Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2) (53 page)

“We did it,” Esset said. “Moloch is dead.” Tseka grinned her fierce grin, despite her weakness and her pain. Esset looked over his shoulder at Erizen, who simply looked smug as he stood and brushed himself off.

“Let’s go home,” Toman murmured. He seemed to have gotten himself back under control. He looked up at Esset, squeezed his arm, then turned to try to stand and help Tseka up at the same time. Esset stood and helped, then paused to glance around; that was when he realized that the phoenix had vanished again. Not that it mattered; they were safe. They could go home. They could go home for good.

Clean-up took longer than Esset had expected; everyone was exhausted, and even after Esset, Toman, Tseka, and Erizen rejoined the mages and soldiers and assured them that Moloch was dead and therefore his creatures were banished for good, it took time to tend to their injured and fallen. Erizen left within the hour. He made some comment about them promising he get credit and vanished shortly after. They returned to Sedina, a city full of terrified people; every single citizen, from the lowest peasant to the king himself, had collapsed when Moloch had activated the Ghostmaker. Every person wanted assurances that it wouldn’t happen again and that the one responsible was dead. Toman and Esset didn’t know how many times they explained that no one could make a successful Ghostmaker—there was too much power for any one structure or person to successfully control, and if anyone tried, it would rebound on the creator and send the souls back to their original bodies, just like it had happened to Moloch, destroying him in the process.

They explained it again and again until the sun cracked over the horizon, until Toman and Esset were swaying on their feet. For a while, Esset thought they were going to be held responsible for Moloch’s attack on the kingdom, or at least for the damage Esset’s fires had done to the surrounding countryside, but then the king seemed to decide that he might want someone as powerful as they were around in the future in case anything went wrong again. The sun had fully broken over the horizon before the king finally congratulated and thanked them for their role in saving his kingdom and sent them away. Both of them found beds and collapsed into exhausted sleep without bothering to do so much as take their boots off.

After rising that afternoon, and after conferring briefly, Toman and Esset quickly bathed and ate before collecting Tseka from the infirmary, where she’d been forced to spend the night. She looked immensely relieved to see them, and her wound didn’t seem to bother her much as she slithered towards them—apparently the mages that had acted as her emergency medics had done a good job. The three of them went behind the infirmary, where they wouldn’t be seen, and Esset summoned the salamanders to take them to Salithsa. The ethereal, fiery creatures swirled around them and everyone vanished smokelessly from the alley. They reappeared outside the sealed tunnel entrance to the underground city. The salamanders were barely visible for a moment after arriving before they vanished completely.

“In case it’s a while before we get a moment of privacy again…thank you, Tseka,” Esset said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. Tseka pulled him in for a hug, then Toman too.

“I did do it for you, my friends, but I also did it for my people,” Tseka replied after letting them go. “Moloch would have come after us sooner or later. After all, we were Lady Ateala’s failed pet project.”

“I know. Even so,” Esset said with a smile and a shrug.

“Well, likewise. It is because of the two of you that Moloch is dead, and that is good for many people, not just us,” Tseka replied.

“Team effort,” Toman put in wryly, earning grins from Tseka and Esset.

“Well, I’m tired. Let’s get our welcoming party roused so that I can tell our outrageous story and show off my new battle scar,” Tseka said, waving the two of them off. Toman grinned and nodded—he had animations inside Salithsa to signal the Nadra that they’d returned. The three sat down to wait, but it didn’t take long—Nadran Shapers soon shifted the earth so the tunnel entrance once again stood open. Mr. and Mrs. Esset, Sergeant Warthog, Nassata, Kessa, and others were all there to greet them.

The reunion was a bit embarrassing, mostly thanks to Mrs. Esset and her abundance of hugs and tears. The Nadra immediately began preparing a celebration—and Nadran celebrations were impressive—to hail their heroes home. It was only after Toman and Esset were too tired to stand that the Nadra let them retreat to private quarters for some much-needed rest.

The celebration continued for three more days before they finally had a quiet morning to themselves. That was when Esset saw the symbols for the phoenix’s summoning incantation flash across his vision. He wasn’t terribly surprised to see them, and he knew better than to keep her waiting long. He slipped away from Salithsa and found a clearing not far from the above-ground entrance to call her.

The phoenix materialized in a beautiful dance of fire when he spoke her incantation. This was the first time he’d had the leisure to appreciate her beauty. Esset didn’t know what was to come, if she would ask for his life now, in return for the help she’d granted him, or if she wanted something else of him, but he didn’t feel any fear. If he had to go now, he had to go. He had at least done what he’d needed to. He wanted to live, but he was prepared to pay any price for what he’d accomplished. The phoenix floated in the air before him for a moment, her ethereal, shifting wings of flame outspread.

“Well, Summoner, your battle has been fought and won,” she said to him. Esset nodded.

