by Frank Morin
Mind construction was so much fun. In the real world he was not exactly a great carpenter. If Tomas had to wait for him to figure out how to cut and plane each of those planks, they’d probably both die of old age.
Instead he completed the bridge in short order, including polished hand rails, supported by gracefully turned balusters. He surveyed his work, feeling satisfied. “Too bad mom can’t see this.”
He’d apprenticed with the local carpenter before taking the apprentice with old Tam, the Alasdair town hunter. He’d taken to carpentry exactly opposite to how he’d taken to hunting. He’d proudly built a pot-hanging rack for his mother, only to have it collapse as soon as she hung her pots and pans from it. The entire rack had fallen on Blair’s head with a spectacular, crashing din. Connor chuckled at the memory of Blair stumbling around the room with the biggest cast-iron pot stuck over his face.
He confidently crossed to the limestone side to survey his work from there. It looked good. Maybe he should have created a bridge using ropes, but Tomas was hard on delicate things. Connor’s bridge could stand the test of time, and Connor liked adding a personal touch to his mental construction work.
The glow of the limestone island began to increase until Connor felt like he was standing on top of one of the amazing prism lanterns from the Rhidorroch. His work was done. With a thought, he willed himself back to his own head and blinked open his eyes.
Tomas stood in front of him, mouth agape in wonder, light pouring off him in waves.
Connor laughed. “Wow. Looks like it worked.”
Tomas seized his hands and shook them so hard he nearly dislocated Connor’s shoulder. “I don’t know what you did, lad, but I’ve never felt anything like this. Limestone is a part of me, as much as granite ever was.”
He laughed and spun away, hands outstretched, light blazing from him as bright as any Solas Connor had ever seen.
Cameron approached, scowling, and shuttered his own limestone with a sigh. “Why did you have to go and do that? Now he’s going to get a swelled head.”
Tomas laughed again and multicolored waves of light erupted out of his mouth. He didn’t even seem to realize he was doing it.
Cameron groaned. “Swelled head, sure as latrine duty. I’ll have to pound it flat every day for a month.”
“As if you could,” Tomas laughed, teeth glowing. He was really taking to limestone, as if making up for lost time.
Cameron charged his partner, and the two launched into a brutal bash fight, both of them blazing with light, lending their usual brutal fighting an epic air. Connor laughed, thrilled he’d made it work. He’d just helped Tomas dramatically improve his limestone affinity, just as he had accidentally helped Aifric improve her affinities. Could he apply the same concepts to establishing brand new ones?
The thought of it maybe working sent chills of excitement shivering down his spine. Creating new affinities was one of the queen’s abilities that might most heavily affect the war effort. If Connor could duplicate that . . .
Tomas interrupted Connor’s reverie by throwing Cameron into him, knocking him right off his feet. Tomas laughed and shouted, “We taught you better than to get dough-headed during a fight. Come on, laddie!”
Connor tapped granite and plunged into the bash fight with the two mighty warriors. For a few minutes, he let himself get lost in max-tapped pummeling. It felt good to forget about all the mind-bending affinities and worries about the queen’s plans and simply beat on a couple of good friends.
77
Old Truths and New Lessons
Connor flew southeast from Merkland, several hundred feet in the air, marveling at the vista of the lush Merkland valley in springtime, and thoroughly enjoying the wonder of stable flight. He imagined the cushion of air carrying him as a soft mattress that he could just sprawl on while he soared. The cool air smelled fresh and carried scents of budding leaves and eager spring growth.
He spotted Kilian and the others crisscrossing the pasturelands in the middle of a running battle. Herds of curious cows and oblivious sheep meandered through the battlefield, and luckily it looked like no one had collided with any of them yet. Connor slowed to watch. He’d always enjoyed the graceful, deadly movements of the intricate duels between fast movers.
