Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) (28 page)

“
Oh, and the imagination on that girl, you wouldn't believe!”
Mrs. Wellward continued as if he hadn't spoken. “Fighting with
earth-crowned and water-seers, flying around on a sky ship like
some kind of wind-scarred pirate!” She lowered her voice
conspiratorially. “She must get it from my husband, bless his
heart, with all those elaborate bed time stories. He just doesn't
know when to stop, chattering on all night. Why just last night, I
had to go and pull him out of that room my very own self, and I
told him, sometimes you just need to be quiet and let these things
work themselves out instead of filling a little girl's head with
nonsense. Because that's all it is, nonsense, right?” She gave Ezra
a pleading look.

“
That it is!” Mat stepped in and elbowed Ezra, making him
fumble his armload again. “But you know how children are, always
exaggerating their stories.” He smiled and shook his head. “Life
was certainly a fine adventure at that age.” He gave the Wellwards
a dazzling smile, then spun and snatched the bread and jam from
Ezra, tossing the jar to Sarah. She caught it deftly, glanced at
Ezra, then took a long, meaningful look at the potatoes.

Ezra blinked at her, then the potatoes, then
sputtered in dismay, “What? No! That must be a hundred pounds
of...” He looked appealingly at Mat, who barked out a laugh and
started walking away. “But, but I've been sick! Bedridden!”

“
A
whole day sitting around in bed,” Sarah drawled, shaking her head,
“can't let you get soft now, Hawkins.”

Gaav strolled up just then and casually
picked up two of the sacks. “I believe I'm heading the same way you
are,” the earth-crowned rumbled, “and this seems a fine day for a
little walking.” Without any particular effort, he scooped up the
third sack and tossed it to Ezra, nearly knocking him over.
“Perhaps I can help with your burdens for a time,” he chuckled.

Ezra sighed and lifted the heavy sack up to
his shoulder. Just as they turned to go, Kelly came running out.
“Wait!” she cried. Panting to catch her breath, Kelly bowed
respectfully to Gaav, whispered a quiet “Thank you” to Sarah and
Mat, then glared at Ezra. “You better come back and take me on a
real adventure,” she told him. “And I'll want to know what kind of
magic you were doing in that room too. Deal?” She stuck her hand
out.

Ezra grinned at the little girl, then
solemnly shook her hand. “Deal,” he said, then, without another
word, turned and headed down the road.

About twenty steps out of town, Mat jostled
Ezra lightly. “Look at you, two times out of Sanctuary and you're
already stealing girls' hearts.”

“
Your little girlfriend's gonna be pining after you for years,
Hawkins,” Sarah chimed in, laughter in her voice. “Especially with
a dramatic exit like that. I'm surprised she didn't
swoon.”

Ezra glanced over at her. “Well,” he said
self-righteously, “we can't all be fiery, grandpa wooing goddesses
of the forge, you know.”

Sarah punched him in the arm. Hard. Ezra
yelped and dropped the potatoes while Gaav and Mat burst into
uproarious laughter, slapping him on the back as they walked past.
Ezra grinned, picking up his sack of potatoes and jogging to catch
up with the others, heading home.

“
Agent Hawkins conversed with the earth-crowned about their
religion, something called the 'Will of the Elements', for most of
the trip back. We left the man about five miles out from the
wormhole, sir. Took a round-about path back, just to be sure he
wasn't following. Thanks to the intelligence Agent Hawkins was able
to procure about his abilities, I think we can safely say that the
location is secure.” They stood at attention before Mr. Blair's
desk as Mat finished his report with crisp efficiency.

Mr. Blair stared at the team in silence for
a a tortuously long time. Then he drummed his fingers and continued
staring. Each moment under that gaze felt like hours, or maybe
days. Ezra was pretty sure that he would suffer severe dehydration
if he had to sweat it out for much longer. Just when he was sure
that he would break under the pressure of that stare, Mr. Blair
spoke.

