by Frank Morin
Most of the group settled on affinity choices quickly, but Hamish struggled before grinning and saying, “Got it. Diorite. This way we can hold that puking competition on fair terms.”
Shona grimaced. “You are not going to spew flaming vomit all across my palace.”
“You’re the one who was just touting how important research is,” Hamish countered.
Kilian stepped in. “No diorite. You’ll only blow yourself up.”
Luckily Hamish had a flexible mind and he moved on from that disappointment by requesting porphyry.
Connor laughed, but Kilian only stared, his gaze literally turning icy as frost crept across his eyes. Not even Hamish could maintain his “I’m innocent” look in the face of that cold, gray stare.
So he sighed and said, “Fine. How about obsidian?”
Connor had expected Hamish to try granite or basalt, but it made sense. In that battle suit, Hamish was already deadly. Amplified by obsidian, Connor wasn’t sure if Hamish would have any limits.
General Wolfram requested basalt, claiming that he’d always wanted to feel the speed of Wingrunners. Knowing it could help him better understand their capabilities and therefore more effectively deploy his troops. Captain Ilse requested basalt too, and challenged Wolfram to a running battle. He instantly accepted.
Neither Tomas nor Cameron wanted any different primary affinity. They spent their entire careers laughing at Striders and avoiding Blades so there was little appeal in joining either camp. They were excited to try a secondary affinity, though. Cameron had never managed one, and although Tomas could tap limestone, it was such a weak affinity it might as well not exist.
Neither Kilian nor Evander opted to try any additional affinities. Kilian simply shrugged and said, “I know my limits, and my affinities are such a part of me I couldn’t imagine changing them.”
Evander had said, “The Evergreen never loses its leaves, but the sturgeon best appreciates the deep cold of the abyss.”
Too bad Jean wasn’t around to help decipher that one. Connor couldn’t decide if it meant Evander was content as he was, or if he was threatening to throw Connor into the nearest loch if he tried tampering with his affinities.
It took only a few minutes to gather the stones and powders they needed. Connor told his eager friends, “Remember, this is a loan. Pay attention to your tap rates. We need to understand how effective the affinities work for each of you, and how long the loaned power lasts.”
Wolfram nodded approval. “We should also test if we would suffer double-tap sickness by tapping double primaries.”
“Test that if you want. I’ve seen the effects and don’t want to disable myself for a day or two,” Shona said with a grimace.
Connor said, “I agree. I suspect you’d hurt yourself, but we can test it at the end, when your loaned power is almost spent.”
With a sense of anticipation, Connor turned to Wolfram, who had stepped closer as they talked. “You first, General.”
“I am honored.”
“While you’re working with basalt, I’d like to try it too,” Verena said.
“Me too,” Shona added. “Joining Wolfram and Ilse in that running battle should be fun.”
Plus it would give them another chance to hit each other.
Kilian said, “I’ll referee the match. No doubt you’ll need some pointers. Running battles are not as simple as they seem.”
They had never looked simple. Running battles were as much the ultimate test of Striders and Wingrunners as bash fighting was for Boulders and Rumblers. The intricate, beautiful patterns of a running battle sometimes masked their deadly intent. Connor decided he’d follow them too. That group in a running battle would be amazing to watch.
Loaning basalt to Wolfram went well. Using the same stone combination of obsidian and sandstone to establish the connection, then purging basalt while focused on his target produced instant results. Wolfram grinned as he raced around the courtyard, and Connor felt relieved that the process seemed to work consistently.
Loaning basalt to Ilse also went well, and he felt so happy to see Ilse smile a genuine smile. That was something she still did too rarely. He loved that she could experience basalt speed on her newly restored legs. It seemed appropriate, and he felt a new sense of wonder at his amazing fleshcrafting abilities when he looked at her powerful legs.
