by NAK Baldron
"I won't allow you all in my mind," Shaya said.
"It's not like that," Adaku said, not looking up from her book. "You have to really know someone to get into their mind, but you can sort of send your thoughts to them. They can hear what you're thinking if you push it toward them, but you can't listen in to their thoughts."
"How?" Ren asked.
"Yeah, how?" Goban was skimming through the book, no doubt looking for that exact answer.
"It's about intent, and clarity of mind," Adaku said in a deeper voice than usual. "We should get out of here. We can go to the courtyard and I'll teach you how I was taught."
They all agreed, but Ren was the most eager, thankful for any reason not to read.
"What about your brother?" Shaya asked.
"He's on his own," Adaku said. "Just the way he wants it."
The island had floated toward the source-light, which now hung directly overhead above the courtyard. The heat would have been unbearable if not for the constant icy breeze coming from the north. Ren thought of standing next to a bonfire in the middle of the ice plains, and how it would feel much the same. One moment Ren was sweating. The next he was shivering as the cold wind dried the sweat upon his face.
"Maybe we should go back inside?" Goban suggested. "No one else is outside."
"It'll be easier for you to clear your mind outside than cooped up in the library," Adaku said.
"And it's always best to practice where you'll be tested," Shaya said.
Adaku smiled from the support. "Okay. Form a circle. It's easiest if you can see everyone."
They all circled up, leaving a full arms span between one another. The grass was wet, and Goban slid as he sprinted to his spot—a little too eager to start. Ren suppressed a laugh, not wanting to make Goban feel any worse—his cheeks were flush.
"To start, I want you each to try to send a thought toward me," Adaku said.
"What sort of thought?" Goban asked. "Like a number?"
"While a simple thought, like a number, will make it easier to focus, it's best if you think of something important. Something you really want to tell me. The emotional desire will help guide your intent."
Ren didn't have anything important to tell Adaku, but he did have something important to tell Shaya. That desire to tell Shaya something important through thought, would be his fuel to guide his intent.
I want to master this, so I can speak to Shaya.
"Try looking directly at me," Adaku said. "It's easier to send thoughts to someone if you can focus on them."
Ren opened his eyes and stared directly at Adaku, with such intensity that his temples began to pulsate.
I want to master this, so I can speak to Shaya.
That's an excellent goal, Adaku transmitted back.
"Wow," Ren said.
When Ren spoke with the diplomats, they read his mind, but maybe part of that was because of his magical powers.
Can anyone with magic do this?
If trained to clear their mind, Adaku transmitted.
"Well done Ren," Adaku said. "Goban, I think you need to focus on clearing your mind. Try to hold only one thought at a time, and then will that thought toward me."
Goban brought his hands together. Each fingertip of the right hand lined up with its corresponding fingertip on the left hand, turning his hands into a hollow ball before him. Instead of looking at Adaku, he stared down into the empty space between his fingers.
Suddenly he looked up, locking eyes with Adaku.
"Great job!" Adaku said. "You'll want to practice transmitting your thoughts more, but I think you have the basics down. You each managed to ignore the cold, but when we're being tested, there will be far more distractions around us. You'll need to develop razor-sharp focus, to cut through the noise and guide your intent."
They nodded along with her as she spoke. The outsider had become their instructor, and Ren wondered why Abaze was such an arrogant bully, when his sister was so nice. Regardless, he was relieved to be done with the lesson for the day, and avoiding the necessary reading.
"We should head back," Shaya said. "It's getting colder."
The wind blew in tiny snowflakes that began to build up upon the grass. If it kept up, they'd become snowed in. Ren was used to snowbanks taller than people. Still, he knew the other apprentices weren't prepared for the constant cold and damp, or how the snow managed to wiggle its way into your clothes, and cling to your skin. The cold numbing effect sinking all the way down to your bones. Then spending an hour before a fire, just to thaw enough to move your joints without pain.
As they walked back to the apprentices' wing, Goban slipped next to Ren behind everyone else. "Would you be willing to practice with me? I don't think I have a real handle on this."
"Of course," Ren said.
"When we get back?"
"Let's eat first, but sure, after that."
Goban smiled so wide, it looked like his lips would tear, and Ren could see his front teeth had a gap between them. Something he hadn't noticed previously. It gave Goban a childish charm, and Ren had to remind himself that he was a child—several years younger than the rest of them. Ren had felt young when he was with Shaya and Akio, and he realized that Goban must feel the same way.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Texas, Earth
Monday, October 31st
They chose a park near her aunt's house. That way, it would seem like Blake had been out for a late-night walk.
Lance turned the SUV's lights off and drove backward down the neighborhood street. When he reached the curb, he parked the SUV, but left it running.
"You don't have to do this," he told Kandice, as he pulled on rubber gloves.
"Yes, I do." She grabbed a pair for herself.
