6

VI

. "Why don't we ever stop at villages?"

The question was asked over the smoldering fire, with pure curiosity, not reproach, as one might expect. Ioan smiled over the fire and returned to the interrupted sewing she held in her lap.

"Because we can't afford to be seen. I thought it was obvious.

" "Yes," the Bertraam man replied, looking casually at the firewood crackling in the flames. "Obvious, but I still don't understand how a backward village could be a threat."

Ioan glared at him, but Joslyn just laughed. He knew she was teasing him.

"As far as I know, I'm the strategy guy in this duo, and you're the free labor.

Free?" he snorted. "Excuse me. I'm very expensive labor. It just so happens you get a hundred percent discount.

" "Ah," she sighed, and lay down on the grass, propping herself up on her elbows. "How kind of you to include discounts and rebates in your price. And getting back to the point... You know perfectly well that Seeladon isn't as well-developed as Bertraam, but that doesn't change the fact that the villages are also occupied by mercenaries, spies, and informers. I've been ordered not to show my face in the villages, and shady characters might just as easily whisper a word to the Elders as to those they dislike. You never know."

Joslyn nodded thoughtfully. His eyes were still fixed on the fire. Instinctively, he reached out his hand above the flames, catching the flying sparks between his fingers. Holding one between his index finger and thumb, he examined it closely. The spark not only didn't burn him at all, it even tickled his nerves pleasantly. He smiled to himself.

"And you'd be playing all the time," Ioanne remarked from her seat, stretching like a cat. "Nothing but fire, fire, fire. You'll run out of flints if you're shelling so many sparks.

" "You're undoubtedly lucky," he replied with undisguised envy, "that your Wind is so easily accessible. You reach out and grab it! You already have the air in your hand. I have to try harder, but that makes my art more refined.

" "Ha, ha," Ioan muttered sarcastically. "What are you saying? Just because the Wind doesn't burn doesn't mean it's any less dangerous.

" "I didn't say anything about danger," Joslyn cut him short, sitting cross-legged and still playing with the glowing spark that hadn't lost its luster. "I was only referring to the skill of handling each element." The ability to strike sparks at the right time and with good reflexes is infinitely more difficult than reaching out and mobilizing the air to form a vortex.

With that, he let the spark slide onto his palm, from which a flame at least twenty centimeters high instantly erupted. Okashi leaped from the grass and began barking, raising the fur on his back.

Ioan laughed and unceremoniously collapsed onto the ground with her entire body weight, tucking her hands behind her head.

"The Vihari probably have it easiest. Wherever they are, there's some kind of earth. A pebble, a rock, grains of sand," she said, looking up at the few irregular moons scattered across the sky like stones on a beach. She sighed almost imperceptibly.

"And that's where you're wrong," Joslyn stated with the air of an expert. "The Vihari only use living earth. Rock, yes, but only the kind that hasn't been disturbed." That's why they carve houses and castles out of limestone, not just cut them into bricks and build them like the rest of the civilized world.

"Really?" Ioan's voice was tired and distant, but it was clear Joslyn's words intrigued her. "And I always thought they did it out of principle, or to look nice and impressive."

The Bertraman laughed loudly and throatily. He clenched his fist and smothered the last of the flame, which steadily died down as time passed. Okashi just looked at him suspiciously, growled one last time, and returned to his half-sleep, curled up in a ball and nestled between Joslyn's bag and Ioan's backpack. The moment his brown eyes closed, he was completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

"Go to sleep, salla. It's getting late. Your free labor will protect you from evil spirits.

" "Evil spirits?" she snorted, but she couldn't deny that she was almost dozing off. "But you're right, my good knight. Sleep will do me good."

With that, she squirmed a bit on the grass, threw an uncomfortable pebble from under her back, and with a flourish, covered herself with her cloak.

"If you get tired of guard duty, knight, you can always join us," she said with a glint in her eye that Joslyn didn't fail to notice. He smiled wickedly and raised his eyebrows.

"I'll have to consider your offer, my lady, but my service isn't over yet. Sleep, salla. We haven't had such good conditions for a good three days. And with that morning fog over Owl Pond, your sleep is even worse.

" "Oh, well, well," she grumbled from beneath the material of her cloak. "I'm going to bed. Just don't make any sudden movements, and that mutt of yours better keep quiet. Goodnight."

For a moment, she could hear her thrashing about, searching for the best place to rest, until the sounds of rustling fabric faded, and her silhouette, illuminated by the red light of the fire, stilled.

Joslyn smiled in the silence that fell and extended his hand over the fire a second time. Not wanting to upset the dog, he abandoned his play and simply reduced the flame to half its size. The fire burned much more steadily now, giving off less light that might disturb Ioan's sleep. He still felt a pleasant tingling sensation on the palm of his hand.

After a moment's contemplation, he lay down on the grass, placing a nondescript bundle he had managed to drag from the spot where their luggage lay under his head. He fixed his gaze on the moons and, lying there under the open sky, contemplated the three-week journey from Randerwound to the shores of Lake Deucen, half a day's journey northwest of the port town of Anflux on the Nullah. Of course, the distance they had covered could have been covered in half the time, but they were forced to constantly meander, hide, and spend several nights in the same places for safety reasons. Ioan had been particularly angry about this at Owlpool, the largest lake in the entire Seeladon Lake District, where they had spent five foggy mornings. She had left with a nagging migraine, wondering how the Seeladonians could possibly have lived on this lake. They had crept through the forests surrounding the pool, trying to avoid being noticed by the numerous fishermen who, at dawn, set out from their small villages that dotted the shore and rowed their small boats out into the middle of the lake.

Unfortunately, Anflux would give them a wide berth and cross the Nullah halfway between the town and the lake, where a wooden bridge also stood. Joslyn rued the missed opportunity to visit Anflux. He had an irresistible urge to once again see the ships and shipyards he had admired as a child. He had grown up in the very center of Foxburg, famed for producing the finest transport vessels in all of Gemn.

Bertraam's mind drifted back to the days of running along the golden beach, collecting seagull and albatross feathers to sell for two cents in the Foxburg library. He recalled, in turn, the years he spent in that very library, studying Elemental Theory, which he later put into practice while training by the Wolla River. He recalled his first, very unsuccessful, even disastrous, attempts to tame Fire, and had to smile. He also thought about the moment he'd first met Ioan and the circumstances that had led to their meeting in that very place. The smile vanished as that thought brought another, one concerning their current situation. He sighed heavily, rolled onto his side, and covered himself with his cloak. This was definitely not the time or place to dwell on matters as difficult as this.

The fire was dying, Okashi was purring in his sleep, and in the silence, Ioan's deep, calm breathing could be heard. And yet, it took a long time before he fell asleep.