“We need to get you some clothes. Come on,” Kessa said, putting her hands on Esset’s shoulders and steering him back to his room.
They got him sitting, dry, and clothed in short order, and Esset slowly came back out of the state of shock he’d lapsed into. Kessa left to get Esset something to eat and drink, leaving the brothers together.
“How’re you doing?” Toman asked him.
“I’m fine. But I nearly killed Kessa back there when I lost control. I can’t risk that again,” Esset replied.
“What will you do?” Toman asked. He couldn’t argue with that, after all. It was true.
“Leave, at the very least. I have to see if I can find a way to control it. I’ve been getting Dad and some of the Nadran scholars to look into it, but I can’t find anything to help me here. Maybe I’ll just walk up to Moloch and blow up in his face.” That last part Esset said out of frustration.
“Please don’t even joke about that,” Toman replied. Esset winced.
“Sorry. I guess it didn’t work so well last time. But even if this can’t be fixed, at least I managed to do some good in the extra time the phoenix gave me. It’s just ironic that it’s the phoenix’s abilities that are going to do me in after she decided not to take my life in payment for calling her.” Esset had always hated cruel ironies the most.
“Well it seems that it won’t kill you,” Toman responded.
“Just everyone around me. That’s worse.” Esset put his head in his hands. Toman was silent. Both felt bitter. Finally Esset scowled and looked up.
“Hey Phoenix, I need to talk to you,” he said aloud to the air around them. Toman blinked but remained silent. Esset was limited in what he could say about the contract between summoner and summons, thanks to the terms of the contract itself, but Esset had explained what he could to his family. Nothing happened for a long moment, so Esset calmed and composed himself as best he could.
“Phoenix, please let me call you so we can speak,” he requested again. This time the incantation flashed across his vision; he didn’t need further prompting. The liquid string of alien syllables poured easily from his lips. Toman stepped back as fire swirled innocuously around Esset.
This time the phoenix was much smaller, which was a good thing, since the room wasn’t very large. She shrank to the size of a large eagle but left little flamelets dancing in the air around them; at least the flamelets didn’t seem to catch anything on fire when they made contact.
“You know, this wasn’t the way our agreement was supposed to work,” the phoenix remarked. Toman was staring at the phoenix in surprise.
“You never mentioned that things around me would spontaneously combust,” Esset replied, keeping any anger in check.
“True,” the phoenix replied, not taking offense. “I must admit that I did not anticipate such a reaction myself. Our bond is more unstable than I thought. That can be corrected, if you are willing to undertake a journey. It would be well worth your while, and I would appreciate seeing something other than caves for a change.”
“You never specified what you wanted to see,” Esset reminded the creature.
“Of course. Nor do I intend to change the contract now,” the phoenix replied.
“But I would like to hear your advice,” Esset added. After all, they didn’t have to take it.
“Then you should go see the Ashiier. Knowledge of their race has all but passed from this world, but with my help, you could find them, and upon my blessing, they would admit you,” the phoenix said. “I will put some of my knowledge of them into your mind; the two of you may choose to seek them or no.”
Esset blinked; suddenly he knew exactly what she was talking about. He knew where to go and what to do and say when they got there. There wasn’t much else included however. Then again, everything to do with summons always seemed to operate on a need-to-know basis; if the information came to him at all, it wouldn’t come until he needed it.
“Eep!” A startled exclamation, like a cross between a yelp and a hiss, came from the doorway. Kessa had returned bearing a tray with food; she hadn’t expected to see more fire, much less a phoenix. Her eyes locked on to the phoenix in surprise for a moment, but when everything seemed to be relatively under control, she cautiously approached. The phoenix fixed her gaze on the Nadra.
“Maybe you should bring someone along,” the phoenix added. “Like this one, or the red one. Tseka, I believe it is? It would be valuable to them as well. Think of it as a reward.”
“I’ll run it past them,” Esset replied dryly.
