Fire Within: Book Two of Fire and Stone (Stories of Fire and Stone 2) (25 page)

“She does seem…curious about our world,” Esset said. Verett simply inclined his head, but didn’t volunteer more. In truth, Esset’s mind wasn’t much on the phoenix anymore.

*That was not a question, Esset,* Verett finally said. Esset blinked and realized he’d been silent for a few minutes.

“No. I… Well, there’s something I’ve always wanted to know. About my summons. I’m just… There was no way to know before, but I’m afraid that if I did know the answer, and it was…a particular answer, that I couldn’t summon anymore. I can’t afford to not summon right now, but I know I’ll probably never get another chance to know.” Esset knew his explanation was garbled, but he couldn’t help it, not without saying what the question was. Although it belatedly occurred to him that Verett could probably see the question in his mind anyways.

There was a brief pause, and Esset could only assume that Verett was considering how to answer.

*I can see in your mind that the answer you fear is not the answer you believe to be true. But belief is not knowledge. Will you ask?* Verett didn’t seem inclined to give him an easy out.

“I… Yes. I’ll ask.” Esset
had
to ask. “Are the creatures I summon willing to come when I call? Do they feel pain? Do they truly die when they take enough damage to be banished from our world? There’s so much I don’t know about them.”

*Let me answer those questions one at a time,* Verett said. *First, do they feel pain? Yes and no. It is not pain as you would think of it, although they are aware when they take damage.*

Esset nodded; that was in line with what he’d seen. He’d noticed that the fire creatures knew when they took damage; they would evade or retaliate as per their nature, but injury never slowed them down, which suggested they didn’t feel pain.

Verett continued. *Do they die? No. They simply lose their connection to our world for a time and are forced to return to their own. They can even return another time when the energy has had a chance to renew itself. And as for your last question…you know the answer already. It’s in your Contract, after all.*

Esset blinked and tried to figure out what he meant. Wasn’t the Contract with the phoenix? Did she control all the other summons somehow, so if she was willing, they were too? No, that didn’t make sense. What about—Verett cut the train of thought short.

*Your birds must fly,* Verett said. *Your horses must run. Your wolves must fight.*

Esset blinked again. How did Verett know that? Clearly the Ashiier knew more about the phoenix and her Contract than he’d told him, because that wasn’t something he was free to say aloud. Then again, they could read his mind…

*You’re not thinking about the answer,* Verett chided, but with good humor.

Esset considered what Verett had said. “So you’re saying…it’s a trade, not a command, when I summon them.”

Verett nodded. *Indeed. They are happy to come as long as you fulfill the terms of your agreement.*

“But what about now? The phoenix said I didn’t need to follow those rules anymore,” Esset said.

Verett acknowledged that with a nod. *That is true. That is why it attests to a good heart that you continue to abide by those rules when you can. But there is still no cause for worry; the phoenix grants them compensation in their own world in turn.*

“Oh.” Esset thought that over in his mind. Verett was right; belief was different from knowledge. Although he’d believed they didn’t feel pain, didn’t die, and weren’t bound unwilling, there was a greater peace in knowing for sure.

“Thank you. I feel like I owe you even more,” Esset said.

*You are most welcome, but there is no debt,* Verett replied. *Although I’m afraid I must cut this short. Your companion Tseka is waiting just outside the door.*

Verett looked at the door and it opened without being touched. Tseka looked surprised to see it open, then grinned and came in. Esset grinned back.

“Esset! I love these guys, they’re awesome. Wait’ll you see what I can do,” she said. It took a second for Esset to notice three new additions to Tseka; on her chest, just below her throat, was a blood-red gem. It seemed to be embedded into her body, like Esset’s in size as well, except hers was perfectly visible. On either side of it were two much smaller gems, both orange in color. All three were cut with facets and complemented her scarlet skin beautifully.

“Wow,” Esset remarked when he saw them. “Those are beautiful.”

