Cities of Power Ch. 07

"I would enjoy that," he agreed and awkwardly picked up the Warhammer from where he had left it. "Maybe we should take this down to the forge first," he suggested. "It's not the easiest thing to lug around without a sheath of some sort, or a scabbard."

"Yeah, it's a bit obvious too, no hiding that bad boy from all your admirers," Mica laughed.

"Oh yeah, like anyone cares what I do," Flint shrugged off his brother's comment, feeling even more awkward and conspicuous holding the hammer. He was caught in indecision yet again between carrying the hammer and owning what he had done, despite the looks of fear people gave him or hiding it and trying to pretend that he wasn't the man who almost destroyed a city.

"No use hiding it," Talon said. "You and your brothers are big men who stand out in a crowd, whether you carry the weapon or not people are going to be watching you." He saw the strangely pained look on Flint's face. "If you'd rather carry it in a box, Jade has a box she keeps the bandages and medical supplies in that should be big enough to hold it," he suggested.

"That might be best for now," Flint said, considering what he had said and was grateful for the suggestion.

*****

The two men had gone directly to the forge where Emery worked and the earth warrior, Terra, watched him, handing over the box Flint had promised to return that afternoon before heading to the kitchen with Talon to seek out Samael and some food. They managed to find both, and, after eating a large bowl of the stew each, they went in search of the hot springs.

"That's a heavy burden you carry," Talon said, sensing what the man had wanted to talk about as he hedged around the subject while they had eaten.

"The Warhammer, or the rumours about what happened?" Flint asked as they undressed and allowed the women who had gone with them to take their clothes for cleaning with dry detergent and a curry brush once used for horses, which were a rare sight in the world they knew.

"Both," Talon said, acknowledging the way the villagers had looked at them as they had left the forge.

"I guess pretending it never happened is out of the question then," Flint sighed and stepped into the warm pool of water.

"I doubt that was ever an option. There were too many witnesses," Talon dunked his head under the water and rubbed his face with both hands before pushing his long hair back from his face and looking at Flint seriously. "What are your plans now?"

"Before yesterday I was going with the theory that once I was sure Trix was safe and happy that I could just find a town I liked and start a forge of my own," Flint sighed. "Now I'm pretty sure that's not going to be an option for me."

"I'm pretty sure you're right about that," Talon agreed.

"I'm not a warrior," Flint suddenly blurted. "All of those people look at me like I'm a killer. The only thing I killed yesterday was a gate!"

"You did a pretty thorough job of killing a few gates, as I remember it," Talon chuckled.

"My point is that I am not like you. I'm a blacksmith from a small village where my father rules with an iron fist. I don't travel around on bikes that go faster than the wind. I don't even know what you call those things you carry, let along how to use one, and I have no idea about what to do or how to act when people I would have called neighbour two days ago look at me like I'm about to explode and injure them all." Flint couldn't help talking now that he had started. He felt he had no one else to ask who would take the time to help him other than the man sitting opposite him. At least he had hoped Talon would help him because of his relationship with Trix.

"If you're looking for my opinion, then I think it's a good thing you're not like the warriors of Phoenix or the Big Men of Justice," Talon said. "You're an unknown quantity, and that makes people nervous, but it also makes them less inclined to piss you off," Talon said with a simplicity that stunned Flint. "You're not like us, so you don't have to conform to our rules and laws; you can make your own. If you're planning to return home, however, you may have to conform to the laws of your village," he considered what Flint had said about his father ruling with an iron fist.

"I don't think I can go back," Flint admitted. "I'd like to see my mother and eldest brother again, but I am unsure of the welcome I would receive from my father."

"Families are tricky to navigate, but your siblings quite obviously love you. I can't imagine your father would turn his back on you," Talon said. "I, on the other hand, am not looking forward to meeting my future father-in-law, so I am not sure I would want to volunteer to go with you."

"Aw, shit!" Flint laughed. "I hadn't even thought of that! Good luck with that one."

"Maybe if the Hammer comes with me everyone will be too scared to challenge me," Talon laughed with him.

