They stopped by a small park located just off the edge of the river. It was covered in lush grass and flowers. A patch of mulch and foliage ran through the grass. The edge of the park was lined with tall trees and lamp posts.
Katie looked out across the river. She had not realized how large it was until now and that it curved around the entire city, separating it from the forest land across it. Oasi was practically an island and was well protected by its natural surroundings.
Half an hour went by. The three of them didn’t talk but shared the quiet moment together. Though they knew danger was approaching, they appreciated the little time of peace that they had. Katie looked over at Tyson. He was the one thing that she still had from her old life. Just like he promised, he was always there by her side.
“Let’s start heading back,” suggested Koran. Internally Katie flinched at the break of silence, but physically only moved her eyes. “I’m ready for lunch.”
They made their way back to the palace and had a large lunch with several dishes already prepared and waiting for them. The rest of the day went by with more sightseeing, an exquisite dinner, and an early bedtime.
It was still quite dark when Katie woke up the next morning. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she knew that she should be headed towards Chancellor Levi’s office. Katie rushed because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to find the office on her own.
Katie let out a gasp of surprise when she opened her door and found Onix waiting for her.
“Are you ready?” he asked her.
Katie nodded.
“Very well,” he said. “Follow me.”
Katie followed Onix down the hallway and through yet another set of passageways and staircases. The quiet morning felt cold, even though inside was quite warm.
After a while, Katie was sure that they weren’t headed towards the Chancellor’s office and began to worry. When she voiced this Onix reassured her that they were headed in the right direction.
“The Chancellor asked me to bring you to our training grounds. He felt there was no need to return to his office if you weren’t going to be using it.”
Onix continued to lead. They went through a door and Katie found herself outside. The brisk wind buffeted her face as she stepped outside. They walked down a simple path along the side of the palace. Katie always felt like most of her time was spent on the east side of the building, but now she knew they were on the other side. To her left, there was a drop of about twenty feet that fell into a large garden.
They walked down the white wooden stairs and at the foot a spacious field opened up. The field was largely composed of dirt with a few weedy grass patches attempting a shot at life. The small mountain loomed over them at the end. Katie figured she was in a sort of courtyard behind the main palace. Tyson and Koran were standing in the middle of the field while Artemus spoke to them.
“The Chancellor isn’t quite ready for you yet and offered that you may sit by the stairs and spectate while you wait,” Onix told Katie.
“Can I be a part of that?” Katie asked, pointing towards the field.
“I’m afraid not. The Chancellor was very clear that you were not to exhaust yourself, even in the slightest.”
Katie sighed but nodded in understanding. She sat on the stairs with her elbows on her knees. Not being able to hear anything that was being said, Katie watched Tyson, Koran, and Artemus disinterestedly for five minutes.
The man named Lawrence stepped out onto the field from out of nowhere, from Katie’s perspective. They talked a bit more before Lawrence and Artemus stepped away from Tyson and Koran.
Things got exciting when Artemus threw a knife at Koran, who dodged it easily. Then Lawrence and Artemus launched their attack of dull, wooden knives at the two young men who were both attempting to dodge them.
Despite their age, Lawrence and Artemus were quite adept at knife throwing that even Koran couldn’t dodge them all and was hit quite a few times.
After many minutes of that, Artemus had Koran and Tyson run laps around the field for fifteen minutes. Koran didn’t seem particularly bothered by this much, but Tyson was quickly getting out of breath, but he never asked to stop or take a break.
Katie felt a tap on her shoulder. She gasped and jerked her head back. Levi was standing there. He beckoned her to follow him. Part of Katie wanted to stay and watch Tyson and Koran, but she knew better to not ask. She picked herself up and followed Levi up the stairs.
The Chancellor led her down another path along the palace that she hadn’t noticed before. There was a brief moment where she could look down and see Tyson and Koran before they went through a tunnel passageway.
They walked up several more flights of stairs until they reached a balcony that looked over the east side of the river.
Katie half expected him to lead her to another training ground, and half expected him to lecture her.
“Is there something wrong?” the Chancellor asked quite intuitively.
Katie let out a small, nervous laugh. “I’m almost expecting my training to consist of lectures.”
