Fire's Song

by J E Mueller

  Finally, I was able to open my eyes. My body ached, but I didn’t feel like screaming. I found myself on a bed in a small room that was lightly furnished with a desk, chair, chest, and a window. This was most welcome compared to what had awaited me the last time I had blacked out.

  Outside the window I could see the slowly lightening sky marking the fact that it was early morning. The person I had seen with Lee during the fight was sitting at a nearby table writing something. Lee was asleep at my side. I wondered how they had brought me here, and what had happened at the end of the fight. The pain was slowly growing and I sobbed for a few moments before the person I didn’t know looked my way.

  Surprise filled his blue-gray eyes and he came over and placed his hands on the area where the sword had penetrated. His long brown hair was neatly tied back. I could sense the use of magic and the pain slowly lessened until I could stop sobbing.

  “I didn’t think you’d wake for a few more days,” He commented softly. He looked from his work to me and answered my questions without me having to say a word. “It’s been five days. Yes, you should be dead, but I’m more than just a healer. Your friend is alive. Drakus is dead, but I think you saw that.”

  So that’s what the Lord Evil’s name was. I ignored the fact. He had caused too much damage to be worth remembering.

  “I’m Emmyth,” he said as he nudged Lee to wake him up.

  Lee looked at him with confusion. “Is something wrong?” he asked and looked quickly at me with fear in his eyes. Relief filled his face. “You’re actually awake!”

  “Let her rest. She is still in a great deal of pain.” Emmyth warned, “But first have your moment.” He left the room.

  “I thought I had lost you,” he said holding me carefully.

  “I thought I was dead,” I agreed feeling the pain slowly creeping back with Emmyth’s magic gone. Five days? It sounded like there was a lot more healing to come.

  “Emmyth has Blessed blood. It’s like being an extreme healer,” Lee quickly tried to explain. “If he reaches someone in the right moment he can keep them alive. With his normal healing magic he’s able to make repairs on bones and muscles, and he can bring people back who haven’t completely crossed over yet.”

  “I’m not sure how anyone can be blessed like that.” That sounded more unbelievable than demons, curses, and magic.

  “Since demons like to make pacts, why wouldn’t angels have their own fun?” Lee asked and gave a small chuckle. “Mother certainly lied about that one, but I don’t hold it against her. The story is complicated.”

  “But gods don’t interfere…” I argued what I had been taught.

  “No, they don’t,” he agreed. “But the gods of hell have their demons. Demons are what caused the problems, right? The gods of the heavens have angels. They can make their own decisions, foolish or not. Instead of corrupting us like demons do, they try to do more good for the world. Bring a bit more balance.”

  The pain was starting to come back intensely and my eyes teared up. My composure was fading fast.

  “When will it stop hurting?” I asked, letting myself see and feel the stab wound. Forget the Blessed blood nonsense, it would have to wait until later.

  “A few days. He didn’t think you’d wake up until you were done healing,” Lee said and gave my forehead a kiss. “I’ll grab Emmyth. Get some rest and we can figure out everything when you’re feeling better.”

  Lee went into the hall and Emmyth returned. “He’s going to tell everyone you’re making progress. Now, I’m going to put you back into a slumber. It’ll likely wear off again, but you should be well enough to move back home in four or five days.”

  “Okay.” I cringed at the pain. It seemed like a long time, but it was better than being dead.

  This time when the magic washed over me it was intoxicating. The warmth felt like the deepest joy my heart knew. My eyelids grew heavy and everything slowly went numb as I drifted back asleep.

  From time to time I’d wake up. I was able to eat some food and talk for a few minutes before the pain would kick in and become unbearable and I’d be sent back to sleep. By the fifth day I had managed to sit up, eat and have a full conversation before any pain decided to trickle in. It was the first time Zarek made it to see me before I was back asleep.

  “You are the worst rescue team ever.” He laughed, giving me a tight hug. It hurt but I didn’t say anything about it.

