Free Peta (An Elemental Series Novella, 3.5) by Shannon Mayer

cry. “Hang onto her fur. Peta will get us out of here,” Tinder said.
    His faith in me was enough. I turned carefully, and leapt up and through the steam. Back and forth I went ferrying the children across until they were all out from behind the wall of steam. My belly and legs were scorched clean of fur and my skin oozed with burn pustules.
    Breathing hard, I struggled not to limp with the children at my side. Tinder noticed, turned and put a hand on my back. “Peta, you’re hurt bad.”
    “Yes. But I will heal.”
    Indeed you will. The mother goddess’s voice rolled over me and with it the burns on my body receded and fur replaced the pustules. A matter of seconds at most. Tinder nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world to see the mother goddess’s hand at work on a daily basis. “Let’s go.”
    Urging them forward, Tinder and I herded the children out of the dungeon to the tunnel that led to the firewyrms’ cavern.
    “Tinder, follow this passageway. Cactus and the Terraling man will be waiting for you,” I said, pushing them with my nose into the tunnel.
    “Where are you going?” His eyes met mine and then his hand brushed along my head. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
    “Lark needs me,” I said. “Be brave, little lizard, and look out for the others.”
    As soon as the last of them disappeared into the tunnel I spun and ran for the throne room. Pushing the door open with my nose, I peered in. Lark stood in front of the black cloaked one.
    Neither moved, and for a moment fear flashed through me that Lark had been hurt or transfixed.
    She turned and saw me.
    “It’s safe. She’s taken care of,” she said, motioning to the black cloaked one. “Actually, she’s playing some kind of game here. Won’t talk, won’t respond to anything I say.”
    I sniffed the air, not liking the lack of scent around the woman. Perhaps it was what she wore that blocked her scent. “I still can’t smell her. Can you take that cloak off?”
    Lark reached out and grabbed the cloak, only it dissolved as her hand passed through it, as if it never were.
    “No, no it can’t be,” Lark whispered, horror flickering through her and into me—a lightning bolt of emotion.
    The girl’s mouth was slack and her brown eyes were empty of emotion. Long tendrils of dark brown hair flowed around her face and her features had some similarities with Lark’s, though they were subtle. Somehow I didn’t think it was because they were both Terralings.
    Breath seemed to be coming hard to Lark as she went to her knees. Tears streaked her cheeks and I moved to her side, giving her what comfort I could with my presence. “You used Spirit on her, didn’t you?”
    “Yes,” she said, her voice wavering. “What have I done?”
    How did I explain to her that what she’d done was exactly why the Spirit Elementals had been all but wiped out? Though they seemed like they were weak in many respects, they were the deadliest of any of the elements.
    A sigh slipped out of me and I settled for a small piece of the truth. “My first charge, he learned to use Spirit, but it is tricky. A powerful tool. When you use it without really knowing, it can burn someone else out.”
    “Burn them out?” She stared at the girl, her emotions and thoughts racing. “Can it be reversed?”
    Hope flared in her and I hated to dash it, but there was no avoiding the truth.
    “I don’t think so.” I pushed my head against her but she pulled away. I understood the need to be alone when a mistake was made. That was something we shared.
    We didn’t speak as we pushed through the tunnel to the firewyrm’s home. There was no room for words.
    When we emerged into the large cavern, the children were waiting for us. Tinder saw Lark first before anyone else. His eyes sparkled, the fear of being snatched from his family already fading. A Salamander trait: to live in the moment and forget the past with a speed that left others spinning. Waving wildly, he