Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

fear down. She
     was in the circle of protection. She refused to be intimidated.
    With effort, she managed to push aside her fear and concentrate on the words he’d
     spoken. He’d spoken her ancestor’s name. She didn’t understand the rest of the words,
     but instantly recognized the language as the same the porter had mumbled to himself
     over and over. This evil entity knew her—or, more likely, her ancestor—and believed she was still alive. That realization
     gave her an important bit of knowledge she hadn’t possessed before. Whoever—whatever—this
     evil entity was, he wasn’t all powerful and he made mistakes. Moreover . . . alongside
     the threat in his voice, she heard fear. He feared Arabejila. Considering that she
     was the one who’d locked him in the volcano and kept him there for centuries, that
     made perfect sense. In fact, she might even be the only thing he did fear.
    If the evil entity feared Arabejila, that meant he had reason to fear her and that
     meant he was vulnerable in some way. She took another deep breath and locked on to
     him, curling her fists tighter to hold him prisoner.
    Another tremor jolted the mountain hard, throwing the men off their feet. With her
     hands plunged so deep in the soil, Riley felt the rising of the volcano. The blast
     would blow the top of the mountain away and flatten everything for miles. No one would
     be safe, not even the archaeologist and porters who had taken off earlier. They’d
     be caught as well as every animal and tribesman within miles. She had no choice but
     to try to calm the powerful force, and failing that, turn it away from them, redirect
     the blast if at all possible.
    “Fire flame, show your light
    Burning bright within my sight
    Brightness burn deep within
    So I may see where to begin
    Bring me light as fire burns
    So I may bind it with twists and turns.”
    She chanted the words softly, eloquently, her hands deep in the soil, stroking and
     calming the ground, easing her way into the churning mass of gases and molten rock.
    “We have to get out of here,” Ben shouted. “Right now. This thing is going to blow.”
    Jubal and Gary kept a firm grip on him, holding him within the circle.
    “You can’t outrun a volcano,” Gary pointed out. “She’s our only hope now. I have no
     idea how she can do it, but clearly the mountain responds to her.”
    “What the hell can she do?” Ben demanded.
    Riley ignored them, channeling power and energy into the earth. The ground shivered
     and shook continually, and she could actually feel a force rising.
    “Fire leads me to the light
    Guide my hand as I fight this night
    Show me how to find my fire
    So I may guide this volcanic power.”
    She wasn’t going to be able to stop the blast, but she could already feel the response
     to her presence. She had to use every bit of energy and power she possessed to harness
     the volcano, to guide it away from the others—and that meant letting go of the evil
     entity she held so tight. Closing her eyes, she made the decision. If they were all
     dead, he would escape anyway. She couldn’t do both. She abruptly pulled away, sending
     up a silent prayer that the binding would hold even through a volcano blast.
    She felt the instant echo of malicious glee, of taunting laughter. That failure couldn’t
     matter. Now, it was all about redirecting the blast and calming the volcano and preventing
     a catastrophic event.
    “Red like flame, amber light, diverts this fire and holds it tight
    Sword and dagger, double-headed axe, dragon’s blood hold this volcano’s blast
    Salamander who lives in fire, create a tunnel for this river of flame.”
    Ash spewed high into the air. Several vents shot steam high. Fiery rocks streaked
     into the air, small blowholes, as if the great mountain just had to express itself.
     Lightning zigzagged, great forks spreading across the sky.
    Riley held firm, refusing to flinch. “Triangle lightning, use your light to hold all
     powers, adding strength to their might.”
    She took another breath, closed her eyes and sent her prayer to the sky and deep into
     the ground. “Mother Earth, your humble daughter seeks your aid once more. You are
     living, breathing, ever changing in your natural state. The fire roars in you, yet
     your daughter pleads with you to tamp down that fire and send it far from us. The
     release is necessary to the growth of this world, true, but we ask for this boon.”
    It was the best she