Underestimated Affinities

by Matthew Scarcella

  We take the first right turn down the corridor and pass by a large side window. We are briefly illuminated in the brilliant pink light streaming in through the trees outside, before turning down another corridor that lacks windows, leading us into the lower levels of the Council’s Headquarters.

  “Well,” I squeak. “It seems that someone is always bothered by me recently, so what else is new?” Aethyr’s not aware of my recent trip to the Forbidden Lake, so he probably doesn’t understand the hidden meaning there, but Safeyya slaps me upside the back of my head.

  “Stop doing stupid shit and no one will have a reason to be frustrated with you.” Aethyr chuckles at her and he gets a slap as well.

  After another two turns and quite a few minutes of walking, we’re standing outside a large door with an ornate brass knocker and an electronic communications device embedded beneath it. Safeyya knocks twice, then plants her palm onto the device. It must register her handprint because the door opens inward and I hear the hushed whispers of the Council members.

  The five of them are sitting behind their respective desks in the alcove on the second level of the chamber, fully dressed in black. I pick up on a cue in the stagnant air and hear one of the members say, “Why was he alone in the woods —” but he stops speaking as the leader holds up her hand, taking note of my presence.

  Bayleigh Mercier utilizes her secondary wind affinity to carry their voices across the span of their desks to each other while hiding it from others, but she’s aware I can hear whatever she intends to transmit. Instead, they gather around her desk and murmur to each other before addressing us.

  “Good day, Selvyn. Aethyr. Please have a seat behind the Ice Tune.” She uses her wind affinity to push two chairs into position behind Piero, one to either side of his.

  “My name is Piero,” he utters.

  “Yes, yes,” she replies. “We are aware.”

  Fara nods toward the chairs provided as Aethyr and I have yet to move. “Gentlemen, if you will. Safeyya, please take your usual position.” Safeyya spreads her wings and flies up into her seat opposite the Council, across from Bayleigh, who resides in the middle of the other Council members.

  Aethyr plops himself down onto the chair closest to the door, so I maneuver my way around him to the further one. As I do so, I gaze about the room surrounding us. I’ve never been in here, and for a lower level chamber with a lack of natural light, it’s surprisingly picturesque.

  The floor is simple; the outer circle made of earth, and the inner circle is carved out of wood into the shape of a large tree, its branches interacting with the earth around them. The walls are all carved wood, sectioned off into quarters, with each quarter depicting two or more elements. The wall encompassing the door we entered from is carved into an intricate forest, with bountiful trees whose leaves seem to blow carelessly, representing wood and wind. The door itself is the base of a rather large tree. The wall opposite, where the Council sits, depicts an active volcano, billowing smoke and spurting lava, representing fire and lava. The wall to my left is a barren field with overcast, cloudy skies, with a single majestic lightning strike whittled down the center, representing earth and lightning. The wall to my right is a tundra with its surrounding stormy ocean, embodying ice and water. Each wall has a large candle suspended in front of it, and they are connected to an even larger one suspended from the ceiling in a stunning metal chandelier, adorned with chunks of molten lava.

  I glance over to the five and see the newest member, Lukasz Elvy, throw fire at a candle to light it.

  As the four disperse back to their own positions, I get another good look at Bayleigh, the leader of the Council. Her dazzling curly black hair surrounds her face like a clouded halo. Her radiant ebony skin is accentuated by the color of her wings. Bayleigh’s primary affinity is lightning; her secondary, wind; and her tertiary, metal.

  With a nod from Bayleigh, Felix silently moves his position over to the door to stand guard, crossing his arms in front of him. “Yes,” she starts. Her silky voice carries throughout the chamber, coursing through me like a vibration. “We’ll start with you two. But who shall begin?” Her gaze darts over Aethyr and then rests on me. “Of course. Selvyn first.”

  She grins at her second-in-command, Fara Wolfhart, who flaps her wings absentmindedly. In an instant, I sense Aethyr squirming in his seat as a pair of wooden earmuffs form around his head. A single pink bud sprouts from either one, effectively canceling his hearing. Thick roots also bind his hands and feet to the chair.

