NOOOO!"

The pain and rage on Cas’s face made my heart catch in my chest.

"Evaron?" I asked, taking a half step toward them.

Cas looked up from where he laid the gasping prince on the ground, his eyes glittering with an intense fury when they lit upon Hussar. "Murderer!"

His eyes became a molten yellow, the pupils changing shape until it was no longer a man looking out at the world, but a wolf. Cas threw his head back, screaming his rage into the night. The sound changed, hollow and full of the sort of echoes that made a chill run down my spine.

The wolf within him was unleashed.

Teeth tore through his bloodied gums, and his spine bowed as the change flowed over him. Without his fur, he could not complete the full shift, but when he reared up, his body had morphed into a hideous meld of beast and man. A face full of teeth and yellow eyes, with Cas’s thick dark hair and lashes.

Hussar tore another arrow from the guard beside him; a shocked young man who looked like he didn’t know what to do. Before Hussar could set it to bow, however, Cas slammed into him. Claws and teeth slashing, the pair of them tumbled over and over in the snow, neither of them gaining the upper hand.

"Nev…a…"

The prince.

I slid to my knees at Evaron’s side. Blood drenched his shirt. I didn’t even know where to start, or how to help. Ellie would have known. She thrived on growing herbs in our garden, and often helped the local Wise Woman. But there was the arrow… Buried so deep in his body I feared it had pierced him clean through.

And the only person here who might be able to help was me.

"Don’t move," I warned sharply, looking around. "You! Fetch the packs."

One of the soldiers lurched into action, and then they were all scrambling to help. I used my knife to cut the shirt from around Evaron’s wound. Blood spilled, and I tried to press my hands there to stop the flow, until someone handed me their shirt.

A howl of pain tore my attention away from the prince.

Cas slammed into a tree, crumpling into the snow beneath it. The only man who had any sort of chance against him was Hussar, and Hussar wore the mantle of the Darkness now. Indecision tore through me. Then Hussar lurched to his feet, his throat and chest bloodied, and an enormous gaping wound in his abdomen. I recognized a dying man when I saw one, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.

And Cas wasn't moving.

"Cas!" I grabbed a soldier’s hand and slammed it over the shirt soaking with the prince’s blood. "Hold here."

Then I scrambled for the nearest sword, knowing I’d be too late. Knowing Hussar could kill my friend before I ever had a chance to get to him.

No!

Hussar hefted his spear, standing over Cas with it raised. "You should have been slaughtered when we first caught you, you little mongrel."

I scrambled forward, as he drove the spear down—

Into a writhing mess of flame and red cloak, as Galina suddenly appeared and threw herself between them. The spear drove straight through her chest, the sharp metal tip narrowly missing Cas. A wash of pure fire burst up over Hussar, incinerating the spear and catching hold in his cloak. Hussar screamed as his entire body was engulfed in flames and I staggered back from the heat, one hand thrown over my face to protect it.

Hussar went down, rolling and screaming in the snow, but this was one fire that would not be put out.

A whirlwind of flame swept in front of me, and I couldn’t see any sign of Galina or Cas.

"Cas!" I yelled, trying to avoid the burning sparks.

"The moment of your choice is here," Galina whispered. "Without you, the world will darken. Without you, the forest—and all who live in its shadows—will be lost."

One spark bit my skin, and the pain was indescribable. I caught sight of Cas on the ground beneath the tree, groaning as he tried to crawl onto his hands and knees. His wolfish aspect was subsiding, leaving just the man, clad only in his trousers. Burn marks scored his back, but he was alive. Whole.

Another spark seared my arm as I slid to my knees beside him. Light lit up beneath my skin, golden fire streaking through my veins. The bonfire behind me blistered the air, and I could barely look at him.

"Are you all right?"

A flash of yellow eyes. "Get… out of here."

"You carried me out of a forest fire," I snapped. "I’m hardly about to leave you to the same fate."

Somehow I got an arm under his shoulder. Dark bruising mottled his ribs, and he groaned. "Evaron?"

"The prince is still alive." I didn’t add "barely".

There was no sign of Galina. Two of the prince’s men poked about the flames where her body had been. All that remained was the charred haft of the spear, and Hussar, who groaned and lifted his charred head, his eyes pure black as the flames in his clothes subsided, and then died.

I didn’t know how he’d survived that, but I didn’t have any time to worry about it. And the two soldiers stood guard over him, looking horrified.

"Make your choice, Neva. Will you be my heir?"

And give up everything? I staggered under Cas's weight. She'd saved him. For me. And what about my family?

"How?" I growled out. "How do I make my choice?"

"Accept the sparks...."

Another spark hit my skin as we reached Evaron. I held my shaking hand out. I'd never wanted this, but I'd seen what the darkness had done with Hussar. I had to protect my family—my world.

"Done," I whispered, and curled my fist around another floating spark. "Where are you?"

"Within you now."

The heat inside me felt like it was reaching blistering level. I swayed as Cas sank to his knees, his nostrils flaring as he peeled back the bloodied shirt. Evaron breathed hoarsely, crying out as some of the shirt stuck to the wound.

For a second there was two of the prince lying before me, outlined in a faint golden light. Cas’s aura seemed a darker, earthier red, but no less vibrant.

I blinked.

"We need to get the arrow out," Cas growled. "Meldor, where are the medical supplies?"

"Gone, sir," replied the red-haired soldier at his side. "We lost the pack in the forest fire."

"Why? Why would Hussar do this?" asked Jor, the one soldier who’d bothered to introduce himself to me.

Because the Darkness had him.

But no, that was not the only answer. The king had wanted his eldest son dead, if he failed to return with the firebird’s heart. And he'd sent along a man to make sure his will was carried out.

Evaron’s breath came in a bloody wheeze, but he captured Cas’s wrist. "If… I die… Then you must flee."

"No." Cas returned the clasp, his face settling into that mutinous expression I knew so well.

"You know…" Evaron coughed, and blood sprayed. "He’ll need someone to blame."

"Then I’ll blame Hussar," Cas snarled. He turned to the two men by the flames. "We need to heal the prince. We need the firebird."

"Sir, there’s no sign of her…."

Nothing but the glittering whirl of white flame, and the sparks that soared into the night sky.

Another burned my skin. Then another. It felt like my bones were trying to melt within me. I moaned, and Cas shot me a hard look, but I waved him away. "I’m fine."

He ordered the men about, sending two of them to try and find any sign of Galina, whose blood could heal the prince. Cas and Jor propped Evaron up, and Cas ground his teeth together as he broke the arrow shaft carefully.

I could barely hear Evaron’s screams.

My ears were throbbing, pounding with the force of the blood through my veins.

My skin felt like it was going to peel open from within, blistered and burning. Unnoticed by everyone else, I slumped against an oak as another spark hit my skin. One by one they were swirling over me, a rain of hot coals that vanished the second they met my flesh, as if… as if I was absorbing the heat.

Vashta save me. I shoved away from the oak, leaving little more than a charred handprint on the bark.

With every spark I absorbed, the pyre in the center of the clearing died down a little more. I needed cold. Water. The snow melted as soon as I scooped it up, and in the light of the flames, I fancied there was a red tinge to my brown skin.

Galina suddenly stood on the edge of the clearing. Hazy and insubstantial, she beckoned me toward her.

Toward the pool.

When they kill the firebird, you must come here. Promise me....

"You're not real." I reeled away, staggering blindly through the trees. Everything hurt. Water. Water, please….

"What you mean is, I'm not alive. Only you can hear me now. Only you can see me."

"What’s happening to me?"

"I’m so sorry, child. This will hurt. You proved your heart is true. The forest must have a guardian. And I have served my time. The duty is yours now."

Duty? I stumbled into a fir tree, and the sharp bristles of the leaves began to smolder. Sweet Vashta. What had she done to me? Another spark sizzled as it hit my face. They were following me like little glowing fireflies that hissed and sizzled as they met my skin, in a way that was reminiscent of hot coals landing in water.

"This way," Galina whispered, appearing ahead of me.

Fainter now. Like a wisp of mist under moonlight.

"Drink the waters, Neva. Or you'll die here. It's your choice."

What sort of choice was that?

I could feel the flame within me now, my mouth raw and dry. I hit the edge of a small ravine and fell to my knees as a spasm of pain racked me. The fall threw me forward, and then the world was spinning recklessly around me, my body tumbling end over end, and slamming onto the stone cobbles that surrounded the Well of Tears. The layer of moss lied. It barely broke my fall, and was no kinder than the stone.

And it too began to smolder and smoke.

"Come, Neva."

Galina sat on the rim of the pool, stirring her hand through the waters. Not a single ripple stirred.