“I have you to thank for our victory,” the summoner replied. She inclined her head slightly, but her next words surprised him.

“And it is time for me to clear my debt to you,” she said.

“Your debt to
me?
” he asked.

“I can lie, Summoner,” she said. “And I have. I wanted something. You were able to provide it. I tricked you into giving it to me. However, due to the nature of our contract, I cannot leave a debt outstanding forever. I must clear it.”

“When did you lie? How did you trick me?” Esset pressed, surprised.

“You know my power now, at least some of it,” the phoenix said. She didn’t like giving easy answers.

“Moloch. When we first fought, you could’ve—” Esset began.

“In the end, it doesn’t matter,” the phoenix said before he could finish. “A part of my power that I did not share with you is a limited ability to see the flow of time.
This
was how it had to end. You need not take my word for it: believe what you will. But for it, I give you a choice.”

Esset knew he wouldn’t be able to pry any more information from her, so he played along.

“What choice?” he asked.

“The interim contract I made with you; it has been satisfactory to us both. I have seen your world through you, and you have borrowed my power. I give you the choice now to make that contract permanent, or to go back to how you were. Either way, we will not speak again,” the phoenix said. Esset struggled to process everything she’d told him so far. He’d thought he’d expected anything, but he hadn’t expected this.

“When must I make this decision?” Esset asked, looking back up at her.

“Now,” she said simply. “You may take as long as you like while we yet stand here, but the decision must be made before we part.” Esset nodded—he understood.

To Esset, the phoenix wasn’t simply power, it was the ability to protect others—and not just his friends and family. He and Toman had traveled and taken jobs helping and protecting people, and he wanted to do that again. They’d done it partly to get stronger, so they could face Moloch, but also for the sake of helping people. With the phoenix’s help, Esset would be that much stronger, that much more able to help people.

On the other hand, did he want her to be there for the rest of his life? Looking through his eyes, hearing through his ears, feeling through his body? He couldn’t sense her there, but he knew she was there nonetheless. He thought of what kind of life he might have after he stopped adventuring. Maybe he’d meet a girl worth sharing his life with. Maybe he’d take the Ashiier up on their offer. Then what? The unused power would be a burden then, and his silent, invisible companion an awkward inconvenience.

No, he couldn’t live his entire life for other people. And then…there was great temptation with great power. Even the Ashiier were wary of that, and he wasn’t immune to anything they could fall prey to. He wondered how Moloch had started out—probably not
that
badly. Esset didn’t believe that anyone was born a monster, and Moloch had lived many lifetimes, thanks to his blood magic. He’d had plenty of time to become the monster he was. In fact, Esset had to wonder if anyone who lived too long ended up either like Moloch or the Ashiier. They were two extremes, really—mere mortals just fell somewhere in the middle. Esset was confident he would be more like the Ashiier, but he knew better than to think he was a saint.

“No,” Esset finally said. “If you go now, we’ll be even, all debts paid.”

“You will be wise, one day,” the phoenix observed. “I hope you take up the offer the Ashiier gave you, some day. I am disappointed by your choice, but only for myself. Live well, Summoner.” The fire began to coalesce around her.

“Phoenix!” Esset called before she could go. She paused, the flames swirling about her ethereal form.

“Yes, Summoner?”

“Thank you,” Esset said. Everything else aside, that was
his
last debt to pay. Gratitude.

“You’re welcome, Summoner.” He felt her smile. The flames dancing in the air around them swarmed to her then, as if she gathered them up in her wings. Then she flashed skywards and vanished into the sun.

Esset stood there, alone, for several long minutes. He lifted his hands and looked at them; he didn’t feel very different. He called fire to his palm, and it flickered there. He thought of the creatures of smoke and ash that he’d called before, but their incantations were gone from his mind. He remembered the tortoises though, and knew he could call them if he needed to—he knew what it would take. The salamanders too, to his surprise—now that was a useful summon to know. He wondered how much else was left to him as he extinguished the flame in his palm and turned back towards Salithsa. He’d just have to find out. There was still so much world to see, so many people to help. He wasn’t finished yet.

Tseka grappled with a fellow Warrior in the training room. Even in mock-combat, there was comfort in being surrounded by her kind. There was familiarity in the serpentine movements of the one she was engaged with, predictability in the behavior. She knew which way he’d twist, how he thought, and what he wanted.

After pinning her opponent to the ground, Tseka helped him up and clasped his forearm. She slithered out of the training ring to watch the next pair of combatants; again, she found comfort in watching their serpentine movements.

Tseka leaned against a comrade. Her work was over, her people as safe as they could be. Her mind drifted forward, and she wondered what she’d do next. She considered exploring the world some more, and maybe revisiting the Ashiier…in time. For now, she had no desire to leave Salithsa. She had missed her people and her home even more than she’d thought.

No, one day she’d grow restless again and probably leave, but for now, she was content where she was. She was at peace.