Astrea's Ghosts (Ash Princess fanfiction)

Chapter nine: Yana

A red sun hung in the cloudless blue sky far above Yana's head. The air around it seemed to shimmer and if she looked at it for too long she found it made her dizzy. They had been walking for a long while, following the trail of ash and soot. Lumps of hot coals joined the smear, sizzling furiously. That was the only sign that they were getting any closer to Houzzah. But it wasn't all bad. Glaidi said that she had felt something shift inside her last night. Alex and Rowan had succeeded. Ozam and Suta had been killed and their power now resided within the two boys. Yana wondered when Glaidi's time would come.

Fiddling with her knife, Yana ran a light finger across the edge of the blade. The weight of it was somewhat familiar, the grip, the feel of the blade. It reminded her of the one she used to kill herself with. Another dagger, another life. Could she do it? Could she take someone's life? Do I have a choice? Then her eyes found the blaze on the horizon, and she knew the answer. She gasped. "Is that.." she began, but she trailed off, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Walls of red flame stretched in a large circle, constantly moving, twisting and swirling hypnotically. It should have been impossible. Glaidi nodded, eyes never leaving the blaze, "Yes," she said, "We've found him. We've found Houzzah."

Yana couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing. The true might of a god's power. The true might of soon, her power. She shivered. And then she stepped forward. The second she did, Blaise's hand shot out to grab her arm. "What are you doing?" he cried.

"Going in there, and finding Houzzah." Yana replied calmly, more calmly than she felt. Blaise looked at her like she'd grown a second head, "You're what? Are you mad? He'll kill you!" But Yana just shook her head,

"I'm already dead Blaise and besides, it's this or Astrea burns." Blaise's grip tightened, "I can't let you do this. Theo-" Yana ripped her arm from his grasp, "Is that the only reason you're doing this?" She screamed, "Because of my mother? Because of some unspoken promise?"

"You don't get it, Yana. I'm doing this to protect you-" He shouted.

"Are you?," Yana faced him, hand gripping her knife with a new anger and strength in her bones, "Are you really doing this for me, or for my Mother?" Her voice grew more desperate, "What is it you want to protect Blaise, me, or your promise?" And then she turned and ran into the inferno, leaving Blaise standing there. Helpless to his own love and fear.

Inside the circle of fire, were twisting walls, creating a labyrinth. Yana recalled a story Mother once told she and Ampelio before bed, about a monster that lived inside a stone labyrinth. But this was not a story. And she didn't know how to fight this kind of monster. She walked through twisting passages. The flames danced around her, sometimes changing colour. Red to yellow to blue to black to red again and back. It made her feel nauseous. Eventually, she got bored of navigating the tunnels and just walked directly through them, feeling her skin prickle in the heat, but never burn. Her clothes had turned ashy black, but were kept intact by her power alone. She walked through the wall to find a circle of roaring blue flames. The inner ring. She was about to meet the fire god. Gripping her bone knife, she stepped through.