"Everyone except my father, and possibly my brother, Cobalt," Flint teased him further. "I'm not sure I want to go there with you any more than you want to return there with me."

They relaxed, and Flint could see why Trix loved the man and Mica called him a friend. He was easy to talk to and treated Flint like a friend of equal stature, not a poor villager with a limited education. The more they talked, the less he mentioned walking away from what had happened in the city of Pegasus, and the more he talked about how he would deal with the infamy of being the man of prophecy and what it meant for him. He found it easy to discuss his concerns about visiting the great cities, and Talon offered some insight, having grown up within the ruling families and visiting the other cities often as he grew up as the first born of the house of Hawk.

By the time they exited the warm springs and redressed in their cleaned and aired clothes, Flint was both pruned from the water and resigned to the fact that he would need to meet with the magicians and discuss his future with the prophecy in mind. He decided to seek out Judah, who had been strangely absent since their return from Pegasus.

Flint walked with Talon back to the makeshift infirmary. They had lapsed into easy conversation about their friends and family. Talon was eager to know Trix's brothers and suggested that being friends with the warriors of Phoenix who had followed them to battle and back again would not be the worst thing on earth.

"They are more likely to treat you as a fellow warrior than someone to regard with suspicion because of rumours in the bandit village," Talon suggested.

When they entered the infirmary, Jade was struggling to calm Glow, who pulled at the restraints that held her to the bed. Flint took in the situation and moved past Talon to where the two women struggled. He gently pulled Jade away and rested his massive hands on Glow's shoulders, pinning her to the bed.

"Why are you bound?" He asked the woman who seemed to sag and give up the fight.

"Because I am the one responsible for your sister's condition and the battle that took place in Pegasus!" she said angrily, though the anger was at herself, not the people in the room. "The black robed one lives in my head, and he found her because of me," she whispered the confession and began to cry.

"Does he live there still?" Flint frowned, believing they had taken care of the power wielding men in black robes. He noticed then the bandages on her arms as she tried once again to lift her hands to cover her face, but instead turned her head to the side so she didn't have to look at him as she nodded.

"He doesn't attack though, because he can no longer use the power he once held," he said, sure of his statement. "The Magicians have ensured he and all of his alcove are secure. He may know what you do or see through your eyes, but he can no longer act," Flint said calmly, wondering if they could use this information to their advantage. "This was not your doing, but the doing of the madman behind the black robes, and you must remember that."

"I tried to tell her that," Trix said quietly to Talon, "but I think the guilt is too much for her to bear."

"She spoke to you about what she had done?" Talon asked in a horrified voice.

"That's just it, she didn't do it. She was under some sort of mind control that made her seek me out and not tell anyone why she was acting strangely," Trix said. "This wasn't her fault any more than what Flint did was the Warhammer's fault. She was just being used as a weapon, a tool; she had no control over her actions."

Talon had no words. He felt genuine remorse for his words in the wake of Trix and Flint's generosity to the woman who had been the conduit to such an evil act of violence that had ended the life of his child and almost killed Trix herself. He stood and walked over to where Glow lay subdued by the words of the big man who still hovered over her.

"If you want to make him suffer, as he has made you and us suffer, then you will live and show him how happy we are, despite his evil," Talon said seriously. "Open your eyes and show him how good and kind people treat each other. Look at this man with clear eyes and make sure the madman knows who the son of the Hammer and Jewel is, and that he, not you, sacrificed too many innocent lives for a lie."

"The man of prophecy?" Glow turned her head back and gazed at Flint as if not believing what Talon had said.

"The magicians believe so," Flint chuckled. "I'm not sure I am convinced, but I was always a little hard headed. There is something to what Talon says though, and now that we know that he resides in your mind we can guard against future torment. I am sure the magicians can come up with something now that we know what happened. Rest now, and we'll see what we can do about the restraints once we've spoken with Judah."