  Bayleigh then looks the other way as the fourth member, Theodora Colt, smirks mischievously. Giggling, her wings tremble and some of the earth from the outer ring shifts, creating a sealed dome over Aethyr. For good measure, she finishes it off with a coat of ice.

  “There,” Bayleigh addresses me once again. “Now he won’t be able to hear what you say. As I’m sure you are aware,” she sighs, “His breathing will not be affected.” She motions backward toward her wind wings to reinforce her point. “Actually, ladies, take care of Piero as well. Don’t worry, dear.” She smiles broadly at him. “You’ll be fine.” Fara and Theodora repeat the process on Piero, who sits motionless throughout. Bayleigh then leans forward over her desk, resting her face in her hands inquisitively. “Why don’t you start from the beginning, just after you left Belarin?”

  ***

  After almost an hour of explaining what happened, more than once, they must be satisfied by what they’ve heard from me because Bayleigh signals Fara and Theodora to release Aethyr from their hold.

  As they relinquish their control over him, he leans back in his chair and sighs gratefully. “What’s the matter?” he chuckles. “You couldn’t just have us leave the room?” He shoots one of his trademark seductive grins at Bayleigh, trying to wear her down.

  “Well, of course, we could. But,” she looks to her left and then her right, “It’s more fun this way. Isn’t it, girls?” The two of them nod in unison.

  The third member, Keith Raffle, sighs, exasperated with the girls’ process. He is the oldest and the portliest member. His grey hair and sour attitude only exacerbate the resting grouch face that he seems to wear. However, he is the most ruthless. His body and attitude are tinged with age, but his metal and lava wings show no sign of slowing him down. He coughs into his hand and looks away from me. “Can we just get on with it, already?”

  “Fine. Fine,” Fara retorts from the other side of the room. She is known for being all business, and for being forthright. Her shoulder-length brown hair is slicked back into a ponytail, and her intense green eyes are somewhat hidden behind the bangs falling over her forehead. Her dual set of wood wings are disrupted by her secondary water affinity, but the stark contrast is appealing. The separation of duality doesn’t occur often, at least in our city, so she stands out. Perhaps this is why her attire is always restricted; she may intend to draw attention away from herself. “Go ahead, Aethyr, tell us how you happened to stumble upon Piero.”

  Aethyr starts by explaining how he noticed something was wrong with Petalsong Forest from a distance. He then lapses into the brief trek around the perimeter, and then through the inner woods where we found Piero. Aethyr also mentions how, when we found him, Piero had had only two sets of ice wings, not three. I sort of inadvertently left out that crucial piece of information, so I get a menacing glare from Bayleigh at this point. He finishes off by explaining how he went to look for the attackers and put out the fires in the forest, while I attempted to save Piero’s life.

  “I didn’t find anyone in the immediate area. Just a bunch of dead animals, and withered trees.” He sighs. “Anyway, when I got back, I saw that Piero had gained his tertiary set of ice wings, meaning he was — I mean, is — the Ice Tune, and Selvyn had said that he was alright. I picked him up and we brought him back to Belarin. That’s it.”

  The Council sits silently for a few moments before Lukasz starts speaking in a whisper. “Why would he come into power now, so suddenly —” he is in
terrupted yet again by Bayleigh, who stifles any sort of air emanating from his mouth.

  “I believe,” she starts, “That we should hear what the Tune himself has to say about the situation before we speak amongst ourselves. There is no need to deliberate at the current time.”

  Lukasz nods from the furthest desk on her right. “Yes. Agreed.” As the fifth and youngest member, Lukasz is also the least experienced of the five. His primary affinity is lightning, and his secondary is fire. His brown hair is cut short and his grey eyes only draw more attention to his bulbous nose.

  “Aethyr.” Fara smiles at him from above. “We thank you for your testimony.” She motions to Theodora and the two of them remove their hold on their affinity-built defenses ensnaring Piero. He breathes a sigh of intense relief.

  “That was a terrifying experience,” Piero groans. “I couldn’t see anything but darkness. Pitch black, I tell you. Couldn’t hear or smell anything either. It felt like death. Please, do not do that again. Ugh.” He shivers emphatically to emphasize his point.

