With the construction of the new dormitories finished, Kiera and Claire moved into the Royal Suite, which occupied the entirety of the third floor. Claire''s room was furnished to resemble her room at the palace, and Kiera''s room was furnished to resemble her father''s castle in Cloudsea. The shining marble walls, fine paisley rugs, and glossy wooden furniture elevated the space to a comfortable level of opulence. At night, Kiera spread her arms and legs wide across the empty bed, sank down into the soft blankets, and slept in peace.


    The peace lasted up until the ever-homesick Claire snuck into Kiera''s room and shoved her to one side of the bed. The interruptions to Kiera''s comfort continued in the morning when Fiona arrived, clad not in her witch costume, but instead wearing the red robes of House Aden.


    "Wake up ladies," she commanded. "Preparations are finished. There''s something I want you to see. Both of you."


    Kiera groaned. "What''s this about?"


    "We are going to enter into one of the Tombs," Fiona explained.


    "Where are my handmaids?" Claire asked.


    "I''ve sent them away. Up you go now. You take your shower first. Kiera, make me a cup of coffee."


    Sitting at the bar, illuminated by the dawn''s light, Fiona''s blue hair and shining scales were a sharp contrast to her bright red robes, a juxtaposition which Kiera found to be striking. The coffee was, unfortunately, the bitter and flavorless variety available to the commoners, but Fiona sipped it without complaint.


    "They''ve discovered aerodynamic stability," Fiona said.


    "I''m sorry," Kiera said. "I was busy helping to build this place. I missed the club meeting."


    "One of my girls was spying on them the whole time. I have an accurate transcript of the meeting, as well as copies of the notes. I''ve complained to Lyn about the accuracy of the architecture textbooks here in the library, but she pointed out that corrections to the material strengths will be rapidly discovered by any students with actual practical experience working with wood or cloth. So my hands are tied."


    "I will need to read the transcripts."


    Fiona slipped a sealed scroll out of one robe sleeve and unfurled it on the bar. The diagram depicted Seth''s kite, except now it featured a long boom at the back, ending in an empennage with horizontal and vertical stabilizers.


    Kiera gasped. "That looks just like a real airplane!"


    "They are developing faster than I anticipated," Fiona said. "The members of the Aviation Club are equipped with a diversity of relevant backgrounds. The apprentice Sea Mother understands ships, the painter understands birds, and the Vjiskaldi man understands math and physics. Seth intuitively understands the concept of the ''pilot in command'' having the final authority."


    "What about Quinn?"


    "Quinn is stubborn. He will not betray his brother. At least not without our help." Fiona winked. "It sounds like Claire is done with her shower. Hurry up, I would like to get out of here soon. Make sure to wear hiking boots."


    After they left, Kiera and Claire Aden followed the witch Fiona along very much the same path the Aviation Club had taken, up to the mountains above the fjord and then down into the caves. After they spanned the chasm and they came to the fork in the path, instead of going east up to the plateau, the three women went west toward the massive stone door. The two masked guards both dropped to one knee as Fiona approached.


    "Honored Ancestor," the guard said. "I see that you have brought a young Flame Keeper with you, but I ask, who is this other woman? She is not a Flame Keeper."


    "This is Kiera the Mender," Fiona said. "Strongest of all the witches."


    "Even stronger than the Elder Saint?" the man asked, astonished.


    "Even stronger than the Elder Saint," Fiona agreed. "And also the most harmless. As for Claire, she is indeed too young to enter into the community under normal circumstances. However, by fate or by design, she is also a witch, and I have arranged for both of them to enter into the Founder''s Tomb."


    "Honored Ancestor, it is not my place to question the wisdom of the witches. Please, carry on with your labors and forgive my lack of faith."


    The second guard gestured, and the huge stone doors began to swing inward slowly. After they had opened enough to allow two people to pass through abreast, they stopped opening further, and the three women glided through without incident.


    Beyond the portal, the cavern continued as it had been before. Bone-white rock, a rusty red ground, skylights crowded with ferns, small dark rooms lit by bioluminescent fungi, and lots of teeth-like stalagmites and stalactites. After walking to the east a ways, they came upon a huge underground amphitheater, rising in tiers like the interior of the bowl-shaped cities at the apex of the spires. Each tier was crowded with fine bone-white dwellings. Above and to the east, at the very highest tier of the amphitheater, the wall of the cave was missing, open to a foggy sky. People in red robes and ebony masks roamed the streets, shopping at small market stalls, or carrying buckets of water. In short, they were going about their business, only occasionally stopping to prostrate themselves before Fiona.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Who are these people?" Kiera whispered.


    "This is the Aden clan," Fiona explained. "Claire''s many cousins and aunts and uncles."


    "I was wondering where my cousins lived," Claire said. "They seem to just show up once in a while without warning, then disappear."


    "When Reyndell attempted to exterminate my tribe," Fiona said, "I was able to save a few of the villages and thus prevent a total genocide. I brought the Blue Dragon whelps here, but in order to prevent inbreeding, I was forced to blend some human blood into the tribe as well. Most of the people here are descended from my own daughters."


