Diamond Bonds

by Jeff Kish

  Jem is startled by the change in conversation. “H-Hey now, just because she helped us out down there-”

  “No Jem, it’s more than that,” Era says. “I truly don’t think we’ll make it to Canterin without her help.”

  Jem turns around with a huff. She fights with herself for a moment before turning and meeting Era straight in the eye with her light rune. “Okay, it’s about time I trusted you with a decision. I’m fine with her coming, as long as you,” she emphasizes as she shines the light into Fire’s face, “can swear, with absolute sincerity, that you will not backstab us.”

  Fire looks surprised at the request. “You do realize I could just lie about it.”

  Jem nods. “I won’t believe you either way. I just want to judge your reaction. Now look me in the eye and tell me.”

  Annoyed by the seemingly pointless request, she relents and grumbles, “Fine, I promise not to backstab you or your little bees.”

  “And you’re swearing off each of our two million venni bounties?”

  Fire swallows hard at the prospect. Her straight face gone, she visibly squirms as she forces, “S-Sure.”

  Jem studies Fire for an uncomfortably long period. “Well, if you’re earning most of Era’s share, you’d best pull your weight.”

  Fire crosses her arms. “Of course, but now that I’ve played your little game, I’m setting ground rules. No more fires, no more towns, and no more roads. You will take my advice, or the deal’s off.”

  Di watches the interaction nervously, wondering how smoothly this operation is going to go with these two egos vying for control.

  “I’ll go get my map,” Jem grumbles, heading upstairs with her light.

  As they follow Jem and her light, Fire turns to Era and mutters, “This thirty percent had better be worth dealing with her.”

  Era pats her shoulder, and she glares at him with a look that screams, ‘Don’t you dare do that again’. Nervously pulling his hand back, he says, “W-Well, if you can get us to Canterin safely, I’m sure you’ll never have to deal with either of us again. Think of it as a bonus!”

  Fire looks Era over with contempt, questioning her decision already.

  * * *

  Leaving the competing egos alone to plan, Era and Di find furniture to use as a bed. It feels to Era like a short nap, but when he’s shaken awake, he’s surprised to find sunlight streaming through the boarded windows.

  “Get up already,” Jem orders. “We need to be out of here before it gets too bright.”

  “Too late for that,” Fire grumbles. “We should have left an hour ago.”

  “Then next time don’t spend so long trying to decide something so trivial!”

  “That was not trivial!”

  Era sits in a daze, trying to remember the last time he was so sleep-deprived. After the skirmish with Fire and Jaras, not to mention the battle in the caverns last night, it’s a wonder he’s even able to keep his eyes open. Still, he shakes off the desire to lie back down, not daring to cross the dual leadership of Jem and Fire. He groggily walks over to the table where the map is sprawled out. Penciled lines litter the map, some half-erased and others crossed out. The one that remains takes them far away from any more main pathways, far from any cities, and to a harbor town called Kemplen.

  “Kemplen?” Era asks. “I thought we were going to approach from the coast.”

  “And then what? Just strut into Canterin like you own the place?” Fire asks in disgust. “We need to get to Canterin by ship. Kemplen is the largest port town this side of the Lidoran Sea, which will keep our profile low. Naturally, they’ll be searching the ships at Canterin, but smugglers have gotten good at their trade thanks to the tariff spikes.”

  Jem begrudgingly nods her approval. “She’s right about all that. We should be able to get smuggled in.”

  “Will she even be safe once we get her inside?” he wonders aloud.

  “Not our problem,” Fire says coldly. “We get her in, get our reward, and leave. Her rich daddy can hire protection for her from there. That’s the plan.”

  Era wants to object, but he acknowledges the first priority is to get Di home. “I guess I’m fine with that.”

  As Jem rolls up the map, Fire glances at the sleeping Di, and she quietly mutters, “Have you two considered the idea of just turning her in?” Jem freezes in place, and Era’s brow furrows as she continues, “Look, I don’t know what your relationship is to her, but with two million venni just sleeping over there, why not cash in?”

