Elements of Change

Riverkeep

Ezo spent two nights sleeping next to the rushing waters of the Sanguine River and he felt revived. The river fork was deep and wide, a natural border between three countries. He could see the ruins of two outposts on the other sides. They had long been abandoned and reclaimed by nature.

Ezo needed the quiet and peace of the river after seeing the burnt-out ruins of Fire Born Castle.

He'd spent the last two days at the castle but retreated to the river at night. The castle was the stuff of nightmares but not for ghosts that the old peddler feared. Even now, Ezo could feel the pain that echoed along the walls. He didn't know how no one else sensed it, but this was no battle. The castle had been brought down by grief and suffering. A razing all right, but not of armies.

He wouldn't go back, except that the book had brought him there and he kept searching for more. It was hard to imagine anything survived the fire when stone had melted, but he would turn the place upside down until he was certain there was no great treasure still hidden amidst the ash.

Ezo touched the pack on his back, feeling the weight of the book pull at his shoulders. He hadn't finished reading it yet. It was a dense tome and he wanted to take his time, but he'd sped through the pages, looking for key words that would help him in his search for specific knowledge. It was a true history of elemental magic and not one edited and whittled down by lesser men who wished to keep the secrets of magic to themselves.

He'd found what he wanted, but it wasn't at all what he thought it would be.

Kammon. The bastard knew and he'd run so damn hard. He had no idea how persistent Ezo could be, though, but he'd find out soon enough.

Right now, there was another call.

Ezo pulled himself up onto Rile's back and the horse neighed softly to him. The horse wasn't spooked by the ruined castle. When Ezo had gone to buy a horse the man had sized him up and pointed him to Rile. Mild temperament, steady and easy. Rile could be fast when called upon for short bursts but Rile was meant for long trails and wasn't likely to scare easily. It had been a good call. Probably the only reason Ezo was still on horseback.

It was a twenty-minute ride and Ezo felt a chill as he watched the Fire Born Castle appear around the trees as if it had been waiting. In some ways, he felt it had. There was a story there that no one was telling. Ezo wasn't sure he was the one who would figure it out, but it was a mystery he wanted to understand.

Not as much as he hoped to find more books though.

When he arrived, he set Rile to a rocky enclosure that was overgrown and full of greenery for the beast to eat, then headed in toward the back of the house.

He'd been systematically working room by room, trying to find anything that would help him understand the elements better. This had become Ezo's true quest. His uncle had given him knowledge, but not truth. He helped him grasp his magic, but not see the wider scope of it. Ezo's journey away from home had become a need to know the details that had been lost to him. And not just about magic.

If Jacob knew Kammon, how could Jacob not believe in effigies? Why would he lie about it? Why hadn't he taught Ezo about sharing his magic with another elemental? About the bond? He had so many questions but one drove all the others from his head. What had his uncle really died from?

Kammon had the answer to at least one of the questions that ran through Ezo's head on a continual loop.

The back room of the house had been a study or family room. There was more left of this room than any other. Was it the furthest from the source of the fire? Saved by some purpose Ezo didn't know? Or was it simple luck?