“I don’t believe it.” Daniel raked a hand thru his hair. “Tell me this isn’t true. Tell me you are just making it up.”
Ruth said nothing. Naomi angled her head. “Your sister isn’t lying, Daniel. You know
that.”
“Yes, but a man can still hope. Well, they are here. What do we do now? Pack up and move again?
We spent a year wandering in the wilds, Mother. A year, living like sand rats in caves. Now we have a home again. Do we abandon it?”
“I don’t think we have to,” Ruth
said. “He didn’t recognize me,
Daniel. The trick works. And .. I was impressed with what he said. He knows he mistreated us the last
time. He wants to apologize and make
amends. And he told the truth. Mother, we were right. The Legacy has not failed. It is
growing. In a few years, he said, they
will move on.”
“I cannot decide, not without speaking
with the others. And it is, ultimately,
your father’s choice. He is Elder in
this town. If he decides we must move,
we move.”
“And go where? Into Sinai?” Daniel demanded, thoroughly
irritated. “Or north, maybe. Perhaps we can take ship, sail to .. Crete
or Cyprus. Maybe even as far as
Carthage.”
“There’s east,” Esau suggested.
Daniel glared at him. “I want to stay here. Is it so much to want a permanent home?”
Ruth sighed. “Daniel, did you not hear me?
We don’t have to go. I was as close to him as I am to you now and
he did not recognize me. So long as we
are careful when we are outside, we have nothing to fear from the Legacy .. and
we are always careful, yes?”
Daniel sank down. “You’re right. I just thought .. after so long .. we were free of them.”
“Don’t let it bother you,” his mother
counseled. “Not this close to your
marriage.”
Daniel smiled quickly. “If Father agrees that she is suitable
material.”
“I have already examined her,” Naomi
commented, “and I approve. It is time
you took a wife, Daniel. Ruth is
married and a mother. Esau is another
one who will soon be taking a soul mate.”
Esau flushed scarlet.
“And Sarai has her new baby. Shem is overjoyed though he says the
training of the little one is hard work.”
“I know all about that,” Ruth agreed
with a laugh. “Benjamin is a handful
and he has only just started walking.”
“If Ruth is correct and the scholars
truly do repent of their earlier actions, we can at least give them a chance,”
Naomi remarked. “Now .. you two are on
patrol tonight. Leave Benjamin with me. I will see to his training.”
*****
Out in the desert, Ruth walked with
her brother. Her husband was several
yards off to her left and walking with Shem.
“You remember what we talked about,
Daniel? About the right time not being
the good time? I think that, maybe, the
good time is almost here.”
“Almost?” he queried. “Why now?
Why not never?”
“We can resent them, their presence,
what they represent, but we know they’re not ever going to go away. Our ancestors lived and died without the
Legacy to interfere. We’re not so
fortunate. Yes, we could stay low, even
pack up and move, but, eventually, our descendents will run headlong into
them. Possibly, it could be my son ..
or your wife, your children when you have them. Or Sarai’s baby. Or it
could be a hundred years from now, or a thousand. How will they react, Daniel, if they should learn that we had the
chance to .. make peace with the Legacy and we turned our backs on it?”
He grunted. “And you got all this from one brief conversation with a
scholar?”
Ruth punched him lightly on the
arm. “Don’t make fun of me. This is too important. Your idea was good. And I feel the time is almost upon us to
make it work, and work as you meant it to.
Maybe not the war of words. That
failed. But the war of example and the
war of physical punishment .. yes. We
have a chance and we cannot dismiss it.”
He grunted again. “Father has to decide. I wish I didn’t have to be out here
tonight. The future will be decided in
my absence. And, if we have to move on,
I may lose Rebekah.”
“So that is your main reason.”
“Is it so bad?” Daniel asked,
exasperated.
“Of course it isn’t! Father is wise. He will choose what is good for us, for all the Flamefalls in
town. We trust him, Daniel. He’ll do the good thing.”
“Even if it isn’t right.”
She shrugged. “Our life has never been about right and
wrong, only good and evil.”
*****
“I tell you,” Shem declared, pointing
a finger. “It’ll be here.”
“Exactly here?” Daniel inquired, his
brows rising.
