(Flashback) Backlash and Balance (Seul Galemoon)

[Brodon Windriver]

60th day of summer, 510 AV

The whistling moan of the wind and the resulting snapping of the canvas of the Sapphire Pavilion's tent did more to mask the nature of the argument raging inside than did the thin fabric itself.

Brodon Windriver waited anxiously outside, wincing with each angry retort his father was forced to endure from the Shielding trainer as the debate heated up another notch. They had come to see if Brodon could begin shielding training anew in the aftermath of his sudden withdrawal from the class weeks before in favor of Falconry.

His father had earned the disfavor of the trainers when he had left the class, by not insisting on his return and had, instead, encouraged him to pursue what his heart told him. Brodon had taken this endorsement to heart and gone, literally, pursuing his heart by grabbing a mount and tearing across the Sea of Grass to follow a hawk, hoping it would lead to its nest. Brodon had been hoping to acquire a hatchling to raise and train. Instead he had 'found' a trio of glassbeaks.

"What I should or should NOT have done then is irrelevant now! He has shown remarkable progress in Falconry! And no one was hurt! Am I supposed to REGRET that the watchers are well trained?" his father said, straining not to shout.

"And if he had been at his STUDIES instead of galloping around the Sea of Grass, after hawks, with no protection, there would have been NO NEED for the watchers to go after him! Those same studies YOU saw fit to discredit in HIS eyes with your OWN lack of discipline!" the trainer roared, obviously not making the same effort.

"Do not DARE accuse me of lacking in my responsibilities. I was meeting those same responsibilities on patrol duty, or I WOULD have accompanied him. We of the DIAMOND pavilion know what is expected of us, even if YOU DO NOT! Had my son died, I would not have come to you demanding satisfaction because YOU had not been there, that is not your duty to our people."

"I did not impugn your sense of responsibility to your DUTIES, sir! But what of your responsibilities as a FATHER? You let your son QUIT his studies after only a few weeks? Because he's sure he won't be able to learn the technique? Would you have your son be a quitter in the eyes of the Ankals? And why, then, is he now back? Has he now decided Falconry is too difficult, is he, once again, sure he can't learn the technique?

"NO!! DO NOT SAY IT AGAIN! I know Falconry is an honorable pursuit. And I would encourage MY son to pursue it did HE show such interest. But I question your son's resolve to take up shielding again now. Why the sudden resurgence of interest? What your son manages with staff and whip is often worthy of note, but only very advanced shielding skills are any use against hawks and glassbeaks."

"And that is WHY I ask you to take him back! He has little to protect himself against other types of threats. What good is a whip or staff against a caster of magic? You want to blame me? BLAME ME! For there is truth in all you say, bitter though it is to me. But I know he has the capability to learn, and he needs to start as soon as he can."

There was a long moment of silence from inside the tent as Brodon's head fell to his hands in shame at the brow-beating his father was enduring on his behalf. A quitter he HAD been, he knew it was true. But he also knew it would never happen again.

"I make no promises at this time. I will consider your request. But if I find his focus to be less than promising, I will not let it bring disruption to the rest of my students. And this time your son will suffer the stigma of dismissal from my class, not a voluntary withdrawal."

"I understand. Thank you, Master." Brodon's father said as he left the tent to stand beside his son. He put his hand on Brodon's shoulder affectionately and stepped around to crouch in front of him, "Well son, you have your work cut out for you now. Do not worry about disappointing me, this is more my fault than yours. Worry about disappointing yourself."

[Seul Galemoon]

It had been a while since Seul Galemoon had felt the distinct atmosphere of her native city, Endrykas. Around her, the city was nearly unfamiliar now; though, she knew very well that it would never be truly foreign, a fact that arose many conflicted feelings. Everything this city, regardless of how she felt about it, would always be a part of her. The notion itself was enough to prompt a, frankly spirited, eye roll.

It was by chance that she found herself here in the first place. If Jalel hadn't taken so many arrogant risks on the last hunt, her pavilion most likely wouldn't have even come to Endrykas. Though she loved the boy dearly, she really couldn't deny that he could be a damned fool when he felt like it. As it was, they were here until the healers were able to get her brother back to fighting fit. It was disheartening at best. While the city was full and overflowing with people there was something missing. There was simply nothing to do here. Not for her. She needed a distraction. She needed excitement.