Jade watched on as the two men spoke to Glow and marvelled at their different ways of dealing with the woman's guilt. Flint's acceptance and forgiveness, coupled with Talon's command to make the man who used her suffer by living a good life with the people he tried to kill, were what the woman needed. It was as if the two men had rehearsed the scene, even though she knew they couldn't have because neither of them knew of Glow's involvement in what had happened in the camp. Jade could see life come back into Glow's eyes, and she smiled, believing she would be fine now. Just as Talon's presence and comforting words had helped Trix toward healing, she wished the two men could help the comatose Pyre, who had come under attack as she had battled the power that attacked Trix.

"Has Pyre woken this morning?" Talon asked as if reading her mind.

"No, I worry that her mind has gone to a space that she cannot return from," Jade said, her worry for Pyre coming through in her voice. She saw Flint's confused look and explained. "I think she might have linked with the man who killed all of those innocents to get through the wards, and the dark magic has created a wall to trap her, much like the cells you freed my mother from, but in her mind."

"I don't think that is a wall I can knock down with a hammer," Flint said sadly, moving to the bed where Pyre lay. He placed a hand on Pyre's head and felt a strange surge of heat tingling at his fingers. He kept his hand in place and tried to concentrate on where it was coming from. "It's as if something is trying to push my hand away," Flint said curiously. "I think we should find Judah and ask him if anything can be done to help her."

"You feel something?" Jade asked, and placed her hand over his curiously. "Can you explain it to me?" She let her healing power flow into Flint's hand as he described the heat and tingling in his fingers as he touched the comatose woman. "May I hold your other hand?" she asked, and guided his free hand to the girl's sternum. His hands became almost unbearably hot, and he considered it to be as hot as working in the forge over red hot metal, and he breathed in deeply, reminding himself that there was no fire or danger here, only the heat in his hands.

He watched in amazement as the heat began to dissipate from his hands and a haze began to form where Jade pressed her own on top of his. He felt Pyre begin to stir, and would have pulled his hands away if it were for not Jade holding them gently in place. Pyre didn't open her eyes, but her breathing changed, and she moved beneath the heat of his hands.

"I hadn't considered the fact that she is of the fire clan before," Jade mused as she finally pulled her hands away. "I think you may have accidentally found a way to break down yet another wall," she smiled. "I will need to speak with my mother again to be sure that anything we do now doesn't harm her further."

"I didn't do anything," Flint said, quickly pulling his hands away as if denying that he had felt the change in the woman as they had touched her.

"If you say so," she laughed softly. "Perhaps it was just a coincidence."

"I need to go and find Judah," Flint said uncomfortably, moving away from the bed. "I will return to show you the walled garden this afternoon," he told Jade as he backed away toward the door. "Thank you for this morning, Talon, I appreciate your friendship and advice," he said, and his eyes fell on Trix. He stopped in his retreat and went to her side. "I'm so sorry," he murmured, hugging her and feeling her tight embrace surround him. "Whatever you need just ask and it's yours," he said.

"I have what I needed most," she looked at Talon. "Everything is going to be alright, Flint. We are going to be alright now. I'm sure of it."

*****

Flint returned to the make shift Infirmary after visiting Emery in the forge. All his attempts to locate Judah had been unsuccessful, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Samael was running interference with anyone who sought out the man. He spent some time with Jason, who had not been surprised by the story of his hands heating, and had explained that Opal had been from Pegasus originally and had a small amount of power herself. If he had inherited that trait and was held between the hands of both women who were known to have power, then the fact that he had felt it would be quite normal. It didn't mean he was a magician, or that he had more than an empathetic feeling for magic in another being.

"Are you ready?" he asked Jade as he entered.

"Yes!" she seemed surprised to see him, but quickly took off her apron and put it on the bench. "We won't be long, Talon, I promise."

"Take all the time you need, I'm not going anywhere," he said easily, smiling at her, then looking back at Trix. He had convinced her to stay in bed for one more night, claiming they needed to stay so Jade could leave the infirmary for the first time since coming here with Trix the night of the attack. He had purposely omitted the fact that Jade had gone to help Flint on the night of their return as Judah watched over Trix, ensuring she was healing rapidly.