Kandice followed Lance out of the SUV. When he opened the back hatch, she went stiff. The body of her brother laid there as proof it was all real, but her mind was still having trouble coming to terms with his death. Still, her feelings were empty. There were no tears, or any emotions left inside of her. Life was suffering, and from that moment, any Aether Walker that crossed her path would discover it. Vengeance would be hers.
Lance pulled Blake's body off the back floorboard and heaved him onto his shoulder.
"It's okay," he said. "I can take it from here."
Kandice just shook her head and followed Lance into the park. He stopped at the first dip they found. The ground was still wet from where the water of sprinklers ran through.
Lance laid Blake's body on the ground. When he went through Blake's pockets, Kandice pulled his hands away.
"I'll do it," she said.
"Be sure and take everything," Lance said.
Tears were trickling down her face, but Kandice stayed focused. She emptied his pockets one by one, making a pile next to his body.
"The seal," Lance said.
Kandice lifted his shirt and saw the bullet wounds. She ran her hands over the one next to his heart before pulling the metal seal off his body. As she did, blood trickled from his wounds. She kissed Blake's forehead, grabbed his belongings, and backed away.
"Give me his wallet," Lance said.
Kandice offered it up without taking her eyes off Blake. Lance ran off deeper into the park.
"I'm so sorry," she said, staring at Blake's wound—as if looking at it harder would make it go away.
Kandice didn't notice Lance return until he lifted her to her feet.
"We have to go," he said.
"I can't."
"Getting caught won't bring him back." He shook her. "Kandice, move!"
She looked at Lance, and then back to Blake's body one last time, before following Lance to the SUV as he pulled her arm.
Lance drove off and didn't turn his headlights on until they had turned onto a new street.
He picked up his cell phone from the center console and called Slava. "We're on our way. Meet us there."
Kandice couldn't make out what Slava said.
"She's out
of it," Lance said. "Just be there in five."
He drove the SUV onto a construction site near the park where a company was building high-end condos for the never-ending flood of people moving to Austin. Slava was already there with a new car, waiting for them.
Lance walked Kandice to the front passenger seat of the car and helped her in.
"Just stay here," he said. "We'll be done in a few minutes."
"Okay," Kandice said, not paying attention to what he said.
She remembered the time that Blake had stolen money from their mom's purse. She refused to rat him out when her mom accused her of it. If only there was a way for her to switch places with him.
Lance and Slava took two large cans of gas out of the car's trunk and poured it throughout the SUV. The fumes wafted to where Kandice was sitting. She breathed the scent in and it stung her nose.
Slava sat in the driver's seat. "We will go in a moment."
Kandice looked back at Lance holding something in his hand with a flame on top. As he came running to the car, there was a small growing glow from inside the SUV.
Lance jumped into the back seat. "Close the door."
Kandice closed her door, and Slava drove forward to turn around. As they pulled out of the construction site and back onto the street, a large glow of a fire brightened the back window.
Watching the fire as they pulled down the road somehow brought closure. She wasn't better, just numb all over, and it would be her new normal. She wanted the numbness to take over.
* * *
Lance tried to get Kandice to sleep, or at least take a nap, but she refused. She sat on the sectional, waiting for the morning to come.
Lance was returning to the park to call in Blake's body, if no one else had. Kandice insisted on returning and knew if she fell asleep they wouldn't wake her. Lance and Slava disagreed with her desire to go back because if police showed up, it would be a disaster.
Kandice looked at her phone. It was 4:30 AM. Lance was right, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon Blake's fate to someone else.
"You need to go home," Lance repeated for what seemed like the millionth time.
"I want to go," she said.
"I'll follow you home. When I'm done at the park, I'll come to your place."
They argued for almost thirty more minutes until she agreed that it was too much of a risk for her to go back.
She followed Lance out of the house.
"Call me the moment it's done," she said.
"Okay. Go home and rest. I'll come by after."
CHAPTER FOURTY-FOUR
Amethyst Nation, Fencura
The rest of the week wasn't quite as cold, but Adaku made sure to bundle herself up all the same. She wouldn't have her brother to help keep her warm. He'd made it clear he was on his own, and she was a traitor as far as he was concerned. Going as far as to block her out of his mind, something he hadn't done since they were young children. He always did throw the largest fits when he didn't get his way, and it would appear he intended to continue that tradition even as an adult.
The four of them ate together. When they had seen she wasn't eating with her brother, Shaya invited her over. Ren gulped down his fifth mug of coffee—not that it looked to be helping—his eyes were sunken and glazed over. More coffee wasn't the answer, he needed sleep, but with them expected in the courtyard any minute there was no way for him to catch some. Obviously, he'd stayed up late, and Adaku guessed correctly that it was to study, but that only made her more curious since he'd shown so little progress since they arrived.
Abaze glared at them as they walked out of the dining hall—he continued to hold on to his perceived grudge, which was really his own making. It was hard for her to turn her back on him—it went against everything their mother taught—family was supposed to stick together at all costs. But when her brother refused to cooperate and insisted on making her choose between him and her chance to become an Amethyst Sorcerer, there was no choice.
Magic came first.
