by Sky Corbelli
Chapter 26
The Calm Before
“You can't take her,” Ezra snarled as he tried to think of anything that would give him an edge over the earth-crowned. “I don't care what the water-seer told you, we're protecting this girl. There's no way that you're getting her away from–”
“Save me, earthen lord!” Kelly bolted past Ezra and grabbed on to one of the giant's brawny legs, clinging with terrified vigor and burying her face against it.
The huge elementalist absently placed one hand on the girl's head, and some of the tension left his shoulders. “What water-seer?” he asked, voice still tinged with menace.
“The... the one who sent you after us,” Ezra mumbled, unsure of himself. His mind began racing. If the earth-crowned hadn't been sent after them, then this was what... a random coincidence? The big man could have heard Kelly crying, then jumped to the wrong conclusion and come to her rescue. And that would mean... “You're here to protect the girl!” Ezra blurted out, pointing emphatically at the elementalist.
The crowned glanced down at Ezra's sword, now only inches from his chest, and growled. Ezra's eyes widened and he hurriedly dropped the weapon. “No no no, I didn't mean to... look, we're on the same team, okay?” Ezra gestured toward the little girl still clamped on the man's leg. “You need to get her somewhere safe. There's a water-seer behind us who demanded Kelly as payment; you have to believe me, we're just trying to save her from a life of slavery.” He looked around at their battered skiff. Sarah was straining against her restraints, still pinned to the wall. Mat was nowhere to be seen, down in the darkness below the skiff's edge. The rain had moved to the friendlier side of a downpour, but it was still coming down. “Also, I'm going to need you to let us go. We can lead the seer off, but we have to move, now.”
The ground rumbled ominously around them as the elementalist shook his head. “That,” he emphasized the word, “will not be happening until I understand what is going on here. And even were I to let you go...” One huge, bare foot kicked the skiff, setting it rocking as the thrusters tried to compensate for the impact. “Your Besmirched abomination is not welcome in Beloved territory. It was forfeit the moment you crossed the border. I'm afraid that–”
The water all around them, on the ground and in the air, jumped as another pulse raced through the night, interrupting the earth-crowned. Ezra glanced around frantically, realizing that the seer was nearly upon them. He had to say something, do something. “Okay,” he began, speaking rapidly, “what if I told you that we weren't... Besmirched, or whatever? What if I told you that we were here to protect people, and that we came from–”
“Hawkins, shut up!” Sarah hissed at him
Ezra just kept going. “The Forbidden City. We watch the world outside. When elementalists – you know, people like you, or the water-seer – people with power, when they abuse it, we come and set things right.” The rain had subsided to a soft pattering, the clouds above beginning to lighten. “By whatever means necessary,” Ezra finished quietly.
The crowned giant opened him mouth to say something, then glanced around, inspecting Sarah's gun, Ezra's sword, and the skiff critically, a contemplative look on his face. Ezra pushed his advantage. “That's why you need to let us go. We're trying to help people, just like you, and we can't do that if you're stopping us.”
The big man gave Ezra a long, appraising look. From behind Ezra, Sarah shouted, “Hawkins, get down!” She had somehow worked her arm free of the rocky restraints. Ezra hit the deck just as the little pistol barked three times, muzzle flashing in the growing light. The earth-crowned moved to shield Kelly with his body, but he needn’t have bothered. Sarah wasn't aiming for him.
The shots very nearly caught the seer by surprise as she rounded a nearby hill. At the last second, however, she stumbled back on the wave she was riding and kicked up a shield of ice, losing momentum but stopping the bullets cold.
That was all the time Mat needed. Ezra saw him dash forward, lobbing something toward the seer as he yelled, “Ezra, sword!”
The earth-crowned glanced worriedly back at the water-seer, and rumbled, “Now wait just one–”
Ezra scooped up his blade and lofted it to Mat just as some kind of sonic explosion thumped through the early evening. The wave that the water elementalist had been riding abruptly exploded into tiny droplets, sending her plummeting toward the earth. She gasped, but made an odd swooping gesture with both hands as gravity claimed her. From all around, water leaped up, solidifying into a ramp of ice beneath her feet. The seer slid gracefully to the ground, lips peeled back in a snarl of rage.
“Peace, lady seer,” the giant intoned. “There's no need for–”
Evidently, she didn't hear him. No sooner had her feet touched down than she spun, robes billowing as her legs kicked into the air. The path of ice she had ridden to safety shifted back to liquid, following her kick and flying toward Mat in pressurized blast just as he deftly plucked Ezra's sword from the air. The earth-crowned spat a curse and lifted one hand in a stopping gesture. A spire of stone jutted up in the water's path, safely diverting it away from the young man.
Mat stared at the barrier in shock as Sarah's gun sounded again. The seer twirled, deep blue eyes wide in fear as she tried to dodge, hands reaching for any water she could pull to protect her. For a split second, Ezra felt the thrill of victory... but every bullet veered from its course, striking the ground just below the skiff and throwing up little showers of mud and wet dirt.
“Enough!” the earth-crowned roared. Behind him, Ezra heard stone shift and slide, and suddenly the enormous, solid wall that had stopped their skiff dead flowed like liquid, crashing in a wave around them all. Earth moved unnaturally around his body, pushing and encasing him. Ezra's head broke the surface, and he looked around wildly to find Mat and Sarah, also encased in rock to the neck, on either side of him. The skiff was gone, buried beneath the flood of earth. Some ten meters away, the water-seer was struggling against similar restraints. She threw her head back and screamed in frustration as the cloud cover broke, letting in a few rays of sunlight that set the last drizzle of the storm sparkling.
Ezra watched in awe and terror as an enormous throne of granite rose up silently from the ground, forming a triangle with the furious seer and the Sanctuary team. Set up almost like a courtroom, Ezra thought. He took a careful look around and his stomach dropped. And that would make us the defendants. The crowned gently set Kelly on the arm of the massive stone chair, then lowered himself into the seat, expression stern. His fist slammed against the free arm, and the earth rumbled in answer, a makeshift gavel.
“This foolishness has gone on for too long already,” his deep voice resounded from the earth and stone around them. “We shall settle this in a civilized manner. Gaav shall preside over this case.”