His friends still had a long way to go before they looked anything like that. It took time to understand how to bank and turn by shifting one’s weight and to grasp the intricate moves a running battle required because of the enormous speed of the combatants. No doubt in their minds Shona, Verena, Ilse, and Wolfram envisioned themselves making those moves perfectly. What they were actually accomplishing was a whole lot less, with varying degrees of hilarious failure.
They were all experienced enough warriors, with excellent balance, that they didn’t just trip over their own feet like Connor had done many times when first practicing with basalt. However, more than one of them turned too abruptly and fell, rolling end over end before coming to a painful stop. They looked to be accumulating an impressive number of bruises. He expected calls for loaned sandstone next.
Once they did get moving properly, they still had to actually hit each other with their borrowed practice weapons, coated with bright-colored powder. Moving that fast, one had to anticipate strikes sooner, and most of the blows they attempted missed because they swung a second too late.
Kilian spent his time trying to give instruction and advice, zipping between the others like a frantic coach. As Connor drew closer, he noticed Verena trying to chase down General Wolfram, grinning with the thrill of speed.
Wolfram abruptly skidded to a halt and turned to face her, powder-coated weapon raised high. Verena tried to stop instead of simply swerving wide. She stumbled directly at Wolfram, who was too surprised to move. Connor cringed, expecting a brutal impact.
Earth rose up to block Verena, and she plowed into it, sinking half a foot before the earth spat her out onto her backside. Captain Ilse arrived, laughing so hard she almost fell over herself. Wolfram started laughing too, his long mustaches wagging. Verena grinned up at them from the ground and rubbed dirt out of her hair.
Then they spotted Connor and gathered as he came in for a landing. He clapped as he drew closer, grinning to see them having so much fun.
“It’s harder than it looks,” Verena admitted.
“Some of us pick it up faster than others,” Connor admitted with a wink.
Shona rolled her eyes. “I can remember lots of things you didn’t pick up so quick.”
“Well, today I picked up how to help strengthen affinities,” he replied with a triumphant grin. “Well, at least one, and it was pretty weak to begin with. But I think I might have a clue about how to try building brand new affinities.”
Their shocked expressions made him smile even wider. Sharing affinities with them was wonderful, but sometimes it was fun to drop surprises on them too.
“How?” Verena cried as she rushed toward him with super speed and almost slid right past before she could stop. He caught her arm and pulled her around, her legs lifting right off the ground as he pulled her into his arms. They both laughed and he kissed her cheek.
He set her down and said, “Tomas. I helped him establish a much stronger connection to limestone.”
Shona frowned. “How does that help with creating permanent new affinities?”
“It might not, but when I connected with his mind, I saw how his affinities were structured.”
Verena chuckled. “What did you see in there? I imagine his mind looked like a never-ending bash fight.”
“He’s a lot more capable than he pretends,” Connor said, but still smiled at the joke. He told them about how he saw affinities as islands and bridges and how he’d created a better bridge for Tomas, resulting in his much improved affinity.
Verena started nodding immediately, and Shona said, “So you think you can create new bridges for us too?”
“Is it that simple?” Ilse asked with a frown.
“In a wa
y, I think it might be. The complexity is connecting to the mind the right way, just like we had to figure out with loaning affinities. “We’ll still have to test it, but I think it might work. There has to be a way. The queen’s been adding hundreds of new Petralists to her army. What if we could do the same?”
The others chatted excitedly about the possibility, but Kilian said, “I need to have a talk with you, Connor.”
He looked unexpectedly serious. That discovery promised to make a huge impact on the success of the revolution. If they could field as many Petralists as the queen, they could defeat any army she sent against them. With so many Petralists, Connor could only imagine what chaos the clever Wolfram and Ilse could unleash, supported as they were by the Arishat League and the Builders. The queen’s armies would never know what hit them.
“We need to start testing Connor’s ideas immediately,” Shona insisted.
“Soon,” Kilian promised as he towed Connor away from the rest. “We’ll all get a chance soon, I promise.”
