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Stop that! Flare yanked against et loose We’re trying to get out!

That hurts! Carnelian wriggled and squirmed I used more diamond on my hold on her, too Evvy? Is it you? Or the lanced down at ical body looked as if it was ? It’sreasonable If you won’t mind common sense, then you just have to do what I tell you This isn’t the way I dragged theh the crowd of volcano spirits They got out of our way See that could tow their precious leaders along like naughty children If they had children, and if they towed them by whatever passed for ears

I hauled Carnelian and Flare along the fault, in the way I wanted to go They fought , but Luvo’s power, all that I’d collected, and the diaer--for now

Where are you taking us? Flare dug at me He ripped at my arms with clawsscratches in it The h, but Flare was still a creature from the earth’s heart Even a dia back down!

You’re going out the way I told you to! I snapped I’ ways to keep you busy and out of er to s so you don’t kill everything in sight If you’re so determined to die, fine You’ll do it where you don’telse forme as hard as Flare Instead she twined her arrip her ear Her war’s all temporary anyway, she said You touch it--well, we touch it, and it disappears It’s not like it’s i people and animals "meat creatures" It scorched me almost as much as Carnelian’s hold It’s iht shape I’s

Carnelian tried to pull me to a halt One of them?

I dragged her onward

Flare hauled againstto wrench away How can you have any power over us? How can you be here or touch us? This is our world!

Is the , too? Carnelian’s voice was very soft and scary Are you saying we ran from the likes of that?

For the first time I was more scared of Carnelian than Flare I sped up No Luvo isn’t like me at all You’re lucky you listened to him

I wonder Flare was suspicious now, too Maybe he was another one of your tricks

You seem to know a lot of the heavy How could she do that?

Maybe this is another trick, Carnelian went on Maybe your way out is just another way down

You can’t lose us This is our home We will find a way back to your precious ht thened s and wrapped one around hith of diamonds For Meryehtened rip on their bodies and their ears

They had to learn to fear my voice, not Luvo’s! You can’t scare me, you two I was beaten by i because it was so cold I was sold for a slave and lived on e You call that teer, without you destroying everything aroundme And if you want to die so bad, then I’ll help you do it! But you aren’t going to defy ic into rip I let the diamonds’ power fill the tentacles that I had wrapped around Flare and Carnelian They squealed, feeling their own heat reflected back upon them

It’s not death, you stupid creature! Inside her skin, parts of Carnelian were h her, around and around She was turning herself into the quartz trap, spinning her power As it whirled inside her, it built She got stronger as she fought It’s not death at all If you weren’t so teo to the next place, the next part of ourselves Who wants to swi out reat world, not cooped up inside it Now Flare did the saot hotter, burningthe deeper under the ocean floor The canyon that was oal was another two or three e ofright overhead There were breaks in the ceiling of the fault here If Flare and Carnelian got free now, theyfleet

Let us GO! roared Flare, sla me into the wall of the fault

We don’t believe you anyedas their insides spun The volcano spirits saw the with me and screamed They swamped us Every inch of the open fault aroundin circles Heat built up everywhere, blinding hot