Connor then focused on the next batch of basalt to create lamacal for Shona, but his connection to basalt felt strangely weak. He still managed to create enough lamacal, but had to struggle to complete the process. While Shona eagerly licked the lamacal from her hand, barely grimacing at the chalky taste this time, Connor turned to Verena. He found that he could barely absorb any basalt. Frowning, he explained the problem to the others.
“What do you mean, you can’t connect with basalt?” Verena asked, looking worried as the others gathered around.
Still frowning, Connor focused over the basalt, willing it into his hand. “It’s weird. I can feel it, but can’t seem to absorb more. It feels the way I might when I’ve already absorbed a full measure, except right now I’m empty.”
General Wolfram said thoughtfully, “I had not considered the possibility.”
“What possibility?” Connor and Verena asked together.
“We’re talking about loaning powers. You have already loaned a significant portion of your basalt to three of us. You assume you can loan your powers to as many people as you want, but perhaps there is a finite limit.”
“Are you saying that when I loan a power, I’m actually giving away part of the power that I would otherwise be using?” Connor asked.
“Precisely.”
That made sense. If he was sharing breakfast, he’d have to accept the fact that he wouldn’t have as much to eat himself. But somehow he’d imagined he could just keep sharing powers as long as he had affinity stones to replenish what he’d used.
Hamish sighed. “So much for the idea of loaning granite to a thousand regulars. That would have been too easy. Connor is sharing a single tray of affinity desserts, but we’d all assumed he had the entire kitchen available to keep making more.”
Kilian chuckled. “Sometimes I marvel at how many truths you can wrap in a single sweetbread.”
“All truth can be connected to dessert if you just leave yourself open to the possibilities,” Hamish quipped.
“Or if you snort sugar in your sleep,” Verena joked.
Hamish looked thrilled by the idea, but she gave him a serious look and said, “Don’t.”
Captain Ilse said, “We can test the hypothesis easily enough. Wolfram and I can each purge some of our basalt. See if that allows you to then loan more.”
That was a good idea and would help establish how his access to more basalt was linked to their consumption rate. The two Grandurians quickly purged some of the basalt, and sure enough Connor managed to then absorb enough to loan to Verena.
“What if you need a power you loan to us after you’ve loaned it?” Verena asked as she held the white lamacal. “I’d hate to think you might get hurt because you needed an affinity that we were using.”
Another excellent question. Connor tried simply willing the power back to himself, taking back the loan early, but it didn’t seem to work. He said, “We’ll have to test that, but if I loan you a power I think it’s yours until you consume it all.”
“We’ll explore the idea, but not now,” Wolfram said with a grin. “I simply can’t stand still any longer.”
He bolted from the practice yard, heading for the nearest gate. Ilse and Shona gave chase, laughing with the freedom of basalt. Verena hesitated long enough to kiss Connor and grin excitedly before tearing off after the others.
Hamish eagerly accepted some obsidian and erupted into the air with a blast of quartzite thrusters to test his reflexes. Cameron took his place in front of Connor and said, “Can you really help me activate limestone, lad?”
“Let’s find out,” Connor said with a smile. Cameron
looked so eager, almost nervous.
Then he realized he had a problem. Secondary affinity stones like limestone and sandstone didn’t need to be absorbed, so how could he purge lamacal for Cameron to consume?
“Maybe I should eat it,” Cameron offered.
A small stone wouldn’t hurt. Hamish had accidentally swallowed enough rocks growing up that Connor wasn’t worried about that, but the solution didn’t feel right. “We’ll reserve that for a last resort.”
He tried simply focusing on Cameron, holding limestone while tapping obsidian and sandstone, but got nothing when he handed the stone to Cameron. As Cameron returned the stone, Connor felt a flash of connection and said excitedly, “Wait! Don’t let go.”
It took only a moment to establish the deep connection required. The small piece of limestone ignited like a hundred lanterns, and Connor envisioned the affinity transfer like sliding part of a dessert tray halfway across a table for Cameron to pick up a piece of his cake. The glowing piece.
