Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2) (20 page)

“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 could 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.