Fire Study

by Maria V. Snyder

“When did this happen?” I asked.

  “This morning.”

  “I am glad he is alive, but I wonder why they did not kill him,” Moon Man said.

  Contemplating the situation, I said, “Taking a captive through crowded streets would be difficult. If they wait until nightfall to perform Kirakawa on him they risk being discovered.”

  “So why not just kill him?” Moon Man asked.

  “Because they want us to know they have Marrok,” Leif said.

  “As a hostage?” Moon Man asked.

  “No. Marrok left with Cahil. They’re flaunting the fact that Marrok is now with them,” I said. “And they know everything he knows. Including our present location.”

  13

  “DO YOU THINK THEY WILL attack us here?” Leif asked.

  I glanced at the fire warming the inn’s common room. Would the Fire Warper risk being seen by the other guests?

  “They could watch the building and follow us, waiting until we get to a secluded spot to attack,” Moon Man said.

  “That’s a happy thought,” Leif muttered.

  I reached out to Kiki. She dozed in the stable but roused at my light mental contact. If Vermin skulked around the inn, she and the other horses would be upset.

  Smell? I asked.

  Night. Straw. Sweet hay, she said.

  All good for now.

  Kiki help? Watch. Listen. Smell for you.

  What if you get tired?

  Rusalka. Garnet. Take turns.

  Good idea. I’ll come and open the doors.

  Lavender Lady stay. Kiki do.

  I smiled, remembering how she had unlatched her stall door in the Keep’s stable when Goel had attacked me. One of Cahil’s men who held a grudge, Goel hadn’t seen her. Probably hadn’t known what hit him until he regained consciousness among the broken boards of the pasture’s fence.

  “…Yelena? Hello?” Leif poked my arm.

  “I’m here.”

  “What are we going to do?” Leif asked me.

  “It’s too late to go anywhere else. Kiki and the horses will watch the outside of the building and alert me if anyone approaches.”

  “Ooh, guard horses. How quaint.” Leif pointed to the hearth. “What if Mr. Fire Warper decides to jump out of the fire? I don’t think Mrs. Floranne will be serving him a bowl of her stew.”

  “Can we douse the fire?” I asked.

  “No,” Leif said. “The inn will get too cold and Mrs. Floranne won’t have hot coals for breakfast.”

  “Leif, do you always think with your stomach?” I asked.

  “Is there any other way?”

  I sighed. “We’ll post a watch inside. Moon Man, how many entrances to this building?”

  “Two. The main one leading to the street, and one in the back through the kitchen.”

  “How about upstairs? Is there another staircase in the kitchen?”

  “Yes, but we can secure the door into our hallway.”

  “Good. We’ll each take a two-hour watch. I need to rest after I heal Tauno’s injuries so I won’t take the first shift. Moon Man can start, followed by Leif, me and Tauno.”

  We left Moon Man in the common room. I helped Tauno to his room. Stiff and sore, he moved with care. When he was comfortable on the bed, I pulled a string of power and examined the damage. Aside from two broken ribs, his other wounds were minor. Staring at his injuries until they transferred to me, I hunched over with the pain and then pushed it away.

  Tauno squeezed my hand in thanks before falling asleep. I trudged to my bed, not as exhausted as I had been in the past. Perhaps my healing skills improved with practice. Or had I grown used to relying on my magic?

  “Yelena, wake up.” Leif shook my shoulder.

  I peered at him through heavy eyes. He placed the lantern on the table.

  “You’re the one who set the schedule. Come on.” He pulled the blanket off me. “Most commanders don’t take a turn guarding the troops. They get a good night’s sleep so they can make the right decisions in the morning.”

  I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. “I’m not a commander and we’re not a troop.”

  “I disagree. You’ve been leading the way. You’re the one who knows what you’re doing.”

  “I—”

  Leif put his fingers on my lips. “Don’t say it. I like—no—need to believe that you know what you’re doing. Makes it so much easier to follow your instructions, especially when I’m acting as bait for a fifty-foot-long snake.”

  “Fine. I have things well in hand. I don’t need much sleep because I have all the steps we need to take already planned out. Happy now?”

