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EIGHT

Wren

I’ve never liked camping. When I was a kid, Mom, Dad, and I used to camp as a family, but we had an Airstream, which I never thought of as actually camping because a bed plus a kitchen, TV, and bathroom does not equate to for real camping. But what Lily, Ruby, and I are doing now is definitely for real.

I expect to hate it and am legitimately surprised when I sleep so soundly tucked inside Ruby’s shelter that I don’t move until the yummy scent of sizzling fish has me squinting up at the morning sunlight.

I crawl out of our shelter and stretch. Viento hovers above our campsite, which makes me feel safe. He nods at me as I yawn, stretch, and wave. Ruby and Lily are sitting cross-legged close together by the campfire, which never has to be fed more branches and still burns cheerfully. I mutter a sleepy good morning to them and trudge down to the water to wash and use the primitive (nonexistent) facilities.

We eat a breakfast of fish and deliciously sweet wild blueberries that Ruby foraged before anyone except Viento was awake (though I don’t think the Elemental actually sleeps). I wait until after we’re done eating to get my backpack, pull out the book, and open it to where I’d stuck the torn-out page with the map the night before.

It’s blank before I touch it and I force down my flutter of panic. When I pick it up, the page shimmers and the same part of the map appears as was there last night. It’s easy to read. It begins at the bottom of the page in a place recognizable as our clearing in the white oak grove. Drawn in metallic red, a path winds along the stream until the mini illustrations of oaks and willows lead to what appears to be a much denser forest where the map shows pines butting up to one another. The map is darker there, and in the middle of that part of the forest is a single symbol—a bright orange flame. And then there is nothing but blank paper.

After studying the map, the four of us go to the creek. It doesn’t take much looking around to find a narrow but clear dirt path running along our side of the bank.

“That wasn’t there last night, was it?” Lily asks.

Ruby shakes her head. “Nope.”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that this is the way we need to go,” I say as I carefully fold the map and put it in my pocket. I glance at Viento, who has joined us by the creek. “Right?”

He says nothing, but a throb of pain in my temple is my answer. “Yep, we’re going the right way,” I tell Ruby and Lily.

I tuck the book and my blanket inside my backpack, slip it on, and turn to my friends. “Ready!”

“I’ll bank the fire and then we can go,” says Ruby as they give the brightly burning fire a long look.

“I’ll help.” Lily begins to search around the clearing. “I wish I had a bucket or something to carry water in, though.”

Tell the Leo moon to ask her Elemental to extinguish the fire. The firebird started it for her. She should extinguish it for her.

“Huh, that’s pretty cool,” I say to Viento, then turn to Lily. “You should ask your Elemental to put out the fire.”

“Oooh! You mean the firebird will come back?” Lily practically dances to the fire. She faces it, radiating excitement along with a brilliant smile. “Fire, thank you so much for burning brightly for us all night, but we need to leave now and I want to be safe, so could you please go out?”

With the sound of crackling logs, the firebird lifts from the center of the blaze. As she soars up into the morning sky, the fire goes with her, like an extension of her long, extraordinary tail feathers, leaving behind only blackened coals inside the rock circle.

Lily cups her hands around her mouth and shouts up at the bird, “Yay! That’s perfect! Thank you again!”

The bird with the flaming tail circles over Lily’s head, chirping musically, before she flies straight toward the sun and disappears in a flash of orange.

Lily hooks her arm through mine as we begin to follow the path beside the stream and the scarlet line on the map that shows us the way. Ruby leads and Viento drifts after us. The morning is bright and clear. The forest is filled with birdsong. Wildflowers are everywhere, highlighting the brilliant greens of mosses, ferns, and grasses with splashes of neon purple, orange, blue, white, and yellow.

“It’s so beautiful,” Lily says softly. “I’ve never seen colors like this before.”

It is the Realm of Elementals. Everything is more here.

I repeat what Viento tells me to Lily and she glances back at the Air Elemental. “I’m so glad you brought us here. I’ll never forget this or meeting my Fire Elemental.” She stops suddenly and turns completely around to face Viento. “If, no, I mean when Wren completes the ritual, will all of this beauty be able to spread to the rest of the world?” She doesn’t wait for an answer but continues, “And could that gorgeous firebird maybe follow me from the island—I mean, only if she wants to!”

Pain spikes in my head and I rub my temple. “I think the headache I’m starting to feel means yes about the ritual question,” I say.

“Oh! Sorry, Viento; sorry, Wren! I forgot I can’t ask anything about the ritual,” Lily says quickly. “Never mind. Forget I said a word.”

I can speak about the Fire Elemental , says Viento.

I grin at Lily as I relay the rest of what he says: “Not mentioning anything about the R word, Viento says the Fire Elemental can come to you anytime you call and she wants to respond, and since she seems to really like you, that means she’ll probably answer your call.”

“Ruby! Did you hear that?” Lily calls to the Scorpio moon who is leading us forward.

Ruby’s brown eyes crinkle in the corners as they smile over their shoulder. “Yes, and I’m not surprised at all.”