“See that you do,” the phoenix replied lightly. “Remember, I call you now.” With that last remark, the fires of her body swirled upwards and then vanished.
“Thank you,” Esset said belatedly, but he knew she would still hear him.
“That…was the phoenix,” Kessa realized aloud. Esset nodded.
“She gave us information on how we might be able to stop me from… well, exploding again.”
“You’re going then?” Kessa asked, passing Esset the tray. He went to put the tray aside, but she gently pushed it back towards him, indicating that he should eat. Now that he thought about it, food was probably a good idea. He still felt shaky.
“I can’t stay,” Esset replied. “But…I think I should do what the phoenix suggested. From what little she left in my head…” He wished he were sure. “Honestly, I think her suggestion is the only thing that might work. I just hope any price asked in return isn’t too high.”
“When are we leaving?” Toman asked.
“First thing in the morning,” Esset said. He knew he wouldn’t have a restful night, but Toman could use the sleep.
“Okay.” Toman simply agreed—his going along didn’t need to be discussed. He got up to go, but his eyes fell on Kessa, who looked rather sad.
“I’m sad to see you go,” she said.
“The phoenix said we could bring someone,” Esset reminded her.
“My place is here,” Kessa replied. “I would only get in the way, and I’m not sure I could bear to leave.”
“And we would rather see you safe anyways,” Toman said, but he gave her a hug. “Don’t worry, we’ll come back.”
“Do,” was all she said, burying her face in his shoulder as they hugged. When Toman let her go, she went and hugged Esset too.
“Well, I’d best make sure you have supplies,” she said then. “I’ll get them for you. The two of you just make sure you’re rested for tomorrow.” She knew how futile a wish that was for Esset, but she said it anyways.
“Kessa?” Esset stopped her as she turned to go. She paused and turned.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” The wish could not have been more heartfelt. Kessa smiled, and both men were struck by her grace.
“Of course,” she replied simply, her every sentiment in those two words. Then she was gone. Toman turned to Esset one last time.
“I’d better tell Mom and Dad what happened,” he said.
“Thanks. Dad’ll be in the library, of course, oblivious to the world until he’s interrupted, so you’d better find Mom in the kitchen first. She’ll be hopping mad if she finds out secondhand.” Esset grinned ruefully and ran his fingers through his hair.
Toman just nodded “She’s made friends in the kitchen, hasn’t she?”
“Two of the cooks, yeah, why?” Esset asked.
“That’s good. I’m glad they’ve both found places here for now. They’ll be safe,” Toman said. Esset gave his brother an odd look, but Toman didn’t elaborate on his strange tone. Instead he turned and left Esset alone with his food.
Toman mulled the situation over as he headed for the kitchen. He himself was of two minds about the trip—half of his split self was quaking in pure and utter terror. That part of him wanted to stay hidden in Salithsa for the rest of his natural life, never again to risk stepping outside and possibly facing Moloch. The other half of him chafed to leave, to see the sky again, to grow stronger than Moloch co
uld have ever imagined and crush the evil mage once and for all. He just hoped he could survive long enough to see that day. As it was, he kept to himself how big of a struggle it was just to keep going each and every day.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Esset were headed to Esset’s room, Toman went to find some solitude. He’d learned of a few tunnels that were usually unoccupied, and he sought one now. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite make it.
“Oy!” Tseka shouted at him and easily caught up in a mere moment. He turned to face her; judging that she still had her spear in her hand, she’d just come from sparring.
“You still owe me a match,” she said, grinning at him. Her slightly pointed teeth and the expression in her eyes turned the grin feral.
“Sorry, Tseka, but Esset and I are leaving in the morning,” he replied. He told her in brief about what had happened.
“I was wondering how long it would take him to really lose it,” Tseka remarked, as if she were commenting on the weather. “Tonight’s going to be interesting. Don’t suppose you two will need any help? I enjoyed going with Esset for our little rescue mission. It gets the blood moving, you know?”
