I've always found Bernardo quite expressive, but he's hard to write that way.


Iah, exhausted from the psychological strain, had fallen asleep in Diego's arms. When Diego reached Bernardo again the manservant expressed his worry. "He'll be fine. He's just tired", Diego said.

He put Iah on Tornado's back and then helped Bernardo put the woman over a different horse before mounting behind the sleeping boy. In silence they made their way back to the burned down cabin, flames were still visible as it consumed the last of the wood. From their they looked for a trail or something leading them to a larger settlement. There were several trails but one stood out, it was not quite as well used as the others, but it was broader and the only one showing signs of wheels. That was their best guess.

"Bernardo, I've been thinking", Diego said after a while, "from the cabin to the place where Iah collapsed was two miles."

Bernardo nodded with a frown. What did his patron mean?

"The first time we tested Iah's range was just over a mile. It has increased, almost doubled. He might be able to consciously use it, but we still don't know if he can restrain it. I'm worried", Diego explained. "Not to mention that he already picked up on it well before he actually felt it."

Bernardo shrugged, but his expression was compassionate as he looked at Iah.

"What to do?" Diego sighed as they kept to the track.

Bernardo shrugged again. They both knew that they had to test it again, no matter how much Iah disliked it, it was better if they tried on animals and know how the situation was than that they suddenly found out in the proximity of a lot of people.

They continued their journey in silence. Diego and Bernardo both pondering the issue ahead. After this much time on the road they were no longer concerned with the commandante, he wouldn't be able to trace them all the way to Canada.

Iah woke up after they had traveled for half an hour. He groaned something and Diego held in Tornado so that the boy would be able to get down and recover properly. "It feels as if I've been run over by camels", he complained and held onto a tree to maintain his balance.

Bernardo looked confused, having never heard of camels before. Diego at the other hand couldn't help but chuckle at the choice of words. He did know what a camel was and it was an amusing reminder that Iah indeed was a foreigner.

"There are no camels here", Diego assured him.

"Are you certain?" Iah groaned.

Diego shrugged but smiled. "Who knows?"

"Where are we going?" Iah asked when he realized they were no longer on the same spot. He looked around curiously.

"A village, this woman needs help", Diego explained. "We're not certain if this trail leads to a settlement, but we can try. Do you pick up on anyone?"

Iah closed his eyes and concentrated, but then shook his head. "No one in any direction."

Diego nodded. "Let's continue anyway. I've spotted several other small roads that connected to this one and the further we go, the more used it is. It leads somewhere. You can keep riding with me, Iah, we're one horse short for the moment."

Iah merely nodded and mounted behind Diego. The continued without further delay and now that Iah was awake Diego dared to force the horses a tad faster.

"Iah, I have to ask you something", Diego said after a while. The fire had made something in his mind stir and with a sudden brainwave he remembered what had bothered him. "Do you recall the bandits in the cave?"

Diego couldn't see Iah's face, but his tone was sufficient for Diego to derive that Iah hadn't liked to be reminded of them. "Yes, I killed them."

"There was a fire burning", Diego said.

"Yes", Iah confirmed again.

"It kept burning. Even though no one fueled it and it should have long since consumed the wood it had, it kept burning. How did you do that?" Diego asked.

"I didn't", Iah said to Diego's great surprise. "I can't do things like that." He was quiet for a while before he suddenly said: "But I know who can."

"Fadi?" Diego asked.

Iah shook his head.

"Then is it good news or bad news?"

"I'm not sure", Iah confessed. "I'm not the only one who has been forced into the tomb keeper clans. One of the other children had the ability to control the elements, all five of them. She was a bit more lucky than I, since they didn't believe she'd be able to utilize her gift if dead, so they made her one of the guardians, those who must protect the tomb keepers from harm."

"Control the elements, really?" Diego asked dumbfounded.

"If I can kill people by merely wishing it, is it so far fetched to believe that someone can control the elements?" Iah asked, making a fair point.

"I suppose", Diego said and Bernardo laughed a bit. Diego glared at him, only causing the manservant to laugh harder.

"What I don't understand is how she'd have ended up here", Iah mused.

"Do you really think you're the only one able to board a ship?" an unknown, distinctively female voice asked, sharing the same dialect as the white-haired boy. A girl with long, tangled black hair and dark skin stepped forth from between the trees.

Iah was the first to react. He launched himself of Tornado and ran at her, giving her a violent hug, making both of them topple over. He laughed out loud as he crawled of her. "Henna!" he called out with joy.

"Yes, you moron", she said, trying to sound annoyed but with limited success only. She got to her feet and dusted herself of.

"I'm glad to see you!" Iah said enthusiastically, springing to his feet as well.

