By Snow and By Flame

Although I’m behind Yvette, I don’t deceive myself that she is unaware of my presence in the clearing her tracker has led me to. Even if the tracker hadn’t told me she’d been here for at least an hour, I could tell that from the amount of snow gathered around her. A red bird sits calmly on her hand, so besoothed by Yvette’s aura that it doesn’t do more than glance at me before turning its rapt attention to her.

“Yvette?” I say quietly. The name cuts through the chilly air like a spring breeze. Which is ironic since Yvette is a Winterbringer. She lives her life in snow and ice, never seeing summer. Considering the thickness of her silver fur, that’s probably for the best, except when she doesn’t stay where she’s supposed to be.

“That tree had bloomed,” I chide. “You know that means you’re to stay away.”

Ignoring me, Yvette chirps to the bird.

I sigh and draw closer. “Don’t make me use the snowglobe, Yvette. I don’t want to do that to you.”

Her body jerks with what I suspect is a snort and she looks over her shoulder to me. Her eyes are the clear blue of a winter’s sky, a shocking jolt of color on her otherwise grey face. She doesn’t speak to me aloud, not having the facial structure needed for human languages, but projects her words straight into my mind. *Trapped is trapped, my friend.*

“Really?” I fold my arms and give her a solid you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “Trapped in something so small you can’t wiggle isn’t any worse than having an entire glacier worth of palace to wander?”

*I don’t expect you to understand.* She turns back to the bird and a whiff of magic comes off of her as she cups her free hand and moves it to under the creature’s beak. The bird chirps thanks and bends to take whatever food Yvette has summoned to her palm.

“What?” I ask. “Because I’m perfectly free? Because I can go absolutely anywhere? Oh, wait! I can’t. Because if I get too far from your furry and melodramatic ass, you’ll freeze half of Sansaw and no one will be able to eat because all the crops will have died.”

*I didn’t make you my keeper.*

“No. But clearly someone has to do it, and since I’m this county’s Guardian, that’s me. I blame my mother for giving into her more primal urges and consequently birthing me. If she’d had the sense to be attracted to women rather than men, it might never have happened.” My hand is on the snowglobe in case I have to throw it, but I walk up to Yvette without drawing it from my pocket. “Seriously, Yvette, how would you feel if the summer spirits kept creeping in at midwinter to melt everything?”

The hand with the bird stays still, but the rest of Yvette jiggles with laughter. *Are you claiming I disrespect them? They are the same spirits that light hearths to keep my cold at bay.*

“I know full well you don’t actually want everyone to freeze to death.”

The Winterbringer sighs. “No. I just… It gets lonely on the glacier.”

A pang of guilt hits me. I’m suppose to visit every morning, but today’s trip was delayed until afternoon. “I’m sorry. I should have called.” I put a hand against the fur on her shoulder. “I was with Maisey. She had the baby this morning. It’s a girl.”

*Oh!* Yvette sits up straighter. The bird startles and flies away, Yvette’s heading turning as she watches it go. *So you have a niece?*

“Yes.”

*And you’re an aunt?*

“That’s generally how that works.”

Stillness covers the clearing. *And you will bring the child to see me?* Yvette asks, not bothering to hide the yearning she feels.

Assuming the girl lives, she will inherit my mantle of Guardianship over the county and its spirits. Unless, maybe, I go insane and have a child of my own. “I will. My sister wants the Blessing to take place as soon as she’s able to walk up the hill.”

*It’s been too long since there were children on the glacier.*

“Hey,” I protest lightly. “Maisey and I aren’t that old.”

*Nor are you that young.* Slowly, Yvette climbs to her feet. Looking down at me, she pulls her lips into what passes as a smile in her kind.

“Well, not compared to you.”

*No. Few beings are.* Snow crunches underfoot as Yvette pads to the edge of the clearing. New flakes fall around her, littering the ground as she moves onto uncovered turf.

“You’re going the wrong way,” I tell her, grasping the snowglobe tighter.

*Am I?* She keeps going, heading very obviously away from our mountain and its glacier.

“Uh, yeah. I parked by the road.”

*You did not listen to the the bird.* Sometimes Yvette pretends to forget little details like humans not being able to talk to animals.

I frown. “What did the bird say?”

*That there’s a fire in Alisville.* She glances at me as she continues into a pasture and covers its grass in frost. *Not a natural one, but one caused by a Firemote.*

“Well, crap.” A fire started by a Firemote can’t be stopped by normal means of water and dirt; it requires a counter magic to tame.

*Indeed.*

Sighing, I put my arm in front of her. “It’ll take all day if we walk. We need the truck.”

If eye-rolling was something Winterbringers did, Yvette would roll her eyes. It isn’t though, so she limits herself to a zenful nod before changing direction and heading to my truck.

As soon as she’s settled in the bed of the pickup, I climb into the cabin and slide open the rear window so she can hear me if I say something. I don’t see any smoke or other signs of fire, but birds aren’t usually smart enough to make things up, so I put the truck in first gear and start driving. “Okay,” I say over my shoulder. “As far as anyone knows, that bird is the reason you left the glacier, got it?”

*I think we have established that I am not young. I hope it is also understood that I am not stupid.*

“That you are not,” I agree as I come to a stop at a T intersection. If we turned left, we’d head up the mountain toward the glacier and my hometown of Iceburg, but we turn right instead. This way leads further downhill to a strip of agricultural land and eventually a desert.

