Born Of Fire

Born Of Fire Chapter 8

Phoenix followed the procession of warriors and ex prisoners silently. In his mind, he relived all of the humiliation he had suffered because of the injuries he inflicted on Ember, the vow he had taken, and now recently broken. People did not understand his vow, and therefore made an outcast of him. Much jesting had been enjoyed on his account, and gossip had circulated like wildfire. One story was that he had tried to rape Ember that day in the woods, burning her to bend her to his will, and his gift had left him on account of it. The young girls of the village shied away when he passed, and the boys would no longer speak to him. In reciprocation, Phoenix had pulled back into himself, speaking rarely.

This in turn, caused the rumors to enlarge, and wild stories were spread throughout the village. In the absence of friends, Phoenix devoted himself to menial tasks, such as fetching water, farming, and mucking the horse stalls, tasks that would be below any normal elemental. Considering the fact that he had sworn off his gifts, these tasks gave him the opportunity to eke out a living within the village. Most would think that being the village leader, or Gazda's, son would grant him some relief from his tormentors, but no. His father had removed himself from Phoenix's life within the public eye, and would not lift his hand, or let his tongue, usually so sharp, loose upon the people and allowed the torment to continue.

Phoenix scoffed aloud, causing Ember to turn and look at him worriedly as they followed the procession. To think that his father could have stepped in, but chose not to, angered Phoenix beyond all measure. His only child, a son no less, and he had written him off in much the same way Phoenix himself had written off his element. Phoenix dwelt on the torments of the past, anger rising up as they walked, before finally seeing the glow of the fire within the village square. A shout went up, praising the returning warriors, and no one even thought to silence them, and give honor where honor was due, considering that these supposed warriors had arrived after Phoenix had single handedly burnt the invaders camp to the ground, killing the fifteen soldiers.

"Oorah! Oorah!" went the chant, and Phoenix felt sick. He wondered if someone would actually tell the story about what actually happened, and then he sighed. Probably not, considering that many of the warriors would concoct stories of their own valor to combat the truth.

Doritan marched the column into the center of the village and raised his hands to quiet everyone. When the mass fell silent, he spoke. "We have subdued the invaders, and captured a prisoner!"

The chant started again and Doritan raised his hands to no avail. With a large smile, Doritan waited. Finally, he spoke again. "We will interrogate this prisoner, and determine if there are others like him. And we will fortify our village, to repel any future attacks. Yaag will not fall quietly, but stand up and be counted among those who still stand when the smoke clears!"

The crowd went wild, and Doritan seemed to bask in the glow of adoration. The hulk, who still held the unconscious soldier, waited patiently until Doritan turned and marched to the butcher shop. The shop had a cage within that would hold him. It was used to hold the meats for selling, and keep any large carnivores out. With a flourish, Doritan threw the door of the cage open, and ushered the large man in, who set the soldier down rather gently, then exited the cage and stood to the side, half obscured in shadow.

The crowd had followed, and Doritan's voice turned stern. "We will question him in the morning. It has been a long day, and our warriors, among others, are tired. Let us sleep, and see what the new day brings."

The crowd muttered approval, then filed out slowly to their homes. Phoenix followed, and sat on a bench around the perpetually roaring fire. Moments later, Ember sat next to him, the green eyed woman sitting on the other side of her. The large man sat on the next bench, filling it with his bulk. Ember and the young woman were in deep, hushed conversation which Phoenix could not hear. They looked up, and Ember smiled, while the young woman flushed scarlet. The conversation had been about him, Phoenix deduced.

The young woman rose and flounced toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck once more. "Thank you again," the girl whispered into his ear. "I may never be able to repay you, but my brother and I are indebted to you."

With that she pulled away, then gestured between the large man and herself. "I am Lindani. (Lind-ah-knee) And this is my twin brother, Spedro. (Speh-dro)"

Spedro lowered his massive head in a bow, then spoke in a quiet, even tone. "I thank you for saving us."

Ember's mouth hung open in shock. "Did you say twins? But you look completely different!"

Lindani shrugged. "We are twins, actually. And no one knows how. But that is not all that is different about us. I posses the gift of controlling water."

Ember's eyes shone, and Phoenix knew what was going through her mind. She wanted to ask Lindani to teach Phoenix his new gift. "So you are both Piaslay?"

"No," said Lindani. "That is why were are different. I control water, while Spedro is a Bachtahlo." (Male Earth User)

Now it was Phoenix's turn to be in shock. "You are brother and sister, yet control different elements? How can there be a water and earth user, two elements born into the same family? That's impossible!"

Lindani shrugged. "Yes. No one can explain it, but it is true."

"Wait," interrupted Ember. If you are both Zuhdahlay, (<A/N: Zuhdahlay is plural elemental. No specific element incurred.) why did you not break out of the cage in which they had you imprisoned?"

"We tried. But for some reason, within the cage our gifts felt just out of reach. They were still a part of us, but we could not lay hold of them to free ourselves."

Phoenix scoffed. "There is nothing to separate a Zuhdahlo (Male elemental, Singular. Also used as simple singular) from his powers. "

"We thought the same," said Lindani, pulling the cork from the water skin on Phoenix's hip. Water flowed from it to rest in her palm, the orb bobbing up and down gently. "But if I can do this, what makes you think I would not drown every single soldier within that camp as soon as I woke up within the cage?"

Phoenix tried to wrap his mind around this, but he knew of nothing that could separate an elemental from his powers. Filing that away for later, he rose to his feet, and began striding for the butcher shop.

"Phoenix where are you going?" called Ember, rising to her own feet.

"To get answers," Phoenix called back, not breaking his stride.