by Jeff Kish
Frustrated, he determines their safety is compromised by the lack of communication. Dashing to get in front, Era turns around and extends his arms out to block Jem’s path. She crosses her arms and glares at Era, giving him a lump in his throat as he weakly stutters, “L-Look, I know you’re mad at me, but not talking is going to get us into trouble!”
“On the contrary, your new best friend told us we need to be more inconspicuous,” Jem counters. “Traveling in silence is a good idea, right?”
Era swallows hard but remains firm. “Jem, I’m sorry, okay?”
“For what exactly?” she demands, her gaze fixed on him.
Her partner stares at her blankly. “W-Well, you know… hiring Fire.”
Jem rolls her eyes and walks around the roadblock.
“What is it!?” Era yells as he chases after her, back into the woods. “What do you want from me? I’m sorry for trying to hire her help, but I had good reason! She was-”
“You think that’s what I’m upset about?” Jem barks. “I’m used to that kind of thing from you by now. Try again!”
Era frowns, not expecting that response. “Then what are you… wait, are you upset I left you behind last night?” Jem continues to stomp away, but Era grabs her hand. “Jem, is that what you’re-”
“We’re partners, Era,” she interrupts. “We’re a team, and teammates don’t go solo like that!” She yanks her hand from Era and jabs him in the shoulder. “What made you think to leave me behind?”
Stunned by the response, Era struggles to come up with a reply. “W-Well… you were pretty shaken up after the-”
“I was what?”
Era doesn’t back down. “I know you pretty well by now, Jem,” he says gently. “You weren’t yourself last night. You were upset, and I could tell.”
“Okay, so… what, you decided to go solo because I was shaken up due to you being nearly killed? Use your brain, for once! What if she’d poisoned you again? You’d have been killed!”
“I’m wanted alive, right? I figured she wouldn’t risk poisoning me again.”
“Wow, you figured she wouldn’t poison you again. Great plan.”
Hoping to turn the conversation around, he says, “But we learned so much information! The military, the bounty size…”
Jem’s eyes narrow as she mutters, “Don’t even get me started about your bounty papers stunt this morning. Were you even going to tell me you went out, or were you going to hide it from me via some other screwball plan?” She holds a hand up and says, “You acted on your own, went behind my back, and then lied to me about all of it. I just… I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
With Era finally at a loss for words, the two stand in awkward silence until the sound of huffing and puffing approaches from behind. The two turn to find Di, drenched with sweat, trudging through the underbrush. She pants and wheezes her way up to Era, then collapses at his feet, her hair a mess of leaves and twigs. She glares at her guardian indignantly, but she doesn’t waste any breath to berate him for leaving her behind.
“We’ll take a break here,” Jem mumbles before heading further into the woods.
Era flops down next to the schoolgirl, staring after his partner until she disappears into the brush. He offers Di an apologetic grin and says, “Sorry for leaving you behind there. Jem and I were hashing things out.”
Di pants, “I know. I could… hear you hashing…”
Era frowns. “Maybe Fire is right about the ‘herd of horses’ thing. We don’t put much effort into stealth.”
The girl sits and leans against a tree. “So is Jem alright?”
“Not sure,” Era says with a shrug. “Jem hates it when I go solo for some reason. I guess I should start considering her feelings more, even if they don’t make sense to me. She also hates the military, so I’m sure that’s not helping.”
“But you did fine on your own,” she says. “You deserve credit for that.”
“It was more luck than anything. When that other hunter guy got into the mix, I think it might have saved me. I was hanging in there, but she’s a better fighter for sure.” Pausing, he adds, “So, you’re worth a lot of money, it seems.”
Di squeezes her eyes shut. “I just… I don’t understand…” Earnestly, she meets her guardian’s eyes and says, “Era, that makes no sense! I don’t have any idea why they would be willing to pay so much for me.”
Her guardian shrugs. “Hey, this could be a good thing for us. If you’re worth that much to the military, maybe you’re worth that much to your rich dad!”
