Hammer and Feather Ch. 52-57

Ezphine took the talons and held them for a moment before nodding. "The heat might ruin them. I've never been able to use magic, you don't need to lend that to me."

"Orsas Fellforger does beautiful work but my talons are meant to be used. Knives are tools, tools break. They can be replaced. As for the magic, it's just putting your will forward with intention. Sometimes that intention needs something to draw from. The power is there for you if your intention needs it."

The goddess knelt and got to work. The steel became soft enough that Ezphine could rend it with the talons and she fed pieces of steel into the fire beneath. When she was done, she held the talons in one hand and the other over the mangled heap of glowing metal. It changed shape slowly. A hammer formed and when it was as she wished it to be, the goddess used the talons to lift the top piece of stone from the fire and carried it a few steps to place on the ground.

"It has to cool... It should be quenched but..."

"What do you need?" Syreilla grinned, lifting her hands and drawing the smoke to them using some of the remaining power from the talons. The smoke was a part of her flames and she made the choice to embrace it.

"Oil would be best." Ezphine gave her a baffled look.

"Will smoke do?" Syr concentrated the black smoke into a cylinder until it was almost a liquid.

"Can you make the edges solid so that it doesn't fall out?"

Using the talons, Ezphine was lifting the hammer and carrying it to the smoke.

"I can try." She focused on solidifying the edges, drawing more smoke as it came from the still-burning fire.

The hammer went in and made an odd sort of hiss. It leaned against the side and it bowed out but didn't break.

"If I'd known I could do this I'd have made myself a cloak out of smoke."

Ezphine started to laugh. "You didn't know you could do this?"

"Did you know you could make a hammer by pure will?"

The goddess broke into a grin, "You didn't know I could either."

"It seemed like you should be able to. How can you know for sure if you don't try? I like a challenge and if you tell me I can't I damn well will.

"How did my talons hold up?"

"They're blunted and a little warped. I've ruined the tempering. They'll shatter if you strike anything with them."

"Orsas may be able to fix them for me."

"I can do it, Syreilla. I'll do it as thanks if we survive."

"Orsas will make my ears ring if I let someone else repair them. He's proud of his work."

"As he should be." Ezphine handed the talons back and Syr managed to sheath them. "If you think you can make cloth out of your smoke... Can you give me enough for wraps for the handle?"

"Let's find out."

Her first two attempts dissolved when she stopped focusing on them. On the third attempt, she imagined the smoke made solid and woven. It made a cloth that stretched until it was impossibly thin and was useless for wrapping, she shook it out and made it into a draped mantle. The fourth time she focused on making the smoke solid and imagined leather, a firm skin of smoke that would hold and not give.

That worked better though it wasn't perfect. Ezphine wrapped the handle of her hammer with it. One half of the hammer was flat and the other was slightly rounded. It looked like a large but serviceable smith's hammer.

"I don't usually wrap my handles, but it needs something."

"Consider the wrappings a gift."

"I understand that you're the goddess of righteous vengeance but... you don't know me, why give me a gift?"

"I can see, Ezphine. Pain hangs on you like a shroud of dirt you've yet to throw off. When you do you'll shine. Any gift I give you, you'll make more out of than I expected."

"She used to say things like that."

"Liars often speak the truth. When you mix it in with lies and half-truths no one can tell the difference. I understand how difficult it can be to trust someone you don't know, but I give you my word, Ezphine, I'll tell you the truth more than I lie to you." Syr grinned and the woman gave her a sour look before shaking her head.

"I do like you but I want to kick you at the same time."

"I have an unpleasant personality. Most of my family feels the same way about me. They're happy to see me and delighted when I leave."

Ezphine snorted. "I have a hammer in my hand now, Syreilla. What now?"

"Let's have a look at where we are." Syr moved close to the wall and ran her hand over it, noticing the carved wards intended to keep them in place. They would prevent her doors from opening and sigils from being able to draw out those inside. Nothing in them was preventing her from using magic but the dryness of the air would be an obstacle if she drained her talons fully.

She frowned, walking around the chamber with her hand touching the wall lightly. The stone slabs had come away and left the wards intact without taking a piece of them out as if they were carved in something that sat over the stone. The stone itself... The cave wasn't natural, but these weren't blocks either. "No seam, but it's hand-hewn, someone carved it out."

