I blinked several times, just to make sure it wasn't some trick of the light. But the flame stayed there, flickering in the slight wind. It was small, about the size of a lighter flame, but I'd made it; it was mine.

Flame stood next to me, staring transfixed. Even Ice was looking. Sheira looked like she was about to burst with pride. All my life, I had never been able to do anything right the first time! Sports, school, you name it, all a massive flunk.

But I did it.

Me! Little old me! The same kid who, when I rode a bike without stabilisers for the first time, took half the skin off his legs! I did it! Woohoo! I'd managed something as extraordinary as produce fire from thin air! It was going to baffle me for the rest of my life, but I didn't care. And from Sheira's shocked expression, I'd done something fairly impressive.

"How did you do that so quickly?" she gasped.

I lost all sense of time while I was standing with my eyes shut, so it felt like I was standing there for hours, but I reckoned that about ten minutes had gone by in real-time. "What's the average?" I asked. I was buzzing with energy.

"Hours," she said, hand pressed to her forehead and a brilliant grin spreading across her lips. "Possibly even days. No one in twenty years has produced the first spark like that."

"Really?"

"Yes! I may have been raised in an elemental family, but I passed out cold on my first training session. You're exceptional!"

In my life, I've never been called exceptional by anyone, except by my parents, of course. But they have to; it's the law. It felt pretty good, actually.

"Can I go further?" I asked.

She nodded. "If you're feeling up to it."

"I feel fine." Truthfully, I felt like I was up on cloud nine with the amount of adrenaline surging through me. I knew it was only a matter of time before I came crashing down to planet Earth, but God, the high was worth it.

"We'll see if we can get you throwing, but first, let's try to make that flame bigger. Summon up that memory again and repeat the process that you just did. Only this time, you want to be feeding that energy up into the flame you've created. It sounds complicated but trust me, it's a lot easier than it sounds."

Employ your yoga training Nick.

I closed my eyes again, steadied my breathing, and tried to ignore the pain. I opened my eyes and flicked my wrist around a few times, and a loud swooshing noise accompanied by a sudden increase in brightness. Orange light swirled from my palm. The tiny flame was gone and, in its place, was a fireball. The sort of CGI effect that you only see in the movies, but it was real.

A fireball the size of a tennis ball sat in the palm of my hand. A dark flickering glow cast over the four of us. I presumed that it was giving out a fair bit of heat as Sheira had to take a few steps back from it, and a few beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead. Strangely, I couldn't feel anything, just a warm tingling on my skin. I ran my other hand through the centre of the ball and hey presto, I wasn't even singed.

"Why doesn't it burn me?" I asked as Sheira showed me how to move the ball from hand to hand.

"It's simple. Your fire is part of you. It's your very essence, your life-force. Your soul won't let you hurt yourself. No elemental can harm themselves with their own powers because of that very reason. But other elementals fire can hurt you, so don't go wandering around thinking you're fireproof. I don't want to hear that you're in the hospital in a couple of weeks because you decided to play Chicken," she warned sternly, hands-on-hips like a proper angry school teacher.

An idea popped into my head. "What about actual fire? Like real run of the mill not elementally generated stuff. What about that?"

Sheira drummed her fingers against her chin. "You'll hold out for a bit longer than a normal person, but eventually, you will burn. Do you want to give throwing a try? You're beginning to look a bit worn out."

"I feel worn out," I said truthfully.

My adrenaline was beginning to crash, my hands were shaking, and I was aware that my vision was starting to go dark at the edges. My fireball was mirroring my energy level as it was frequently flickering, going out for a few seconds before relighting.

"Let's make this quick then. Throwing sounds hard, but once you get the technique, it's easy. First, you need to build up, which we've done. Secondly, you need a target," Sheira pointed down to the field at the two dummies. "Those are fireproof, so we should be alright. Most likely. Hopefully...we'll be fine."

Well, that's encouraging.

"It isn't an underarm over overarm throw like you see in cricket; it's more like a push. Like this." She summoned a snowball to her palm, pulled back her arm and thrust it forward. The snowball shot forwards, slamming against the Leo dummy, coating it with a thick layer of ice. "How much force you put in dictates how far it goes. It's as much of a physical effort as it is a mental one because you need to push it out with your mind as well, or it'll just flop." She gestured to emphasise her point. "Splat. Now let's try it because you are turning green."

I took her word for it.

I turned and faced my prey. The distance between me and the dummy was only a sprint, but it looked miles away from my perspective. I took a deep breath, drew my hand back and pushed.

