Diamond Bonds (13 page)

To her dismay, she’s ignored yet again.  Jem turns to Era and gives him a look that sends chills down his spine.  Without saying another word, she turns and stomps to the south.

“Jem!” Era shouts as he stumbles after his partner.  “Fire went that way.”  However, Jem continues marching in silence.  As her companions chase after her, Era realizes just how much trouble he’s in from both sides. “Oh man, Fire isn’t going to be happy about this.”

Chapter 8

“Come on, say
something
already!” Era cries out, tired of Jem’s silent treatment.  “I’m ready.  I can handle it!”

Jem tucks her canteen back away and withdraws her compass.  Despite already moving at an accelerated pace, she picks up her speed in an effort to keep Era at a distance.

Era sighs in frustration, wondering whether Jem will forgive him for this anytime soon.  Still, he wonders what else he should have done.  Even if he hadn’t tried to hire Fire’s services, she would have started tracking them again.  Bad arm or not, he has no desire to reengage her in combat.

They come to the clearing where the local train tracks make their run.  Jem storms into the open, recklessly revealing herself to anyone who may be watching.  Era creeps to the edge of the clearing and glances around before again darting after Jem.  The tracks remind him of their epic raid, though that success is becoming a distant memory in light of their current woes.

Frustrated, he determines their safety is compromised by the lack of communication.  Dashing to get in front, Era turns around and extends his arms out to block Jem’s path.  She crosses her arms and glares at Era, giving him a lump in his throat as he weakly stutters, “L-Look, I know you’re mad at me, but not talking is going to get us into trouble!”

“On the contrary, your new
best friend
told us we need to be more inconspicuous,” Jem counters.  “Traveling in silence is a good idea, right?”

Era swallows hard but remains firm.  “Jem, I’m sorry, okay?”

“For what
exactly?
” she demands, her gaze fixed on him.

Her partner stares at her blankly.  “W-Well, you know… hiring Fire.”

Jem rolls her eyes and walks around the roadblock.

“What is it!?” Era yells as he chases after her, back into the woods.  “What do you want from me?  I’m sorry for trying to hire her help, but I had good reason!  She was-”

“You think
that’s
what I’m upset about?” Jem barks.  “I’m used to that kind of thing from you by now.  Try again!”

Era frowns, not expecting that response.  “Then what are you… wait, are you upset I left you behind last night?”  Jem continues to stomp away, but Era grabs her hand.  “Jem, is
that
what you’re-”

“We’re
partners
, Era,” she interrupts.  “We’re a
team
, and teammates don’t go solo like that!”  She yanks her hand from Era and jabs him in the shoulder.  “What made you think to leave me behind?”

Stunned by the response, Era struggles to come up with a reply.  “W-Well… you were pretty shaken up after the-”

“I was
what?
”

Era doesn’t back down. “I know you pretty well by now, Jem,” he says gently.  “You weren’t yourself last night.  You were upset, and I could tell.”

“Okay, so… what, you decided to go solo because I was shaken up due to you being
nearly killed?
  Use your brain, for once!  What if she’d poisoned you again?  You’d have been killed!”

“I’m wanted alive, right?  I figured she wouldn’t risk poisoning me again.”

“Wow, you
figured
she wouldn’t poison you again.  Great plan.”

Hoping to turn the conversation around, he says, “But we learned so much information!  The military, the bounty size…”

Jem’s eyes narrow as she mutters, “Don’t even get me started about your bounty papers stunt this morning.  Were you even going to
tell
me you went out, or were you going to hide it from me via some other screwball plan?”  She holds a hand up and says, “You acted on your own, went behind my back, and then lied to me about all of it.  I just… I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

With Era finally at a loss for words, the two stand in awkward silence until the sound of huffing and puffing approaches from behind.  The two turn to find Di, drenched with sweat, trudging through the underbrush.  She pants and wheezes her way up to Era, then collapses at his feet, her hair a mess of leaves and twigs.  She glares at her guardian indignantly, but she doesn’t waste any breath to berate him for leaving her behind.

