[Stella]
Stella closed her eyes, content, when a cool breeze brushed over her heat-tendered face. It bore an announcement, a mark: the proper distance one should have with the Scorched Fields.
Honestly, the risk of death was a mild inconvenience compared to that torturous heat. Never again.
“That'll be our last detour,” she declared.
No voice rose to object. Excelle—
“Stop…! Please stop! Help us!”
William slowed the wagon’s pace to a halt. “We’re still on the road,” he said before Stella could voice her protests.
She wouldn't. She wasn't that fed up.
The calls repeated, and they traced them to a short distance from the side of the road. Three voices. Three men slowly crawling towards them. They looked as if the embodiment of ordeal chewed and spat them back out. Their clothes were dirtied by soil and charred at the edges.
William hopped off the wagon to help them, and the men accepted it with loud gratitude.
Sai, Carlo, and Vander. Volunteers like them.
It was a revelation that caught Stella by surprise when it shouldn’t. The four of them weren’t alone in this quest, after all.
Perhaps it was due to how they only heard about the volunteers yet never met any. And, well, they finally did, and their counterparts seemed to be faring abysmally.
They hailed from the border-town of Osen in the westernmost part of the Kingdom. Unlike Stella’s group, the three men were life-long friends. Dreams of heroism pushed them to take on this quest—had them chasing after ethereal legacies.
Whatever remained of those dreams seemed to have flickered off as the men told their tale of woe.
“We thought of starting with Nova Town to retrieve the lost North key,” one of the men, Vander, said, taking a bowl filled with water to finish it within a few gulps.
“Lost?” Yonten repeated.
Another man, Sai, swallowed a bite of flat bread before returning, “You don’t know of it? The North Gate’s key was lost in battle. That’s why the volunteers who defeated the Gate are staying in Nova.”
The final man, Carlo, didn’t bother to swallow before wailing, “But before we even reached the town, that thing came and almost killed us!”
“Thing?” was William’s turn to repeat.
“A hyena on fire!” Vander answered. “Do we even have hyenas in Ashmore?”
Good question.
A better one would be why a hyena was on fire.
“We were hoping to have better luck with the West Gate residing in the Kingdom’s south,” Sai said, regarding them with a frown. “From the path you’re taking, you ought to be from there. How did you pass the West Gate unharmed?”
“We—” Jehona began, only for Stella to cut her off.
“He’s been defeated.”
The three men’s eyes widened, and Carlo voiced their shock, “By who?”
William averted his gaze, seemingly finding something interesting in the clouds above. Stella answered for him, “We don’t know. All we know is that the party responsible are heading to Nova Town.”
“So we travelled all this way for nothing?” Vander grumbled.
While Sai immediately went to question, “Is Aslan safe now?”
“Probably.” The worst they’d suffer from would be a boring journey.
“We should go there,” Sai told his two friends.
“But there’s nothing to do!” Vander protested.
“Maybe we’ll find something of worth,” Sai countered, his tone akin to one placating children.
It seemed to working. “I suppose…” Carlo murmured.
Stella guessed that Sai was only there to make sure his two friends remained alive. He most probably didn’t share their heroic aspirations.
Still, it was a noble quest in its own way.
They parted from the three men shortly afterwards, leaving them with enough supplies to last them the journey to Aslan.
Stella found herself subject to Jehona’s curious gaze once they settled back on the road. “What?”
“Why did you lie to them?”
“I didn’t lie, just concealed a single detail,” Stella answered. “And It’s better that we keep a low profile. Getting around would be much easier when no one is paying attention to us.”
Jehona hummed thoughtfully at her answer, looking halfway convinced.
“The monster they mentioned… I don’t think it’s a Bestowed Beast,” Yonten said. “It’s too much of an outlier, both in nature and emergence.”
He seemed to know what it was, so Stella prompted him, “What could it be then?”
“A Malady.”
A Malady? Like the rabid Moon Dancer they encountered near Cinder Village?
That didn’t bode well.
“Going by what they said, it'll be a few days before we encounter it,” William mused.
Yonten sighed, frustration clear in his gaze. “I may not be able to finish a weapon by then.”
