“You’ve put it off long enough. Talk.”
Ezo watched the sun filter through the branches of the trees around him, trying to ignore Kammon. It wouldn’t work, but he needed a few moments to get his thoughts together. He was surprised Kammon had let it go as long as he had. Last night, they’d cleaned up the raider’s camp, Ezo made the tonic, and their two captives were put to sleep. Then Kammon had used the raider’s supplies to make a stew far better than anything Ezo had eaten in weeks.
And Kammon had remained silent. In the morning, as they filled Alvrey’s wagon and tied the two captives in the back, he still didn’t say anything.
As the afternoon wore on though, the silence between them grew thick. Ezo rode on the wagon, steering the horse and Kammon walked beside it. Now, he hopped up onto the wagon and sat next to Ezo. As much as he wanted to avoid the conversation, he knew he’d dragged it out as long as he could.
He draped the reins over the edge of the railing, secured enough that they wouldn’t fall, then pulled the glove off his left hand.
To most people, they wouldn’t notice anything strange. Ezo wasn’t sure himself how he did it. It had been instinctive at the time and it was a part of him. He held it up for Kammon to view. His hand looked paler than the rest of his skin, but most people didn’t give it any mind. If they had, they might have noticed that the lines of his hand were too delicate for their size and the pads of his fingers were too smooth.
“That’s incredible,” Kammon murmured.
Ezo wanted to throw his glove back on to cover it up, but he resisted the urge.
“I don’t even know how old I was when the accident happened. We had a large farm with lots of people coming in and out to help with the farm animals. A local kid had just realized he had magic and he was showing off. He spooked the horses by sending a wave of earth towards them. I got knocked down in the middle of them. I was too little to get away and-” he shrugged “The doctor amputated my hand, but when I woke the next morning, I had this.” A hand made of magic. It worked the same as the other, without any effort or thought of his own. He turned his hand, looking at it.
“You did it unconsciously?”
Ezo nodded. “My parents paid the doctor to keep it a secret. They put it in a cast to hide it away from everyone until I should have ‘recovered’ from my injuries. Uncle Jacob came then. He told my parents that I couldn’t ever be allowed around other elementalists or they’d see it.”
“That explains a lot,” Kammon said.
“What do you mean?”
“Jacob was trying to keep you close to home. He didn’t want you going out into the world, but he wanted you strong enough to defend yourself. He gave you a great amount of instruction in how to use your magic, but he kept you from the parts of the world that would make you seek it out.”
There was censure in his words and Ezo frowned. “You don’t think he was right to keep me from the University?”
“Oh, he was right about that. They’d have locked you in a room and kept you there until they could figure out how you did it.”
“It’s just like … you with Ember, right? It’s just a part of you.”
“I don’t think it is. As much as Ember was born of my power, she is her own creature and I didn’t create her. Elemental magic can’t create. It only manipulates. What you did is impossible.”
Ezo pulled his hand back and shook his head. “When did you know?”
“I felt it in Mason Creek. There was something … off… about you. There aren’t many strong enough to notice, but you covered your hand when you saw me looking. I knew then there was more to your story.”
“I could say the same about you, even if you haven’t told me your story yet.”
“What do you mean?”
Ezo gave him a crooked smile as he took the reins again and pushed the horses to walk faster. He wasn’t ever going to be a fan of horses, but steering a wagon was far better than trying to ride one. “You’re so gruff and mean to people, but when they need you, you do the right thing. You can say you’re Disavowed, but I don’t think you’re the kind of man who can leave the fight behind. It’s why you’re out here right now, looking for raiders.”
“I did that for coin.”
“As powerful as you are, you could walk into any city in Distria - any castle - and demand your price. People would line up to be taught by someone like you.”
Kammon surprised Ezo by throwing his head back and laughing. The passing smiles he’d seen so far were nothing to this, the way his smile grew across his face and his eyes lit up from it. The warmth of his voice as he laughed unrestrained. When he stopped, he looked at Ezo, still grinning.
“I am the worst teacher you’ll ever meet. I don’t have the patience or the aptitude for it. At the University we all had to teach and they learned quickly enough that I was not made for it. They began sending me problematic students and hoped they would quit under my tutelage. And they almost all did.”
Ezo smiled. “You seem patient enough to me.”
Kammon rolled his eyes. “You test my patience constantly.”
“You haven’t thrown a rock at me yet.”
“Is that the sign that it’s too much? Good to know. I’ll keep a rock handy from now on.”
They settled into comfortable silence then. After a few minutes, Ember flew down and landed on the top of the wagon.
“Do you know how long until we reach the next village?”
“Before sunset. We should make it in time to see if your friends are there and find someone to take these raiders off our hands.”
“You really think the players made it safely there?”
Kammon patted the bench they were sitting on. “This is a fine wagon, but if I were to guess, your friends left it behind to block the path long enough to get to safety. It was a smart move. Your healer must have sensed the trap and acted fast.”
“Alvrey is an amazing healer.”
“You have said.”
“Maybe she can heal you?”
“I don’t need healed,” Kammon’s voice grew icy, and before Ezo could say anything the other man jumped off the wagon to walk beside it again. “Perhaps you got your miracle, Ezo, but not everyone can be healed.”
Omg pure magic hand!!!! 😍