"I did." The woman was smiling faintly with her arms folded. "There was a small natural cavern here and she had me enlarge it to hold unwanted guests."

Looking up at the similarly warded ceiling where the breeze had come from, Syr nodded. "Are there any cracks, any-" The slim opening in the ceiling caught her eye and she grinned. "That is what we want."

"It's too narrow and digging it out-"

"Even with the chains trying to suck your power from you and the dryness of the air here, you made the rock obey and come apart in slabs, not as tiny flecks or shards. If I had to guess, I would say holding steel gives you something no matter what your circumstances are. See what holding that hammer does for you."

Ezphine stared at her for a long moment. "And if it doesn't do anything?"

"Then I'll sling my dragon's fire onto the stone and have you hit it. That will get us something even if it's just a bigger crack to work with. As long as I don't catch us both on fire doing it."

"I'll give it a try." The goddess frowned looking around, "I need a boost."

"Step on my thigh." Looking up she frowned slightly, "Put me where you need me, and if you have to you can put a foot in my hands as well."

Syr let herself be moved into position and dropped onto one knee, bracing herself to hold the other woman's weight. She tried not to grimace as Ezphine looked for firm footing.

"Bend over, Syreilla. Let me put a foot on your shoulder or your back, your hands are too wobbly, I can't get my footing right."

Bending obligingly, she stopped breathing to make certain that the motion didn't lend any unsteadiness to the other woman's footing. After a moment, Ezphine seemed to be content with the position of her feet and swung the hammer. Stone rumbled and came crashing down next to them.

Coughing, the goddess hopped down. "I didn't think that would work."

Syreilla pulled up the smoke mantle and covered her mouth to filter out the dust so that she could speak. "Stop breathing. You're not mortal, you don't need to."

The other woman stared at her for a moment and then nodded slowly gesturing upwards. It was easy to scramble up the stone and scree and leap to the ragged handholds above. Though, it sounded as if Ezphine had more difficulty. At least, the ward hanging in the air offered no resistance.

The crevice widened and then narrowed as it ascended, the natural stone smoothed out as it went higher and became slightly slippery. Glancing behind, she noticed the goddess with her struggling to keep up, the hammer's handle tucked into her ragged shirt.

If she struggled on the rough stone she wouldn't be able to navigate the smooth rock.

"You stopped?" Ezphine called up, pausing her efforts. "Is the way blocked?"

"The stone gets smooth and slippery here. You're having trouble on the rough stone. We need handholds."

"I might bring it all down if I try to make them with my hammer." The goddess sounded nervous.

"I can make them but the smoke..." Syreilla grinned and shook her head. "I can use it. I almost forgot. Take a rest if you can."

"What are you doing?"

"Making handholds."

She started burning holds into the stone as she had in the shaft with Nali and instead of letting the smoke rise to alert people to their presence, she willed it into a net of sorts for Ezphine that should be easier to climb. The goddess was on her heels as she worked her way up the smooth stone.

They came up into a larger chamber filled with dripping teeth of stone, some of which rose from the floor. Syr looked around to get her bearings.

"You have small hands, Syreilla." Ezphine rubbed her fingers with a rueful smile. "Your handholds were tight and your net had too much give for me to trust it."

"Remind me next time and I'll try to make them bigger, I'm still working on the smoke."

"It took you long enough to burn the small ones." The goddess of the forge reached out to touch Syr's ear and blinked as the half-elf flinched away. "Why are your ears like that?"

"Why are they pointed?"

"Yes."

"Odos likes his children to be half-elves. We have longer lives and his children tend to get into so much mischief that we need the quicker elven reflexes. I've never been fond of my ears, they caused me a lot of grief. Very few people are permitted to touch them."

"If you can stop breathing can't you get rid of them?"

"Perhaps, but even the parts of me I'm uncomfortable with are parts of me. The grief my ears have caused me has shaped me into who I am and I've been trying to make peace with them." She put on a rueful smile, "Besides, I think my husbands might cry if I came home with human ears. They have a fondness for elves."

"Husbands?"

"I can tell you about that as we make our way out of here. You'll like Syvezar, Vedhethrah may be an acquired taste."

