Bloodline of a Tempest

Chapter 5

The time had already sunk its teeth into the stone spiral stairs but Nema decided it was worth the risk since she wasn't in a position to win a fight against fifteen fire-feeders.

She could fight – but she couldn't win.

Old Man always said that if you can't break someone's arm you better keep your hands in the pockets. Life with him had helped her in certain ways – she wasn't afraid of getting hurt anymore, but she knew enough about pain not to rush head-on into unnecessary brawls.

And this brawl, necessary or not, could end up bad for her.

It took her a while before she managed to push open the heavy wooden door. The chamber was everything but a place to live, but it was the best this ruin had to offer. She couldn't close the door behind her anymore. There was a fireplace but no wood, the window was broken and the draft was becoming vicious. The folded blanket on the ground, used as a bed, was as encouraging to approach as its master.

Nema could hear the agitated voices and the sound of drawn swords but from this side of the castle she could see nothing but the sea on hr south and occasional wisps of smoke coming from the yard. 'Those are Turin Glaciers, Nox,' she whispered, watching the animal curled up in a corner.

So Nox was a Noery and he reacted to fire but she never found a single letter about his kind in all those books she had stolen during these years. But fire-feeders knew about him.

Nema curled up next to Nox. Without her woolen scarf, the only thing that stood between her and the cold, she felt as if her body has stopped generating heath. 'I'm not a good friend, Nox,' she whispered her apology. She was tired and hungry and cold and absolutely miserable.

When Nema startled awake the room was in the dark and there was a tall figure standing next to the fireplace.

'I brought some logs. You're shaking,' Demian said. A moment later a flame from his palm set the wood on fire and only when she tried to get up Nema realized her body was stiff with cold. She picked up Nox and moved him closer to the source of warmth.

Demian pulled a dagger from the leather holder under his arm and placed it in front of Nema's feet. 'I shouldn't have taken away your weapon.' He said, looking at the fire.

'You're bleeding.' Nema reached for her bag but Demian raised his hand.

'That is something you can't help me with if I remember correctly.' His gaze was still in a most unsettling manner.

'Did that happen because of me?' She pointed at the trace of blood in the corner of his mouth and something that was promising to become an epic bruise on his right eye. So Lorn was left-handed, Nema decided. She doubted anyone else would dare to strike Demian. 'Did you fight because of me?' She asked. Nema couldn't understand why in the world would he care.

'Why did you lie?' He asked. There wasn't even a trace of judgment in his voice. He seemed perfectly delighted by her idiocy. 'One morning, a runaway fire-feeder appears on your door and, instead of pointing him to the nearest healer you decide to go alone with him and then fail to do the only thing he needs you alive for. Why?'

'I needed someone to take me to Turin Glaciers,' she said.

Demian didn't seem impressed with her intelligence. 'You are aware that Turin Glaciers are home of blood-smugglers and pirates who are even a nastier lot than us.'

'Yeah.' Nema nodded. 'So, where did you escape from?'

Demian flinched.

'Where did you escape from?' She asked again.

'Borotta.' Demian's eyes darkened.

Nema gave him a strange look. 'Borotta is an asylum for the unstable water-benders,' she said. 'For the fallen ones. Why would they keep you there?'

Demian laughed a dark, bitter laugh. He shook his head, standing up. 'I need to change my shirt,' he said, pulling the ends of black fabric from the trousers, 'in case you want to look away.'

Nema rolled her eyes. 'I'll live,' she said.

Demian grinned, pulling the shirt over his head with his right hand. She heard a sharp intake of breath before he tossed the shirt aside.  Nema gasped. Now she realized why he wasn't using his left hand.

'What happened to you?'

Demian frowned. 'Your kind sometimes forgets their manners once they encounter a fire-feeder, one preferably chained to a wall.'

She was already busy rummaging through her bag. Nema had already some fresh planatan and the bulgor tincture ready. Clean bandages were in her other hand.

