Shadows of Home Read online

  "Then it's agreed--" Ean began but Dao cut him off.

  "Now, let's not be too hasty," Dao said, sidling up to Azalea. "We've been pushing ourselves for four days now. A quick stop over in the village, even if it's just for a good night's sleep in a bed instead on a pile of cold leaves, would be good for us."

  Azalea used a single hand to push the man away from her. With her strength, one hand was all she needed to send him stumbling back. "If you've forgotten, we've been pushing ourselves because of the mess you made in Lurthalan. Who knows how many people we have behind us. Seekers, bounty hunters, those the people call Heroes. For a decent tracker, the path we took would be easy to follow. We should move on until we reach the safety of Rottwealth."

  "The mess I made? There were two of us in that inn, and I was in the middle of grabbing a few mugs at the bar when people suddenly started throwing punches. That crazy woman was after Ean, not me. I just tried to distract them so our fearless leader could chase after that man."

  Ean cringed. When he had explained what had happened to Zin and Azalea as they fled south, he had made a point of leaving his meeting with Sadiek out of the story. At the time, Dao had been too busy tending to his own minor wounds to add his thoughts about what happened. Why the man chose now to throw out the fact that Sadiek had been there was beyond Ean. Sadiek was the man who had torn off Azalea's wings and had almost killed Zin. Ean was worried his friends would be further traumatized--or worse, do something stupid--if they knew he was here. Maybe he could still--

  "What man?" Azalea said, the tiniest bit of annoyance touching her voice.

  "No one. I thought that...ouch!" Ean pulled away as Azalea gave him a rough pinch right above his rib.

  "Don't even try to lie to me, Ean. You were a bad liar even before you created this bond between us. With it, I can tell the exact combination of your emotions that signal when you're lying."

  "Azalea, now isn't the time..."

  "What man?"

  She wouldn't let it go now. He might as well spark the flame here, where they were hopefully far enough from the village that no one would hear the shouting.

  "Sadiek."

  The single word rocked her so hard that the pure emotion it caused flooded through their bond and hit Ean like a punch to the gut. Azalea released his arm and stumbled backwards as if she had been struck. Her breath came in quick pants and she sat on the ground, curling into a ball with her knees pressed against her chest and her arms wrapped around them.

  "Azalea..." Ean reached for her but it was clear she was lost in her own thoughts.

  Zin, on the other hand, had plenty of words for him.

  "You Togorath spittle! You...you Brayurat dung! You have the intelligence of a Fol'niez spawnling!"

  Ean had no idea what Abysmal creatures Zin was talking about, but he doubted the comparisons were compliments.

  "You're acting as if I sought him out!" Ean replied, his attention going back and forth between the near comatose Yulari and the clearly enraged imp. "I was just sitting in the inn, minding my own business, when that monster sat down across from me. I didn't even know it was him at first. He had changed his appearance somehow, looked like a younger man. We spoke for a few moments while I tried to figure out how to get him away from the crowd of people in the inn, but before I could even think of what to do, Esmerelda attacked me."

  "That is all true," Dao said. "I can vouch for that story. I saw the man approach Ean's table. I just thought he was..." His words faded under the harsh stare he received from Zin. When he finally broke his gaze away and stood staring at the ground, Zin rounded back on Ean.

  "You shouldn't have tried keeping this from us," Zin scolded, some of the initial anger gone from the imp's voice.

  "I was waiting for the right time. When did you expect me to say something? While we were fleeing the city, with half of my body battered by that Vithalos? While we were pushing ourselves through the woods?"

  "Yes! For something this important, any of those times would have been good!" Zin growled.

  "Listen, I understand you're upset, but--hey!" Azalea had gotten up and started to walk away. Towards the village. "Where are you going?"

  "If you're so interested in finding fights," she said, stopping so she could turn and face him, "then why not spend the night here?"

  Ean moved towards her but paused a pace or two away. From the look she was sending his direction, he wanted to stay outside her reach.

