Fire of the Inquisitor
Chapter 24

Lucia coughed and wheezed as she walked back to camp with a bundle of dry stuff for the fire, a task that was made exponentially more difficult when one was struggling to breathe. It was not just her lungs that were suffering, she was burning up with a fever. After the coldness of the Fields of Shadow followed by the stuffiness of the jungle, only to return to the frost of Silence’s house and the sudden heat of the fire she should not have been surprised. Sable was still having the opposite problem she noticed as she returned to camp and started work on the small fire. Whatever that monster Silence had done to him, he was shivering like had fallen into an ice filled pond.

It could have been worse.

Both of them would be dead right now, if not for the miracle she had witnessed. Lucia bit her tongue. Maybe, miracle was not the right world for what she had seen. Standing on that burning platform, the two of them seconds away from dying from suffocation and burning alive, the inquisitor reached out his hand and commanded the fire. Like a river of flames, it flowed past his outstretched arm and into the stone walls of the pyramid. They had melted before her eyes, turning into liquid ash.

Sable had collapsed in her arms, not seconds after the wall had opened up in front of them. That is when the platform finally gave away and they were sent flying outward towards the melting stones of the side of the building. She still couldn’t figure out how they ended up missing falling onto one of those stones and boiling alive, but when she dragged herself to her feet afterward they were laying on the ground in front of a burning jungle.

Lucia had dragged Sable as far as she could to safety and thrown leaves and brush on him in an attempt to keep him warm. Then, she traveled back to the pyramid to collect her pack that had a blanket for Sable and the medicine for her people’s leader. Ever since then she had been trying to keep the inquisitor warm.

“How are you doing,” she said, kneeling next to him.

His eyes had remained slightly opened the entire time, telling her that he had not gotten any sleep. He looked at her, the eyes of a person who was afraid death behind his mask. Lucia knew him well enough that some of that fear was a fear of dying before he could complete his mission.

“I’m not going to make it,” Sable said.

Lucia put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll boil some water, it will warm you up fast.”

Sable shook his head slowly. “The coldness is not in my blood, it is in my soul.”

Lucia frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“It is being separated from my lady.” His teeth chattered. “Only her light can save me and we are so far away.”

“Don’t give up,” she could feel tears start to form in her eyes, “there has to be something we can do.”

Sable closed his eyes. “If another of my kind was here they could share my lady’s warmth through skin contact.”

Lucia swallowed hard. “What about me?”

The inquisitor opened his eyes again. “You?”

She nodded and held out her hand. “I couldn’t hurt to try.”

“I guess that’s true,” he started to take off his glove, “you humans always seem to be running a fever.”

“We do?” She started coughing uncontrollably again.

He waited for her to finish before saying, “And you’re always sweating.”

Lucia smiled. “You should hear grandparents complain about the heat.”

Sable reached out and took her hand in his. Lucia always imagined Sable to be around her age if not younger, but he had the calloused and scarred hands of an old man. The young woman could feel the warmth leave her almost immediately. It started in her extremities and worked its way to her spine.

Sable closed his eyes and looked like he was concentrating on the difficult question. “There is something warm in you.”

Lucia shrugged. “Like you said, I’ve been running a fever.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. Opening his eyes he studied her face like an expert studying a painting. “It’s like my lady’s light, but warmer.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s difficult to describe,” he said, closing his eyes again. “It’s like a warmth that I could bathe in, not the searing heat I feel when I am in the presence of my lady.”

Lucia could feel the blush forming on her cold cheeks. Sable looked at her and his eyes widen.

“I’m sorry,” he said, retracting his hand. “That should be enough.”

“It’s okay,” Lucia said, looking away with a small smile on her lips. “Some hot water should work for me.”

Sable laid back and cover himself with her blanket. “Thank you, Lucia.”

The young woman could feel herself blush again, not used to hearing him use her name. “Well, I couldn’t just let you die.”

“No, not just that.” He raised his head again, so he could look her in the eye. “Thank you for being supportive of my mission.”

Lucia nodded and noticed the Phi Rho coin she wore around her neck. She took it and studied the symbol on it. “We both have our missions, it’s what connects us I guess.”

“What is it?”

Lucia looked up to see the inquisitor staring at her coin. She turned it over so he could see the cross-like symbol on its face. “Do you know anything about my people’s religion?”

“A little.” He shrugged. “From what I understand, you worship your ancestors.”

Lucia laughed. “Not exactly.”

Sable laid his head back and closed his eyes. “Then, tell me.”

“I’m not really good at explaining it either.” She laid her own head back on the ground.

“That’s okay,” Sable said. “Your voice puts me to sleep.”

“Thanks a lot.” She laughed and started to explain what she knew of the concept of God the best she could.