Chapter 15: Hospitality

Before she knew it, Adriana ended up entertaining almost all of Juthida’s children. They were an out of the way island, several days away from the major trade routes, and she was the most exciting thing to happen to the town all year.

“Smoldersap!” Adriana shouted, thrusting a blackened hand into the air. It bubbled and spit as she intensified the heat. She hadn’t known she could do that, but it bubbled and grew bigger until it looked like her entire hand was engulfed by the thick, sticky substance.

Her audience of about three dozen kids cheered and screamed. One little boy got closer and tried to touch it as it fell off her hand and spattered to the dirt below. Adriana jerked out of the way and held him back with her other hand.

“Not so close! I’m supposed to be helping this village, not getting you little bastards hurt. You ready to see how long it burns?”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” The kids cheered back. The youngest of them was probably the dark skinned boy she held back, and the oldest was almost an adult, but she too came by to see the Godmarked woman with the flaming hands and hair.

Adriana pushed the kid back and gently lobbed the growing ball of viscous fire in the air, then stepped back. It landed and splashed in a three foot radius, but she’d chosen the area well. There was no grass, brush, or plant life for ten yards in any direction. It hissed and spit and burned black. It left very little smoke, but it burned for a while.

“Doesn’t it hurt you?” One kid craned his head to get a better look. “When you’re holding it.”

“Nope. It feels good to use it, like it’s something I’m meant to do. That’s how Divinity works. You get a piece of a God, and part of you already knows how to use it.” Adriana smiled, but poked the burning mass. It didn’t hurt so much as feel like it should’ve hurt. Maybe it was another part of the sun God suite of abilities, immunity from her own fire.

“What else can you do?” someone shouted.

Adriana cupped her hands together and aimed them in the air. She fired off her Flamespitter straight up. The fire hurtled upward about ten feet as she put more power into it. The sun hanging over them didn’t provide her with unlimited energy, but it helped. More and more, Adriana kept going until the cone widened and extended even higher.

The children screamed their approval. Adriana grinned at them, carefully, turned it down and then aimed at the still bubbling Smoldersap. The reaction was immediate. The pool increased in size, boiling over until it doubled. The nearest kids backed up in a hurry. The sap burned lower, but wider and more furiously. Even she could feel the heat coming off of it, and her sense of temperature had been dulled significantly.

“That’s amazing!” Alicia said. This entire show had been for her, and the way she looked at Adriana in awe and with eagerness warmed her from the inside out. “There’s no way that monster’s going to last against you.”

“There’s one more thing I can do,” said Adriana. “But you’re going to want to close your eyes in a second, otherwise it might hurt a little.”

Then she did her strongest move so far. The flashfire appeared in her hand, draining her to produce it, but the little blue ball of fire was worth it. It was almost funny how unimpressive it looked on its own, but it had saved her ass so many times already.

“That’s it?” Alicia demanded.

Adriana threw the ball over her shoulder with a smile. All of the kids fought to shield their faces as the blue flame detonated harmlessly on the ground. A second later, they were all cheering again, and she took a bow.

“The only other thing I can do, that I know of, is being on fire during the day, and being able to glow at night. Not really anything to show off.” Adriana eyed the still boiling, seven foot wide puddle of smoldersap. She conjured flashfire once more. If the flamespitter had made it grow and spread, what would this do?

She was right about to toss it on the fire when a woman cried out, “Todd, Michael, get away from there right this second.” The woman rushed over to them, obviously one of their mothers. She looked permanently grumpy and like she was annoyed with Adriana personally. “And you! What do you think you’re doing? That’s dangerous!”

The flashfire went away, and Adriana scowled. “I have it under control. I know what I’m doing. I’m a Hero, you know. And maybe someday, one of these kids will have Divinity of their own, and will be able to protect this village. You know, since you need outsiders to clean up your Bestia mess.”

The woman didn’t know whether to be shocked or angry. She grabbed her boys by the arms and dragged them away, fussing a mile a minute and refusing to look at Adriana. The other kids took this as the signal that the show was over and dispersed, except for Alicia.

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“I want Divinity,” she said.

“Damned right you do,” said Adriana. “You’ve got teeth. Unlike that woman and half those kids. Promise me something, kid. Promise that you’ll never let anyone keep you down, don’t let nobody force you to do anything you don’t want to do. You want Divinity? Then go out and get it. You want to fight and be dirty and get in trouble, do it. It’s not just for the boys.”

Alicia nodded solemnly.

Once upon a time, there had been no one to tell Adriana that or anything similar. All the other kids had fought her for scraps of food and odd jobs they could feed themselves with. The adults looked at her like an extra mouth to feed at best, and a little bandit at worst. There had been no one at all, until Davos. Kids deserved better than that.