The girl’s eyes widen. “Era, even if my father sold everything he’d have a tenth that amount!”
“But they wouldn’t be asking for that much if you weren’t worth it, right?” He stares into the sky as his mind wanders, searching for answers.
“S-So wasn’t there something you wanted to ask me?” Di asks, desiring to change the subject.
“Oh yeah, well, I should start from the beginning for that. Once what’s-his-name showed up… Jaras, I think? He trapped Fire for some reason. I got away at first, but then I went back to fight him.”
Her eyes grow wide. “Why did you do that?”
“I decided I didn’t want Fire to die, even if she attacked us.”
Di offers him a warm expression. “That’s because you’re a good person, Era. Try as you might, you’ll never be a big bad thief!”
Era smiles. “Sorry, but that’s my destiny! I will surpass my father.”
“Who no one has ever heard of,” Jem remarks, reemerging from her short walk through the woods. Era prepares for more verbal abuse, but she twirls her finger and says, “Go ahead, finish your story.”
Reluctantly, he continues, “Well, I went back and Jaras had done a real number on Fire. He was a wood shaper, and-”
“Elementalist,” Di corrects. “Wood is earth’s derivative, remember? That makes wood users elementalists.”
Era hesitates before nodding with a grin. “Oh, I remember for sure! So he was a wood elementalist, and he dug his fingers into the ground. Used all the roots and shrubs and stuff to attack me. He wrapped me up tight, but I escaped!”
“How!?” Di asks anxiously.
Era beams. “I had a handle on the roots, which were all covered in dirt. So I shaped the dirt and cut the roots to shreds!”
“You cut the roots with the dirt?” Di exclaims in disbelief. “Era, that’s… that’s unbelievable! Can you show me?”
Proudly, he nods and yanks a small plant from the ground, revealing the earth-covered roots. He places a finger at the trunk of the root, and it instantly slices in two.
A smile curls at the scholar’s lips. “Era, between that and your hole-digging, you’re pretty impressive! Only the oldest earth shapers at the Academy are that good!”
Era rubs the back of his head, blushing. “R-Really?”
Jem groans. “Don’t give him a big head! It’s bad enough he thinks he’s strong, but now he’ll want to start earning a bigger share.”
Di frowns at Jem. “So it’s true he only gets thirty-five percent? That doesn’t seem fair.”
Jem laughs aloud. “How much do you get, Era?”
Era averts his eyes. “Forty-five…”
“You lied to Fire about that!?” Di shouts.
Era cringes. “Well, I want part of the reward. I don’t want to give it all away.”
“But you said… you said you just wanted to protect me,” Di squeaks, her voice trailing off.
Surprised by her reaction, Era forces a grin and explains, “Well, that’s true… but Di, Jem and I have to survive on what we can get. Taking a week to return you home and not getting a venni for it would be kind of stupid.” His words seem to have opposite the desired effect as her eyes start tearing up. “B-But Di,” he stammers, “your safety is important to me! Please don’t think otherwise.”
Di wipes her eyes and nods, but she fails to cheer up. Era looks to Jem for sympathy, but she just mouths the words, ‘That�
�s what you get.’
Getting an idea, he leans forward and taps the schoolgirl’s knee. “But Di, that brings me to my question.” Di looks up with interest, and he explains, “You see, when I first approached the wood guy, he had Fire trapped in a tree. Makes sense, right? Wood user, his hand was on the trunk, so of course he can move it around, right?” Di nods, and he continues, “But then he threw a knife into the tree behind me, and it started to move! It didn’t seem to be as nimble as the first tree, but it was enough to attack me. Turns out the knife had a rope attached that he was holding, and when he dropped it, he lost control of the tree.”
“What a great trick!” Di exclaims, her mood eased by the academic exercise. “The rope was probably woven with wooden fibers. And the knife must have been wooden as well! My, what a great trick…” she repeats. Era continues to wait expectantly, but she just asks, “So what did you want explained?”
“What did I…?” Era asks, not sure where the disconnect occurred. “Explain that. Explain the whole thing!”