  “We’ll see if I nearly die by a soulless, demon filled person for you again,” I shot back. My anger wasn’t convincing.

  “Please don’t. Sandra and David already hate me for everything that happened, even though their letters have been very polite. It’s the polite ones that scare me the most.” Zarek shuddered.

  “Awww, they missed me.” I laughed, which quickly turned into a pained cough.

  “I didn’t know your friend was of Blessed blood,” Zarek commented.

  Lee picked the perfect time to enter the room. “That was a fun question to ask my mother. ‘So Mother, I killed a demon today. Normal people can’t do that.... So what really happened to my father?’”

  “That would have been an excellent story.” Zarek laughed, clearly interested in learning more.

  “I’ve never seen my mother blush or be so awkward. Apparently, she had in fact married him and everything was normal until he had to resume his duties after a ten year vacation. He promised to keep her safe. I wonder if and when he found out about me?” Lee shrugged.

  “That sounds like an even more awkward family reunion than ours.” Zarek nudged me gently.

  “I didn’t know angels slept with mortals,” I mused. That could cause a lot of interesting problems.

  “Please let’s not talk about my mother sleeping with an angel.” Lee shook his head and cringed before changing topics. “Anyway, apparently there’s some unique magic I can tap into because of this, so learning more will be my next project.”

  “Is Emmyth teaching you, then?” I asked curiously.

  “Yeah, he’ll be staying around for a bit to help me with that,” Lee replied.

  “Where did he come from, anyway?” I asked. He had appeared out of the blue, and I never had time to ask before now.

  Zarak shrugged. “He appeared out of nowhere, got in touch with Jameson, and explained that he was hunting a demon lord who might be in charge of all the nonsense going on, and together they joined up with everyone else. I’d have been there too if I wasn’t injured.”

  My pain was starting to return but I tried to push it away, “What’s going to happen now that this is actually over?”

  Zarek shook his head. “Well, you’re stuck coming to my wedding, then you’re probably going to settle down with your boyfriend. He say’s you’re fond of the idea of having sheep.”

  I laughed so much it hurt, the pain bringing tears to my eyes. “Why the sheep?” I asked, looking at Lee before cringing. I thought about correcting Zarek, but realized I actually didn’t mind a relationship title. I’d still make him ask for real though.

  “I’ll grab Emmyth,” Zarek said heading for the door.

  “They’re fluffy,” Lee responded with a shrug. “Will you be my date to the wedding?”

  “Of course,” I replied as I laid back down.

  “At least we’ll finally have that dance.” He smiled.

  Emmyth returned with Zarek.

  “I hope you’ll be feeling a bit better in the next few days. I’ll be here for another week but then we’ve got to get back and finish planning the wedding,” Zarek said from the door.

  “If our healer here thinks so.” I replied glancing up at Emmyth.

  “The next time you wake up you’ll be good to go. You’ll need lots of bed rest, but you’ll be up for longer periods of time before you have to sleep. And the sleep will be on your own terms. Take it easy for a few weeks, and no don’t go horseback riding for at least two months. And of course you need to avoid demons,” Emmyth supplied a full answer while putting his mag
ic to work.

  “It’s a good thing the wedding isn’t until mid spring. You’ll have plenty of time to be ready to go.” Zarek smiled. “And no showing off the scar at the wedding. My scars can’t beat your story,” he jested before heading out.

  “Well, there goes my fun.” I rolled my eyes at him and let Emmyth’s magic do its work.

  As soon as I was able to be relocated, I was moved back to Lee’s. Juni was ecstatic to have us back. I didn’t realize there might be a feeling of empty nest after all of our crazy adventuring.

  Tella was a constant visitor. She wanted to know everything that had happened, but I left a lot of the explaining to Lee since the story was a lot more about him than me. My parts of the tale were pretty simple, mostly traveling with Ria after my team’s failed rescue part. The final battle with the evil lord was a bit fun to recap for her though. It was decided, in the end, to keep the bit about Blessed blood out; at least until Lee was ready to let others know.

