The Chronicles of Fire and Ice (The Legend of the Archangel Book 1) (10 page)

“
Scarlett, send help,”
was all he managed before everything went dark.

It might have been pure luck, or the hand of God watching over Scarlett. While she was communicating to Dyston, Abel, her captor had been called out of the room.
She struggled against her bindings again until she felt the heat of her Trait as it resurfaced. She felt the flames lick her legs first, and then her abdomen. They rose to her arms, then her shoulders, and finally, to her head. She didn’t scream in pain. It didn’t hurt, but the power was amazing. She felt strong. And then she heard it—Dyston’s voice. It was as natural to her as her own.

“
Scarlett, send help,”
he told her, and that was it, nothing else came after.

“
Dyston?”
she tried to reply, but still heard nothing, nothing but radio silence. Silence killed her. She knew it meant only one thing. He never ignored her. It meant he was in trouble. She concentrated one last time on the power of the fire inside her, felt it surge, and then she pushed against her bindings, and they snapped. She wanted to cry and laugh aloud with joy, but she knew this wasn’t the end of her battle. She still had to find a way out of the room before her captors returned.

She tried the only door in the room,
but it was locked. She tried heating up the metal, but it wouldn’t budge. The only way out was through the window. She walked over to it and looked down. She was really high up. If she jumped, she would die. She leaned back against the wall beside the window and thought. She hadn’t even been taught how to summon her wings yet, so she couldn’t fly. She looked back at the bed where she had been strapped down. Her captors must have lied about the bindings being made of Hell-Metal because they were completely melted and warped. Some of the molten metal had even dripped onto the floor. She made a mental note to research the Realms of Fire and Ice and their metals when she returned to Blackbell.

Dyston blinked. H
e couldn’t see anything in front of his face, only pitch-black darkness. And then there appeared a single flame. It flickered and danced in its own halo. Dyston watched it. It came closer and closer to him, until it was so close that he could feel its warmth. And then a hand appeared, followed by a face. Dyston tried to drag himself backwards, but he couldn’t go anywhere. A solid rock wall prevented him.

“
Who are you?” he asked the person with the flame. His voice echoed, and he realised that he must be in a cave.

“
Don’t worry about us,” the gravelly voice told him. The voice belonged to a male and sounded a lot older than Dyston. “What you should be worried about now is the fact that you are going to lose this war.”

“
I wasn’t aware that we were currently in a war,” Dyston said as he pulled himself into a sitting position, “and why is it so dark in here?”

“
Because it’s just turned twilight. Just wait, you will see, this place is magical at night,” said the flame guy. And at the same moment he finished speaking, there was the most amazing bluish-white light, so bright that Dyston had to shield his eyes with his hand. When the light had dimmed enough, so that his eyes weren’t hurting, Dyston glanced around the cave. The cave itself was maybe twenty square metres, and there were three other angels there with him—two sitting at the mouth of the cave and the one with a candle. Dyston looked closer at the candle he originally thought was a lighter or a match, but was actually a small flame inside a sphere of glass. It hung on a chain around the gravel-voiced angel’s neck.

“
Why do you have me here?” Dyston asked them.

“
To stop you from interfering with our mission,” replied one the angels by the mouth of the cave.

“
Your mission? Which is what, exactly?”

“
Why, finding the Legend and destroying the Michaelites, of course,” replied Gravel voice. Dyston sucked in a breath. They were after Scarlett. Maybe these were the people who held her as well, he thought.

“
What do you want with the Legend? And how do you know that the rumour’s true?”

“
We want The Legend on our side of the war, fighting with us.”

“
And remind me again, what war?”

“
The War of the Realms, you foolish, Heavenly reject.”

Dyston chuckled
. “You’re mistaken. There is no war.”

“
Oh, but there is. We started it,” he told Dyston. He pulled him up by the bindings on his wrists that he didn’t realise were there. They lit up like the flame in the sphere, and Dyston realised what it was—Hell Fire bound him, and he was beginning to burn.