The connection slid across, and Cameron laughed like a child as he lifted the still-blazing stone high. “I’m tapping limestone!” he chortled, his ugly face looking far less hideous under an expression of pure joy. He strode around the courtyard, glowing like a sun, exclaiming at the wonder of it.
He shouted, “If I’d been this bright a little sooner, not even that blind woman could’ve denied me.”
Tomas laughed. “You may be bright, but you’re still dimwitted.”
“Let’s see you do better,” Cameron challenged.
Tomas stepped close to Connor and whispered, “Come on, lad. I don’t need a tertiary. I just need to light more than a candle, or Cameron will never let me live this down.”
“I’m not sure if it works that way. We’re loaning new powers to people, but you’ve already got a limestone affinity.”
Tomas gave him such an imploring look that he said, “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
Connor tried the same trick he’d used to loan limestone to Cameron. He easily connected with Tomas, and once he felt the connection, he activated the limestone. It ignited with brilliant light.
“Now you try keeping it active,” he said as he slipped his hand free.
Tomas gripped the little stone hard, squinting up his face with his concentration. Despite his mighty effort, the light dimmed to barely a flicker. Connor had never seen such a weak affinity.
Cameron chortled. “If you keep twisting your face that hard, you might get permanently uglier.”
“No worry that I’d ever challenge you for that title,” Tomas snapped, still concentrating.
“Or title for brightest of the Fast Rollers,” Cameron agreed with a gap-toothed smile.
“Come on, laddie,” Tomas urged Connor quietly. “I’m doing the work. Help a mate out, will you?”
Connor hated to let Tomas down. The two Fast Rollers had taken him under their wing when he was clueless, barely able to tap granite. They’d taught him some of his first lessons, taught him to fight, and believed in him enough to ignore the order to capture him when he’d gone to free Verena and Nicklaus from that cave. They’d stood by him through all of his dangerous adventures, always encouraging him in their bantering way. He had to find a way to help Tomas now.
So he again touched the limestone and felt Tomas’ affinity. It was like a gossamer thread connecting him to the stone. Connor marveled that he could feel the connection so clearly. He hadn’t sensed it in any of the others, but then again he hadn’t been trying to loan them an affinity they already possessed.
He focused on that connection, trying to feel that affinity within Tomas. The queen had activated a permanent new affinity for Shona, so there was a way to do it. He didn’t actually need to duplicate that feat, although he hoped through his training and rigorous practice that he could figure it out. At the moment, he didn’t need that much. Tomas had already established a connection. It was weak, but maybe by helping Tomas strengthen his affinity, he might better understand how the process worked.
Connor closed his eyes and focused entirely on that feeble connection. He could sense Tomas’ tension, but the connection to the affinity was so weak, he didn’t clearly feel it through obsidian yet. There had to be something else. He needed to see it.
He thought back to the vision the elements had shown him of his own affinities, as well as what he had witnessed in Nicklaus’ mind. So he tapped chert too, and a strong connection to Tomas instantly snapped into place.
His vision darkened as he plunged into Tomas’ affinityscape.
76
Building Bridges
Connor found himself standing on a beautiful, grassy knoll, overlooking a forest with a small village in the distance. It was not a location he recognized. It felt calm and peaceful, not something he would’ve expected to find in Tomas’ head.
Then he turned around and grinned with relief. Behind him the grassy knoll abruptly ended in a dark chasm with a bridge to a floating island. It appeared similar to the affinityscape of his own mind, except there was only one bridge out to one of the islands.
That closest floating island was made of only a single tier, formed from enormous blocks of granite, stacked together in a complex interlocking pattern, with the wooden rope bridge securely fastened to it by a heavy iron framework. Tomas might only have one primary affinity, but he was linked to it very securely.
