Born in the Flame

Chapter Five

   
It was a long moment before I finally broke eye contact with the dawn elf standing in front of me. It wasn't until I felt the rise of the mead sending a chill up my spine did I throw my head over the stone railing to hurl up anything and everything that had lingered in my stomach. After I finished vomiting onto the rocky surface below the balcony, I looked back up at Birch. Though his face reeked of disgust, I was surprised to be met with a handkerchief.

   "Keep it." He insisted as I cautiously took the scrap of cloth from him. I noted the quality of the fabric and the delicacy of the embroidery on it as I wiped my face with it. My eyes met his with a question, asking him if he was sure he didn't want it back. "No, I think you better keep it."

    "Yikes." Was the only word I could come up with after a moment of catching my breath.

    "That's really the only thing you have to say?" A dark brown eyebrow raised up at me.

    "Well, everything in that memory was truly what you saw, right?" I asked.

    "Of course." He responded. I checked the firebrand, and of course there was no indication that there had been a lie. How unfortunate for the world.

    "So, yeah, yikes." I said as calmly as I could. Internally, I was screaming. Birch looked at me with unwavering green eyes as I continued to wipe the corners of my lips for the remnants of half digested food.

    "You agree then; that it would be in our best interest to convince your father to make that blade?" He pushed. I could tell he was desperate after leaving everything bare before me.

    "Where's the venom?" Was all I countered with.

    "Back in Nadraria."

    "Why in the gods' names did you leave it there when he was here?" I gave him a bewildered look.

    "Why would I risk traveling with something that could literally kill a god?" he retorted. Again, that look was one that insinuated I was an idiot crossed his brow. He was right though, if that vial broke, possibly everything in the vicinity would crumble to ash. It was annoying to admit that the expression on his face was warranted.

    "Okay, fine, but my father has been rejecting the elder council to take up a seat with them for years at the mere concept of having to leave the forge." I sighed, "I could try to convince him, but don't get your hopes up."

    "He wouldn't leave the forge for the sake of the world?" He asked, a look of slight disbelief on his face.

    "I mean, yeah, there is the looming possibility of war but that alone won't convince him to leave the forge."

    "No, if Ninn is freed, there's a possibility that life as we know it will crumble." He stated. As if he knew where I was going to look, he held out the arm with the firebrand. Of course, the bastard wasn't lying.

    "Who is Ninn?" I asked, looking up from the firebrand.

    "The god of war." He sighed, "Ninn, Caiort, Brel, and Mird are the four hestamenn gods. War, famine, plague and death. I'm sure you already knew who Mird was."

    "Maybe the elves talk about dark gods like that, but the dwarves never told us about them." I replied. It was as if he thought everyone would think I would everything about the gods like he did. In reality, why would I care about gods that clearly didn't care about me?

    "Gods, okay, well the hestamenn came to earth after it was created and tainted the land with war, famine, plague and death. The creator gods didn't like it, so they stowed them away on Azolon. Mird was the only one to be able to convince them that he would actually benefit the earth." He sighed, "Of course, everything else that is said to have transpired between the creator gods and Mird is just human philosophy."