  “Yes.” Leif stretched out on his bed.

  I picked up the lantern. “Sweet dreams.”

  “They will be now.”

  The hallway of the inn was dark and quiet. I checked the door leading to the kitchen stairs. It remained locked tight. Good. Descending into the common area, I thought about Leif’s comments. I might be the one making the decisions, but I didn’t believe I had enough knowledge to be a commander. Gut instinct still propelled my actions.

  Valek had taught me about strategy and clandestine operations, and my Ixian friends, Ari and Janco, had taught me to fight. Late-night sessions with Janco were the reason I could pick locks. However, my magical training with Irys had been interrupted by Ferde’s quest for power.

  There could be a magical way to find Ferde and counter a Fire Warper, but since I hadn’t read all those books about magic and history, and I hadn’t explored my powers to find their limits, he was the test I hadn’t studied for, the quiz I was bound to fail. Out of my depth.

  The empty common room echoed with my footsteps. I made a circuit of the area to check for intruders before I set the lantern down and went outside to visit the horses. The cold air stabbed through my cloak.

  Kiki stood in the alley next to the inn. Her dark coat blended with the shadows, but the white blaze down her face reflected the moonlight.

  Smells? I asked, reaching up to scratch behind her ears.

  Fresh. No bad.

  Any trouble?

  She snorted with amusement. Two men. Woman.

  She replayed the memory of two men robbing a woman. They had been so preoccupied with searching her packages they failed to notice Kiki’s quiet approach. Quiet, because Kiki, like all the Sanseed horses, refused to wear metal horseshoes.

  Kiki had spun and used her back legs with expert precision. The men landed half a block away, and the woman, after staring wide-eyed at Kiki, took off in the opposite direction. I wondered why the lady had been out so late.

  She’ll probably spread rumors about being rescued by a ghost horse, I said to Kiki. Maybe they’ll change the inn’s name to Four Ghosts.

  I like ghosts. Quiet.

  You see ghosts?

  Yes.

  Where?

  Here. There. Places.

  Here? I looked around. The empty street seemed deserted. I don’t see any.

  You will. She nuzzled my cloak, sniffing the pockets. I like peppermints, too.

  I gave her the mints. Care to elaborate on the ghost issue?

  No.

  She retreated down the alley and I returned to the inn. The lantern’s flame flickered as I made another sweep of the kitchen and rooms upstairs before settling down near the hearth. Embers glowed within the remains of the fire. Suppressing my apprehension, I added a few logs to coax the coals into a small fire to heat water for tea. Such a diminutive blaze shouldn’t be big enough for the Fire Warper.

  Perhaps the size of the fire equaled the size of the Fire Warper. The image of a foot-tall Fire Warper leaping from the hearth caused me to laugh, but knowing he needed only one flame to start a fire ruined my good humor.

  Searching my pack for tea leaves, I found Opal’s package. Curious to see which glass animal had called to her, I unwrapped the thick cloth. A charcoal-gray bat with green eyes came to life in my hands. I almost dropped the piece in surprise, but
even with its wings outstretched the palm-size creature didn’t take flight. Opal’s magic—not life—glowed from the core of the bat. Closer examination revealed flecks of silver along the bat’s body and wings.

  An invigorating tingle swept up my arm. I mulled over the benefits of being a creature of the night. Could I locate Marrok or Cahil now while the city slept? Drawing power, I projected my mind and encountered a confusing array of dream images. Once again too many people for me to sort through. I pulled back.

  The water bubbled. With reluctance, I returned the statue to my pack and found the tea. Over my steaming cup, I watched the miniature fire. I considered making an attempt to contact Bain Bloodgood. The Second Magician might have some advice on how I could find one soul among so many.

  The Citadel was three days away by horseback. Too far for me to project in normal circumstances. Desperation increased my distance, but then I had no control of direction. Also, Bain would be asleep, his mental defenses impenetrable. I decided to wait until the morning to try.