The bridge was wide and seemed solid so Connor jogged across. Like all rope plank bridges, it wobbled, but not too severely. Once he stepped onto the island he sensed the power of granite flowing up through his feet. A single frayed rope extended from the opposite side, about ten paces away, toward another low, single-tiered island that glowed faintly in the darkness.
That was Tomas’ connection to limestone. Where his first bridge was broad and strong, that rope was all the bridge he had to limestone. To cross, one would have to move hand over hand, hanging over that bottomless abyss.
The representation of his weak affinity was perfect. Connor wondered if he’d projected his concept of islands and bridges into Tomas’ mind, or if everyone at some fundamental level understood their affinity connections like that.
He wondered why Tomas’ affinityscape only depicted singled bridges connecting to single-tiered islands. Did it represent the fact that he had only established good primary affinities, but Connor had established strong tertiaries? After a moment’s thought, he decided maybe they represented his ascensions. He was triple ascended, so why not have triple-layered bridges?
The idea seemed important, and he sensed he might be right on the verge of understanding something else important, but the harder he tried to grasp the concept that floated just out of reach, the more it receded, until it faded away. That was annoying. If he wasn’t already traipsing around in Tomas’ head, he’d use obsidian to accelerate his thoughts and try figuring it out. He wasn’t sure if that would interrupt his connection to Tomas, so decided to try it later.
At the moment, he needed to figure out how to solidify Tomas’ affinity bridge. If that visual representation of Tomas’ affinity actually tied to his powers, the logical solution would be to figure out how to strengthen the bridge. If he could build a better bridge, would Tomas enjoy a better affinity?
It was worth a try. Besides, he didn’t feel like tempting that sketchy looking rope. He was in Tomas’ mind, and he did not want to get lost there.
So he jogged back across the first bridge to the grassy knoll and descended from there to the forest. He was tempted to summon an ax, but it didn’t feel right. So he tapped granite and ripped a couple of tall but slender trees out of the ground by the roots. Then he heaved them onto his shoulders and jogged back across the rope bridge to Tomas’ granite affinity island. After stripping the branches from the trees, he considered the long gap between the granite and limestone islands.
The trees should be long enough. “Here we go,” he whispered as he hefted the first tree, gripping the thick base firmly and dropping the top to
ward the limestone island, willing it to connect. He was linked to Tomas’ mind through the obsidian, chert, and sandstone. He drew upon those connections, trying to reinforce the bond as he worked to build something new for Tomas.
As the tree fell, the wood transformed in his hands from a rough, rounded trunk to a thick beam, uniform in width. The end thudded solidly onto the softly glowing green limestone island and iron bands rose up from the stone to secure it in place.
“Yes!” Connor exulted. “Mental construction sure beats using hammer and chisel in the real world.”
Feeling more hopeful by the second, Connor pressed his end down onto the granite island beside the frayed rope. Again, iron bands rose out of the granite and locked the end of the trunk into position.
Connor felt energy flowing along the tree trunk when he touched it. He took that as a good sign, and dropped the second tree into position just like the first. It also transformed and locked into place.
Not bad. His efforts seemed to be working. He had done some creative building in Aifric’s mind to help resurrect her after the queen had snuffed out her life, so he was comfortable with the intangible process. He’d taken some liberties recreating the walls of her mind, and her affinities had strengthened as a result. He hoped to accomplish the same result for Tomas.
It took only a few minutes to return to the forest and collect more trees. Connor hoped he was not causing Tomas any mental pain from the effort, but somehow doubted it. Tomas liked to claim that thinking was for officers and he was better off doing none of it, so hopefully he wouldn’t even notice that Connor was in there mucking around.
He returned with the additional wood and snapped it to the appropriate length for treads between the two trees-turned-beams that formed the trusses of the new bridge he was constructing. He placed the sections of tree in position between the trusses, and each piece transformed into thick, finished planks that slid out along the trusses when he pushed them. They each locked into place at the end of the fast-growing bridge.
