Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) (24 page)

“
What did you have in mind?” she purred, licking her lips
slowly.

“
I
would...” Ezra took a deep breath, glancing around to his friends.
Fury and horror were openly battling for supremacy on Sarah's face.
Mat's jaw was clenched as he stared daggers at Ezra.
Better make this fast
,
Ezra thought,
like pulling off a bandage.
Only one that wants to kill you horribly. Probably painfully.
Probably not very fast. Nothing like pulling off a bandage at all
then.
“
I
will-”

“
I
believe I've heard enough,” Gaav's fist pounded against the stone
once more, silencing everyone. “It is the decision of this servant
of Earth to rule in favor of the water-seer.” He winked at Ezra as
a smile played with the corners of his mouth.

“
What?” the water-seer asked, bemused.

The earth-crowned turned toward her and
bared his teeth. “You shall have what you have earned, lady seer,”
he said formally. “These three stole from you, damaged your
property, and you seek redress for this wrong. I will now render my
judgment.”

“
What I have... what?” The elementalist's voice turned
sharp.

“
This is my ruling. The girl made no attempt to escape her
captors during their journey here, implying that she was complicit
in the act. By the rules you put forth and verified in this court
pertaining to her expected behavior, she must be classified as
damaged goods. Therefore, in light of your heroic spirit of
charity, I award you this as payment for services rendered.” Gaav
gestured to the ground beside the water-seer, and a pedestal of
stone flowed up silently next to her. The top fell away to display
a magnificent gemstone, shimmering flawlessly in the last rays of
the setting sun. “Please accept this on behalf of the people of
Southedge. I will personally see to it that they are made aware of
what has taken place here as I see little Kelly home to her
family.” The giant rose, lifting the girl easily with one hand as
the massive chair sunk back into the ground, and with that the
stone around the team and the seer fell away.

“
You would cheat me of my price?” The seer's words were acid.
The final drops of rain in the air suddenly hissed and boiled into
steam, swirling wildly toward and around her. Ezra flinched as a
drop on his ear exploded into vapor.

“
I
can assure you,” the earth-crowned rumbled softly, “this is far
better price than what you would receive otherwise.” His tone
implied that 'otherwise' would probably consist of large rocks and
brutal force. Eyes never leaving the enraged water-seer, he
continued. “As for the miscreants, you are correct, I must relieve
them of any illegal technology in their possession.” Several guns
emerged at the crowned's feet, apparently taken from Mat and Sarah
while they had been held. He frowned at the weapons, then absently
tore a section from the receding stone seat behind him and crushed
them beneath it. Nodding, he continued, “While misguided, I judge
that their actions against you were not taken with the intention of
causing harm. Thus, I sentence them to three days' community
service at the site of the crime, under my direct supervision, to
be enacted immediately. This is my ruling.” He stamped one massive
foot, and the earth rumbled with a resounding boom. He began to
walk past the seer, back toward Southedge, gesturing for the others
to follow.

The woman stood as still as a statue, but
steam and mist continued to whip around her in maddening whorls.
Ezra gulped as he walked past, throwing her a cautious look just in
time to see all of the water come to an abrupt halt. A small smile
played over her face as she murmured softly, so that only he could
hear, “Ariella.”

“
What?” he said, taking a step back and quickly checking
himself, confused and wary.

“
My name. Ariella. Please remember it.” She smiled up at him,
continuing wistfully. “It has been years since anyone has truly
hurt me.” Ezra watched, fascination winning out over terror, as the
discolored skin on the seer's face repaired itself, leaving three
small, artfully arranged dots of pink scar tissue just above her
left eye. “I will keep this,” she breathed, “to remember you by.”
Eyes still locked on Ezra, she took a dainty step toward the pillar
Gaav had raised, all the motion in her hips. One lightly tanned
hand reached out, fingertips gently caressing the jewel on the
pedestal, collecting the water droplets that formed on it. “One
day, I will find you, alone, with no earth-crowned to hide behind.”
Her all-blue eyes drifted closed and her lips parted as a shiver
raced through her body. “I will take great pleasure in discovering
exactly what your life is worth. It will be slow.” She raised her
finger to her mouth and licked it delicately. “Exquisite.” The blue
of endlessly deep water peeked out from beneath her eyelashes as
her tongue slowly traced the curve of her lip. “And I will want to
hear you cursing my name with every breath.”