  Era immediately contests the idea. “Sorry Fire, that’s a negative. I’ve sworn to Di I would take her back, and I-”

  “You value your honor over two million venni?” Fire scoffs. “Aren’t you a thief?”

  “Thieves can have honor!” Era insists. “Besides, Jem and I have bounties as well. It’s unlikely we can turn her in and get the reward.”

  Fire crosses her arms and asks, “Do you think your bounties are just going to go away once this is over? You could negotiate with them, have them erase your bounties and give you the two million. They’d do it in a heartbeat.”

  Era is caught off guard by the proposition, but Jem interjects, “For now we stick with the plan.”

  “Figured I’d at least convince you,” Fire says, “but if you’re out then the honorable thief over here is certainly uninterested as well.” She shrugs and admits, “Too bad, I was hoping to make things easy.”

  Era’s mind races while Jem silently packs. His dreams, his goals… everything he wants to be is contrary to this decision. Being a thief means becoming an emotional island, if his dad’s words are to be believed. His life with Jem has, in some ways, helped him get closer to that state of mind, as she’s always kept him at a distance. If he were to treat Di the same way, he could achieve the infamy he’s always desired, plus cash in on a major bounty in the process.

  “I’ll head out first,” Fire says, snapping Era’s attention back to reality. “Follow the map exactly, and I’ll scout out the path to ensure there’s no one waiting to ambush you.”

  “Wait,” Era says as he fumbles around in his bag. He withdraws a dagger and hands it to Fire. “You’ll probably recognize that.”

  Despite her annoyance, Fire can’t help but grin at the sight of her old blade. “Thanks for keeping it. Ugorzi had a falling out with the Smith’s Hammer a year ago, so there’s no smith here.” Looking back at Era’s bag, she asks, “Got anything else of mine in there?”

  “Sorry, that’s all I kept,” Era assures her.

  “Sure would make this easier if I had my gear,” she grumbles.

  “Hey, at least you have a blade,” Jem groans, drawing her own dagger. With the blade cut cleanly across the middle, she swings it around in dissatisfaction. “As if fighting against swords wasn’t enough of a challenge.”

  Fire turns to Jem. “So, you’re going to follow me this time?”

  “We’ll be right behind you,” Jem promises as she sheathes her weapon. “Just do your part.” With that, Fire heads to a window, pushes out the boards, and slips outside.

  Jem plants her hands on her hips. “This had better work, Era! If not, I’m blaming you and-”

  “Why, Jem?” Era interrupts with sincerity. “Why were you so fast to reject Fire’s idea?”

  Jem frowns. “You’re seriously asking me that? You?” Throwing two fingers in the air, she contends, “For one, there’s no guarantee they’ll give us the bounty since we caused this whole mess in the first place. For two, there’s this whole issue,” she adds, waving a hand over her face.

  “So, if we could easily collect the bounty, you’d be up for it?”

  She pauses before answering. “Money isn’t everything to me, Era. The thought of helping the military makes me throw up a little in my mouth. I’m not sure I could bring myself to negotiate with them, even for two million venni.” With a smirk, she asks, “So you have such a low opinion of me that you thought I’d betray a poor, lost girl?”

  “No, I�
�� I guess I’m trying to decide for myself,” he confesses. “I mean, if I’m in this for the money, doesn’t it make sense to turn her in?”

  “Since when are you in this for money?” Jem asks. “You’re all about honor, honest thievery, etcetera etcetera, on and on… You never shut up about those kinds of ideals. Plus you just gave most of your share to Fire for her help.”

  Era shrugs. “I don’t think much about money, but Di asked me last night if we’d be helping her if not for the potential reward. I couldn’t give her a straight answer, because… well, I honestly don’t know.”

  Jem scratches her nose. “Am I having a negative influence on you? There’s no way you’d ever have debated something like this back when I first met you.” Placing her hand on his shoulder, she meets Era’s eyes with confidence. “I know you pretty well by now, and, in my opinion, you’ll never have it in you to betray someone like Di.”

  Her words instantly lift his self-imposed burden. He offers a grateful smile as Di stirs, and Jem turns to her with relief. “Oh, thank goodness we don’t need to wake the princess up. That’s even more of chore than waking Era.”

