Wet Fire

A Poisoned Paradise (E5)

Adair

Adair thought that it had to have been at least a two hundred feet tall. The bluff was, like many of the rocks around here, a pale yellow color, and was jagged as if parts of it had crumbled off years ago. Fresh water gushed and mist out of a fissure in the center of the rock. The breeze coming from inside the bluff was surprisingly cool and moist-it felt heavenly compared to the dry heat of the desert.

Cass approached the cave and waited there for Adair and Kade to catch up. "We had best stay near the mouth of the cave tonight. There is no going deeper until we make some torches."

As night descended upon the shoreline, they gathered leaves and moss and set them down on one of the rocks on the edge of the spring. Adair took a liking to a large fern, whose leaves were large and waxy. He plucked off nearly all of the speckled green leaves and set them down on 'his' pile, which was in between Cass's and Kade's.

It bothered him that Cass and his uncle treated him like a king. I don't feel like anyone special, especially out here in the wilderness. Adair searched the shrubbery for another plant like the last he found. I do not need their constant protection, thought Adair, I am just as able, if not more able, than either of them. He was grateful that they at least let him go off on his own and collect bedding by himself.

Cass told him that he needed to return to Cyclonus alive and well. By this time, she had said, King Faustus was alrady naming his heir. There was no reason for the him to believe that Adair was alive-if any of Adair's ships escaped the attack, then they would know that his ship was destroyed. Most of his knights had died anyhow. Even the five Akauri who came with him had perished.

Adair knew little of his brother, probably like Kade knew little of his daughter. Cass informed him that Blythe was three years younger than him, but had curly black hair and dark blue eyes, instead of Adair's blond hair and ice-blue eyes. She said that he was a little impulsive, but good fighter with a spear-like glaive. Adair had seen his face in a dream once, right after he washed up on the desert shore. Other than that one instance he knew nothing of him. Adair was convinced that the worst part about his amnesia was the fact that he could not remember his relationships with others before the shipwreck. It haunted him for all those nights on the beach.

Two red moons peeked out between the trees of the oasis, reflecting red light upon the undergrowth and rocks. The large left moon was crescent, while the small right moon remained full. It was a strange feeling that he probably saw these same two moons when he was back in Cyclonus, when he had his memories.

With a bundle of leaves in his arms, Adair walked back to their camp. The darkness was hard to see through, but luckily Cass had built a fire, which produced a flickering orange beacon of light that guided him on his way. Adair moved quickly and let the leaves fall from his arms onto his makeshift bed. He then patted down the leaves and sat, waiting for his uncle to return. Kade had gone off in search of bedding as well.

It had been a long day, and Adair was awfully tired. He felt safe for once, instead of exposed and out in the open on the beach. The great bluff that stood above them tonight seemed to him as a guardian, watching for enemies.

Adair felt a tickle run up his leg, and saw a small green spider with black eyes on his calf. He lifted his hand to squash it, but Cass cam up from behind and stopped him. She picked up the spider and set the thing down a few yards away. "Give the poor creature a chance, will you Adair?"

After a while, Kade returned with his share of leaves, and Adair's eyelids grew heavy. The three of them talked for a few hours in the light of two moons, until Adair decided he was too tired, turned over, and closed his eyes. He could just make out Kade and Cass's conversation before he fell into sleep: