My first clue that we didn’t hit the mountain was the lack of a bone-crunching splat. The second was a little more subtle—our screams echoed back at me. I’d missed it because my eyes were shut, but we must have flown into a cavern or tunnel or something.
No, that wasn’t right either. I think we were somehow inside the mountain.
Everything was pitch-black; the only light came from my flaming hair. The sinking in the pit of my stomach told me that we were headed down. I saw a warm, red glow bouncing off the walls ahead. The closer we got, the hotter the temperature.
Please, Grimm, don’t let us be traveling to the pits of hell.
The rocky chute ended abruptly, dumping us into a surreal new world. My first thought was, There is no way all of this could fit inside of a mountain. My second was, Of course it has to be made up almost completely of fire.
“When visiting a neighboring kingdom, a proper princess must always be impeccably attired, with never a hair out of place. If you are having a bad hair day, stuff it under one of those pointy cone hats.”
—Mrs. Butterwing’s Guide to Proper Princesses
17
A Whole New Hotter World
A river of bubbling lava bisected the ground. On the right half was a meadow of sorts. Bright flowers bloomed up from the solid obsidian ground. Not your ordinary tulips though. These blossoms reminded me of the fireworks the kingdom shot off on festival days. They glowed and crackled, making starbursts of colorful flames—red, blue, purple, yellow, orange, white…every color but green.
What exactly did you call a large group of chimeras? A flock? A parliament? A pride? Whatever you called it, that’s what was on the other side of the lava flow—lots and lots of chimeras. With their overgrown wings tucked around them, they reminded me of nesting birds, except their nests looked like giant hearths. Great rings of glowing red embers made the perfect bed for a chimera apparently.
Most of them were sleeping, and I was all about letting sleeping chimeras lie. If Kato’s penchant for eating everything that wasn’t nailed down was a common chimera trait, then I didn’t want to be close at hand when they awoke for supper.
Luckily, our ride banked off to the right, coasting to a stop amid the colorful blooms. I slid down his back, anxious to be on solid ground again.
“Dot, wait!” Kato shouted right as my feet squished one of the blooms.
When I craned my neck to look up at him, he was staring at the flowers, aghast. My silver slippers reflected the light from the fire blossoms. “Sorry,” I said. “Are they important?”
Kato flapped down to me awkwardly. He was still getting used to the whole flying bit. “You shouldn’t be able to stand. Fire flowers are thousands of degrees. No human can survive them.”
“Nice of you tell me now as opposed to before I hopped off into a floral minefield.” But I couldn’t be too mad, since I was no worse for wear. “My toes feel a little warm, but that’s it.” I picked up my feet, one at a time, and looked down at my ruby-soled heels. They were top quality, but I’m pretty sure they weren’t designed with heat resistance in mind. They had been a gift from Verte. Maybe she’d added a little something extra to the original design.
I looked them over with a whole new appreciation. “Enchanted shoes. Awesome.”
Rexi had stopped screaming herself hoarse the minute Kato yelled, “Wait!” Now she stepped out of Bob’s paws and walked lightly on tippy toes around the fiery meadow. Then she bopped Kato on the nose the moment he got within range.
Kato flinched from the blow. “Ow! You can’t do that to me in my own kingdom.”
“Yes, I can. Because you keep trying to kill me. First, you dangle me like a worm from a giant bird’s beak, and now you drop me down someplace that’s supposed to melt my feet off.” Rexi stopped, straightened the wrinkles in her tunic, and jerked her thumb in my direction, not really looking at me. “Dorky’s glammed lucky her shoe fetish finally paid off, but indentured servitude doesn’t exactly pay for magical footwear.” She made a fist as if to bop him again, but he flapped himself out of range.
Rexi was really starting—okay, not starting, more like continuing—to pix me off. The big piece of hair draped over my shoulder sparked and flared, mirroring my irritation. Before that, the bright glow had died down a bit, almost making the pieces I could see look like they came from a natural redhead—with green tips.
Guess it brought a whole meaning to the idea of a temper flare.
The flash drew Rexi’s attention, and she walked, carefully, over to me. She peered closer around my head, apparently noticing it for the first time. “What happened to your hair? New fashion trend or something else equally stupid? Because I’ve got to tell you, it doesn’t really suit you.”
“For Grimm’s sake, will you shut your mouth for one fairy-loving minute,” I snapped, losing the last sliver of patience I had.