The Great War: Chapter 40
Word gets around quick on such a small island
Devin approaches Ezra at the dining table as stone-faced as ever and looms over the humble Creationist as he works his way through a bowl of warm pudding.
“Ezra,” the guard says, “I have something to ask of you.”
“Wat?” Ezra asks through his mouthful.
Devin shifts his weight from one foot to the other and folds his arms uneasily. “Normally, this would be something I’d tell Samuel first, although… I’d rather not burden him with a trivial rumor. I’ve heard a wizard was fished from the ocean last cycle.”
Ezra licks his lips to clean them of lingering pudding flecks and nods along. “Sure.”
“And if you do find this wizard,” Devin adds, “don’t forget to interrogate them.”
Ezra can’t help but slump his shoulders. “I’ve never interrogated any being before…”
The guard lets out a frustrated huff. “I just need a name and where they’re from. I imagine they’ll be bedridden as well. The temporary infirmary is in a warehouse along the dock.”
Ezra taps his spoon on the side of his bowl idly. It’s still half full, and yet his appetite is quickly dwindling. He can consider this scouting mission his second ever important thing he’s done since being invited into the castle, right? His chest flutters with some slight nervousness. A name and a place. How wrong could this go?
“I would come with you, but…” Devin lets out a long sigh, “I must stay and look after Samuel.”
“How is he doing, by the way?” Ezra inquires. Since returning from the voyage to Fort Etrerr, he’s hardly seen the crown prince’s face beyond his bedroom door.
A grim frown passes over Devin’s face. “He’s been… restless. Sooner or later, he’ll have to make his speech. For now, though…” He shakes his head sadly, turning to leave. “I’ll let you finish your meal.”
Ezra watches the royal guard exit the dining hall quietly, his hand poised over his bowl to take another bite. It’s unfortunate that he’s not been able to even try to help Samuel cheer up, but he knows that giving the prince some space is probably for the best right now.
He shoves another spoonful of pudding into his mouth. If he’s heading to Ica, maybe he can stop by the tents and visit his family and Isaac and Anya. Wouldn’t they all be happy to see Ezra again? Besides, there’s no guarantee that he’ll even find this wizard who was apparently fished from the ocean. Maybe he can just spend the cycle with his sister if his search turns out to be fruitless.
With his new plans in mind, he rushes to finish his first light meal. First, find the mystery wizard. Second, visit Ishtar and the others. Third, report his findings to Devin. Fourth, eat dinner and sleep.
Bowl empty, he jumps from his seat and rushes through the castle as fast as his legs will go. It’d be better if he could turn into sand and fly, but since Samuel wants to keep the Blessings as much of a secret as possible for just a little while longer, Ezra will have to wait until he’s outside in order to take to the sky.
He dashes by a small candelabra, which he brushes with his fingers and turns to orange sand. He wills for it to follow him as he dashes through the front entrance hall. Ahead, two guards flank the heavy front doors that lead in and out of the castle. As he passes between them, with a smile on his face, he waves his hand and drops the sand he had created down one of the guard’s armor.
Shrieks of panic and confusion send Ezra off as he takes to the sky, his body melting into a large cloud of dusty orange particles.
He’s been practicing on and off with this new ability of his, getting more and more comfortable with becoming an amorphous blob that can travel across the wind with ease. And although he’s found that he’ll only loose himself if he allows it to happen, whenever a strong gust of ocean air hits him just right, it still sends a pang of panic throughout his body… or, well, lackthereof.
But there’s still some aspects that he’s trying to wrap his mind around, like how he can “spread his eyes out” to see more of the world than what he probably should be able to see at one time. Same thing with his ears and how much more he can now possibly hear at once. Or that he can grab almost anything since he can detach his fingers from his palms. Or that he can still make and feel his expressions without ever physically showing them. Or even that he can put his feet on his head if he so wished.
I might have to try that one out in front of Ish, Ezra thinks with a smirk.
This just means that there’s much more to his new power than first meets the eye. He’s just at the very beginning of pushing these new boundaries.
For now, however, his sandy body floats high over the citizens of Korodon as he ventures to Ica’s port, keeping an eye out for the bustling hub of healers below him. Although from this height, he can see quite clearly how packed the streets of Ica truly are, hardly a speck of cobblestone to be seen between all of the moving heads. It might even be more busy now with all the refugees. Ezra wouldn’t know, but the sight is still amazing to behold. How could so many beings be already living in this small city? How many more have been stuffed into its corners? If he were to possibly try and compare Ica to Solari, his old home would be almost triple the size of this one and yet Solari could feel so incredibly empty at times. Maybe that was because of the Guardians, though, keeping all the beings inside…
He turns his attention to the docks. Devin mentioned that the temporary infirmary is in a warehouse there. And, sure enough, he spots a large building that fits the description, with green-robed beings rushing in and out in a frenzy.
As best he can without being noticed, Ezra manages to slide into the warehouse through an open window high above the street, where inside he is met with small rooms made of white sheets and countless bloodstains.
Mystery wizard, mystery wizard… To him, they all look like a mystery wizard. He slides along the rafters, avoiding peering into rooms that make his stomach churn sickeningly. Some of them are simply far too red for his liking. Others house wizards with monstrous gashes or even missing limbs. A heavy sorrow hangs in the air here, he can’t help but feel it himself, but for whatever reason it doesn’t seem to affect the healers that continue to rush to and from each room with unwavering urgency.
But one room catches his attention. From above, he notices Isaac and Anya stood over an occupied cot, although from his vantage point Ezra can’t make out who might be lying there. A nervous pit drops in his stomach. I hope that isn’t Ishtar…
Slowly, carefully, he descends from the rafters and forms his body in the little makeshift room without drawing any attention to himself. Only when he fully reforms is when he lets out a relieved sigh, one that makes Anya jump in surprise. Isaac, however, remains unfazed, turning to Ezra as if he were already expecting the Creationist’s arrival.
“Ezra!” Anya is the first to speak, breathless.
Ezra grins back at her. “I hope I didn’t scare you guys too bad.”
“No, not really,” Isaac hums. “What brings you here this cycle?”
“Oh, I’m looking for a wizard that was fished out of the ocean last cycle,” Ezra explains. He turns to the cot to see what manner of being occupies it. It’s not Ishtar, like he first thought, but an older boy that seems vaguely familiar…
“Who’s that?” he asks, pointing to the cot.
“Mathew, Anya’s brother,” Isaac replies. “He fought Samuel during that evacuation.”
“Oh!” Ezra steps up to the cot and peers down at Mathew with newfound interest. Mathew quietly stare back at the Creationist with his cold eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought you were with the Guardians?”
Mathew grits his teeth and huffs up at Ezra, grumbling, “Don’t be sayin’ that aloud here.”
“We were just asking him the same thing,” Isaac says, turning to Mathew. “Why are you here?”
Mathew labors a few deep breaths as he seems to prepare himself to answer their question, a reluctant frown painting his face.
“I was given a choice,” he finally replies, “and I decided to leave.”
“Couldn’t you have taken a boat?” Anya asks, holding one of his hands tightly in both of hers.
Mathew moves his head from side-to-side slowly, twisting his face into that of discomfort. “There wasn’t time.”
Wait… It suddenly strikes Ezra that this might be the mystery wizard he was sent to find.
“How did he get here?” he asks slowly, turning to Isaac. The Illusionist cracks a knowing grin.
“He was supposedly found adrift on a piece of ice,” he answers with a chuckle, “fished right out of the water.”