“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
Ezo walked into the stables and stopped as soon as he heard the anger in Cassen’s voice. The Innkeeper had been extremely helpful and kind while Ezo was there. He didn’t realize the man had it in him to get this angry. Of course, if anyone could manage to piss off someone as even-tempered and compassionate as Cassen, it would be Kammon.
“We aren’t going to get answers here,” Kammon answered, running a hand over his horse’s neck. He’d come out to saddle them while Ezo had gone to get a few last-minute supplies from Danya in the kitchen. Now, he wished he’d come out here straight away.
“What is so damn important that you have to leave now?” Cassen demanded. “You aren’t recovered, and you know it.”
“My wound is gone.”
“That isn’t what I’m worried about.”
“What you’re worried about, I will never recover from.” Kammon rounded on Cassen, and even in the low morning light, he could see the anger in his lover’s eyes. “There is nothing else I can do here. A hundred years in the baths won’t heal what is happening to me. The longer I delay here, the more it drains me. The least I can do is seek some answers and perform what service I can to the people I meet along the way.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Ezo said, interrupting Cassen’s response. It felt wrong to listen to their conversation.
Cassen turned to glare at Ezo, but Kammon didn’t bother to look at him. Instead, he went back to his horse.
“And what do you know of it?” Cassen asked. “Do you know how far he can push himself before the exhaustion is too much? Before he must drag himself back here nearly dead? Where were you when he needed you three months ago? Four months ago?”
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“Looking for him,” Ezo confessed. “I can’t say what’s out there, but he isn’t alone this time. I won’t let it get like that.”
Cassen rolled his eyes and walked to Ezo, stopping a step before him. “I like you, Ezo. I hoped you’d help us keep him until he had his strength back, but you’re just as much a fool as he is. One of these days, it will be too much, and even our healing pools won’t be enough to help him.”
He left the stables, and Ezo looked back at Kammon. “What the hell?”
Kammon was looking past Ezo to the doorway, but he shrugged. “He worries like this whenever I leave. And he yells when I come back. He knows he can’t heal me, but he feels helpless.”
“You could stay.”
“I could, but that would mean hiding away here until I die. I won’t recover. I’ll just never get worse, and that’s not how I want to live my life.”
“If it gets too much, we come back,” Ezo said as he walked over and handed a bag of Leria powder to Kammon.
Kammon nodded. “That’s always the plan.”
Ezo nodded as he approached Rile’s stall and patted his neck. “Time to get on the road, my friend.” He was ready to lead the horse out of the stable, but Danya appeared in the doorway, another bag in hand. He walked over to Kammon and handed him a bag. “He worries,” Danya said to Kammon.
“Too much.”
“Maybe. Send word from time to time. See us when you can.”
“We will, Danya. And tell him I said thank you. He never lets me get the words out.”
Danya stepped away, and Kammon led his horse out of the stables without waiting for Ezo. Danya smiled at Ezo; whatever else was happening, he knew he was still welcome there.
“He’s always ready to leave. I can see it in you, too, the need to get back to the world. I hope you find the answers you seek.”
“Thank you, Danya. I think you, Cassen, and I are all looking for the same thing now. If I find anything to help him, I’ll send word.”
“It would be appreciated. Be welcome here, Elementalist. We look forward to your return.”
Ezo caught up to Kammon a few minutes later. They traveled in silence for a few miles before Ezo finally spoke. “I don’t think we’ll find what you’re looking for at the bottom of a lake.”
“Maybe not,” Kammon said as he looked at Ezo. “But it’s a place to start, and today looks like a fine day for traveling.”
Ezo nodded, but it felt like he’d swallowed a stone. He hadn’t returned to his village since after the flood. Would anyone have returned to live on the banks of their ruined home? Would the lake stand as a monument to the death and destruction that had forced Ezo into the wide world? And did any of it have the answers he needed most about the truth of Jacob’s past and how it had shaped Ezo’s future?