Warrior Rising - By Pamela Palmer Page 0,80

made her way around Charlie and Findris, who were battling the Esri guards, and into the temple.

The air stank of sulfur and greed, the screeching of the sky interspersed with violent claps of thunder. She had one chance left to stop this tragedy and seconds before it was too late even as the thought of what she must do had her quaking with terror, her hands as cold as a human's winter.

She must call the fire of creation.

While Harrison had battled, she'd found within herself the knowledge she sought - the words to call that mystic fire - and begun pulling that ancient magic through the draggon stone, through her royal blood. It gathered inside her now, ready to ignite. If she stopped to run to Harrison, she'd have to start all over again.

He'd sacrificed too much for her to fail them now. She had seconds to complete her task, seconds before Rith completed his. But she was terrified to the depths of her soul.

Fire. She must call the fire.

It's up to you, angel. Harrison's voice was a soft caress in her mind. I've done all I can.

Hold on for me, Harrison. I'll heal you when this is through if you'll just hold on.

I'll do one better. I'll hold on to you. What strength of mine that remains is yours.

She felt it, the rush of strength and the warmth of his love wrapping around her, battling back her fear. In another part of her mind, she felt the walls between the worlds losing their grip and beginning to crumble.

Clinging to Harrison's presence in her mind, her heart pounding, sweat drenching her back and scalp, she squeezed her eyes closed and murmured the words that resided deep in her royal memory, calling to the power of the temple.

The heat of the mystic flame erupted all around her, flickering bright against her eyelids. Terror rose up, a choking, quaking beast that attacked her body and mind, threatening to shut her down, to ruin any chance she had of winning.

Ilaria! Ilaria, stay with me, angel. It won't hurt you. The fire can't hurt you. It lives for you, to do your will. Harrison's voice held her at the edge of the abyss and she clung to it, to him. Finish it, Ilaria. He's almost done.

I have to take the stones, Harrison.

Call them, angel. They belong to the flame. They'll come if you call. A deep, violent rumble tore through the temple, shaking beneath her feet. Call them, Ilaria! Keep your eyes closed and call the stones of Orisis home.

She did. Using her own strength combined with Harrison's, she lifted her hands high above her head and locked on those six green evil gems, catching hold of them with her mind. Body trembling, she willed them to her, demanding they heed her call.

That's it, Ilaria! They've stopped spinning. They're falling. Into the flame! Harrison's mental voice rose with triumph even as a terrible, unnatural scream rent the air as if the stones themselves cried out at their destruction.

Ilaria wrenched open her eyes, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. Fire surrounded her, rising all around. A scream built in her throat.

It can't touch you, Ilaria. Harrison's voice encircled her like warm, loving arms. You don't feel it, angel, do you? Do you?

No. Through shuddering breaths, she felt no burning, no pain. Only a gentle heat and the blanketing warmth of Harrison's love.

Look at Rith.

Her gaze flew to the pedestal, to Rith high atop the stairs, and she watched in fascinated horror as his face and body began to disintegrate in jagged chunks, much as the sky had.

"He and the stones had become one." Harrison's voice sounded outside her mind, right behind her, and she tore her gaze from the disturbing sight of Rith's destruction to find Harrison approaching, whole and fine. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him. She let him, settling her head against his shoulder as her gaze returned to the stairs to witness Rith's final moments. Though her heart pounded, strong arms held her terror of the flames at bay.

"As they disintegrate, so does he," Harrison murmured.

"You've healed."

His cheek brushed her hair. "I thought I was dying. Then the pain slipped away. I don't know what happened, but I'm not complaining."

She'd felt the destruction to his body and had been terrified he wouldn't survive until she could reach him.

In a flash of colored light, Rith was no more.

"Douse the flame, angel."

Ilaria closed her