  The desire to sleep dragged at my body. I made several rounds of the room just to stay awake. When seated, my attention lingered on the fire’s dancing flames. They pulsed in a rhythm that matched my heartbeat. The flames’ movements appeared choreographed, as if they tried to communicate something to me. Something important.

  I knelt near the fire. Fingers of orange and yellow beckoned. Come, they invited. Join with us. Embrace the fire.

  I inched closer. Waves of heat caressed my face.

  Come. We need to tell you…

  What? I leaned in. Flames crackled, sap hissed and boiled and the harsh scent of burning hair billowed.

  “Yelena!”

  Moon Man’s voice drenched me with cold reason. I scurried away from the hearth, stopping when I reached the far side of the room. Chills raced over my skin and I shivered.

  “Thanks,” I said to him.

  “I thought something was not right.” Moon Man descended the rest of the way down the stairs. “I woke feeling as if the threads of my blanket had ignited.”

  “It’s a good thing you did.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure.” I wrapped my cloak tighter. “I thought I saw souls in the fire.”

  “Trapped?”

  I barked out a laugh. If I had said that to anyone else, they would have believed I was a raving lunatic. Moon Man wanted details. Details I couldn’t provide.

  “I think they wanted me to join them.”

  He frowned and stared at the hearth. “You should not be left alone with a fire. I will finish Tauno’s shift.”

  “Finish?” I glanced out the window. The curtain of darkness had thinned. I had lost track of the time, and failed to wake Tauno for his turn. Not a good sign.

  “Go get some sleep. We will need to make plans when you wake.”

  The deafening peal of Mrs. Floranne’s bell jarred me from sleep. Leif sat on the edge of his bed with his head between his hands, blocking out the noise. With silence came relief and he dropped his arms.

  “She’ll be ringing that again if we don’t get down to breakfast soon,” Leif said.

  All the motivation I needed. I kicked off my blanket and followed Leif from the room. We joined Moon Man and Tauno in the common area. The crowded inn buzzed with conversation. Mrs. Floranne poured tea while her staff served breakfast. The smell of sweet syrup wafted through the air.

  The good night’s sleep reflected in Tauno’s face. The swelling was gone and the bruises faded from bright red to a light purple smudge. He moved without wincing in pain.

  We ate our breakfast of honey, eggs and bread and discussed our next move.

  “We should search the city,” Leif said. “Quarter by quarter until we either find them or determine they’re not here.”

  “It would take a long time.” Moon Man spooned a glob of eggs onto a slice of bread.

  “They are gone,” Tauno said.

  I stopped eating. “How do you know?”

  “They mentioned leaving Booruby.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us last night?” I stabbed my eggs with my fork.

  “I was distracted by the pain and did not remember the comment until now.”

  “Would it have made a difference?” Leif asked.

  I thought it over. Tauno had been in bad shape. But with no fatal injuries, I could have left him here and…what? Scanned the surrounding forest with my magic? I didn’t know which direction they had gone and they had almost a full day of travel.

  “Probably not,” I sighed. “Tauno, do you remember anything else? Did they say where they were going?”

  “The need to hurry was all I sensed. Perhaps that is why I was not killed. They did not have enough time.”

  “The best strategy would have been to keep us in the dark about Marrok, wondering if he is dead or alive and what he told them.” I sipped my tea. “However, Cahil likes to feel superior and probably believes letting us know Marrok has betrayed us would make us doubt our instincts and slow us down.”

  Cahil had tried that tactic with me before. When he had thought I was a spy from Ixia, he had ambushed me in the forest. Then, he wanted me to believe Leif set me up to demoralize me. It hadn’t worked. And it wouldn’t work now.

  If anything, I was more determined to find them. Even though we had lost their trail. My appetite gone, I pushed my plate away.

  “What’s next?” Leif asked.

  The door to the common room banged open. Marrok stood in the threshold with a bloody sword in his hand.

  The four of us jumped to our feet. Breakfast forgotten, we pulled our weapons as the conversation in the inn’s common room dwindled into a deadly silence.

  “Come on.” Marrok gestured from the doorway with his sword. “Let’s go before they catch up.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Cahil and his…his…friends.” Marrok spit the words out. “I escaped.” Horror bleached his face, and blood dripped from a cut on his throat. “I’ve lost them, but they know we’re here.”