To be honest, I'd expected it to drop a few feet in front of me or fizzle out pathetically, but the result couldn't have been more different. The fireball raced forward like it had been shot out of a cannon, burning through the air, leaving the pungent scent of smoke and frying ozone in its wake. It slammed into the dummy with an almighty roar of flames, igniting the target into a bonfire of swirling light and a crackling fire.

I stared, gobsmacked, while Sheira leapt around, whooping her head off.

"That was amazing!" she yelled. "I've never seen anyone like you, Nick! You're extraordinary, stupendous–"

"And about to pass out," I moaned as I collapsed to the floor, breathing hard. Now that the fireball had left me, all my energy had gone with it. All I could manage to do was sink to the ground in a sweaty heap.

Sheira sat down next time, still grinning madly. "You're a natural, Nick!"

I managed a weak thumbs up.

She laughed. "Here, eat this. It'll get you strength back."

I gratefully took the energy bar she'd been waving under my nose and bit into it. As I swallowed the first mouthful, I felt the tingling in my fingers subside, and the warmth started to flood back into my chest.

As I ate my way through an entire bag of snacks, Sheira talked non-stop about my progress. She told me more about her first lesson and how she hadn't even been able to make as much as a snowflake until her third or fourth attempt. She went on about how no one in my cabin had been able to produce anything that quickly.

"It's just amazing," she kept saying, becoming more and more animated every time. "You're one hundred per cent sure that you've never done that before."

I put my hand over my heart. "Cross my heart, I've never done that before."

"Incredible," she grinned. "And to go from nothing to controlled power must have taken one hell of a memory. What were you thinking of? If you don't mind me asking."

A lump of cereal stuck in my throat until I washed it down with copious mouthfuls of water. "I was thinking of my eighth birthday," I said quietly. "I went to the zoo with my mum and dad and just looked at the animals all day. It's simple and doesn't mean much to anyone else."

"But it means a lot to you."

I nodded. "I don't know why that day sticks out to me in particular; it might be because my dad was with me." I didn't say anything else. I rested my chin on my knees and sat in silence for a little while. Sheira sat quietly with me.

We slipped into silence again for a few minutes. "Can I ask you something personal?" I asked.

"I think I owe you that."

"What was the memory you used for your first training session?"

She blushed. "The first time my mother took me ice skating. There was this little pond on the grounds, and at first sight of snow, she would go over and freeze it solid." She leant her head back against the fence, lost in the memory. "I must have been about four years old. It was so cold, and I was covered in bruises, but I couldn't wait to go out and do it again the next day."

"You can skate?" I asked

She shrugged. "Kinda, but it's just a hobby."

"I bet you're good at it," I whispered.

Sheira blushed fiercely but managed a shy smile at me. Sheira was different from every girl I'd ever met. She was tough. She'd walked through Hell on her own and lived to tell the tale. She was complicated and strange, but I liked her, and she definitely was going to be a good friend.

"Hey," she nudged me gently in the ribs. "We've got ourselves a spy."

I followed the line of her finger to a small shed a little way down. The figure ducked out of the way as soon as she noticed Sheira point, but she wasn't quick enough for me to not see her black curls and soulful brown eyes. It was Annie.

The feeling of being watched always unnerved me, especially when it was someone who'd previously been looking like she wanted to carve out my heart with a spoon. Sheira didn't seem fussed. In fact, she waved cheerfully to where I could only presume Annie was hiding. Why was she hiding, for that matter?

"How about we give her a real show, eh?" She got up to her feet and offered me a hand. "You feel good enough to try and stand?"

"Do you want me to try again with the fireball?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, let's try something different. You know your amulet?"

"Yeah?" I said, pulling it out to show her.

"Press it into your chest." I gave her a look. "Oh, come on, after today, that's the least weird thing I've asked you to do."

"Fair enough," I said as I pressed the metal into my chest.

I cannot for the life of me explain what happened next. It felt like my soul was no longer attached to my body, and my skin was being folded up and tucked away. I was being squeezed and pushed and prodded. The feeling was so horrid I had to shut my eyes to stop myself from throwing up.

When I opened my eyes, I was a lot closer to the ground than I remembered, and I had to look up at Sheira, who was standing there with a smile on her face. Had a fallen over somehow? Because I seemed to be standing on all fours.

"I have to admit it suits him." I turned to Ice, who was now at eye level with me.

What the hell is happening?

This is weird, said a voice in my head that sounded suspiciously like Flame.

I stared up at Sheira, who showed me her phone screen.

I screamed like a little girl. I was staring at Flame, but I wasn't in the reflection. I was Flame. My own green eyes looked back at me in the place of Flames brown ones, but other than that, I was now a lion. Fur, claws, teeth, mane, the whole shebang.

