Chapter 14

Tama awoke at her normal time and took care of her morning needs. Her daily workout went without any problems, and she felt it was starting to get a little to easy again. "I will need to make new lifting bags to hold more weights stones soon," she thought. Once she finished with the weights and had them put away, she changed into her running cloths and did the hill in excellent time. She realized that it was getting to the point that she was not becoming to seriously winded before reaching the top. She started back down and decided to push to a full downhill sprint even though she knew better. She hit the first turn too fast and could not turn enough nor slow down in time to prevent the sudden meeting she had with the tree at the end of the switchback.

Tama sat on the edge of the path for a minute to try to clear her head after smacking it on the limb that sticks out to the side. She checked herself for any serious cuts and bruises, but didn't find anything bad enough to worry about other than a skinned knee and a small scrape on her forehead. She went back to her normal slow downhill jog for the rest of the run.

Back home Willow was working on breakfast when Tama returned from her morning run. A quick greeting and Tama went out back to the washing barrel were she started cleaning herself up for the day. Back in the kitchen, Willow felt her stomach try to turn itself inside out with little warning. She ran out the back door, barely making it to the outhouse before her tea came back to haunt her.

As Tama finished dressing for work and was getting ready to go back inside, Willow came running out of the back door towards the outhouse. Tama heard her throwing up and quickly went over to see if her mother needed help.

"Mama, do you need help, should I get papa?"

"No Tama, I will be fine in a few minutes," said willow sounding miserable. "I had forgotten I get really bad morning sickness during the first few months." She made a few more retching sounds then moaned as her stomach reminded her that she was going to be very miserable for the next month or two at least.

Tama had to think about that for a minute before it clicked in her head. "Morning sickness, mama are you pregnant?" There was a hopeful sound of excitement in her voice as she asked that oh so important question.

"Yes Tama, it would seem that I am very much so. It means the workout I put your father though a few months ago has paid off. I want this child as much as I wanted you. I am only four months along yet, so I have a long ways to go. Come on, we need to get your father fed and you off to work."

Willow and Tama went in together and fixed a breakfast to get Axemen out and on his way to work. Working together, they had the meal ready and he was gone with a full belly, wondering what was going on with the women. 'Safer not to ask he thought'. Tama ate and after helping straighten the kitchen, she was out and on her way to her work as well.

Tama arrived at the shop her at normal time as Master Greenheart was opening the doors. "Good morning Master Greenheart. How are you this wonderful day."

Greenheart was as always, a bit taken aback by the unusually cheerful young lady. He thought, 'It should be illegal to be that cheerful in the morning.' Then he replied, "I am well as always. How are you my overly cheerful student."

"I am doing fantastic today so far." She went on with a list of things discovered and changes she needed to make, minus the big news of Willow of course. "I have to make new weight bags so I can increase the stone weight I am lifting, and I may have to start doing to laps up and down the hill on my run too really get a workout on it. Is there anything special today or is it just another get the arrows ready to fletch day and try to solve the pull issue on the compound."

He raised his eyebrows at her need to add additional weight and extending her run. "So far as I can tell, just another normal day, I haven't heard anything that might cause problems as yet."

"Good. I was thinking of leaving the compound bow alone for a few days and just working to get the rest on my shafts fletched. That way I will be able to devote my entire attention to the problem we are having with the pull on the upper side of the bow."

"That sounds like a plan Tama. Go to it." He looked up the road and saw Whittles stumbling along looking less alive than normal. "Oh would you look at that Tama, the Graveyard has let one of the inmates out to wander around town unsupervised."

He made sure Whittle heard the remark and she just gave him a dirty look. "Yeah, I hope the inspector loves you too you old fraud."

"Hold it Whittles, what inspector, I wasn't aware that any inspections were to be happening."

Whittles took a moment and got her head together so she could tell him what she had seen and heard the night before at the Inn. "There are seven of them, all here to look over the shops, farms and the school. I didn't hear why, but Elder found out and he nearly started a bar fight the way he came running in. He spent a little time with them then left and they all went to their rooms. Last I saw of them."

Greenheart looked thoughtful and worried then said, "Ok ladies, first order of business, we need to get busy on a fast shop clean up. Tam, you hit the floors. You have permission to use what ever speed is needed. Whittles, do a walk through for any loose tools and material not properly secured. I will handle the front area. Now go, get busy, we may not have much time before they arrive."

Tama looked at him a little confused, he had just called her Tam, not Tama. And the permission he just gave, she was being allowed to cut loose for once. She looked inside herself at the mental wall, pulled off four ability strings and tapped them. She looked at Whittles and said, "Be careful, I am going full out on speed cleaning."

