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Chapter 15
“Trout?”
“No, tomatoes!”
“Don’t you think he’d prefer fish?”
“Potatoes!”
“You’re just shouting the first thing that comes to mind, aren’t you?”
Ezabel nodded and smiled brightly. Her big, doe eyes practically glistened in the afternoon sun. Winter had just arrived and a flaky sheet of snow dusted the beaten path. Luckily, Ezabel and Bastion stood on the front porch of Nethani’s General Store. They had come for a snow shovel in preparation for the season. A chore they would have otherwise been free of had it not been for Vance and his rough housing. The boy simply could not stay put and insisted on helping. According to him: ‘Anyone could have broken the shovel. It was old!’.
They came for one thing, yes. But, of course, they left with quite a bit more. Two full baskets of produce, bread, and a couple of small jackets. Once again, there were no sealstones to be bought. Shipments from the capital had slowed and the people of Alm were growing weary. - Ezabel lifted her chin and looked at Bastion, hoping to help him carry some of the weight. He stood many times her height with a lean, muscled shape. His back was wide atop long legs. Despite his age, there was life in his face that matched even the most spry of men. If it had not been for his gray hair and stubble, most would probably have thought him to be far younger. All of that was clear as day, even under his long coat.
Ezabel knew quite well that Bastion did not need help carrying their haul, especially from her. No, her true hope was to swipe a potato so that she could feed the cat they had both been staring at for the past minute or so. - It looked back at them from the other side of the patchy walkway with a single, yellow orb. Its left eye was injured shut, and as far as they knew, it had always been that way. Bastion had guessed the culprit to be another cat. Not that it mattered at that point; it surely happened long ago. - Its tail swiped lazily in the air and casted a glint on the sheen of its black coat.
“Come here, boy!”, Ezabel shouted as she patted her thighs. ”Come here…! - What was his name again?”
“Louie? I think that’s what we call him.”
Bastion answered, albeit without absolute certainty. To the best of his memory, the cat had roamed Alm for a handful of years now. Where he learned its name, he could not recall. Though, most everyone in the village just tossed it scraps and called it a day. There was no real use in giving it any more attention than that. Especially since it was quite skittish.
“Do you want a potato, Louie?”, she shouted once more, this time having retrieved an actual potato from the basket.
She lost hold of it, as if on cue. It was as big as her palm after all; the porch thumped and the potato rolled down the steps onto the dirt. Louie stood back on all fours and paced away without a wasted moment. He was not entirely frightened, but was put off all the same. - Ezabel pouted with lips so puffy that only her pudgy cheeks could match.
“Don’t worry, he’s like that with everyone in the village. - Just say sorry the next time you see him.”, Bastion chuckled.
She nodded and paced down the steps to retrieve the potato. It was a bit difficult to brush the snow off with her mittens, so she scraped it against her belly. When Bastion followed, she tossed it back into their basket. His large hand tugged at her hood and swept it over her tiny head.
“Alright, go on ahead and fetch the boys, Ezabel. Tell them dinner will be ready soon.”, he paused. “Actually, why don’t we let them play a little longer..”
°°
Stubborn spirit ran strong in both Xavier and Vance. They had always made sure the other kids knew it. No matter the sport or game, the rest of the boys in Alm were rarely a match for the two when they were together. Where their competitiveness came from, Bastion could not guess. Though, it was certainly not a trait he had given them.
In the end, there was always one thing that he could be sure of when it came to all that ardor: it never failed to tire them out. Such was the case when the two had returned home. All it took was a few pieces of chicken and a warm tea for the boys to pass out, snoring away in whichever room they chose. Better they spent themselves outside and not in here, right after dinner. Bastion had learned long ago that allowing their toy swords indoors was an incredibly dumb decision.
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Night had fallen true by the time he had finished cleaning the dinner table. Like a needle, the cold weaved through their thin walls and turned the air sharp. But, Alm was old and its people were friendly with the winter. Every home was centered around a generous hearth, even their bookstore. They had started a fire ever since returning and it continued to burn strong.
“..and he called down from the sky, a great stroke of lightning that split the golem in two!”, Bastion called out.
He read the words aloud with animated hands, all while they balanced the open book between them. His seat was none other than the rug before the fire. And, his audience was young Ezabel herself, who sat cozy underneath a fuzzy cloak. Or rather, a blanket that was worn as such. Beneath its cover, she fidgeted with excitement. Her gaze was fixed squarely onto Bastion’s act.