My voice failed me for a solid minute. "What the actual Hell?" I said, finally.

"Welcome to your Beast form Nick," Sheira said with a cheeky smile.

Beast form? "How? How is this happening?" I asked. I sat back and looked at his? My? Our paws? I don't know. My brain had stopped working.

This is a rather odd sensation.

You're telling me, bud.

Sheira thankfully decided to clear thing up. "Our Beasts don't just help balance out our power. When we press the amulet, we can share bodies, providing us with their power. Whether it be strength, the ability to fly or survive underwater, we can tap into each other's abilities without feeling drained. It's a good technique to use when you're in a battle and run out of steam."

"And how do I change back?" Not that I don't like Flame. Trust me, I really do; it's just that I can't fathom the idea of walking around with a tail for the rest of my life.

"There should be a metal disk in the centre of your chest. Press it again."

I did, and thankfully I was returned to my own body with Flame lying face down in the dirt next to me, looking dazed. "Before you do that to me again," I growled, "a slight heads up would be nice."

She stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket and grinned. "Well..."

Flame and I looked at each other. "Oh, no." We said in unison.

***

"Oh, dear, that's a face I've seen a few times before," laughed Chip.

I didn't answer him as I practically crawled into my seat at the fire table and flopped into it. I buried my head in my arms and moaned. Flame wasn't much better. He wriggled under the table and stayed there, whimpering loudly.

Regular words to describe exhaustion were not applicable here. Never in my life had I felt like this. Every bone ached, my joints were creaking, there wasn't a part of me that wasn't sore, my arms and legs felt like they were made out of lead, my head was spinning, I might as well have taken a bath in my own sweat, and I have ceased to care about the way I smelled.

I didn't care about what popped up on my plate; I would've eaten a horse at this point. I hoovered up the spaghetti bolognaise with spicy meatballs without registering the taste at all.

"How you feeling, buddy?" asked Sophie.

"Everything. Hurts." I moaned.

Flame yowled in agreement.

Leela nudged me on the arm, "come on, man, details. What happened? How did it go?"

Every elemental at the table leaned forward in interest as I filled them all in. They were right about the first training session being the hardest because, after our break, Sheira went from nursery teacher to drill sergeant.

For two hours, she drilled me senseless on making my flames appear faster and faster until I got my time down to about five seconds. The others demanded a demonstration after I said that, so I did, causing them all to cheer loudly, making everyone else jump at the sudden uproar. Then I told them about how quickly I had summoned up my first flame and thrown that fireball. The shouts almost took the roof off. Sophie leapt up on her seat and proudly announced to the entire world that she had a natural, much to my embarrassment.

Then I told them about the, shudder, Beast training. Out of everything that I had done, I'd expected that it would be the easiest—famous last words.

It was hideous. Controlling Flame was like trying to drive a tank made of jelly. Two extra feet meant that I was continually falling flat on my face trying to walk, and don't get me started on trying to run. Jumping was a disaster waiting to happen.

I couldn't help it; everything just felt wrong to me. Flame was heavier than me and had a strange and uneven gait. I just couldn't get the hang of it. To make things worse, if that was possible, Flame and I were sharing the same headspace. Let's just say the arguments were frequent and move on.

Bless his heart, he did try to help me along, but nothing worked. In the end, we just ended up bickering about what I was doing wrong, which was everything. Thank god for Sheira saying I wasn't hurting him in the long run.

Splitting apart was another unexpected form of torture. Flame fell to the floor with his paws over the top of his head and started screeching. Turns out my swift exit had given him a migraine so bad we had to stop by the vet station to grab him a packet of painkillers, which he was now eating like sweets out of a bag, two at a time.

"Why didn't anyone warn me about that?" I moaned.

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You don't usually start beast training until your fourth or fifth session; how were we supposed to know that you're a natural?"

"Yeah, no one's gone from scratch and progressed as far as you have in years," said Leela.

"Decades," said Chip.

"That's what Sheira told me," I grumbled.

Flame poked his head out from under the table. "What about me? My head feels like I've been hit with a sledgehammer. Is it going to get easier for me?"

"Not really," said Chips Beast, an elegant gazelle named Sprint. Flame stared at him in horror. "The first ten or so times Chip and I separated, my headache was so bad that I couldn't even walk straight."

The rest of the Beasts unhelpfully chipped in with their first change stories, which caused Flame to wiggle under the table and whimper.

While he cowered, I finally decided to ask the question that had been bugging me since last night. "Sophie, how long will it take me to become powerful enough to fight properly?" I asked.

