Borne of Fire

Chapter 8

"So what do we do now?" Braxter asked, his voice trembling with emotion even after overcoming the initial shock.

"We run, hide....set up camp somewhere far from here." came the low guttural rumble from Ja'aris. His previous aggression and derision gone now but he was still far from friendly.

"What if they follow us?" Braxter asked, "Will we be able to fight them?" He stopped suddenly, his face dropping and a frown creased his brow as a more fundamental question surfaced. "Who are they?"

Both boys were on their feet again, visibly shaken and far from composed but on that long road nonetheless.

"Doesn't matter boy. Stay here to ask them if you think giving them a name will help you but don't be surprised if they don't grant you the courtesy of answering your questions before they end you." Ja'aris answered sharply, his hands on his hips, always close to his twin blades. His frustration at the lack of action evident in his body language already, his black eyes squinted and scowling once again.

"I was only asking! There's no need to be such an ass all the time." Braxter yelled at him, anger and grief fuelling his nerve and making him act in a way he earlier wouldn't have dared. "Every time we say anything you're there to put us down. Every time! I'm sorry we're not all toughened Watchers but maybe you could find it in you to pass some of your worldly knowledge off onto us common folks....if you think we're worth it that is!" He had squared up to Ja'aris and although he stood a head shorter he had moved closer and closer until he was shouting up into the watchers face. Ja'aris stood unmoving, black eyes staring, unblinking at Braxter.

"Looks like this one's got some bite to him after all L'non." He said in his usual low growl, his tongue clicking and clacking over each word. "The fact is boy, that even if I did think you worth imparting a fraction of my knowledge onto, there'd still be a hundred or more questions unanswered about this enemy. Then by the time I'd finished the telling, it would be too late to do anything with that knowledge because most likely you'd be dead." He leaned over Braxter as he spoke, his voice low and forceful, barely hiding his simmering temper.

"The fact is that I don't consider you worth the time or the effort. Your kind are all the same - you think you're so important to the world that there can't possibly be anything going on that you don't know about, that's maybe beyond your understanding. Then when you need help you look to us to provide it. The very people you spend most of your time trying to keep out of your precious little lives." He towered over Braxter now, their noses almost touching. "Fact of the matter is that ignorance is your real enemy and too many of your kind have been treating it as a friend. Sheltering under it like babes under a blanket when all that blanket was really doing was hiding the beast from view until it was at your door." Ja'aris finished his speech, his words slowing until the last practically fell from his lips. His body was tense, itching for Braxter to make any sort of move to justify the drawing of his blades.

None was made. Braxter held his gaze, unwavering as adrenaline surged through his veins making him at once reckless and fearless.

Moments passed when nobody moved until eventually Randyl broke the silence.

"We have to go back to the village, back to our home." All eyes turned toward him as he spoke. "I have to see for myself, there may be survivors. I have to try to find my family....even if it's just their bodies."

"Are you for real boy?" Ja'aris barked, turning on Randyl now. "Have you heard nothing I've just said to your little friend?"

"You don't have to come. And yes I heard your words but I'm not asking for your help, not this time." Randyl could feel his own adrenaline pumping again now, his anger just one of many emotions threatening to run away with him.

"I don't expect you to understand so I can't expect you to come with us. You've spent so long in the wilds, on your own that you've lost all feelings for family or friendships. Everyone....everyone we know is in that village and if there is just one of them alive, just one we can save or at least help, then I....we...Brax and me...we have to go back." He finished quietly through gritted teeth, gaining confidence in his words by the supportive smile spreading across Braxter's face. "You two can do as you like."

L'nons brow was furrowed, brooding over Randyls words before eventually coming to a decision. "It may be that what you say is true young Randyl - that we have lost a part of our empathy in our objectivity. That in itself has been to our advantage on more than one occasion however. Nevertheless, Ja'aris and I will accompany you back to your village."

"Ju-ago te an redog L'non brar!" barked Ja'aris throwing his arms into the air in an open display of outrage. L'non held up his own hand, palm towards his brother-watcher, stopping him from going any further.

"We have yet to lay eyes on this enemy. It would serve us well to know all we can about them before we meet them in battle. Mayhap we can all learn something this day." His words, delivered slowly and calmly had the desired effect on Ja'aris who dropped his arms and looked to the sky with an incredulous smile on his face and a shake of his head.

Randyl and Braxter's smiles were more genuine, taking what little comfort they could from the companionship of the two watchers, however temporary it may turn out to be.

The shock and grief of the last couple of hours had taken its toll on Randyl emotionally as well as physically. His adrenaline was helping with the physical demands he had put on his body but his emotions had ebbed and flowed like the tides of the sea. Thoughts of his loved ones and the possibility that all that he held dear had been lost threatened to rush in and consume him. The emergence of these thoughts forced him to keep his feelings at bay or at the least find the ability for rational thought, which he knew to be more important now than ever before, to be maintained before it was washed away completely.

And on the distant horizon of this turbulent sea of emotions, gathering like a huge wave ready to rush in and consume his entire being, he could feel one emotion looming and overshadowing all others.

Anger.