Lakyn
’s phone began to ring. Jacob fished it out of his pocket.

“
Is that Lakyn’s phone? Who’s calling?” asked Kat as she walked beside him on their way to dinner.

“
Someone by the name of Abraham,” he told her, staring at the caller ID.

“
Answer it,” she whispered, glancing around to see if anyone was around. They weren’t alone. A few other students were still in the corridors making their way to the dining hall. Jacob pulled Kat through a door to their left and shut it behind them. Kat realised they were in the Janitor’s closet. Jacob answered the call.

“
Abraham?” he asked, trying to sound as much like Lakyn as possible.

“
It’s done.” The voice on the other end told him. Jacob held the phone up between them so that Kat could hear, too.

“
What is? I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy that I forgot what I asked you to do,” said Jacob.

“
We have your brother. He can’t interfere anymore. And Abel has the girl,” said Abraham. Jacob tried not to sound alarmed. He continued to play along.

“
Excellent. Where are you holding them?”

“
Abel has the flame-haired girl in your apartment downtown, and your brother is with us in the Realm of Light,” said Abraham. Jacob swallowed and tried not to lose it. He took a deep breath. He practically ruled Abraham. By acting as Lakyn, he could make Abraham do anything. He had to think. What would Lakyn do?

“
Okay, keep my brother there,” he told Abraham, “but bring the girl back to the Academy.”

“
Are you sure, boss? You asked us to hold her.”

“
I know, but she hasn’t been properly trained. She’s of no use to us if she doesn’t know of her full potential.”

“
Very well. I’ll contact Abel,” said Abraham, before cutting the connection. Jacob put the phone back in his pocket and looked at Kat.

“
What do you think they’re planning with Scarlett and Dyston?” she asked.

“
A war that we’re not yet prepared for,” he told her, and they burst out of the closet. Kat followed him.

“
What are we going to do?”

“
We have to train as many of the students as possible, and fast.”

“
How much time do we have?”

“
Not sure, but I would guess not long.”

“
Where are you going?” Kat called as she ran after him. His pace was too quick for her, so he slowed and let her catch up.

“
We’re going to dinner, so that we can tell Beth what her eldest son has been planning, and to ask her how to free Dyston,” he told her, taking her hand as they entered the dining hall. Kat wanted to ask him how Dyston’s mother could help free her son, but she didn’t have time. They were now standing in front of Beth.

“
Jacob, Katherine, where are my sons? I know Dyston is sometimes late, but never Lakyn,” asked Beth.

“
Can we speak with you alone, Professor Beth?” asked Jacob. Beth looked at her husband who sat next to her at the Professor’s table that was at the front of the dining hall. Zachariah nodded.

“
Fill me in later,” he said to his wife. Beth stood and followed Jacob and Kat outside into the corridors.

“
What is this about?” she asked when outside.

“
We have a problem,” began Jacob. “We suspect Lakyn has joined the Lucifites.”

“
What?” gasped Beth in shock. “How do you know of this?”

“
One of his employees, a man named Abraham, called Lakyn’s phone, which I have. He told us that they’re holding Scarlett and Dyston captive. And Beth, Dyston’s trapped in the Realm of Light,” said Jacob.

Beth inhaled sharply
. “Are you sure? And why do you have Lakyn’s phone?”

“
Uh…” Jacob looked to Kat for reassurance. She just squeezed his hand. “I needed to incarcerate him for a while. He’s fine.”

Beth nodded.

“You know how to free Dyston, don’t you?”

“
Yes.”

Scarlett
had almost given up on escaping, sure that the only way out was death. That was until she heard feet approaching. She stood and called her Trait to her. She felt the surge of heat and her body warmed. She was getting pretty good at this now, she thought. Her hands and her brown irises glowed orange. When the door opened, she would be ready for them.

“
What the hell?” said Abel as he opened the door and stuck his head in. “She’s escaped? How on earth…” he was stunned.