Connor could not tap basalt yet because the others were still using it. So Kilian gestured into the sky. Connor wrapped them in a supportive bubble of air, envisioning it like a couple of comfortable chairs that lifted them high above the valley. Beneath them, the rest of the group accelerated back toward Merkland, exchanging the running duel for a race. He was happy he had not granted any of them enough basalt to frack. He doubted they were ready to handle that experience.
Once he and Kilian rose several hundred feet, Kilian leaned back and regarded Connor seriously. “You’ve shown remarkable progress since your ascension, Connor.”
“Thanks. I’m enjoying the process a lot more than the last one,” he admitted. The third threshold was as wondrous as those early days when he started establishing his first affinities.
“So what else are you not telling me?” Kilian asked.
“What do you mean?” Connor suddenly felt less thrilled that he was stuck in the air alone with Kilian.
“Everyone’s experience is a little different, but I spent a great deal of time with Tallan after his ascension and during the war. He was a brilliant lad, not unlike yourself in many ways, but he never mastered the trick to loaning affinities, let alone granting new ones. I was convinced no one but my mother would ever figure it out, but here you get it within days of ascending. You’re clever Connor, but no one’s that clever. What’s going on?”
He shouldn’t have been surprised that Kilian wasn’t fooled. Kilian was too good at keeping secrets and had far too many of his own not to recognize that Connor now had a few.
When he hesitated, Kilian asked, “You’ve been speaking with the elementals again, haven’t you?”
He wanted to protect Kilian from the vague dangers that Water had warned him about, wanted to honor his word to her not to share too much about them with others, but he could not lie to Kilian. So he sighed, rubbed one hand through his hair and said, “Things are getting complicated.”
Kilian didn’t look surprised. “That’s why I felt we needed to talk. So talk.”
“I’m not sure I should.”
“Why not?” Kilian prodded gently.
“I have been speaking with them. They’ve been teaching me about some new aspects to my affinities and helping me understand the ascension. The insights I gained about islands and bridges were from a vision they showed me. Without that, I don’t know if I could have figured it out.”
“What else have they told you?” Kilian urged, leaning forward, looking intrigued.
“They said I shouldn’t tell any of you more of what they’re teaching me,” Connor admitted, trying not to cringe as he said it.
Kilian cocked his head in surprise. “Why would they say that?”
“They fear that if I share too much, you or Evander or someone might get ideas about how to try ascending or connecting with them, and it could be dangerous for you.”
That made him think. Kilian leaned back, thoughtful. “And yet they appeared to Verena.”
“And Water is speaking with Nicklaus,” Connor added.
“What?” Kilian exclaimed, looking more shocked by that than any of the mind-bending new abilities Connor had exhibited so far. His eyes ignited with rippling flames, and Connor suddenly felt nervous. Kilian had a protective streak for Nicklaus wider than Hamish’s love for sweetbreads.
So he added quickly, “I just learned about it when we visited him in New Schwinkendorf.”
“What has she been telling him?” Kilian asked, his voice soft, even, and very dangerous.
“She taught him to build a water purifier, and he said he thinks she wants to teach him how to build something important.”
“Why?” Kilian asked, his anger evaporating under a look of guarded concern.
“I don’t know. Verena said she hasn’t been able to reach Water since triggering Kristin’s Defense. I don’t know why Nicklaus has been hearing her, or what they want with him.”
Kilian’s gaze sharpened. “And what do they want from you?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Connor admitted.
“There must be something. My mother spoke of unknown dangers associated with the elements, but never elaborated. My sister spoke of them a little, but seemed excited rather than worried. I appreciate that they’ve begun teaching you, that they warned you about dangers on the road you’re following, but I don’t believe they are helping out of pure charity.”
Connor agreed. “They’ve made a couple of comments in passing, something about needing a champion, but won’t elaborate.”
Kilian frowned as he considered that.