“Take your time,” Jehona drawled. “You’ve been through a lot.”
The look Yonten gave her was far from amused.
[Jehona]
The following couple of days were uneventful, the most interesting occurrence being Suspicious One’s recovery and initiation of his project.
Not that he allowed anyone to witness his progress, slipping away when they set camp for the night. He said that he worked better in solitude—a quality he shared with many craftsmen. Stella and William gave him a wide breadth. And at the start, Jehona did the same, too.
But she grew bored the more their journey stretched without anything of interest to distract her, and she grew curious the more Suspicious One's absence extended. Her train of thoughts had long since been trained on associating travel with interesting events, a mirror of her father’s, and a source of endless grief for her brother Pali.
That was how she ended up cutting into Suspicious One's isolation, taking in the station he established for his work.
He had a large piece of cloth spread before him. The weapons collected from Aslan's bandits were laid on one of its sides, all missing a part or several—some melted out, and others torn. On its other side were what looked to be the missing parts, piled into a small dome.
Suspicious One was sifting through the dome when she arrived and settled on the grass. He stopped his work to regard her with a degree of disdain. “Alone with someone you suspect. Not the wisest choice, yes?”
“I suspect you. I don’t fear you,” she returned, miffed at the very idea.
Something about her answer seemed to have caught Suspicious One off guard, pausing for a moment before his expression set back on annoyance. “I thought I told you that I prefer solitude while working.”
“I was bored,” Jehona explained, gesturing for him to continue. “I never saw an Elemental artifact being made before.”
“And you’ll never see it. Leave.”
She reached to take one of her earrings off, letting it dangle from the press of her two finger tips, its small, diamond-shaped end sparkling with bright gold. “You were interested in this back in Oak Woods, correct? I’ll let you inspect it if you let me watch.”
Interest shone in Suspicious One’s eyes, and for good reason. He was right that the earrings were a coveted treasure. Her father made a life of collecting rare items, and the earrings were his most notable find.
It took a few more moments of resistance before Suspicious One caved in, snatching the earring like he feared she would change her mind.
“Exquisite…” he breathed out, moving it in the embrace of his hand. “I was right. The energy this earring alone holds is extraordinary.” He looked up at her. “Who made them?”
“Don’t know. My father found them somewhere in Sol Ruins.”
He didn't look surprised by the answer. Might've expected it, even. “Did you find them difficult to use?”
“No.”
Some of Suspicious One’s interest shifted to her. “An innate talent?”
“My father trained me on Light Teleportation long before he gave me the earrings.” The training might’ve been grueling, but it was also fun. Her father made it into a game of ‘Catch the Thief’. He always caught her. “We used his amulet.”
“Probably preparing you for the earrings,” Suspicious One mused. “Your father sounds like an interesting man.”
Something numb overtook her heart. “He was.”
Suspicious One looked at her for a long moment. When he returned the earring, she didn't put it back on.
“Do you know how Smiths divide the Elements?” he asked, bringing her thoughts back to the present. At her answering silence, he continued, “They divide them into two opposite groups. Three Repelling Elements, and three Attracting. Light, Wind, and Fire form the former group, while Shadow, Earth, and Water form the latter. To be considered an Elemental Smith, you’d need to master at least one of the Attracting Elements.”
“Why those three in particular?”
“Because they work as a base for the sort of artifact being crafted.” He gestured at the metallic pieces he had piled before him. “I’m currently aiming to make a sword charged with Fire energy. To do so, I need to charge the sword with either Shadow or Earth energy before moving on to the Fire energy I desire. The Fire energy will latch onto the base energy charged into the sword, slowly overwriting it until nothing of the base energy remains.”
Jehona frowned, puzzled at a single detail. “You know all three Attracting Elements, though, so how do you choose between them?”
“The best Element to learn and master is Shadow,” he answered. “It has the most Attracting ability, even working against its opposite Light. Water and Earth tend to be weaker against their opposites, although in Earth’s case it’s purely speculation with Wind still lost.”