“
Miss Hughes, would you please explain the rationale behind
taking the girl from the tavern after you had effectively escaped
the water-seer?” His voice was completely level and perfectly calm.
Too calm, if you asked Ezra.

“
Sir,” Sarah somehow managed to stand up straighter as she
answered, “the girl was a target of opportunity. Agent Hawkins made
the choice to lure the seer away from the town by any means
necessary. While I did not agree with the tactic at the time, in
retrospect it was probably safer to draw her out and deal with her
than to risk further confrontation around the civilians,
sir.”

Blair's gaze shifted to Ezra, who suddenly
found it difficult to breathe. “Was this your motivation when you
grabbed the little girl, Mister Hawkins?” he asked mildly.

Ezra gulped. “Well, uh, sir... the girl was
clearly in trouble, sir. I merely, um, tried to help her as best I
could, sir.”

“
And what did your fellow operatives think about this
decision?”

Decision may have been too
strong a word
, Ezra thought,
and we were all a little busy trying not to
die
. “Well, Sarah didn't seem
too-”

“
And did you consider the potential ramifications for the town
you were sent to protect?” Mr. Blair's voice became harder as he
spoke.

Aside from getting a
little girl safely away from a monster?
“
I, well... no, but sir-”

“
And when you told the earth-crowned about the Guild of Sundry,
about Sanctuary, about the last bastion for those of us who would
not bow down to the rule of those like him and the water-seer who
was actively attempting to kill you all.” The words came out cold,
biting. “When you let them know that we not only still survived,
but were actively influencing their society and working directly
against them, did you consider that maybe you should have found
some other way to clean up after yourself without creating the
potential for another war that could destroy us all?”

“
No sir,” Ezra said quietly, eyes fixed on the far
wall.

Mr. Blair sighed and rubbed the bridge of
his nose. When he spoke, his voice sounded far more human. “I'm not
blaming you for what happened. It was a bad situation, granted. You
did what you had to do to help the people in front of you, I
understand. But four days with no communication.” He gestured for
them to be seated. Ezra collapsed into the padded chair with
relief. “A complete snafu from the start. I'm honestly
disappointed. Mat, Sarah, you know better than that. You should
have called in for support immediately. And Ezra,” Blair shook his
head and smiled wanly, “your heart is in the right place. I just
wish your head was there too. Let me outline this for you.” He got
up and moved to pour himself a cup of coffee from the nearby pot.
It smelled divine.

“
You acted in self-defense against the water-seer. That's good,
correct, and you should all be congratulated for making it out
alive. However, when you intervened in the seer's life transaction,
you went too far. We cannot save people from themselves or their
choices. Consider the following. Say that a year from now, an
epidemic strikes the town of Southedge. Normally, they would send
for help from one of the temples where the water-seers live and
train. These are the only official medical facilities outside of
Sanctuary. What do you think would happen next?”

Ezra winced. “Well, I imagine that the
temple would send help of some kind, but they might be slow, or
uncooperative, or-”

Mr. Blair raised his hand from the desk,
gently shaking his head. “No. In the town of Southedge, a
water-seer engaged three unknown assailants who not only injured
her and stole her property, as it was agreed upon with the involved
parties, but who were later invited into the town, given food and
lodging, and generally treated like heroes. They will never receive
aid from the Temples of Life again. You saved a little girl, and
that is admirable. But you doomed countless others in the future.
Do you understand?”

Ezra looked down at his hands. He had never
considered anything like that. Why hadn't he considered anything
like that? Ezra silently berated himself for not thinking things
through properly. Sure, he had been a little distracted by the
water-seer trying to kill him and all, but honestly, he expected
better of himself. Cause and effect; a scientist should always
consider the cause and effect. “I understand, sir,” he murmured,
feeling rather small and foolish.

