**
"Boy?"
Blue flames drenched the giggle that escaped Cita's lips, burning it away until the cackle was a howling, wordless scream.
"Cita!" Bilal splashed through the water, creases marring his forehead as he reached out.
Cita flung himself away from the hand. "No! No-no-no!" Panting, he whirled. "Where am I? This isn't where I'm supposed to be!"
"Easy. Calm down, boy," Bilal said as he eased forward, open-palmed and pacifying. "We will find where you are supposed to be, I swear it. Now, put the bow down."
Don't call me boy, Cita thought. His fingers tightened on the bow's grip, and he slipped an intact arrow from his quiver, nocking it without breaking eye-contact with the worried golden orbs that tracked his retreat across the brown grass.
"There is no need for that. You are safe here," Bilal coaxed.
Safe? Nowhere is safe. Baring his teeth, Cita drew and shot, pivoting fractionally at the last moment.
The arrow shot past Bilal and an inky rabbit shrieked as it died.
Bilal whirled and drew his swords in time to stab downward at another Infected rabbit. Two more darted between his feet and leapt for Cita.
A midnight arrow ended the first, but before he could draw again, the last rabbit was too close.
Cita froze as the rabbit sprang at his face. No. Rabbits can't jump that high, he thought with bemused detachment.
Blood splattered over his face as a sword sliced through the Infected. Bilal stood panting and their eyes met again.
"I should have been able to sense their approach," he said at length. "How did you know they were there when I did not?"
"I don't know," Cita said. His breath drew short and fast as he thought about it. "I don't know," he repeated in a higher tone, rocking forward.
"Easy. Easy, now." Bilal soothed while he quickly wiped his blades and re-sheathed them. "Let us get cleaned up, and then we can purify these."
Cita froze. 'Purify?'
He staggered backward as all five corpses burst into flames.
Bilal ran back to the stream, grabbed his waterskin, and returned. Before he could douse the fire, it died down to a few flickers, leaving nothing but ashes.
Mesmerized, Cita sagged to the grass, staring where the flames had been.
**
"How irresponsible can you be?"
The feminine voice was hostile in Cita's ears. It came from directly above him.
'Too close. Not safe!' Cita squirmed away, but his body responded sluggishly. 'What happened? Why can't I move?' He flogged his memory. 'I went to archery club after class, like always. But … something … something bad … happened. I ran, but the trail … it hadn't been there before. And then … 'The trickle of memories ended.
The voice continued, "Bringing an unawakened flame summoner to the market, of all places, and wounded besides! And neither of you have had any water today — I'd stake my last amulet of Staryu on it!"
'Flame summoner? There's a flame summoner, here?' Cita struggled unsuccessfully to sit up. 'Any summoner is EPIC! If the military let one out, I've got to see!'
"Yes, Healer. But please, he is coming around."
'I know that voice,' Cita thought. Although his heart still jack-hammered in his chest, his breathing steadied at the familiar rumbling timbre.
"Bilal?" Cita rasped, prying his eyes open. The afternoon sky was dyed red by the setting sun, gilding the market stalls and reflecting off glass jars on the nearest stand. Packed dirt supported him as the world rotated slowly around him.
'That's right. I fought the Infected. Bilal saved me and led us into town. And then we went to the market. But …'
"Why am I on the ground?"
"You fainted," the woman said. "You're exhausted, dehydrated, and —"
Bilal cut her off. "This is the Healer Rashida. She is a sacred healer of the Silver Tear Clan. From the Far East."
Cita scrutinized the woman. She was pretty enough to draw attention in the market crowd, leaving Cita with a gut-level desire to crawl away. He restrained himself when he noticed something else: her skin was brown, much like his own, and the blackness of her hair was similar as well.
'The Far East, huh? Maybe I'm from there, too?'
"H-hello. I'm —"
"This is Cita," Bilal interrupted again. "We met while he was fighting off a swarm of the Infected not far from the township. That is how he came to be wounded. I had not realized that he was still so affected, or I would not have brought him to the market."
Rashida glared in Bilal's direction. "You both should have known better! Here, at least drink some water." Nimbly, she rose to her feet and moved to her stall to pour two cups.
"Yes, healer." Bilal accepted her chastisement with his head bowed. He muttered to himself, "Jas povtorno nema da uspeam."
[I will not fail again.]
Cita ignored the echo. 'I've never seen Bilal act like this. But then, I've only known him for, what, two days? This healer chick, though …'
Cita whispered to Bilal, "She's blind, right?"
