The body of the assassin, Corrin, if the scroll they found addressed to him was accurate, was undisturbed when Sera and Ethan arrived in the morning. They also found a map that clearly located Sir Gerhold’s cabin north of Gerashire. Another point was marked in the hills east of Storm Lake and north of Red Valley. This was the rendezvous point after the theft was successful. The location was a few days’ travel west of Stonehollow.

After looking at the map, Ethan guessed that Corrin was only heading north to escape any pursuit. Travel through the hills was difficult, preventing anyone from following on horseback, and the rocky terrain didn’t leave tracks as readily, though a trail of blood was visible anywhere. Sera and Ethan had heard a commotion in the trees around the body when they first arrived, and they guessed they were just in time to rescue the corpse from scavengers, though they would leave the dead assassin’s body to the crawners and wolves when they were done pillaging it.

In addition to the scroll that detailed the instructions of his assignment and the crude map with a few locations marked, they also recovered the armband Gerhold had mentioned. It was black with a golden stitched patter of crossed daggers. It would help identify Ethan as a member of the assassin’s guild. Unfortunately, they had only one, and the knight hadn’t given them a good cover story to tell their enemies why Sera was along.

The paladin hadn’t given Ethan a good story about why Sera was along either. He knew he needed to protect the sword and that men from Sir Gerhold’s order would come looking for it and him, and they would kill him to get it back. The young man was astute enough to realize that the swordmaster was also sworn to kill him. Ethan didn’t know if he didn’t because he was incapable at the moment, unwilling, or both. The youth didn’t ask and didn’t think he wanted to know, but having that blade hanging over his head, symbolic or otherwise, was all the motivation he needed to leave.

Ethan had felt surprisingly good in the morning. Sera must know what she was doing. His wounds didn’t hurt much, though if it were a typical day, he probably would have skipped work at the blacksmith shop to recover fully, but, with the urgency in his heart, he could move about with relative ease. Sera promised she would attend to his wounds again today if they bothered him.

That was one of the reasons she was coming along, but Sir Gerhold had also said there were many complicated things about the sword that he didn’t have time to explain but that Sera knew very well, and she would help him protect it and deal with any of the enemies they might run into. Ethan knew they were keeping something from him, but he understood that he had to keep the sword safe, and that was enough for him.

Before they had left, when Sera was packing a few meals for them to take along, the knight had pulled Ethan aside and instructed him to protect Sera too. The older man professed that he didn’t know everything, but something about the young woman and her talents would play a significant role in the coming events concerning his new sword, and she should be protected.

That charge had a special place in his heart. Protecting the sword came naturally to him, like remembering to breathe or eat. But the idea that he should defend Sera was something unique and different. It was like being told a piece of art was extremely valuable, even though it might not look any different from all the other paintings or sculptures on the surface. Or listening to a piece of music that stirred something deep inside you, even though you couldn’t put your finger on what it was. Either way, Ethan took his jobs seriously, even if he didn’t understand their reasoning.

In addition to taking the mission-critical items from the assassin, they also played the part of petty thieves. He had a considerable coin purse that they relieved him of. His dagger, too, was of excellent quality. His short sword was better than Sera’s slender blade, but she was too used to her weapon, and they left it behind. She did take his black cloak, though. She had wanted something extra to ward off the cold, but everything in the knight’s house was far too big for her. The assassin was shorter – still taller than she was – but the cloak did not trip her up and was lined to protect against the chill.

Ethan had also upgraded his attire, putting on one of the knight’s shirts under his sleeveless tunic and taking a cloak. They cast one last look at the dead man and started off to the west. They would go south of Stonehollow. Ethan had a frightful notion that he might never see his family again. He would have disobeyed the paladin’s instructions to keep a low profile if Sera had not convinced him otherwise. Her family lived in Garaport, the opposite way they needed to travel.

The going was not too rough, at least not for Ethan. They stayed to the south of the hills surrounding Stonehollow at the feet of the Arrowhead Mountains. A pass led into a large valley where they planned to set up camp the first night. Ethan kept a brisk pace, and Sera had to jog to keep up. The young woman was in good shape, but the apprentice blacksmith had the stamina of a workhorse and the drive to push past any fatigue.

“We need to take a rest,” Sera finally pleaded, breathing heavily in the cool morning air. They were about to cross a small creek and needed to pick their way carefully to avoid getting their feet wet. It was an excellent place to stop and get a drink.

“The assassin would have arrived here last night if he had been successful,” Ethan argued. “We are already behind and will reach our destination late.”

“No,” Sera panted. “He wouldn’t have. Likely he would be held up in one of the caves north of Garashire, tending to his wound. I doubt he would have even started traveling yet.” She looked at his trousers and saw a wet spot where one of his bandages leaked. “You should be taking it slower too.” She motioned to his leg.

