Haven's Army

Chapter 10

During our long hour or so of preparation, Naomi called a meeting with the council. This gave me roughly half an hour after preparing to lay on the beach in the fog, feeling like the only person in the world, isolated by the cold around me but not feeling any of it, despite it biting through my sweater. After a long time alone in my thoughts, I noticed a bobbing light and sat up. A moment later, Nathan emerged from the fog, the flickering fire in is hand seemingly fighting away the fog. When he saw me, he smiled ever so slightly and I felt myself relax just a little at his presence. I hadn't realized how cold I was until he sat in front of me and held the fire between us.

"You look freezing," he said, just brushing the goosebumps on my wrist with his free hand. His hands were warm from the fire and I shivered slightly at his touch. "Why are you out here alone in the cold?"

I shrugged. "I just felt like being alone for a while."

He looked at me for a moment, concern express in his dark eyes, made clear by the bright fire. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"

I gave a small smile. "No. I'm glad you're here." I moved to sit by him and he put his arm around me. He was almost as warm as the fire in his hand.

I wanted to stay there forever. Forget about the war. Pretend we were the only ones that existed, just us, the sand, the fog, and the little ball of flame that illuminated our faces.

"Here," he said, attempting to hand me the ball of fire in his hand. "Your hands will be a lot warmer if you're holding the flame yourself."

"I can't..."

"Just try. I know you can do it." He extended his hand once more and I put my palms out to receive it. Once it was in the palm of my hand, it shrunk to a tiny flicker like a candle flame, but it didn't go out. I felt like I was holding a living thing. My heart jumped in excitement at my small success and the flame jumped in response, only growing slightly for a second, then sizzling out completely. I felt my heart drop.

Nathan must have been amused by the expression on my face because he chuckled quietly and planted a kiss on my temple.

"Someday," he whispered, and I snuggled closer to him for warmth.

• • • • • • • • • • •

It wasn't long before we had been drilled with the plans and were ready to go. Lela, Adrian, and Christina from The Hearth had gone ahead a bit already to carve a cave in the stone cliff, big enough for our small army to fit inside. Those who could lit fires in their palms and our Hearthians sealed off the cave. We made our way in the direction of The Capital underground, those with Hearth powers taking turns shifting the stone in front of us to behind us so we could proceed. Others would brush their fingers against the stone and direct them. Young Fern carried a sizable piece of wood, of which I didn't know the purpose.

It took hours to make our way under The Capital, and by then, it had become significantly harder to breathe in our pocket of air under the surface. We decided that if it was too far to go without enough air, we could stop and create holes to breathe, but for then, surprise was key.

Just when I had begun to breathe shallowly in an attempt to conserve oxygen, Lela, who had taken a break from moving the stone to navigate, shouted that we were nearing The Capital. The echo was strange in our small cavern, creating a metallic sound, then a dull silence afterward, like it had been absorbed by the dense stone all around us. Most of us had been quiet throughout the journey, the only sound our whispers and footfalls. Less than an hour later, Lela once again announced that we were approaching The Capital, that we were almost under it. Long minutes later, a cavern was created, with a chunk of stone jutting out of the side and casting huge shadows in the dim, flickering light. Fern managed to clear away enough stone with her powers to wedge the wood in the wall and Kathryn lit it.