The Blaze Ignites (10 page)

“These are from Meddyn,” she said. “She used
her magic to make them. They aren’t as fancy as you might be used
to, but they’re excellent for travel.”

I saw a beautifully tailored grey pair of
pants, grey cloak, and a burnt orange cotton tunic. Along with
those was a brown pair of the special Salynn shoes all of them
wore, only smaller.

“They’re wonderful,” Cairikson said
softly.

Azrel smiled and patted her lap. “Let me help
you dress.” I helped him sit on her lap again as she took his towel
off and began to dress him.

“Azrel,” I began, glancing back at Rabryn,
who nodded with encouragement. “We need to talk.”

“About?” she asked, not looking up from
dressing Cairikson.

“About what was left unsaid when you ran away
from me earlier.”

“Oh. You mean about my father loving you more
and trusting you with secrets of his past that he couldn’t trust me
with?”

I mentally sighed.
Here we go.

Just be patent and understanding
,
Rabryn said in my head. Forgetting he could do that, I nearly
jumped out of my skin.

“He didn’t love or trust me more than you,
and he didn’t keep secrets from you. He just didn’t tell you the
whole
truth about some things.”

“Well, great. That’s even better. My father
didn’t keep secrets from me—he just lied to me.”

“No! He didn’t. I mean…just…you’re not
understanding me. Will you let me explain? I really think you
should know these things.”

Finally she looked up at me, annoyed. “Then
why couldn’t my father tell me? Why did I have to find out from
you
years and years later?”

“You were completely dedicated to your
training. He didn’t want to bother you with such details of his
past.” It was almost the truth. I don’t know why he never told
Azrel, but I really did think it was time she knew.

“Fine. I’m listening,” she said as she pulled
Cairikson’s shirt over his head.

I started getting nervous and my mouth was
going dry, but I said with a sigh, “Azrel, your father didn’t leave
the battle because he was afraid.”

She froze from pulling Cairikson’s arm all
the way through his sleeve. Her eyes widened and her face turned
bright red. She slowly looked up at me with that steely expression
that some people—well, most people—thought psychotic. Her eyes were
wide and dangerous, her jaw was clenched, and her neck muscles were
tight. It was a look that made you want to swallow your head for
speaking.

“What?” she said in a throaty voice.

I tried to swallow to moisten my throat, but
couldn’t. “The Nameless One had Hathum’s power of mind corruption,
and It had such a strong hold on your father, that…” I felt myself
start to sweat. “That he was
taken
out of the battle.”

She started panting through her nose and
trembling. It was terribly quiet for a few moments, save for her
heavy breaths. “Are you telling me that my father didn’t flee the
battle because he was afraid for the Sword? He was
forced
to
flee the battle?”

I finally managed to swallow. “Yes.”

“Fleeing was out of my father’s control?”

“Yes.”

“It wasn’t his decision to leave? His magic
forced him to disappear?”

“No.”

“What?!”

I swallowed again. “It was the Light Gods
that took him out of the battle.”

She hissed inward through her clenched teeth.
“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

“No, don’t! What do you mean the Light Gods
took him out of the battle?!”

“He was under the Nameless One’s control. Had
They not pulled him from battle, the Sword would have been lost.
They had to save It.”

“They couldn’t save my father’s reputation in
the process?” she screamed. “They had to destroy him and blame him
for the mess
They
made?”

“Azrel…” I tried to interrupt uselessly.

“If They took him from battle why did They
take away his magic? My father could have defeated Him! They didn’t
give him a chance to try!”

After a moment, she seemed to force her eyes
to close and try to slow her breathing. I waited precious seconds,
which seemed to last for hours, before she visibly calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a softer but still
throaty voice, when she opened her eyes. Clearly she was having a
hard time reining in her temper, but I was extremely impressed with
the effort. “I’m not angry at you.” She finished putting Cairikson
into his shirt.

I stayed quiet for a long time. I hated
telling her this. I hated to imagine what she must be thinking or
feeling right now.

“All this time,” she said softly at last.