“We’ll take a break here,” Jem mumbles before heading further into the woods.

Era flops down next to the schoolgirl, staring after his partner until she disappears into the brush.  He offers Di an apologetic grin and says, “Sorry for leaving you behind there.  Jem and I were hashing things out.”

Di pants, “I know.  I could… hear you hashing…”

Era frowns.  “Maybe Fire is right about the ‘herd of horses’ thing.  We don’t put much effort into stealth.”

The girl sits and leans against a tree.  “So is Jem alright?”

“Not sure,” Era says with a shrug.  “Jem hates it when I go solo for some reason.  I guess I should start considering her feelings more, even if they don’t make sense to me.  She also hates the military, so I’m sure that’s not helping.”

“But you did fine on your own,” she says.  “You deserve credit for that.”

“It was more luck than anything.  When that other hunter guy got into the mix, I think it might have saved me.  I was hanging in there, but she’s a better fighter for sure.”  Pausing, he adds, “So, you’re worth a lot of money, it seems.”

Di squeezes her eyes shut.  “I just… I don’t understand…”  Earnestly, she meets her guardian’s eyes and says, “Era, that makes no sense!  I don’t have any idea why they would be willing to pay so much for
me
.”

Her guardian shrugs.  “Hey, this could be a good thing for us.  If you’re worth that much to the military, maybe you’re worth that much to your rich dad!”

The girl’s eyes widen.  “Era, even if my father sold
everything
he’d have a
tenth
that amount!”

“But they wouldn’t be asking for that much if you weren’t worth it, right?”  He stares into the sky as his mind wanders, searching for answers.

“S-So wasn’t there something you wanted to ask me?” Di asks, desiring to change the subject.

“Oh yeah, well, I should start from the beginning for that.  Once what’s-his-name showed up… Jaras, I think?  He trapped Fire for some reason.  I got away at first, but then I went back to fight him.”

Her eyes grow wide.  “Why did you do that?”

“I decided I didn’t want Fire to die, even if she attacked us.”

Di offers him a warm expression.  “That’s because you’re a good person, Era.  Try as you might, you’ll never be a big bad thief!”

Era smiles. “Sorry, but that’s my destiny!  I
will
surpass my father.”

“Who no one has ever heard of,” Jem remarks, reemerging from her short walk through the woods.  Era prepares for more verbal abuse, but she twirls her finger and says, “Go ahead, finish your story.”

Reluctantly, he continues, “Well, I went back and Jaras had done a real number on Fire.  He was a wood shaper, and-”

“
Elementalist,
” Di corrects.  “Wood is earth’s derivative, remember?  That makes wood users elementalists.”

Era hesitates before nodding with a grin.  “Oh, I remember for sure!  So he was a wood
elementalist
, and he dug his fingers into the ground.  Used all the roots and shrubs and stuff to attack me.  He wrapped me up tight, but I escaped!”

“How!?” Di asks anxiously.

Era beams.  “I had a handle on the roots, which were all covered in dirt.  So I shaped the dirt and cut the roots to shreds!”

“You cut the roots with the
dirt?
” Di exclaims in disbelief.  “Era, that’s… that’s unbelievable!  Can you show me?”

Proudly, he nods and yanks a small plant from the ground, revealing the earth-covered roots.  He places a finger at the trunk of the root, and it instantly slices in two.

A smile curls at the scholar’s lips.  “Era, between that and your hole-digging, you’re pretty impressive!  Only the oldest earth shapers at the Academy are that good!”

Era rubs the back of his head, blushing.  “R-Really?”

Jem groans.  “Don’t give him a big head!  It’s bad enough he thinks he’s strong, but now he’ll want to start earning a bigger share.”

Di frowns at Jem.  “So it’s true he only gets thirty-five percent?  That doesn’t seem fair.”

Jem laughs aloud.  “How much do you get, Era?”

Era averts his eyes.  “Forty-five…”

“You
lied
to Fire about that!?” Di shouts.

