by Frank Morin
“Wait, what test?” Connor asked, exchanging a surprised look with Hamish.
Nicklaus kicked a stone, looking suddenly sad. “It didn’t work.”
Christin said, “It’s a remarkable invention. We tested it by the small pond here on the hospital grounds yesterday.”
“I thought it would make a big wall of water, but it didn’t make anything.”
“Nothing?” Hamish asked with a frown.
“I think poor Nicklaus must have misunderstood one of the instructions,” Christin said, looking at her charge with compassion. “He repeats everything she tells to him, and I write it down.” She gestured at a small notebook lying on a nearby table.
“We reviewed every word, and I did it right. It just didn’t work!” Nicklaus said, pouting.
“What did you feel?” Hamish asked. Connor was glad he was around. He wouldn’t have known what to ask about.
Nicklaus shrugged. “It seemed to be messing with a lot of energy, but it didn’t work.”
“We didn’t have much time to practice,” Christin explained. “A Water Moccasin working on the pond asked us to stop. The mechanical was interfering with his affinity.”
“Really? How?” Connor asked. Some mechanicals would mess with a Petralist’s access to their element, but Nicklaus’ work seemed different. He glanced at Hamish, who shrugged.
“I don’t know. I think he was just lazy,” Nicklaus said. Then he brightened and asked, “Hamish, can I borrow a missile?”
“Ah, don’t get distracted,” Hamish said.
Connor told Christin, “Can you make me a copy of your notes? I’d like to review them with Verena.”
“I’ve already duplicated everything for Lady Jean. I’ll give you her copy and make another for her,” Christin said.
“Thanks. Please keep recording everything Water says, and send us copies regularly. It might be really important.” He was deeply intrigued why Water would start reaching out to the boy instead of to Verena again, or to Hamish.
Those two were the lead Builders. He didn’t understand yet what the elements wanted, so he couldn’t grasp the reasons for their actions, but he did not doubt everything they did had a purpose.
They seemed eager to reassure him that their purposes coincided with his own, but he didn’t know enough yet to know for sure. Hearing Nicklaus’ tale made him think he needed to press the elements more for an explanation.
Christin said, “We’re being released this afternoon.”
“Yes!” Nicklaus cried.
She continued. “Lady Jean has offered to house us in her palace.”
“And let me keep shooting soldiers,” Nicklaus added enthusiastically. “I’ll have to add weapons to my flyer, though, unless you make me a suit.” He looked meaningfully at Hamish. Christin looked terrified by the idea, and Connor agreed. Nicklaus with his own battle suite would be an unparalleled force of destruction.
Hamish said, “We’ve submitted the request to your parents. Once we receive permission, we’ll schedule a time.” Connor doubted that would happen for another ten years.
Nicklaus seemed to wilt with disappointment, and Hamish sighed. “But how about I take you up with me for a spin around the city later?”
He brightened instantly. “Can I bring a speedsling and shoot at the floating targets Defender Flight uses?”
“We’ll, see,” Hamish said with a grin.
“But first I need to take a look at your affinities,” Connor added.
Nicklaus sighed. “If you have to.”
Connor tapped chert and focused on the boy. Instantly he felt a connection snap into place between them. Nicklaus was remarkably calm, given his outward enthusiasm. Connor sensed a very methodical mind, coupled with a bottomless sense of curiosity. Great characteristics for a Builder.
Nicklaus’ thoughts flowed into his mind. “Connor had better propose to Verena soon, or she’s going to get mad. Not even Connor would like it if Verena got mad at him.”
Connor suppressed a groan. Figuring out their timeline for a formal proposal and eventual wedding date was a huge task weighing him down, but it was something he needed to figure out with Verena. If Nicklaus was thinking about it, how many other people were?
He was glad most of them kept the questions to themselves. Life was busy enough already, but he reminded himself to find a time to talk with her about it. Nicklaus was right. She did seem to be growing impatient. He was eager to bind himself to her, but could he do so in good faith with the threat of war hanging over them?
