Fire's Song

by J E Mueller

  “No,” Emmyth confirmed. “It’ll take twenty-four hours to complete, and if our sources are right, you’ll be busy enough with other events.”

  “The fixed events are on my path, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, they are. But I promised I’d help if possible,” Emmyth replied. I wondered how much reassuring it took Lee to agree to any of this.

  “Do you have any idea what’s to come?” I said, standing up.

  “No. I’ve no talent for visions, and your ability to attract the worst of a situation is mind boggling. You always prevail though so, whatever's going to come will pass.”

  “Are you ever negative?” I sighed, heading to the door.

  “Plenty. I’m only human after all.” He chuckled.

  “I’ve yet to see that.”

  “Part of one of the training exercises we do is practicing sword fights around hanging balls of fire. I hold the record for the most outbursts of swearing in a fifteen minute period while not being set on fire.” He smiled joining me at the door. “The things we practice so demons can’t even phase us...”

  “I can’t see Lee doing that.” I laughed, trying to picture the training Emmyth described.

  “It’s standard training, though he may skip that part since he’s already survived several demon related fights,” Emmyth mused.

  “I don’t want to think about him being set on fire. Let’s go enjoy the show. It sounds like there won’t be many upcoming chances for fun like this.”

  Kegan’s dining room was full and a group of bards were already on the small stage. They were playing an upbeat tune and singing something I’d never heard before. We sat at the bar and Kegan brought out some food for us.

  “Where’s Lee?” she asked, eyeing Emmyth suspiciously.

  “Training,” Emmyth supplied, taking a sip of his drink without shame.

  “I don’t like how you talk everyone into that.” She pointed at him.

  “I can’t talk someone out of saving a loved one. We told him we could do it, but if you had to choice to stand by or fight, what would you choose?” Emmyth rebutted, unphased.

  “I’d be leading the damned army, as we all know.” Kegan rolled her eyes at him. “Doesn’t mean I like the choices. You could have not told him and just done it yourselves.”

  “We’re required to explain to others of our nature what they can obtain by joining us. Required to explain, mind you, not to persuade or bribe. What value he sees is all up to him, and he may be more stubborn than me.” Emmyth shrugged off her comment and took a long drink.

  “So I’ve heard.” Kegan shook her head and continued on her rounds.

  “You’ve explained things before haven’t you?” I asked.

  “Bits and parts. No one said I had to explain it all at once, so I told him what he needed to know at first. Last night he asked for more information, so I filled him in on the rest. He wanted to hear about our order and made his own decision. I wish he had been patient and let us handle it, but he’s too honorable and noble. He’ll do what’s right no matter what it costs him.”

  “Hopefully it won’t cost him too much.” I picked at my food for a moment. “Is he going to be able to have any normal life after this?”

  “Yes and no. There’ll be moments for it, and moments for work that can last weeks or months on end,” Emmyth replied. “I doubt that’ll be a problem for you. I’m sure, much to his dismay, you’d join him in traveling.”

  “Of course. The traveling isn’t the problem. It’s the not being killed by demons that’s the tough stuff.” I laughed for a moment, my expression sobering. There really wasn’t an end to this.

  “I’d recommend some commitment to training. You’ve got the strength from your gifts, just not the skill to use it to its full power. While you can’t deal a kill shot through magic, you can do damage just the same.”

  “I’m glad you think so. I didn’t think I stood any bit of a chance,” I replied, pleasantly surprised.

  “You’ve got a two-fold gift. Fire has a lot of power to back your attack, and with it a demon’s fire magic can’t sufficiently harm you. It’s not the biggest advantage, but as long as you’re not facing a master level demon, you’d be able to hold your own. Again, with training.”

  “I should probably commit some time to it now that I seem to have my magic under enough control,” I agreed, trying to be optimistic.

  The bards picked up a louder and more rowdy tune, and I turned to watch for a moment.

  “Does this mean all of you can play well?” I watched the band get into their instruments. The audience was absorbed into the show.

  “Those who started young enough play well. The ones like Lee aren’t as easy to teach, having already grown into skills of their own. At that point though, most have their own way to blend in. You’d never guess how many of us are here.”

  Glancing around the room, it was hard to distinguish normal people from Blessed. There were clearly many with magic, but that didn’t make them part of his order.

  “Maybe six or seven?” I guessed.

  “Nope.” He laughed.

  “How many?” I asked, trying to figure out if my guess was too high or too low.

  “There are five people here who aren’t Blessed. Only you and the staff are not.” Emmyth smiled slyly.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “When anyone gets back from a particularly difficult mission, we come here to celebrate. Our leader had one of the worst missions recently. He lets loose by playing for the lot of us, if you can believe this is his way of relaxing. Everyone’s invited, so here we are. Those that decided to come anyway.”

  “I can’t even sense magic in most of them…” My voice trailed off, amazed.

  “That’s a difficult part of training to reach. It’s a good way for us to hide, and while a few are showing that they have magic, none are letting signs show that they are Blessed.”

  “I don't know how you’ve managed to do that.” I watched the group with more interest.