She was puzzled by my question. "I don't know," she said with a shrug. "You are developing quickly, but you've still got ages to go before. It's going to take months to train you up for combat." She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, "Why do you ask? You're not planning something, are you?"

I shook my head to show that I wasn't, but secretly my mind was racing. Her answer was like a blow to the gut. If I stood any chance of finding Mum and the kids, I had to get out there quickly. I couldn't wait for months.

Molly was ruthless, aggressive, and completely psychotic, and if I didn't make a plan soon, I could be on the hunt for bodies, which made me feel sick just to think about it. I wanted to go after them myself, but I couldn't just leave without an idea of where to start. But on the other hand, I couldn't just sit here and wait for the inevitable. Hmmm...

"Nick?" I jumped. Why is everyone here so damn sneaky! "How are you feeling?" Sheira asked.

"Like I've been trampled in a stampede of elephants."

She smiled. "Strangest expression I've ever heard."

"I'm famous for them," I said. "What can I do for you?"

"The Harpy wants to see you, I don't know what it is, but it sounds urgent."

My heart fluttered hopefully for a second. I might not have had a plan, but maybe Ms Harper did. I slid out from the bench and walked towards the house with Sheira, just as a piercing, wailing siren filled the air.

The relative calm shifted to utter chaos as Sheira dragged me by the collar and shoved me under a bench. Just in time for a ball of fire to slam into the centre of the courtyard. Shockwaves ripped through the grounds from the impact that bowled everything backwards.

Had we been struck by a meteor? Dust billowed around the courtyard as panicked screams and yells broke out from little kids while the older ones drew on their powers, ready to fight.

"What's going on!" I yelled above the din.

"I- I don't know!" Sheira stared in shock at the crater now slap bang in the middle of the courtyard. "This has never happened before!"

"Let's take a look, then!" I yelled.

I shoved my way through the crowd, pushing my way past everyone, pulling Sheira behind me. She gripped my hand tight as we got a better look at the thing.

It was made out of shiny bronze metal, folded over to look like a beetle shell. It wasn't very big, either. At my best guess, it about the size of a rugby ball. How the heck did it make such a big bang then? It must have been going at some speed.

All around us, people started throwing out suggestions for what it was:

Was it a bomb? No, it should have detonated by now.

Does it have something in it? It doesn't look big enough.

It must have something organic in it, or else it would've just bounced off the shields. It should have been smashed to pieces on the impact, you moron.

Safe to say, it didn't take long for an argument to start.

Just as it looked as if a full-blown fistfight was going to break out, Ms Harper, followed by Seeker, forced their way through the crowds and sent the two elementals packing. Ms Harper crouched beside me and examined the object cautiously.

"Curious," she murmured so quietly I only just heard it. "Curious indeed."

I bent down closer. I squinted. Was it just me, or was there writing. It was dusty, but it kinda looked like letters. The handwriting was strange, and there was some sort of pattern looping around the outside.

A strange feeling washed over me. I couldn't explain it. It's like when you see a big red button, and you just have to push it no matter what. It was almost as if it was calling me towards it. Gingerly I reached out.

Ms Harper spotted me just a second too late.

"Don't touch it!"

Orange light started to flow outwards from where my fingers had brushed the surface. At first, curling and sweeping around what I had thought were letters before spiralling outwards along the length of the object. It was like a rune or a magic sigil you see in video games, glowing hot and bright until it was nearly blinding.

A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me back. I brought my arms up to shield my eyes from the blinding light. Every elemental stood to attention, their bodies tense and ready for battle.

After a few minutes, the object gave a loud clunk, and the folds of the metal began to peel away like a hedgehog unfurling after a long winter. My heart pounded as I peeked over the edge of the metal.

"Somethings in there," Sheira whispered. She hadn't let go of my hand and was now squeezing so tight I thought she was going to break something.

The two adults didn't answer.

Slowly we crept towards the object to reveal...nothing.

Nothing large or menacing or vaguely explodey anyways. In fact, the only thing that was in there were three vials.

Test tubes, really, but they did have something in them. Something dark. And red. We all came to the same conclusion at the exact same moment.

Blood.

Three vials filled with the stuff. A few people dashed off to be sick; even Ms Harper looked a bit queasy. But I stood my ground staring, even daring to reach inside and take hold of one of the vials. The letter M is written on the top in bold black ink.

My heart sank as a wave of fear washed over me.

"That's messed up..." muttered Sophie.

"Is it a warning?" suggested Leela.

"I don't think so," said Sheira. "Why send just blood? It's not a warning. It's a message."

"Who to?" said Chip, bravely picking up the two vials. "And why have they got these letters on them? A, L, M, what could that mean?"