Ezra stared in horrified awe as the seer,
Ariella, turned and began to saunter away. Two swaying steps later,
the gem-adorned pedestal exploded in a flurry of rent earth as
every bead of water on and around it leaped into a slashing,
hyper-kinetic typhoon of destruction. Ezra let out a shaky breath
that he hadn't realized he was holding as the woman stalked away
down the road.

Mat eased up and draped an arm over Ezra's
shoulder, watching the water-seer disappear into the early morning.
“I think you've got a shot with her, man.” He punch Ezra lightly in
the stomach, driving the wind from him. “Bet she's a tiger in the
sack.”

Sarah rolled her eyes heavenward and
muttered something about ending it now as Gaav let out an explosive
burst of laughter.

Apparently traveling on foot was a good deal
faster when the ground underneath moved forward too. They reached
Southedge around mid-morning. People milled about, tracking their
approach with cautious interest while surveying the damage caused
by the water-seer the night before. Ezra glanced at the holes in
the buildings where the seer had attacked them as Gaav marched them
up to the Wellwards' inn.

“
Mama! Papa! I'm home!” Kelly broke her grip on Gaav's hand and
ran for the inn. Mr. Wellward, obviously still working on getting
his ruined business back in order, smiled incredulously and dropped
what he was doing just as his daughter hurled herself into his
arms. He threw her up into the air and caught her on the way down
with a joyous laugh, holding her tight to his chest.

Mrs. Wellward came down the
remains of the stairs and let out a cry, then ran to Kelly and her
husband.
“
Oh,
thank you Mother, thank you!” she whispered fiercely, tears
streaming from her eyes.

“
Well, that's nice. Good to see everything turning out for the
best.” Mat nodded sagely. “Looks like we've got a bit of a walk
ahead of us though. So, thanks for everything Gaav, it's been a
pleasure; I hope to never see you again.” Mat gestured to Sarah and
Ezra and casually turned to walk out of town. “We'll just find our
own way out.”

Gaav's massive hand clamped down on Mat's
shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “You said you were here to
help people.” Gaav gestured with his free hand around the town. The
inn and several other buildings were showing heavy damage from the
fight the night before. A makeshift hospital had been set up behind
the inn's bar and was full to overflowing with wounded people. The
water-seer may have made it out of her scuffle in the bar with
barely a hair out of place, but from the look of things she was the
only one. “There is helping to be done right here,” the
earth-crowned intoned quietly.

Mat looked around, taking it all in, then
turned hopeless eyes to Sarah. She shrugged and started rolling up
her sleeves.

There was plenty of work to be done. Being
in the company of an earth-crowned returning a little lost girl was
explanation enough for the team's presence, at least as far as the
people of Southedge were concerned. Three more able bodies was just
too much of a windfall to pass up. Ezra found whole new groups of
muscles to exhaust as he carried wood from one place to another,
held planks in place for the craftsmen, and generally tried not to
make a nuisance of himself.

Sarah began by helping to clear broken
glass, until she caught sight of the little forge where new windows
were being molded. She watched intently as the craftsman removed
the first pane, flinching a little at the yellowish tint of the
glass. “Lead,” she muttered critically, “no potassium nitrate to
correct it.” She gave a dramatic sigh and walked over to have a
hushed conversation with Gaav. Ezra kept an eye on her while
helping to hold stones in place for the destroyed well. She
gestured with her hands, indicating a certain size, and Gaav
shrugged and put his hand to the ground, closing his eyes to
concentrate.