  “Lots of practice. Lots and lots…” Emmyth nodded while taking a drink. “We’re ready for the next part of the mission. Who knew it’d play out on the same night?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, turning my attention to him.

  “There are about eight demons that have been slowly gathering around you today. A great way to bring Lee to the open and cause him to lose control. We’re just counting down to the fireworks.” He set his drink down, “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it sooner. Not that you could do much to stop it. They’re blinded by their want to ambush you, so you’re the bait to lure them out.”

  “Here? Tonight?”

  “No place like the present.” Emmyth laughed without humor.

  Shaking my head, I mentally prepared myself, “Guess there was never a choice to begin with.” I was surprised they were so driven they would risk a public attack. Defeat was getting to them.

  “Sadly not.” Emmyth stood up quickly, sword out before I could blink. He bashed in a demon’s face that had just become visible before I could even react.

  The band of bards playing didn’t stop, but the rest sprung into action as the rest of the demons appeared in that instant.

  Kegan dashed out of the way but tripped, glass breaking and cutting her arm. A bard helped her up and moved her to the back. Event two was complete in the set event cycle.

  With all the quick responses, the fight was over quickly. I hardly had a moment to step back and brace myself as it was being handled. One demon tried to claw at me, but someone grabbed me from behind while another pulled it back and impaled the creature before it could land its intended blow. It happened so fast I could only blink in surprise. Now safe, I was released and got my bearings.

  Seeing no more demons to fight, I headed outside for a breath of air while I could hear the others cheer for their quick victory. The night was crisp and still. In the middle of spring you couldn’t hope for more warmth, but it was soothing. It calmed me down
for a moment and let me think. The abruptness of the event was handled so smoothly I couldn’t describe it. The only thing that bothered me was Lee’s absence. But I knew he needed to get this training done so he could save his mother.

  Emmyth joined me outside. For a while he didn’t say anything. We stood and watched the clouds float by the moon, looked at the stars, and enjoyed the silence.

  “It’s not going to get easier for a long time,” he said softly.

  “It’s never been easy,” I replied in truth. “At least now I don’t accidently kill people.” For a moment I let that thought hang in the air. “What’s going to happen next?”

  “The most favorable plan involves using you as bait, again” Emmyth said honestly. His bluntness surprised me.

  “Wonderful.” I sighed. “So, I’m bait again. Can I learn how to slay them in the meantime?”

  Emmyth smiled. “I can show you where to start, but there will never be one hit kills without being of Blessed blood.”

  “Holding my own is better than whatever is going on now,” I pointed out.

  “True. We can start in the morning, however we’ll likely have to leave shortly afterwards. They’re narrowing down some areas in which the realms are more closely connected. We’ll need to put any rescue plans into effect after that is decided on. We’ll want to lure as many demons out as possible to make their journey in easier. They’ll have much searching to do and a very limited time in which to do it.”

  “What about the third fixed event?” I asked, remembering the bit about Lydia.

  “It’s already underway.” Emmyth confessed. “There was nothing you could do, but Lee and the others are already working on it.”

  “I thought the fixed events were going to impact me the most,” I said in surprise.

  “Things are changing. While the fixed events cannot be stopped, the events surrounding them can. The biggest one did just affect you.” Emmyth shrugged.

  “It’s going to be worse, isn’t it?”

  “That’s very much a matter of perspective,” Emmyth explained. “With Lee joining in and not being up to par with our skills, we needed a good bait. The pieces of the puzzle are being moved into more accurate places.”

  “It’s because he can’t hide his presence, isn’t it? How much trouble will this put him in?”

  “I’m glad you’re catching on. A lot in truth, but not an impossible amount. Instead of a five person mission, it’s now going to have twelve.”

  “Is that really enough for going into a realm full of demons?” It had me worried. Very worried. If I was being honest, I was scared for him. Then what of Juni? If anything happened to Lee, the demons wouldn’t need her around anymore.

  “Three people just took down a handful of them without anyone being injured directly by the demons. It’ll be fine.”

  “True…” I agreed reluctantly. “Think there’ll be more changes?”

  Emmyth thought for a moment. “I was going to say no, but truthfully I can’t say that. There will be changes, and probably none I can guess. There’s too many involved for things not to get tricky or messy. Larger missions are always that way and never has a quest of this magnitude involved someone without Blessed blood.”

  “I’m the wild card it would seem.”

  “Indeed.” He sighed. “I’ve no idea if it's good, bad, or both.”

  “Pray for good, expect the bad, and maybe it’ll even out to both without too much turbulence.”

  Emmyth laughed. “Fair plan. Let’s go enjoy the band.” I could see he was trying to lighten the mood.

  “I can’t believe they didn’t even stop playing,” I agreed. While I would rather be doing a hundred different things, I had no energy for anything difficult.

  “Oh yeah, nothing can phase them anymore.” He waved it off. “We knew they were lingering and were ready. If they appeared closer to the group playing they’d have joined in, but with it being so far back and everyone being more than capable of dealing with the attack, there was no reason for pause. It hardly took a minute to sort out.”