“I understand th—”

“No, you don’t.” She looked up at me angrily
for a moment before her expression turned to that of defeat and
anguish. She shook her head and looked back down at Cairikson as
she put on his shoe. “My father was created by
Them
to
protect and wield
Their
power on earth.” She looked up at me
again. “And they repaid his hard work and effortless loyalty by
scorning his name, taking everything he knew and loved away, and
making him believe everything was all
his
fault? They
destroyed
him! And
for what?
” She shook her head and
continued with Cairikson. “You couldn’t possibly understand. I
doubt my father even understood.” After a few moments, she looked
up at me again. “Why couldn’t my father tell me?”

I didn’t have an answer for her, but Rabryn
did. “He probably didn’t want you thinking the things about the
Light Gods that you’re thinking right now.”

She sighed and shook her head, then went back
to dressing Cairikson. But she quickly looked up at me again. “Why
did the Gods make him think his fleeing battle was his fault? I
don’t understand that!”

I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t know,
but it took a couple centuries for
him
to realize that he
actually hadn’t fled the battle.”

“Why did he lie to me though? He told me he
ran!”

“Perhaps,” Rabryn piped in again, “not
telling you that he was truly pulled from battle made you the kind
of person you are now, which will prove to be an advantage sometime
in the future.”

Azrel looked at him as if she couldn’t
believe he would dare speak to her about her father. “Shut up!”

Rabryn looked stunned, then angry. “These are
guesses, Azrel! You wanted answers so badly, and this is the best
we can do. Your father isn’t here to ask, so our guesses are all
you’ve got!”

Before Azrel could say something to her
brother that she might regret, I moved to put myself between them
blocking their view of each other. “He might be right,” I said
softly, putting my hands on her shoulders. “Maybe your father kept
this from you deliberately, and told me deliberately, because he
knew I’d tell you at some later date. Then, your realizing the
terrible, unforgivable wrong done to your father would fire you up
to avenge that injustice. Maybe your father hoped it would cause
you to fight harder to restore his good name. You’ve already been
fighting like hell to restore it, though you thought he fled
battle. How are you feeling now, knowing that though he didn’t, the
whole world and the Light Gods blamed him for fleeing?”

“It pisses me off,” she screamed.

I simply smiled. “I guess your father’s plan
worked then.”

Azrel looked down, still red faced and
panting through her nose, but I could see her slowly calming down
as she thought about this.

Wow, Rabryn’s voice suddenly said, genuinely
impressed. I never would have thought of all that. You know, you’re
a lot wiser then you give yourself credit for.

No, I’m not. I just knew Azrel’s father
really, really well, I replied.

Azrel started busying herself again with
getting Cairikson’s legs in his pants. “Alright, let’s get this
over with. What else don’t I know?” she asked, still with some heat
in her voice.

“Everything about the Deralilya,” I said.

“Oh I know something about her, all right. I
know she doesn’t like me and I definitely don’t like her.”

“What makes you think she doesn’t like you?”
Rabryn asked from behind, a little defensively.

“Oh I don’t know, Rabryn. Does this ring a
bell? ‘Because
you
Azrel, are too busy getting in your own
damn way to give me a steel weapon.’”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Rabryn roll
his eyes. “All she meant by that was—”

“Was that she doesn’t like me,” Azrel said,
snapping her head up to try to look at him. I was still in the way
of her gaze, so she continued with Cairikson. “And that’s fine by
me because the feeling is mutual.” Azrel shook her head in disgust.
“She can be respectful and loyal to the White Warrior all she
likes, though not to me—because I’m apparently in the way of her
getting something from her precious White Warrior.”

For the first time in days, Rabryn was
speechless. He had no argument because she was right.
Damn
it
, he said in my head. I suppressed a smile.

“My apologies for being disrespectful to you,
Azrel.”

All of us turned at the sudden sound of the
voice. There was Acalith, on the bank just behind where Rabryn sat
on the rock. She was on one knee in a bow, masked and heavily
dressed as usual.

Once she recovered from the shock, Azrel
sneered. “I bet that leaves a big bruise on your pride.”