"Good for you", Henna said, "It took you long enough."

"Long enough, what?" the Egyptian asked confused.

"Long enough to realize that I was around. Do you realize that I've been stalking you for the last month?"

"Why?" Iah asked disturbed and Diego had to admit that it was kind of freaky to have been stalked for such a long amount of time by a girl perhaps fifteen years old. How come Iah hadn't picked up on her?

"Because Fadi has desperately been trying to find you. He's not happy with you. For the moment however he's mostly mad at the commandant, for letting your two companions get away", she said. "I've been giving the soldiers that went to the north a hard time, first a forest fire which they barely survived and then heavy rain, ruining their provisions. They gave up even faster than I thought they would and that calls themselves soldiers."

Diego chuckled. Never before had he heard such a young girl complain about the army being ineffectual, it was quite an interesting experience, although a bit odd. But what wasn't odd nowadays, his whole world had turned upside down, the best he could do was accept it.

"Anyway", she continued, "Fadi doesn't want to deal with your friend over there." Henna pointed at Diego who was still sitting on the horse. "He might know a few tricks, but in a righteous battle he wouldn't stand a chance against the infamous El Zorro. Fadi needs someone else to get rid of the fox for him, until that point there is little he can do."

"Wow", was all Iah said.

"Keep in mind though that Fadi always knows where you are, at any given time, wherever you are", she warned.

Iah nodded. "I know." Then he smiled again, looking at Henna, his happiness at seeing her overshadowing the worry her warning brought.

"Hug me again and I'll turn you into an ice cone", she warned gravely, causing Iah to laugh out loud.

"You'd never do that", he said, but refrained from hugging her nonetheless.

"I don't want to break up this happy reunion, but we've got to get to a settlement", Diego reminded Iah. He gestured towards the unconscious woman.

Henna sighed and rolled her eyes. "And get Iah into the proximity of a village? You do know what that'll mean, right? Put her on the ground next to me, I can heal her."

"How?" Diego asked confused.

Iah at the other hand wasn't surprised, he was insulted. "Hey! I've been practicing!"

"You've been learning how to consciously use your gift, making you even more sensitive to others emotions. It's now of such nature that you'll kill a person even sooner, feeling what they feel at new intensities. It's a start, but this is a fine example of things getting worse before getting better. As it is now you'll probably wipe out the village. You need a lot more training."

"You're insensitive", Iah accused displeased.

"And you're oversensitive", she countered. Then she looked at Bernardo who was still contemplating if leaving the woman to the child was such a good idea. "I can control the elements, everyone knows that water and earth have healing qualities. It'll be no issue at all for me to make her as fit as before."

"She's quite good at it", Iah came to Henna aid.

"Let's give her a shot", Diego said and dismounted so he could help Bernardo put the woman on the ground.

Henna went to work without a word. Before Diego and Bernardo's very eyes she summoned the water from the ditch that separated the trail from the forest, it floated through the air completely ignoring the laws of physics. The only thing Henna did to make it happen was to hold up her hand. The two men were astounded but Iah remained unimpressed, having seen it all before.

Henna held the water above the woman's chest and concentrated. The water became a deeper blue and eventually started glowing. Henna kept this up for a while, then the woman started coughing out loud and the two teenagers helped her into a sitting position. Diego also made his way over to her.

"What happened?" she groaned.

"Your house was on fire", Diego said. "Henna here healed you."

"Thank you", the woman said, still quite confused and not yet fully conscious.

"Not an issue", Henna said and stood up, allowing the water to fall to the ground.

"Where's Selena?" the woman asked and looked from Diego, to Iah and then at Bernardo.

"Selena?" Diego asked, although he could guess. There was only one logical answer as to who Selena was, what mother would not ask for her child as the first thing? Her concern was understandable.

Henna whispered to Iah, too low for the woman to hear: "Get out. Her emotions will not do you any good."

"I'm staying. I'll be fine", he said. "I can't get far away enough in time anyway."

"My baby", the woman whispered.

Diego sighed. "I'm sorry, señora", he said, "We were to late to save your child. She died in the fire."

The expression on the woman's face turned slowly from confused to horror. Iah was shifting uncomfortably and had a troubled expression on his face, doing his best to take distance from the overwhelming emotions of the grieving mother. Then the woman started crying and Diego, who was starting to get used to heartbroken people, hugged her.

Henna put a hand on Iah's shoulder as a gesture of condolence as his expression turned more and more troubled. The sorrow of the mother threatening to consume him even though he fought it. Somewhere in his distant mind he noted that his control had increased, although only slightly. Had the woman been feeling anger at this intensity, he'd have killed her.