“Can’t you smell it?”
Daniel nodded. “I can smell something. I think it’s a sign we’ll have work to do
before long. I think it means something
is trying to force a way thru. But I
could not swear for a fact that it’ll come thru here. This area, yes. Right here .. I don’t know. There isn’t enough to go on.”
Shem’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what I meant. This area.
Here.”
“We’ll tell Father when we get
back. Send out a team to stay in this
area. Here.” Daniel grinned and Shem’s scowl lightened. “Of course, that’s if we’re still in this
area ourselves. We could be miles
away.”
“I heard the scholars were back to
irritate us,” Shem remarked, his scowl returning. “Esau told us.
Personally, I think Japheth chose wrong five years ago. We should have stayed, bluffed it out.”
“You weren’t there to hear that
man. He would have – ”
“All right,” Shem cut in. “Maybe Japheth was half right. I won’t speak ill of the dead and the Lord
knows Japheth has earned his rest. But
we could have gone, waited a while, then returned. We didn’t have to walk the desert for so long.”
Daniel could sympathize with that
opinion. It rang close to his own
views. Yet, if they’d done that, he
wouldn’t have met Rebekah. Now that he
had, of course, he didn’t want to move on again. Daniel loved and respected his father but he didn’t have total
confidence in him to put up a fight to stay.
Jacob had his family, after
all. The hardship for him was less.
“Are we done here?” Daniel asked. “It’s a long walk back, and the one thing I
do not want to happen is to meet everyone else leaving town while we’re still
on the way home.”
“Joseph, have you seen enough?” Shem
called.
“I have, Shem.”
“Then we’ll go.”
Shem began to lead the way up the
mountain from the steep valley. Joseph
and Ruth clambered after him. Daniel stared
around the valley then shook his head and followed.
He had time for evil. His entire life was devoted to defeating
it. Although Daniel was eager to do a
good job and would never flinch from the battle, he had come to admire the
creatures from the Pit. It wasn’t a
fall to the knees and worship them admiration, it was a wondering admiration of
their persistence. It seemed they would
never give up. One would find a way
thru and be destroyed. Another would
follow and suffer the same fate. They
all suffered the same fate. Yet still
they tried, and still they came.
Michael and Gabriel saw this at the
start, he reflected, his hands searching for the next hold. A persistent enemy, stubborn and, to a large
degree, blind and stupid requires an equally persistent army, just as stubborn
but able to think. So they made
us. God fashioned us in His likeness,
and the angels blessed us with their attributes. I do admire the beasts, I can’t deny it, but it doesn’t mean I
won’t kill them every chance I get.
He heard his sister laugh softly at
something Joseph said. Daniel envied
them a little. They were happy,
settled, and parents. Already Ruth was
talking of another baby. Two thousand
years of Flamefalls, and still the army grows, he mused. We’re everywhere. We could easily overwhelm the Legacy by sheer numbers .. but we
won’t. We can’t. We exist in the shadows of the world. Not quite angels and not quite men. What will happen when the army starts to
shrink ..? Ruth is noticeably weaker
for sharing her power with Joseph and again with their son. Will there come a time when, thru force of
circumstance, we must cease breeding to conserve what power there is? And will it then start to concentrate again?
By the time they had climbed down to
the desert, the moon, big and dusky red in the sky, was sinking into the
west. A hunter’s moon, they called it
because it was red with the blood of the kill.
Daniel saw it and considered it an omen. Before long, they would be on the hunt.
*****
Ruth felt vindicated and Daniel was
mildly surprised when they learned that Jacob had decided the Flamefalls should
stay. He had listened to Naomi who had
faithfully reported what Ruth had told her.
Jacob had listened to the views of the others. And he had chosen to remain.
The town was smaller than their previous home but, with care – and when
was a Flamefall not careful? – they could avoid detection by the members of the
new Legacy house.
“You are sure it was not the one who came to our workshop that last
time?” Jacob asked.
“I’m very sure, Father,” Ruth
replied. “It was the younger one of the
two who stood at the well, the two who asked so many questions and refused to
leave. He spoke of his companion so I
assume he means the older man is here as well.”
“He spoke truly, you say. What of his mood?”
