“Three spiced wine and one soft wine, please,” Marcus said.

Mrs. Hallden scanned his face and poured up the first mug of spiced wine. Then she looked at Mel, her eyes narrowing.

“Your lady isn’t sixteen yet?” Mrs. Hallden said.

Marcus’s face flushed in red. and he gave Mel an apologetic glance.

“We’re not…,” he said. “Mel turns sixteen next week.”

Mrs. Hallden shot daggers at Marcus and wrinkled her nose.

“And who is the other mug of spiced wine for?” she asked.

Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. A drop of sweat trickled down his face, even though the fire hadn’t been lit yet.

“Minnie Wickett,” Marcus said. “You know her.”

“Yes, yes,” Mrs. Hallden said. “Marie’s child.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Mel said.

Mrs. Hallden turned her fiery gaze to Mel again and she could feel it burning on her face, leaving Mel hot and embarrassed.

Mrs. Hallden handed Marcus two mugs and said, “Two spiced wine, one for you and one for Minnie.”

Then she handed Mel two more mugs.

“Two soft wine,” she said. “And I won’t tell your father if you promise to not make any more trouble tonight.”

Mel swallowed hard, taking the mugs from Mrs. Hallden’s bony fingers.

“Yes, sure,” Mel said.

Mel and Marcus walked back toward Andrew and Minnie by the mountain of kindling. Mel felt her heart beat fast, and she glanced behind her at the booth as they walked. Mrs. Hallden still had her eyes on Mel’s back and she could feel a hotness inside of her growing. Like it finally hit her, she was going to cause trouble tonight, despite what she promised Mrs. Hallden.

Mel was going to run away, escape this town and the cult. She had dragged in Marcus into this too and he might be blamed for her disappearance. In the distance, she saw her mother and father talking to Miss Teller. They had arrived in time for the lighting, and Mel felt the hot ball in her stomach burning.

She hadn’t left them a note or told anyone in her family why she was leaving. They would just notice her not coming home tonight and that would be it. She would never see her parents again. Never see Andrew or Minnie.

“Here you go,” Marcus said when he handed Minnie her mug of wine.

Mel handed Andrew his soft wine, and then she took a sip of her own. It was sweet and spicy at the same time. The hot beverage warmed her cold fingers and she could feel the drink slip down her throat and give her a warm feeling in her chest.

Andrew looked down at the ground, not returning Mel’s glances, and she felt that pain again, seeping up from her stomach. Could she really leave Andrew here without telling him anything?

“Did you talk to Marcus?” Minnie asked.

Andrew looked up from the ground.

“Talk about what?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mel said. “We talked and everything is fine. I won’t need your help.”

Minnie turned her gaze to Marcus.

“So, did you talk her out of it?” Minnie asked.

Marcus shook his head.

“What? You agreed to help her?” Minnie asked.

“Help her with what?” Andrew said, annoyance ringing in his voice.

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“Nothing,” Mel said to Andrew.

Marcus looked down at his mug of spiced wine, but didn’t answer Minnie. He just stared into the dark red liquid, his mouth drawn into a line.

The procession came down the road then, torches lit and held up to the sky by the lower priests. They all wore the blood red robes with the hood drawn back, revealing their faces. Except for Elennian Mali, the elemental warrior, who walked beside High Priest Alcon. Elennian had a dark blue robe, the color of Aldrion. His hood drawn over his head and his face covered in shadow.

He would come here once a year, gracing the village with his presence at the spring equinox. Always to light the fire with his hammer. Mel didn’t know much about him, except for his name and origin. She didn’t know why he was here in the valley and not beyond the mountain, except that he was High Priest Alcon’s age and probably couldn’t fight any longer.

The procession continued up on a small wooden stage in front of the hill of kindling, waiting to be lit behind them. Elennian took the steps up and used his great hammer as a walking staff, steadying himself. High Priest Alcon walked up to the podium and around him and Elennian the other priests flocked with the torches.

“Tonight we mark the beginning of spring,” High Priest Alcon said. “And with it we celebrate the coming of the light. The sun’s rise over our sky and the vanishing of darkness. With us, we have a fire summoner, one who has been trained in the ways of the dragons.”