They walked silently side by side through the busy corridors of the fortress. The arrival of so many warriors in the village had taken them all by surprise, and both the village and fortress workers had become busier than ever. Flint placed his hand gently on the small of her back as he guided her up the narrow stairs to the rooftop garden on the summit of the small hill above the fortress. To his surprise, he could hear water trickling, and he frowned, turning towards the usually dry fountain to find Judah standing there.

"You've been looking for me today," Judah said as the pair walked toward him. "I spent most of the last night while you slept setting up your friends in accommodation and ensuring this village could handle the influx of guests, and I was needed in the mists by those still in Pegasus. Not to mention ensuring your sister was well cared for," he explained, though he had no need to. "I imagine you have many questions for me, but we will talk later with the young Hawk as well."

"I have spoken with Talon today," Flint said carefully.

"We will talk with him more," Judah said. "For now I will speak with Jade briefly, if you could give us a moment alone, please."

"Of course, I'll go back to check on Trix," he said, feeling a little disappointed because he had wanted to spend time with Jade after thinking about her all afternoon.

"No need to go that far, this will only take a minute, and I am sure she would rather spend the sunset with you than with an old man like me," Judah chuckled and steered Jade closer to the fountain where the water tinkled, drowning out any words Flint might have overheard.

Flint felt awkward and, not knowing what else to do, he sat at the wooden table near the entrance and waited. He considered the problems with the scabbard Emery was constructing to hold the Warhammer he had accepted as his fate now. He wasn't sure what the future held for him, and he was coming to terms with the fact that he would possibly never see his home or his parents again. His siblings, especially Emery, had embraced him, despite what had happened, and the Warriors seemed to be treating them as one of them now, which confused and unsettled him. He wasn't a warrior. He had no training or skill; all he had on his side were brute strength and a desire to protect people in need of his help.

When he had heard that fifty people had died to carry out the attack on Trix, and that more were in harm's way, he had put aside his need for vengeance and gone to aid those people, who included Jade's mother and family. Before the attack, he and Jade had been building a friendship, and now he felt he owed her a debt of gratitude for helping to save his sister and tending his wounds when he arrived home. He had been lost in his thoughts for a long time when he realised Judah was leaving, and Jade had come to sit beside him.

"My mother leads Pegasus," Jade said quietly. "You were part of that decision. Your command to lead her people now resonated with her and a majority of the healers you saved."

"You do not seem happy about that," Flint frowned at her, feeling guilty for making that decree.

"I think she expects me to return to her and help in mending the city," Jade's voice was strangely unemotional as she spoke.

"I would miss you if you left us now," Flint said honestly. "When must you go? Will you stay until the women are healed completely?"

"When my mother was a girl her parents adopted an orphan, who showed promise of being a mist walker. They grew up as sisters. That woman ran away and wed a villager from the freemen of the foothills. It would probably upset her greatly if I too did not return," Jade admitted. "Yet I want to..." she paused and looked at Flint with an anxious expression. "I want to stay with you." She said and held his gaze as colour bloomed in her cheeks.

Flint said nothing, his heart simultaneous swelled and sunk in his chest. He would like nothing more than to keep Jade close to him, but he didn't know where fate and the prophecy would take him now. If some of the interpretations of the prophecy were to be believed, he would bring doom to the world as they knew it. He couldn't ask her to stay knowing it would place her in the path of danger, any more than he could ask Trix and Talon to stay with him.

"Let's move into the garden a little more," Flint said, getting to his feet, changing the subject rather than confront his churning feelings regarding the woman beside him. "The sun is beginning to set, and the garden will light up soon with magical stones."

"Judah has given me a reason to disobey my mother that she would accept," Jade said cautiously as she stood, unwilling to let the conversation drop now that she had made her intentions and feelings toward him known. "He knows the whereabouts of the woman who was raised as a sister to my mother and her family. I could go to that woman and tell her the doors of Pegasus were open to her without restrictions, and she might believe me if you came with me to ask her."