Jaroh’s Traveling Players moved through the countryside in a meandering path, city to village to seaport without a plan that Ezo could tell. In the month since he’d joined them, they’d visited three towns and stopped at a questionable seaport before they decided to head on without performing. Jaroh wasn’t skittish, but he was a superstitious man and when the train ran into a swollen bridge coming into the area, he declared it omen number 1. Ezo had quickly fixed the bridge, but it didn’t change Jaroh’s opinion about the area. It had improved his feeling about Ezo though.

An attempted robbery at night and the appearance of a fire in the seaport as they broke the ridge convinced Jaroh to leave that one alone. He let his people go into the port for supplies and to take an afternoon to make coin however they saw fit, but he didn’t take the caravan down and he made certain there were enough people to guard it in case of trouble.

Today’s slow pace ate at him. He wanted to see the world but the traveling players, while great company, were not the fastest way to get places. In fact, he’d traveled much further on his own two feet than they did on any given day. And that was without wagon and horse troubles. Their most common delay, to date, had simply been the players themselves. If they passed a large stream, it was time to stop and wash clothes. They disagreed about where to travel next. They argued about when and where to stop for supplies.

“I know that look,” Alvrey said as she took a seat next to him at the back of the slowly moving wagon.

“You let Mathis drive?”

“Tamis. Mathis is teaching him.” She opened her hand, and a white light filled the air above it. Unlike the element of air which looked like a pure cold white to him, the light of healing was warmed with other colors.

“So, you decided it was time to teach me as well?” he asked. He opened his hand though and concentrated. It wasn’t like using the elements as he was used to. There was no calling on an individual power. He had to focus inward, instead of pulling from the elements around him. When he opened his eyes, there was a small light. It was nothing compared to the brilliance of Alvrey’s power, but it was something.

“One thing the players have taught me is to take the time when you get it.” She poked at his power with a finger and sighed. “You have to stop using too much earth. You have to pull from them all equally.”

“It’s the one I pull on naturally,” he confided, not for the first time. “It’s gonna take a while to stop that habit.”

She laughed. “That’s why healers aren’t elementalists. We use our magic differently. Most people can’t do both.”

“Well, most elementalists don’t use more than one element. Maybe that’s why?” he asked.

She closed her hand and looked behind her shoulder, silent and still. A moment later the wagon stopped moving.

“What is it?”

“Someone’s hurt.”

“You can feel it?”

“Only when I’ve opened myself to healing, as I do when I teach you.”

They moved through the wagon to the front where Tamis and Mathis were sitting. Jaroh was already running towards them when Alvrey hopped down from the cabin to see what he needed.

“Alvrey, we came across a camp. The men there might need your help. We didn’t speak to them yet, but they are War-Sworn.”

Ezo watched as Alvrey looked towards the front of the wagons. There were six in all, each carrying players and the basic necessities of their nomadic life. Alvrey was assessing the safety of the wagon against the lives of men who were considered little more than weapons.

Even thinking of the War-Sworn, Ezo could feel strong hands pressed against his skin and warmth filling him. He shook his head and tried to clear it of the remembrance, but the memory clung to his bones.

“Why don’t you take the wagons ahead?” Ezo offered. “I can stay with Alvrey if she wants to offer her help.”

Alvrey reached a hand out to touch his wrist and he gave her a small smile.

“If Ezo will stay with me, then I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Jaroh opened his mouth to argue, but Alvrey shook her head. “It is my calling, Jaroh. I won’t ask you to endanger the players, but I will make the offer.”

He huffed but looked back towards the front. “We’ll move up the road. Kester scouted ahead and said there’s a good place to camp. We’ll wait for you there.”

He left them and Ezo looked up at Tamis and Mathis. “You heard that? You boys drive the wagon ahead with the others. We’ll catch up.”

“What if something happens?” Mathis asked.

“If we aren’t back by morning, you come check on us, okay?”

The wagon in front of them started moving and the brothers had to follow. Ezo waved at them, but Alvrey frowned at him. “If we aren’t there by morning, something bad will have happened Ezo. You shouldn’t have said it.”

“Just because they’re soldiers doesn’t mean they’ll hurt us. Besides, you think Jaroh won’t be keeping an eye on them while we’re gone? He won’t let them out of his sight once they get to camp tonight.”

Alvrey nodded, then looked over to the small trail of smoke they could see from the distance to the other camp. She started towards it and Ezo admired her bravery. Too many people thought poorly of the War-Sworn, but she was facing her fear to offer her help anyway.

He followed her towards the camp, and they stopped when they reached it. Four men sat around a low-burning campfire, all in the navy blue color of the War-Sworn. One of them stood quickly, but two of them sat up to watch them closer. Ezo ignored them for the fourth who had quietly called his magic to himself.

“We don’t want any trouble.” Ezo spoke before Alvrey could, as he pulled his own element to him.

“Then what do you want?” the man with the magic asked.

“I’m a healer,” Alvrey said. “I wanted to offer my services if anyone needed it.”