“I sensed regret. Remorse.
Disappointment that I was not who he’d thought I was. They are no threat to us, Father.”
“Except in the way they always have
been.”
“In which case,” Shem yawned – it was
near dawn now, “we are like to encounter them again before long.”
“Oh?” Jacob frowned.
“There are signs in the mountains that
something is trying to break thru. It
could be days away or weeks, but not much longer than that. We’ve located the general area,” Shem reported,
grinning at Daniel.
“We should send out a team to be ready
for it,” Daniel added. “Kill it before
it can fully take shape or do damage.”
He shrugged. “I’ll go.”
“Not alone,” Jacob decided. “And not in person.”
“I’ll help,” Esau offered.
“So will I,” Joseph nodded.
“Two days and nights, then return or
your body will weaken. Shem, you,
Lemuel and I will take over for two days and nights. Turn and turnabout. The
women will nurse us.”
“Of course,” Naomi agreed quickly.
“Start tomorrow night,” Jacob
advised. “Use tomorrow wisely to
prepare for the ordeal.”
*****
The days passed. The beast didn’t come. Daniel’s spirit was tired of doing nothing
but waiting. He didn’t feel the cold or
the heat. His spirit didn’t hunger or
thirst, not for food or water. It
hungered for battle, thirsted for blood, and it was denied. Frustration became resentment. And, while his spirit waited in vain,
Daniel’s body lay as if dead. His
mother nursed him, trickling water down his throat. She kept him warm at night and cool by day. And, when his time on duty was over, his
body roused again to find itself weak with hunger.
They couldn’t go on like this. In a large community, they might have to do
this once a month. But this was a small
community of Flamefalls. There were only twelve of them in this town and some
of those were babies still in their mothers’ arms. Jacob reluctantly called a halt to the watch.
“Father, it’s abandoning our duty,”
Daniel protested.
“We’re not. We will be no use if we are too weak to fight. The spirit is ever strong, ever valiant, I
know, but if the body fails … We must
rest and get strong again. To do less
would be abandoning our duty.”
Reluctantly, Daniel surrendered. Joseph, who had been a Flamefall only two
years, was suffering badly. Esau,
several years younger than Daniel but a trueborn, wasn’t much better. Even Shem, the wiry, burnt brown by the sun,
hardy warrior that he was, felt the strain.
And then, while they recuperated, the
news came. A shepherd was shouting that
his flock had been ripped apart by a demon.
The town was shocked, horrified and resolved to do something about it.
“Exactly what we didn’t want to happen,” Daniel muttered. “We feared the Legacy getting in our way. Now we have every man who can walk and carry
a weapon heading out to do battle.”
Jacob sighed in agreement. “There’s nothing for it. We’ll have to create a diversion. Esau, Joseph, Lemuel – go out there, attempt
to help them track this thing but be sure to lead them in the wrong
direction. Shem, how are you feeling?”
“I’m all right,” Shem replied stoutly.
“Daniel, you still look weak.”
“Father, don’t make me stay behind,”
the younger man warned. “I’ll follow
you if I have to.”
“We don’t go in person. We’re still too frail for that. Eat something, make it a hearty meal. Drink plenty. We’ll go at sunset.”
“Father, I want to – ” Ruth began.
“No,” he cut in. “No, Joseph has no idea of what’s involved
in raising a trueborn. We can’t afford
to lose you, Ruth. Remain here and help
your mother, see to your son.”
Reluctantly, she lowered her
head. Jacob put an arm around her
shoulders and hugged her.
“In a few years, that boy of yours
will be beating you to the door. He’s a
fine lad. Strong. He has the trueborn’s instincts and
spirit. For now, he need his mother to
guide him and train him.”
“Yes, Father. I understand.”
Esau, Joseph and Lemuel left with the
exodus heading into the desert. The
town wasn’t emptied. The women
remained, so did the children and the elderly, but it was quiet, almost silent
with fearful anticipation and sick nerves.
Demons were rare but to learn of one hunting so close to their homes
… Soon the dusty streets were deserted
as people shut themselves inside to pray for salvation and the safe homecoming
of their loved ones.