Lily sighs happily. “I know this is a serious quest and we’re in danger and all, but I have to tell you I haven’t felt this free and happy in a long time.” She beams at me. “I’m glad Ruby and I are here.”

“So am I,” I respond automatically, and then I realize how true my words are. “Without the two of you I’d be so much less.”

“Less?” Lily asks.

“Less confident. Less happy. Less prepared to take on whatever we find at the end of the map. Just less in general.” I speak slowly as I continue, choosing my words with care. It’s important I get this right. “I don’t have a lot of friends. My parents died five years ago, and I had to leave everyone and everything I knew to move in with my uncle Brad and his husband, Joel.”

“I’m so sorry, Wren.” Lily’s arm is still hooked through mine, and she pulls me closer. “My parents can be annoying, and I get really pissed when they insist I always have to help Luke and never tell Luke he needs to help me , but I don’t know what I’d do if they were just suddenly gone.”

I nod and hurry on. “Sam was my best friend from my old school. Even after I moved she and I stayed friends, of course, but not seeing her every day made it different. And then Lee and I got close.” I pause and draw in a shaky breath. “He was my everything. We didn’t date. It wasn’t like that between us until we got here to the Academia.” I bump her shoulder with mine. “You had a lot to do with me realizing I wanted more than just friendship with Lee.”

“There was never anything between Lee and me except friendship,” she says quickly.

“Oh, I know. But you’re gorgeous and smart and really nice. Plus, you have good control over your power. I was jealous, which helped me realize what I really wanted—Lee. Forever.” I have to stop and clear my throat because the sadness that suddenly consumes me makes it feel like I can’t breathe.

Lily meets my gaze. “And now? What do you want now?”

I don’t answer right away and when I do it’s like I’m thinking through things aloud as I speak. “I want to complete the ritual and see what happens to the Moonstruck when Celeste no longer controls everything. I want to free the Elementals—to give them a choice about whether they stay here, protected on this island, or leave and explore the modern world. I want to be part of the Moonstruck community and use my magick to help people.” I pause again, draw a deep breath, and on my exhale I say the rest of it. “And I want Lee Young to be my best friend and my love for the rest of our lives.” I wipe away a tear that’s escaped down my cheek.

Lily tilts her head to rest against mine. “He’s not the kind of guy who turns his back on the person he loves, and you’re his person.”

“He believes Celeste,” I say between hiccupy sobs, wiping away more escaping tears.

We almost run into Ruby, who has stopped and faces us. “Lee’s smarter than that. He’s my friend. I’ve gotten to know him really well. He’s always talking about his feel ings.” They pause and the edges of their lips tilt up in the beginnings of a smile. “Lee has a lot of feelings. And Lily’s right. You’re his person; he’s not going to forget that.”

I agree with the fierce one. Viento’s voice drifts through my mind.

I wipe away the last of my tears and lift my chin. “You two.” I glance up at Viento where he hovers nearby. “I mean three—you three are right. I am Lee’s person. He’s confused right now. Of course he is. Celeste and Rottingham are manipulating him, and this is all a lot to take in. But he’s smart and loyal. He’s going to see through their crap and realize I’m not the monster they’re trying to make it seem I am. I need to remember that. Thank you for reminding me.”

“Hey, no problem,” Lily says as we start walking again. “That’s what being friends is about—reminding each other of the important things.”

“Let’s pick up the pace!” Ruby calls back to us. “We need to get to the place marked by the flame symbol before dark. We don’t know what’s waiting for us there.”

Again, I agree with the fierce one, says Viento.

When the sun is at its highest in the sky we rest under a shady willow beside the crystal stream and eat handfuls of blueberries and cherries so ripe and sweet that we have to wash the sticky juice from our hands and faces in the water. The fruit along with three of the protein bars from my backpack fills us with energy and we return to the path beside the stream with enthusiasm—which lasts until the sun is close to touching the tops of the westerly trees and the map makes a turn away from the water and into the dense, darkening forest.

I take the map from my pocket and look at it again just before we step into the shadows. “Yeah,” I say reluctantly, more to myself than my friends. “This is definitely the right way.”

Ruby studies the map. “At least it looks like we’re getting near the fire symbol now. And the closeness of the pines in there”—they jerk their chin at the dusky forest—“will make for decent shelter tonight, though I hope it doesn’t take us too far from the stream.”

“It’s been nice to drink from the stream.” Lily takes Ruby’s hand. “It’s probably my imagination, but the water tastes sweet.”

“It’s not your imagination.” I grin at Lily. “When Viento told us it’s safe to drink from, my first thought was that I’d never tasted water so delicious.”

“I taste the difference, too,” says Ruby. “But I thought it was because water is my element.”

The fierce one’s element is gifting her and us with clean, pure water. It is because Ruby shows appreciation for it. All Elementals want to be appreciated.

I repeat Viento’s words to Ruby and Lily, and the three of us walk back to the bank to say thank you to the Elemental. Ruby picks a handful of electric-blue wildflowers and as they bow and thank the Water Elemental they toss the flowers into the middle of the stream.