“Ah…” Toman briefly debated whether to tell her what the phoenix had said. “You should talk to Esset about that, actually,” he said instead, settling for a compromise. He’d leave it up to Esset; if he wanted Tseka along, she’d come.
“Hm, that sounds promising,” Tseka said. Toman resisted grimacing; he’d intended that statement to come out more neutral than it had. Well, hopefully this would get rid of her for now, at least. The scarlet Nadra eyed Toman for a moment, like a cat eyes a mouse, clearly considering whether to stick around or not.
“Don’t think this gets you out of sparring with me,” Tseka finally said, making up her mind to go see Esset right away. She clearly didn’t want to miss her chance to go along.
“Of course not,” he replied, managing the neutral tone this time.
“Mhmm.” She paused a moment longer, then headed down the passageway without him.
Toman waited until she was out of sight before choosing a new direction—he knew more than one place to escape people for a while. He just needed to be alone, away from all people, family, humans, and Nadra alike. He would wander the less traveled tunnels for as long as he could.
Toman had tried interacting, tried staving off the uneasiness and the feelings of helplessness by helping in the armory and sparring with Nassata…but there was no real point. Nothing changed. Nothing got better. The uneasiness and helplessness wouldn’t go away—they never would.
He’d be back in his room in a while to get ready for the next day and to sleep. For now, he wouldn’t be missed.
The following night found Toman, Esset, and Tseka making camp among the rocks at the base of a large bluff. Esset had flown them a long way towards these mountains, and the next day would take them over the mountains and down the valley on the other side, following the map that the phoenix had left in the summoner’s head.
Toman had first watch; they’d all agreed that Toman shouldn’t use his magic in case Moloch could track it, which meant no animated sentries. Toman felt a little useless without his gloves on, but the precaution made sense. They’d each take a shift—Toman first, then Tseka, then Esset. Toman was just fine with this—second shift was the worst, and Esset needed the sleep immediately after taking them all this way, although half of the reason for the watch was to make sure Esset didn’t burn Toman or Tseka while they slept.
Toman tried to keep his thoughts focused to prevent them from settling on thoughts of Moloch. Ghosts, memories, and phantoms of nightmares wisped in and out of his mind; it was only through sheer force of will that he wasn’t a gibbering mess right now, too terrified to do anything at all. It was easy to let one’s thoughts get the better of one when on sentry duty. It was also easy to fall asleep, which was why Toman shook himself every so often to keep himself alert. He marked the time by tracking the sliver of moon in the sky, waiting for something to happen or for Tseka’s watch to roll around.
A couple hours later he was pinching himself to help stay awake. He rubbed his eyes for the umpteenth time when he thought he heard a slight rustle beyond their campsite. He was instantly alert, scanning the darkness and keeping his ears sharp. He wasn’t entirely sure this wasn’t a false alarm—even if he had heard something, it was possible it was just a bird or small animal. He debated whether he should wake Tseka, and began to move stealthily towards her, still keeping his senses alert. He wished he could animate a sentry—they seemed to be much better at “seeing” things in the dark than he.
He was right beside Tseka when the spell hit him—it was invisible, but it felt like an electric shock. He toppled right on top of the Nadra, his throat paralyzed as he twitched and shuddered. Tseka woke instantly; it took barely a moment for her to assess that something was wrong and to sound the alarm.
“Esset!” she shouted, taking her spear up in one hand and trying to determine where the threat was coming from. Esset jolted awake, but he wasn’t as good at coming to full awareness instantly. He was disoriented for a few moments as he sat up and tried to look around. The second spell hit him before he fully realized they were under attack. He fell over rigid for a second, but in the next instant a hundred tiny flames lit the air around him. An orange nimbus glowed around him and when his eyes opened, they were filled with molten fire.
Esset stood, and the fires around him grew. He spoke, but his voice was a snap of fire; a summoned wolf answered his call anyways. He had become like his summons, with a fury of molten fire barely held in check by skin that was slowly darkening to an ashy black and cracking with the glow of heat behind it.