  Theodora grins exuberantly. She is the most whimsical of their group. Her long, luminous blonde hair cascades ever so gently over her ice and earth wings. She grabs stray strands and twirls them between her fingers when she thinks no one is watching. Or perhaps when she knows everyone is watching — but she isn’t to be misjudged. Beneath the beauty and violet eyes, she can be cruel when necessary. She is the Council’s defensive strategist and works together with Safeyya on safety measures. Theodora is also tasked with making sure that the structural foundation of Belarin is sound after an attack, even though we haven’t had any recently.

  Theodora, being the precocious flirt she is, tosses her hair over her wings and attempts to draw Piero in with her incessant wiles. “My oh my, someone is quite handsome. Tell me, mister, do you smell as good as you look?”

  Felix chuckles from the door and my jaw just about unhinges. Is she serious? We’re being held against our will so that the five of them can determine what they should do with our situation, and here she is, casually trifling away.

  “Excuse you?” Piero sits upright, puffing out his chest.

  “Now now,” Lukasz chimes in, “That’s really not appropriate, Theodora, considering the current predicament.”

  “Hmm,” Fara addresses Piero, “I believe the correct phrase is ‘excuse me?’”

  “No,” Piero snaps back. “I know how to speak, thank you very much. I meant what I said and it should be interpreted as it was intended.”

  “Ooooh,” Theodora quips. “Someone’s feisty… I like that.”

  Piero clutches his abdomen, bursting into laughter. “You’re really barking up the wrong damn tree, lady. I’m not interested in you. At all. May we just get on with the case at hand?”

  Her nefarious charms having failed her, Theodora’s face turns to absolute stone. “Do you know with whom you are speaking?”

  “Frankly, miss,” Piero shrugs, “I don’t care. If you want me to respect you, then you need to show me the same courtesy.”

  Theodora sits back in her chair, mortified.

  The other three members, minus Bayleigh, look unamused at the incident. But the corner of her left lip is tugged up ever so slightly, and there’s a trace of light sparkling in her eyes. I’m sure it isn’t often that she gets to see Theodora’s advances rebuffed.

  She clears her throat ever so daintily before resuming, “Yes. I think we should continue with the case. So, Piero. Tell us, in your own words, just exactly what had transpired yesterday. Who are you, exactly? What city are you from? Why were you in Petalsong Forest, alone? Why were you injured? Who attacked you? What did you do to anger them? Why did you encase yourself in ice?”

  “Easy lady,” Piero chortles, his broad chest rising and lowering as he does so. He crosses his legs at his ankles, and spreads his arms wide. “I can answer most of your questions, but I’ll do it one at a time.” He turns around and gives me a look that more or less says: ‘Are these people serious?’

  “Well, I guess, first of all, my name is Piero Intessa. I’m from Azendal and am one of the few ice wielders from there. Although, technically I’m not really a resident there anymore. So, heh, they’re down one ice wielder. Not my problem.” Fara twiddles her thumbs, and I lean forward, my elbows on my knees, so I can hear him better. “Anyway, yeah, a majority of Zicarna there were kind of being jerks to me, so I took it upon myself to leave. I don’t really see a point in me residing someplace and calling it home when I’m not treated as an equal citizen.

  “As to why I was in Petalsong Forest? I don’t know what to tell you. I also don’t know why it matters, but I love it there. I enjoy lounging around in the trees, listening to them sing to each other. I like watching the trenga flit from here to there, pecking seeds from the ground, drinking sap from the fenestras, making nests. And I was alone because I wanted to be. Although, I’ll have you know that my personal feelings on Petalsong Forest are none of your business.” In response to this, Bayleigh’s back tightens and Fara stops twiddling her thumbs. “I’m only explaining this to you in detail so that you don’t think I’m some nut job that wants to annihilate your city.”

  Aethyr suppresses a laugh next to me, which causes Safeyya to shoot an electrically charged piece of hair into his thigh, which abruptly stops his entertainment. Piero looks at Aethyr and grins impishly, showcasing his beautiful white teeth. He leans back in his chair and crosses his leg over his knee before continuing.