They went back to the village, and miraculously, all the kids had chores to do. Some of the adults looked at Adriana with suspicion, but she suspected that she would be fine so long as she didn’t cause any fights. Being on Davos’ side would probably get her a lot of leeway.

But he was nowhere to be found. There was nowhere to hide, really, and there was no way he’d go off hunting the monster on his own, so Adriana checked the docks. He wasn’t there either, but that was only because he had gone out to get dinner for the village. Frustrated and bored, Adriana went back and got another fish from her new friend, and waited.

He didn’t come back until sunset. When he did, it was in a group of other men slapping him on the back. A couple of them pulled a cart filled with the day’s catch, which would easily be enough to feed them all and then some. He passed by Adriana with a wink.

She had a choice to let him do his own thing like he often did, or to follow along just because she was bored. When they put her to work cleaning the fish, she wondered if she had made a mistake.

The rest of the day went by in a blur of hard work. Adriana didn’t mind working, but it was monotonous, and she found herself listening in on village gossip. Although it had been her eyes that were enhanced, her hearing was still sharper than most.

“Alicia was around that woman with the fire earlier. I hope she doesn’t get any ideas.”

“Nia and Mia are growing up so fast. I pity the man who has to try to separate them from each other.”

“Alan’s eye has been wandering lately. Did you see how he’s been getting cozy to Tanya?”

Her only relief came from hauling crates full of fish heads and bones back to the dock. Adriana couldn’t imagine what it would be like to stay in one place and trade the same boring stories with the same boring people. Working on the meal with everyone reminded her that people in one place ate better on average, but she got to sample the world.

After several hours of chopping heads, descaling and deboning fish, and carrying garbage and firewood around for people, she was ready to eat and then actually enjoy a bit of nothing before the day ended and they could get on with their job in the morning. That monster wouldn’t know what hit it. She grabbed a seat by the firepit in the center of town.

All throughout the square, the day’s catch had been cooked and paired with fresh bread, goat cheese, and even some lamb. Baked and sliced apples lay in a circle around a mountain of grapes. The village didn’t have much, but they shared what they had, and the fires kept the winter chill at bay. Before they ate, Marano had a few words to say.

“We haven’t been given much cause to celebrate. The Gods are busy these days, keeping the worst of the Maw’s creatures at bay, so we’ve been on our own…until now. Today, our good friend Davos returned, and brought with him a newborn God!”

Adriana didn’t know if she liked that many people looking at her, nor how split their opinions seemed to be. Most seemed doubtful or downright belligerent, while a few looked excited. The children, at least, looked happy.

“Together, they will slay the great beast that’s been taking our children and our warriors. Tomorrow, the nightmare ends and we will once more know peace and safety. And with a bit of time to rest, our warriors will be able to prune the swamp of Bestia more often. But tonight? Tonight we eat, drink, and dance, and celebrate these two heroes who have been sent by Hessius himself!”

A murmur went through the crowd. They didn’t know. Adriana looked at Davos, but he shook his head. Now wasn’t the time or place, and even she wasn’t dumb enough to kill their hope when they had yet to enjoy it.

“So, honored guests and warriors, please help yourself to the bounty of Jithuda, and know that as long as your intentions are true, you’ll always be counted among us as friends.” Marano bowed low.

Adriana looked around. All around the village, people bowed their heads. Few looked pleased about it, but they were paying tribute to her. As a God. The proclamation would have been more effective during the day. Now, she looked like an ordinary, if large and powerful, woman who wasn’t on fire anywhere.

Davos stood up and cleared his throat. “We thank you for your generous words and hospitality. I promise you our intentions are true, we are friends for as long as you’ll have us. Tomorrow, my partner and I will deal with your problem.” He looked around and leaned forward. He stage-whispered, “And then after, the real celebration begins. But as the good Marano says, let’s eat, drink, and dance!”

He motioned for Adriana to join him. She was mindful of all the eyes following her as she leaned in close.

“You enjoying yourself?” Davos asked. “These could be your very first followers, if you get your wish. Get some food and wine, not too much, mind you. Then maybe dance and enjoy yourself. We very well could die horribly tomorrow. Hate him all you want, Synto was a beast in a fight.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It would be a lot nicer if they didn’t look at me like I was a freak. Not when there’s like -- “

“Knock it off,” Davos interrupted sharply. “Get your head out of your ass and have a good time. I demand it.” He smiled brightly. “But not too much.”

“You can’t make me,” Adriana grumbled, but she grabbed a bowl and filled it with fruit, meat, and bread, and took a wineskin for herself.

After them, everyone else lined up. Davos waited with his bowl for everyone to get food, but she dug in immediately. He sighed, but she ignored him. He told her to enjoy herself, so that’s what she planned on doing.