The wolf tore off into the darkness, and in moments two of its kin raced behind it. A spike of ice caught the first square in the skull and it exploded into sparks and ash; the second two reached their quarry, only to be thwarted by a mage-shield. A man, their attacker, stood within, fear written across his face as he realized that he’d bitten off more than he could chew. He wore mage-robes of the style worn by Moloch’s subordinates.
The spell binding Toman was released, leaving him panting for breath before sitting up and trying to see what he’d missed. Tseka was gone, but all he could do was stare at Esset in horror, hoping his brother could come back from this. When Toman finally managed to tear his eyes away from his brother, he saw the mage’s livery illuminated by the wolves’ fire and knew the time for stealth was over; there had been no point in it to begin with. There was no hiding from Moloch.
The mage flung a bolt of mage-energy at Esset, but a summon appeared in front of the bolt before it could reach him—the summon was destroyed before its shape could even be identified, but it protected Esset nonetheless. A second later, fire sprang up all around the mage, a howling vortex of flames that battered at the magical protection until it shattered. There was time for a scream from the mage, but no more before the fire devoured him and then howled into the sky, a towering pillar of intense light no doubt visible even from the distant mountain tops.
Shadows leapt outwards and everything was cast with a ghoulish glow, illuminating two figures several paces from the pillar. Tseka had engaged a second mage in battle, and she was only barely keeping ahead of the mage through sheer speed and canniness. The mage fired bolts of magic at her that she kept dodging, but Tseka couldn’t get a solid attack in either—as soon as she got close, the mage would throw up a temporary shield and block the blow. The mage was all too aware that his comrade had just died; he kept glancing over his shoulder in Toman and Esset’s direction. Toman was just about to help when the pillar of fire went out, plunging them all into darkness again.
Toman’s night vision was destroyed—all he could see was an imprint of the fire pillar on his retinas. Then he heard a cry—a male cry; Tseka had gotten the better of the mage.
“Surrender, now!” he heard Tseka demand.
“Tseka, no!” Toman shouted; these were Moloch’s men. They woul
dn’t surrender—couldn’t—for they knew what would be waiting for them when Moloch inevitably got his hands on them. The mage would pretend to surrender, and Tseka would let her guard down, and then she’d be dead, because the mage would cross her immediately. Toman’s mind scrambled, then locked on Tseka’s spear—there was a chance that it was one he’d touched in the armory, and if it was, he already had his magic in it. He didn’t need to see it. There!
Tseka’s spear suddenly had a mind of its own—Tseka stood over the mage, pressing the point against his throat, when it jerked forward of its own accord and finished the mage off. The mage spluttered once and died, leaving Tseka standing over him, shocked. She pulled the spear back; it had resumed being an inanimate object upon killing the mage, as per Toman’s instructions.
“Tseka!” Toman called again—he was trying to make his way to his brother to see what had become of him, but he wanted to know if he’d been in time to save Tseka. He prayed to the Light that they were both okay.
Esset was lying face-down in the dirt when Toman reached him. Toman reached out to roll him onto his side but yanked his hand back at the extreme heat emanating from his brother. He reached out with his metal hand instead, knowing it and his Animator’s gloves couldn’t be damaged. His sleeves would get a little crispy, but that was a small price to pay for getting Esset into a position where he could breathe.
Esset woke coughing after only a minute or so. None of them could see it in the dark, but his skin was slowly returning to its usual color and texture—the fire within had vanished first, but he had ash in his nose and throat that immediately got him coughing. By the time he managed to sit up, he was cool enough to touch, too, so Toman put a supporting hand on his shoulder.
“Sounds like everyone’s hale enough. I did a sweep of the area and those seem to be the only two out there for now. That was an impressive light show,” Tseka said when she showed up.
“Thanks,” Esset replied, then began coughing again. Toman got him a water skin and Esset didn’t need urging to wash the ash of out his mouth. He spat the first mouthful out after swishing it around, but swallowed the second and third.
Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2) Page 14