Something to figure out later. Connor pushed aside the distracting thoughts and focused on the connection to the boy. As it intensified, he felt himself drawn into Nicklaus’ mind. He sensed the boy’s thoughts, but did not feel his affinities. He’d hoped to view them like he had his own, but sensed nothing.
Maybe he needed a slightly different type of connection. Chert connected him to a mind, but he needed to connect to Nicklaus’ affinities. Verena had explained their reasoning about how he might be able to loan an affinity, and it made a lot of sense. Obsidian could help connect to the mind via affinities, and sandstone helped link to a patient. Maybe something similar was needed to feel the affinities in another?
He didn’t have anything to lose. Nicklaus was growing bored, staring into Connor’s eyes, and his thoughts were turning to how much easier it would be to sneak out of Lady Jean’s big palace than it had been to sneak out of the little cottage. He loved exploring the city when Christin thought him studying or sleeping. He particularly enjoyed secretly visiting all the Builder workshops.
Connor didn’t want to pry into all the boy’s secrets, but he enjoyed the glimpse into Nicklaus’ life. Connor and Hamish had found many ways to entertain themselves in Alasdair as kids, but they hadn’t understood their powers, so lacked many of the unique opportunities that Nicklaus was taking advantage of.
Connor tapped obsidian and sandstone and instantly felt the connection to Nicklaus deepening. His vision blurred, and he appeared inside a mindscape. The land solidified around Connor and he found himself standing on the plain north of New Schwinkendorf. He sensed the community somewhere behind him, but when he turned in that direction he could not see that far. The grasses ended at the edge of a cliff, the area beyond filled with slowly roiling, gray mist. That’s where Connor’s mindscape depicted affinity islands floating, connected by bridges, but he saw nothing like that for Nicklaus.
It surprised him that he landed in a local scene. The boy had formed his affinities in Edderitz and in Altkalen, so Connor had expected to see a scene from one of those locations. Then again, Nicklaus had enjoyed his affinities far more working with the Builders and researchers in New Schwinkendorf. His connection to Verena and Hamish was powerful, so that might have played into it too.
“Connor, what are you doing?”
He jumped, startled to see Nicklaus standing beside him, looking curiously out over the mist-filled abyss.
“I didn’t expect to pull you into this mindscape,” Connor admitted.
“We are looking at my affinities, after all,” Nicklaus pointed out. “Mindscape is a fun word. Did Verena come up with it? She names almost everything because she’s so smart. But we’re looking for affinities, so shouldn’t we call this my affinityscape?”
Connor smiled. “Perhaps. Your affinities should look like little islands over that abyss, with bridges attached to them.”
“Why?”
“Um, well, because that’s how mine looked,” he offered. Maybe other people’s minds worked differently.
He cautiously approached the edge of the cliff to peer over, and spotted two sets of anchor stones right at the outer edge. They looked like the ones in his mind that had secured the ends of the lowest tier of the bridges that extended to his primary affinities. One pair was made of granite blocks, while the other was basalt. The granite blocks were broken into a mass of tiny pieces, while the basalt blocks were charred. When he touched one, it crumbled under his finger
.
Nicklaus poked it with his foot and sighed, looking sad but not surprised. “Looks like you were right, Connor. I had bridges here, but they’re busted.”
Those blocks had suffered severe damage, as if they had shattered under violent force. How had Nicklaus managed to shatter his affinities? Connor was starting to learn some startling things about affinities, but the thought of destroying them really bothered him and he shivered, with goosebumps rising along his arms.
“It’s not healthy to mope about something you can’t fix,” Nicklaus said. He lifted a small hand, which Connor took reflexively. Nicklaus turned them both around and pointed. “Let’s go see what’s over there!”
Together they headed into the grassy land north of New Schwinkendorf. After walking for a moment, Connor noticed something different. Not far ahead, just visible above the gently waving grasses, was a low, stone well.
