Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) (30 page)

“
Oh,” she exclaimed, startled, “Ezra, I didn't expect to see
you again tonight.” She quickly wiped at her eyes and ran a hand
through her hair. “You'll have to excuse me, I was just... it's
been a trying couple of days.”

“
Oh, no, don't worry about it, I understand,” Ezra assured her,
smiling. “I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to be more
help.”

“
I
really don't know how you do it,” she said softly, turning back to
stare at the fire. “Four days of non-stop subterfuge with a group
that you know is out to get you.” She shook her head, cascading red
hair swaying gently with the motion. “I could barely manage an hour
or two a day with that... that
man
.” Kirsten shuddered again and
took a sip of her chocolate. “I don't know if I'm cut out for all
of this intrigue.”

Ezra laughed loudly, then quickly turned it
into a minor coughing fit. “Really? Because I can't think of anyone
more suited to this kind of thing than you, Miss O'Donnell.” He
smirked a bit, thinking of her flirtatious advances on Mat and Mr.
Jeffries. “I am honestly amazed at your resolve and
professionalism.”

The beautiful secretary
sniffed loudly and took another sip from her mug.
What was it she had said before? Oh,
yes
, “Honestly Kirsten, I don't know anyone
as devious as you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, you're just saying
that,” she said, then paused thoughtfully. “But I must say, it
really shows you what you're capable of. Working hard for a goal.
Outwitting your enemies.”

Ezra chuckled lightly as he watched the
flames dance. “I know what you mean. Stressful situations,
pretending to be someone you're not. Mortal terror on dark and
stormy nights.”

“
Mortal... what?” Kirsten turned her eyes to him in
confusion.

“
No, uh, I mean, moral, moral terror.” Ezra stammered out,
thinking quickly. “Because you don't want to, you know, compromise
your values just for a job because that... that would be with you
forever.”

“
Oh, yes, of course,” Kirsten smiled a bit and got to her feet,
displaying far too much long, graceful leg in the process. Ezra
studiously kept his eyes focused on the fire. “Well, it's getting
late, and we have a busy day ahead of us.” And because he was so
focused on the fire, he noticed something a little odd. Sitting
slightly out of the flames, fluttering weakly, was what looked like
a piece of charred cloth. “I really hope we can wrap this up
quickly, Mr. Hawkins.” In fact, when he looked closely, it was
exactly the same color and pattern as the blouse Kirsten had been
wearing earlier that day. “I don't think my wardrobe can survive
too many more encounters with Detective Jeffries.”

The search of Ezra's lab
was relatively painless. Mr. Jeffries made a big show of
discovering Ezra's unmodified glider in its carrying case, and was
utterly disappointed when it failed to be anything really
interesting. His DOLT team poked around, he made a few wild
accusations, and generally managed to eat up the morning without
uncovering anything of a suspicious nature. Jeffries was scowling
ferociously by the time he left at around noon, grumbling about how
it was just a little
too
neat and tidy while his subordinates quietly
apologized for the inconvenience.

Not feeling up to contacting Mat or Sarah,
Ezra tried in vain to get in touch with Gal, leaving about a dozen
messages before giving it up as a lost cause. He halfheartedly
toyed with a theoretical wormhole hacking model he had worked up
for fun, but not even the thought of hijacking an active wormhole's
power source by bombarding the hypothetical connection with
non-Meruvian particles held any real appeal. He was seriously
considering just going back to bed when he got a ping from Liza
Crawford. Surprised, Ezra pulled it up. “Hello? Liza?”

“
Oh, Mr. Hawkins! I didn't expect to... well, you know, with
everything that's been happening, and no-one being able to reach
you for comment and all, I just assumed that you would be too busy
to... oh! Not that I think you had anything to do with what
happened, of course! I was merely checking to see, um, how you
were...” Liza trailed off uncertainly.

“
No, I'm glad you called,” Ezra said, amused. “The last few
days have just been so crazy, a familiar voice is like a breath of
fresh air.”