  While Blessed blood wasn’t a bad thing, it was a bit controversial to what people had been taught or led to believe. It was hard to separate what the gods did and did not do from what those under them, such as angels and demons, did and did not do. People wanted a simple understanding of the divine but there was much more gray area than expected in this business.

  Even I didn’t want to believe parts of the tale, despite the fact that I was born cursed. It took a lot of discussion, and reflection on all that had happened over the last month, before I was willing to accept the facts.

  Over several weeks my health improved, and eventually I was back to my normal strength. There was a large scar on my stomach from where I had been impaled, and a smaller one on my back from where the blade had gone through me. When I found myself lost in thought, I’d often touch it. It didn’t hurt for long, but it still felt weird, even months later.

  While the days passed slowly at first, I found myself planning what to do next. When I could move more freely I started practicing my magic more. Ria stayed with the village, as did the others who had once served Drakus. They weren’t hard to persuade to join the right side. With better understanding of magic, they found the acceptance they needed to live a healthy existence.

  Lee and I would frequently practice our magic with the new additions to the village as well as with the troops who were stationed here to help protect everyone.

  About twice a week I wrote to my family and explained how things were going and replied to their letters. While I was bed ridden, my letters were long and wordy. As I felt better I wrote less, but the letters were more meaningful. All but Zarek wrote back the same amount that I sent them.

  Zarek wrote to me almost every day, and often I’d get a bundle of letters talking about training and his up and coming wedding. He was excited, and I was glad to share in his excitement, even if it was from afar. Sometimes the soldiers would send letters to me as well. It was nice hearing from the ones I had worked with, and it seemed they were equally happy to learn about my progress.

  When there were weeks before the wedding, Emmyth gave me the all clear to go riding. To my surprise, Emmyth had decided to stay with the village for a while since his task of demon hunting was currently done. He liked being able to help teach Lee, and enjoyed seeing the chaos of a magical town. I thought for sure he’d be summoned away, but it seemed the demon menace was either gone or regrouping.

  Before we left I asked Emmyth how he knew how to find demons to hunt. Did he just wait for whispers of activity that sounded corrupt and investigate, or was there a better and more sophisticated way to go about these things?

  “It’s actually more complicated than that,” he explained while leaning outside against the wall of Lee’s house. “Not all Blessed born come into the world the same way. I have had actual contact with my father. When his hands aren’t tied, he’ll explain the task to me. There are some things that they can’t interfere with, and some things they do meddle in anyway. While I have, yes, investigated rumors just in case, I’m usually briefed on the mission before taking it.”

  “What do you mean by, ‘don’t come into the world the same way?’” I asked.

  He chuckled at the question. “The angelic parent must leave at first sign of a pregnancy if their lover is a mortal. Of course some disregard this and help raise their child despite the consequence. Also if two Blessed borns were to have a child, the child would also be of Blessed blood.” He paused as he thought on something for a moment. “If the couple is a normal mortal and a Blessed born it can go either way. If it’s Blessed and Cursed mix I have no idea what would happen.”

  “That would be an odd mix. Can it even happen?” I asked curiously. It could be possible that the mix would not allow children. Magic was always an oddity that truly did whatever it wanted.

  “I don’t see why not.” Emmyth shrugged. “In the end, with all our magic and mixed blood, we’re still in the same mortal body as everyone else. The children of such parents might have no magic at all, or a mix of both gifts, but they would likely be weaker.”

  “That sounds like a good theory,” I agreed and quickly changed the subject. “Will you still be here when we return?”

  He shrugged. “I likely will still be here, but I won’t make promises. It’s hard to say what will happen now. There haven’t been a lot of hunts for me lately. The ones I might have had were all leading up to the now resolved conflict. The fight we abruptly ended solved a lot of problems, so maybe I’ll get some lengthy time off. It’s been a nice break training with the guard around here, and this is a pleasant retreat from the rest of the world.”