“Can he really do that!?”, she shouted.
“Of course he can, he’s an Attendant.”, he scoffed. “Lightning spells were his specialty! - That’s what the book says, at least.”
“How about you, Bastion!?”, she stood up, but was still shorter than he. “What kind of spells can you use?”
“Kiddo, I was never very good at spellcraft. I left all the magic stuff to my friends.”
“So, you don’t know anything?”
“Hey, hey. I knew plenty, okay?”
“Show me, show me!”
“How am I supposed to do that without a knightstone?”
Ezabel had only then realized that her excitement was all for naught. Bastion may have been an Attendant in the past, but he no longer wielded anything from that time in his life. She knew, of course. But, adolescence always brought false hope, welcome or not. - So, her face drooped and her eyes wandered, slightly defeated.
“Come here.”, Bastion put forth a hand.
When her small steps carried her over, he sat her beside him. They faced the hearth together.
“Do you know why a knightstone is so important to an Attendant, Ezabel?”
She shook her head. But, as Bastion spoke, he adjusted her blanket with a careful hand. Slowly, he removed it from her head and hung it about her shoulders, just as an Attendant wore it.
“Because it lets them feel the Echo.”
“What’s that?”
“It is the place where all magic resides. We can’t see or feel it, but we know it is all around us, just like the air.”, he turned to Ezabel and patted her head. “Close your eyes for me.”
She glanced at him first, but soon pressed her hands tight over her face. It was not exactly what Bastion asked, but he shrugged it off and smiled anyway.
“What do you see?”
“I see nothing.”
“Good, good. Then in that nothingness, picture as many stars as you can. Distant stars. Close stars. Twinkling stars and dim stars. Imagine all that you can, until you feel like you’re swimming in them.”
“It’s pretty..”, she stated, though her voice was muffled underneath her fingers. “It’s like the night sky, but better!”
“That’s what the Echo looks like! With a knightstone, an Attendant can pull magic out of the Echo and use it to cast all kinds of spells. - That’s why I can’t show you all the cool things I know, Ezabel. I’m sorry.”
The ‘stars’ began to blur together in her head. Even the fire appeared bent when she took her hands away. Bastion could tell at that point that Ezabel had pressed her eyes a little too tightly. So, he nudged her to sit back on the rug. She rubbed her face and hoped that her vision fixed itself. When it did, a great thump sounded from the other room. There was no question as to what just happened. The two knew, and they smiled at one another when Vance groaned out loud. This was not the first time that he rolled off whatever it was that he chose to sleep on. And, it was not the first time that he remained asleep after doing so. They heard him grumbling away.
“So, what kind of spells do you want to try when you become an Attendant?”, Bastion asked.
She did not answer. Her lips were pressed tight and pulled inward, a silly habit that appeared when she preferred not to speak. As when she was hoping for something, or hiding it. Her attention went quickly away to the stack of books by the hearth. She took the first one off the top and held it in both hands.
“Ezabel, why are you not answering me?”, Bastion asked at length.
She shrugged with a pretend smile.
“Do Xavier and Vance still want to be Attendants?”, she asked suddenly.
“Huh? Of course they do, it’s all you three ever talk about. What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know if we should..”, she answered with a downward gaze. “..wouldn't we be separated?”
“Are you worried about not being with them?”
“I want to stay here together and be a family.”
“But, what about these books? Don’t you want to go to all the places in them? Like the Amber Sea.. or Gracewind?”
“I think I’m okay just reading about them.”, she looked at the stack of books. “Do you think my parents would have let me and Xavier become Attendants?”
Her words fell carefully from her lips. Words that Bastion heard patiently as he watched her think. It was by her enthusiasm that Xavier hoped to join the Order. Even Vance, who Bastion adopted not long after them, fell to her contagious passion. So, the uncertainty she now bore was a sight that worried him. With a deep sigh, he pushed gently against her. Very gently, in fact, it would not take much effort on his part to knock her over.
“I don’t know who your parents were. But, if I did, I would tell them that the only thing waiting for you two is greatness. No matter what you choose to do.”, he laughed. “I’ve never seen a child your age read as well as you do! Or be as strong as Xavier! - That kid is part lion, I tell ya.”
“And part ugly!”
Ezabel chimed a genuine giggle which calmed Bastion’s concern.
“I’m glad that you care about your siblings so much.”, he mentioned. “..but y’know, the One-armed Knight was also an Attendant.”
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