“
Carefully now...” one of the workers warned as they brought
another fallen stone back to the well. Ezra shifted a bit to get
out of the way.

The earth around Gaav's hand rippled
slightly as he withdrew several chunks of a copper-colored metal
from it. No hole was left behind, and small fragments of the
mineral floated freely around his hand. Sarah deftly plucked the
rocks from the air, nodded politely to Gaav, and headed to the
forge. “Aahh! Thundering hell!” Ezra was shocked to hear the
explosive outburst beside him when he noticed that the stone he had
been holding was suddenly missing. Ah, there it was... on the
cursing man's foot.

The man and his friends
gave Ezra some fairly decent scowls as they helped him hobble off
to join the rest of the wounded. Ezra turned back to the well only
to be spun around, pointed to the crew helping to rebuild the walls
of the destroyed inn, and given a firm push. “Looks like they could
use your help over there,” the man in charge of the well growled at
him. That really didn't seem to make much sense, what with three of
the well workers walking to the little hospital, but Ezra saw that
Gaav was moving toward the inn as well.
Perfect
, he thought smugly,
just the opportunity I've been looking
for.

He sidled up to Gaav as the huge man
effortlessly lifted a support beam and crossbar into place. Ezra
quickly jumped up onto a nearby ladder and help steady a connecting
beam. The woodworker who had been juggling it along with a hammer
and handful of nails gave him a thankful smile as he began securing
the rest of the structure. “So, Gaav,” Ezra began nonchalantly,
“when did you first realize that you were an earth-crowned?”

Gaav didn't bother to look at him as he
answered, “Earth commanded that I see to the needs of the people. I
was crowned and went forth to do his will.”

Ezra looked at him sceptically. “Earth? You
mean like... the ground, it spoke to you?”

The giant snorted. “In a way, perhaps. I was
chosen by Earth himself, lord of the deep places, nurturer of our
crops, defender of our...” Gaav glanced at Ezra. “You aren't paying
attention,” he said seriously.

“
No, no, I am paying attention! But you're making Earth sound
like some kind of-”

“
No, you aren't paying attention!” the earth-crowned said
urgently, gesturing above Ezra's head. He took a step back to see
what the big man meant, and promptly fell off his step-ladder. The
beam he had been supporting, only partially secured, swung around
and knocked the woodworker off his perch, sending him to the ground
in a boneless heap. Gaav released the support beam, placed one
massive foot on the bottom of the ladder, and caught the loose
piece of wood before it could tear free and fall on the downed man.
He brought it back in place, grunting with effort as the ground
surged up to hold the beam he had dropped before it too could fall.
Mrs. Wellward helped the stunned woodworker up and shooed Ezra
away.

He stumbled backwards, muttering apologies
and trying to stay out of the way until he bumped into someone.
“Here he is!” Mat's voice boomed out as Ezra spun around. “Just the
man I was talking about.” Mat stood with his shirt off, leaning
against a wall with a half-finished cup of water in hand. A pretty
girl of maybe twenty with reddish blonde hair was giving Mat's
chest a wickedly sensuous look, cradling a pitcher of water lightly
against her chest. The condensation was doing... interesting things
to her rather prodigious bosom. “You should have seen him stand up
to that water-seer, staring her down like she was nothing at all.”
He finished off his water and threw an arm over Ezra's shoulder.
“He pulled out his sword, and growled at her, saying 'Your days of
putting a price on life are over!'”

“
He actually said that to a water-seer?” the girl purred, her
eyes slowly running over Ezra's body as his face started to heat
up.

“
Well,” he stuttered, “well, maybe, you know, not quite
tha-”

“
Right to her face, with the rain whipping around and her
snarling at him like a mad cat!” Mat interrupted him
smoothly.

“
You're so brave,” she gave him the kind of smile that Gal
saved for when she wanted to make him blush. It had the desired
effect.