“Yes, they are,” Tseka said, tilting her chin up proudly. It occurred to Esset that Nadran warrior women probably didn’t get many occasions to just be beautiful. Esset had always thought them incredibly striking, as much as their painted counterparts, but he’d never said so. Now he realized that by Nadran standards, without painted and polished scales, they probably didn’t feel beautiful. Now Tseka had something to make her feel prettier; Esset couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Seriously though, wait’ll you can see what I can do. Attack me. Come on, do it!” Tseka urged him, gesturing at him with a “bring it on” beckon.

*It would, perhaps, be wiser to find a safer place to test your new abilities,* Verett suggested dryly.

“Agreed,” Esset said, wondering what Tseka’s new ability was that she wanted him to attack her.

“Right,” Tseka said, enthusiasm unabated. “Where can we go?”

“Should we wait for Toman?” Esset interrupted.

*I think your brother might be a while. I’m sure you’ll have time to test your abilities and come back, and if not, we can lead him to you,* Verett suggested. Esset hesitated, wondering why his brother was taking so long, but he decided not to inquire—especially lately, his brother needed his privacy.

“Okay, sure,” Esset agreed. Tseka was first out the door, but then she had to wait for Verett to lead the way. The blue crystal ferret took them down a few tunnels until they emerged in a cavernous empty room.

*This place is shielded. You may do as you please,* Verett told them, standing off to the side. Tseka immediately scooted further out into the room.

“Come on, Esset, bring it,” she said, beckoning with both hands. Esset was a little concerned, so he just summoned a small ball of fire into his hand and lobbed it at her—if something went wrong, she could easily dodge it. But a large, translucent, scarlet shield blinked up in front of her and the fireball burst against it. Esset was pleasantly surprised, but Tseka wasn’t satisfied.

“Is that the best you can do?” she taunted. “Come on, bring it!” Esset wasn’t quite so reckless; he made his attacks progressively stronger to see what she could handle. He also wasn’t sure what
he
could handle—he wanted to work his way through his own abilities to see how the gem worked.

As far as he could tell, he had nothing at all to worry about. The more he worked with fire, the warmer he got, but he would’ve been even warmer if he’d spent the same amount of time exercising beside a campfire, so he wasn’t worried.

After Tseka had adroitly blocked, dodged, or deflected everything he could throw at her, he summoned a wolf to test Tseka’s defenses. That gave her pause; Esset didn’t blame her. His wolves were bigger and stronger than they used to be; the cracked coals of their skin were far more fiery beneath, and they looked downright savage with small flames dripping from their jaws. But more than that, Esset had formed a theory about how her new shield ability worked.

Each time Esset threw fire at Tseka, she waited until it was close and then put a shield up in front of it. She didn’t simply put a full shield around herself and sustain it. Then he’d feinted a few times and then sent a real fireball to follow, forcing her to maintain the shield longer. In some of those cases, the shield had flickered slightly. Esset’s theory was that the shield was strongest in the first second it was erected; after that, it grew progressively weaker. That meant that he could probably destroy her shield by sending a sustained stream of fire towards or around her. But right now, he wanted to test their abilities, not “win.”

The fiery wolf lunged at Tseka, but she rebuffed it with a shield. She drove it back with a quick series of shields, but the tactic wasn’t going to get her very far. Still, she strategically made shields and dodged to buy herself time to think of a way to beat the wolf. Esset knew she’d figured it out when she suddenly grinned fiercely. She abruptly gave up the defense and let the wolf come at her. Esset shifted nervously; he had no idea what she had planned. Then he was too shocked to banish the summon when she struck out, bare-handed, at the molten creature.

Tseka aimed for the eyes, and in close quarters, she couldn’t miss. She pointed her fingers straight out together and struck like a snake striking a mouse. A brief glimmer of her red shielding protected her hand until she could recoil. When the execution of the move was complete, the wolf’s head bled molten rock, obscuring its vision. Prepared for the move to fail, Tseka immediately shoved it back with a series of shields as well, but she only pushed it back a pace before Esset banished it.

