Four

“Who are you?” he asked, sensing he was dealing with more power than he originally thought. She noticed the change in attitude and decided to leverage his reduced aggressiveness. She let go of the water and allowed some branches to retreat, which was a major relieve for them both. She took a deep breath to steady her own voice before talking

“I am Brianna of Hawthorne, and I would appreciate if you cease to attack me for no apparent reason” She felt drained and still scared but was glad her voice didn’t tremble.

“If you let me go, I promise not to harm you.” He hoped to sound in charge but felt there was little he could do to injure her at that point, after the power demonstration from her behalf. She didn’t seem to notice the discrepancy of power between them and for that he was glad. The tree retreated completely and soon he was back on the ground, stretching muscles that were numb after being crushed for that long.

“I’m sorry” she said, seeing she caused him harm beyond need. He tilted his head in confusion and she pointed to his bruised arms, that contained no more than a few red marks. It didn’t take him long to figure she was not accustomed to fighting, nor the idea of harming an opponent. That was interesting.

Brianna was staring at him, trying to read something out of the man’s eyes. She was good at reading people, but the man had a stern look that could only be read as a mild discomfort. She was curious, for she thought he would be angry at her for restraining him and perhaps mad about her threat to use water to block his attempt on starting a fire.

“What is your name?” It was only fair to ask him since she had already introduced herself.

“I am Nathaniel. Why did you bring me here?”

“Because you passed out on the forest the night I had to burn the new wood”

“You had to burn? You started the wildfire?” She nodded. It made sense it was not all him. The fire didn’t have his signature when he came to think about it. At the time he was too worried to understand, but he was somewhat glad that it was not all his doing. “Did you also conjure the rain?”

“I didn’t conjure it, I called for her and she came.” She dismissed the oddly way he phrased that and asked the question that really bothered her. “What happened to you there? I heard you scream and thought you were burnt, but you were… fine. What are you?”

He scoffed, thinking about the ludicrous idea of a phoenix getting burnt. Then again, she had no idea who he was and perhaps would think the truth was even less likely. He thought no harm would come from telling her at least half the truth. She was staring at him like she knew his soul and despite his deceiving abilities, he couldn’t shake the idea that she would see right past him if the chose to lie. 

“I am a phoenix, master of fire and made by it. I heard the earth’s calling and came to help, but when I ignited to burn the wood, you came and did your whole show. The water you called for was raw, which I noticed a bit too late. You know how it goes; raw water plus inner fire equals comatose state until you pumped me up with fire again. Now that brings me to the real question: why would a sorceress tend to the earth and then bring me back without even knowing me?”

Brianna had never met a phoenix, but she read about them and that actually explained a lot. But now she owned him an explanation as well. “I’m not a sorceress, I’m a witch. I tend to the earth as I tend to all elements and I brought you back because you asked”

Because I asked? he thought as they stared at each other. She wanted something from him, she must have. But then again, she sounded more honest than anyone he had ever met. Not naïve though. They usually came together, honesty and innocence, but apparently not in her. Nate’s mind was a hundred miles per hour trying to figure out what to do next.

He was not used to this sort of situation and knew far less about her than he felt comfortable with. If he was to continue in this village – at least he hoped he was still in the village - he had to gather more information. Perhaps learning about her and reporting back to the Council would please them. They are always searching for powerful beans, either for recruitment or for threat disposal.

The witch saw something flicker behind his eyes that could only be read as excitement. He was also uncomfortable, and she didn’t blame him. If she woke up in a similar situation, she would probably flee at the first opportunity. However, the idea of him leaving so soon saddened her.

She wanted to learn more about him and felt bad for having caused him to pass out. Not that she could have done anything different, but still. Perhaps he only needed a little hospitality from her behalf.

“You must be hungry. If you want, I can prepare something for you and take you back to the village after we eat. It is not far, but it might be hard for you to find your way back alone.”

The opportunity she dangled in front of him was far too tempting to deny. The extra time with the witch would be the perfect way to find out more about her and it was not even his idea. Sure, it was a risk to accept apparent kindness from a complete stranger, especially one who already proved to be more powerful than him, but then again he didn’t get his job by playing safe.

“You are too kind. Thank you, Brianna.”