  “So, I was injured because, as you so brilliantly surmised, I was attacked. Ambushed, to be specific. I don’t know who attacked me, or why. I think it was one man and one woman — definitely a lava and fire user, at the least. Maybe they were paid off by those imbeciles in Azendal, or maybe they were just looking to murder out of sport. I thought I had lost them in the trees until the lava user tossed some chains around my ankles. Dick move, honestly. Dragged me halfway into the forest until the other started tossing fireballs at me.

  “After a while, I just got tired of them pelting me with stuff and I decided to play dead and coat myself in ice. Actually, now that I think about it, I’d never tried it prior to that. It was very interesting. To be fair, they were extremely strong and were wearing me down. If I didn’t pretend to be dead, they probably would have worked up to killing me. Thankfully our species has thick skin, so one hit won’t really do severe damage unless it’s from a Tune.”

  “Alright. Give us a few moments.” Bayleigh nods in both directions, summoning the other Council members to her desk. The ground before us shakes violently and causes a rumbling echo in the chamber as Theodora raises a thick layer of earth before them, cutting us off from hearing their hurried whispers.

  I look up to see what Safeyya’s making of this, and she’s just dangling her feet over the edge of her chair, kicking them back and forth.

  “Hey,” I call up to her. “What do you think?”

  “For starters,” she looks down at me, “I think you shouldn’t look so happy.”

  “Why not? His story makes sense.”

  “I understand, but it’s odd that he was attacked at random. Unless…”

  “Go on, finish your thought.”

  “No, I don’t think that I will. It’s nothing you should concern yourself with as of now.” She shakes her head at me, pulling her lips into an unwarranted frown.

  “If you say so,” Aethyr responds from my side. “By the way, sis, you should watch how frequently you throw those hairs of yours at us. One day you’re going to realize that you don’t have any left.” He starts laughing at her, and Piero and I can’t help but join in, not after picturing my sister bald.

  “Hey, you,” she motions at Piero with her foot, “If you want to talk to me,” she smirks, “You probably shouldn’t be laughing!”

  “I’m sorry!” He lets out a few more chuckles and then coughs to try and mask the laughter. “I didn’t mean to offend you. It was just amusing.”

  “Hah,” she chortles, “I�
�m not offended that easily. Aethyr is the funny one. But at least I have a lot of hair left! It also grows in quick. So, I have plenty to toss at you also.”

  “Piero.” He turns to face me. “You really don’t want to get shocked by her. It’s jolting.” He flashes me his pearly whites again, just as the wall separating the alcove starts to recede.

  I watch the last remnants of earth particles settle into the ground in perfect harmony as if nothing had disturbed them in the first place. When I finally look up, the five Council members are in their respective seats. All of them are sitting straight up, focusing on Piero.

  “So,” Bayleigh begins, “We’ve finished deliberating. We believe your accounts, but we must ask you a few more questions, Piero.” She glances over at Lukasz.

  “Why did your tertiary set of wings grow in after Selvyn assisted you?” Lukasz accuses him.

  “Hmm,” he mumbles to himself. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I suppose that it was a crucial moment of agony in my life, and my body reacted the way it was supposed to. A metamorphosis, if you will.”

  Theodora rolls her eyes and motions emphatically at my sister. “Safeyya, what do you think about this explanation?”

  “It’s plausible,” my sister reciprocates. “My tertiary set grew in when I was under duress as well.”

  “Understood,” Keith grumbles in response. He runs a wrinkling hand through his thin grey hair. “Young man, what do you intend to do now? For your information, we have received a few reports of rogue groups of Zicarna attacking cities and wandering individuals. So, you can understand why we are wary of your origins. As you may have deduced, these reports we have received may coincide with your incident, meaning you were most likely attacked by rogues.”

  “Hmm. I am not sure,” Piero counters. “I mean, I’ve been making it fine on my own so far. Until yesterday, of course. Though, realistically, I wouldn’t say no to finding a nice new city to call home.” He glances at me and then continues addressing the Council. “I think I can see myself living here for a bit. After all, I have to find some way to repay the man that saved my life, don’t I? How can I do that if I keep wandering?”