet sand.

"Let me see that claw."

Snap opened it again. Ren checked the shell and the joint, then let it close. There was no crack, and the movement was normal.

Only then did he turn to the rest of what Keep was sending.

The impressions came in fragments. Ren falling beside the shelf. The Dawnfire turning after him, its damaged body still between the rescuers and the open water. In its chest, the Heartflame lay exposed where Ren’s strike had split the body open.

Snap had taken the opening.

A shot struck the exposed Heartflame, and the bright body broke apart before it could turn back toward Hearth. Ward stayed beside the shelf while Spear helped the injured guard onto its back. Snap recovered the Ember, then followed them out.

Ren looked at the cellarclaw, which was settling into the shallows beside Ward.

"Good shot."

He had seen the exposed flame himself and thought he could reach it. He had given the Dawnfire enough time to strike twice instead.

Keep’s next impression brought him back to the evacuation: Spear guiding Hearth toward the settlement, Ward carrying the guard, the damaged bridges ahead of them. The others had stayed at their posts while the wounded were brought in.

Ren waited with Ward until Hearth returned.

The housemaw came through with its mouth empty. He walked around it, checking its sides, then leaned toward the doorway. There was no sign that the Dawnfire’s attacks had reached the inside.

"All five?"

Keep confirmed it through the link, along with the guard being lifted from Ward’s back. All six had reached the Tide Hearth alive.

Ren rested a hand on Hearth’s doorframe, then stepped aside so it could settle farther along the beach.

— • —

The golden-white Ember still burned where he had left it.

Ren picked it up with water covering his palm and opened his storage. The red Ember from the first encounter was there, along with the four Devourfire embers from the raid. Their Devouring trait remained listed beside them.

He placed the new one alongside the others.

[LAW EMBER ACQUIRED: 1.]

[TYPE: DAWNFIRE.]

[CONTAINS: FIRE / LIGHT.]

[ENDLESS GRAFT COMPATIBLE.]