Maker of Fire

Emily, Truvos, Planting Season, 6th rot., 5th day

"That's heavy," I said as Aylem placed the first steam bomb on my lap. She made three of them. Each bomb was a thousand heating gems surrounded by a round shell of NaCl about a half-centimeter thick. Around the outside, Aylem had embedded two hundred ice gems. The bomb was packed in a coarse linen bag and crated in a wooden box with cotton batting.

Aylem flashed a mischievous grin at me, "It's only around thirty stone, Em. It hardly weighs anything at all." Then, she batted her eyes at me.

"I see you are amused," I did not share her mirth at my expense.

"The linen is coarse enough that it won't hinder the movement of water or the ability of the ice gems to work," Aylem was suddenly serious. "I cast the same charm on the linen bags as the baskets I made to carry the white phosphorus bombs last year. Spot can lift and drop one without breaking the salt around the heating gems. I used the same construction yesterday when we blew up the fishing piers. I also have a basket of the white phosphorus bombs, fifty of them, just in case you run into some mages and need an effective weapon against them. And because I'm insane, I made some of your clay bombs, too, twenty of them."

"Yuck!" I reacted badly.

"Emily, you're starting a war." Aylem looked as solemn as I'd ever seen her. "You will be facing mages, and you have no magic. You can't afford to play nice. You may need to be sneaky and nasty if you want to live." She leaned over and put her hands gently on my shoulders, "I am worried about you and how you will cope with the nastiness of war. War is many times nastier than hunting, Em. I would be happy if you could keep some distance from the active fighting. Destroy your bridge and come right home, please."

"Don't worry, Great One," Tom picked up the crated bomb from my lap, "I will send Em back to the Healing Shrine as soon as I can."

"Surd save me, I'm not that bad off," I groused. 'I survived last year's goriness, and I can survive this year's, too."

"I hope you're right, Em, for your own sake." Aylem looked truly worried.

"I'll be fine," I protested. "All the icky things that Losnana and Kamagishi foretold have vanished from their visions of upcoming events. Nothing bad is going to happen. Trust me."

"Why do those words leave me with dread?" Aylem sighed. "Tom has Spot almost completely loaded. Would you like a hand into the saddle?"

"If I say yes, I know you will pick me up here and carry me out the door instead of letting me walk out to Spot, so no."

Aylem's face fell, which told me I had guessed correctly.

I hopped off my chair, put on my hat, and walked out the sitting room door towards the front doors of the manse. The Cosm doorkeeper opened the door to the outside, and I exited onto the platform of the portico. Then I frowned at those damn stairs.

"Would you like a hand down the stairs, Em?" Aylem asked ever-so-sweetly, knowing that I hated Cosm-scaled stairs.

I almost took her up on it but shook my head no and started the torturous way downward. I didn't get far before I floated upward and landed in Usruldes' arms.

"Sorry, Great One," Usruldes said, "I can't watch a friend struggle down the stairs like that. Would you like me to help you into the saddle?"

I turned my head and observed Aylem studying cloud formations and biting her lip. The wretch.

"Lord Irhessa," Tom called out to Usruldes, "that sounds like a great idea." Tom was on Spot's back, buckling down the steam bomb crates and the two baskets of white phosphorus and calcium phosphide bombs. "Why don't you ride in front of me, Em?" Tom said. "I can see over your head, and you know the hand signals that Asgotl taught Spot. I'm not confident I can remember all of them. Lord Katsa gave me some warmth charm gems that should last the two days of the flight. You need to put one around your neck. I have it right here."

I had to sigh. So much for walking out the door and mounting on my own. At least the offender wasn't Aylem this time. Damn overgrown overprotective monsters.

Usruldes had just put me on the saddle when Kayseo hurried out of the manse toward me, hobbling at speed using her two canes for balance. Otty followed her with a leather bag.

"Emily, you can't leave just yet!" Kayseo shouted. She got next to Spot, "Hello again, Great One," she bowed at him, then turned to me. "Otty, hand that to Tom," she directed. "Emily, the contents of this bag are from me, Thuorfosi, and Twessera because I know you didn't think to pack any."

"Any what, Kayseo?" I asked.

"Tea. There's also a package of cooked bacon for you to snack on, sliced sourdough bread, and that liver pate you love so much. It's enough to last you until you get to Sils'chk."

"Kayseo, thank you," I reached out and grabbed her hand, or at least tried. Her hands are too big to grab properly. She grabbed mine and then hugged me, "Don't get hurt out there, please."

"I won't. I'll be back before the end of harvest," I promised.

"Do you have it?" Aylem turned and asked Kamagishi, who had just exited the manse. Oyyeth, Lisaykos, and Lyappis followed on her heels.

"I have it," Kamagishi held up a cloth bundle about the size of a Cosm load of bread.

"You don't think you could leave without saying goodbye, did you?" Lisaykos accosted me.

Tom and I looked at each other and then the small crowd gathering.

"We did want to leave sometime before nightfall," I quipped. The second bell had just sounded.

Kamagishi handed the cloth bundle to Aylem, who then gave it to me.

"I thought you might like this for morn repast tomorrow, Em," Aylem said, looking uncertain of herself.

I tugged at the knot and peered inside, "Ooooooooooo!"

"What?" Tom asked, opening a saddle bag to fit the bundle inside.

"It's the best thing ever," I said, hoping I wasn't drooling. "It's the cheesy egg and onion rolls I like, and they smell like they're the ones from the Is'syal Palace kitchens, which are the best." I relished the smell and resisted the temptation to eat one for at least two breaths.

Aylem laughed when I fished two rolls out and handed the bundle to Tom so he could pack it. Then I gave him one of the rolls.

Aylem waited until my mouth was full before she came up and hugged me, "Come home in one piece, Em, please. Have a good trip."

Aylem was followed by Lisaykos, who didn't say anything and didn't need to. We were at that point in friendship where words are often not necessary. We hugged for a long moment while I tried to remember the smell of the soap on her gown, the feel of the cloth, and the love in her embrace. She really was the big sister I never had but wanted, even if she was an overgrown, overpowered, overprotective monster.

Tom and I managed to swallow our rolls. Then, Spot leapt into the air with a tremendous beat of his wings, and we were off, flying back to Sussbesschem and the war with Mattamesscontess.

End of Part 2