Fire Stones

Chapter 11

The water lapped at our feet. In the distance, I could see the waves turn purple and black – the sea was getting rough. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow of light over the sea-foam. The salt sprayed into our faces, scratching against our skin. It was beautiful. I let the moist sand rise and fall between my toes; I let the cool air blow against my face. Soon I would be entering this strange, dark place – soon I would be plummeting down to the ocean depths. Soon I would risk losing everything I ever loved forever.

The man at my side did not look at me. His face was downcast; his eyes were solemn. I took his hand, aching alongside him. I could feel his pain; it was ripping me open. My heart felt as if it were locked in a vice-grip; I had never known so much sorrow.

“You're really going, then?” He looked up at me with eyes filled with hurt. “You're really going to risk it?”

“It's the only choice I have.” I pressed Chance's knuckles to my lips. “It's either that or letting my mother die – and I can't make that choice. I have to do this. We always knew I'd have to do this. But this stuff with my mom...it means I have to do it sooner, rather than later.”

“With him,” growled Chance darkly.

“He's the only one who can help,” I pleaded.

“I know that,” Chance glowered. “If only I had the power over the oceans. If only I could be the one to take you down there, to those depths, to slay mermaids and sea-dragons...” he sighed. “But I cannot. It is not to be.”

“It isn't like that...”

“Varun can offer you what I cannot. That was always the way of things, my darling Mac. Thousands of years ago – I gave her fire...but Varun could give her the ocean.” He looked grimly out over the waves. “Something I could never give her. She longed to walk in the water. She longed to feel the salt water on her skin, to dance with mermaids. I could never give her such happiness...”

“I'm not leaving you, Chance,” I pleaded. “I just want to save my mom!”

“I know,” he sighed. “I know that's how you feel now. But when you get down into the depths of the ocean, with its rainbow waters and unplumbed mysteries, perhaps you will feel differently. Perhaps you will feel that you belong there, after all. The burning fires and warm earth of the land will not feel as vital to you as they once did.”

“Never!” I took Chance into my arms, kissing his lips. How could the heat, the beauty of fire ever vanish from my heart. I remembered how it had been that first night on Aeros, when Chance and I had danced beneath the magical flames. I had seen those fires – although nobody else did but us – I had absorbed their power. “I'll always love you, Chance, and everything you represent. Fire. Passion. Mystery.”

“I trust you, Mac,” Chance said, his lips so hot against my own. “I trust you to make the right decision. But the sea is a strange place. It messes with people's minds. It makes them...different. It made you different.”

“I'm not like that,” I insisted. “I'm not like Vesta.”

I spied Varun in the distance. He was waiting further down the beach, his eyes fixed upon me and Chance, watching our goodbyes. He was trying to hide it, but I could tell he was jealous. He wanted it to be him whom I loved, him who I embraced like I would never let go.

My heart was breaking for both of them.

I nodded to Varun and he approached, starring at Chance with daggers in his eyes. “I see you're ready to go,” Varun said to me, looking Chance up and down.

“If anything happens to her, cousin,” Chance's voice was tight with rage. “If you let anything happen to her...”

“Never!” said Varun. “She's safer with me than she is with you, Chance. Remember Jana...”

“How dare you mention her name!”

“How dare you imply that I might be a danger to her?” Varun growled, doing his best to channel his anger into words. I could see Chance's fists clench, and I tried to alleviate the tension.

“It'll be okay, Chance,” I said. “I'll be back soon. And I'll have the stone and I'll be able to save my mother.”

“I told you, Chance,” Varun was getting cocky. “I'll have her back safe and sound. Better than ever, in fact.” He put a possessive arm around my shoulders. “You don't have to worry.”

“I promise,” I squeezed Chance's hand gently. “I'll come back safe – and alive.”

Chance nodded without smiling. Then, swiftly, he took me into his arms, pressing his hands around my cheeks as he brought me in for a kiss as passionate, as full of desperate urgency, as any he had ever given me. All of his love, all of his desire, his fear and his longing were contained in that kiss. Varun looked on, awkwardly, as Chance lightly brushed the tips of my teeth with his tongue, making me shiver in delirious anticipation as he pushed the small of my back into him, so that our hips were touching. I felt the pulsating heat of desire course through me once again. How could I spend so long without him, I asked myself? Surely every minute I spent apart from Chance would be pure, agonizing torture. And to spend it with Varun, who even now looked impossibility beautiful in his swimming-trunks and bare chest, my body wrapped against his – that would be another kind of exquisite torture. I looked up at Chance as he lightly moved his head away from me, my eyes filled with love and want.