“
Now, this earth-crowned, Gaav,” the unremarkable man
continued, sounding weary, “he does not seem like the type who
would cause us trouble. I would honestly like to shake his hand and
buy him a drink. However, imagine that someone else buys him a
drink, or two, or ten, and he gets to talking about the most
incredible few days that he spent with actual people from the
Forbidden City. About the wonders of which he was told and shown.
About what it is we do. And this other man tells his friends, who
tell their friends, until someone who remembers the last time we
went out into the world hears about it, and they decide to come and
finish what they started five hundred years ago. You say that you
have some measure of his power. How long do you think we would last
against twenty earth-crowned like Gaav? Against a hundred
water-seers? Against an army of fire-kissed and
wind-scarred?”

Ezra continued to stare diligently at his
hands and said nothing. There was nothing to say. He had put all of
them - not just his team, but every person in Sanctuary - in danger
from the outside world, and his imagination treated him to exactly
how much danger that was. Mr. Blair finished his drink and sighed
again. “We'll have to begin actively searching out any rumors,
trying to deflect them. It's going to mean paperwork, reports to
the Chancellor, and diversions of manpower. And worst of all, I
don't know that I can trust you to help in the field.”

“
But sir!” Mat and Sarah both half rose from their seats. The
director silenced them with a stern look. Ezra stared ahead mutely.
This was all his fault.

“
Consider yourselves off active duty until I've had to time to
fully review the incident and come to a more permanent decision.
I'll expect a full mission report from each of you within twelve
hours.” His eyes softened a bit. “Mat, Sarah, I'll be needing your
help here, with maintenance, training, and, of course,
paperwork.”

Mat and Sarah exchanged a brief look then
replied in unison, “Yes sir.”

Mr. Blair nodded. “Ezra, I believe you have
research materials available to you. I suggest you apply your
new-found appreciation of the world outside to the questions you've
raised about our opponents. Understood?”

“
Yes sir,” he responded, feeling numb.

Mr. Blair shook his head sadly one more time
and pulled up a screen in front of him, which he immediately began
working on. “Dismissed.”

The group changed back into their normal
clothes in an uncomfortable silence. Ezra cleared his throat and
began, “Look, guys-”

“
Oh, good,” Sarah interrupted him, sarcasm thick in her voice.
“Ezra has something to say. I wonder what amazing things will pour
from his mouth this time.” She angrily kicked the bench.

Ezra's felt his face flush, but he did his
best to stay calm. “I probably deserve that, and I just
wanted-”

“
Yes, you deserve that!” Sarah shouted him down. “You deserve
it because you wanted to go play the hero, to show that you're
better and more clever than everyone else! I hope you're happy,”
she spat out.

“
Well it's not like you were doing much better!”

Mat placed a firm hand on Ezra's shoulder.
“Just drop it man.”

“
No,” Sarah's voice came out a little hoarse, her eyes wide
with fury. “No, I want to hear what the great and powerful Ezra
Hawkins has to say. Go on, tell me how I wasn't helping! Tell me
how you knew better after one whole mission!”

“
Maybe I did,” Ezra said hotly, brushing Mat's hand aside.
“What were you going to do, huh? Sit there and wait for the
water-seer to catch us? Let her drag that little girl off like an
animal?”

Sarah's fist connected hard with Ezra's jaw,
shutting him up and sending him sprawling to the floor, head
ringing and eyes watering.

“
Whoa, hey!” Mat jumped between them, holding Sarah back. “Cool
it, cool it. Bad things happen, okay?”

“
This was my life!” Sarah screamed at Ezra. “This was all I had
left! After my family, and Rob, and... and everything! And you just
came in here and ruined it! Do you understand, Hawkins? Are you
happy now?”

“
I-I'm sorry.” Ezra blinked away tears and stars, holding his
jaw as he looked up at Sarah. “I'm sorry, alright? I didn't know...
I-I didn't think.”

“
Yeah, you didn't think,” Sarah answered bitterly, tears
trickling down her cheeks. “You never think, do you? You already
have it all. But that just wasn't enough, was it? You had to take
what was mine too.”