emptiness that surrounded her. There were supposed to be statues, or maybe lanterns, but nothing appeared.
Elam stroked his chin. “Something’s here, right? You sense something that we can’t see?”
“I think so.” She waved her arm in a wide arc. “Statues. Twelve of them, I believe, and they make a circle around where I’m standing.”
“What makes you think they’re still here?” Roxil asked.
“I saw them through the Ovulum’s screen, but they looked like lanterns instead of people.”
Elam raised his hand as if holding a lantern. “You mean like cavern lanterns?”
“Yes. I think ”
Paili piped up. “Light them!”
“Light them?” Sapphira repeated.
Paili bounced on her toes. “With your fire . . . like at home.”
“How can I light lanterns that aren’t there?”
Elam lifted her hand. “Light the lanterns with these,” he said, spreading out her fingers. “They feed the hungry and bring light to the darkness.”
“Okay,” Sapphira said, “I’ll give it a try.”
She raised her other hand and closed her eyes, imagining where the statues once stood. In her mind, she fixed twelve spots in the space around her. Then, opening her eyes again, she pointed at one of the spots and shouted, “Give me light!”
A flame burst to life and floated in midair. The fire burned downward, creating a blazing human frame. Without fuel or wick, the flame burned on, its human shape writhing as if in the bonds of torture.
Makaidos shielded his eyes and leaned back. “What now?”
Sapphira heaved breathlessly, her hands still raised. What should she do? Light up eleven more people and let them suffer in flames?
Paili tugged on her dress. “Five more!” she shouted.
“Five more?” Sapphira looked down at her. “Why?”
“To make six! Like the wheel!” Paili turned an imaginary wheel.
Sapphira gasped and cried out, “Of course! The control room wheel!” She pointed at the spot to the left of the first statue. “Give me light!” she yelled. Another flame erupted, again creating a human form with its light. She moved to the next “Give me light!” then the next, until six human-shaped torches blazed in orange brilliance.
Breathless again, Sapphira lowered her hands. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the flames out, and six men stood limply atop the blackened marble. As their bodies collapsed to the floor, Sapphira’s companions rushed to help them.
“Time for nine more!” Sapphira said, waving her arms. “Move those six over here!”
Groggy and groaning, they shuffled or crawled toward the center. Makaidos gazed carefully into the eyes of the first one, a young man who seemed to be in his late teens, and touched a ring on his finger. He nodded at Roxil and whispered, “It’s Hilidan.”
Sapphira lifted her hands again and pointed at the next spot in the circle. “Give me light!” Another statue of fire erupted. She repeated the process, this time moving around the circle in the opposite direction. Finally, the ninth fiery form appeared. She lowered her hands, and a new gust of wind snuffed the flames. Eight women and one girl, all dressed in white silk, crumpled to the floor. The four helpers rushed to guide them toward the center.
A stiff breeze kicked up, swirling around and buffeting Sapphira’s hair. She raised her hands once more, this time closing her eyes.
“We have all the dragons!” Makaidos shouted. “You did it! You can stop.”
“We’re not finished!” Sapphira shouted back. “There’s still the number thirteen.”
She pointed next to the spot where she had ignited the previous lantern. “Give me light!” Yet again, a human-shaped column of fire ignited.
“One!” Paili called out.
Then, going completely around the room, Sapphira lit the other eleven, Paili counting out each new lantern as it burst to life. Finally, when Paili’s shrill “Twelve!” was carried away by the gentle breeze, Sapphira opened her eyes and lowered her arms. This time, no gust of wind came to blow the flames out.
“We need a thirteen!” Paili cried.
Sapphira spread out her arms. “There aren’t any more places in the circle!”
Makaidos pointed at one of the flaming forms as it writhed in place. “I think they’re suffering! We have to do something!”
Sapphira closed her eyes. The portal center once again flooded her mind with grief. Acacia’s terrified face blazed across her inner vision, and her best friend’s muffled splash in the magma river echoed in her mind. As she opened her eyes, she whispered, “There is one more lantern!” She wrapped her arms around herself and, her eyes filling with tears, shouted as loud as she could, “Give me light!”
Sapphira’s hair erupted in flames. Streams of fire poured down her