Part of me wanted to shout out to Axen. Come get me, take me away from these crazy people! I managed to restrain the impulse. It’s fine. Just dealing with… foolishness.
So bite something. That usually solves it.
“It is my duty to see to the protection of this village. It is my job to get to the root of any threat that might be present,” Erret snapped.
“Excuse me,” I said abruptly, unable to keep the tension inside any longer. My mind raced for a good escape route and latched onto the first idea it came up with. “I promised Jec I would help him with his work. I must be on my way.” I brushed past Erret and hurried out the door.
He followed me, no big surprise there. “Jec will have to wait. You might have the others in your thrall, but I’m not so easily fleeced. Now tell me the truth. How are you bonded to the creature?”
“Because she wills it to be so.” Only a few more paces to the smithy. I did my best not to break into a run and let him see how badly I wanted to be away from him.
He scowled. “You know that’s not what I was asking. How did it happen? What was done to bring about this unnatural connection?”
It took a conscious effort not to take the bait. I was nearly to the door. “Good afternoon, tabe.”
“You are not going anywhere until you answer my questions!” he thundered, slamming a hand into the doorframe to block my path.
He was still speaking when I ducked under his arm, shoved the door open, and hurried inside. “Good afternoon, Jec. I’ve come to help you with your molds, as you asked.”
Jec looked up from his work, a slightly bemused expression on his face. He saw Erret still sputtering in the doorway and turned with a casual smile, a hammer in one hand and a red-hot length of metal in the other. “Hello, tabe-Erret. Is there something I can do for you?”
Erret looked like his face was swelling with restrained anger. I had the feeling that if he’d been facing one of the younger men, he’d have stormed in and reamed us both out. But he wouldn’t dare do such a thing to an esteemed elder of the village. It wouldn’t be honorable.
He finally shook his head. “Excuse me, tabe-da.” He turned and stormed off.
I leaned against one of the support beams. If that had gone on much longer, I wouldn’t have been able to hold my tongue, and that certainly wouldn’t have earned me any love from the village. If anything, it would mean that some of the people accepting my presence might reconsider their position.
“Bit of a battleax, that one,” Jec mused. “Has a nose problem, though.”
I raised an eyebrow.
He tapped the end of his nose, leaving behind a black smudge. “Too long. Always ending up in the wrong places.” He returned to his work. “I’m afraid I must be called a poor host yet again. I haven’t managed to acquire any tea since you were last here.”
“It’s fine,” I reassured him, amused. As if enough time had passed for him to get tea.
“The molds are over there, if that was what you wished to do with your afternoon,” Jec said, nodding toward a pile.
I walked over and picked one up. It wasn’t, but at least the wide smithy space, the smells and sounds of my childhood, and the peaceful older man made the place feel much less confining.
I glanced toward the window as I smoothed out the first mold. The road looked clear. I could take a few minutes, smooth out a few molds, and then slip out to the forest before Erret returned to ambush me. With any hope.
I was on the second mold when I caught a glimpse of movement out the window. I squinted, searching for the source, and finally saw it. Erret leaned against a tree just inside the forest, well-shadowed by the foliage above.
Ire flared up so sharply that I almost deformed the mold in my hands worse than it had been when I started. He was waiting for me? I should have known he wouldn’t give up so easily.
I weighed my choices. Spend the rest of the day hiding in the smithy or leave and face Erret. Everything in me wanted to walk out the door right that second and let him try to intimidate me. I had a good share of choice words at the tip of my tongue ready to unleash on him.
But pesky reason and wisdom cautioned against it. I still wanted to retain Thone’s favor and stay in the village long enough to resolve issues between Emsha and Krenish. I couldn’t do that and publicly ream one of the more prominent men of the village.
I aggressively straightened the mold and tossed it aside. It went against my nature to hide from confrontation, but I was too smart to let my nature get in the way of my goals. It chafed to be stuck indoors, but at least it was here, with Jec.
He plunged his work into the trough of water and stretched, wandering over to the window. “Lovely day.”