Up ahead, near the sapphire pavilion, there was the undeniable hum of muffled yelling in a nearby tent, though the beating of the wind made whatever they were saying completely indistinguishable. In front of the tent sat a boy, not looking very far off from her own age, wearing a strained look on his face. She could put two and two together well enough.

Under her, her horse Sans plodded along slowly, leisurely, and she adjusted the shortbow she still kept slung over her shoulder at all times. Call it common sense or call it paranoia from spending a childhood in the sea of grass. Nevertheless, she was always prepared. As the yelling seemed to cease and an older man exited the tent, Seul found her interest piqued. With a trained hunter's ear, she cocked her head to the side and tried to focus in, curious to know what the argument had been about. She felt a pang of remorse for being so intrusive but quickly dismissed the feeling when the older man said nothing that would actually tell her what had been the source of the conflict. What a shame. She kept Sans moving his feet. No need to interrupt the sentimental moment she was doing her best to listen in on. As she neared, she settled on shooting the pair a smile and a polite bow of the head. That seemed casual enough, she thought. It had been far too long since she'd been in the city, it was hard to know what she should do to the others here. The sea of grass would make her quite the unsavory character in the end.

[Brodon Windriver]

Brodon smiled bleakly at his father. "It's too late, I am already disappointed in myself."

"Well then, study hard and atone. I can at least promise you that the trainer's wrath has been spent." his father chuckled, jokingly rubbing his ears as if they rung from the shouted exchange of moments before. "He is waiting for you inside. You'll probably be assigned a graduate as a trainer." Emotions hung on the tips of tongues as the two looked around, trying to be casual. Brodon's father finally spoke, "I'm sorry I allowed you to dabble in your whims, It is my indulgence that was at fault. I ought to have insisted you to stay with the program and been patient."

"Nonsense, Father. It was MY impatience that brought this about. Impatience to learn, impatience to become renowned in skill, and then, impatience to cast it aside for lack of immediate success and try something new. Impatience to become great at something NOW, without having to make the effort it takes to TRULY do something well."

"You do well at making me proud, my son. That is one thing you have had immediate success at" he beamed as he pulled Brodon into an embrace.

The moment was interrupted by commotion, following a rider returning from the south. He dismounted at a run and stopped before Brodon and his father, giving a quick salute. "Sorry to intrude on your leisure time, Warem, but this little fire is proving surprisingly difficult to control, we are going to need your squad to return to backburn duty." Brodon noticed that the man's features were streaked with sweat and soot and he smelled of smoke.

"Of course." he said without hesitation. He turned to Brodon, "Tell the master we may need what aid he can spare. I will see you tonight. Good luck."

Emotions were forgotten. All was urgency and cooperation now. "And good luck to you, as well, Father." Brodon nodded briskly as he ran up the steps into the open pavilion to relay the message.

The master began quickly issuing orders for certain students and graduates to be given leave from class. He paused a moment in thought, eyeing Brodon. "Go outside and wait, Brodon, you are underfoot. I will send someone with instructions for your study. There will be no class, but there will still be study."

"Well, Master, if my trainer is to be dismissed, perhaps I could accompany hi- " Brodon began.

"ALREADY YOU DISOBEY?" the master turned furiously, "Perhaps I was hasty to make a second effort on an incorrigible slacker like yourself! Do as you are told and ask nothing else!"

Brodon turned and stormed outside, his face a rigid mask of barely held emotions. A girl stood there giving him a sympathetic look. Embarrassment added to his strained control. She was pretty, blond, around his age and he did not want her to see him so stricken.

[Seul Galemoon]

The girl could see the riders of Endrykas rushing around her, more than normal. Something was wrong. She was missing something. A man streaked in soot rushed into the pavilion with all of the yelling and Seul felt her stomach revolt against her and the burn of acid bile threatening to rise in her throat. Fire? Now? She lifted herself from her perch on Sans and peered into the sky. It did seem to have a grey film in the distance, if she looked. Her hands tightened their grip around the reins and turned her knuckles white. Not fire, not now. She took a deep breath to steady herself and looked to the world around her.

Seul heard the scolding voice much clearer than she had heard the arguement that preceded it. On mostly instict, she winced for whoever the recipient of the verbal lashing was, already not fond of the voice despite never having seen nor met him. She wasn't fond of men that felt the need to yell so much, and so harshly at that. It lacked tact.