The sparkling water swirls around the flowers and a hand lifts from beneath. The arm is translucent and little silver fish dart around within it as the Elemental grasps the bouquet and then pulls it under the gently lapping waves.

As we follow the path into the dense pines, Viento’s deep voice drifts through my mind: That was wise. The Water Elemental’s favorite color is blue. She is pleased with the gift.

I relay his words to Ruby and Lily, and we chatter about what a nice surprise the Elementals have been, though we’re careful to tell Viento that we think he’s cool, too (which makes him snort, but I don’t tell them that part).

“Hey, do you two see that?” Lily points away from the path we follow through the pines. Except for directly over our path where there’s a break in the trees, the fading light from the setting sun isn’t penetrating the canopy of overlapping pines and the shadows under the trees are getting increasingly dark. We stop, our gazes following Lily’s outstretched hand. At first, I don’t understand what I’m seeing.

“Are those animals?” I ask, peering at dots of yellowish lights. “Are they… watching us?”

“I don’t think so.” Lily shakes her head. “There’s not enough light to make eyes glow like that.”

We stare off the path at the twinkling lights in the shadows. I look around. Viento is gone. A chill of foreboding skitters up the back of my neck and I shiver.

“I know what they are,” Ruby says. “Fireflies. We almost never see them in the Pacific Northwest, but when I visit my grandparents in Japan and we go to their country house, I see a lot of them.”

“Ooooh! Fireflies! I’ve never seen them in person.” Lily trills.

As if responding to Lily’s excitement, the flickering lights multiply from half a dozen or so to ten, twenty, and then so many I can’t keep count. In a cloud of flickering light and humming wings, they move toward us.

This close, they’re not as small as I first thought. They’re about the size of June bugs. Their bodies are tube shaped and black, though their antennae are bright red. And their abdomens, which look a little like caterpillars, are hooked on the end and pulse with bright yellow light.

“They’re beautiful!” Lily lifts her hand and holds out a finger, like they’re tiny birds and she’s inviting one of them to perch on it. The group of insects stop moving and hover like mini helicopters just beside the path, their focus on Lily. Then one of them breaks from the others and flies to her outstretched finger. The quarter-sized bug floats over her finger for a few breaths before it descends to land on it.

“Ouch!” Lily jerks her hand away from the insect, holding it close to her chest. “It stung me!”

“Let me see.” Ruby’s at her side instantly, though even as they study Lily’s finger their gaze keeps flicking to the swarm of glowing bugs now circling us. “It didn’t bite you. It burned you.”

Shocked, I check out Lily’s finger. Sure enough, the skin is red and a blister is already forming. “We need to keep moving,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm, though my heart’s thumping double time with adrenaline.

“Agreed. Let’s go.” Ruby begins leading us forward, but the swarm that’s closed around us doesn’t part.

It shifts and the insects combine, changing from smallish, narrow bugs with glowing bodies to fist-sized creatures with too many spidery legs, a mass of dragonfly wings, and tails that—

“ Fire! Their tails are made of fire!” I whisper-shout. “They’re Fire Elementals.”

I hear Lily swallow. Her voice wavers as she says, “Well, that’s good then, right? Fire is my element. The firebird likes me. Maybe I just need to greet them and they’ll like me, too.”

“Be sure to say you appreciate them,” I remind her quietly.

She nods, clears her throat, and says, “Hi, I’m Lily. I’m a Leo moon, which as you probably already know, means my element is fire. It’s nice to meet you. You’re really bright and shiny and I appreciate that you’ve come to light our way through this dark part of the forest. We’re on an important, um…”

“Quest,” Ruby whispers to her.

“Quest,” Lily says. “An important quest, so it’s nice that you—”

Lily gets no further in her thank-you speech. The insects descend on us, their pendulous abdomens pulsing with heat and flame as they attack.

The first one strikes my shoulder, and I yelp like someone just touched a lit match to my skin. Automatically, I smack the bug with my hand. It doesn’t squish. Instead, it explodes to form several more bugs, each the size of my fist and each buzzing angrily as they dive at me again.

“Run!” Ruby shouts, and we sprint after them through the cloud of insects and into a nightmare of heat and pain.

The insects are everywhere. Ruby picks up a branch and uses it like a baseball bat, knocking the bugs out of the air as they dive at us, but every time they hit one it multiplies. Ruby can’t keep up; there are just too many.

Lily has her back to Ruby. Tears stream down her cheeks as her balled fists strike the insects. Part of her T-shirt sizzles, and the skin on her knuckles and arms is bloody with multiple burns. I’m a few paces from them, swinging my backpack in a circle, trying to keep the insects from reaching me.

One dive-bombs me and gets tangled in my hair. I drop my backpack and claw at it as my scalp sizzles and my hair burns. “Viento! Help us!” I shriek.

Little Bird, the spell… I cannot.…

Pain spikes through my temples, though it’s nothing compared to the stinging heat blistering my skin, and I know we’re doomed.