The Eternal Flame Read Free Page A

made it, too. Are you still in one piece?”
    “One broken piece. Though I suppose I’ll walk again someday.”
    Understanding that this was the sprite’s way of telling her that he hadn’t been badly injured, Elli sighed gratefully. Despite how sore she felt, she sat up. Then, turning back to her companion, she whispered wryly, “At least we don’t have to look at each other.”
    “Hmmmpff.”
    “And I can tell what color you are without even seeing you. Pitch black.”
    “Nonsense. I’m a glowing shade of pink, in keeping with my mood.”
    Elli chuckled, then clapped her hands in appreciation. “Nuic, you—”
    She stopped mid-sentence, listening to the reverberating sound of her clap. The sound went on and on, without fading. Then it seemed to break apart and multiply, as dozens and then hundreds of claps filled the darkness.
    That was when she realized that the sound had shifted to something deeper, more like a thud. Pounding and thumping, it also grew in volume, swelling steadily louder. Almost, it seemed to be drawing closer by the second.
    Footsteps! Elli leaned forward on the moss, even as Nuic wriggled to her side. Both of them tensed, not knowing what to do. It sounded as if an entire army was striding toward them. An army of giants.
    “What do we do?” she asked frantically, yelling to be heard above the growing din of footsteps. “We can’t even see them to fight!”
    Voices suddenly rose up all around them. They called back and forth to each other, shouting what sounded like battle cries. Over and over she heard the word fight. Elli wrapped one arm around Nuic. If he had answered her question, she wouldn’t have been able to hear the reply.
    I must see, she thought, her mind racing. If only to know where to run.
    The footsteps grew louder than ever, drowning out the voices. Elli’s ears ached from all the pounding. She could barely even think.
    The crystal. Suddenly remembering the first time she’d met the Lady of the Lake, when the crystal had shone brilliantly, Elli grasped her amulet of oak, ash, and hawthorn leaves. Shine for me, please! Give me some light.
    A frail spark appeared in the crystal. It wavered feebly for a few seconds, as if uncertain whether to grow or die. But grow it did, as she kept willing. Slowly, the crystal’s power expanded, until it radiated a soft, white light with subtle tones of blue and green.
    Elli’s fingers opened, allowing the light to spread. Although the crystal wasn’t shining nearly as strongly as it had done for the Lady, it was bright enough to illuminate the companions and their immediate surroundings. And what they saw made them gasp. Not in terror—but in surprise.
    Striding toward them, across the mossy field where they sat, was not an army. Nor a garrison. Nor even a small band of soldiers. In fact, it wasn’t anything that resembled soldiers at all.
    It was a lone bear cub.
    Or it was, at least, something that looked rather like a chubby, round-bellied bear with thick, dark blue fur. Though not much bigger than Nuic, the creature shuffled toward them heavily. His wide paws seemed to stamp hard against the ground—although whatever sound they might have made was obscured by the continuing din of footsteps all around.
    As the spreading light from the crystal reached the cub, he stopped abruptly. With a painful whimper, he raised one furry paw to his face, clearly trying to shield his eyes.
    Elli covered the amulet more fully, dimming the light. The cub slowly lowered his paw. Although his blue eyes gazed at them fearfully, he didn’t turn and run.
    Bewildered, Elli looked down at Nuic. Before she could begin to ask him what this furry creature could be—and what was making those pounding footsteps—he put his finger to his lips. She could see by his expression that he was listening intently to the footsteps themselves.
    They were fading! Gradually, over the next few minutes, the sound diminished. The field grew quieter, until at last it