was heading straight toward them, moving quickly as it swallowed up the land from one end to the other, as wide as the eye could see.
Willow’s heart pounded. She tried to call out to someone from her troupe, but her words were smothered by fear and only a low whimper escaped her. The fire was getting closer with every passing moment. The smoke began like a seed in her throat, thick and stinging, making her eyes water. The leader of the group rode back to her, calling as he rode. But Willow could not take her eyes off the blazing wall in the distance.
“We have to ride through it,” the man screamed at her. Willow just blinked.
“What?” she called out.
“The fire. We have to ride through it. It isn’t so bad on the other side. There are no trees or brush to feed it. There is no other way.”
“You want to ride through that? You’re daft! You’ve lost your wits!”
“We must.” He tore his eyes away from the approaching wall of fire long enough to glance at her. “It comes quickly. We cannot reach Theshwar in time. It will consume us. If you wish to live, you must ride through it. We have blankets—”
But Willow shook her head frantically, realizing that he was serious. “No! I can barely ride this horse! We will be burned alive!” She kept looking back. He was correct. Theshwar was too far.
“Not if we ride swiftly, milady,” the man argued watching the flames grow closer as they spoke. “We must go now!”
“No!” she cried, letting her gelding back away as if it could read her mind. “I’m going back!” Her eyes were glued to the crackling wall. “I’m going back!”
“Very well.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out the gold coins Caleb had given him to keep her safe. He handed them to her. “I cannot take these now.” He turned his horse toward the fire and tightened the reins. “Godspeed to you, milady,” he called out and flapped the reins wildly.
Willow watched him for just a second, and then turned her horse around, held on for her life, and let it fly.
Caleb and his men were less than half a league out of Theshwar when they spotted the black smoke billowing up into the sky in the distance. It was not a rare sight in Predaria, but it made Caleb cry out, nevertheless. Lightning from the dry sky had often sparked fires into existence along the plains. Sometimes they raged through cities, destroying many homes before they could be stopped. But the fires could be stopped. Caleb knew they had to move quickly, or like the many lakes of Predaria, Theshwar would be nothing but another memory.
He turned his troupe back toward the trading city, leaving Marcus with the cart. They thundered over the ground as their horses raced. Caleb’s orders to Jarod and the rest of his men were short and quick when they reached the gates of Theshwar. “Alarm the people if they don’t already know and assist them with the fire blowers.” He did not wait for a response but kicked his stallion in the direction of the fire.
Jonas raced after him. “Caleb, you can do nothing without the fire blowers.”
“She went this way, Jonas. I have to find her.”
The bald Warrior tilted his head toward Heaven, and then set out to follow his friend. Noble was one thing, foolish was another thing entirely.
Despite the intense heat and dark, thick smoke waiting to envelope him, Caleb fastened his eyes on the enormous wall of flame in the distance. He saw a lone rider flying toward him as if its horse had wings. His heart beat madly in his chest as he thundered onward. Could it be Willow?
Willow tried to ride faster but her gelding was growing tired and breathing was getting more difficult. Someone was riding toward her on a snowy white horse. “Caleb?” It was a whisper amid the burning air and loud, crackling flames. But she could hear him calling her name and it gave her strength to continue until she reached him. The moment she did, he swept her from her saddle as though she weighed nothing at all.
“My horse,” she cried as Jonas screamed somewhere behind them to hurry.
Caleb took hold of her gelding’s reins and pulled, but the horse would not move. “Come, beast!” Caleb commanded. He pulled again and the horse finally began running again.