“What’s that?” Nicklaus exclaimed, noticing it at the same time. He dropped Connor’s hand and raced ahead. Connor gave chase, about to call out a warning to Nicklaus to be careful, but then he realized that was silly. They were walking inside Nicklaus’ mind. He doubted the boy could hurt himself in there.
The low stone wall turned out to be a well, and Nicklaus rushed right up to it, leaning dangerously far over to peer down. They might be in his mind, but if he jumped down a well, what would that mean?
Connor ran faster. The grasses around the well were shorter, allowing him to see farther. He noticed other wells scattered around nearby. When he reached Nicklaus and the first well, he touched it, and immediately understood.
Quartzite. The well was constructed with rectangular quartzite blocks about the size of his head, and a gentle flow of quartzite energy was rising from the depths, like smoke from a small fire. Connor’s touch solidified the connection and he cast his affinity senses down into the opening.
He finally felt an island, a quartzite island, but instead of floating near the cliff, he sensed it far out in the mists, far below where he stood, with quartzite energy radiating off it. Some of that energy flowed up to that well and drifted up into Nicklaus’ mind. Just like bridges were the mental representation of affinities, the well must be the mental interpretation of Nicklaus’ Builder powers.
Nicklaus produced a pebble from somewhere and tossed it into the well. It disappeared from view, and the boy frowned. “No splash.”
“I think this is the well of your Builder access to quartzite,” Connor said, fascinated. Builders did access the power of stones differently, and a well elegantly suggested the way Builders could access energy but not actively control it.
Nicklaus nodded seriously and turned a slow circle, studying the other wells. He grinned and pointed behind Connor. “Is that why that soapstone well is so big?”
Connor turned and noticed for the first time a much bigger well in the distance. They ran over to it, and sure enough it was made of soapstone. When Connor touched it, he sensed far more energy flowing through it. “I wonder why this one is so much bigger.”
“I think Water wants it that way,” Nicklaus said proudly.
“Maybe,” Connor said. The idea was intriguing. Could Water affect how much Nicklaus could access her powers? Why would she? The idea made him slightly uneasy, although he couldn’t identify why.
He planned to check Hamish’s and Verena’s minds to see if their representation of their powers were similar to Nicklaus’. Did either of them have islands that might allow him to help them create bridges to form affinities? Or were all Builders missing that critical piece?
They had learned something, maybe something important. He just needed to figure out what it all meant.
71
It’s One Bridge in front of Another
Connor soared over Badurach Pass and drank in the vista of northern Obrion. When he magnified his Pathfinder vision he could see Merkland gleaming white in the distance. He accelerated.
Hamish powered through the air beside him, flying backward in a half-reclined position that made it easier for him to shield the little travel stove he had crafted for cooking his meals while flying. He was making some kind of omelet with egg, cheese, bacon, and a bunch of spices. He had actually mixed it all up before they left and was now heating it in a sealed ceramic container.
“You know, I’m sure we’ll get to Merkland before lunch,” Connor chuckled as he drifted closer to his friend.
“Good thing too. I only brought enough for each of us to get four or five of these.”
Connor appreciated having a friend who was always prepared. “I’m surprised Nicklaus didn’t find a way to convince you to leave your spare battle suit with him. Flying with him might not have been the best idea, you know.”
Hamish grinned. “But it sure was a lot of fun. That kid is going to be an amazing flyer, and probably amazing at whatever he puts his mind to. I want to make sure he puts his mind on positive things.”
Connor couldn’t argue with that.
Hamish added, “I’m just glad we figured out that wire shielding before we left.”
He tossed the completed omelet container to Connor who caught it and pried open the top. The ceramic jar held the heat extremely well, although heat no longer harmed Connor even when he was not actively tapping marble. The omelet was delicious and luckily Hamish had brought along a couple of forks. Tomas and Cameron might not approve of forks, but Connor was willing to take the risk sometimes.