    "I see," Kiera said. "And if the small number of Adens living on the surface ever die off, you have lots of viable replacements to continue the royal line."


    "You did not have any sons?" Claire asked.


    "Of course not. I''m an oculomancer. The poison in my body is lethal to males."


    Near the southern wall of the cavern, they came upon a stone altar coated in a layer of sprawling vines of pure spirit-lattice. Upon the altar there rested a human skeleton made entirely out of spirit-lattice crystal. The air was filled with the delicate sound of crystals being rubbed together, a glass-like whistle with an electric crackle. Statues of Father Winter and Mother Summer flanked the altar, and the red crystals had grown all the way up to their heads.


    "Whoa," Claire said. "The bones of Aden."


    "My husband," Fiona added. "After Reyndell died and I was no longer forced to be his concubine, I founded the Aden clan with this man. He was much younger than me at the time, younger even then you, Kiera. When he began to transform into a witch, he summoned the Elder Saint to kill him. His body was subjected to such a strong burning spirit-ether entropic field that his bones turned into spirit-lattice crystals."


    Beyond the altar, Kiera immediately recognized the Founder''s Tomb. However, this one was imperfect. The disk-like door to the tomb was cracked at the base. A huge block of marble rested in front of the crack, preventing access to the interior.


    "What happened to it?" Kiera asked.


    "Renna was very interested in the Tombs of the Founders," Fiona said. "This is one of the few tombs that she managed to open. Beyond this door, you will discover exactly why the members of the Aden clan are known as ''Flame Keepers.''"


    "Are we even allowed to enter?" Claire asked.


    "As witches, you are no longer bound by the Heritor Oaths. I give you permission to enter. Follow me."


    Using stone-aspect ethermancy, Fiona gently nudged the block of marble away from the crack. The gap at the base was so narrow that Kiera was forced to crawl on her belly, and Claire was frightened that she would become trapped. A strange white-purple light seemed to be shining through from the other side, and curiosity got the better of the child. When Kiera crawled out of the opposite end of the tiny tunnel, her hands plunged into a foot of cold, powdery snow.


    She staggered to her feet and found herself in another world.


    The sky was dull gray, as if the depths of the sky were filled with storm clouds. It was snowing very lightly, not enough to block visibility of the horizon. A massive, angry red planet dominated that horizon. Not only did it not resemble the Sister World, but it was in the completely wrong location in the heavens. In every direction, there were snow-clad trees, mighty peaks, and glaciers. The farthest mountains were as tall as the sky, and they were ablaze with fire at the peaks. Molten lava poured down their visible faces in rivers as long as nations.


    Claire Aden gasped.


    "What is this place?" Kiera asked.


    The huge stone disk of the Founder''s Tomb door was still visible behind them. Fiona scrambled through the tiny crack at the bottom, stood up, and lazily brushed the snow from her red robes.


    "Welcome to the Elemental Plane of Fire," Fiona said helpfully. "Certainly you have read about this place in The Binding of Ashe, have you not?"


    "It''s real?" Kiera asked incredulously. "Mother Summer, it''s really real?"


    "Of course it''s real. Unfortunately, we are not fully located in the Elemental Plane of Fire. We are still mostly located in the Elemental Plane of Heaven. This zone is a type of overlap. In interstice. And since we are still imprisoned in the Plane of Heaven, we actually can''t walk very far here in this world."


    Fiona pointed to a copse of snow-clad trees beyond a frozen lake. Some of the trees appeared to be on fire.


    "Follow me. I''ll introduce you to the Elemental here."


    The hiking boots proved to be a blessing as they spanned the frozen lake. Kiera and Claire both walked in silence, awe-struck by the strange new sky above their heads. Beyond the far shore, the trees in the forest had fallen, glowing red-orange from within, like wood left too long in the fireplace. And there, dancing among the flames and ashes, gleefully laughing at the wages of her destructive power, they found the Elemental.


    She had the shape of a nude woman, fashioned entirely out of smokey red-orange light. She floated above the ground, and even at a distance Kiera could feel the heat radiating from her. Her body was indistinct, sexless, with only the impression of a face, lacking even a mouth. When she finally spoke, it was in Kiera''s mind.


    Outsiders, the Elemental said, her voice an angry feminine hiss. I cannot bond with you. You have no purpose here.


    "She always says that," Fiona said. "Kiera, Claire, let me introduce you to our friendly neighborhood Fire Elemental. Daughter of the Queen of Fire, please tell us, for what purpose were you sealed in this place?"


    I was placed here to serve as infrastructure for the magic system that Vaska created in your world, the Fire Elemental said.


    "Who is Vaska?" Fiona asked.


    I cannot answer that question.


    "I''ve spent years and years here," Fiona said, "asking thousands of questions, begging and pleading for answers. She will talk about her purpose, but nothing else."


    "So why did you bring us here?" Kiera asked.


    "As the centuries pass, you may find yourself growing bored with the sky in our world. Always remember that, as witches, if you need to look upon another sky, this place is always an option."