Lemuel, a Flamefall of some forty
years of age, saw the dead crows and the green gelid poison the demon had
left. To kill once, then kill again,
and to go on killing .. this demon knew what it wanted. To decimate the flocks, leaving people cold
and hungry. To decimate the population,
leaving families in mourning. He saw
the trail leading away into the mountains and he nudged Esau.
“Create a false trail, take it north
or south,” he breathed. “Not west –
that’ll panic them. They’ll think the
town’s under threat.”
Joseph was keeping a wary eye on the
scholars. They’d walked at the rear of
the crowd but had steadily pushed their way toward the front. Like so many others, they’d come prepared
for battle – spears were being used as hiking staves – and they’d brought along
a pack donkey which was laden with bags of food and blankets and water
skins. When Esau pointed out the trail
leading north and the main group, filled with courage and strong words, had set
off to follow it, the scholars had stayed behind to examine the scene of the
slaughter.
Lemuel shrugged. “If we stay too, they’ll get
suspicious. We have to leave them and
trust they don’t do anything stupid.”
“Like get killed,” Joseph muttered.
“Like get one of us killed,” Lemuel
corrected darkly.
“But .. Ruth said the spirit is
immortal, invincible. It can’t be killed.”
“If one of the scholars gets between
us and the creature and we kill them by accident, you know what’ll happen. Spirit goes straight to Hell, and the body
left behind burns to ash. Jacob, Daniel
and Shem run a terrible risk going hunting with the Legacy around.”
“Shouldn’t we try to distract them
too?” Joseph swallowed, glad Ruth was at home.
“You’ve not run into them before. Neither have I but your wife has. So has her brother, and Shem. They don’t listen. They think they know. In
town, yes, standing around the well, in the streets, they’re content to hold a
reasoning conversation. Out here ..
look at them,” he invited.
Joseph looked back. They were examining the sheep carcasses and
the dead birds.
“They study things, learn, and then
try to make sense of it. They’re here
for the long haul, Joseph,” Lemuel went on.
“They don’t intend to go back until they’ve killed it. Come on.
Let’s go.”
*****
At sunset, Jacob and Daniel settled
themselves for sleep and, moments later, met Shem outside. The three shades raced thru the darkening
streets and fled over the desert. Moving
without the physical weight of a body was so much easier. Their feet hardly moving, the ground rushed
by beneath. They reached the scene of
the burning and paused to look. There
wasn’t much left to see – just a patch of blackened ground and ash which the
breeze was scattering.
“The Legacy did this?” Daniel queried.
“Why would they?” Shem frowned.
“Poison,” Jacob replied,
pointing. “Consuming these animals
would have been a fatal error. The
Legacy did the town a big favor and saved lives.”
“So they’re not all bad,” Shem
remarked.
“None of us have ever said they were,”
Daniel commented. “They are ..
basically, on the same side as us. They
just use different methods. Dangerously
different methods. I would not be
surprised if, once they’ve found the creature, they attempt to talk with it.”
“You’re getting far too cynical for
someone your age,” Shem grinned.
“I was fine till they made me walk the
desert for a year. Something like that
twists a young man’s mind.”
“Come on,” Jacob urged. “If we’re lucky, we’ll have the thing dead
by morning and the Legacy can roam in search of it for days, never finding so
much as a tooth or a claw.”
They headed toward the mountains,
tracking by the stink the creature had left.
It was sharp, raw and pungent.
Unmistakably, the stench of the Pit.
“Over there,” Daniel murmured,
pointing.
There was a fire. A man stood within the glow of it, leaning
on a spear and watching the night.
“The Legacy,” Shem declared. “One man on watch, the others sleeping
peacefully. How simple life is for
them.”
They fled past the tiny camp and began
to climb. Climbing without the
encumbrance of a physical body was a lot easier too. It was almost like flying with the wings of angels, wings they
didn’t possess. Slowly, the stink was
getting stronger, the trail less difficult to follow. But there was no creature at the end of it. Luck wasn’t favoring the Flamefalls on this
particular night.
“I told you it would be here,” Shem
said. “I said that over two weeks ago,
didn’t I?”
“Yes, Shem,” Daniel agreed
patiently. “It’s the same valley we
visited before. The same valley we’ve
been watching practically every night and day since. But it isn’t here, is it?
