Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 13: Jack

I looked around wildly, staring at the puddles of water around me.

A flash out of the corner of my eye distracted me, and I pulled my eyes up to meet it. A swirling mass of fire erupted on the peak of the hill. In the centre, I saw a silhouette of a person with their arms held out to the sides. As the bonfire receded, Aria's form vanished from sight, as did the last remaining tendrils of colour.

I sprinted up the slippery, wet slope. When I reached the peak, my feet slipped out from underneath me and I fell into a shallow dip filled with surprisingly warm water.

"Shit." I murmured.

Looking down the slope I had just raced up, I groaned.

Clenching my hand tightly around my staff, I called to the winds, who lifted me into the air before depositing me by the Pole's front door.

Bunny, who I had nearly killed while I was chasing Aria, stood in the open doorway with Tooth, who was looking at me with a strange expression on her face. Her chin jutted out and her lips were pursed, pouting and large.

I tried to shove past them, but Tooth grabbed my arm.

"Why did you chase after her?" she complained. "We don't need her."

"Are you stupid?" I snapped, jerking my arm out of her grip. Oddly, I felt as though I was balancing a three legged elephant on my shoulders, and one wrong move would bring us both crashing down. "She was the only one who had any idea about Kronos and how to stop him. Without her, you're all going to disappear." Now I was numb from the neck down, as though an epidural had been shoved into the very top of my spinal column. I may have been numb below the neck, but my head felt like it was on fire.

North and Sandy chose that moment to appear, rounding the corner with a burst of laughter to juxtapose the situation.

North's eyes widened as he looked at me, dripping defrosted snow onto his floor.

"What's going on?" He asked hesitantly, his Russian accent making the question sound much more menacing.

"She's gone." Bunny said quietly after I stood there silent for a moment too long.

"What?" North asked, and Sandy conjured an exclamation mark above his head.

"Looked pretty mortified as she went past me." Bunny continued.

"Of course she was." Tooth butted in.

Before she could continue, I switched my staff into my other hand and turned back towards the doors.

"Jack, where are you going?" North asked.

"To find her." I replied, not turning to face him. My eyes locked on the film of water she had created from the snow around the door thicken, freezing in front of my eyes.

"Do you have any idea where she is mate?" Bunny asked.

Dammit.

"He doesn't." North observed. I rolled my eyes. "But I do."

I turned to face him, surprised, and more than a little suspicious. "What?"

"She took us there. To a kingdom full of fire."

My heart leaped. "Can you take me there?"

(A/N) I'm sorry I haven't updated, and I'm sorry this one is quite short, I've had holidays. I'll try to update soon, but I have exams, and they kinda crush your social life, so that update might not happen for a while.

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