  I shook my head. “Not going to lie, it’s so weird hearing something I used to say regularly being thrown back at me.”

  Emmyth laughed. “Settling down would be nice, but I like having a bigger purpose. I’m trained to slay demons and restore peace. It’s a fun life sometimes, but I won’t keep it up forever. Still, I think I can get another ten or fifteen years in before the demons are a little too quick for me. Then I’ll retire.”

  “Is there a Blessed league and do they just send out the next guy that’s ready for demon slaying?” I asked jokingly.

  To my surprise, he nodded. “Actually there is a league of sorts. More like a guild. You’ve probably seen many of them since most tend to mask themselves as bards.”

  “You’re joking,” I replied in disbelief. I had just thought I was being funny.

  “Not at all.” He smiled slyly. “I can play the lute and drums. I’m not too shabby at singing either. It’s a great way to get in and out of places without drawing attention. No one expects us to stay, and if there was a conflict resolved, of course a bard would leave to carry on the song.” He winked. “If you ever find yourself in another pinch like this one, remember Valeon’s Lullaby is the best song you’ve ever heard.”

  “Is it an actual song?” I asked curiously.

  “Yes, and it’s one only the Blessed know,” he answered with a nod. “And it’s one you’ll likely never hear. It’s a sad song that is only sung for someone we cannot save.” Emmyth looked at the ground.

  “How many times?” I asked softly. There was no hiding that look.

  “Twelve. I’ve sung it twice with others I was venturing with and the rest when I was on my own.” He looked up at me. “They say it brings their soul peace. I like to agree with that thought.” Emmyth pushed off from the wall. “Safe travels. If I’m not back when you return, I don’t doubt we’ll meet again.” He waved as he walked away.

  Lee passed him on his way back home. “Good to go?”

  I nodded, “I got the all clear.” I said, glancing at Emmyth. “I think I just joined a secret club,” I confided.

  Lee watched me curiously. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s a guild of Blessed born… If we need help and can find one, I’ve got the password.”

  Lee looked thoughtful for a moment, “I wonder why he didn’t mention it to me.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t th
ink you’re ready to know, or to join.”

  “I guess I don’t have the need to travel and slay demons all the time,” Lee agreed. “It’s probably a requirement to give a certain amount of time to the cause before retiring. That wouldn’t be for me.”

  “But why tell me?” I asked while still watching where Emmyth had disappeared out of sight.

  “You attract a lot of bad luck.” Lee shrugged. “It’s a truth for Cursed born, and it’s probably why I attract so much good luck.” The jerk literally had good luck in his blood.

  “Does that mean he thinks I’ll need the extra help?” I mused. “It probably doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side.” My luck seemed to be a mix of smooth sailing and ridiculous problems thanks to my cursed magic.

  “And if your siblings need it, you have a great way to pass along information now,” Lee pointed out. “Though it’s probably best to keep this secret from your family. Demons don’t like being hunted openly.”

  “I agree.” I looked over at Lee. “Ready for dinner? We’ve got a long ride ahead of us.”

  The ride wasn’t bad, but it took longer than expected. While I had been slowly exercising more, my body wasn’t ready for long distance riding and we had to stop often.

  It sometimes baffled me that an injury that was months old could still cause so many small problems, but I didn’t have infinite health or healing abilities. I was cursed, yes, but still mortal.

  When we finally did reach the castle I was swept up into the festivities. My niece and nephews took up a lot of my time while I was trying to catch up with siblings. Jameson had only ever seen me injured and asleep before they returned, so it was fantastic catching up with him as well.

  The grooms were in a frenzy to get the last minute details sorted, and while both were still happy to see me up and moving, neither were happy I hadn’t come back sooner to get my dress fitted.

  Sandra marveled at mye tale and my scar, but we hadn’t given her any details about Lee and Emmyth’s Blessed blood until she pressed.