Chapter 8: The Spark
Dad was already gone when we got downstairs, and my brothers had made themselves scarce. The Kitchen was empty, but there were four beaten-up apples on the table left for us. There was a note, but I could barely read what my father called writing, his hands were meant to wield a hammer, not a quill and ink.
"Your father doesn't do a lot of writing does he?" Lesha said with a playful voice from beside me, pushing into me to try and read the note.
"Hammer, not feather, still, this just says that he has to work late so he won't be home tonight, Leina's place is closest to the shop by a good distance. Grab an apple, my brothers are waiting outside."
I crunched the note up before Lesha couple really read what was in the note, maybe the old man had messed it up on purpose. I waited for her to grab two apples and I grabbed the remaining ones after she pulled away. Like a magnet, I was drawn to her, following her to the door, and taking a bite out of my apple to distract myself from what the rest of the note had said, stupid old man!
"Kiada?" Lesha said as I walked right into her.
It wasn't an impact, but I wasn't wearing armor or a wrap, and my chest pressed together with Lesha's, sending a warm sensation running through my body. I was looking directly into her eyes, but then I saw something I hadn't noticed before. There was a spark in the back of her eye, like a small star in the distance, then something inside of me clicked, and I didn't hesitate.
I moved my lips to hers, moving my hand to the side of her face, and stroking her cheek. Lesha moved into my lips, and the connection was like a lightning bolt going off in my head. Short flash hit me or other times we had done this very thing, as different people. I knew Lesha In a personal way that I didn't quite understand at the present moment, but I couldn't think about that right now.
I held the kiss, the flashes had stopped. They had only been moments of us being intimate with each other. I pulled away, not wanting to, even though this was something that had happened before, it was all brand new to me.
"We...should go, your brothers are waiting for us," Lesha said, straightening her clothes.
Oh, great, we were right beside the door. I really hope they have the sense enough not to make jokes. I looked at Lesha and smiled, the smile I got back warmed me up and bit and relaxed me. I wonder if she felt what I did?
I opened the door and all four of my brothers were standing about four houses away, trying to look like they had something to occupy their time, but they just looked suspicious. Then, when I got close to them with Lesha, they all got red-faced and walked ahead of us.
Serves them right for being nosey, but I could only imagine what was going through their heads. Everyone joked about it, but no one knew it was true, so it was nice to see that they were going to be stupid children. No, instead the twenty-year-old plus group of them were acting as they had walked in our parents, but this was better than the alternative.
"Boy's where are you going?" I asked, calling up to the speed walkers who were trying to put distance from us.
"Going to Healia, Hawk's vision, she is almost always there drinking, but she wants to see you! Hey, what if you just go? Then only two of you have to deal with her," Rick said from up ahead.
"Ya, we have been sending Pike in each time to collect and return the items we collect, She doesn't seem to bother him," Mike said, slowing down.
I knew what they were talking about, Healia was known for mooning over the men they came into our guild and she was almost always there with wine, and half-cut. I sigh and shooed off my brothers while turning to Lesha, who had a curious look on her face.
"She is a Letcher and she likes to make lewd comments to passing men and she also doesn't respect private space. The best thing you can do is to use something heavy and blunt, then just hit her with it if she gets too close to you. Depending on how drunk she is, you might have to hit her seven or eight times to get her to back off."
"We are still talking about a god, right? The big shiny people with unnatural strengths, and abilities? And we are supposed to hit him with sticks?" Lesha asked, now with a fully confused and worried look on her face.
"No, not a stick, that would just break. There is a metal fire poker to your right when you first walk into the building, grab it fast. Then we will try to beat her down so I can have a decent conversation with her."
"You know, none of this sounds like a good idea, are you sure you're alright? Did you see more than I did?" Lesha asked, grabbing my arm and stopping me.
"All I saw... was you and me, doing...but that was all, why?"
"I guess I just don't know you as I did in those times, but what you're telling me sounds crazy, like waving my hands in the air and rubbing mud on your face. You know you're talking about a god right? Or am I missing something here?" Lesha asked.
"Just wait and see, this one is a special case. She is a bit of a black sheep among the other gods, but she helped me get signed up here. Now I have to beat her off with a metal bar, since there are not a lot of female adventures, she treats me like a child."
"She can't be that bad, can she?"
"Don't believe me? Come we shall go see Healia, prepare yourself for battle!"