As a sorcerer, she'd be able to keep her father's kingdom intact and ensure Zaria remained the most influential city-state within the Emerald Nation. The threat to the south—the Onyx Nation—and their secret alliance with the cities to the far east, meant her father's trading alliances were in question. Without the wealth which came from trading between the Sapphire Nation and the continent, her father wouldn't be able to keep the plebs appeased. Abaze was too thick to consider such ramifications and possibilities, so the pressure of ruling justly fell upon her alone.
Adaku feared that one day Abaze would force her into a position to choose between the fate of their kingdom and him—because she'd choose their kingdom without hesitation. Did that make her a bad sister?
The double doors to the outside opened to reveal Nadia, who waited at the bottom of the stone steps.
Shaya's hand rested upon her shoulder. "We have to go."
Adaku looked up. "Oh, yes." She'd been lost in the thought.
From the time they could walk, their mother drilled into them the importance of family. Whenever their father would be cruel or negligent, their mother would always be there to remind them of their obligations to family. Their father taught them their only obligation was to the kingdom. Who was right? Would her father actually approve of her actions, if she explained it was for the future of the kingdom?
The four of them walked together toward Nadia, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother approaching. For a moment her heart lightened. Abaze kicked his leg out, just as Goban passed, and the little boy went sprawling along the floor.
Ren stepped forward to confront Abaze, but Adaku stepped between the two before they came to blows again.
"Shameful," she said. "Father would call you a coward for what you did. Picking on a little boy, just because you're angry. You chose to be an ass and not work together as a team. So go, and be an ass by yourself!"
Abaze's fists were raised in a fighting stance, anger burning in his eyes, and for a moment she thought he'd hit her, but then anger gave way to embarrassment. Tears began to build up in his eyes as he pushed his way past her and marched out to meet Nadia.
"Thank you," Goban said, as Shaya lifted him off the ground.
"Thank you," he said again, to Adaku.
"Don't." She held her hand up. "I should have said that to him a long time ago. I'm sorry I defended his actions. I don't know why—"
"It's okay," Shaya said.
"Yeah," Ren said. "You're not responsible for your brother's actions."
Their forgiveness and understanding broke apart the guilt and pain she felt inside her gut. There had been a knot she hadn't realized, but now she felt limber, and for the first time unafraid.
* * *
Abaze kept to himself, and Nadia didn't say a word about what happened. As they practiced, the source-light began to sink, but the field warmed. Adaku wasn't sure she would ever get used to the erratic weather of the Amethyst Nation. As far as she could tell there was no pattern. Nadia always seemed to be prepared, dressed appropriately with the right number of layers to add or remove. Meaning the sorcerers could predict the weather patterns, even if there appeared to be none.
Nadia wanted them to construct a wall of light, which required them all to work together. By each combining their magic, they would create a solid pillar of light. Or at least, that's how Nadia explained it.
The four of them worked together, telepathically sharing their focus and intent, but it didn't work. Ren didn't contribute enough focused magic to summon the wall, and Abaze refused to aid them—instead, keeping to himself. He practiced blending combat forms with magic. The result was a dance of green light—which burst forth from his feet and hands—as he struck an imaginary enemy.
Part of her was impressed by her brother's progress. Their father would be proud that he found a practical use for magic. He considered magic a tool, best used through a court sorcerer, not an invaluable power best wielded by a ruler.
&n
bsp; "Focus!" Adaku snapped.
Ren dropped his hands and stared at her.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Please focus, she transmitted to the whole group, something the others hadn't learned to do yet. It's important that we get this right, and you're holding us back Ren.
I know, Ren transmitted. I'm doing my best, but there's something about this place that holds me back. I was able to use my magic back in Shinzo.
"Maybe we should take a break," Goban said.
What about Nadia? Adaku transmitted to the group. She hasn't said we can leave.
"Nadia," Shaya called. "We're done for right now. We're going to take a break and come back out to practice later."
"Make it sooner than later," Nadia said. "The temperature will drop soon."
"Thank you," Shaya said.
That was easy enough, Shaya transmitted to her.
As they walked back, she overheard Goban and Ren.
"I can help you find the right book," Goban said.
"Thank you, but I can find the book myself."
Ren passed Adaku on his way to their wing, taking long strides to put as much distance between himself and Goban. Goban locked in step next to her and didn't say anything, but she could see the hurt on his face.
The boy had only been trying to help.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Texas, Earth
Monday, October 31st
Kandice woke up to her phone ringing.
"Hello?" she said, half-asleep.
There was heavy sobbing on the other end.
"Hello?" she asked again.
"Kandice," Jackie said. "It's Blake. They found his body."
Kandice took a breath to calm herself. "What?! Where?"
She elbowed Lance, who was sitting in the bed next to her, and leaned in so he could hear the call. He had come back like he said to keep watch over her while she slept. They'd stayed up for hours while Kandice cried and tried to work through her brother's death. Lance held her until she fell asleep. His scent calmed her nerves and grounded her mind enough to relax into a restless sleep.