  "We couldn’t stay here even if we wanted to," Ean said, trying to reason with her. "Don't you remember the last time we were here? Fighting the Seeker? Destroying the front door of the inn? All that happened less than a season ago. We can't just stroll back up to the inn and expect them not to recognize us."

  "You do seem to cause innkeepers an unnecessary amount of property damage," Dao murmured. Ean shot him a look that made the man look down and shuffle his feet.

  "Well, they won't recognize me," Azalea replied. The air around her body seemed to shimmer and her features blurred. When the air cleared, a completely different woman was staring back at him. Chocolate-colored hair draped down below her shoulders, accenting an ivory face with sharp cheekbones and a pointed chin.

  "I'll get us a room." Even her voice had changed, taking on a more nasally tinge. "The two of you cover up your faces and come in a little bit behind me. You can hide out in the room. I'll be spending the night enjoying myself with better company."

  "Azalea--" Ean started but the Yulari was already moving. Despite the airs she was putting on, fear and nervousness flowed through their bond. He took a step after her but Dao put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

  "Best to let her blow off some steam," Dao said. "You'll only make things worse if you press the issue now."

  "I don't see how he could," Zin grunted, pushing past them. "She must be incredibly mad if she can ignore her fear of people." The imp trotted ahead until he caught up to Azalea. Then he faded from sight. Sometimes, Ean wished he had the imp's ability to turn invisible.

  "Oh, you absolutely could make it worse," Dao said with a slight laugh. "The imp knows nothing of women."

  Ean watched Azalea go. Even when she disappeared out of sight around one of the village homes, her anger at him and her fear of what she intended to do continued to flow through their bond.

  "Thanks." Ean shook his companion's hand from his shoulder. "This wouldn't have been a problem if you hadn't brought up Sadiek."

  "You're blaming me? I didn't even know the man's name until a few moments ago. And you never told me not to talk about your encounter with him."

  It was true and Ean knew it. He had messed up. Again. But that just meant he needed to put forth effort to fix things. Best to start with the easiest apology.

  "You're right, Dao." Ean ran a hand through his hair, wincing as his fingers got caught up in dirty strands. "About everything. One night shouldn't be too bad as long as we keep our heads down. It's not like there is much left of the night anyway. We'll leave early tomorrow--"

  A crackling sound cut him off, coming from somewhere in the darkness of the woods. It reminded him of the sound of striking flint whenever they tried to start a fire.

  "Wait, what's that?"

  A light had blossomed in the forest. It started as a small spark but then grew until a circular flame the size of a man's head floated at the edge of the forest. Squinting in the darkness, Ean thought he could make out a form standing behind the light.

  And then the flame shot towards him.

  "Look out!" Dao yelled, but Ean had already dove out of the way of the speeding fireball. It flashed over his head, crackling with heat. The bright flame put spots in his vision even after it had passed by. As it disappeared behind him, the dark of night flooded his vision again. Ean waited for his eyes to readjust to the darkness left in the flame’s wake just long enough to watch another ball of flame burst to life just south of the tree edge. It hovered in the air a few moments, then as quickly as it formed, it seemed to s
pread out in the air and flatten into a rectangular wall of flame. Before it had stopped spreading, a knife streaked through the air and struck the fire, bouncing up and away as if it had been caught in a heavy gust of wind. Another blade struck soon after, equally ineffective.

  "Get up and do something!" Dao yelled. Through the darkness and white spots, Ean could barely make out the man even though he was only a few feet away. He was crouched low, a knife in each hand as he faced the fire.

  Returning his attention to the small wall of flame, Ean scrambled to his feet. Before he could even think of a plan of attack, the fire pulled in on itself again, creating another ball of flame. It had barely formed before it launched out into the air, but not at Ean this time. It streaked through the air, just missing Dao as he dove to the side. Ean tracked its trajectory and watched in horror as it struck the nearest home.