  Di yawns. “Wha… What time is it?”

  “It’s time to get moving!” Jem orders as she pulls her to her feet. “We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”

  * * *

  Fire watches as the three ‘sneak’ out of town, doing their best to blend in amongst the sparse early-morning crowds, which primarily consist of the market vendors arriving from their villas with their produce. Both Di and Era get distracted, hoping to buy a fruit or vegetable while Jem yells at them to keep moving. Fire starts to give herself less credit for tracking them so well.

  Perched high above the town once more, she laments her situation. The encounter in the caverns was a setback for her arm and leg, and Era has demonstrated himself as a formidable foe. Still, she can’t help but be pleased with the way things turned out. By helping them fight that monster, she’s managed to earn their trust. Now that their guard will be lowered, an opportunity shouldn’t take long to present itself. Era may have saved her life twice now, but she insists to herself that it cannot cloud her judgment.

  However, the situation is complicated by the fact that the girl could be worth some serious coin to her hometown. Plus, though it is clear the bounty is directed at Di, turning in Era and Jem after returning Di home would add to her profit. She’ll need to keep them all safe until she can capitalize, one way or the other.

  A distant whinny prompts her to drop the thought altogether. She spots a pair of horses across the chasm, and one rider sports a very familiar dark jerkin. “Jaras,” Fire grunts, her anger already seething as she watches them steer their horses toward the trio. She darts back into the woods, the only question in her mind whether she’ll use the opportunity to cash in on the bounty or simply to kill Jaras.

  * * *

  Di grunts and groans as she drags her legs, wondering what’s become of her guardians. “They always leave me so far behind!” she whines to herself as she crawls to a stop, stooping to catch her breath. The uneven terrain is much harder to hike than the main pathways. She finds a fallen log and sits, sweat dripping off her face. Looking to the sky, she’s crushed to find the sun has barely risen. The day is going to be a humid nightmare for her.

  Hearing the familiar sound of leaves and twigs crunching and cracking, Di turns around, disappointed her guardians have already come back for her. She usually has more time to rest before being verbally whipped back into hiking. However, she realizes the emerging figure is a stranger, and she freezes in place while the young man marches through the area.

  The man spots her as he nears and offers a gentle grin. “You’re a little young to be out this far on your own, aren’t you?”

  Pouting, Di contests, “I’m almost fourteen. I can take care of myself.”

  “Ah, older than you look!” he exclaims with a smile. “I’m older than I look as well, so I know how that goes.” Bowing, he extends a hand and introduces himself. “My name is Ares.”

  Keeping a careful eye on the stranger, Di shakes his hand. “Di.”

  “So you go by Di? That’s amusing.” Di frowns at the strange comment as his grin turns mischievous. “You know, there are some people who have been looking for you for quite some time, Di. Would you mind accompanying me back to Satari?”

  The girl’s eyes widen as she rips her hand away. Numbed by fear, Di tries to get to her feet but only manages to fall backward over the log. In desperation, she does the only thing she knows to do. In the highest pitch sound she can muster, she shrieks and cries out, “EEERRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!!”

  The cry rings all throughout the forest, and it takes mere moments before her guardian bursts onto the scene, positioning himself between Di and the newcomer.

  Ares barely twitches a muscle. Laughing aloud, he looks behind Era to Di. “This is your guardian?”

  Era stays on guard, trying to determine the unarmed stranger’s intentions. He glances to where Jem is hiding nearby, ready to engage if needed, but he holds off from signaling her. “What is it you want?” he demands.

  Ares merely shrugs in response. “This could be interesting. I think I’ll let things play out as they are.” He turns to leave, but he glances back and says with a grin, “You’re headed to Canterin, isn’t that right? You’re in for a real treat when you arrive.” With that, he hikes back into the forest.

  Perplexed by the encounter, Era lowers his guard as Jem reveals herself. All three watch after Ares until he disappears.

  Di pants to catch her breath, and Era looks her over. “You’re okay?” She nods. “Who was that?”