He took one of the weapon scraps, what used to be a small dagger, and laid it on his stretched hand. With his free hand, he took his staff from its middle and held it behind him. He spun it once, and Jehona observed one of the stones dangling from its top turning aglow with purple.
Thin tendrils of black smoke crept from the glowing stone, swirling around Suspicious One’s arm to reach his chest, and then beyond it to the arm he had stretched before him. It continued its wispy journey until it reached the small dagger, accumulating on its surface bit by bit, engulfing it in a consuming black. It held for a moment before it dissipated, leaving the dagger unchanged.
But something about it should change, right?
“It’s charged with Shadow energy now,” Suspicious One said, answering her silent inquiry.
“Can I use it as a weapon?”
“I charged it with a weak stream of energy. An expert would have no issue utilizing it to its full potential, but for the common person…” He looked pointedly at her. “Well, they’d need more energy to do the same.”
Jehona took the benevolent option of ignoring his provocation. “Then as a common person, what can I do with it?”
“Manipulating small shadows, maybe?”
That was something, at least. “Are you going to charge it with another Element?”
“Which one do you want?” Suspicious One returned.
“Light,” was Jehona’s immediate answer, biased as it was.
Suspicious One looked amused by it, but he took it without fuss. “As you wish.”
He changed the placement of his arm, holding his staff horizontally above him. Again, he spun it once, and small sparks of bright light shot down to land on the dagger, making it sparkle like a clear night sky. The sparks soon extinguished, but this time Jehona knew it didn’t mean the power they held left the dagger.
“What can I do with this one?”
“Ah, this one I’m more optimistic about.”
She perked up. “Why?”
Suspicious One returned the staff to its place by his side then tossed her the dagger to pick it up. At the raise of her eyebrow, he answered with a sly smile, “Figure it out for yourself.”
She should’ve expected it. “Should I inform you of my findings?”
“Do as you please.” He dismissed. Cheek propped on hand, he asked with a tone so bored it sounded feigned, “Were my explanations satisfactory?”
She nodded, then glanced down at the staff by Suspicious One’s side. Five stones, each representing an Element. “Why are you here?” she asked, looking up at him.
Suspicious One tilted his head. “Here as in with you, or in general?”
“Your talents are ones many rulers would commit atrocities to obtain.” It happened in the past with the last Emperor of Sol. He hunted for Elemental Smiths, had taken them from their homes and the lords they served, forcing them to work for his mad projects. “Wielding all the five Elements… it’s unheard of.”
It was possible to wield more than one Element. Some wielded two, others three, and always with varying mastery. The powers at Suspicious One's disposal might've been weak, but they were consistent. He didn't seem to prefer one Element over the other, had used all five with the same ease and mastery.
Stella and William didn't seem to realize the magnitude of Suspicious One's abilities, but Jehona did, and it both confused and worried her.
Suspicious One tensed. His voice slipped out cold. “Is that why you suspect me? For my so-called talents?”
“Partially.” She suspected him long before it. “Why?” she repeated, adding on, “What will you gain from accompanying us on this quest?”
His expression was unreadable, his silence lingering.
Perhaps she took things too far—had overstayed the little welcome Suspicious One allowed her.
She got up to leave, but just before she walked out of earshot, she heard Suspicious One asking, “If I say I will gain something from accompanying you, will it alleviate some of your suspicions?”
“It’s not like I want to suspect you,” she confessed, not looking back at him.
He was infuriating, yes. Had seemed like he knew too much and told too little of it. But she got used to his annoying presence. She truly didn’t want to carry this apprehension towards him, because it dragged. It blinded. It reminded.
But…
“But you can’t help it,” he continued, humming thoughtfully before asking again, “Does it relate to your inability to use a bow?”
Jehona turned to him in full, eyes wide.
His smile was smug. “You’re not the only one who holds suspicions.”
Whatever words she tried to counter with lodged in her throat, thoughts reeling, caught between lashing out and backing away.
“Yes,” she finally answered, feeling her heart beating again, steadying, and with a voice far from it.
His smile dimmed to a wondrous edge. “What if they were to be right? Your suspicions.”
That…
That was easy to answer.
“I’ll have to kill you.”