They stared at her, but no one spoke until the other man stood up. He looked at Ezo and the magic curling over his fingers but dropped the flows of air that he had called. Ezo nodded and followed.

“I’m not sure there is anything you can do,” the man who had jumped up said. “There isn’t a cure for fatigue.”

“Perhaps not,” Alvrey said as she walked closer, “but I can help with the every day aches and pains that make it so much worse.”

The man in charge nodded and the others began talking softly to Alvrey. Ezo watched to be sure they were treating her right, but now that they had accepted her into their camp, they were respectful and courteous to her. One found a fallen log to bring over to let her sit and they stoked the fire for her as she brought out a pouch of herbs that she used as well as her magic.

“You were with the players?” The man asked.

Ezo nodded. “They’re good people. Don’t judge them for being cautious.”

“I’m grateful they allowed their healer to stop.”

He was sincere and Ezo hated that these men had turned their gifts into a weapon, only to be ostracized by the people they had gone to protect. He offered the man his hand. “I’m Ezo. The healer is Alvrey. How long have you been home?” he asked.

The man clapped hands with him and gave him a small nod. “Barley. We left the border of Shafra six months ago. It’s been a long journey, but we take the road slowly. You should be careful if you’re continuing on this path. Bandits have been known to patrol it. They left us alone, but we’ve heard stories.”

“Thank you for the warning.”

Ezo watched as Alvrey called her magic to her. It felt wholesome, even from this distance and he let out a small breath. He wasn’t a soldier, but even his friendly disposition had been taxed lately. Maybe it was being around so many people after months of being alone on the road.

“You aren’t War-Sworn,” Barley said.

“No. I’ve lived most of my life in a small village. When we lost it in a flood, I decided to travel. Get out into the world.”

“You haven’t been to the academy?”

“No. My uncle taught me.”

“How did the academy miss you?”

Ezo shrugged. He didn’t want to tell anyone that his uncle had purposely kept anyone outside their village from learning about his powers. “We were a small village. There wasn’t any reason for someone to travel there to look, I guess.”

“You’ve been touched.”

“What?” Ezo had no idea what Barley was talking about, but it didn’t sound like something good.

The other man put a hand on Ezo’s shoulder and looked into his eyes. “I can feel the vow on you, though not as I’ve felt it anywhere else.”

“What vow?”

“The vow we take when we become War-Sworn. It wraps around your bones, like ore settling around you, making you stronger. The vow makes us more powerful. This is strange.”

“I’ve never taken a vow to anything,” Ezo said in confusion.

Barley nodded and released his shoulder as Alvrey came over to them. “Commander Barley?” she asked. “What can I heal for you?”

“Are you feeling okay?” Ezo asked. He could see she was tired, but she smiled at them both.

“I’m fine. Commander, please let me help you.”

Barley tapped his leg. “It’s been a problem for some months. I wouldn’t ask, but since you’ve offered, I would owe you a service.”

“Have a seat, please.”

Alvrey sat in front of him and took his leg in her hands. Ezo watched as the warm light of healing spread from her palms. He could see her weakness, but she pushed past it, working to heal Barley’s old injury. He reached a hand towards her, remembering the way the traveler had helped him all those months ago. As tired as Ezo had been, the addition of the other man’s magic had bolstered him enough that they’d been able to stop a flood from taking the village.

“Don’t!” Barley barked the order and Ezo pulled his hand away quickly. “You definitely haven’t been to the academy,” the man mumbled through a hiss as Alvrey worked. “We are at our most vulnerable when we do magic. You don’t know what a touch like that will do.”

He stepped back at his words, but prepared to rush in to help if Alvrey needed. She never wavered from her task. When she raised her hands from Barley’s leg and let her magic drop around her, she leaned to the side, but Ezo caught her. She smiled at him. “Leria powder, please.”

One of the other men handed him a mug of water and Ezo tapped the white powder into it. She sipped at it, making a face each time she drank it. “Ezo, how can you drink this so often? It’s disgusting. You’d think the taste alone would make you remember your limits.”

Barley raised a brow at that, but Ezo just shrugged it off with a smile. “I don’t do it on purpose. But when the circumstances are grave, you do what you can.”

He was clapped on the back by one of the other War-Sworn and Ezo smiled at him. “Sounds like he took the vow himself, doesn’t it?” the man teased.

They all laughed at him, but Ezo felt the commander’s eyes on him again. There was something the man knew that he wasn’t saying, and Ezo didn’t think he could get it out of him. Instead, he enjoyed the fire and the company. When Alvrey was feeling strong enough, they took to the road again to reach their wagons.

Ezo walked quietly and Alvrey didn’t seem to notice his mood. He couldn’t help but wonder about Barley’s words. What did it mean that he could feel the vow on him? Was it a common purpose, or did it mean something more? And did it have anything to do with the traveler and the way they’d joined magic all those months ago?

ChrisBannor

What is Barley sensing in Ezo? Should he be worried? Let me know what you think!