Acalith raised her head to meet Azrel’s eyes
defiantly. “As would an acceptance of my apology leave a bruise on
yours.”

Rabryn and I mightily tried not to repeat the
mistake of laughing at Azrel’s expense. We didn’t want a repeat of
Narcatertus, but I loved how Acalith wasn’t intimidated by Azrel’s
sharp wit and tongue. Hers was just as sharp.

“Shouldn’t you be disappearing somewhere in
the next five seconds?” Azrel stood up, holding Cairikson, and made
her way towards the shack Addredoc had built.

“No. My homeland won’t be expecting to see me
for a few days, so I can travel with you during that time.”

Azrel turned and gave her an exaggerated
grin. “Oh goody, I’m sure we’ll have loads of fun biting each
other’s heads off, and maybe we’ll even end up killing one another
before we get to Rocksheloc.” She gave a single glare to Acalith,
then turned away.

“I’m not worried. The White Warrior won’t let
you touch me,” Acalith said, then casually pretended to be
examining her gloves. Azrel froze in her tracks.

Uh oh, Rabryn said in my head. It’s not a
good idea to challenge Azrel right now.

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Azrel turned around, her face grim. “You
think not?”

“Of course not,” Acalith said with a careless
shrug. “I hold the highest, most important rank of hers. She needs
me.”

Not good, not good, Rabryn was chanting,
clearly very worried. She doesn’t know the window is open.

Window?
I thought.

The window I came out here to talk to you
about. It’s the window that separates Azrel and the White
Warrior.

What! I cried. It’s open?

Only a crack, but a crack is all it’s going
to take to kill Acalith. The White Warrior can’t take full control
of Azrel to stop her.

“You can be replaced,” Azrel growled.

“Maybe, but she won’t let you draw a weapon
to me anyway.”

“Have you forgotten the White Warrior is
a
part
of me or are you just as stupid as you look, dressed in
those heavy garments?” Azrel advanced towards her menacingly. I
stood up.

“She’s more powerful than you.”

“Who existed
first
?” Azrel asked
venomously, as she placed Cairikson in my arms, keeping her eyes
locked on Acalith’s. For the first time Acalith was speechless.

It was true the White Warrior had existed
first in her father, but the White Warrior in Azrel had been formed
long
after
Azrel was born, making this White Warrior
younger, more new than Azrel. Also it was Azrel’s hatred for her
magic that made her bury it so deep that it became a completely
other person, making Azrel stronger than the White Warrior in that
way as well.

“What? No witty comeback, Acalith?” Azrel
asked.

Azrel was still advancing when she yanked out
her sword with such quickness that if I had blinked I would have
missed it. Acalith jumped and started to back away, only to be
stopped by a tree.

Azrel placed the tip of her sword at the base
of the Deralilya’s throat. “I’ve put up with enough people like you
my entire life,” she growled. “People who hate me because I’m
different or odd. People who laugh at me because they think they’re
better.” Azrel put more pressure on the sword so that it deeply
indented Acalith’s clothes. “People who underestimate me because
they’re fools.”

I was holding my breath by this point. I
wanted to jump in and help, but I felt like I would be betraying
Azrel if I did. Rabryn was standing just as rigid as I was,
apparently feeling the same way.

“I won’t put up with it anymore. I’m sick of
it!” She held her chin high. “Dislike me all you want, but stay
away from me while you do! If you don’t”—Azrel added more pressure
to her blade and a small drop of blood seeped through the tan
cloths—“the White Warrior will have a position to fill.”

“Forgive me, Azrel.” Acalith breathed deep,
completely terrified.

“Stay away from me,” she said slowly and
firmly, then turned away and sheathed her sword. She walked towards
me with a gentle, but clearly forced smile as she took Cairikson
from me. Resting him on her hip, she started to walk away. “How
would you like to meet my talking horse?” she asked sweetly.

“Talking horse?” he replied excitedly.

“Yup,” she said, her voice fading in the
distance. “Of course he doesn’t talk to
me
, but he talks to
the White Warrior.” Cairikson’s laughed floated over the air, and
then they were gone.