Ember

With trepidation, Adam and the others arrived at the Silver Saviors Headquarters. It was abuzz with activity as they prepared to leave. Several wagons were lined up on the streets with horses harnessed to them. The wagons were each loaded down with supplies and weapons too heavy to carry over long distances. Milling around the wagons were dozens of Silver Saviors, each wearing their own pack of supplies and assorted weapons.

Isley spotted them as they approached and walked over: “Don’t look so tense. It’ll be a few days march before we even reach the bandits’ territory. We have packs readied for you full of supplies over there. There are also a few pieces of leather armor for protection. Grab them and I’ll join you again when we’re about to leave.”

Isley left them to their own devices as he went to continue preparing for departure. Adam turned to his mother and Helen, who was holding Silber.

“Well, we’re not leaving yet but I’ve got to go prepare.”

Vivienne gave Adam a hug and said: “Be safe, okay?”

Adam nodded: “I’ll stay safe.”

Helen said: “You and Alfred are stupid all the time, don’t do anything stupid this time!”

Adam stifled a laugh, as Helen’s serious look meant she wasn’t joking. “Uh, sure.” Was the only thing he could come up with as a response.

In Helen’s arms, Silber gave off a bark. Adam smiled and gave him a pat on the head: “Sorry you can’t come with me. It’s a little too rough of a journey for you right now. I’ll be back soon enough.”

After saying his goodbyes to them, Adam went to retrieve his pack and the leather armor the Silver Saviors had prepared. The armor that had been prepared for them were stiff pieces of boiled leather armor. They looked rather plain, compared to the dyed armor that was standard issue for the Silver Saviors. Each of the pieces was secured by leather strings, so they could rather easily be worn over their normal clothes. This didn’t allow for the best of protection, but none of them were going to enter the battle anyway.

Hansen helped them to tightly secure the leather pieces. By the time they were all done, an hour had already passed them by! While they waited for Isley, Derek lamented: “I was hoping they prepared us the same cool armor the rest of them use.”

Isley chuckled as he walked up behind Derek: “You’re going to be chafing enough as it is. Let’s go, it’s time to move out!”

None of them had time to ask Isley what he meant about ‘chafing’. They fell in line with the rest of the convoy as the wagons lurched forward, heading out of the city.

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After just a few hours, they found out what Isley meant about chafing the hard way! While the leather armor held fast to their body, it would still move around as they walked with the convoy. Before long, the armor began to rub their skin raw!

When they finally stopped for a break, their little group was exhausted and sore in a way they weren’t expecting to be. Isley chuckled: “It’d be even worse if we fully armored you up with our standard issue! Look in your packs, there should be a salve in there. Take your armor off, wash the raw spots and then apply the salve. It’ll feel sticky, but loads better than if you just left it as is.”

Each groaning in pain, they gingerly took off their armor. After carefully washing and applying the salve on the raw spots, they relaxed their muscles to try and rest. It was at this time that Isley came back to them: “Put your armor back on, we’ll be moving on.”

They all groaned like a bunch of Ghuls. Franklin cried out: “But we haven’t even rested yet!”

Isley sighed: “I know, that’s why you lot get to ride in the wagons for a while.”

“Really!?”

Isley nodded: “You still have to put the armor back on, though. You need to get used to it.”

Putting the armor back on was more painful than it was to take off. They could feel it as the armor pressed down on their raw skin. Stinging with pain, they mounted into the wagons in pairs.

As Adam and Alfred settled down next to each other, Alfred said: “If we have to feel this sore for the rest of our lives, I may second guess all of this too!”

Adam could only manage a dry chuckle as sore pain pressed in on him from all over. The wagon driver gave a jovial laugh, though: “You’re bound to get sore no matter what you chose to do in life. Give it time. You’ll grow used to it and develop some callouses to help against the chafing.”

With a grin, he clapped both the boys on their shoulder. They each flinched from the pain of the armor digging into their skin. With another laugh, the driver whipped his reins causing the wagon to lurch forward.

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By the end of the day, they were all slumping in exhaustion. They were glad to be rid of their armor for a while, as they once again applied the salve to their raw skin. Isley and Hansen had taken pity on them and had set up their part of camp for them.

As they slowly ate their evening meal, careful to not let their clothes rub them the wrong way, a big burly man made his way to their camp: “How’re they fairing, Isley?”

Isley laughed: “The lot of them are full of sores, Boss. They might be too distracted to pay attention when we finally go to battle!”

It was only then that they came out of their stupor caused by constant stinging pain. The man who had just walked into their camp was none other than Heinrich himself!

Kadara instantly stood up and stuttered: “B-boss!”

She then instantly regretted it as her clothes rubbed across her skin. Heinrich laughed as she grimaced in pain: “It’s fine to be enthusiastic, but learn your limits. I’m sure you’d all like to rest, so I’ll leave you to it.”