The boy that had taken the beating rushed into the street and looked up at her, making eye contact. His face was a paper thin mask of emotion- frustration, anger, and much more that she wouldn't try to pick apart from the glance. He seemed to shrink back a bit as she looked at him now, and she had lived with mostly men for long enough to know that he was embarrassed. She offered a small smile as she gave a featherlight flick of the reins to let Sans know he should not continue walking. She shoved away all the feeling the evidence of fire nearing closer to Endrykas for now. She didn't have time to shrink away in fear. She was too old for that now. "Are you alright?" she asked, tentatively. Of course, anyone with a functioning pair of eyes could look to the boy and see he was not, in fact, doing alright, but it was always nice to ask, she thought.

[Brodon Windriver]

Brodon stammered a reply, "Oh, uh...well...yeah, I guess I..." he blinked and looked away, "I just...want to make things right, but I don't think they're going to let me help. Now I'm supposed to sit here while they come up with some STUDY chores!" His voice grew bitter at the prospect of missed glory. "I know I need to do what the master says, but to have to sit and study while our people are threatened! They WANT me to fail! I know I shouldn't have quit before, but they don't have..to..."

His voice trailed off as the tent flap was thrown open and another student stepped out, looking around briefly and locking eyes on Brodon. "You, are you Brodon?" There was a hint of disdain in his voice, "Come on then, don't keep me waiting, go get your horse. The Master has had a change of heart."

Brodon visibly brightened, "We're RIDING? I can come WITH you?"

The assistant sneered sarcastically, "Nooooo. That's why I want you to get your horse! Of COURSE we're riding....idiot!"

Brodon turned and flashed a smile at the girl, "Fantastic! Sorry, I have to run, I'll see you around!" he ran to get his horse. As soon as he was gone, the master stepped out of the tent and strode up to his assistant, whispering in his ear. A look of shock and puzzlement crossed the assistant's face. The master gave a stern look and nodded at his assistant, who gave a worried shrug.

Brodon returned, astride his Paintedmount, "Let's go!" he said eagerly. As he and the assistant turned to head east from Endrykas, the assistant gave a last questioning look over his shoulder at the master. The man watched them go, his face expressionless. As he turned to reenter the pavilion he noticed the girl. He paused, a flash of concern crossing his face. he scowled and went inside.

[Seul Galemoon]

Seul raised an eyebrow as the boy tried to stammer out an explanation. So he wanted to help as well. He must have known about the spreading fire, about the danger pressing ever closer to their home. As he carried on, admittedly ranting a bit, Seul considered a plan in her mind to ask him to go with her to the very front lines of the fight. Two young, healthy souls like them? They could be of use. Her train of thought was broken off by her short lived companion being called away. Brodon, she thought she heard him called.

In the course of the conversation happening in front of her, Seul's eyebrow cocked up and her upper lip was pulled into a slight scowl. This Brodon really let everyone throw him around. There wasn't a thing she could do about it; however, and she would just have to let the boy fight his own battles on his own time.

In the meantime, she wasn't about to sit around, waiting for someone else to put out the fire. Every little bit would help, every person could do at least something. She knew all too well what happened when people neglected to stop the wildfires. Pavilions are destroyed. Endrykas could be destroyed. Families are ripped apart. Scared little girls grow up to be confused women. Sitting aside just wasn't her job.

She watched the boy enthusiastically skip away. The yelling man was speaking quietly, far too quietly for her to hear, to the rude man. She cocked her head to the side a bit. Something about the entire operation seemed off. She didn't know this people, there was no way for her to possibly be able to place exactly what it was. All she knew was that the two men were not to be trusted.

The one named Brodon emerged from the tent yet again, mounted on a horse now. That was interesting. Perhaps he wasn't lost at all. She gave a quick flick of the reins in her hand, setting Sans into motion, trotting in the direction this Brodon was moving in. As she moved, she noticed the older man shooting a scowl at her. Recoiling, she shot a scowl back and kept moving. As she caught up with him, she jerked a chin up at the sky. "I'm going to help with the fire before it gets out of hand." She said, conversationally. "I suppose it's worth a fair warning. Those people you're with, whoever they are to you, seem really suspicious. I would be careful, if I were you, Brodon." She hoped she wasn't overstepping her bounds here. She hardly knew this boy, but she didn't want to leave him exposed completely to the scowling old man.