“
Light
, Tseka, you’re totally crazy!” His heart had nearly stopped in shock when she’d pulled that move.

“Thanks,” Tseka replied, her grin a little wild. “That was fun. Can we go again?”

“No!” Esset objected.

“Oh, come on. I knew what I was doing,” Tseka said scornfully.

Esset frowned and look at her askance; really, he knew it was probably true. Even though she was new to using magic, the one thing she knew better than anything was fighting. Nadran warriors didn’t rank themselves, but if she wasn’t the best of them, she was close.

“Not right now,” Esset amended. Tseka’s grin widened a little and she crossed the room towards him.

“Scared you, didn’t I?” she taunted. He frowned at her and, forgetting they had an audience, stooped to sticking out his tongue at her.

“Knew it. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself,” Tseka said. She smirked.

“Redeem myself? I was going easy on you!” Esset objected. He found himself getting irrationally irritated with her, which was strange, because normally he enjoyed bantering with her.

“Pfft, and that’s my fault? More the fool you then, I say. You can’t test our limits if you never push yourself,” Tseka remarked off-handedly. Esset ground his teeth.

“What exactly are you saying?” Esset challenged her. Tseka leaned in unexpectedly and peered into his eyes.

“Wow, it really does work well, doesn’t it?” she asked. Esset was confused and irritated for a moment, and then he realized that she was looking over his shoulder at Verett.

*Indeed. However, I would recommend against using it on those with whom you wish to remain friends.* Verett was using his wry tone again.

“What are you two going on about?” Esset asked irritably. Tseka smirked again—normally Esset would have been amused and curious about that, but now it just made him want to growl at her.

“I’ve used all three of my abilities now,” she said primly.

“How wonderful for you,” Esset snapped. Her evasiveness irritated him, but then a hint of curiosity intruded. For a moment, the curiosity angered him further, but then it won out. “Three?” He only recalled seeing one.

“I apologize for using the last one on you,” Tseka said. Esset blinked; Tseka never apologized.

“Although I’m not really sorry,” Tseka added a second later. “I did want to try it out, after all. I had to make sure it worked.”

Esset ground his teeth again. “What. Worked.”

“Apparently making someone mad is now a magical ability of mine as well as a natural skill,” Tseka replied, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

The calmer part of Esset’s mind took that piece of information in hand and turned it over a few times. It made sense. He made a conscious effort to spread the calm to the rest of his mind, but he hated losing control, especially to anger, which, perversely, made him angry.

“Don’t ever use that on me ever again,” he said to her, perfectly serious.

“I won’t,” Tseka replied, suddenly serious as well. Esset was reminded that while Tseka constantly tested limits, she rarely actually crossed them. He believed her when she said she wouldn’t do it to him again.

“So what’s the third ability?” Esset asked, trying to distract himself; that was usually the easiest way for him to deal with anger.

“It’s like battle-sharpness. It gives me energy, makes me a little stronger and faster, and lets me ignore pain and keep going when otherwise I would collapse. At least, that’s what Orvanis said. Certainly the first two were true when I tested it,” Tseka said.

“That’s useful. So’s the shield. I’m not sure how making people mad is useful though.” Or maybe he was just still mad about it himself.

“Angry people are irrational and reckless. Angry people are also more honest. In either case, the result can be very useful. I’ve always liked making people mad to find out what they’re really made of.” Tseka’s words were certainly true—she’d certainly tried to push his and Toman’s buttons when they’d first come to Salithsa, then shown her own true colors by intercepting an assassination attempt. She was always one to play the devil’s advocate.

“Yeah, I guess,” Esset conceded, still a little irrationally irritated. At least now he knew why.

“Well, let’s go see if Toman’s done yet. Maybe get some foo—” Esset suddenly realized something. “Hang on a second, Verett, why am I not hungry?”