“
Oh yes, it all must have been terribly exciting. Miss Doe told
me about your...” her image glanced around, then she leaned in and
whispered, “your project. I can hardly believe it, it's all just
too incredible. A whole other world!”

Ezra froze. What had Gal said to... no, no
she wouldn't have gone and told someone about the outside world.
But still... “Oh... yes,” Ezra said carefully. “My... project. Um,
what... exactly did Miss Doe tell you?”

“
Oh, simply everything! It sounds so exciting, you and Mr.
Matanane, working on your secret project for the government. Why
else would you be learning to use a sword, after all?”

“
Why else?” Ezra echoed weakly.

“
To blend in of course! Is it true that the dragons are as big
as ten skiffs?”

“
Huh?”

“
Dragons!” Liza nearly shouted, then quickly lowered her voice
again, “Miss Doe said that you brought her back a dragon's heart
that you had to cut out yourself. And it was all made of crystal!
And that you're using them to power the next generation of
wormholes, and how the power problem was because you were hunting a
crafty old dragon and probably had to use some modern technology,
and you weren't sure how that would work out, and-”

“
Wait,” Ezra interrupted her. “What? Dragons? Made of
crystal?”

Liza was clearly taken aback. “Well, Miss
Doe said that it was only their hearts made of crystal, but I
suppose you would know best.”

“
Liza, what are you talking about?”

“
The... the other dimension,” Liza said hesitantly, sounding
more than a little embarrassed. “The one that you, a-and Mr.
Matanane go to sometimes. The one that... that you discovered in
your experiments? It's where... well, Miss Doe said that all of the
wormholes go through it, but we pass through so fast that we didn't
know and... and oh my. She was making fun of me again, wasn't she?”
Liza finished miserably.

“
I'm afraid so, Liza,” Ezra said seriously. He just couldn't
resist. “The dragons we hunt are much bigger.”

Liza gasped, her eyes growing huge as she
pulled her hand up to her mouth. Then she paused, eyes narrowing
slightly. “Wait, if the dragons were much bigger, how could you
kill them with a sword?” Realization dawned on her face. “Ezra
Hawkins, you're making fun of me too!” she huffed.

Ezra burst into a fit of laughter. It felt
good. Very, very good. “I'm sorry Liza,” he gasped. “I just
couldn't help myself.”

“
Well, shame on you,” she said stiffly. “I see that you are in
a fine mood, so I shall come right to the point. Miss Doe has
informed me that I am ready to have a real sparring partner.
Furthermore, she has stated that your hand-to-hand skills are
dreadful, and I should take it upon myself to see to your
edification. I've already spoken to Mr. Matanane, and he said it
would be his pleasure to spot for us tomorrow afternoon at the
gym.”

“
Wait, what?” Ezra said, wiping tears of merriment from his
eyes.

“
I
will be teaching you the basics of self-defense while
simultaneously learning to spar with an opponent closer to my own
size while Mr. Matanane supervises. It would be gentlemanly of you
to accept.”

Ezra blinked a few times. “And Mat said he
would be, uh, pleased to supervise?”

“
Well,” Liza suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. “Those
were not his
exact
words...”

“
What, um,” Ezra cleared his throat. “What were his exact
words?”

“
If you must know, he said that he would be pleased to see you,
um, knocked around by a girl like a, a...” She gulped, “stuck-up
bumpkin!” Liza slapped her hand over her mouth and stared at Ezra
guiltily for a few seconds, then blurted out, “Oh please don't make
me repeat exactly what he said! It took me all morning just to
recover enough to send you a ping! There are...” She looked down
and blushed. “There are some things that a lady simply should not
say.”

Ezra shook his head, smiling to himself, “I
think I can imagine what he said.” He looked out the window at the
setting sun, violet and pink ripples of light cascading through the
Sanctuary shield around it. “Tomorrow afternoon then.”

==

“
Watch your feet!” Mat hooted from the sidelines.

