The little woman was standing in front of us now, her swords at her back, and her knife at her waist. Her little hands were on her hips, and a rather innocent smile drifted across her face as her eyes met mine.
"I am Kerina. The Forest Guardian for this town of Seather. The two of you are quite talented with your arms...uh, by 'arms' I mean-"
Himora cut her off.
"Yeah...we know."
He said, still eager to find out how she had made the cut in her arm disappear.
"You were testing our abilities?
He asked, directing the conversation in the direction he wanted it to go.
"Yeah, basically."
Was her response.
I took a step forward, speaking before Himora could.
"What?... So you tried to kill us...more than once! Just to see if we were worthy of entering Seather?"
I was growing more and more aggravated by the minute, and just thinking about the depressed look on Smith's face during their "test" made me want to explode.
"Oh, don't be so rash!"
Kerina said with a high-pitched laugh and another innocent smile.
"If you would have failed, I wouldn't have let you pass anyway. Someone who can hear a pixie song and survive it has got to be strong...in some way."
We didn't know that after the bout was over, Smith had shown up on the scene and was standing quietly off to the side behind us. He had heard everything, and he was not happy.
"YE DIRTY LITTLE MUSHROOM MUNCHKIN!"
He yelled, his round, stone-like face growing a bright red.
"YE NEARLY KILLED ME AND ME DONKEY! DEN YE PUTS DA WEE LADS IN DANGER WIT YER LITTLE-BITTY ARROWS, AND BOWS, AND STUPID LITTLE SWORDS OF YERS! AND ALL FER A TEST!?... I AUTA BASH YER LITTLE MELON IN RIGHT NOW! AND I WOULD IF NOT FOR ME HONOR!"
At this, Smith turned and walked...or rather stomped away. He really didn't like the Pixies. Why? I couldn't say, but Kerina told us before we could ask.
"I really am sorry...But I had to make sure not just anyone walks into the city on their own...If the foe is too strong, they may pose a threat to the town, so we are always on the lookout. About all the name-callin'? I'm sorry. That was just part of the act, and as for your friend there-"
"Smith."
I cut in.
"Yes...Smith. The Pixies and Dwarves haven't been on good terms since the assassination of the Dwarven Prince -Sir Forgestoreum- some years ago."
That bit of information caught my attention. My village was a very secluded one, and when it was still around, no one but Hunters ever left the gates unless it was an emergency. This sort of news would never have been caught on our ears. I had no idea that a Dwarven Prince had been assassinated in my lifetime, but in the same way, I could now see where Smith's hatred came from.
"So, the Dwarves blame you -the Pixies- for that?"
I asked in an attempt to open her up, just as was Himora's plan.
"Yeah, but it wasn't a Pixie who done it. It was a Changeling in disguise as one of our kind. But we all know that Dwarves hold grudges for 100 years...So, no matter how much explaining or reasoning we do, they won't believe that it wasn't us."
It sounded like truth to me, so that's what I believed. The little woman seemed honest enough to me. Himora was skeptical in my place; he always said pixies were known to be deceptive.
"For years, we have been at war with the Dwarves, and once every few years, we try to make a truce with them, but they always refuse."
I didn't mean to be rude, but I didn't care for politics or their personal wars. I just wanted to get into Seather. The day had been long...very long. Consisting of long rides and several battles that I'd rather not have been in.
"Hey, not to cut you off or anything, but I'm really tired, and I'm sure Himora and Smith are too, so...can you lead us to the town?...please?"
Kerina seemed reluctant to do us any favors, but she agreed, and we were off towards the wagon. I really had hoped that Smith wouldn't make too much of a fuss about her being with us, and to my surprise, he didn't. I guess he was too tired. One thing had slipped my mind, though, within our little encounter, but it hadn't slipped Himora's. He still wanted to know how she had healed her wound, and knowing Himora, he would soon find out.
"Um, Kerina...can I ask you a question? What was that technique you used to heal your cut?"
He approached her slowly so as not to offend her. She continued to walk alongside the wagon as she had turned down the offer of a ride, and didn't even look up at Himora when she answered.