Ethan looked down and shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt. I can keep going.”

“Well, I can’t,” she protested. “I need a rest. We need to stop.”

Ethan looked at her tired posture and lamented. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ve been pushing us too hard. Here, give me your canteen, and I will refill it for you.”

Sera didn’t need Sir Gerhold there to point out the transformation in the young man. When she tried to appeal to common sense, he wanted nothing to do with it. When she pointed out his own limitations, he scoffed at them. But when she said she needed a rest, he instantly complied. How easy it would be to twist him around her finger. The priestess-in-training shook her head. That would be wrong. To say nothing of how it might jeopardize their mission, it would be a violation of Ethan’s autonomy. And it wouldn’t feel real. If or when Ethan professed his feelings for her, she wanted them to be genuine.

Still, she offered him her canteen as she sat on a large rock near the stream. Ethan made short work of the task and, despite his claims that he could go on forever, took a seat on the ground and stretched out his legs, leaning against one of the many rocks.

“Are you ready to tell me what’s going on?”

Sera looked quizzically at him. She felt like she had already had numerous conversations about their situation, but she realized that most of them had occurred while Ethan was away or unconscious. “What do you think is going on?”

“This sword,” he started, pulling the blade from the sheath on his hip, “obviously has magical properties. There are those who will kill to get it and others who will kill to keep it. I gather it has religious significance, which is why Sir Gerhold sent you along, but I don’t know much more than that.”

Sera watched him hold the blade before him. Other than the small red gem in the hilt, it was unremarkable. It looked like a typical sword belonging to any warrior. It was not as long as Ethan’s regular blade, and while she would need two hands to wield it, the tall young man easily held it in one. “How do you feel when you hold it?”

“Different,” Ethan replied after a moment’s thought. “I feel focused and determined. Like nothing can stop me, and I know exactly what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

Ethan looked sideways at her momentarily, taking his eyes off the weapon. She thought he would chide her for asking him questions when he was the one looking for answers. It was what he would typically do during their verbal sparring sessions of the last few months. But whether it was the seriousness of the situation or his internal desire for her, he kept any retort in check. “I want that feeling of purpose we briefly discussed while walking toward the cabin.”

Sera nodded, the reply making perfect sense. Ethan had professed that the purpose of life was to improve. To build mines and farms and quarries. To protect families and cities from danger. But those were all “Whats.” He was now looking for the “Whys.”

“What do you know of the Elementals?” Sera asked another question.

Ethan cocked his head. “Do you mean earth, fire, water, and air?”

Sera chuckled at his answer. There was another experimental theory of thought going around in society that one could control the elements of nature through proper study. These scholars called themselves mages, and their ideas hadn’t amounted to much. Some felt it had potential, and perhaps it did, but that was an entirely different discussion. But it was a more concrete philosophy that an apprentice blacksmith could understand. He used all four elements daily to do his job, and they were authentic to him.

“No,” she replied. “Those are the elements of nature. I am talking about the elements of man: Body, Mind, Heart, and Spirit. They are what makes us human and different from other life around us.”

“Other life has those things too,” he argued.

“Not in the way that we do. I am a physic, or I am training to be. Humans spend an awful lot of time caring for and treating our bodies. We exercise and medicate. Other animals don’t do that. We see value in our bodies in ways that no other life does. And we go to school and train our minds. Delvers don’t do that, and crawners definitely don’t. Spirit represents our life energy. Yes, we share this with other animals, but humans value it above all else. Losing a human life is tragic, and it has power.”

“You left out heart,” Ethan observed.

“No, she argued. You already mentioned it. You have a longing to know what the purpose of life is. How often do you think a bloodhound contemplates that?”

Ethan was quiet for a moment. At heart, he was a skeptic and was always quick to critique any spiritual lessons Sera might want to impart to him, but he knew what she had said was true. He had worked alongside delvers in the mines and quarries. The small, pale-skinned creatures were more sophisticated than simple beasts of burden, and they could communicate better than a dog or horse, but they were far from human. Ethan had never asked why. That was just how things were. You don’t ask why a tree can’t talk or why the sun rises in the east instead of the south. But now he wanted to know.

“And how do these elements, or Elementals, as you called them, have anything to do with this sword?”

Sera smiled. She had never tried to broach this subject with him in the past. Always before, she tied the meaning of life to the Savior and the hope that he brought. Her training as a priestess taught her to lead with this. People in pain wanted a simple solution to their problem, and a Savior who would restore their current lives a little and future generations ultimately was a more accessible entry point to the faith than contemplating the Elementals.