Connor added, “They were clear about me not sharing too much, but I’ve probably broken that charge already. I don’t know enough yet to tell you their purpose, but if I offend them, I’ll never know. I have to ask you to trust me with figuring it out.”
“I don’t like it,” Kilian said with a grimace. “You know I carry many secrets, but I know why I carry them, and when I must share their truths with you and the others. You lack that understanding, which leaves you in a potentially dangerous position.”
“We’re all in dangerous positions. I can’t afford not to pursue every potential avenue for learning, can I?”
Kilian sighed. “Sometimes a lifeline can become an anchor instead and drag us down instead of lifting us to safety.”
“Do heights make you wax poetic, or have you been spending too much time with Evander?” Connor asked with a smile.
The attempt at levity failed to lighten the mood. Kilian’s eyes changed to a dull slate color, like the sea during a heavy storm. His expression was serious, but not angry and he surprised Connor by asking, “Do you remember when I told you of the Treaty of Baltray?”
“Um, yes,” Connor said, shifting gears. “That was the treaty between all the nations swearing to never use elfonnel again.”
Kilian nodded and said softly, “Because of the Battle of Vallanes.”
“I don’t know anything about that.” Connor always wished Kilian would share more of his past, and hoped that he was about to get a glimpse into a piece he’d never heard of before.
“That was the battle where it all happened. The Tallan Wars had dragged on a long time, with great loss of life on both sides. Tallan was convinced that if we could draw out my mother and defeat her, we could win the war.”
“Kind of what we’re hoping to do now,” Connor noted.
“Elfonnel were always the ultimate weapon, and a few had been used, but the cost was always high. More often than not, the Petralist summoning them was consumed in the process. But we staked everything on a bold plan to lure my mother into battle, each raise an elfonnel, and destroy her together.”
“That’s where you did it, at Vallanes?” Connor guessed. He could easily imagine how they reached that conclusion, although he shuddered to think of planning to summon multiple elfonnel. He’d seen the destruction they caused. Parts of southern Granadure, from the broken Badurach Pass all the way up past
the ruins of Harz, and almost to Altkalen, was still dangerously unstable.
Kilian nodded. “We went to Vallanes. It was a sturdy fortress on a remote stretch of the east coast. The population was sparse, and it seemed perfect. We let word leak through my mother’s spies that we were there, exploring a leftover mechanical of Kirstin’s.”
“I bet that got her attention,” Connor guessed.
“Immediately. She flew straight there to confront us, but brought Harley along too.”
“That’s how there were so many elfonnel,” Connor said, trying to imagine such a battle.
“Five of us,” Kilian said with a grimace. “My mother and Harley raised earth-bound, so Tallan and I both embraced Water. We had brought another powerful Dawnus with us. General Sterkur raised the fifth. Fire-bound. We met in titanic battle, flinging elements at each other without restraint, and you already know we broke the land so severely that an entire section of the continent collapsed and the Sea of Olcan rushed in.”
“Creating the Broken Waters,” Connor said, chilled by the thought of such overwhelming destruction.
“My mother disappeared, and we all know now that she fell victim to the long sleep as a result. Harley escaped, as did Tallan and I. General Sterkur was consumed by the waters,” Kilian said, looking tired, with old sorrow reflecting in his eyes that had turned a brilliant blue.
They hovered in silence for a moment as the tragic history weighed on them. Connor felt moved by the story, reminded of the grim and deadly task they were engaged in. “I’m not sure why you shared that with me,” he ventured finally.
Kilian fixed him with a steady gaze. “Because we were so convinced we needed to pursue every possible avenue to find advantage, we unleashed more than we could control, and killed hundreds, if not thousands of innocents in our arrogance.”
“I don’t . . .” Connor started to protest, but paused. He’d said those exact same words. Was he rushing headlong into disaster too? The idea scared him, but did it scare him more than the idea of losing to Queen Dreokt?