  The side of the building burst into flames; the wooden planks and beams, bone dry from the cold weather, made for easy kindling. Shouts came from inside the home moments later, and its occupants rushed out, dark forms outlined by the spreading flames. They watched the fire crawl up the side of their home and began calling out for help. Lights appeared in windows at first and then people poured into the street. For the moment, the attention of the growing crowd was focused entirely on the plight of their neighbor's home. That would change if Ean's attacker, or attackers, continued lobbing balls of flames at him and Dao.

  Focused on the village, Ean spun as another crack and roar filled the air. Another fireball, the largest yet, streaked towards him like a falling star. He barely got his hand up in time to raise a shield of his own. The flame smashed against the azure sheet of Abysmal energy like an egg hitting a stone wall, spreading out along its surface before dissipating into the air.

  Ean left the shield up, letting the low light of his energy help his eyes find the balance between the scarring light of the flames and the darkness of the night. Through the light of his shield, Ean could make out the outline of someone standing at the edge of the forest. The figure was holding out his right hand and a small flicker of light floated above it.

  Ean began moving towards him, back up the road leading out of town. He had no idea who was attacking him, but he didn't want any more harm to come to Rensen.

  The flicker of light ahead blossomed into another ball of flame and launched towards him. It struck his shield with the same result as the first. The force made Ean pause for a second or two, but he gritted his teeth and marched on. Details started to emerge through the haze, even as the enemy continued to send balls of fire in Ean's direction. From the width of his shoulders and other bodily dimensions, Ean guessed it was a man, but he couldn't make out much else.

  Another fireball was hurled in his direction, and Ean deflected it just as easily as the others, but this time the fire didn't dissipate into the air like the previous ones. This one burst into a shower of sparks that rained down all around him. The sparks did little to the hard-packed earth of the road. They did, however, ignite the grass on either side of where he stood.

  Ean watched as dozens of minute flames sprung up all around him. Too many for him to stamp out on his own, but they were thankfully still far enough away from most of the buildings that they shouldn't cause a problem. If he was lucky, they would go out on their own.

  Except Ean was never lucky.

  The tiny fires to either side of him rushed together to form two large flames on both sides of the road, building to two masses taller and wider than Ean himself. The fires twisted about and licked at the sky, like living creatures straining to reach towards the stars.

  "Die!" a ragged voice screamed over the crackle of the fires.

  Before Ean knew what was happening, the two flames flowed in and engulfed him completely.

  Chapter 7

  Ean WAS fire.

  His clothes ignited and burned away in a matter of seconds. Searing pain covered him from head to toe for a brief moment, but the intense flames scorched his nerves dead. The magic that infused Ean's entire body rebuilt them. And they burned away again. An endless cycle of pain repeated over and over again, locking him in agony. Ean's mind tried to shut down while his body and the energy it held fought the flames from consuming him completely.

  His lungs smoldered with each intake of breath. His eyes flashed red and white; the fire burned his lids away so he couldn't close them against the flames. A moment of surprise ran along the edges of his agony as the pain vanished from his knees. His skin had healed enough over his knee caps that the feeling of warm earth felt like an oasis against the raging inferno covering the rest of his body. The oasis was quickly swallowed by a desert of agony.

  He couldn't get his body to move. Couldn't even think. He was the fire.

  Ean WAS agony.

  A voice in his mind shouted against the pain. I refuse to let us feel this pain.

  Ean's hands clenched before his consciousness was shoved to the back of his own mind. The Abysmal energy he held was yanked from his control. Something shaped it into a thin blanket above him, then slammed it down overtop him. The force of it crushed him to the ground, his face pressed into dirt and ash. He tried to suck in a breath but the weight made it impossible to breathe. Lungs that had been breathing fire now strained for air but couldn't move.

  Then, the weight was gone. Air rushed into Ean's lungs like a hurricane.

  But he hadn't been the one to take in the breath.