  “How many?” I demanded.

  Marrok straightened. “Seven.”

  “Armed?”

  “Swords, scimitars and Curare.”

  “How soon?”

  Marrok glanced over his shoulder and froze. He dropped his sword. It clattered on the stone floor. A big hand shoved him, pushing him to the ground.

  Behind Marrok, Cahil, Ferde and five Vermin streamed into the common room.

  14

  WITH THEIR WEAPONS pointed toward us the Vermin and Cahil fanned out in front of the door. Two Vermin had scimitars, two had swords and one held a blowpipe to his lips.

  “Everyone just stay calm,” Cahil ordered. His long broadsword made an impressive threat. The people in the common room stayed in their seats. Mostly merchants and salesmen, there wasn’t a soldier among them.

  Marrok remained on the floor. A Vermin stood over him with the tip of his scimitar pointed at Marrok’s throat.

  I glanced at Tauno. “You said they were gone.”

  His face had paled and, although he held his weapon, he hadn’t nocked an arrow. Moon Man eyed the Vermin as if judging the distance between their necks and his scimitar. Leif’s machete glinted in the sunlight from the open doorway.

  “Change of plans,” Cahil said.

  Cahil had let his blond hair grow past his shoulders and it was unbound. Besides that, he remained the same. Same gray traveling clothes, same black riding boots, same washed-out blue eyes and same hate-filled expression on his bearded face.

  “My friend wanted to exchange Marrok for Yelena.” Cahil inclined his head to Ferde.

  I noted his use of the word friend. How could he call that creature his friend?

  The Soulstealer’s plain homespun tunic and pants hid most of the red tattoos covering his body. With a scimitar in one hand and a blowpipe in another, he looked at me with cold calculation. Despite his lean and powerful build, I sensed his magic remained weak. Yet a bit
e of fear nipped my stomach.

  “I hope you have a few more Warpers with you,” I said to Cahil. “The Soulstealer is no condition to fight three magicians.”

  “I may have failed in my power quest,” Ferde said. “However, I now serve another who has learned blood magic.”

  The sound of roaring flames reached me before the heat. A quick look over my shoulder confirmed the blaze in the hearth had grown. Terror boiled in my throat, prompting me to act before the Fire Warper appeared.

  Pulling power, I sent a thread to Moon Man. Take out the man with the blowpipe. I’ll take Ferde. He agreed. Leif, I said, attack the man over Marrok then keep Cahil busy.

  When? Leif asked.

  “Now.” I shouted and projected my awareness into Ferde’s mind, bypassing his mental defenses and seizing control of his body. It was a self-defense move I had learned when Goel had captured me. Chained and left with no recourse except using my magic, I had sent my soul into Goel’s body.

  Once Ferde realized I had invaded, he concentrated all his energy on ejecting me. I ignored his efforts. He threatened to kill me the same way he had murdered his other victims.

  Memories stabbed; sounds of their screams pounded; the smell of rancid blood pierced and visions of mutilations assaulted. His black desires of power and dominance through torture and rape revolted me.

  To stop him, I harvested his soul and wrung it, exposing his deep fears and the events that had caused his addiction to power. The favorite uncle who had tied him down and sodomized him. The older sister who had tormented him. The father who had belittled him. The mother he had trusted and confided in. The mother who had sent him back to live with his uncle as punishment for lying.

  A Story Weaver may have helped Ferde untie the knotted strands of his life, but I wrenched them apart, broke the threads. He became the helpless victim again. I examined his memory for every bit of detail, looking for information about the Daviian Vermin. When I finished, I peered through his eyes.

  My body lay on the ground, comatose. Moon Man fought a Vermin. They maneuvered around a headless body. Cahil hacked at Leif, whose machete was no match against Cahil’s longer sword. Leif would soon be forced to surrender. Tauno stood in the same spot as if rooted to the floor. Marrok had regained his feet and sparred with one of the Vermin near another body. The people in the inn had organized a bucket brigade to dump water on the fire.