Era cringes.  “Well, I want
part
of the reward.  I don’t want to give it all away.”

“But you said… you said you just wanted to protect me,” Di squeaks, her voice trailing off.

Surprised by her reaction, Era forces a grin and explains, “Well, that’s true… but Di, Jem and I have to survive on what we can get.  Taking a week to return you home and not getting a venni for it would be kind of stupid.”  His words seem to have opposite the desired effect as her eyes start tearing up.  “B-But Di,” he stammers, “your safety is important to me!  Please don’t think otherwise.”

Di wipes her eyes and nods, but she fails to cheer up.  Era looks to Jem for sympathy, but she just mouths the words, ‘
That’s what you get.
’

Getting an idea, he leans forward and taps the schoolgirl’s knee.  “But Di, that brings me to my question.”  Di looks up with interest, and he explains, “You see, when I first approached the wood guy, he had Fire trapped in a tree.  Makes sense, right?  Wood user, his hand was on the trunk, so of course he can move it around, right?”  Di nods, and he continues, “But then he threw a knife into the tree behind me, and it started to move!  It didn’t seem to be as nimble as the first tree, but it was enough to attack me.  Turns out the knife had a rope attached that he was holding, and when he dropped it, he lost control of the tree.”

“What a great trick!” Di exclaims, her mood eased by the academic exercise.  “The rope was probably woven with wooden fibers.  And the knife must have been wooden as well!  My, what a great trick…” she repeats.  Era continues to wait expectantly, but she just asks, “So what did you want explained?”

“What did I…?” Era asks, not sure where the disconnect occurred.  “Explain
that
.  Explain the whole thing!”

“The whole…?  Oh!” she realizes.  “Well, you can always control any extension of an element, right?  So if your earth sword touched the ground, you could pull more dirt into it.  You already know that, right?”

“Sure, but that’s dirt.  It’s all the same stuff.”

“It is, but it isn’t!” Di corrects.  “You’re only touching a few grains of dirt and sand.  You control the rest by extension, because earth touches earth.  That’s how you keep the shape of your sword even though you aren’t touching the whole thing all at once.”

Era nods.  “I think I get it…”

“So other elements are the same way!  If he was holding a wooden rope, which touched a wooden knife, which was in a tree trunk…”

The sudden student slams his fist into his palm and exclaims, “…he could control the tree!  Though not as well as the first.”

“Elements are harder to manipulate the further away they are, right?” Di points out.  “I’m sure you’ve noticed that with your sword.”

“Yeah, it all makes sense now.  Thanks Di!” 

She grins, once again happy to play the role of teacher, while Era looks back at Jem.  “So, are we good now?  You came back pretty fast!”

Jem scowls and smacks him in the back of his head.  “We are
not
good!”  She grabs Di’s wrist and pulls her up, leading her into the woods.  “I found a stream, and I came back to grab Di.  We’re taking a bath, so stay away!”  Di glances back at Era with excitement, unsure why Jem thinks she needs to be dragged to enjoy a bath.

Era watches them disappear into the woods and mutters, “Man, I’ll bet she isn’t going to let
me
take a bath.”  He wonders how much longer Jem will torment him, hoping she’ll miraculously forget her anger by the time she gets back.

He sits against a tree, holding a sword formed from the ground so Jem will be impressed by his readiness.  Waiting patiently as the minutes tick by, Era becomes lost in his thoughts, and his eyes eventually droop.  His arm slides to his side, and as he slips into his slumber the sword in his hand loses its form, turning back to sand grains that form a small pile on the ground.  A cool wind blows through the trees as the area rests in a quiet peace.

The moment doesn’t last long.  Era stirs and opens his eyes, and he yelps as he’s met with Fire’s annoyed face mere inches from his own.  He scrambles to stand, but she shoves him back into the tree with her good arm and leans in.

“You’re pathetic,” she growls with a cold glare.  “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been crouching here?”  Era just stares in a wide-eyed stupor, unable to offer a response.  “Stand up.”