Acacia pointed at a nearby apple tree. “She probably recognizes the portal site by landmarks like this tree, so we have to move it to a place where she would never find it.”
“Right, but if an entire first floor of a tower can sink into a new portal, we’ll probably take some stuff with us, too. We don’t want to do it where she’s likely to miss something that gets swept up in the storm.”
“Good point,” Acacia said. “We can’t leave any evidence.”
“But where could we possibly go?”
Acacia turned toward the swamp. “Are you afraid of snakes?”
“Well, take away the fact that some can squeeze you to death and swallow you whole, and the fact that some can inject venom that will eat your flesh or shrivel you into a prune . . . no, not really.”
“Same here.” Acacia tiptoed into the swamp.
Sapphira tugged on the back of Acacia’s dress. “I was kidding. We can’t go in there.” The sun’s dawning rays illuminated the dark water. A mere two arm lengths away, a long, slender body broke the surface, its scales reflecting the sunlight. It quickly disappeared again, and the water stilled.
Acacia backed up a step. “Do you have a better place? Somewhere Morgan won’t notice?”
“No, but even if we don’t get eaten, do you want to take a bunch of swamp water and deadly snakes down where the other girls are?”
“What are you afraid of? We can make fire, can’t we? We can burn them to a crisp.”
Sapphira pointed at herself. “I can make fire, but I haven’t taught you how yet.”
A dog barked in the distance, then howled loud and long.
“You’d better start teaching me. That dog’s bound to alert someone.”
Sapphira picked up two sticks at the base of the apple tree and handed one to Acacia. “You just kind of think fire onto the wood, but you also have to speak to it to make it happen.” Sapphira stared at her stick and said, “Ignite!” A small flame immediately erupted on the end.
Furrowing her brow, Acacia focused her eyes on her stick and whispered through tight lips, “Ignite!” Nothing happened.
The dog howled again, this time louder.
“Concentrate!” Sapphira urged. “Give it everything you’ve got.”
Acacia gripped the stick so tightly, it trembled in her hands. “Ignite!” Again, nothing happened. She lowered the stick and frowned. “What am I doing wrong?”
Sapphira felt a familiar warmth on her thigh. The Ovulum was signaling for her attention. “You’re supposed to get your power from Elohim, the God of Noah. You haven’t danced with him yet, so I guess he hasn’t given it to you.”
“Danced? You have to dance with someone to get power?”
Sapphira withdrew the Ovulum and showed it to Acacia. It glowed red and warm in her palm. “Well, the first time I did it, the Eye of the Oracle told me to command the fire to appear, but I never really felt the power was my own until I danced with Elohim. He’s the one who speaks through the man in the Ovulum.”
Acacia laid a hand on top of her head. “Okay, you’re making my head hurt. You danced with a god, and there’s a man in that egg?”
“Yes.” She handed the Ovulum to Acacia. “Just look inside and see if you can find ”
The dog howled once more and bounded into sight, a huge, long-legged beast with a multicolored coat that shimmered in the glow of the rising sun. His shining eyes locked onto them, and he loped their way, closing the gap quickly.
Sapphira spun and held out her stick, shouting, “Blaze!” A bright flame shot up, and she waved it at the dog. “Get back!”
The dog halted and growled, baring its long, sharp teeth.
Acacia gazed into the Ovulum. “I see him! He’s my teacher!”
Sapphira thrust the firebrand toward the dog, making it back away a step. She twisted her neck toward Acacia. “Is he saying anything?”
Acacia, now standing in ankle-deep water, cradled the Ovulum in her palm. “Yes! He’s talking to me.” She held her firebrand up and spoke to the glass shell. “Like this?” The Ovulum seemed to nod as it wobbled in her hand. Acacia lifted her head toward the stick and shouted, “Flames, come to my firebrand!” The stick immediately flashed with fire.
Sapphira backed toward the water, still thrusting her firebrand at the dog. With each step she took, the dog took its own step closer, staying low. When her feet touched the cold swamp, she gave the