  “Why don’t you usually do things in groups if it’s so much faster?” I asked curiously.

  “Simply because the stronger demons can sense us more easily. A group of us makes for a bigger target and they’d love to take us out. The same goes if we get wind of a large group of them.” He shrugged, “It’s always easier to hide smaller numbers.”

  With that we went inside.

  Chapter 37

  The music was great, and the bards were wonderful, but in the end I went to bed early. I was tired and missed Lee. This whole situation was strange and confusing. There were so many twists and turns, and the moment I thought anything was nailed down, it changed.

  That night I had a dream. In the darkness of the woods I saw someone frantically running. I quickly figured out that it was Tella. She was in trouble. No Horns, the demon from days before, was on her tail and chased her with its inhuman speed. Tossing and turning, I woke to the same strange change of wind that I had felt before when trouble was brewing. My instincts told me that Tella would be heading this way.

  Grabbing my things, I tossed everything into my bag. It was still well before dawn and no one was in sight. I didn’t know where any of them were or where to find Emmyth to let him know something was wrong. Instead, I placed the room key on the counter where Kegan was always to be found during the day. She’d understand.

  Without any extra searching, I left.

  My heart raced as I rushed to begin my journey. Why would Tella come this way? I thought for a moment before the answer struck me.

  To help.

  It was really that simple. Tella wanted to help us. At this point, if she had in fact been practicing daily, she would be more than able to just keep up. Her magic had given her the extra edge needed to learn more quickly than normal. Tella would be better at combat than me. Her only misgivings were her age and lack of knowledge. She knew of demons, angels, and spirits, but not what they were capable of. She knew the stories told to little kids which were whispered around a campfire. I doubt she’d believe that one could literally steal her away to another realm.

  The hours ticked by and I picked my path based on where my gut told me to go. As the sun started to rise, I heard a group of three voices. All sounded familiar and I just about died laughing. Relief washed over me after hours of worrying I’d be too late.

  Clover, Mara, and Tella all appeared in my view. While my dream was only about Tella, I knew I had made the right choice.

  “Is that?” I heard Mara yell in surprise as Tella rushed up to me.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised.

  I smiled. “Nice to see you too.” I felt exhausted from the journey, but I was overjoyed to see that she was fine.

  Clover and Mara ran to catch up.

  “Why are you out here at such an unreasonable hour?” Mara asked.

  “I can easily ask all of you the same.” I crossed my arms. “It was mostly because of you kiddo.” I glanced at Tella.

  “I brought them too! It wasn’t a rash decision,” she said, clearly proud of herself.

  “But why did you come out here?” I asked. There was no guessing her reasoning. A hundred or more scenarios had played out in my head.

  “Oh yeah.” She laughed hesitantly. “Juni’s gone. I know that’s why you and Lee left. I’ve been hearing whispers, and I can’t ignore them anymore. Ones saying they should nab me next. That’ll show him. Nab the kid next and he’ll have to fight…”

  “That is their plan. I dreamt it tonight,” I confessed. It would be pointless to hide it from her. She could still have a chance to get away.

  “But you don’t have visions,” Tella said, confused.

  “I don’t know what happened, but here we are.” I shrugged. Nothing made sense. “And we need to get back because in my dream I only saw you.” I looked at the others.

  “Damn, does that mean the demons would have killed us?” Mar
a asked.

  “Probably. We’ve no idea what we’re up against,” Clover replied. “Where are we heading, then?”

  “Faraden. There are people there who can actually slay demons and help,” I explained vaguely.

  “Good, we need some demon slayers. They’re probably a secret order,” Mara agreed, heading in that directions. We all followed. “That’d be a fun story.”

  “It’s a true story, at least,” I agreed and felt the winds change, freezing me in place.

  Tella froze too. Her words were barely above a whisper. “I hear them.”

  Clover and Mara turned to look at us and stopped. “What?” Clover asked.

  “I hear them. Maybe five of them. Maybe six?” Tella turned in a slow circle. “Are we in trouble, Key?”

  “I don’t have the talent or ability to kill them.” I nodded. “You can’t outrun them, but you can run at the same speed as them.” My dream showed that much, but she’d tire first. That last part she didn’t need to know.

  “That’s scary,” Tella said, stepping closer to my side. “I’ve never not been able to outrun anything…”

  Mara and Clover nodded at each other.

  “Think we can hold them off and let the kid run for help?” Clover asked.

  “We’ve no other choice,” I replied honestly to them. “But her getting help would be wonderful.” I turned to Tella. “Remember Emmyth? Remember how his magic felt? Can you find anyone like him and bring them? They’ll keep you safe.”

  “But, what if the demons catch me?” she asked, rightfully scared.

  “My dream wasn’t about you getting caught. I just saw you running. Running is in your blood; your best and strongest talent. If they ambush you, deflect the hits, use your sword, and then keep running. They can keep up with you but cannot outrun you. You just need to stay three steps ahead. Keep just out of their reach and you’ll be safe.” I hoped she believed me.

  Tella took a deep breath and gave me a determined look. “I will be safe.”