He sat back on the air, imagining it like a comfortable chair that just happened to be hurtling over the landscape at incredible speeds. The air parted in front of him so the only wind he felt was wind that he wanted to feel. Being ascended was so much fun.
It didn’t help with making his schedule easier, though. He needed to make time to train more, but the rest of their morning had been packed. After leaving Nicklaus, they’d joined Jean for a second breakfast. The feasting hall had been packed to overflowing with citizens eager to see her restored health, and many had thanked Connor as enthusiastically as if he had healed their own daughter.
Jean had insisted they visit her medical team with the micro-vision goggles too. The latest model indeed allowed them to view deep into the tiny structures that made up tissues, bone, and blood. Using his fleshcrafting sensitivities, he’d studied a sample of diseased tissue they were studying and managed to give them some pointers on how to interpret what they were seeing.
That group of serious researchers had been chattering like giddy children when he left. He hoped he’d helped, and that they could indeed develop new breakthroughs to help healers better treat their patients. He was only one person and could not hope to treat everyone.
Although Shona had sent seventeen messages urging them to hurry back to Merkland to test loaning Petralist powers, they still needed to stop to visit Fyodor too. The man had been more than true to his word. His team had produced several different iterations of enhanced shielding for the wires.
They started by simply doubling the thickness of the rubber and of the glass sheathing, but had not stopped there. Next they tried combining the two, first sheathing the copper wires in rubber and then encasing that in steel glass. All three attempts had demonstrated significant improvements in insulating the wires, but did not block Connor’s ability to easily sense and even manipulate them.
Fyodor had been extremely frustrated by that and complained that if they added too many more layers the wires would become too bulky to be of use. Connor had spent time the previous evening considering the words of the elementals about strum and magnis, so he had some additional ideas.
Both Air and Water had said their elements could effectively insulate if they did not contain impurities. He and Fyodor’s team had experimented with those ideas. After several different attempts, they discovered that sheathing the wire between two layers of glass with a small gap between them increased the insulating factor significantly. When he then filled that tiny gap with purified water, he could barely feel the current.
&nbs
p; Air had proven a little trickier, but he learned that if he could draw out most of the air between the two layers, forming an empty space with negative pressure, it also proved extremely effective. Ensuring that the vacuum space remained properly sealed proved challenging. Since working with water was simpler, they’d focused on that.
They’d filled a large tank and Connor had stripped it clean of impurities, then sealed it to keep it pure. If they were careful, they could use that water to fill the double layer of glass tubes. That should do enough. He doubted the queen would notice the strum and magnis, at least not in time to alter the outcome of the conflict.
Then they’d taken to the air, leaving the Hawk for more of Jean’s Mender Flight personnel to bring to Merkland later. Reviewing the busy morning made Connor suddenly glad Hamish had thought to bring food. He saluted with his now-empty omelet jar and said, “Here’s to trouncing old hags with Juggernauts.”
Hamish tossed him a second omelet just coming off the burner and saluted with his own. “To trouncing old hags. May they never return.”
Then he held up his canteen. “How about giving me something better to go with this than plain water?”
“What would you like?”
“How about some of that Althing heated chocolate?” Hamish asked eagerly.
Connor grinned and swallowed the rest of his omelet in one huge gulp so he could concentrate. “I’ll see what I can do.”
While purifying water for the Varvakins, he’d learned something about his affinity with water. Since he’d been studying tiny particles in iron to learn about magnis and strum, he recognized that he could sense the particles of water at that same molecular level. While he waited for Hamish to say good-bye to Jean, he’d studied the structure of some fresh-squeezed juice he was drinking. While idly messing around with it, he rearranged the molecules and transformed it into water.
That was so much fun that he’d immediately tried other options. He’d discovered that he could transform liquid into pretty much whatever other type of liquid he wanted, and he’d shared the amazing discovery with Hamish before they took off. Now he studied his and Hamish’s canteens. He hadn’t studied hot chocolate at a molecular level, but how hard could it be?
