think they tried to jam all three of us straight through the top of Mount Grace."
My hands started to shake. I put my teacup next to Luvo so they wouldn't see, and tucked my hands in my armpits. "That was… bad. I got away, finally, and escaped through one of the cracks we had tried before. The stones in it were coated with poison. The stuff that's killing the water and plants comes out ahead of Flare and Carnelian. The rest of the magma spirits can't get out, not yet, but the poisons in their air can. If they followed Carnelian and Flare, they could kill this whole island." I opened my mouth to tell them more, but the word avalanche was over. Trembling, I waited for Myrrhtide to start on me again. I could feel sweat trickle down my back. My head pounded.
Fusspot didn't say a word. I looked up. He was pouring water into a bowl. Once it was full, he wet his finger and wrote signs all around its rim. Then he stared into the water, his pale eyes fixed. He was scrying in the bowl. He'd done so every night on the ship, communicating with Winding Circle, or trying to see what was going on around us. What was he trying to see now—Flare and Carnelian?
Rosethorn came to sit on the step next to me. She put an arm around my shoulders and held me close. She spoke in a whisper. "Are you sure of all this? No, never mind that. You are an appallingly truthful girl. Do you understand the meaning in what you have said?"
I shook my head. My poor stomach lurched.
"You describe the beginnings of a volcano. It makes sense of what's happening with the plants and water here," she explained. "Your friends looking for a way out—they will bring lava and gas with them in an explosion that may kill everyone on Mount Grace. Perhaps even all of Starns."
I shivered. Flare and Carnelian had such dreadful strength. Then there were the other spirits behind them, waiting. They might not search for a way out, but they would follow Carnelian and Flare. I was sure of it. "They would kill everyone, Rosethorn. That underground chamber is bigger than the lake. I don't know how deep it is. The power of them all…" I twisted to look at Luvo, though it hurt my bones to do it. "Why didn't you say we're looking at a volcano? I wouldn't have gone down there!" I kept my voice as quiet as Rosethorn's.
"I did not know." Luvo hung his head knob, not looking at us.
"But you were born in one!" I poked him with a finger.
"And I told you, who remembers his birth?" he asked. "I have not encountered a volcano in our travels. I did not know the early signs of an eruption. Rosethorn, are you certain that these signs pertain to such an occurrence?"
I put my hands to my head. Luvo asking Rosethorn to explain things a mountain should know—I felt as if my world had been upended.
"To pass the initiate's examinations, we're taught the basics of all the Living Circle disciplines, even when they don't match our powers. Evvy's story fits the facts. So does the spot die-off of plants, the acid water, and the vibrations and earth shocks. I had my suspicions—so did Myrrhtide—but this confirms it." As Rosethorn whispered, she laid a cool wrist on my forehead. Then she checked my heartbeat with the other. She frowned. "Not good. You're clammy, and your pulse is thin and rapid." She looked at Jayat. "She has the symptoms of shock. Has she eaten?"
"She couldn't, Dedicate Initiate." Jayat came over. No one else seemed to want to. It was as if we had something catching. "She threw up a lot, but she didn't eat anything first."
"I see. Thank you, Jayat." Rosethorn looked at me. "For those studies I mentioned, we had to read classic writings. In The Book of Earth Magic, a handful of mages wrote of spirits of molten stone found deep in the earth. They described what happened when they found a route to the surface. It was much like what you told us." She stood and shook out her robes. "I'm going to brew you some tea. Then you'll eat something. Then you'll tell us all about your explorations and discoveries with the stones here. We need to see how much time we have before this island blows up under us." She