"Blind but not deaf," Rashida pronounced as she returned with the water. "It's a challenge, without my familiar, but I can manage well enough in town. And Staryu gives me eyes to see as she wills." She gave the cups to Cita and Bilal and helped Cita sit up.
Cita was not willing to argue and swallowed his questions with the water.
"Now, you are for hire, correct?" She continued without waiting for a response. "I've been stuck in this blasted township for three months! My former apprentice ran off with my familiar and left me stranded here." She huffed in annoyance.
An image flashed through Cita's mind — the dusky-skinned healer in a cropped top and short skirt, pompoms braced on hips as she complained. He stifled a snicker.
'She's like the head cheerleader when the squad didn't follow her directions! She's got the boobs for it! '
Pain cleaved his skull, driving the irreverent thought away without a trace.
'No-no-no-no!' Cita's heart bolted.
Hoping to distract himself, Cita asked, "What's a familiar? Why would not having one keep you from leaving?"
"My familiar was a cat, which is common here. My master's was a basilisk," Rashida answered with a bitter smile.
Bilal jerked at Rashida's words but didn't interrupt.
"Silva, my old familiar, agreed to a partnership while I was still apprenticed, and she lent me sight." Rashida added, "The strongest familiars — including the basilisk clans — are found to the far east of here, past my homeland. I want to hire you to help me on the journey."
'Past her homeland — maybe that could be my way home? Will Bilal agree to help her?' Cita tried to gauge Bilal's expression.
**Yes! Home!**
Blue washed Cita's vision as he glanced around. 'Still nothing.' The blue faded.
Bilal's face was stony as he finished his water. Golden eyes darted to the market's path.
Two uniformed guards approached at a trot.
'Their hands are on their sword hilts.' Cita's hands groped for the bow he didn't carry.
"Halt!" one said, gripping his weapon with whitened knuckles. "Lord Blaah commands that the adventurers who have brought the Infected into the township come before him."
The other guard smirked at Bilal and relaxed with his hands on his hips.
Rashida snorted. "We are halted, you idiot. We've been halted for some time. And no one has seen the Infected in the township. That news would spread like wildfire."
Cita blinked. 'We? When did that happen?'
The first guard flushed. "I know that! Lord Blaah wants to meet the adventurers who brought the priceless hide into the township. That's you," he accused.
Bilal rose from his crouch and loomed over the shorter guards. His black wing blocked some of the dying light. "I am Bilal, known here as an adventurer. Nathaniel can vouch for me." He gestured to the smirking guard. "I vouch for the boy, and would not have brought him here if it were unsafe. Why are you accusing us of bringing the Infected into the city?"
Cita glared at Bilal before ducking his head. 'Now isn't the time to fight about what he calls me.'
"Um, well," the first guard stammered.
Nathaniel shook his head. "All right, John. That's enough. We'll work on techniques for delivering Lord Blaah's invitations later." He turned back to Bilal. "Calm down, my friend. His lordship is all in a tizzy about a fancy pelt. I think he's ticked off because the merchants aren't willing to sell it to him. Would you and your companions come talk to him?"
"Nathaniel, your lord will turn you out one of these days if you continue to speak so disrespectfully." Bilal shook his head at the guard's continued smirk. He leaned over and extended a hand to Cita.
Cita accepted the assistance. His head spun again as he found his footing, but Bilal steadied him.
"Don't touch me!" Cita snapped. He lurched away from the unwelcome hand and gripped his elbows tightly. 'It was fine a minute ago. Why isn't it now?' Flames flicked at the edges of his vision, and he couldn't meet the concerned golden gaze that watched him.
Bilal frowned and collected their purchases without comment.
Nathaniel's smirk faded, and Rashida snorted.
Bilal broke the awkward silence. "I will come, Nathaniel, but it is best I go alone. This one is not so recovered as we had thought."
Nathaniel hesitated and shook his head. "Lord Blaah was very specific, unfortunately. He wants both of you. I see no way around it. If we —"
"I can see a way around it," Rashida interrupted. "I'm his healer, and I say he is not well enough to dance to Lord Blaah's whim. You can fetch a litter to carry him under my supervision, or he shan't go. By my blessed Lady Staryu, so it will be." She crossed her arms, resolute.
Both guards paled.
Bilal raised his scarred right arm to his forehead, his breastbone, and then his lips. "So it will be," he echoed.
"Yes, healer. We'll do as you say," Nathaniel conceded with a short but respectful bow.