Seth
Warriors had a saying that Seth never understood. “There’s no greater reward in victory than the homecoming.”
In his case, nothing could be further from the truth. His panicked flight from the village had apparently drawn enough attention that it was a vivid memory for nearly all of his neighbors. When he returned home, everybody avoided him save those brave enough to chide him for suddenly inheriting his mother’s reputation. Being practically a quarter of the way from saving the world could not sustain his morale after the tenth chorus of “Silly Seth” sang by children and adults alike. It was like the “Loopy Ruby” phenomenon all over again only he couldn’t punch the offending mockers without killing them.
Seth had taken to wearing gloves at all times, but even that presented further tests to his patience. His rage was close to boiling over on a daily basis as it was and he always showed it. So, the fact that no one could ignore so much as a pair of gloves, which was apparently unfashionable in summer, did little for his sanity. Ah, the comforts of home and hearth.
But these were just the minor annoyances of his day. The worst part of being home was in knowing that he was no longer free to be his usual self. He had already had several close calls while joking around with Clint in which the two had nearly touched. Every missed beat due to what should have been an unreasonable fear of killing his friends was just more fuel for a growing fire within him.
Still, he was home, waiting for word from somewhere about what to do next. Whether he stood a chance at breaking his curse or not, he longed for the sound of Maula’s rattling breath or, more specifically, the last one. He wasn’t sure how killing a goddess of death was supposed to work, but he spent most of his waking hours imagining the myriad ways in which he would maim her.
When the time came to put together the weapon they were building, there was no question that Seth would be the one to wield it. Even if Ragos hadn’t insisted on that being the case, he would have given any of the other champions the brawl of their lives for the opportunity. To prepare himself for this, he had taken to practicing with Nicholai’s blade in the yard. It had more weight than most of the swords he was used to, but he persevered under the very reasonable assumption that the final weapon would be heavier. He had made a goal of mastering the sword before they set out again and was well on his way when Maya emerged from the back door that would lead into his kitchen.
When he caught sight of the witch, he lowered the sword gently into the grass and smiled for the first time all day. If there was truly one positive thing about his new life, there she stood, holding her overflowing book bag and looking exhausted, but pleased with herself. In a world where he could no longer hug his sister, punch his friend, or enjoy an invigorating brawl, Maya was his one unbreakable link to what he had lost.
“Hey!” he said breathlessly. “Think you have enough books, there?”
Maya smiled wryly at her bounty. “Not even close. I wanted to engage in a little functional reading to catch up on what my father’s been hiding me from.” She dropped the bag with a grunt. “But Sam told me that we’d be heading out soon and I had to buy as many as I could, because who knows when I’ll get another chance, but there were so many I couldn’t get!”
Seth eyed the bag nervously. “How did you get all of these?”
Maya lifted one of the books, a thin paperback guide to fey creatures, by the spine and turned it in her right hand.
“I started reading in the library…”
Just then, the book disappeared. With a flick of her other hand, the book reappeared and flew up into the air.
“Learned how to make money performing what is referred to as ‘Street Magic’…”
She slapped it with her left as she put her right hand behind her back. This caused the book to
vanish once more, only to reappear when she revealed it in her right hand.
“And stretched out that money with what I learned about budget shopping,” she concluded.
Street magic was often considered by professional magic users to be the lowest form of magic, but Seth knew that sleight of hand takes more skill than theoretical knowledge and was duly impressed by Maya’s performance. After a jovial applause, she stared silently at him, prompting him to ask,
“What?”
“I think this is the part where you give me money.”
Seth let out a snort of laughter and opened his wallet. He pulled out a silver chip and handed it over. “Fair enough. That was worth paying to see. But, you know, there will be other bookstores out there, probably selling copies of the same books you bought.”
Maya clicked her tongue impatiently. “I wish someone had told me that before.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. I’m thinking of getting a sky rug anyway since there’s more of us now. I can help you carry some of the burden in the mean time.”
Maya glanced at the sword lying in the grass with her eyebrows furrowed. “Thank you, but isn’t that going to be hard with the sword?”
Seth shook his head. “Nah! I can just think of it as extra training. This sword belonged to the last champion of Ragos. I’ll need to bulk up a little if I want to fill his shoes.”