Maybe this beast is one who likes to hunt by day when the flocks are
easy pickings."
Jacob sat down on an outcrop of
stone. “Then we wait and be ready when
it returns.”
“And if the Legacy turns up?” Shem
frowned.
“They can’t go the same route we
took. They have a donkey. They’ll have to go by a longer path.”
“So?
What if we’re still sitting on our backsides, waiting and ready, and the
Legacy turns up?”
Daniel straightened his broad,
muscular shoulders. “We keep them out
of the way. I won’t end up in Hell,
neither will you or my father, not on top of walking the desert for a
year. If they try to force their way in
front .. I’ll hit someone. What’s
more,” he added quietly, “I think I’ll enjoy it.”
*****
The sky gradually became lighter as
the sun rose over the rim of the world.
In the steep sided valley, however, the night still lingered and the
shadows were thick. It would be a few
hours yet before light flooded the interior of the mountains and spread over
the desert on the western side. A few
hours before the scholars roused themselves from the chill of the darkness,
broke their fast, packed up their camp and burdened their donkey, then began
searching for a path the beast could manage.
A few hours would make all the difference.
In his heart, Daniel believed it would
make no difference at all. He’d spent
the night thinking about his sister’s words.
The good time is .. almost here.
He had a gut feeling the good time was right now but he wasn’t sure just
how good it was meant to be. The damned
demon wouldn’t show until the Legacy arrived.
There was a singular certainty about it.
And then what happens? Five of them, three of us, one demon. A triangle, only it won’t be a triangle,
will it? Them jabbing at it with their
spears. Us shouting at them to get out
of the way. The demon not sure whether
to laugh or attack.
He sighed softly. If it wasn’t so serious, I’d laugh too. The Legacy isn’t funny, not by any
standard. They do a serious job. I respect them. I just want to respect them from a greater distance. Ah well, today’s the day we draw the line and
show them they cannot cross. Today is
the good day.
Daniel could wait patiently for any
demon to appear. Today, however, he
wanted to pace, to fidget, to do something other than wait. Flamefalls could deal with evil. They were trained for it. Today, the good day, an unknown variable had
entered the mix. Things wouldn’t be so
clear cut. Today, and for the first
time, the outcome wasn’t as predictable.
Jacob appeared to be unaffected. He sat on his rock and almost blended into
it, he was so still. Shem, on the other
hand, had taken to softly whistling between his teeth. It was setting Daniel’s nerves on edge but
arguing wouldn’t solve anything. It’d
only make the slowly growing tension worse.
By the time the sun had lifted high
enough to bring full daylight to their valley, it was nearing mid morning. Daniel was almost counting the seconds now
and mentally rehearsing what he would say when the scholars arrived.
“Here we go,” Shem breathed and Daniel
jumped.
The clip clop of donkey hooves echoed
along the valley walls. Five men
appeared around the slight bend. Jacob
rose to his feet. Shem was already
standing. Daniel sighed again and
hauled himself upright.
The scholars halted to stare. Jacob watched them then drew in a breath.
“We won’t ask you to go back because
it would be a waste of time,” he called.
“We won’t tell you that this is a dangerous place because we believe you
already know that. What we must demand
of you is that you keep back. You may
watch but you cannot interfere.”
Their leader took several steps
forward. “Are you the white haired
people?”
“Does he think we’re old?” Shem hissed.
“I think he means the mark of
victory,” Daniel murmured.
“What we are does not matter. It is what we do that is important,” Jacob
replied. “Tether your donkey back down
the valley or you will lose it.”
“Elias, we have tracked the beast this
far! They cannot tell us what to do!”
one of the other scholars said.
“Five years older and still no wiser,”
Daniel breathed. “Still they think they
know best.”
“Hush, Micah,” the one called Elias
urged. “Isaac, go tether the donkey.”
“But, Elias,” Micah began again, “who
are these people? They are not Legacy
members. They interfere in our work.”
“We don’t know who they are but .. we
believe we are all on the same side, wanting the same thing.”
“I didn’t come all this way to stand
back and watch!” Micah challenged.
