Bound

The strong scent of mint filled the air as wood burned in the fire. Over the few weeks of travel Reinhardt began to recognize the tree that gave off the pleasant aroma. In addition to the scent the wood didn’t burn red; it burned with a light gray flame. This particular wood is the only type the Duzee soldiers would use, due to the limited light it put off, yet a significant amount of heat. Reinhardt stopped working to take a few moments check on Briccio, who was still unconscious nearby.

Briccio slowly woke, he looked around in a daze until he caught sight of the dark cloaked Reinhardt. Now sitting on the other side of the fire, he had begun removing the armor from his arm. After it was all laid out he reached over to a small pouch he kept on his belt and removed a kit of tools. Under the moonlit sky he began tinkering with the device with careful precision. From the look on Briccio's face Reinhardt could tell that the man had never seen anything like it before, and probably wouldn't again.

The battle with the wind elementalist had taken a lot of energy from him. Reinhardt knew the man hadn't been a gifted shifter, he was far too weak. At most Briccio could have been a bastion, the second tier of elementalists, but even that was unlikely. With his abilities the fight should never have gone as it had, but he had bested one of the strongest men in Duzee by himself.

Reinhardt watched the bartender look down at where his arm had been. A look of understanding fell over his face and he laid his head back down on the log he was resting near. Tilting his head toward the fire had watched Reinhardt hark for a few minutes. He couldn't tell if the man was thinking or blacked out again.

"What is that thing?" He managed to ask in a hushed, raspy voice. Briccio grimaced with the effort, hurting from the fight and his wounds.

“This is just an overly complicated tool that I use while farming."

"What kind of farming would require a spear tipped rope?" The tone of his question forced a laugh from Reinhardt. Packing up the small pack of tools, he stood and put more wood on the fire.

"It's used to pick fruits off the tops of trees without having to climb them. I just modified if a bit for use on the battle field. It has some limitations but it gives me a decent advantage in a pinch. Not many people have seen anything like this before, since I made it myself, it's called the Dragon's Tail."

"Interesting name, does it look anything like a dragon's tail?" Briccio was having trouble speaking but the name amused him, even if laughing hurt.

"No, but when I was younger a friend used to tell me stories about dragons, demons, and things that lived in the woods outside our orphanage at night. He always said that a dragon's tail was tipped with a long, sharp point that could reach you from over fifty feet away. When I designed this it reminded me of his stories so that's the name I picked."

"Sounds like an interesting friend. What's you're name?" Speaking was getting difficult for Briccio, he looked to be falling back into a stupor.

"Reinhardt, and you're Briccio Donovan if I recall correctly?"

"That's right, and is it just Reinhardt or do you have a last name?"

"I stopped using my last name when my family was murdered. I have no use of it now." A long silence fell over them. Briccio didn't know anything about Reinhardt, but he had managed to save him from the four winds so he guessed they were both on the same side.

"I have a family back in Duzee, a wife and a son. I opened a shop up in that Duzee city and we had a good life going. When you entered my pub I knew there was something different about you, something strange. When you refused to let us fight the Duzee soldiers I knew you were a decent man, I couldn't let them take you to be tortured by that damned Astraeus."

"I do appreciate what you have done for me Briccio, but you put yourself, and your men, in the harms way to save someone you don't know. You had no way of knowing if I was worth saving." Silence fell over the campsite again as Reinhardt began sharpening the tip of his improvised weapon. Briccio felt a strange tiredness sweeping over him again, but he didn't feel like sleeping and decided to force himself to stay awake. Stopping what he was doing, Briccio could tell that Reinhardt had something on his mind, and waited for him to speak.

"What do the words on the sign above your shop mean? I don't understand your language."

"An té nach bhfuil láidir, ní foláir dó bheith glic. It means 'whoever is not strong must be clever'. It's something my father used to say to me and it just kind of stuck. I've never been a great elementalist so I took the saying to heart. Without the gifts my father had, I must use my mind."

"You have done a great job at adapting Briccio. You managed to defeat one of the four winds, that alone shows that you are not as weak as you think you are."

"Thank you Reinhardt but I know where I stand in the grand scheme of things. My father was a great leader, and an even greater warrior, capable of moving mountains if he had too. The only person in the whole of the country who could compare was the master himself, but even he couldn't stop him on a good day. When I was finally old enough to start using my power I found out that I would never be able to be like the man I admired most, and that crushed me."

"Even though you can't move a mountain doesn't mean you don't measure up to your father." Reinhardt realized Briccio had taught him something useful. If the story was accurate than even a normal elementalist could surpass the power of master.

"Again, thank you Reinhardt. I just hope my son has more skill than I do when he grows."

"You have a son and you still risk your life for no cause?"

"I lied when I said I didn't have a cause. We're trying to end this war, and to do it we need to stop the feuding between the empires. We were on our way to the Duzee capital, and the goal was to assassinate Master Astraeus, the father of the four winds. Astraeus has been using the winds to fuel this war since he came to power. Along with the ice master this war could have ended long ago.

"How will killing two of the six masters help anything? From what I understand about the masters, their power will just jump to the closest person capable of handling it."

"Killing them will be a good place to start, and for the issue of their abilities jumping to a new host we have found a man capable of handling the wind masters power. If we can kill him and replace him with a better man than we can help change this nation. Otherwise this war will continue to rage until the planet is beyond repair." Briccio couldn't shake the strange feeling running through his body. Fighting the urge to fall asleep he tried to sit up but couldn't get enough strength to move any of his body. Giving up on the desire he forced his eyes to stay open.

"Reinhardt, I want you to help us. The only thing we have not been able to figure out is how to separate Master Astraeus from the four winds. Each of them is strong enough to take the power of the wind for themselves when he dies. To have a real chance we need to get them away from their master. You can do that for us and help us end this whole mess. Maybe then you would feel that your name means something."

Reinhardt thought about the offer for a while before continuing. "What does a name matter anymore? Everything I had was taken from me. Everybody is gone, dead. Even death couldn't end my suffering. The only thing I have left is this draw, a need to find the sea, and whatever lies within its waters."

"What will it take to get there?" Briccio asked, fighting the strange tired feeling in his head.

"The masters themselves will not keep me from where I am headed. I will leave the bodies of anyone who stands in my way behind me."

"Maybe you will have reconsidered joining us in the morning. I'm too tired to stay awake anymore. If you don't mind can I rest, at least for a little while?" Briccio was warm enough in front of the fire to sleep, and he was too tired to move anymore. Reinhardt watched him carefully and nodded. As he placed a sleeping matte over him he stood to let him rest.

"Briccio, you don't have to wait till morning. I will help you in this. Just remember that you owe me for my help." His smile made Briccio smile, wearily. After he closed his eyes Reinhardt waited for a few moments before putting out the fire. Putting his cloak back on he faced the horizon, and the strange draw that he had to the ocean. "I will help you in this, and know that your life was not wasted. You have given me a direction. I will end this war, and make sure your family is safe." As he walked away from the camp, Briccio's already dead body laid peacefully in the darkness.

Author's Note

This point in the story begins to lay out Reinhardt's motivations for the rest of the series. His family dying made him a death elementalist (though that's not explained yet) but Briccio's death turns him on the leader of the Wind Master. My worry is that this isn't a believable reaction to the death of someone he barely knew.