I expect to make it to town before facing off with the Firemote, who I assume is still rampaging through Alisville. He surprises me, though, and I find him walking out of town, a stretch of fire behind him. He’s powerful enough to make stone burn, but my trust in Yvette keeps me from fearing him as I hop from my vehicle and help the Winterbringer down onto the road.

The Firemote looks a lot like Yvette in structure, but his fur is a spectacle of oranges and reds. His chest puffs out as he comes to a stop ahead of us. Leaning his head back, he lets out a roar. A blast of super-hot air slams into me as though I’d just opened a furnace door.

Yvette meets this display with a puff of amusement. She doesn’t do anything other than look at the Firtemote, but he gradually lets go of his tension and aggression, falling into the ethereal calm Yvette emmits. His head sags forward as though he is somewhat ashamed that he was being such a jerk a moment ago.

*You should apologize, my fiery cousin.* I hear Yvette think toward him. I don’t hear his response because she’s the only one projecting toward me, but I hear her counter. *It is good that you didn’t burn the crops. Or the school. Or the children inside the school. I thank you for that. But we must undo the damage you did cause.*

“Psst…” I tug on her arm. “Ask him what set him off.”

A new voice appears in my head. ::He can hear you, mortal.:: The new voice is like thunder, not the gentle zephyr of Yvette’s communications. I’d ask him to turn it down, but he strikes me as the sort of person who couldn’t be quiet if his life depended on it.

“Sorry,” I mutter. “Um… So, what upset you so much?” Even the hottest of hotheaded Firemotes don’t just start rampaging on their own.

::They are drowning my glorious domain! Where once were burning sands are now egregious puddles of water!::

It takes me a second, but I figure out what he’s talking about. “That sounds like a new irrigation project. They’re trying to make more farmland.”

::IT’S MY HOME!:: The words bash into my head, sure to leave a headache in their wake, and flames lick the Firemote’s feet anew.

“Okay!” I hold my hands up. “Okay. I’ll talk to them.”

::It was the hold of my uncle,:: the Firemote informs me, pain showing through his broadcast. ::But his flame receded and it became mine.::

Ah. That explains why I’ve never met this particular being before. “You’re Hessle’s nephew? The one from Ulanda?”

The Firemote nods. ::I am called Kendrick.::

“Alright, Kendrick.” I resume the trek to town. “I’m Seliah. And I’m going to need you to look incredibly sad about what you’ve done. And to stay calm, because the farmers aren’t going to like it when I tell them they have to undo all their work. But they will do it. The Covenants say they have to.”

He nods, doing a good enough job of looking like he’s filled with regret that I skip the lecture about how he should have brought his concerns to me before lashing out at folks. Of course, he’s not the only one in the wrong there. The people in question should have applied for a permit to build their new irrigation system, then waited for me to do a study of whether that would impact local spirits. If I’d been making my normal rounds, I would have noticed them building it, but I’d been keeping close to my sister for the last month. They probably knew I was distracted, and that’s why they built it so quickly.

I’m prepared for a big argument when we make it to town, but I’m again surprised. Melissian, the mayor of Alisville and my on-again-off-again girlfriend, waits in the square with a row of people standing with bowed heads. In the center of the group stands Ingram Filler, which I should have expected. His hands are cuffed together and he glares at me as I open my door.

Mel is talking before I get my feet on the ground. “I told the jackass to cease two weeks ago. Told him that he didn’t have a permit and probably wouldn’t get one. And he swore to me he was stopping until he got a permit. Layed off the people he had working with him and everything. But then he finished it himself with just his kids.”

Beside the still-glowered Ingram, his two teenaged children shuffle like much younger kids called to explain why they didn’t make it to the bathroom in time to prevent wetting themselves. While I hold their father in contempt, I feel bad for them. Ingram’s known for his temper, so standing up to him would be a lot to ask of folks not yet old enough to move out.

I ignore the Fillers for now, though, and instead ask, “Is there a priority for stopping the burning?”

Shifting mode, Mel nods. “Yeah, I’ll direct these two if that’s alright.”

After a glance at Yvette assures me it is, I say, “Fine,” and let them get to it. The damage is much less extensive than I had feared. I guess even while angry, Kendrick realized burning innocent people out of their homes and businesses wasn’t something he needed to do and so he limited his damage to government buildings. He’s not a bad spirit, and as I watch him work with Yvette I start to think he’s going to be a good addition to our little county. His uncle had kept to himself and never caused trouble, but Kendrick burns not only with fire but with a youthful vigor that can only help Yvette.

That night, after the fires have been put out, we agree to eat with Mel and her council. “Well, would you look at that?” Mel whispers partway through the meal.

“Hmm?” I look up from my roast chicken, then follow the direction of her nod.

Across the dining room, Yvette sits listening to something Kendrick is saying in the language of the spirits. The tilt of her head and the expression in her eyes… If she were human, I’d say she was in danger of falling in love. And the animated way Kendrick waves his hands in accompaniment to his words combined with the intensity of his gaze as he looks at her makes me suspect she might not be alone.

“Well…” I draw out. “That would be an interesting match.”

Under the table, Mel grabs my hand and squeezes. “Wouldn’t it just?”

Above image is by Cindy Grotz. 

(Cindy doesn't have a dedicated art page - YET! - but does regularly post public images on Facebook.)

It was provided as a prompt on my Wording Wednesday group on MeWe.