The Chancellor smiled. “I may be an old man, but I don’t feel like it. My hope is that I can teach you how to control your abilities to your full potential.”
Katie smiled.
“Now, look out at the river. What do you see?”
Katie was not sure how to answer the question, whether he wanted a literal answer or something more philosophical.
“I see a lot of water.”
“Exactly,” said the Chancellor. “And what do you believe you are most capable of?”
“Controlling water,” said Katie. “I just can’t do it all the time. So far, it has only been when I really need to.”
“Give me a chance to see if I can help you,” requested Levi. “We don’t have much time, but I hope that you will have more control over your powers when we are finished.”
“Do you also have these abilities?”
The Chancellor asked by pulling out a necklace similar to Katie’s. His uppermost star was gray and there was an imp hanging in the middle.
“The twelve Palatinii are able to manipulate the abilities of each source, though each of us is stronger with one of them. Kalsi is the name of this imp, who controls the weather. I have though, always had a liking towards water and as such, controlling water is one of my stronger abilities.”
The Chancellor faced the river. He held out his arm with his palm facing the river. Katie saw the swift current slow to a stop. A large wave rose in the opposite direction of the tide and crashed down like an avalanche. The water violently splashed and tossed out. The Chancellor moved both his arms in opposite circular directions, his right arm over his left. The water quickly returned to the river and it continued on in its natural current as if nothing had happened.
“That was impressive,” said Katie after a few moments of stunned silence.
The Chancellor nodded. “I know.”
Katie laughed. She liked how young the Chancellor acted. His free spirit and youthfulness made it easy for her to get along with him.
For many hours the Chancellor had Katie attempt to move the water in any way, or produce it, but Katie felt like she didn’t have it in her. She got frustrated many times and wanted to give up, but Levi was resolute and refused to hear it.
It wasn’t until the sun started to set did Katie get anywhere. She sent a jet of water shooting upwards from the river.
“There we go,” said the Chancellor, quite pleased.
“Yeah, it was something, but it was basically useless,” sighed Katie. She was still annoyed at how long it took her to accomplish even that.
“It wasn’t useless,” said the Chancellor. “The purpose here is so that you can control these powers at your will.”
Katie sighed.
“Remember, the Dolphin of Alaysia is the entity that controls the water on this planet. She has allowed you to take command of that power. If you focus, you can tap into the source a
nd use it at your will.”
Levi gave Katie a few moments of silence before having her continue.
It was a few more hours before Katie managed to do anything else. She was ready to walk away when she pulled up a ball of water of about twenty gallons. Excited, Katie looked over at Levi, who was smiling.
“Focus,” he said.
Katie looked back at the ball. She closed her hand into a fist and willed the water to turn into ice. It did. Katie opened her hand and the ice orb exploded into a thousand shards that then pelted down into the water.
“Very, very spectacular,” praised the Chancellor. “Quite magnificent, indeed!”
Katie laughed with the Chancellor. She attempted to do it again and succeeded. She drew out a thin sliver and lashed it out like a whip. Katie laughed and threw the stream of water back into the river.
Along with it, a flash of lightning bolted down, spreading out into the river before dying out.
Stunned, Katie looked over at Chancellor Levi.
“It seems as if we not only accomplished our mission for today but have moved you into the next phase,” Levi said. “You have tapped into your father’s ability.”
Katie was quite pleased with herself but couldn’t help but notice that there was a slight sadness in Levi’s eyes.
“Your father would be very proud of you,” said the Chancellor. “Let us get to him quickly so that you may show him.”
The Chancellor smiled and walked Katie back into the palace.
“Have some dinner,” he said when they got to the kitchens. “I see that it is fitting to be celebratory! After all, you seem to be quite a natural!”
Katie smiled and thanked the Chancellor. Levi nodded and left. Tyson and Koran were not around, so she figured they were still hard at training.
Katie finished eating and went to her room to take a long shower. When she was done and had just put on a fresh pair of clothes, she heard a knock on her door.
“Come in!” she called out.
The door opened with Tyson who walked in slowly. He glanced up at her and closed the door quietly behind him.
“Hey Tyson,” she said. “How did your training go?”
He shrugged. “It was pretty good. I learned a lot, but I have a ways to go. Koran was pretty amazing actually.”