"Is it a word?" said someone.

"Lam? Alm?"

"Those aren't words, Dumbo."

"Initials?"

"Hey Nick, you okay?"

No, I wasn't. I really wasn't okay. The moment I heard those letters, my world fell away, and the sky crashed on top of me like a ton of bricks. I felt sick. In fact, it took every ounce of strength I had not to collapse—A, L, M.

"Aleena, Lilah, Maxie," I whispered.

Sheira's eyes widened in realisation. She brought her hand to her mouth and, through her fingers, whispered, "oh my god."

I looked down into the capsule and noticed something. Forgotten on the bottom sat a scrap of paper. A small black N marked the outside. Hands shaking, I picked it up, unfolded it and read the two gut-wrenching words written there.

Tick. Tock.

The screaming started, but I'm not sure if that's just in my head. Sheira's knelt next to me (I'm not even aware that I've fallen) and starts talking, but I can't hear her. It can't hear anybody. My brain has stopped working.

A few minutes later, while I'm still trying to wrap my head around what's happening, Ms Harper shakes me lightly on the arm. Her face is the colour of ash. "Nicholas? Are you okay?"

"I-I..." Words. What are words? How do I speak again? "We-We have to..."

"Take a breath," Seeker suggested.

For once in my life, that wasn't the problem. I pushed myself to my feet so suddenly Ms Harper and Seeker leapt back in shock.

"We need to find them," I announced, my voice flooding back to me. "We can look, right? I mean, is there anyone here that can trace blood, maybe-maybe-"

"Nick, calm down." Seeker had a funny expression on his face. Something sad.

I ran over to Ms Harper. "Why would Molly kill them now? If she wants me, they might still be alive! They might be alright! Well, they're not alright, alright, they're being held hostage, but we can find out where they are, we can go get them! Right?" I was bouncing up and down with excitement.

Ms Harper and Seeker both studied the ground, not meeting my eyes.

"Right?" I said, coming to a stop.

Ms Harper still didn't look at me. Seeker sighed and faced me, but his expression scared me. "Nick, Ms Harper and I have, talking all night and, well, we've come to a decision. We can't risk anyone leaving the Stronghold. I'm sorry."

A familiar gutshot feeling hit me square in the chest. "What do you mean?"

"Why else would Molly have done this?" Ms Harper snapped. "Why else would she send it? She wants you. Molly is using your family as bait."

"I know that, so why can't you guys do anything?" I said.

Ms Harper fixed me with her cold, steely eyes. "You're right. The likelihood is that Molly keeps your family alive to draw you in, but we have no way of figuring out where they are. We are stretched thin enough as it is. We don't have the time nor the manpower to launch a full-scale search. Molly could be anywhere in the country by now. The risk is too great to consider."

I stared at her in disbelief. "So, you're not going to do anything?"

They didn't answer. They didn't need to.

"You bitch!" I screamed.

Ms Harper jumped back in alarm. "Now, now Nicholas–"

"Don't you dare treat me like a baby with all your pathetic now, now's. You told me that Mum was your friend and, yet you sit here behind your walls and decide to turn a blind eye against someone that trusts you!"

"Nick!" Yelled Sheira.

I ignored her. "You're happy to let her suffer! Molly will kill her, and you know that she already got my father, and now she's going to slaughter my mum and two little kids. And it's going to be your fault!"

"Nick!"

"You say you stand for the protection of elementals, and yet you do nothing. You prefer that they die, and you don't have to get your hands dirty. You bloody hypocrite!"

"NICK, YOU'RE BURNING!" Sheira screamed.

Sheira words finally broke through to me, and I finally noticed what she was talking about. The palms of my hands were alight with dark red flames, and smoke was billowing off my skin, which on its own was pulsing with an angry glow. When I got mad, I got hot, and something caught fire, but this was different; this was so much more powerful.

The others were staring in horror and fascination, giving me a wide berth as the flames licked my skin. I wordlessly extinguished the fire with a flick of my wrist and turned back to Ms Harper- no, the Harpy, a wicked creature that took everything and looked you dead in the eye when it did so and looked her straight in the eye. I plucked the piece of paper and shoved it into her face.

"Look at this! Look what it says! Molly will kill them, and you know it! Please," I begged, "you have to do something..." the first sob cracked my voice like a pane of glass. "They're all I have left..."

Ms Harper's face remained unchanged. She stayed as cold and unfeeling as a slab of rock. I looked over at Seeker, but he couldn't meet my gaze. The discussion was over.

"You promised..."

She didn't respond. She couldn't even look me in the eye.