Henna was right, he would now be even quicker to kill, he might be better at taking distance from the emotions from others, but he felt them at such intensities that something harmless before could be devastating now.

"Where's your husband, señora?" Diego asked after a while.

"My … Jim … He's not alive anymore. It was just me and … and Selena", she stuttered forth, her words being interrupted by her own sobs.

"I'm sorry", Diego said, throwing a quick glance at Iah to see how he was holding up. Iah merely smiled and nodded at him in assurance, although his smile was forced. He leaned heavily on Henna for support under the weight of the emotions around him.

"I'm alone", the woman whispered. "My baby is dead."

"We'll help you, to the best of our abilities", Diego said reassuringly. "Is there a settlement in the area where you can spend the next few days? No friends or so?"

"That's very kind of you mister, but my poor heart knows that your kindness is not necessary. I'm a dead woman, the fire was meant to kill me, more than my baby", the woman said with a sad smile.

"What do you mean, misses?" Diego asked concerned.

"The fire was meant for me. Bouchard killed my husband and put my house on fire, it must have been him. He had no quarrel with my little girl, but with me and my Jim. That devil!" the woman said.

"Bouchard?" Diego asked again.

"Bouchard owns this area. He suppresses us. Women are not allowed in town during daytime, black people aren't welcome at all. We may not oppose him or even speak about opposing him. My Jim and I minded, we wanted a free city. Bouchard had his man kill my husband and no one could do anything to put him to justice. I fled the town with my little girl and settled in the forest, hoping Bouchard would be content with me leaving. But now he's killed my Selena and when he finds out I survived he'll want to see me dead."

The woman told her story, constantly wiping her eyes, attempting to hold back more tears. Bernardo looked at Diego who listened to the story with a hard expression. It sounded as if this Bouchard was even worse than the Commandante. Bernardo made the little swooshing gesture in the air and for a second Diego smiled. He shrugged as reply.

"Señora, we'll do what we can to make sure that no such evil will happen to you. At least let us know your name", Diego said.

"Maria Tremble, sir. May I inquire to yours? You're obviously a stranger, both your accent and that you didn't know about Bouchard witness of that. Where are you from?"

"Señora, I'm Diego, this is my manservant Bernardo and the two children are my charges, Iah and Henna. Me and Bernardo are from Spain, Iah and Henna from Egypt."

Henna didn't look pleased at all with his statement, but did not protest.

"Spain and Egypt, you say? What an odd party you make. I wonder what someone would be doing so far from home?"

"We're travelers", was all Diego was willing to say.

"Then travel on quickly, foreigners. Bouchard does not welcome you", she said and shuddered. "More than one poor oblivious traveler has fallen victim to him and his men."

"Señora, how could I in good conscious leave when I know you're in danger?" Diego asked.

"That's very kind of you, mister Diego, but there is nothing you can do", Maria said and shook her head. "You needn't worry about me, I will be reunited with my baby and my Jim in the hands of the Lord, for me that's the best thing that can happen."

"Alright", Diego sighed, "should we leave you be, then?"

"Yes, mister, please travel on. I wouldn't want you to fall victim to Bouchard because of me", she said.

Diego stood up, holding out a hand to Maria and helping her to her feet. "Then we shall travel on." He took her hand, bowed and kissed the back of her hand before mounting the horse they had used to take her with them. Bernardo mounted as well and Iah helped Henna on Tornado. She did her very best to pretend the horse did not intimidated her, but she fooled neither of the three males. Iah mounted behind her.

Then they left. When the woman had disappeared from sight Iah shuddered violently, trying to shake the aftertaste of her emotions off himself. "I can sense that you're not willing to leave her to her fate. You're determined to do something", Iah told Diego.

"Yes. I wonder if it's safe for Zorro to resurface here", he sighed. "There doesn't seem to be a difference between Monastario and this Bouchard. Perhaps we should look into it. I just can't stand this suppression of innocent people. Even though Maria doesn't want any help, that doesn't mean that other people share her sentiment."

"But you'll be more suspicious here", Henna said. "You're from California, here people will know it's you at once. You'll have to stay hidden at all times."

"Just like we have the last couple of months", Diego said.

"I suggest you look into the situation first. After all, you only heard her version of the story", Henna said, holding onto Iah as if he was her lifeline.

Bernardo made the swishing movement again and nodded to show his appreciation.

Diego laughed. "It seems that tonight Bouchard gets a visitor", he said. Somewhere deep inside he felt the excitement starting to fight its way up. After all, Zorro was who he really wanted to be.


I don't even recall my last update, oddly enough. But I hope you enjoyed this.

Happy late Equanox to you all and please review. :)