*Fifty-seven*

Kwes tried to imitate Valim's confident posture as he rode next to the wagon Evecia and Evran were in; the extra horse was tied securely to the back of the cart to barter with if need be.

The man snorted as he glanced over. "You look ridiculous when you try to carry yourself like a soldier, Edun."

"I'm imitating you!"

Evecia laughed, "He looks like Verac imitating you. You're sure he can find us from the note you left, Valim?"

The man's face went flat and he nodded. "If he turns up at the house-"

"Tell her Valim." Evran shook his head.

"Tell me what?"

"Verac fell." Valim sighed.

"Those horrid elves." She sounded wounded and her father put a hand on her thigh.

"It wasn't the elves," Kwes spoke up gently. "He was trying to do the right thing and-"

"Shut up, Edun. It's easier for her to think the enemy killed him."

The girl looked at Valim in horror. "Who? Who if it wasn't the elves?"

"The Iscan priests. Lady Rook flew in as a bird of flame, the real Lady Rook not that dark one who had her soldiers cutting the ears off of children." He gave Kwes a black look, "She told us all that if we released the captives and went home that would be the end of it, she wouldn't harm us. She slew the dark Rook and set to burning those who challenged her. Some of us went to free the captives.

"The priests killed most of us. I got away and watched from a tent as Lady Rook knelt next to Verac and asked the god of death to take his attempt to do as she said into account when he's judged."

"She's allowed to intervene and ask for mercy. They're supposed to have a feather for her to do it but there are some cases that he might bend the rules."

"He always liked feathers. As a child, he would pick them up when he saw them." Evran looked grimly ahead. "I'll pray he had one with him."

"He might have." Valim exhaled heavily. "There were black rooks that came to sit on the cage the captives were in and they flew all over the camp like they weren't afraid at all."

"They weren't. You can't kill them." Kwes smiled faintly and glanced at Valim. "They're already dead."

"That might be why they made us all feel uneasy." The man shook his head. "When they looked at you..."

"Syreilla likes clever birds. They made you feel uneasy but when they sat on the tents watching over my family we all felt safer."

"You have a family? And you were with the elves?" Evecia looked baffled.

"You can't tell right now, but I'm a half-elf. I traded ears with my cousin, the god of mediation and healing. He's a good man, a good god, I should say. He's a human god but we're planning to make him an elven god as well."

"We could use a god like that," Evran sounded disapproving.

"We can share. It wouldn't be the first time we've had gods in common, and Lady Rook is shared by all the races. Dwarves, elves, and humans all of them have a claim on her."

"How is that possible?" The older man frowned.

"Her mother was human but there was dwarf in the lineage, and her mortal father was an elf. When the gods have a child with a mortal it isn't like when mortals have a child, he doesn't slip into the woman's bed. He gives a blessing at the right moment as the child is conceived. The child has two mortal parents and a divine one."

"A child of all three races, she was destined for greatness." Evran nodded with a solemn look of understanding and Kwes wanted to laugh. If that were true Hammersworn's children should all be gods or destined for greatness.

"You can't tell she has any dwarf in her until you speak to her. Her manner is so dwarvish it's jarring."

"Why was your family at the encampment?" Valim prodded him.

"Where else would they go? When they stayed in a village apart from us it was raided. My wife was out in the woods looking for food and our daughter was being watched by a friend. When she came back with the others the place was in ruins. Some of the children had managed to hide well enough that they weren't taken but there was blood everywhere. Some of the women and older children had fought back and were killed. The rest..."

"The rest ended up in our cages." Valim nodded grimly.

"You got your daughter back?" Evran glanced over with a worried expression.

"She'd hidden, she's small but bright. She didn't say a word for months after and she would cling to her mother like a vine. Those who were left came to stay in the encampment. If they're killed or taken it will be because we were overrun."

"How did you get here?" Evecia asked softly.

"My sister brought me. She needed to speak to the huntress and I have a task that will force an end to the war. What I came to get is no longer where it should be so I have to go to where it is without my sister's help. If she came here it would be noticed."

"Why did the elves start a war they couldn't hope to win." Valim frowned.