  Ean looked through his eyes like an invalid looking out his bedroom window. His arms and legs rolled him onto his back and maneuvered him into a sitting position. His gaze ran across his body, taking in the damage the fire had caused. His clothes were gone, and the piles of ash around him were all that was left. Arms, legs, torso—any part of his body his eyes could see looked like a sausage left too long over the fire. His skin was black and cracked, small amounts of blood and puss oozing out. Pain gnawed at the edges of his mind, but what should have been severe enough to turn him into a gibbering mess, was only a dull sensation.

  You let a lesser creature injure us.

  The voice shook his mind. Or maybe he shook because the voice was similar to his own. Except it was stripped of emotion and yet somehow intensified at the same time. Even though the voice was flat, its scorn toward him came through in waves of disgust.

  I will make all who oppose us bow or break.

  Ean knew how to fight with his body, knew how to twist the energies of the Abyss, even if he still only knew a fraction of what he could do with it. But he had no idea how to grapple within his own mind.

  "Impressive."

  A simple man dressed in black from his cloak down to his boots walked into Ean's line of sight. Two beady black eyes stared down at him from deep within a large brow. Spiky red hair flowed down the side of his face and continued into the full beard that was well maintained. The thin, slanted line of the man's sneer broke apart the curly red hair that covered his face.

  And a tiny flame floated above his raised right hand.

  "Cooked to a nice sear and still sizzling," the man said, looking down at him with a grin. "You're certainly a touched man. Worth more alive than dead, so for the sake of my wallet, I do hope you survive."

  Ean tried to reply, but his mouth wouldn't move. He tried to stand, but he couldn't get his arms and legs to even move an inch. He was stuck, looking up at his attacker.

  "Your friend won't help you. I have him contained." The man waved off behind him. Ean could only watch as whatever had taken over his body twisted his head until he found Dao encircled by flames. He was standing straight and still, arms and legs pressed together to avoid the shoulder high fire that encircled him. "You make any sudden movements, well--" The flame hovering above his hand grew until it was half as large as his body before he shrunk it again.

  Sudden movements? Ean couldn't seem to do anything more than breathe, and he wasn't even sure it was his consciousness that was making his lungs work.

  "Well, let's get going," th
e man continued. "There is quite the bounty on you and I want to cash it in before we run into anyone else trying to hunt you down. If you're tough enough to sit up looking like that, I'm sure you can handle walking as well. Or am I going to have to just bag you and drag your body all the way back to Lurthalan?"

  "I can move."

  It was even more disconcerting to hear the emotionless version of his voice outside his mind. The words came from his lips but Ean hadn't been the one to put them there. Somehow, despite his injuries, his hands dug into the dirt and Ean watched as he slowly got to his feet.

  Fear took hold. There was no telling what the other part of his consciousness was prepared to do. Unable to wrestle the control of his body from the part of him that called itself the Zekarian, Ean reached out for his connection to the Abyss instead. His mind hit a wall. Or what felt like a fist, fingers wrapped around the source of where Ean drew the Abyss from deep inside, holding it tight.

  Not only gripping it—the force was shaping it in a way that Ean had never seen before.

  "Good," the man replied, a bit of apprehension in his voice. "Less work for me. Now I have some rope to bind your--"

  Ean's fist struck the man in the center of the chest, Abysmal energy adding force to the impact. The blow knocked the man from his feet and sent him tumbling backwards. As the man rolled to a stop and didn't move, the flames that had encircled Dao flared out.

  You let that pathetic creature bring us to our knees. I will wipe even the memory of him from existence. Ean's fear intensified as the Zekarian continued. And then I will cleanse this entire village.

  Ean's body rose until he was standing straight, eyes locked on the fallen man. Instead of attacking, Zekarian moved his hands to his arms and began to rub and claw at the burnt skin. It peeled away like the skin of an onion, revealing untouched flesh beneath. The tattoos that snaked across every inch of his body like overgrown vines gave off a healthy azure glow, not a single break in their criss-crossing designs.