The rage still inside of me, I stormed off past the gathered and silent crowds, across the grounds to Fire House and my room. As soon as the door was shut behind me, I started screaming and shouting, punching walls, kicking furniture, and burning a desk to the ground in pure rage.

How could she? How could she abandon someone who saw her as a friend? How could she leave two little kids to the mercy of a homicidal freak with blood on her mind? Maxie and Lilah were probably so scared right now. They'd already been through so much. Too much when you were forced to grow up on the god damn estates where you never knew who was going to take a swing at you next.

And then there was Mum, stuck in a room full of people who hated her and had no way to fight back. What if they did something to the kids? What if they made her watch her kids being beaten and bled? I mean, they'd already done it. There wasn't much blood in those vials, but it was theirs, they'd cut them to make them bleed at least once, and no one was willing to lift a finger to help them.

I don't know when I started crying, but it was like opening the floodgates behind my eyes when I started. I buried my head into the covers of my bed and howled. All while imagining, my family huddled together in fear, knowing that I wasn't there to keep them safe.

***

At some point, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, night had fallen. It would have been pitch black if Flame wasn't casting a bright glow over every surface from his bed in the corner.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"About half one," he responded. He stood up and stretched, yawning and revealing his long sharp teeth. "Sophie came knocking at around eight, but you didn't wake up. But she left this for you." He nudged a folded-up piece of paper with his paw. It was already open, so I presumed that he had a good look at it. I opened it.

Nick –

After you left the Harpy held an emergency counsellor meeting about what we should do about your family. Chip and I tried to argue for you, but it was eight against two. They told us we can't spare the resources for three people. We think it's a load of old bull, but that doesn't change anything. There's nothing we can do. I'm so sorry.

- Sophie –

I reread that note three times before I tore it to pieces in anger. After I'd finished burning it to a crisp and threw the ashes out of the window, I slumped down onto the floor, buried my head in my hands and stayed there, shaking. Flame padded over to me, pushed his head under my chin and let me cry into his warm fur.

"What am I going to do?" I whimpered eventually.

"I don't know... We'll think of something." He raised his head and licked my tears away with his rough tongue, which managed to get a weak laugh out of me. "You're just one person, two if you count me, you can't just go up against an army."

"I wish I could."

"You're too selfless for your own good sometimes."

We sat in silence for a little while, Flame's steady breathing and the feeling of his fur under my fingers calmed me down a little, but my mind was still racing like mad. I couldn't just sit here and wait for the inevitable. I had to do something, but what? I wasn't entirely without ideas, though. Still, the only thing I had come up with was stupid and very dangerous and would probably get me killed, and I'm not much use to anyone dead.

"I can almost hear you thinking," Flame said.

I sighed, "I'm just thinking about something my mum used to say. She said it whenever I was in a predicament like this. 'When life closes all the doors, make one yourself.'"

Flame froze under my fingers. "You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"Why not?" I said, getting to my feet to face him. "Oh, come on, Flame, it's the answer to all the problems."

"It's suicide!" he hissed. "You barely know what you're doing with your power. Yeah, you got lucky– once, but they won't be so forgiving a second time around." He gave me a long hard look. "This better not be your ego talking."

"What?!"

"Just because Sheira said you were a natural doesn't mean that you can go around thinking you're unkillable."

I blinked at him. "I don't give a damn about whether I'm a natural or not! My only concern is protecting my family, and I can't do that sitting here. As I see it, I only have three options. One, I sit here, do nothing, and let them die. I won't be able to live with myself after that. Two, I go and help, and it kills me in the process. At least I've tried. And finally, I go and help and get them back. Tell me, which option sounds more appealing?"

He growled, baring his teeth. "You are the most stubborn individual I've ever met."

"It means I get things done," I said, turning to the wardrobe and pulling out everything that I now owned, which wasn't much. It only took me a few seconds to dump all my books and pencils from my schoolbag out onto my bed and begin stuffing my few clothes into the bag.

Flame watched all of this with the expression of a defeated man. He sighed. "If there really is no way I can talk you out of this, I suppose you ought to know that the night patrol is about to switch." I turned to look at him. I only hoped my look of puzzlement got my point across. "The night patrols are broken up into four-hour shifts. At two o'clock, they'll change over, and it'll take the new patrol about five minutes to get down here. If you are really going to leave, do it within the next few minutes."

I hugged Flame around the neck. "Thanks, buddy."

He fidgeted at my sudden affection but placed his paw on my back anyway. "And if you need money, we can always dip into the housekeeping jar. I saw it this morning."

I nodded, paused to listen for any sounds of movement, then I carefully pulled the door open and stepped out onto the black corridor. The whole house was as silent as a tomb, the TV downstairs was switched off, and the faint sound of snoring drifted through the walls.