"We didn't. This war... It began as a quarrel between the gods. An elven goddess did something that was wrong and Atos wanted her punished. He and the huntress wanted to do it instead of letting Bone White, the King of the elven gods, do it.

"The huntress used the quarrel as an opportunity to try to take Atos' crown. Elves and humans are mixed up in this through no fault of their own. Atos reunited with his brother-"

"To be stronger." Evran gave him a knowing look. "Wise."

"And they have been trying to stop the war without too many losses on either side. But it hasn't been working and the elves have suffered horribly."

"Let them punish the elven goddess. Wouldn't that end it?" Evecia looked at him curiously.

"It stopped being about justice and punishing the elven goddess for doing wrong when the huntress chose to try and become the new Queen of the gods. The elven goddess sided with the huntress and was trying to take the crown from Bone White so that they could both be the new rulers of the gods.

"After she slew the False Rook, Syreilla the Rook let them catch her. Lady Rook stripped the elven goddess of her godhood, set her aflame with dragon's fire, and kicked her through death's door. That goddess' name is being struck from mouth and memory."

Valim started to laugh and then covered his face, "I can believe that. That woman was terrifying. Why hasn't she done it to-?"

Hoofbeats behind them brought him up short. The handful of riders slowed and fell in with them, looking hard at Valim and their five horses.

"Where are you headed?"

"A farm a long way from here." Valim eyed them carefully, "You?"

"A long way from here is a good place to be. Did you see Lady Rook?"

"On the field. It was enough."

"She came to the city."

"I heard but I didn't stay to hear what she did."

"She fought Isca on a roof and won. Isca has all the gods angry. Atos himself spoke and it thundered across the city. Lady Rook is going to punish her and anyone who stays in the army. They're trying to stop the desertions by killing deserters but... that just means some of us are killing to get away." He gave Valim a measuring look. "There's safety in numbers."

"Put a feather in your pocket for luck," Kwes spoke up and heads swiveled to look at him. "It'll keep you on Lady Rook's good side or so I was told. My uncle used to tell stories about the Golden Rook. The daughter of Odos is the goddess of righteous vengeance and the protector of gentle souls. She has a soft spot for birds and children."

"It couldn't hurt." Valim shrugged. "I'd rather be on her good side than anywhere else."

"Any feather?" The soldiers looked at him nervously.

"Any feather, I was told."

They began eying the chickens that were in the back of the cart.

"Evey, see if there are any feathers loose for our friends."

"If things keep going this way you might be able to make some money selling chicken feathers, if you paint them a little you might get more." Kwes voiced his thought more to Evran than anyone else.

The men started to laugh and one offered, "That's not a bad idea. I'll buy one from you."

They laughed again and another agreed, "Eggs for breakfast and feathers to sell. Those are valuable birds."

"Edun," Evran asked with an oddly cheerful tone, "Are there chickens at your farm?"

"There were when I left."

"Then we can afford to give these boys the chickens in payment for riding with us."

Something about the soldiers relaxed.

"There's a chicken for each of us plus a few. We can eat a few as we go and keep at least one alive each."

"Not a bad idea. When Lady Rook starts up her trouble in earnest everyone is going to want a feather."

Evecia managed to find five feathers for the soldiers and she looked at Valim with concern. "That's all the ones in the hay."

"I'll look for another when we stop, Evey."

"We can sell you one." A soldier grinned and the others laughed.

Kwes kept half an ear open to their banter as they rode, talk of family and deliberately vague mentions of where they might go mostly. By evening they reached an area they seemed to know well.

"Come off the road. There are some caves back this way, we can find a safe place to make camp."

The mention of caves reminded Kwes of Edun's father and brother for a brief moment. Their bodies had been shoved into a cave or something like it if he remembered correctly. That was a long way from here but that was almost what caves were for, getting rid of things you didn't want found.

Evey stayed close to her father and brother once they managed to get the cart back to the place the soldiers felt was safe. The camp went up quickly and he noticed the men eyeing the few dark cave mouths that looked more like gashes or pits. A faint smell of something burned hung in the air.

Itia, who had been following mostly unseen, landed in a tree nearby and sang out. This place makes me nervous.

Kwes took out the coin and glanced over the caves. As Syreilla had said, his vision was better. Wards leapt out at him.