“I see that you accept we are different than other life. We have elements of our nature that make us special. But these elements are broken. People get sick, forget things, desire to do wrong, and ultimately die. Most want something better. The Elementals represent that. They are icons of perfection in each of the four areas. Until recently, I thought they were only icons, ideals to strive for, not tangible things. But apparently, I was wrong.”

Ethan had been staring at his sword, feeling the yearning for purpose through the gem in the hilt, but he looked up at this last statement. His friend did not often admit she was wrong; in his experience, she usually wasn’t. He smiled at her honesty.

“Sir Gerhold is a paladin of the Elemental Order,” she continued. “They are a group dedicated to discovering the secrets of the Elementals in the same way that the mages of today are trying to unlock the secrets of the natural elements. Ancient texts led many of that order to believe that the Elementals were real, that the source of what makes us human is as tangible as the sun, the source of all light. These powers were locked away since the dawn of creation when they were used to make us. And, according to Sir Gerhold, they were right.”

Sera took a deep drink from the cool water in her canteen. “Over 150 years ago, they found these power sources. Sir Gerhold didn’t say how or where, but they found them, locked them away in four items, and pledged to keep them safe awaiting the return of the Savior, who would use them to restore humankind to their perfect selves. Your sword contains one of the Elementals.”

Ethan looked back down at his blade. He didn’t need to be told which Elemental he had. He felt upset for a moment like he had been cheated somehow. Having a perfect body or a perfect mind or eternal life seemed far more helpful than having a perfect will or passion. But he didn’t have a perfect will. All he had were questions. He sensed a heightened awareness of his desires and wants, but they were far from perfect.

“I don’t think the Elementals are what you think they are. If the way I am now is how you want all humans to be, I think you will be disappointed. I was much more balanced before I picked up this blade.”

Now Sera smiled at his honesty. “Yes, you are unbalanced. With one of your elements heightened while the others are not, you should feel wrong. Each of the elements works to balance the others. Increased passion and desire could drive someone to act foolishly without knowing how to understand and restrain it. And if your mind were opened to infinite possibilities without being grounded in the physical reality of your body, it would lead you to very naïve conclusions. A perfect body would make you feel indestructible, but you could only survive by understanding the essence of life. And eternal life without a purpose would probably lead someone to contemplate suicide.”

“So, you are saying I’m too dumb to harness this power properly?”

Sera laughed. “Basically, yes.” He frowned at her but recognized the familiar playful tone that usually colored their conversations and tried not to take offense. “All you have now are questions and no answers. And as knowledgeable as I am, I can’t give them to you either. You can’t unravel the secrets of life and meaning because no one can. If those answers were easy or obvious, humans would have answered them long ago.”

“So how do I get the mind Elemental?”

Sera laughed even louder, hoping that he was kidding. “You don’t. You shouldn’t have the heart Elemental. All four of them should be kept out of human hands. They are too dangerous. There is a reason I believe we require a Savior. He alone can work the Elementals into our lives in the proper balance.”

Ethan didn’t want to engage with the theology but understood better than she could realize what she was saying. “So, you think I am dangerous?”

Sera didn’t laugh this time. “Potentially, maybe. The assassin’s death transferred the power into you. Do you feel any of his passions?”

Ethan couldn’t meet her gaze and continued to stare at the sword. Sera answered for him. “Your angry outbursts since you have picked up the sword have been very uncharacteristic. That isn’t you.”

“When I don’t get what I want,” the young man said, still not looking at his traveling partner, “or someone tells me I must give something up, I feel this intense anger rising inside me that is hard to control.”

“But you do control it,” Sera said. “I believe that is the assassin’s passion. He was likely a very selfish man who always got what he wanted and killed to get it. Imagine if he had killed you and the heart Elemental was inside him. He was already a killer, but with that primal power driving him, he would kill anyone and everyone who ever got in his way. Imagine that power in a ruler or a king, who already has authority. You might not have the mental ability to balance your passion, but you are smart enough to question it.”

“But that is why you are here,” Ethan finally looked up at her. “You are here to keep me in check. Your priestess training gives you some ability to balance this Elemental.”

Sera didn’t know how to react to that. He definitely wasn’t dumb. He could sense that he responded to her differently than Sir Gerhold. How could she tell him that it had nothing to do with her religious training? You can’t tell someone they have a deep passion for you; they must discover it themselves. “Something like that,” she decided to reply.

Taking another drink from her canteen, Sera rose. “Thank you for the rest, but I think we should get going.”

“I have many more questions,” Ethan replied, but he sheathed his sword and got up.

“I don’t promise any answers,” she said with a smile. Ethan laughed, and the two continued to the west.