What happened next was something out of stories and legend. She grabbed the broom and started at the back of the shop, then swiftly worked towards the front. She created a low cloud of sawdust and chips that stayed just ahead of her while sweeping the broom in rapid forward strokes, so as to not hit herself with the broom and dust. Several of the other apprentices arrived and Whittles told them what needed to be done in a hurry, just be on the lookout for the moving dust cloud.

The cloud moved at a steady pace towards the door without slowing. As it passed by, there was not a single chip or bit of sawdust left behind it on the floor. No one noticed the stranger that had arrived and watched the proceedings with a bit of trepidation as the low swirling cloud approached him. One of the apprentices noticed him and yelled to him to move away before the cloud could hit him. Tama could not see him on the other side of the cloud, as her attention was down on the floor, not looking at the doorway.

He stepped back outside and away from the doors wondering at what could be the cause of this unnatural weather like effect. He continued to watch as it moved back and forth across the shop leaving a completely clean floor in its wake. He was finally able to see the source and he figuratively crapped himself. He could see a blurred figure wielding a stick of some sort and a fiery copper red cloud of hair flying around its head. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew who it was, and he suddenly felt real fear for his life. The entire cloud was now aimed right at the doors, and he was in the path of a wood and dust cloud that could strip his cloths to tatters.

He quickly backed away further and well to the side as the deadly little cloud exited the building. The breeze outside caught it and slowly blew it away, so that it was no longer a threat to life and leather. As the cloud dissipated, the source of the cloud came to an abrupt halt. He saw a little girl of about nine years standing there, panting and smiling like a mad woman. He was actually able to see it when she slowed back down to normal speed and was able to interact with the world.

She looked around for a moment, catching her breath when she noticed him standing there. "I didn't hit you with the cloud did I mister," she asked?

"No girl, I had plenty of warning. Now tell me, is this the Green Brothers Wood Working Shop."

"Yes sir, it is. Be glad I didn't catch you in the wood and dust cloud. It would have torn up your boots and cloths pretty badly."

"Oh I can believe that it would have. Before I go in and see Master Greenheart, what is your name girl."

"My name sir, I am Tama, apprentice woodworker, specializing in bows and the general destruction of uncooperative wood."

His suspicions were correct, it was her. He thanked Tama and went into the shop. Once inside, he stopped and asked the nearest apprentice, "Were might I find Masters Greenheart and Greenstave."

"Master Greenheart is in the front room, and Master Greenstave will be arriving shortly." He said pointing in the direction of the front room.

"Thank you son." Head Master Jordan was not sure exactly what was going on, but he was pretty sure he was the reason for the flurry of furious cleaning. He went to the indicated room and closed the door behind him.

"Long time no see Heart. Why are you slumming around in the backwoods when you could be making your fortune in Kelethin. Those wood paddles you made are still on display in the Queens chambers. The current Queen, daughter of the psychopath is very much intrigued by them and their history still baffles many."

Greenheart spun around at the sound of a voice he had not heard in years, but knew quite well. "Jordan?" He asked incredulously. "What are you doing here, you're the inspector I was told that was coming?"

Now it was Jordan's turn to surprised. "I don't know were you got the idea that I'm here to inspect anything. I and the rest of the school headmasters are here to interview prospective students of unusual talent, like that red headed tornado out there with the broom."

"So this is academy business then, how is it that all of you came together on this trip."

"These letters they all sent at the same time. We thought that Elder had put them up to it, but it turns out he didn't know anything about them either. They all want to know the entrance requirements, skills, testing, fee's you name it. We will give all that to them and more. These children are different some how." He handed the letter to Greenheart to read. When he reached how it was signed, he looked worried.

"The way she signed it, that is interesting." Greenhearts frown deepened as he thought about the implications of the letters.

"I would say she is a force of nature to be contended with."

"I don't know if you are aware of everything that occurred the day Thornbreak tried to grab her, but she is far more than that. Mayong himself is watching her progress and is quite possibly afraid of her as well."

"You mean Mayong as in Mistmoore? Why would he be interested in her."

"The same, we don't think he was really aware of her until Thornbreak decided he wanted her as his god killer assassin. It was the taking down of Eaglesclaw and the letter he left that tipped us off that something bigger is brewing in the near future. What it could be though, no body has been able to learn."

"I have only heard rumors of a letter from the Vampire lord, how do you know of it."

"When Tama toasted that idiot, Mayong teleported in almost as soon as the corpse hit the ground. He looked right at Tama and thanked her for eliminating a problem. He then took the body and ported out, taking the one shot portal disk Thornbreak was carrying with him. We got lucky it turned out, when the other was found, Tama had destroyed both by the massive charge she used to kill Thornbreak."

"I am beginning to wonder if there is anything to teach her."

"Plenty. Believe me, she needs you and the upper schools badly. Rather than play games with her, go introduce yourself and explain why you are here. Playing games with her never seems to work, she knows if you are being untruthful. Unpleasant things tend to happen if her temper gets out of control."