“The whole…? Oh!” she realizes. “Well, you can always control any extension of an element, right? So if your earth sword touched the ground, you could pull more dirt into it. You already know that, right?”
“Sure, but that’s dirt. It’s all the same stuff.”
“It is, but it isn’t!” Di corrects. “You’re only touching a few grains of dirt and sand. You control the rest by extension, because earth touches earth. That’s how you keep the shape of your sword even though you aren’t touching the whole thing all at once.”
Era nods. “I think I get it…”
“So other elements are the same way! If he was holding a wooden rope, which touched a wooden knife, which was in a tree trunk…”
The sudden student slams his fist into his palm and exclaims, “…he could control the tree! Though not as well as the first.”
“Elements are harder to manipulate the further away they are, right?” Di points out. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that with your sword.”
“Yeah, it all makes sense now. Thanks Di!”
She grins, once again happy to play the role of teacher, while Era looks back at Jem. “So, are we good now? You came back pretty fast!”
Jem scowls and smacks him in the back of his head. “We are not good!” She grabs Di’s wrist and pulls her up, leading her into the woods. “I found a stream, and I came back to grab Di. We’re taking a bath, so stay away!” Di glances back at Era with excitement, unsure why Jem thinks she needs to be dragged to enjoy a bath.
Era watches them disappear into the woods and mutters, “Man, I’ll bet she isn’t going to let me take a bath.” He wonders how much longer Jem will torment him, hoping she’ll miraculously forget her anger by the time she gets back.
He sits against a tree, holding a sword formed from the ground so Jem will be impressed by his readiness. Waiting patiently as the minutes tick by, Era becomes lost in his thoughts, and his eyes eventually droop. His arm slides to his side, and as he slips into his slumber the sword in his hand loses its form, turning back to sand grains that form a small pile on the ground. A cool wind blows through the trees as the area rests in a quiet peace.
The moment doesn’t last long. Era stirs and opens his eyes, and he yelps as he’s met with Fire’s annoyed face mere inches from his own. He scrambles to stand, but she shoves him back into the tree with her good arm and leans in.
“You’re pathetic,” she growls with a cold glare. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been crouching here?” Era just stares in a wide-eyed stupor, unable to offer a response. “Stand up.”
Era complies while watching Fire closely, but she isn’t acting aggressively. Finding his voice, he offers, “I-I’m sorry about ditching you like that. We… I think we took a wrong turn and-”
“Which was it? Did you ditch me or take a wrong turn?” Fire sneers. “Did you think I wasn’t expecting that maneuver? It was obvious what your boss was going to do.”
“Wait, you’ve been following us this whole time?”
“Like I told you earlier, you’re painfully easy to track. I followed the girls to their bath to confirm they’d be out of the way while we talked.”
Era finds himself at a loss for words. The mercenary had not only tailed them with perfect stealth, she planted herself in front of him without waking him. He absent-mindedly rubs at the tender puncture wound on his arm. ‘This girl is scary.’
Sensing his uneasiness, Fire offers a wry smile and asks, “Realizing just how out of your league you are? Look, I’m here to find out if the deal is still good. I’m not interested in playing games.” When Era averts his eyes, she barks, “You need to grow a backbone, you know? Make up your own mind, already.”
Meeting her gaze, he insists, “Jem and I are a team. She doesn’t trust you, so there’s no deal.”
“You realize I just ambushed you, right? That I could have tied you up with one hand if I’d wanted?” Fire asks, annoyed. “You’ll never make it on your own. You’re oblivious to your surroundings and naïve to your threats.”
“Even so, traveling with you carries its risks,” Era says. “What guarantee can you offer us that you won’t betray us?”
Fire notably ignores Era’s question. “Should’ve figured you’d back out. What a spineless wimp.” Turning her back to him, she barks, “Fine! I’m done with you. Best of luck.” She runs into the forest and disappears into the thick of the trees.