[Brodon Windriver]

Brodon looked at the girl with surprise and sudden uncertainty. "Careful?? What? I...No, they're OK. The old man can be a trial, but I...Look, I shouldn't have gone on like that. I think I gave you the wro-"

"Hey! Quit stalling back there! Say goodbye and hurry up." the assistant called back, pausing to let Brodon catch up. "Run along now, miss, no one is tagging along unless specifically bidden to by the master, and I know he didn't. We aren't needing your help where we are go-" he waved his hand in the direction of the girl as though sweeping something off a table as he spoke.

Brodon grabbed his arm at the wrist and pulled to bring him eye to eye as his face reddened, "Lhex' Teeth! You rude bastard! Is that how you would have ME talk to YOUR friends? What? You think just because she is a girl, she is of no use and should be 'brushed off' like dirt? Teacher or no, I won't sit here and listen to that!"

Brodon turned to the girl, embarrassed. Here, he had been in the process of defending the master and this assistant as decent enough fellows and the fool goes and makes him stick his foot right in his mouth. "I'm terribly sorry, maybe you're right. Maybe I need you to watch my back! It's for certain there's no honor to be found in anyone else here!" He raised his voice as he spoke that last.

The assistant stammered, clearly frustrated, "Look, I didn't mean it like that! It's just that...Well, I'm not supposed to have anyone else...The master told me not to let anyone see...CRAP!" he could see that everything he said was just making things worse. Brodon and the girl were now both glaring at him suspiciously. "FINE! Come along then, but you're not going to like it!"

[Brodon Windriver]

Brodon leaned towards the girl and muttered, "I already don't like it. Thank you for the warning."

As they rode east, they began to see red hues coloring the clouds to their right. The wind blew left to right in front of them as the wildfire sucked the air across the plains. They had been smelling smoke almost from the moment they had left Endrykas, but it was starting to get difficult to breathe without coughing.

Brodon pulled a rag from his pack to tie around his face to cover his mouth and nose. he turned to the girl, whose name he realized he had never asked, to advise her to do the same, but she already had. "At least the wildlife will be scared off, shouldn't need to worry about any glassbeaks."

The girl started to say something, but her words were suddenly drowned out as wind whistled in his ears unexpectedly. Brodon realized the wind was now following them and the smoke was clearing in front of them as a result. The sky was now red in FRONT of them as well. He turned to the girl and told her to ride back and inform the master that the eastern edge of the fire was spreading to the north.

A few chimes later, the assistant stopped and started looking around, confused. Brodon rode up beside him, "Have we turned south somehow?" he asked. The wind suddenly pulled back in their faces. They both turned and stared agape as flames rose up in a line for several hundred yards across the path they had just made through the grass from the west.

The assistant stammered, his voice cracking in fear, "This isn't possible! There was no fire there. You saw it was clear. You SAW it! I wouldn't have ridden into a cross blaze. The wind was right! This isn't possible!" his eyes were wild.

Brodon grabbed the man's shoulders and shook, "Hey!...HEY!...Get a HOLD of yourself! It's still clear to the north, if we hurry!"

The horses were only too eager to obey and they rode north at a gallop. They got within 50 yards of the edge of the fire line and realized the flames extended equal distances on both sides of them, east and west, forming a wide hallway of fire, closed off behind them several hundred yards behind them to the south. "This can't be coincidence." Brodon said, noticing the assistant was actually slowing, his eyes staring at something on the ground to their right. A body, dressed in the livery of a stormwarden, at least as near as you could tell, being mostly burnt to a husk.

He stopped, alarm stark on his face. "I know this man. The Master specifically asked me to locate him. He was supposed to have returned with the last crew." He turned to Brodon, desperation on his face. "He is engaged to the Master's daughter! How am I to TELL him?"

Just then, two opposing walls of fire rose up and closed in on each other, forming the northern wall of the massive flaming rectangle surrounding them. The northern firewall didn't fully close and they started towards the small gap, maybe ten yards wide, when a figure appeared in it, a man in red robes, wide, manic eyes and a cruel smile.

"I don't think that is your primary concern, gentlemen. The Master's daughter loves ME, not him! He would not listen to reason and I was forced to...argue...with him. It seems his skills at debate were less than sufficient" He lifted his hands menacingly, "How are yours?"

[Brodon Windriver]

"What are you doing? Are you CRAZY?" The assistant cried, fear punctuating his words. "Move! We've got to get OUT of here! This is no time for a jealous feud! The fire is going to close in on this spot. Look around you, fool. Even NOW it's closing in on you."