As Heinrich left, Kadara sank back down with a groan. Franklin shook his head: “Why are these guys always laughing at us? Is it that fun to pick on us.”

Isley shyly scratched his cheek: “It’s not that. A lot of us out here either don’t have kids or can’t spend much time with them. That’s just the way mercenary life is. Having you around and teaching you is like teaching our own kids. It’s a joy watching you grow.”

Franklin didn’t know how to respond to that. He had just assumed they liked to pick on them. Bruno then spoke up: “Me and Clyde were thinking earlier, why isn’t the army doing this? Aren’t they the ones charged with the kingdom’s protection? Shouldn’t they be taking care of bandits?”

Now that it was out there, the question seemed kind of obvious. Derek piped in: “Yeah, why is that?”

Isley gave a sigh: “Well, you know how Heider and Luxom are always at each other's throats? If there isn’t a war going on, it’s always on the verge of happening. Neither side wants to move any soldiers from their main towns or borders, as that would leave them open to enemy attack. So, they put out commissions for mercenaries to take care of things like this instead.”

The kingdom was too busy protecting them from the big enemy, so they hire out others to take care of the small ones running amok. It sounded great, but: “I just thought the kingdom would do something more to protect its citizens. I mean, the army took care of that Ghul-Bear. I would’ve thought they could do this too…”

Isley nodded: “Yes, but remember the Ghul-Bear appeared near Hessler, a major city. The soldiers stationed to protect the city were close enough to deal with the threat without leaving the city’s vicinity. Get a few days away from the city, though, and they’ll leave any problems that arise to take care of themselves. That, or hire some mercenaries to take care of the problem.

It’s actually why Heinrich formed the Silver Saviors in the first place! The school where he trained his Martial Arts actually sends its members out to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Heinrich decided to build our mercenary company to fulfill that goal!”

“That’s so cool!”

As they started to chat about this new information, Isley stood up: “Don’t forget to go to bed. We’ll be leaving early in the morning and you’ll still be sore. You’d better get all the rest you can!”

Despite Isley’s words, they couldn’t help continuing to talk for a while longer. It wasn’t until Hanse barked at them: “To bed with the lot of you!” That they finally turned in.

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As promised, they woke up sore the next morning and the morning after that! The chafing didn’t get any better. They either had to get used to it or exist in a constant state of agony, so they decided to get used to it. On the third day, after departing Hessler, they finally arrived at their target area. They didn’t know exactly where the bandit’s stronghold was, yet, but they did know which villages they were targeting.

In the distance was Hagden Village. It was already late in the afternoon and the plan was to get there by Evening. However, something was wrong! Plumes of black smoke curled up into the sky. Orders were quickly yelled out: “Eyes to the roadsides! Check for scouts and ambushes! Ready your weapons, we’re force marching to Hagden!”

Adam and the others were quickly spooked: “What’s going on!?”

“Hagden is being attacked!” Isley provided. “You lot are mounting up into the wagons. They’re the safest place.”

After Adam and the others were packed in, the convoy moved at a faster pace than before. The Silver Saviors moved at a measured jog. Seeing this, Adam couldn’t help but ask: “Why aren’t we running?”

The wagon driver countered his question: “Have you tried running with your pack, armor, and sword yet? It’s right tiring I tell ya! We still have, what five or six kilometers until we actually get to Hagden? If we ran that distance, we’d be so exhausted that the bandits could plow through us like weeds!”

Adam could only sigh in response: “I get that but… I hope Hagden will be alright.”

“I’m sure Heinrich ran ahead as soon as he issued the orders for the march. If the bandits are still around when he gets there, they’ll wish they’d never been born!”

When they finally made it to Hagden, the bandits were long gone. However, a fire was still raging in part of the village! The village was in chaos as the villagers did everything they could to contain the fire and not let it spread. Heinrich could be seen in the thick of it. When he saw them arrive, he barked out: “Help contain the fire!”

The Silver Saviors were already moving into action before Heinrich even spoke! Forming up in their squads, they drew water from the village well into buckets and splashed them over the walls and roofs of the houses closest to the fire. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep the fire from spreading over to them.

True to their word, the Silver Saviors kept Adam and the others in the safest spot: at the well drawing water. It was tiring work, but they didn’t complain. They didn’t even feel the pain of their armor rubbing against their skin as they worked.

A half-hour into their task and the fire continued unabated. It constantly sputtered out embers left and right into the air. Each of these tiny specks could help the fire spread further out of control.

Isley sighed as he watched: “This isn’t going to work.”

Adam caught this: “What did you say?”

Isley hesitated for a moment before saying: “It’s going to be next to impossible to keep this fire from spreading. All those embers could each cause a fire! There’s no way we can truly control this.”

