A Feast of Dragons - By Morgan Rice Page 0,29
“We’re all recruits. None of us are members. No one is truly a Legion member until they graduate. Age twenty. Six years to go. They’re trying to weed us all out. They want a force of the most elite knights in the world. If we can’t make it, they want us dead. They don’t care. Why should they? There are a thousand more just like us in every village in the Ring.”
Thor thought about that as they fell back in silence and continued to march, their boots crunching. They headed deeper and deeper into the wilderness of this place, and Thor wondered about the other Legion members, all the other groups, where on the island they were, what obstacles they had to face. He was glad to be in the company of these boys.
As hours more passed, as the sun reached its peak in the sky, as Thor was fading out, beginning to lose focus, suddenly, there came a loud hissing and bubbling noise right near him. He jumped out of the way just in time, and beside him, the earth suddenly bubbled up. He watched the soil turn orange, then bright red, then hiss and explode. Lava shot up, high into the air, sparking and smoking, sending small flames in every direction. A small burst of flame landed on Thor’s sleeve, and he swatted it as it began to burn him; luckily, he managed to put it out, although it lasted long enough to sting. Krohn snarled at it, ready to attack the lava.
Thor and the other boys ran away from the bursting lava spring, keeping their distance as it seemed to bubble ever higher. It was a good thing they did, because the ground around it began to melt.
“What is this place?” William asked, fear in his voice.
“Let’s keep moving,” Reese said.
They all turned and continued heading north, hurrying away from the lava burst. But just as they were gaining their distance, suddenly, another lava spring burst up from the ground, with no warning, just a few feet away on their other side.
William screamed and jumped, the flames just missing him.
They all hurried to gain distance from that one, too—but then, suddenly, all around them and as far as they could see, lava springs burst out. There came hissing and popping noises everywhere, as the land burst up like a minefield. Even while terrified, Thor could not help but notice that it created a beautiful display of light.
They all stood rooted in place, afraid to take a step forward. Lava springs were spaced out every twenty feet or so and it would be tricky to navigate between them.
“How are we supposed to continue through that?” William asked.
“At least they’ve already exploded,” Elden said. “Now all we have to do is walk between them.”
“But what if others explode?” William asked.
Clearly, they had no choice.
They all continued forward, into the lava field, Thor careful, with the others, to weave in between the lava springs. Luckily, no others burst as they went, but Thor was on guard the entire time.
Just as the lava field seemed to reach its end, suddenly, one last lava spring burst up, catching them all off guard. It burst right near O’Connor, too close for him to get out of the way in time. His screams filled the air, as did the stench of burning flesh. O’Connor’s left bicep was singed badly by a glob of lava and O’Connor screamed, smoke and flames rising from his tunic. Standing right beside him was Malic, who could easily have helped him put it out. But he did not.
Thor and Reese jumped onto O’Connor, knocking him down, putting it out. O’Connor screamed, and Thor saw the burn was bad, and it looked incredibly painful.
He and Reese pulled O’Connor to his feet, and Thor tore a fresh piece of cloth from his own tunic, and wrapped it around O’Connor’s arm.
“Why didn’t you help him?” Reese yelled at Malic. “You were standing right beside him. You could have put it out.”
Thor had been wondering the same thing.
Malic shrugged, nonchalant, then actually smiled over at them.
“Why should I?” he asked. “Why should I care if he gets burned?”
Thor stared back, disbelieving.
“Are you saying you don’t care about protecting your brothers?” Elden asked.
Malic smiled back, and Thor could sense the evil in his eyes.
“Of course I don’t. In fact, I would kill each one of you if I thought it benefited me.”
His smile never disappeared, and Thor could see how serious he was. Just