Era breathes a sigh of relief, wondering if maybe this is for the best. However, as a thought strikes him, he yells out, “H-Hey, wait! Does that mean you’re hunting us again!?” The woods fail to answer him, and his head spins at the realization he’s just made the situation worse. Hoping he doesn’t see anything he shouldn’t, he runs to warn his companions.
* * *
Jem wrings her hair out one last time and sits to put her boots on. Di, sitting at the water’s edge in her undergarments, is furiously scrubbing her feet.
“Come on, Di,” Jem urges.
“Can’t,” Di grunts as she continues to scrub. “My feet are disgusting! I had no idea hiking would make them so gross.”
“Might as well get used to it. We’re still far from Canterin.”
Di wrinkles her nose in disgust. “No way, you told me this might be the last bath I take, so I’m cleaning my feet.”
“You already spent an eternity on your hair,” she grumbles. “You should let me cut it. Long hair isn’t fit for traveling the woods.”
“NO!” Di nearly shrieks, startling Jem. “Daddy loves my hair. You’re not touching it!”
Jem holds her hands up, surrendering to the girl’s determination. “Yeesh, you’re as obnoxious as Era.”
Di stops scrubbing and turns to Jem with a frown. “Why are you so mad at him? He did all that last night because he cares about you.”
“No, he did it because he’s full of himself and thinks he can do anything,” she scoffs as she sits on a large rock. “He can’t be a one-man army all the time! He needs to learn that.”
The girl goes back to scrubbing. “Has he done this before?”
“Oh, he used to do it all the time. We’d enter a new town and the first thing he’d do is try to steal something from the market! He’d fail, and we’d be run out of town.”
Di smiles at the thought. “That does sound like him. He wants to prove himself to his unique father,” she says with a frown. “He’s not going to be working with you forever, you know.”
Jem leans on her elbows. “I know that. Era’s strong. He won’t need me forever.” Slamming her hand against the rock, she exclaims, “But he needs me now! Thinking he can take on a professional assassin… and then doing it! He’s going to have such a big head after this. I need to make sure he regrets it.”
As she finishes saying this, she sits up in alarm, startling Di. The schoolgirl waits anxiously, knowing better than to say anything. Jem grabs her dagger and jumps to her feet as Di hears the rustling of leaves. Her he
art pounds while she watches the tree line, and she slowly grabs her clothes and clutches them.
Era stumbles out of the woods with his hands over his eyes, out of breath. Di shrieks and dives into the water.
Jem sheathes her blade with an exaggerated sigh. “Really, Di!?” Di offers her a sheepish look, but she keeps herself below the water nonetheless.
“And you!” Jem barks as she storms up to Era. “This is the second time you’ve barged in on us today. We could have still been bathing!”
“Fire’s here,” Era lets out between breaths, peeking through his hands.
Jem watches the woods in concern. “Where? Did you see her?”
“She got the jump on me,” he admits. “Said she’s been tailing us this whole time. She followed you two here and then came back to me.”
Jem raises an eyebrow and looks Era over. “Doesn’t look like you had a fight.”
“No, no fight,” he says. “She wanted to know if the deal was still on, and I said no. So now I think she’s back to tailing us.”
“Great, Era! I swear this whole thing is your fault,” she growls as she pokes him in the chest. “Now get out of here so the princess can dress.”
Era hurries back into the woods, and Jem beckons to the embarrassed girl. “Come on, bath time’s over. Guess it’s a good thing I snagged some clothes from Andrea after all, eh?”
Di cautiously emerges from the water, her school clothes drenched. She looks up into the trees and whispers, “But what if Fire is watching?”
Jem shrugs. “You can walk in those wet clothes for all I care. You’ll already be carrying them so they can dry off, thanks to your spectacular maneuver.”
The girl looks one more time into the trees, then surrenders and retrieves Andrea’s clothes as Jem packs her own things.
* * *
“Okay, so here’s the plan,” Jem says quietly to Era as they hike. “There’s a town up ahead we can use for cover. We’ll find an inn and act like we’re spending the night. Then we sneak out after midnight, taking a path out of town that will give us good cover.”