Even as he spoke, smoke began to rise from another house. Isley shook his head in disappointment while Hansen grunted in agreement. Alfred and the others, though, were looking at Adam. Adam had entertained them for a few nights by making embers dance in the air above their campfire. Maybe…

Adam knew what they were going to ask, but he shook his head: “I don’t think I can control that many embers! Can you see that raging fire? I can only see a part of it from here, but it’s already huge!”

“You said: ‘you don’t think’ which means you still might be able to!” Kadara encouraged.

Alfred nodded: “Just give it a try. We’ll work double time to cover your load. If it doesn’t work… at least you tried.”

Isley and Hansen were lost. Hansen asked: “What are you lot saying?”

Franklin clued them in: “Adam’s a Spiritualist, right? He controls things with music! Have you been watching the embers over our campfire for the past couple night? He’s been controlling the embers to make them dance! He might be able to control these embers too!”

“Can you do it?” Hansen immediately asked.

Adam shook his head: “I don’t know, but I can try.”

“Get to it then.”

Adam quickly ran to the pack he had left in the wagon and got his flute before running back to the well. Finding a spot where he would be out of everyone’s way, he sat down. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Adam thought through what he wanted and the song he needed to play to achieve it. He already knew how to make embers dance, he just needed to do it at a grander scale! And, hopefully, in a way that would help their situation.

With a calm breath, Adam started with a clear note. Even though it wasn’t loud, it could somehow be heard over the raging fire! After holding the note for a moment, Adam’s song began to slowly unfold across the village. Each note seemed to strike a chord with the fire! And then, ever so slowly, the embers began to drift upward in an undulating dance!

Rather than the natural chaos of the fire where embers were sent left and right, the embers’ movement became ordered as they danced straight up into the air. Watching the ember move and twirl around each other was almost like watching dancers at a giant ball! Seeing embers dancing above the campfire had been amusing. Seeing the embers dance over the raging fire was majestic and awe-inspiring!

Everyone had momentarily stopped when Adam’s song started. No one was sure why someone would be playing a flute at this time. Then they saw the embers surge to dance upward into the sky, only to eventually wink out harmlessly in the air. The desperation that clung to them as they fought the fire began to transform. They quickly began to move with a new vigor as hope surged within them!

Adam felt pride swell in his chest: ‘It’s working! It’s… like I’m actually a Spiritualist!’

It was the first time Adam’s ability as a Spiritualist was actually of some practical use. And it was being used to help stop a raging fire from claiming a village!

With Adam’s help, it was harder for the fire to spread. Within a few hours, they had finally contained the fire and let it burn down. Now, they just needed to keep an eye on the ashen timber that was all that remained of the burned homes and barns. It was possible that coals buried under the ash could ignite a new fire.

Having done all they could, Adam and the others collapsed in exhaustion around the well. Not only was Adam physically tired, he was also mentally drained from playing the song for so long.

Franklin asked: “Why would bandits do this?”

“They were just setting fire to a barn as a show of force. When is it spread out of control, the bandits fled.”

Everyone turned to Heinrich, who had just appeared.

“Good job tonight. Especially you, Adam. The entire village might have been burned down if we hadn’t been able to contain the fire.”

Everyone wore a smile, feeling pride in the work they had done. Isley noticed a few Silver Saviors running back from where they parked the convoy with bandages in hand. Frowning, he asked: “Did someone get hurt?”

Heinrich nodded: “A few villagers got burned… one of them might not make it.”

That dampened the pride Adam was feeling. Concerned, he pushed his Spirit Sight to follow the Silver Saviors that were taking the bandages to the villagers. Adam was surprised to find he could actually tell which villagers were burned! The burns appeared like sores of Death Essence on their bodies! Considering that burned skin was dead skin, it made sense. Adam looked over the villagers one by one. When he found the dying villager, he gasped! The villager’s body was almost entirely covered in burn marks, encasing his body in sores of Death Essence! The Death Essence from the burns was seeping deep into his body.

Alfred asked: “Are you okay Adam? You look pale.”

Adam shook his head: “He’s going to die!”

Even as Adam spoke, the man’s ragged breathing stilled. A wail escaped from someone next to the man. Adam could only watch as the Death Essence pervading the man’s body claimed it as he died.

Adam’s own breath caught in his throat! Somehow, watching a person die was totally different from when they killed game while hunting. Adam faintly heard someone yelling at him, but he didn’t pay attention. His mind was totally caught in the scene of the man’s death.

Then, he saw it! A tiny wisp that could easily be overlooked fled the man’s Aura! The tiny speck was almost like an ember escaping the confines of its fire. It flitted up, zigging and zagging lazily in the air. After a moment of flitting about, the ember winked out.

Adam stared blankly at where that small ember from the man’s Aura, his soul, disappeared: ‘What was that?’