Blades that Burn

Chapter Nine: Lewis

Adelina was speechless. What was she supposed to do now? Here before her is her enemy, her fears manifesting into reality. After centuries of peace, the fire kingdom was at her doorstep. Unable to defend herself, she would be at his mercy. Yet he approached her and didn't harm her. Instead, he introduced himself. What was he planning?

"Hi. I'm...Frost." She looked around for an idea. Scolding herself for such an awful and obviously fake name.

"Frost? Hmm. I like it. Nice to meet you. Can you stand now?" Lewis said with a chuckle.

He appeared to be relaxed and carefree. A look of concern was clear on his face. He stretched out his arms as though he wanted to reach out to help her stand, but then reminded himself that he couldn't as he withdrew his hands.

"I can manage." She said, trying to not appear vulnerable.

"Do you live in the village below? What's it like?" Lewis asked with curious and childlike wonder laced in voice.

"No, I don't. I'm here investigating an illness." Adelina replied.

"Do you have any leads?"

She looked at him in disbelief. How was she to explain he was causing it? If she said the wrong thing, he would probably end up killing her to cover his tracks. At the same time, she couldn't decide if he was pretending to be dumb on purpose or if he was utterly oblivious to the pain he was causing already. Perhaps he was just too slow, which is why he was behaving as ignorantly as a child.

"I have one." She answered.

"That's fantastic!"

"What brings you to the mountain?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I like to come here and clear my head. It's so quiet here and beautiful. We don't have this kind of scenery where I'm from," a deflated look resigned on his face.

He continued, "the sky is so grand and dark, yet full of bright dots."

"You mean stars?"

"Is that what they're called? Stars."

Adelina watched him stare intensely at the night sky and pressed him further for information.

"Where are you from?"

Lewis caught on to her attempt to gather more intel and deflected.

"A place much different than here. What about you?"

She coughed and said, "far away from here."

The pair sat in silence for a while and watched the stars. Neither of them wanted to reveal too much information. Adelina's stomach growled loudly reminding her she hadn't eaten yet. Lewis broke out into a laugh and gestured towards the campsite where the food had been cooking.

"Shall we?" He asked.

Feeling like she had enough strength to walk on her own again, Adelina pushed off the boulder she'd been using for support and made her way to the campsite. She made sure to keep Lewis in her line of sight just in case he was to try something. When they arrived, she saw a red clay pot bubbling over with water, herbs, and meat inside.

"I wasn't sure what you ate, but I figured it was probably something like those plants and animals I've encountered here." he said hesitantly.

"You gathered this from plants and animals here on the mountain?" She asked.

Lewis nodded proudly, feeling like he had done something right. Swiftly, she kicked the pot over, spilling the soup onto the ground.

"What was that about? Did you think it was poisoned? Because it wasn't." Lewis said angrily.

"It was. The animals and plants here have all shown traces of the disease I'm investigating. Eating it would be exposing me too." Adelina explained.

Lewis stood there quietly, still trying to suppress his anger. She reached into her tent and took out a big sandwich full of deli meat and spinach. Then she began to take a big bite from it. Lewis watched her in befuddlement. Who is this crazy woman, he thought. Are all people from the surface like this?

Despite her strange behavior and hostile attitude, Lewis began to take an interest in her. She was a beautiful, tall and slender woman. Her eyes were a crisp and icy bright blue that complemented their round almond shape. Her skin was fair and appeared delicate as snow. The white frosty hair braided and pinned back gave her an elegant and majestic look. Her face was gracefully slim and angular. This accentuated her soft pink and plush lips. Lewis couldn't help but marvel at her.

Having caught him staring, Lewis' face glowed brighter as he flushed with embarrassment. He turned his gaze off of her and back to the sky. His heart raced nervously.

"Is it good?" he asked, still staring up, too afraid to make eye contact.

Adelina finished eating her final bite before she replied, "yes, it was."

He whipped his gaze back at her. She had finished already. His eyes widened. No woman had ever eaten so quickly and dignified as she had. Fear flickered in his eyes; she was definitely not an ordinary woman.

Lewis was originally on a scouting mission to oversee the fire kingdom's ability to expand. Having remembered his purpose, he stood up and bowed to Adelina.

"I had fun today, Frosty. Thank you for letting me stay with you."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking my leave now."

"I get that, but why? You on a mission or something? In need to return home?"

"I do need to return home, otherwise others will come looking for me. Are you afraid, you'll miss me already?" Lewis teased.

"No, you needn't worry about that. I'm not so weak as you witnessed today. If you had come sooner, I would have proven it to you."

"I don't doubt that. There was an intense glow and a giant bird when I arrived. I'm sure you would have killed me with it if that blast didn't knock you out and blind you." Lewis said in admiration.

Adelina was taken aback. He had watched her practicing and fail but still he was admitting defeat. What kind of Rarog is he? Everything she had learned about the fire kingdom pointed to them being vicious and heartless. She was told from a very young age that they were ruthless and scary. This man was none of those things. Is everything she had known about them a lie? Were they even planning on invading?