Maya considered the sword and frowned. “I don’t think you should try to fight like Nicholai. I read that he used to swing that sword without care. It’s been stained by the blood of at nearly as many of his allies as his foes. The way you fought yesterday was pretty scary and that was without hurting any of us.”
Seth sighed and propped the sword against the house’s outer wall. “I didn’t realize. Honestly, that’s not how I normally fight. It’s just… well, I’ve always enjoyed a good fight. When I’m out there, it’s like there’s an entire drum line within, pumping my blood very quickly. It’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever felt. But back in Lightning Ridge, I didn’t feel any of that excitement. I just felt terror and rage. I was only able to feel good about it all when it was over and we’d won.”
Maya placed a hand on his shoulder and clasped it comfortingly. “These feelings are what kept you alive and what you were chosen for. You’ll succeed just like Nicholai before you. Just don’t become too much like him. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we’d all like to live to see you do it.”
“I’m going to tear her apart,” Seth replied.
“Then trust us, and we’ll help you see it through.”
Seth’s blood began to pump once more with the drum-like rhythm he described, which reminded him of something Maya had said.
“Speaking of, you said Sam told you we’re moving out? What gives?”
Maya’s eyes widened. “Oh, right! She told me Clint wanted to see you. He says he finally heard back from the other Champion.”
“No plural yet, huh?”
“There were… complications. He knows the details.”
“I’d better see what’s going on, then. Can you seal this thing for me?”
Since they recovered Nicholai’s blade, Clint had decided that the safest thing to do with it was to keep it under a seal to prevent Maulans from finding it. Seth had argued for using the sword and keeping it close, but Clint had refused to back down. Finally, Seth had consented to the seal, but would break it when Clint wasn’t around. So, he hefted the sword back to its place on the mantle as Maya recast the spell that would hide it from view.
***
Seth would find Clint in the village infirmary and curse Clint for his choice to be there. Even nearing the place where he had discovered the curse filled him with anxiety. The palm where he was curse was introduced ached as he opened the door. When he saw the other Champion sitting unusually close to his sister. Upon spotting Seth, the broke apart, looking guilty.
“Don’t bother. You’re busted, man.”
“Seth! Mate, I was going to--” Clint blustered
“Save it. I don’t care.”
“Told you,” Alexis chirped.
“And I told you, it could have gone either way!” Clint retorted.
“Ridiculous!” Alexis snapped impatiently. “It’s not like we need--”
“Cut him some slack,” Seth interrupted. “With everything between us, finding this out COULD have gone either way. But the ache in my hand is a pretty strong reminder that I have more important things to worry about. Speaking of which…”
“Oh! I was just going to come find you.”
Seth rolled his eyes impatiently. “Well you weren’t going to find me inside my sister’s mouth! What’s going on?”
“You know what I mean! Anyway, Sara just sent us a message. She found the other champion, but…” Clint trailed off hesitantly.
“Ugh! What?” Seth demanded.
“The other champion’s the same person who’s been knocking off Doc’s siblings!”
“Gods!” Alexis gasped.
Seth could already feel his head pounding. “So, we have to somehow find and work with an assassin who has it out for the royal family? No way that‘s going to work!”
“It gets better,” Clint said. “Sara captured her alone. Apparently they had it out and this girl fried her with lightning before escaping!”
“Damn it!” Seth hissed with gritted teeth. “We need to go back this other champion up. If getting this potential psychopath to cooperate with us is part of getting to Maula, we’re going to do it even if I have to drag her into battle!”
Alexis and Clint traded disturbed looks, after which the latter said, “My friend, I agree that Sara needs help, but maybe I should go while you take a day to calm--”
“One of these days, Clint, old pal, I am going to pound the crap out of you for telling me to calm down. Then for good measure, I’ll get you once more for every day I have to wait because of this fucking curse!”
“I love it when you talk dirty to me,” Clint joked in response.
With a snarl, Seth stormed toward the door.
“Seth, where are you going?” Alexis called after him.
“To get a damn sky rug!” Seth shouted back. “Get ready to go!”
No comments:
Post a Comment