“Goodbye, my love,” Chance whispered, pressing his fingers against his lips and then holding them out against mine. “Goodbye, my goddess. I will see you again.”

“I know you will.”

“I love you.”

Varun looked over at Chance angrily.

“I love you too.”

“Ready?” Varun cut into our romantic interlude. “It's getting late. We want to be in the ocean before dark.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I have to touch her,” he said to Chance. “It's the only way the spell will work. I'll be able to transfer some of my water powers to her.” But the way his big arms encircled my shoulders seemed more than just pragmatic.

Chance said nothing, but turned on his heel and walked away. I could see him shaking with rage – at Varun rather than me – but there was nothing I could say to make it better. I'd have to prove to Chance that I was trustworthy – on my own terms.

“Let's go!”

Slowly, gradually, Varun and I walked into the water, vanishing beneath the depths. Varun was a strong swimmer, strong enough to pull me out to the depths in a few minutes, and then – all of a sudden – to yank me under the waves.

I instinctively resisted, struggling against his grip. I couldn't breath; my mouth was filling with water. I flailed about, but Varun ignored my resistance, pulling me down deeper and deeper into the ocean depths. What was he doing? I screamed, but no sound came out of my mouth, water flooding my throat. Was this a trick – had Varun meant to hurt me all along?

But just as panic began to cloud my brain, my lungs began expelling water – I was breathing normally again. I looked up at Varun in surprise.

“Sorry,” he said. “I had to do that – sometimes it takes adrenaline for the process to work.”

A blue light seemed to flow from his skin into mine – a cool glow that enveloped both of us.

“You're protected now,” said Varun. “As long as we're touching, you'll be able to breathe underwater, to see clearly, to stay warm no matter how deep we go. And we're going deep, Mac. Into the Dark Realms – places at the bottom of the earth scientists think it's impossible to get to. It is impossible, of course. For mortals.”

We continued swimming down into the inky darkness. I could feel his smooth, wet skin against mine; his breaths and my breaths fluttered in unison, the magic connecting our bodies, our heartbeats, each breath we took. I had never felt closer to him. I had never felt his heart beat like this – my rhythm conforming to his. It was so intimate, so soft – as if we were not two people but one body, allowing the power of the ocean to guide us through the depths. I could feel his lips and breath – just inches away from my cheeks. Chance knew this was going to happen. He knew how strong it would be...

But my thoughts were interrupted by a flash of pearly light. I gasped. Here in the depths of the ocean, there was still light – not the light of the sun but a strange, translucent beauty. Rainbow fish and glowing tortoises were swimming through the water, lit by what could only be a magical glow. Flowering sea-plants grew seemingly out of nowhere; coral brighter than the brightest gemstone glimmered with loveliness.

“It's beautiful,” I breathed.

“It's my kingdom,” said Varun proudly. “Our kingdom.”

“I never knew a place like this existed.” I sighed. “I always thought my place was up above – with fire.”

“It didn't used to be like this,” Varun admitted. “When I was a boy, fire and water were allies, not enemies. Chance and I used to fight, of course, but it was the play-fighting of young and eager boys. Wrestling. Joking around. We were friendly – we even loved one another, in our brotherly way. But then...” he sighed. “Something happened. The Erosion got worse – we must have been six when the first flood took out North America.”

I shuddered at the memory. I had only been a child – but I still remembered my mother's terrified face that day, watching the newscasters count up the dead.

“Our Embodiments within us awakened – we came into our powers. But not as friends any longer. It was as if some force we couldn't control had overtaken us, making us hate each other. And what happened with Jana...it only made things worse. I was so glad when he went away to school. It meant I could be my own man – instead of competing with him. Two friends – two friends who wanted the same things out of life – torn apart by something we couldn't even explain. The forces of the deities, I imagine. But it didn't make it any easier.” He laughed darkly. “You know, for all that I like to annoy him – he's not a bad guy. Neither of us is. We just...” He nodded to himself. “We can't stop fighting each other. It's like we don't even control it. Something inside of us does. Sometimes I miss him. I miss our friendship. I miss how close we were.”

As I stared into Varun's eyes, feeling his skin soft against my own, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt a longing this strong. We were in this strange place – so mysterious, so beautiful – a place that had enchanted and overtaken me. I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay with him. But I held back – and I could tell that he was holding back too. I had to be just as strong as he was, I knew. I had to make myself a will out of iron. But why did I want him so?