“Lovely,” I agreed without feeling. I hadn’t really noticed much.
“Seems a shame to be cooped up inside, especially for young bones.”
No kidding, friend. I shrugged.
“But perhaps there are reasons to stay inside. To avoid certain unpleasantries. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same.”
He had seen Erret skulking in wait. I nodded.
“It would be a shame, though, to be trapped by one’s own desire to avoid being drawn into a scene.” He whistled and returned to the anvil, pulling the work out of the water and inspecting it. “It’s a good thing, then, when a building has two exits.”
I perked up.
“Especially when one of those exits, the one just off the other end of the forge, can’t be seen from the road.” Jec yawned and set the piece aside before drawing the next one from under the forge coals. “And leads directly behind Magra’s home, from where it’s easy to enter the forest. Unseen from the road.” He shrugged. “If one is concerned about such things, that is. Terrible day to be cooped up.”
I dropped the mold in my hands back onto the pile, rushed over to plant a kiss on his cheek, and scurried to the door he’d indicated. It was half buried behind a hanging rack of heavy aprons, but all I had to do was push a couple of the aprons aside to reach it. I cracked the door and peeked outside. Sure enough, the wall’s angles were just right. I couldn’t be seen from the road.
“Thank you so much, tabe-da.” I paused, looking back at the molds. “I promise, I’ll help with the molds tomorrow. Or later tonight.”
He waved with his hammer. “The molds will still be the same tomorrow as they are today. The sun might not be.”
I gave him a grateful smile, then darted out the door, hurrying between his shop and Magra’s until I reached the back end of the buildings. I took another glance around, mostly looking at the inn. Perhaps I could slip along that way and duck into my room for my pack. I’d gone too long without my sword in reach.
But the buildings here stood at an angle which shielded me from the area of the road where Erret waited. The inn stood a bit further away from the other two, following a slight bend in the road and leaving a large gap. Erret was more likely to see me if I went that way.
Better to avoid a confrontation. I was finally getting my escape into the forest; I shouldn’t push my luck by trying to get my sword. I hurried along the back of Magra’s home, checked the view on the other side, and darted into the forest.
My leg twinged as the trees and underbrush enveloped me, reminding me that I wasn’t supposed to be pushing myself. Oops. Perhaps it was for the best that I’d never been able to master the healing arts myself. When I was injured, it normally meant days of pain, which forced me to remember to go easy on myself. While I appreciated the accelerated process and relative lack of pain, it was easier to forget the need for caution and the risk of reopening wounds.
I slowed to a steady but brisk walk. Probably still faster than I should have been going, but I didn’t particularly care. I was already breathing easier, my muscles relaxing, my heart singing to be out of the claustrophobic village and surrounded by an environment far more natural to my normal life.
It’s about time, slowpoke.
I rolled my
eyes. Go chew on a grickle.
I sensed her snort, and I smiled.
You’re moving too slow. I’ll come get you.
Not yet. I was still too close to the village. We don’t want to draw extra attention. Let me get a bit further.
I walked until I was confident the villagers wouldn’t notice Axen’s approach, then called for her. She didn’t even bother landing; she just dropped her tail and scooped me up as she shot past and swooped back up into the air, giving the tail a sharp snap to fling me toward my position at the back of her head.
My leg twinged sharper than before as I landed in place and found my hold on her scale ridges, but I was laughing too hard to care. Any tension left in my body drained away as we rose high enough to be mistaken for a distant bird from below.
I rested my forehead against her scales. I missed you.
Me, too. You, I mean. She snuffed. Let’s just leave. Keep going. They’ll be fine.
They wouldn’t, but her words still drew me in with powerful temptation. I wanted so badly to do exactly that.
We can’t. I need to at least try to help them. If I can’t, then we’ll leave.
She snorted. You’re too nice.
I know. I smiled. Humble, too.
She snuffed again and dipped sharply along an air current before shooting back upward.
I closed my eyes. Felt the wind bite my face and rattle my clothing. Enjoyed being home.