"The fire won't hurt me, boy." The red-robed mage said as he took a step forward, "Can the same be said for you?" He raised his hands, flames sprouting to engulf them. Even as he sneered 'Let's find out' and thrust his hands in the assistant's direction, Brodon had leapt back off the hind end of his mount, slapping it and diving to the side.

Both horses reared, Brodon's from the slap on its flank, and the assistant's from its innate sense of the incoming attack. The assistant had leaned in quickly to form a shield between his hands, across his strider's chest, but it reared up in fear, exposing its abdomen to the attack. The assistant tumbled off the back of his mount, rolling in anticipation of more incoming fireballs. The agonized screams of the horse underscored the sickeningly gleeful laughter of the robed lunatic as he cast fireballs, one after the other. "You won't take her from me! NONE of you! She is mine!"

Brodon had hoped to follow in his horse's path as it ran in terror through the gap, forcing the robed villain to step aside, and jump the man unexpectedly. He and the assistant had no weapons that he knew of with them, so he had hoped to get in brawling range, where he might have the advantage. He pulled his backpack off as he ran, but as his horse passed the robed figure, he saw that there was still a good twenty yards separating them.

The man turned to him with a sadistic grin and fired off another fireball. Instead of trying to dodge, Brodon held his backpack up, giving it a shove straight forward into the fireball and letting go of it. Although it was incinerated instantly, his body was not connected for the fireball to have a path to follow through on, and the res simply splattered to scorch the ground before him.

He winced as he ran through the remaining res flames to see the man standing with both hands raised. He was just four or five steps from him when his ears crackled and everything went white as an irresistible energy seized him and sent him jerking and twitching to land in a smoking heap ten feet back. Everything spun and it seemed that he couldn't make his body obey him.

He managed to roll himself over in time to see the assistant fire off a series of arrows as the robed enemy approached him. The arrows simply winked out in a burst of ashes as they got within a few feet of him and Brodon realized that the lightning strike, painful and debilitating as it was, was better than what would have occurred if he had gotten any closer than he had.

The assistant backed away in panic as the man grinned. "Die now, boy!" he snarled as he allowed an extra measure of flaming res to accumulate around him. Brodon could now see the evidence of overgiving plainly showing all over the fiery figure. But even though that meant severe after-effects for the villain, it would only make him that much more eager to incinerate anything and everything around him before it consumed him.

[Brodon Windriver]

"You can join your Stormwarden friend there, fool. He also hoped to prevent us being together!" The fire wizard taunted as the assistant crawled backwards, eyes wide.

"Don't you see what you're doing to yourself?" he shrieked, the thought of being burned to death, a horror beyond his darkest nightmares. "You've already overgiven yourself to the limit of recovery. Don't do this, I won't tell anyone what we found! I swear. PLEASE!" His panicked retreat suddenly brought him up against the gruesome corpse of the roasted Stormwarden. He turned in desperation to see what blocked his path and the last hint of color drained from his face as he saw what he knew was to be his own fate.

He had known the Stormwarden. Known him to be at least a little stronger in the shielding arts than he. And now saw all the charred, smoking good it had done him. He was beyond the capacity to scream as the vicious reimancer raised his glowing arms, his eyes blazing with sadism and anticipation.

"I wonder if anyone will be able to tell the two of you apart." he sneered. There was sudden streak of flame and a popping roar of steam. The reimancer's taunts became howls as his body disappeared in a cloud of superheated steam. The assistant rolled in a frenzy of hopeful adrenaline as the monster before him was momentarily distracted.

Thirty feet away, Brodon stood weaving dizzily, barely able to stay on his feet after the effects of the lightning strike. He staggered as he looked for another canteen to throw at the enemy wizard. The impact of that last one had been far better than he had expected. He had only hoped to distract him, but when the fire aura around him had incinerated the canteen itself, the water had instantaneously flash-boiled into a scalding cloud of swirling steam. In seconds it, too, had vaporized, but the damage was done. Flaps of cooked flesh hung from the wizards face and one of his eyeballs had burst. He had instinctively brought his hands up to his face as he screamed and now one of them was hardly more than bones and the other was blistered and red.

He whirled around to face Brodon, who charged clumsily at him, letting his whip unravel in a trail behind him. "You little maggot!" the steaming, cadaverous maniac bellowed, "You think I can't kill you both at the same time? Join your friend in Dira's embrace!" He swung one hand up in each defender's direction as Brodon whipped the lash in a circle one time and cracked it at the robed figure.