A few cheers and applause sounded from the crowd. Mel gripped her mug of soft wine in both hands and took a step forward. She wanted to see when Elennian lit the fire. She had seen it fifteen times already in her life, but she needed to see it again. His big hammer throwing flames and defying the laws of nature.

“Elennian Mali will light our beacon tonight,” High Priest Alcon said. “He will vanquish the shadows and return them to the void.”

Marcus leaned in toward Mel’s ear and whispered, “Get ready to sneak away after he lights the fire.”

Mel met Marcus’ eyes, and she nodded. She was ready.

High Priest Alcon stepped aside and Elennian took his place in front of the podium.

“Tonight, we conquer the shadows,” he said.

He lifted his hammer with both hands up toward the sky and in the darkness of night; the hammer glowed with red lines in an intricate pattern. Mel’s eyes widened to take in the entire picture of what was happening.

Elennian turned toward the hill of kindling, raising his hammer even higher in the air. He took a deep breath in, his chest puffing up, and his hood fell back away from his face. Revealing his scared features and he took a few steps forward. He rammed his hammer down into the stage and when the metal made impact, sparks flew up around him.

The wood caught fire underneath the hammer and a ray of fire shot out from the weapon. It crossed the small distance between the stage and the kindling. The fire spread took root in the scraps of furniture and the twigs and branches that had been thrown on the pile.

Elennian lifted his hammer, and he swung it around himself in a circle, twisting his body to the motion of the heavy weapon. Flames leaped out from around him and the fire spread across the entire pile, lighting up the bonfire and creating a beacon of light in the middle of the dark clearing.

Mel gasped as she regarded the big flames shooting up toward the sky. A pillar of smoke rose and created a gray cloud above her head. It looked like the fire in her father’s forge, except this one was a hundred times larger. Surely, this would ward off the evil spirits and keep the city safe for another year.

She didn’t believe in most of the cult’s traditions, but this one she couldn’t deny. Something this hot, deadly and gorgeous had to have an impact on the world. Mel immediately felt safer about leaving tonight, feeling like she had the blessing to go her own path. No evil would touch her on the road to Auburn Hills after the sky had been lit up like this.

Elennian turned his back to the fire and put down his hammer against the stage. A section close to the bonfire, where Elennian had made an impact with his massive weapon. was still burning. But the rest of the stage where the priests stood was yet untouched by the flames.

High Priest Alcon lifted his hands up to the sky.

“See our fire,” he said. “See how we honor you. Return to us, you mighty gods. Help us vanquish the shadows once and for all. Aid us in our war against the void.”

From the corner of her eyes, Mel saw something glimmer by the back of the bonfire. It looked like metal catching the rays of light from the flames. Mel knew the gleaming of smoothed iron, and her eyes instantly flickered to its location. A small dagger left the hands of Dorian West and a frown formed on Mel’s face.

Why would anyone throw precious iron into the bonfire?

Then what followed was the rush of air, the sight of the fire turning into itself and almost flickering out. Like the wind had blown from within the bonfire. A moment flashed when Mel’s eyes met with Marcus’s and his hands flew up against the huge pile and his mouth formed a soundless no.

What followed was the flames that shot out from the mountain, like a volcano bursting to life in the middle of nowhere. High Priest Alcon fell to the stage, his blood red hat with the silver dragon embroidered on, rolling off the side of the stage.

Mel felt a hand on her shoulder and then she fell with her back against the ground. Marcus pulled her down, along with Andrew and Minnie. Marcus’s body covered hers and her head turned up to the sky. The heavens were in flames as far as her eyes could see, and a blazing light filled her vision.

It rang in her ears, and a heaviness filled her body. Her eyes caught with Marcus's and he looked frightened, like she had never seen him before. His hands were on the ground, pushing himself away from her, and Mel watched as he rolled along the grass. Flames flickering out from his clothes and smoke rising from his figure.

Mel’s eyes turned away from him and she dragged in a deep breath, looking up at the sky again. This time it was black, smoke filling the space between her and the stars. She missed the stars.