We crept downstairs, testing each step for creaks, passing Sophie's room on the landing, which made a sudden wave of guilt wash over me. I felt awful for leaving, but I had to do this. I had to go. I carefully slipped into the communal kitchen when we reached the ground floor and made a beeline for the housekeeping jar. It was about half full.

"Do you think I should write a note?" I whispered.

Flame shrugged. "I think everyone will presume what's happened, but if you want to, go ahead."

I scribbled out a quick note.

Hey Guys. I'm sorry about taking the money, but I need it. I promise to pay every penny back.

I quickly added as an afterthought,

If you can, could you try to keep the Harpy off my back for as long as possible? It would mean a lot to me – Nick

With my wallet a lot fuller than before and with me beating back the thoughts of guilt with a mental baseball bat, I slowly walked back out to the front door and placed my hand on the doorknob. I took a deep breath in.

Flame noticed and nudged my free hand for courage. "I'm not denying that this is a stupid idea, it is, but I'm also not going to be the one to talk you out of this."

I realised that I'd been holding my breath. "Thanks, bud," I said, stroking his strong head. "Can you get into the amulet? Don't want anyone to see us."

Flame nodded, and then he was gone, vanished into thin air. Having him gone suddenly made me feel more alone than ever, even though I knew he was still with me.

What if I didn't do this? I could just go to the Harpy and beg on my knees for her to do something. I can be very persuasive, but I also couldn't help but feel that the Harpy was the sort of person who didn't change their mind. No, I didn't have a choice. The Camp was going to do nothing, so I had to do something. I didn't have a choice in the matter.

I was outside of the cabin before I could have another second, third, or fourth thought. I'd lost count of how many times I'd thought this through.

The cold air hit me like a wall. In this country, it really doesn't matter how warm the day is; it's going to be about minus two hundred when the sun goes down. The wind was still, the world was silent, and a pale moon provided my only light as I walked away from the cabins, not looking back, towards the direction that I thought led me towards the exit.

I strained my ears for the sounds of patrols. Every now and again, I thought I heard snatches of voices, but that could have just been my imagination. That same imagination was spinning every wild tale it could think of to try and scare me. What if this place had some sort of protective barrier? Or what if, in addition to the tame Beasts, there were giant monsters on patrol. Monsters that ate anyone out after–

"Nick!"

Oh Hell.

Sheira was sprinting up to me, her feet pounding, her hair flying out behind her. I could run, I could easily outpace her, but could I outrun her icy blasts? Jury says no o that one. She'd effortlessly frozen my legs together, so she could probably do it again. I stopped and let her catch up. She skidded to a stop beside me, gasping for breath.

"You're not changing my mind on this," I said quickly.

She glared at me. The old Sheira had returned. "You...Idiot. Do you...have any idea...how... stupid this is?"

"I'm pretty sure I can script what you're about to say." I had to jump back to avoid her fist connecting with my head.

I looked down and saw that she was holding something—a notebook. A strange symbol glowed from one of the open pages. A little ways away, a similar blue glow peeked out from under a set of stairs.

Ah, that's clever. I hadn't given Sheira enough credit for how smart she was. She'd obviously known that I would do this, so she'd laid down a few sensors over where I could go. I hadn't been looking for them, so when I tripped one, and she'd come running—clever girl (Use your imagination, I can't do the accent).

"How long have you been waiting out for me?" I asked because curiosity needs to be answered.

Glare. "Since sunset," Sheira said. Her teeth were gritted, and her eyes were inflicting mental punishments on me as we spoke. "I have been up for the past four hours, staring at this stupid book," she gesticulated wildly, the pages flying like a flag, "for when, not if, when, you decided to try something like this!"

"Well, you're more than welcome to go back to bed because I'm leaving." I turned to walk off.

She darted in front of me. "Nick, you've got to understand that this is suicide." The glare was gone, and now her voice was much softer. "Just because Molly let you get away once does not mean that she's going to do it again. She won't. She'll kill you, very, very slowly."

"I don't care. There's no choice here. It's either I stay, and they die, or I go, and I try to get them back."

"What if you don't make it?"

"At least I'll die trying."

Sheira sighed in frustration, kicking a clump of grass across the field. "You're just like your dad; yeah, I've researched him. He was probably more reckless than you are, which is saying something. The number of risks he took that didn't work out could probably fill a book. I mean, he almost got himself killed more times than I can count, and he was pronounced dead on no less than three occasions. What do you call that?"

"Badass."

"Not helpful!" She buried her head in her hands and screamed a little. I did feel bad. I didn't want her to live with the fact that I might not be coming back, but what could I do? I had to go.