Daniel pushed forward. “If I have to thump you, I will,” he told
Micah. “You get between me and the
creature .. evil things will happen.”
Micah shoved at him. Daniel punched him on the nose.
“We outnumber you!” a young scholar
cried in outrage, as Elias watched the blood flow. “How dare you hit him!”
“He asked for it,” Daniel replied,
rather enjoying the stinging sensation in his knuckles. That one punch made up for twelve months of
being a nomad, that and the look of total surprise on the scholar’s face just
before the punch landed.
“Simon, please!” Elias shouted. “Let us not forget who the enemy is!”
Isaac returned in time to hold Simon
back. “The enemy isn’t here yet,
Simon. These people .. we would be wise
to think of them as friends.”
“Some chance of that ever happening,”
Shem remarked softly.
“Friends? He hit Micah on the nose!” Simon shouted, struggling to break
free.
“Calm yourself,” Isaac urged fiercely
into one of Simon’s ears. “I am Isaac,”
he said to Daniel. “I would offer you
my hand but I appear to need both at the moment. Were you here all night?”
“Most of it, yes,” Daniel replied.
“I thought I slept easier than I
should have done. Thank you for
protecting us.”
Daniel grinned quickly but kept an eye
on Micah who was nursing a bloody nose and looking like he wanted a rematch.
Without warning, the demon burst into
existence. Micah grabbed his
spear. Isaac, startled, took a step
back and let go of Simon who sprang forward.
The fifth Legacy man pushed forward as well, jabbing up at the beast.
“Don’t get in the way,” Daniel
ordered. “We can’t fight if – ”
“Then run and let us fight the thing!” Simon sneered at him. “Cowards!”
At that totally unfounded insult,
Jacob marched forward and swung a punch of his own which knocked Simon off his
feet.
“Elias,” he said, “if you have any
control over these men, you will keep your people back. Or we will do it for you.”
Shem was darting around, trying to get
a clear shot.
“You have no weapons,” Elias pointed
out.
Daniel stumbled as Micah barged into
him. “Get out of my way!” they yelled
into each other’s face.
“Do you think we are stupid? To battle creatures like this with only our
bare hands ..? We have weapons,” Jacob
retorted. “But we cannot use them if
you are in the way. For the love of
God, let us do our work!”
The beast roared and Daniel thought he
could hear laughter in it.
“I’ve had enough of this,” he muttered
and grabbed Micah’s spear. He tossed it
like a javelin, not at the beast but back down the valley. Then he shoved Micah into Simon who fell
into the fifth Legacy man and they all went down in a sprawl of arms and legs. Elias and Isaac bent to help their
associates and prevent them getting up too quickly.
“We have a clear field,” Shem declared
and armed himself.
Daniel called on the sword of flame
while his father blazed with a blinding light.
The beast’s roars changed to howls of pain. Three slashes of fire tore into its body and Shem took its head
with lightning. Jacob flung fireballs
and the thing ignited, burned ferociously, and exploded.
Elias and Isaac blinked, their mouths
open. Silence returned to the
valley. Jacob, Daniel and Shem sent
their weapons away and turned to face them.
“We are not your enemy,” Jacob
said. “But we are not your friends
either. Our job is to hunt down evil
and destroy it. If you ever learn of
another such creature, don’t go looking for it. We will be there long before you. It is our duty. And never
get between us and our prey again.”
“Please .. who are you?” Elias
whispered.
“The ghosts who walk by day,” Daniel
replied, and the three Flamefalls disappeared.
*****
“You should have seen their faces!”
Shem repeated, unable to wipe the broad grin from his own face. “Talk about a big exit!”
Ruth
was nodding and smiling too as she rocked her son in her arms. Naomi, however, was frowning.
“Have
we done a bad thing?” Jacob inquired.
“I
think you have, yes,” she replied and that quenched the mood of good
humor. Jacob was the Elder, the leader
of the Flamefalls in this community, but he wasn’t a trueborn. Naomi was and she was the real Elder. She demurred to Jacob’s decisions but she
always ensured he knew what she
wanted.
“In
what way, Mother?” Daniel asked.
