Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 6.4

Ezra

I stared at the fire in front of me, feeding small sticks to it, poking at the logs with the longer one. It hadn't taken us long to get settled into a routine with the village. The older grandmothers and ladies of the village had taken Mom under their wings. The language barrier was nothing as they showed her how they cooked, the herbs they gathered from the jungle that surrounded them, and how they kept all the men in line as Mom liked to put it.

Anissa and Tessa had fallen in with the warriors like they'd always been a part of the village; training with them, joking and even fending off some friendly advances from the more eligible bachelors.

Dad split his time between the Chief's hut and me. We didn't talk much when he and I sat together. In the first few days, I'd told him about my experiences here in the village - first with just Poe during my Test, and then later as Poe and I had escaped from the Witches with John. Eventually, the words and the stories had dried up, but the quiet comfort of knowing that he was there if I needed to speak more was reassuring.

Even now, he sat with me by the fire, working his hunting knife over a wet stone in front of him, honing the fine steel edge sharper.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Alright," I said. "Better than when we first got here." My Talent was coming back slowly. I definitely couldn't portal back to our world yet, but I could now summon one of the demons if I needed to.

I caught sight of Hunter leaving Tamner's hut, his expression dark enough that I didn't want to bother him as he walked out towards the edge of the village. Instead, I reached out along the family web of Talent in my mind, to see how far he was going, when something else caught my attention. I could feel Hunter. Tessa and Anissa were over by the warrior's fire, but there was a forth. Miles away, on the very edge of what I could currently sense.

I stood, turning toward it. I didn't recognize the flare, but it was, undoubtedly, another Summoner.

"Ezra?" Dad's voice was full of concern. "What is it?"

"Another Summoner, one I don't recognize." I glanced back at him and caught him frowning.

"That'd make sense, though. If they'd had the power to portal and needed a place to hide? Why not somewhere your enemy couldn't reach you?"

He had a point, and I couldn't have felt him last time I was here, because I wasn't Head of the Family then, not until Poe passed the line to me right before he died.

I rubbed at my chest, trying not to notice how heavy my heartfelt. "We should find them, tell them that they aren't alone anymore."

Dad looked at me with a kindness in his eyes. "That would be the right thing to do. But maybe not tonight?"

I took my seat again and picked up my stick to poke at the fire some more. Of course, he was right. I still needed to recover the rest of my power, and John was still weak. I couldn't tell how far the other Summoner was and I wouldn't feel right leaving John at the moment.

Tamner came over, entering the circle of light the fire threw out on the growing darkness.

"How's John?" I asked as he eased down on a woven rug next to Dad.

The old man looked across the fire at me, concern etched deep into his face. "Unwell. The poison is as he said, it took from him his earth power. He is saddened by this, and angry. Angry at himself."

"Is there nothing we can do for him? Anything that would help reverse the effects?" Dad asked.

Tamner focused on the fire. "Nothing I can do. No. Nothing in my power." He was quiet for a moment, but then glanced up at me. "But the Challan, the monks of the temple, on the Northern mountain. Anything that can be done, they have the knowledge."