"Are you real?" I whispered hoarsely.

"I am burning within you," Galina said. "Do I not feel real?"

"What have you done to me?" The truth was starting to penetrate. I crawled for the water, fearing this was only the beginning.

Galina's smile was sad. "Sacrifice and rebirth, Neva. Rebirth does not always mean the same body, the same soul. You are my heir. The firebird will live on. The Old Blood that flows through your veins sustains the spark of my magic. It's not enough to counter it, however. If you don't drink from the pool, then you will die. And it will be agonizing."

I sobbed, dragging myself onto the stone lip of the pool. Everything was on fire. I’d never been so relieved to see water in my life.

"The waters will help you accept the change, and heal your body as the flame takes over. I cannot leave the woods unprotected. If I die without a replacement, then the Darkness shall be free to destroy the world again."

"What about Hussar?"

"He is not yet dead, and the Darkness within him burned to a mere wisp. It will regain its strength, if you don’t stop it," Galina said, stirring her hand through the waters. "The firebird's tears can heal anything. Mixed with the unicorn's blood, the waters from this pool could restore a man with one foot in the grave to exuberant life—but there is a cost. Only the pure of heart can taste it. A final test for those who seek immortality. We could not have these petty kings and their princes seeking forever on their gilded thrones, could we? Only a man or woman with the purest intentions can drink from this pool." Galina's smile sharpened. "Are you pure of heart, Neva?"

I didn't know. I couldn't think. The hot coal inside me was throbbing as though someone slowly drove a red-hot poker inside my chest.

No hesitation now. It didn’t matter if Galina’s previous warnings had been dire. Pure heart or not, I couldn’t resist plunging headfirst into the pool, my hips hanging over the edge of the fountain.

Instant relief.

The waters of Vashta’s Tears welcomed me, though it felt thick and strangely fluid, like molten quicksilver. I sucked in a mouthful and swallowed, trying to cool the flaming embers deep in my chest and stomach. It wasn’t enough. I went under completely, and the blessed cold sank through my fevered body, my ears popping with pressure.

The mouthful of water I’d swallowed sat heavy in my stomach, the leaden weight of it slowly sinking through every inch of my body, and bringing with it a coolness that invigorated.

Power rushed through me. Heat.

But it was no longer burning me to cinders.

Now I was the flame.

Steam rose off the pool as I surfaced in a ball of pure flame; one that spread its wings and speared into the sky. Energy crackled through me. I saw the woods sprawled below me, and the air of the night sky rushed past me.

Everything melted away. Pain, sorrow, hunger, fear. I emerged raw and new, and filled with pure exultation.

Banking in the sky, I circled the clearing where Cas and the rest of the men looked up, crying out and pointing up at me.

And suddenly it dawned on me.

Despite this rush of exhilaration, this glorious change, it also meant the end of any hopes I might have held toward him.

The king needed a firebird’s heart.

And now the prince and his men knew a firebird could be consumed in order to heal, I would never stop being hunted.

And I had a duty now.

Everything changed. The sudden lightness of being I’d felt sank into a hot ball of lead in my chest. I plunged through the skies, my enormous wings lashing out just enough to stop my fall. I hit the ground, and the heat ran through me, a spill of energy that left me shuddering in human form on the melted patch of brown dirt I knelt in. Naked.

Yells echoed through the forest. My head jerked up. Cas! And the others.

"You passed the third test. You are truly my heir now. But my old foe is gathering strength. Take my cloak." Galina swirled it around my naked shoulders. "It is crafted of magic, and shall not burn."

Somehow I wobbled to my feet.

"You have little time to lose," she whispered, clasping my cheek in her cool, ethereal hand. "Go, Neva. The Darkness has found its mantle. The man it rides will kill the entire company if you do not stop him—and none of the others can. He will spread this infection through your kingdom—through your world of men—until the Darkness finally has a foothold in another land. And this time, there are no guardians left. Only you can stop it."

Casimir. Evaron. The soldiers who rode with them. It would not stop there. Densby was the closest village on the way out of the Woods. My father was ill. My sisters...

Reaching for the fallen spear that marked Vashta's grave, I turned toward the clearing where the firebird's ashes still burned.

"Vashta watch over me," I whispered, making the sign of the trident upon my forehead with my finger.

When I gained the top of the hill, I glanced back one more time.

Galina was gone.

And another scream tore through the night.