Melting Stones - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,75

They flowed together to join with others of their color. I didn't wait to see how big those combined drops had to get before they began to think on their own—though I was curious.

Would you release all the pieces of my friends? I asked the quartz crystals. I think they've overstayed their welcome, don't you?

It is our pleasure, said the biggest crystal. She sounded like an unhappy housekeeper. I look at how they've ruined our order!

Your guests have been very rude. That crystal was one of the smallest, but it was also very old. No matter how many times they were asked to settle, and find their places, they just wouldn't listen.

I felt bad. I knew crystals loved organization. It's their nature. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to turn out so badly for you.

Oh, no. We have benefited immensely. The thing the mountain did to keep them here, when he united both ends of our vein? asked the friendliest of them.

Oh, that was splendid, the housekeeper said.

I was too exciting. The grumpy old one was determined to be unhappy. There's been altogether too much excitement going on around here of late.

The thing the mountain did, the friendly one said firmly, it made quite a few of us better able to resist heat. That was good.

And many of us have stolen power from your rude friends, the housekeeper crystal added.

But we will still be happy if they never return, the old one told me. They do not know how to behave. Not like you.

The crystals split. Out squirted hundreds of drops of indigo and reddish-brown fire. They formed a single, mixed-color pool in the soil, the big drops calling to the small ones that had already escaped.

I waited. The pool sloshed and stirred. The rocks and earth around it softened and shifted. At last the blue drops slid to one side, the carnelian-colored ones to the other. Slowly Carnelian and Flare took on the shapes they'd held when I saw them last. There was one difference. This time, they were taller than me by a head.

They looked down at me. The soil melted and drooled around them.

Luvo Thunders

I threw out my hands. Flare, Carnelian, hello! I'm so sorry! I talked like Briar did when he courted a rich lady while stealing her bracelet. He didn't steal anymore, but he taught me the approach for emergencies. Maybe the quartz is a toy my people manage better. Are you tired? Were you bored? I was so busy helping my friends that this is the first chance I got to check on you! Honestly, I thought you would have solved it long ago.

You trapped us! Flare raised a fist. You wanted to seal us up so we couldn't get out!

I grinned at him. Why? I'm your friend. Maybe the others got you to do it. To stop us from having fun. Carnelian crossed her arms. They never want to have fun.

When would they do that? I asked. I don't go near them, remember? Now, stop being silly. Shall I tell you how the quartz toy works? Or do you want the other game I have for you?

That was no toy! Bits of flame escaped Flare. It was a trap! You tricked us into it! He grabbed for me.

I flowed just out of his reach. Then why did I set you free? Honestly, Flare, if you're going to be like this, maybe you're not ready to be out. In the world above, we understand things like quartz toys.

Flare split in two. He shot at me from both sides. I dropped down through the soil, then flew up, putting the granite between us. He must have flown straight at it. I felt the ground and the stone shiver when he struck the two-foot-thick shield.

I backed up until I felt heat behind me. I turned. Carnelian had flowed through the ground, past the shield, to follow me. She'd also reshaped herself, so that some of her flames had the shape of clothing. She couldn't make herself stone clothes, though, not when rocks melted within a few feet of her.

What kinds of games do you have? She smoothed a hand over her front, shaping the flames into a tunic of blue fire. And what was the trick of the quartz toy?

I folded my arms over my chest, like I was thinking. It made you and Flare larger. Don't you like that? You would have broken out soon. I'm curious—is Flare your brother? Do you come from