Demian shook his head. 'There's nothing to be done.' He took a clean shirt, wincing when he straightened the left arm.

'You will lose your arm if you don't let me help you,' she said.

'I will lose it anyway,' he said, still wincing until he managed to push the arm trough the sleeve.

'Fine,' Nema shrugged, 'it is just you didn't strike me as an idiot.'

'Careful!' Demian's eyes flashed.

'I can help you,' she said calmly, 'but you have to let me take a look.'

They were staring at each other from across the room. The last thing she wanted right now was to come withing an arm-reach of a fire-feeder but she did lie to him so she kind of owed him one.

She looked him in the eyes until he nodded. Now she understood why he seemed so angry all the time. This wound wasn't treated on time and the pain he endured must have been maddening. She was approaching carefully. When she was a step away from him Nema stopped waiting for him to nod. Both of them seemed unsure was this a good idea.

'At least it won't hurt that bad,' she promised, standing in front of him. Demian finally nodded and tugged the sleeve down.

'Look,' she tried to sound cheerful, soaking the piece of cloth with bulgor tincture, 'you know I can't kill you.' Bulgor was what healers used when nothing else worked. 'I have no powers. These are herbs I collected from the forest.'

His eyes were careful.

Nema removed the old bandages and started cleaning the wound.

She was good at reading people. If it wasn't for that she probably wouldn't have survived all the Old Man's educational lessons. Demian now watched her with that look he had when his man said there was no food left.

'Why am I a problem?' She asked, making sure she kept his eyes on his chest. His eyes unnerved her. He was watching her, she knew that.

'What makes you think you are a problem?' His voice was even raspier than before. It was probably because of the pain he was enduring but the room suddenly felt much smaller.

'I'm always a problem.' Nema whispered. 'What have they done to you?' She asked. They were patches of burnt skin all around the wound what was making it even worse.

Demian was silent for a while. 'When I was in prison I tried to disinfect it,' he said.

'With what, rusty knife?' Nema frowned.

'With fire.'

'Oh,' Nema looked up, her eyes wide. Demian was watching her, his face twisted with pain, his jaw clenched tight.

Nema quickly looked down. She put some salve on the burns and dressed the wound and all the while Demian was still like a sleepy kitten. When she was finished she found him smiling.

She smiled too.

'This is the first time in months I don't feel blinding pain,' he confessed. He also looked like he might crash down every moment now.

'You don't exactly look like an offender,' she said.

Demian grinned. 'We all did things we shouldn't have, didn't we?' He pointed at Nox. 'You stole it from someone and now you are trying to sell it to the smugglers.'

Her mouth almost fell open.

'I am not judging,' he said. 'We are in trouble too. If the cub wasn't on the verge of life one of the guys would have taken it away from you long ago, omens be damned. But I never expected I'd find one this far away from home.'

'Nox is mine!' Nema cried, her fists balled up by her sides. 'I did not steal it.'

Demian watched her carefully. 'Sometimes I could swear you are telling the truth.'

'I am!' Nema said.

'Then you would know  he can only survive where the red trees are. Noery don't drink milk and are not meant to be domesticated,' Demian said.

Nema's eyes flashed with hope. 'So he'll live if I find him a fiery forest?' That was easy, there was one a few miles on the east. The star map never lied. 'I have to go,' she was on her feet already.

'I can't let you leave,' Demian said. 'I told you we're in a tough situation.The second you get out someone will sell both you and the pup to the blood-smugglers.'

Nema gasped.

Demian grinned. 'You know those things they say about us - they're all true.'

Nema had to wait almost until the dawn until the rowdy songs and occasional brawls didn't end. She took the dagger and her scarf Demian brought. She left the bottles with tonics and balms he would need with all the clean bandages she had with her. She took Nox in her arms and opened the star map against the light of the moon. 'You're going home, pup,' she promised.

They were already deep into the forest when she felt someone was watching them.