  “I have no idea. I was resting on this log when he just walked up and started talking. At first he was nice, but then he said there were people after me and he wanted me to come back to Satari with him. That’s when I screamed.”

  “He didn’t try to hurt you?”

  “He didn’t touch me. He never even drew a weapon.”

  Jem stops watching after Ares and beckons for the team to keep moving. “We’ll figure it out later. Let’s go,” she orders in a hushed voice. “No more falling behind, Di!”

  “Quit leaving me behind, then!”

  Jem shushes the girl and leans close to her partner. “So much for Fire. What good is she if someone can just walk right up to Di like that?”

  Era shrugs and releases the sword into his pouch. “To be fair, we weren’t exactly watching her.”

  “So what? She’s clearing the way. We shouldn’t have to be as cautious.”

  “I don’t think that’s how it works,” Era comments with amusement.

  “But if that guy was after Di,” Jem wonders, “why would he leave without-”

  Her thought is cut off by a violent gust of wind that sweeps Era off his feet. He rolls uncontrollably until slamming into a tree trunk.

  “Era!” Di shrieks as the wind dies. Silence again fills the area, and Jem seizes the opportunity to grab Di’s wrist and dash toward Era. However, she’s immediately yanked backward by Di, and the two flop to the ground face-first.

  “Di!?” Jem scowls as she looks up, but she finds the girl’s feet entangled by roots and undergrowth. Di looks down in a panic as she realizes what’s happening. The roots and plants at her feet are winding around her ankles, getting tighter as they move up her legs.

  Jem backs away from Di, much to the girl’s bewilderment. “Jem! Where are you going? Help me!”

  “I am!” Jem counters as she carefully scans the trees.

  “Ew… ew… ew ew ew!” Di shrieks as the roots envelop her.

  Jem continues to strain her eyes to find a culprit, and she sees motion as someone steps out from behind a distant tree. Before she knows it, an intense wind again fills the area, its source clearly the person who just revealed himself. Jem ducks low, but the focused wind is too intense, and she skids backward uncontrollably. Fortunately, Era reaches out and catches her.

  “Thought you were do
wn,” Jem says with relief. “Roots have Di!”

  “Roots!?” Era exclaims. He jumps to his feet and starts to dash to the girl, but the wind again knocks him backward.

  Finally, the two figures fully reveal themselves. Shem and Jaras walk to Di, who by now is entangled from head to toe. Both have swords drawn, and Shem’s is a peculiar one: its handle and hilt are abnormally large. “One down!” Jaras exclaims as he mercilessly delivers a sharp kick to Di’s side, eliciting a painful scream. “See, Shem? Aren’t you glad you ran into me? I told you I had a lead on them!”

  “That’s him,” Era affirms. “The one who attacked me. Not sure who the fat guy is.”

  Jem grits her teeth. “Come on, Di! He’s not holding the roots anymore!” she half-whispers, hoping the air shaper will escape.

  “Doesn’t mean she isn’t still tangled,” Era points out, watching as Di fights in vain to break free. Clenching his fist in anger, he calls out, “She’s just a kid! Fight me instead!”

  “I’m not a kid,” Di grunts.

  “You!” Jaras declares in an enraged tone, gripping his bandaged shoulder. “You got me last time, but this time I have help!”

  Jem leans close to Era. “So again, where is Fire?”

  “Hopefully on her way,” he mumbles.

  Turning her attention back to their opponents, she says, “One wood user, one air maker. Think we can handle that without her?”

  Era grins. “You know, at first I was hoping for a day without a fight, but this is exciting.”

  Jem rolls her eyes. “Just don’t rush to free Di. That hunter knows your trick, so they’ll be watching for it.”

  “You got it!” Era yells as he charges forward, screaming a battle cry as he clashes blades with Jaras just in front of Di. While they’re exchanging blows, Shem turns and takes aim at Jem, who is circling around the group. He plants his sword’s hilt into his palm and unleashes another torrent of strong winds at the girl. She cuts behind a tree to evade the primary focus of the forceful gale and, when he cuts off the wind, Jem seizes the opportunity to dash around and lunge at Shem.