"Pixie magic."
Is all she said, but Himora wasn't satisfied with just that.
"Oh, come on! That was all of what? Six seconds, and that four-inch cut was gone! Impossible!"
Kerina didn't seem to happy with Himora's speculations.
"Keep your eyes and questions to yourself...and I'll keep me mine."
Something was bothering her, yet she wasn't going to say if she didn't have to. I had decided to ask, for she had started to show a sudden change in her attitude ever since we began to get closer to the town.
"Is something...wrong?"
Kerina didn't answer me for a moment, and when she did, I was surprised to see that she was in tears.
"It's...nothing...don't worry about me."
She said, hastily wiping away her tears and smiling.
"Just a little hurt that I lost is all...no big deal...let's go."
I didn't want to believe that that was the truth, but what else was there to believe? I didn't know anything about her but her name and that she was an excellent fighter. Other than that, I couldn't read her for the life of me.
"You sure you'll be fine? I don't know you too well, but you're my friend now, and I will worry about you."
Kerina's smile faltered slightly, then returned to its normal glow.
"Don't worry yourself about me...I'll be fine. By the way, friend, I didn't get your name..."
I hadn't realized that I had yet to formally introduce myself.
"Bastion...Bastion Ridder from the Leaf-folk village."
She smiled at me a little brighter than usual, then held out her little hand.
Bastion...I like the sound of that. Leafarian, right?"
It was a surprise to me that she was familiar with my people's namesake.
"Yeah...one of the last, I fear. Where are you from?"
At that, Kerina seemed to slow up a little, or maybe the wagon gained speed. I couldn't tell, but I could sense a drop in her aura.
"Seather...I'm from Seather, or I WAS from Seather...uh, it's a long story. Some other time?"
I wouldn't press her.
"Sure!"
I said in haste. I saw the look of pain in her eyes.
"No need to hurry, just forget I asked."
For the rest of the trip, we were all in silence. Himora was meditating, and Smith was sitting up stiffly. For some reason, he seemed very tense, but as the night crept steadily closer, he began to relax.
"Curses ta does stupid pixies."
He muttered under his breath. I guess he was one of the many who held onto the grudge.
Typical Dwarf.
I wasn't as bored as Himora, so I had no reason to meditate. I just lay on my back and manipulated a few leaves to dance above my head. Within the past few weeks that we had been on the road, I had been training my mind to use my element freely instead of the random times in battles that asked more of me than I had to give.
I didn't notice that to my right, Kerina was watching me, and had been all along. Her eyes followed the leaves as they steadily fell and rose above me like tiny marionettes.
"Impressive."
She said with a sarcastic whistle. My confidence was raised, and I let a smile slip out. With a slight adjustment to my wrist and concentration, I slowly formed the leaves into the letter "K" hoping it would make her smile more.
"Nice!"
She laughed for a moment, then blushed and looked back ahead, walking on with a small leap between her steps. I was glad that I could make her happy. I didn't like to see her in a downed mood.
Another half hour passed, and I began to grow light-headed. The leaves began to slow down, and soon they fell around me like large raindrops. I had been their puppeteer for the past hour, and although it was a small load to bare, my elemental power was almost tapped out.
"Man, I need more practice. Those leaves took it out of me. I want to be able to do what I did back in my village...it may come in handy sometimes, even outside of battle."
My talk of the elements caught Himora's attention. He uncrossed his legs and lay down beside me with his hands behind his head.
"Your pretty strong as you are. You just need to learn how to focus your energy though.
His comment confused me.
"What do you mean 'as I am'? I can't even hold up a buncha leaves for than two hours. How-"
At that, he cut me off.
"But you CAN hold them up for an hour."
He slightly raised his voice on the word 'can'.
"Not many people your...OUR age can do that much, man. You should be happy that your element had woken up this early."
He had a good point, but I still wondered just how good i could be at that point. I remembered the fight back at the village, and the way I had felt in that desperate situation that I was in.
Was it fear that opened the gate to my power at that very moment?
These questions continued to cycle through my head for the remainder of the ride till we eventually would reach the gates of Seather.