"Sheira..." I put a hand on her shoulder.

She stiffened but turned. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I really am, but I have to do this. There's no choice here." She sniffed. "My family are everything to me. Without them, I'm nothing, hopeless, completely alone. After my dad died, I swore I would keep them all safe, and I must fulfil that promise. If I stay here, I let them die; the Harpy practically confirmed that, and if that happened, I wouldn't have anything to live for. Yes, it's a suicide mission, but if I don't go, it's going to end the same."

"Nick..."

"I mean it," I said firmly. "I won't have anything to live for if they're not here, and if I knew that, I could have done something..." I shook my head and sighed. "Look, you're not talking me out of this. I'm incredibly stubborn. I'm also impulsive and reckless. Yes, it's annoying, but it means I'll do anything to keep those I love safe." I sighed, "I'm leaving, and nothing you can say is going to stop me."

Sheira folded her arms and gave me a look that said, 'you are an idiot'. "Well, it looks like I'm doing this," she muttered and then darted off to the cabins.

What was that all about? I wasn't going to wait around to find out.

The trees thickened, and the whole place became horribly dark as I stumbled down the uneven path, not quite daring to light a flame to see yet. Still, if I broke my ankle, I could probably make a semi-decent flare. I'd only been going for about two minutes when another noise started growing louder and louder, heading in my direction. It was a whooshing sound, barely masking a light scrape and click, like an ice skater. I turned to see what was going on now.

Just when you think you've seen everything. Sheira was barrelling towards me again, but she wasn't running. She was skating. Ice was being pushed out in front of her, forming a solid runway in front of her. Two thin blades were stuck to the bottom of her boots, which explains why her boots' soles were so thick, and she was using them to power her way towards me like a speed skater. When she skidded to a stop beside me, I applauded. Then I noticed what she was wearing.

"Sheira. Why have you got a backpack on?" I asked nervously.

She tapped her heels together, the two blades disappearing into her boots again. Awesome, like a cool version of The Wizard of Oz. "Why do you think?" she said, slamming one foot into the ice road she created, making it shatter into a thousand pieces. Yeah, I was nowhere near her level. Yet.

"You've got me stumped," I said.

"Because I'm not going to try and stop you. I'm coming with you."

I stared at her. I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again. I looked like a fish. My poor brain couldn't comprehend why she was coming with me. Why? What? How? "Excuse me?" was all I managed to come out with.

She glared. "I'm coming with you, whether you want me to or not."

"Why?"

Sheira's became suddenly serious. "Because you're right and Ms Harper's wrong. These last six months, she's just sat by and let all of this happen. Even after friends were taken, she still just sat there. She's afraid, and that's not always a bad thing, but right now, that fear could get a mother and her children killed. I've been happy to sit by, but this is the last straw. If I left you to walk away and something happened to you, I-" her voice wavered for a second. "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"Sheira." Aww, so she did still like me. A little bit, at least.

She adjusted the straps of her bags and shot me a smile. "Besides, if I don't come with you, you'll be dead by tomorrow."

"Hey!"

Sassy eyebrow activated. "Admit it! You don't know what you're doing. Last time I checked, you don't know anything about this world, you're new, and this world plays by a different rulebook and its very unkind to those who don't know what they're doing. In fact, I could almost bet that you don't have a plan at all, do you?"

I hoped she took my silence as an answer.

"I thought so," she went on. "Look, without my help, you won't even make it out of London. You'll end up saying something that you shouldn't and being turned into mincemeat within the first hour of being out in the real world. I know what to do out there. I know where to go and what to say to get help and find allies. I know how to avoid trouble and how to fight properly. You don't, although I suppose I could get you a bit of training when we're out on the road. Besides, the Harpy told me to keep an eye on you, and that's what I'm doing."

That girl certainly did drive a hard bargain, but she had a point. My whole plan was to wander around, asking for help until I got lucky. She knows what she's doing and where to go for help. It'll cut the journey time in half and means I'll be able to find my family faster. And, failing that, it's always nice to have someone watching your back. You'd be a fool to turn that down.

I held my hand out to Sheira. "You have a deal."

She took it and shook it. "Never doubted I would. Just be aware that my word is the gospel. You follow everything I say to the letter so both of us can get back alive."

"Done."

A chorus of voices began to echo over to us—Night patrol.

"Let's get going," she said quickly, "we've got a train to catch."

She pulled me down into the woods, further away from the camp, into the dark and uncertainty. I took one last look behind me as the trees closed in behind us, hoping that I would see this place again, then I turned as the night swallowed us both.