“Don’t
misunderstand me,” she cautioned. “I
don’t think you’ve done an evil thing or necessarily a wrong thing. But it was bad, disappearing like that. We knew we would have, one day, to show the
Legacy that we fight the good fight even more than they do and, to do that, we
would have to reveal a few of our secrets.
With men as focused and as stubborn as them, they left us very little
choice. But some secrets should have
stayed secret, and .. I think you revealed too much. Being able to become living shades … ” She sighed and shook her head.
“If that gets out, we could find ourselves hunted again. Not persecuted but hunted. They study the mysteries and, as Japheth
used to say, we are a mystery to them.
They will have questions, and they will want them answered. How do we do it? Where do the weapons come from?
How many of us are there in the world?
What else can we do? How did we
get to be like this?”
“But
they can’t recognize us, Mother,” Ruth pointed out, “unless we let them.”
“I
know,” Naomi said patiently. “So, if I
were them and faced with such a strange, wonderful mystery, I would ask anyone
I met. Everyone. Before long, the whole town will know of us,
even if none can recognize us. Do we
want that? The Flamefalls have lived
amongst mankind for over fifteen hundred years .. and no one knew we were
different. We were simply families and
fellow citizens. And now they will know
that strange people dwell among them.
Not harmful people but still strange.
If we move on,” Naomi commented, “the rumors will move with us this
time. No matter where we go, people
will ask questions of us.”
“Then
we should stay,” Daniel insisted. “If
moving makes no difference, we should remain here. If no answers are forthcoming, the questions will eventually
cease. The main thing is that the
Legacy now knows our purpose and has seen some of our methods. The risk we
face in battle has been significantly reduced.”
“Will
one demonstration be enough?” Shem wondered.
“You
saw the look on their faces, Shem,” Daniel responded. “Would you forget such an awesome display?”
He
considered briefly and his eyes lit with mischief. “No, I don’t think I would ever forget.”
“There’s
one thing you’ve all forgotten,” Ruth began and they looked at her. “The Flamefalls are a huge secret. We could walk openly among the people –
there are no rules which say we can’t – but we don’t because we would be asked
to intervene in all manner of disputes.
And, when we refuse enough times, our true purpose would be forgotten
and we would be labeled freaks. We
would become outcasts by popular opinion instead of quiet isolationists by
choice. However, I don’t think the town
will get to learn of us at all. The
Legacy is a secret sect as well. Yes,
we are a mystery to them and they have had some of their questions answered but
not all. Our mystery has only
deepened. They will look for us in
their own way but without sharing what they know. If they did that, they risk their own secrecy. We worry about our own interests. The Legacy is exactly the same. Remember how they asked us before? How much did we know? Who else had we told? We demonstrated our discretion by not
telling anyone. Even though they
believed we were assassins and demon worshippers, they spoke of it to no one
outside the Legacy.”
“So
we’re safe,” Joseph commented.
“Nothing’s really changed except .. the level of knowledge.”
“We
knew their secret, now they know ours,” Daniel agreed. “It’s almost a balance of power.”
“In
what way?” Ruth asked.
“It’s
like we each hold a sword at the other’s throat. If they start talking .. so do we.”
Ruth
sighed unhappily. “It isn’t quite how
people on the same side should be toward each other. We should be searching for a common understanding.”
“This
will have to serve instead,” Daniel countered.
“A common threat.”
“And
we are still more secret than they are,” Jacob calmly pointed out. “We can disguise ourselves. They are not so fortunate. They do not know for a fact that we live in
this town. We could have been already
in the desert.”
“The
next few days will tell if your belief is true or simply a fond wish,” Naomi
commented. “For now, we should
rest. A demon was destroyed this
day. We did our duty. You three need to recover. To your beds, get some sleep. The rest of us will deal with the Legacy.”
Ruth
watched her brother get wearily to his feet and walk away.
A
common threat … That would only lead to
more confrontations, increasing resentment and, ultimately, a flare up into
open hostility. That was bad and
wrong. She felt in her soul, the place
where the flame burned hottest, that Flamefalls should attempt the other, more
difficult path. Common understanding,
and common respect, was right and it was good.
Daniel
had lit the torch five years before.
Now someone else had to carry it forward to light the darkness of the
future.
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