Three. Two. One.
Nate counted down in his head, eyes locked on the flames still swirling and crackling ahead like a raging beast hungry for flesh. Beside him, Sera stood with trembling legs, but a determined look in her eyes. The plan was risky, but they didn't have the luxury of a better option. Nate could survive the fire. He knew that. Fire was his power. Even though it was dormant, suppressed by the gas lingering in the air, his body had always resonated with flame. There was no way he'd let something born of his own essence destroy him. But Sera? She needed protecting.
The moment Nate hit "one," Sera's shadows shot forward like a wave, dark tendrils unraveling and stretching toward the fire to clear a path.
But the moment her shadows touched the wall of fire, everything went wrong.