Katie didn’t say anything.
“I mean, I guess it’s just part of who he is,” said Tyson. “He’s been doing this a lot longer than I have.”
“Yeah, he has,” Katie replied. “But I’m sure you’ll get it well soon enough.”
“How was your training?” Tyson asked.
Katie sighed and smiled. “At first, it was exhausting and one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever done. But in the end, I got the hang of it.”
As to prove what she was saying, Katie reached out and grabbed a stream of water from the faucet in the bathroom. She wove it around Tyson and put it down the drain.
“Nice!” Tyson shouted. He laughed. “That’s really awesome.”
“Thanks,” said Katie, her chuckle dying down.
Tyson looked down, sighed, and look at Katie. “I am sorry about how I was acting earlier. On top of all that was happening, I was also getting jealous of Koran.”
Katie smiled and moved her hair back. She moved closer to Tyson. “You were?”
Tyson laughed. “Just a little,” he said.
He kissed her and she kissed him back. They found that they didn’t want to stop. Tyson helped Katie remove the clothes that she had just put on. He loosened her bra just before she took off his shirt. Tyson gently laid Katie onto the bed. He pulled off her panties. Katie waited on the bed and watched Tyson as he took off his pants and the rest of his clothes at the foot of her bed.
Tyson climbed onto the bed and leaned over Katie. They smiled at each other.
“I love you,” Katie told him. Tyson kissed her in reply.
“I love you too,” he whispered gently back to her and kissed her again….
22
Attack on Oasi
There was a loud knock on the door. Tyson’s eyes fluttered, but he quickly dozed off again. Another knock and Tyson’s eyes snapped open.
Who would knock at this time? He thought.
He pulled off the covers and looked around. Katie was asleep next to him. She made a faint noise before wrapping more of the blanket around her.
Someone knocked again. Tyson groaned quietly and got out of bed. He almost tripped while putting on his pants before making his way to the door.
Another knock.
“Patience,” he said, so quiet that it could only be heard in his own head.
Tyson opened the door. He was surprised to see Koran standing there, but not as surprised as Koran looked seeing Tyson standing there.
“Oh, there you are,” Koran said awkwardly. “I was looking for you but you weren’t in your room. Is Katie here?”
Tyson rested his head on the doorframe. “Yup,” he said drowsily.
“Do you mind waking her? It’s urgent. Queen Nayara has arrived,” said Koran. “She is at the foot of the city just off the river’s bank. She has said that she is giving us a chance to surrender.”
“What do we do?” asked Tyson, who was now quite alert.
“Chancellor Levi is speaking with her. Our army is prepared and ready to fight, but we don’t think we stand a chance. Evacuations are tricky because Nayara has the whole river occupied with her ships.”
“Where do we go?”
“Katie is supposed to stay inside the palace. You and I are going to stay in the entrance hall. The Chancellor knows we’re willing to fight alongside him, but he advised us to stand down unless we have to get involved.”
Tyson nodded. “I’ll get Katie and meet you downstairs.”
Koran nodded, patted the doorframe twice and left. Tyson went back to the bed and shook Katie awake.
Before she could ask Tyson told her, “Nayara is here.”
“What?” said Katie, sitting up. “Already?”
“Yeah,” breathed Tyson. “You’re supposed to stay in the palace. Koran and I are as well, but we’re going to be downstairs.”
“I’m not letting you fight alone,” said Katie.
“We’re not fighting,” replied Tyson. “The Chancellor doesn’t want us to. But we should go now.”
“Alright,” said Katie, getting out of bed. She didn’t know if she was angry, or scared, or annoyed. It still seemed unreal to her. Katie wanted to be a part of the war, but she was terrified of what may happen. Was she ready to take on the Queen herself? Or would she quickly come to her demise?
Katie and Tyson were walking towards the door when Artemus noisily barged in. “Katie, follow me. Tyson, you’re supposed to be downstairs. There is a five-man team there to protect you and Koran.”
Tyson nodded.
“Go, now,” Artemus ordered.
Tyson and Katie exchanged a nod before he left. Katie trusted Artemus and followed him out of her room.
Palatinii Cycle Page 26