Ezra blinked and looked
down at his feet for a split second. That was apparently all the
time Liza needed. In a flash she had his wrist and was pulling him
forward. Ezra stumbled and tried to brace himself, but suddenly the
girl was dropping like a stone, spinning as she collapsed to her
knees. He felt his arm follow, then his shoulders, back, hips and
legs. In the midst of the inexorable flip forward, he was awarded a
glimpse of his feet rising off the ground.
Oh, watch your feet
, Ezra
thought.
To brace yourself and prevent
something like that-

“
Ooph,” the air rushed out of Ezra's lungs as he landed flat on
his back, his arm now pinned painfully above his head.

“
Oh, Mr. Hawkins, I'm sorry, I thought you were in a better
position and just tried to pull you a little off-balance,” Liza
quickly released his arm and clutched her hands to her chest, the
picture of a distressed lady. “If I'd known that you were going to
suddenly look down like that, I never would have attempted anything
that dangerous.”

Ezra coughed weakly and turned his head to
glare at Mat. The huge grin on Mat's face said it all, but he still
called out, “Because you want them on the ground! Your feet!” He
pointed to his own feet as if talking to an idiot. Ezra
groaned.

Liza frowned at Mat. “Maybe that's enough
for today, Ezra,” she said gently. “You've taken quite a number of
falls-”

“
Fifty-two!” Mat trumpeted. “That's the number of times she
threw, tripped, pushed or pulled you flat on your back.” Ezra
frowned and started counting in his head. “You fell for no real
reason another six times,” Mat added helpfully.

“
Mr. Matanane, please!” Liza sounded exasperated. “I know that
young men bond over confrontation and the occasional harsh word,
but I really don't think you are accomplishing anything with your
incessant teasing at poor Ezra's expense.”

“
Oh, don't worry, it's accomplishing plenty,” Mat said
gleefully as Ezra put a hand to his forehead.

“
It's okay, Liza,” Ezra still sounded a little winded. “I just
need to catch my breath for a minute. You go on ahead.”

Liza gave him a worried look, then
gracefully rose and bowed. She began to take her hair out of its
braid, as she frowned seriously at Mat. “You'll take care of him,
won't you Mr. Matanane?”

“
Oh, I'll take care of him all right.” Mat still wore a pleased
grin.

Liza gave Ezra another worried look, to
which he responded with a weary thumbs-up. “Well, I'll see you both
tomorrow then?”

“
Wouldn't miss it.” Mat gave Liza an elaborate bow, then
grabbed Ezra's raised arm and pulled him roughly to his feet.
“Phew, but this boy needs a shower. Not everyone can perspire as
beautifully as you, Miss Liza.”

Liza blushed a bit and rolled her eyes. “Mr.
Matanane, please.” She easily wove her way through the gym like
she'd been born there, exchanging pleasantries with various persons
on her way out.

Mat watched her go with pride while Ezra
glumly headed for the showers.

Halfway through getting dressed, something
clattered onto the bench next to Ezra. Startled, he glanced over
and saw a practice sword lying there. Mat leaned against the nearby
lockers, casually inspecting his nails. “Just 'cuz we've got a
little time off, doesn't mean you get to go soft on me. And
frankly, what happened out there today was just too embarrassing.
Foot work exercises for a month, and I want to see you escape at
least one throw before the week is out.”

Ezra looked at him, hope budding in his
chest. “Then, you're not-”

“
Man up, Ezra,” Mat cut him off, laughing. “Guildsmen don't
mope.” He punched Ezra lightly in the arm on his way to the door.
“Just don't let Gal know that her girl slapped you around so bad!
I'll never hear the end of it!”

After that, Ezra's life fell back into a
comfortable rhythm. Early morning hand-to-hand practices with Liza
and, once she was back, Gal. Breakfast at home while he caught up
on whatever news Kirsten found appropriate or applicable. Research
until lunch, keeping up appearances in case Miss O'Donnell got
suspicious. Sword training with Mat later in the day. True to his
word, Mat had Ezra practice his foot work until he was certain that
nothing short of divine intervention could get his feet tangled.
Liza was happy to disabuse him of that certainty each morning, but
according to Gal, Liza was some kind of ass-kicking savant, so he
stopped feeling too bad about it.