8 Decisions

Brightise's heart raced as she listened to Paula.

"This is not a simple procedure," Paula explained. "It has to be done on Mount Krasta and it has to be done during the Blood Moon. That's the only time the lava can transform half-bloods into Fire Demons. They will have to wait until next year's Blood Moon, so your sister is safe for the time being. So is anyone else they may have captured."

"There are more people like us?" Brightise asked.

"Probably not in Selgonfield. Fire Demons don't usually have children with commoners like us. There are stories about half-blood Amazons and Doyas though. Demons go after powerful warriors to produce even more powerful offspring," Paula explained. "They usually don't stay around to raise them like your father did."

Brightise had another burning question she wanted to ask. Her whole life had been turned upside down in one day, and as a result, she had begun to question everything.

"Did my father and my mother really die of a disease?" she asked. "Or did the Fire Demons kill them?"

"They died of the common flu, honey. I'm afraid that was not a lie. Fire Demons don't get diseases, but your father was very much a human when he got sick. He had exchanged his demon powers for your mother."

Brightise nodded in acceptance, but Paula had more to say.

"Your mother told me all this on her deathbed. She was afraid a day might come when you would need to know."

"You didn't know about my father before?" Brightise was surprised. Her mother and Paula had been childhood friends. She understood why she would hide this from them, but why would she hide it from her best friend?

"No," Paula said, shaking her head. "Honey, you need to understand that your mother would do anything to protect you. I just told you that there have always been rumors about half-blood Amazons and Doyas. Your mother had heard those rumors, and she didn't want anyone spreading rumors about you. The Fire Demons would have come knocking on your door years earlier. They are likely to come again once they realize Morral might have siblings."

Brightise instinctively looked towards the room where Clober was sleeping.

"Did you do anything to make the demon think you two might be sisters?" Paula asked her.

Brightise shook her head.

"I didn't think so," Paula said. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have left you behind."

They were silent for a few minutes, until Paula decided it was time to call it a night. "There's plenty to do tomorrow. We have to go around to your house again and see what can be fixed."

Brightise nodded tamely, although she was not planning on doing anything of the sort.

She knew that what she had in mind wasn't the brightest idea, but she didn't think she was very bright to begin with, and now that both her sisters were in danger, her survival instinct had gone out of control.

Half an hour passed since her conversation with Paula, yet Brightise had not gone to sleep. She was lying in her borrowed bed, awake and alert. As soon as she was sure that Paula was asleep, she picked up her sleeping sister and tiptoed out of the room. Clober had always been a heavy sleeper, and she was hoping that Paula was the same.

The embers in the fireplace provided enough light for Brightise to navigate her way through the kitchen. The front door was only meters away from her.

Suddenly, a soft noise startled her into a halt.

Paula was standing in the door frame of her bedroom, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Where do you think you are going?" she whispered.

Brightise gulped. "For a walk."

"A walk to the Land of Fire?"

Clober swayed in her arms as Brightise hesitated.

"Put that child down and come here," Paula ordered her. "I wouldn't need Fire Powers to stop you."

Brightise obeyed. She took Clober back to her room carefully and then returned.

"What did you think you were doing?" Paula asked her angrily. "Taking that child all the way to Granza?"

"I couldn't leave her here," Brightise protested. "You said they would come back for us. What if the Fire Demons took her while I was away trying to bring Morral back?"

"So instead you decided to take her to them and save them the trouble?"

When she put it that way, Brightise's idea sounded incredibly stupid. Brightise blushed in shame.

"So I can't leave her here and I can't take her with me," she concluded.

"No, she wouldn't be safe here or on the way with you," Paula confirmed.

"So she'll die either way? Is that what you're saying?" Brightise realized she was close to tears.

Paula furrowed her brow thoughtfully. "Not necessarily. There are many places between Paldagor and Mount Krasta."

"You want me to leave my sister with strangers?" Brightise asked incredulously.

"Not just any strangers," Paula answered mysteriously.

Brightise was tired of her riddles. Morral was on the way to Mount Krasta as they were speaking. Brightise had to leave before it was too late. One year wasn't a long time when you had a whole country to cross.

"Just tell me what to do!" she told Paula, careful not to wake Clober or her children.

"You will take her to Robenrain."

"The Land of Warriors?"

"Yes, it's on your way. You will take her to the Amazons. They always take care of their own, and if she stays there long enough, she will be able to defend herself on her own."

"But..."

"This is not a suggestion," Paula told her. "I'm presenting you with the only choice you have. That child is gifted, and so are you. The Amazons are the only ones who can help you control your powers. You won't be just dropping off Clober there. You will have to stay and learn. That is the only way you will have any chance of saving Morral. Otherwise, you will just be walking to your death."

Brightise processed all this. She knew that what Paula was saying made sense. All that she could think about though, was that she would be losing both her sisters before she reunited with them again.