"Very well, I will watch her for a bit then introduce myself. I don't want her to mess up what ever it is she is working on today."

They left the office together and Jordan walked over to Tama and asked, "Would be alright for me to observe what you currently working on."

Tama paused and looked at him for a second then smiled, her bright green eyes almost glowing with pleasure. "Sure, I am working on attaching the fletching to this last set of custom arrows for my bow."

When he looked at her questioningly, she realized she needed to give a few more details to be clear. My first self bow is made to fit my current frame, so it is to small for cloth yard shafts. I had to work out the proper length for the draw. Making arrows is fairly easy once I came to understand the process's needed."

"Ahh, I see. Would you happen to have the bow here now?"

"No, I keep it at home now. Master Greenstave and I have been working on another bow for me once I grow large enough to use it." She pulled out the partially completed compound bow from the cabinet it is stored. Once she had it on the bench she pulled out her step stool so she could comfortably see the work table. "We have been trying to build a compound bow from the plans that have been in the family for an unknown number of generations."

"But no matter what any of us here have tried, we can't get the pull to even out from top to bottom. The top acts as if it is to long for the stringers and pulleys."

"Well Tama, I was a bow maker for a number of years myself and I know those very plans sitting there. Your grandmother was totally unforgiving about what happened to Axemen. She took the Raincaller set to punish us, and this set was not drawn correctly, so it would never work."

"She drew these, replaced the originals with the flawed versions. It took us five years at the Trueshot Academy to figure out what she had changed. Once we had that worked out we made the new prints and marked them so nobody could ever do what she had done again."

Tama caught the academy remark and her eyes suddenly locked onto his. He could feel the effect as she started to ramp up her abilities to really look him over. Including one she didn't understand and always had trouble with.

Greenstave felt it too and was almost running by the time he reached her. "Tama, don't try anything, you may be strong, but he could tear you apart. Damn it Jordan, I told you no games with her." He glared angrily at Jordan. "Tama, this is Jordan Trueshot, Head Master of the Academy. So don't try to fry him, please." He was almost pleading with her to calm down.

"Oh very well Heart. Tamalain Arrowmark, I am here to evaluate you personally on your future entry into my school. The rest of the Head masters are here to do the same with all your classmates that sent letters as you did to me. Now, turn off the stare or I will turn it off for you and you will have a head screamer of a headache for a month."

Tama quickly cut off her taunting stare and put it back on standby.

"Better. Now, using those abilities with permission is one thing at your age, but to use them in the manner you just attempted will cause you to be punished severely. Is that understood girl. You claimed your name, but you have not yet earned the right to use it."

"Head Master, by living by that rule, I almost got my mother killed and myself taken. Never again will I allow that to happen," Tama was not joking, he could see that.

"Never the less, if you ever attempt to use that particular ability on any member of the staff or a fellow student, you will be removed from the school and mana blocked in a way that makes what happened to your father seem loving and compassionate. Do we have an understanding girl?"

It finally sank in that this person could and would do exactly as he said and her future would be stripped from her for all time. "I accept. I am locking the taunt series to the holding wall as we speak." He watched as her eyes took on a distant, slightly distracted look.

He looked at Greenheart for clarification, "It was part of the training Eaglesclaw was working with her to control her abilities. They were out of control and rapidly killing her. Look at the wall over her workbench. See the hooks?" Jordan looked and nodded, "She uses that to create the wall in her mind to hook and tie off her abilities until she can grow into them or needs them."

"The analogy plays, that does work many times, not always, but a good percentage. That had to be Eaglesclaw teaching her that. That was a powerful player we lost that day."

"You have no clue as to the true scope of who and what he was Jordan. I saw him on the worst day of his life and he remained sane, so he was far more than he ever allowed others to see."

By this time Tama had come back to full awareness of her surroundings and was waiting for the older Elven to again turn their attention to her. When they did she apologized to Jordan. "I am sorry for my actions sir. I am not fully trained and I acted rashly, without thought. I also have a temper to match my hair according to the entire village. I am working on that as well." She stood before him and kept her eyes downcast. Even though she didn't know it yet, one of the abilities she had just secured was already fighting to break loose so to cause her further grief and pain.

As she looked at Jordan and tried to address him, it tore loose and drove into her heart dropping her to her knees. She started screaming in agony as it drew all her mana away from her core. She could feel the cold hand of death reaching into her heart, like it was trying to stop its beating and kill her. Greenheart grabbed her and yelled for Whittles to get Willow at a run. Greenstave had heard the screams as he was approaching the shop and came running as Whittles went running out.

"Stave, she is being attacked. Now I know why that dead bastard visited that day. He planted something in her and now it's trying to kill her." Greenstave started to cast protective wards around Tama to protect her from further outside attacks and influences.