Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hard-Headed and the Stubborn

"All Slave Auctions will take place once a month on Market Day, the date and time of which will be determined by the mayor of the town."

Despite the fact that Ezra knew her skills were limited, she could never forgive herself if she didn't at least try and end the naiad to save her brother in Iah-Ra. Suddenly, the flame in her hands erupted into a ball of fire larger than she thought she could manage. She pushed her confusion aside for the moment and threw it at the naiad where it exploded into an inferno that left nothing behind but a puff of vapor.

***

At Bloodrose Villa, everyone noticed a hint of steam lifting off Ivanna as her body-temperature rose so high it evaporated her sweat.

"All right, Iva," said Polaris. "That's enough." He went to grab her shoulder.

"Don't touch her!" Aleda warned. "You'll burn yourself! Here!"

Aleda got up to snatch an afghan from a chair and approached Ivanna with it as soon as the lady released the breath she had held. Ivanna fell forward in her seat, but Aleda caught her with the afghan just in time.

"Thank you," Ivanna whispered. "I did it. They won their fight."

"You almost killed yourself!" Polaris exclaimed. "What was worth your life?"

"Rein found a group of people who can most certainly be much of help to us. You trained them, apparently, and I must say, you trained them well. Now, I must find out where they're staying so that Rein can bring them here."

"No, I think you should get some rest fir –"

"No," Ivanna interrupted. "There's plenty of time for rest, but not much time to learn where these people are staying or headed. I'll be fine, it doesn't take much to simply watch."

***

Ezra and Elion rushed up to Jedidiah who was sprawled out on the ground drowning at this point. Elion was quick to pump Jedidiah's chest and at the fourth pump, the water spewed from his mouth. Jedidiah leaned over to his side to cough up the droplets which remained.

"That was fantastic, Ezra!" Elion complimented.

"That wasn't me." Ezra was quick to clarify. "I can't explain it, but I did not create that – that inferno!"

"Who else could it have been?" Elion asked.

"I can't say, but I'm sure someone must be watching us," Ezra said. "At any rate, my point is I didn't do that, so please never expect me to do it again."

The three of them glanced at each other in the faint moonlight that barely reached into the warehouse. Jedidiah and Elion wondered if they should believe Ezra, and Ezra just sat there and hoped they would.

"If that's the case, then perhaps we should research other ways to take down naiads," said Jedidiah. "They're complicated. I don't like them."

"I agree," said Elion. "For now, we need to speak with the merchant and then get out of here before people arrive. I'm certain someone must've heard us."

Jedidiah helped to spark a flame in Ezra's hands so that they had better lighting, however Ezra did her best to keep it hidden from Gideon who powered down from his berserkergang. They found the poor merchant huddled in a ball behind some crates and boxes in a dark corner. He yelped a little at the sight of the three assassins.

"You don't have to worry," Jedidiah croaked. He cleared his throat as he continued to recover from nearly drowning on land. "We're still on your side, and Gideon can't find us without light. We have no need for your fine linens and those who did won't bother you anymore."