Born of Water

Born of Water Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

LESSON OF FIRE

"So I suggest the first element you work on is fire." Ty said as he dropped a poor assortment of twigs and branches next to the fire ring Darag had called from the ground. Niri cocked an eyebrow at him, humor bubbling to her lips. 

"Why?" Ria asked with bright innocence.

"Niri can put out anything that gets out of control."

Ria giggled while Lavinia rolled her eyes. "Yah, no kidding," Lavinia drawled.

"Lazy," Niri accused Ty. He shrugged, unthreatened. "Well first, the 'kindling' needs to be dry."

Niri focused on the first piece she picked up, narrowing her eyes. Water and sap leaked out from the split ends. Darag let out a slow breath.

"Yah, she is a showoff sometimes." Niri glared at Ty, wishing she had something to throw at him, something akin to a fireball. The idea of calling a storm to drench him crossed her mind.

Ty grinned at her. "Hey sis, why don't we take a walk and look for some more 'kindling' for them to play with." Lavinia laughed, hooking her arm through her brother's. They disappeared down the rise together.

They had stayed in Bakk three days. All of them were exhausted though Ria spent the time impatiently pacing, wanting to learn to use the gift that sang in her blood. 

"When?" Ria had asked each dawn. 

"Not here, not in town. On the way to Ashi'Shinai."

"In case I call the Curse," Ria had said in response to Ty's order, arms crossed.

"No, Ria, because no one else must know it is possible," Niri had consoled. 

Ria's impertinence actually made Niri laugh, especially after she had bathed and let the water soak into her skin until she felt full with it. The girl had sulked for a large portion of the journey. This had been the first time Niri had seen Ria as the one most anxious to continue as she embraced, rather than forswore, the gift she had been born with.

It had taken Niri nearly the entire three days in Bakk to feel the effects of the desert dryness fade from her mind. Ty had seemed to know. He took his time selling the camels for stocky legged horses common to the Steppes to the north and making arrangements for food and provisions. All the while the sunburn across his nose and eyes, places where the desert head scarf had not covered, healed to leave only a deep worry line between his brows. 

Darag and Lavinia had been inseparable in their happiness. Though Darag had left her to sleep and recover while he helped Ty prepare for the journey north, there was always a smile on his lips and a weightlessness in his step. If possible, Niri had thought Lavinia looked even happier than she had in Lus na Sithchaine.

Now on their first day riding north from Bakk, they camped in a waving sea of grasses and sedge that rolled along the low hills. Higher mountains rose to the north-east, holding mostly scrub and rock. No trees were visible anywhere along the wide sweep of the horizon. 

The ground had become softer during the day. Dampness formed veins of water in the depression and soon they had been riding along grass choked streams, insects humming in the humid air. Niri felt alive with the change. 

Now she sat facing Ria's olive eyes set in her lightly tanned face. Worry lines traced across Ria's forehead.

"How do you know I won't use magic and summon the Curse?"