10
RENEWED FOCUS
Alrion awoke from a dreamless sleep. He felt groggy and sore and stiff. But relieved. He hadn’t been tormented overnight. It took him a moment to remember exactly where he was and what the plan was.
“You look a bit out of it,” Lara said.
“I think I am. Which is great considering everything. That training session at the end of the day was way too much, but it meant that I slept well,” Alrion said. He looked over at where Alyx was standing. She noticed his gaze.
“As expected. I don’t know if you were too tired, but your progress seems to be slowing,” Alyx said. There was no criticism in her voice, just fact. But Alrion felt it sting.
“Hey, I’m still learning,” he said indignantly. His anger started to flare up, but he forced it back down with some effort.
“Just stating the facts. You need to be aware of your condition. Maybe the Blight is affecting you,” Alyx said. She turned away and walked over to talk to Vincent.
“She could be right. You need to be mindful of this,” Lara said. She looked worried.
“I think it’s more the extreme schedule we’re on. No time for rest, constantly harried by the Blight. Then weapons training on top of that. It’s too much. I’m not even complaining, just saying how it is,” Alrion said. He actually thought that Alyx could be on to something. He had noticed several situations where his balance was off, or his strength was not what he expected. But he wanted to set Lara at ease, and judging by her reaction he had done just enough.
“That’s true, but keep an eye on it. You can’t push this hard forever, not with the infection ticking along. You’ve been lucky so far, but luck can only get you so far,” she said. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment longer, then she turned to go join Alyx and Vincent.
Alrion rose, dusted himself off and joined the others.
“We need to keep walking. From here on we’ll start getting into the lower mountains. That means fewer places to stop, less shelter, and terrible paths. But there is another village we can rest at not too far away,” Alyx said.
“Definitely looking forward to the rest part,” Alrion said.
“You shouldn’t get his hopes up like that,” Lara said.
“No, it’s quite protected. You can’t get large numbers through there due to the paths. I’m not familiar with the terrain much further north, so it may be our last chance to just take a break before we make the final push.”
“Then let’s get there as soon as possible. We can’t rest properly like this,” Vincent said, gesturing at the rocky surroundings. Alyx nodded and started out. Alrion let them get ahead, and followed at the rear.
He started to think back to the previous encounters and his reactions. And he began to see a pattern, as much as he didn’t want to. But the more he mulled it over, the more he was convinced.
All the attacks so far, they’re my fault. Even if they’re tracking us, I always seem to lose it before they launch their assault. There has to be something about that. Maybe I am making things easy for them?
He felt a lurching in the pit of his stomach at the realisation. The Blight was affecting him, he was sure of it. And the mental noise and communication didn’t help. But he wasn’t in control of himself.
How much is that my lack of discipline, and how much is it due to the infection?
It was easy to just explain it all away. But he looked back at his journey so far. Anger had been there all along.
My first attempts at drawing my Spark were fuelled by anger. How much have I been relying on it?
Alrion felt like the wind had been taken out of him. All this time, his anger had been simmering away. It was his outlet every time he felt weak, or embarrassed, or wronged. And it had felt like it had served him well at the time. Like he had been using it to his advantage. But maybe that wasn’t the case.
It’s been festering and I’ve been nurturing it. And now I’m paying the price, he thought. It rang so true that he felt despondent. How would he make a change now? When he was so far gone to this infection?
He noticed Lara looking at him and forced a smile.
“Just lost in my thoughts,” he said.
“They’re not tormenting you again are they?” she said. A concerned frown was on her face again.
“No, just my own thoughts. You shouldn’t worry so much, it doesn’t look so good on you,” Alrion said. He saw anger and annoyance flash over her face, but it was quickly replaced with a smile.
“Well, you shouldn’t cause me so much reason to worry then!” Lara turned away and seemed to focus on the path ahead. Alrion chuckled to himself.
Still terrible with the ladies.
But he quickly moved on to thinking about other things. And the increasing difficulty of their trek gave him something to focus on.
A few bunches of red berries were cause enough to stop for lunch, Alrion’s stomach rumbling despite the number that he shoved into his mouth.
“While we are paused, I wanted to consider how we would be keeping safe today. These paths are getting narrower, and there’s less space either side,” Vincent said.
“We will probably need to sleep out. I’m not sure how long it will take us. But it’s a risk; the terrain around here is so exposed. It’s even hard to take shelter from the elements, let alone a hostile force,” Alyx said.
“Do we have any idea how they are tracking us? If we could confuse that, it would buy some safety,” Lara said. Vincent shook his head and Alyx had a blank look.
“We aren’t exactly hiding our trail, but we’re not creating one either. It could be any number of ways,” she said. Alrion sighed. He didn’t really want to share his recent revelation, but knew he had to. It could be crucial to their survival.
“I have an idea, well, a guess,” Alrion said. “It’s related to me.”
“In what way?” Lara said quickly.
“I think they have a way to determine my location because I’m infected. But I get the feeling it’s not incredibly accurate.”
“Then how are they always so close? And setting ambushes?” Alyx said.
“I’ve noticed a pattern. Around each of the major attacks, I’ve had an outburst. Generally, anger. And the attacks have been very soon after. It’s like they just needed a final confirmation before beginning.” He saw some thoughtful looks, and nodding.
“Are you sure about that? You don’t necessarily need to assume it’s your fault,” Lara said.
“That sounds like a decent theory to me. Especially since you’ve managed to catch some of their communication. It’s you they are after,” Alyx said. She stood from the rock she was leaning on and started pacing.
“We must treat it as true, until we have a better idea. Then we can take steps to help minimise our chances of being discovered. It may not make any difference though, given our location. If they’ve tracked us this far, it will be easy to find us,” Vincent said.
“Agreed. But if they’re relying on Alrion to be a beacon as means of coordination as well, we can deny them that. You mentioned monks before, didn’t they help you with this?” Alyx said.
“The trial I completed, and the monk I travelled with did help me refine my Will. And the ability to focus it. But this seems different. It’s not just my emotions. I mean, yes I have responsibility but it’s not the same now I’m infected,” Alrion said.
“In what way?” Vincent said. He approached Alrion slowly.
“I can’t believe I’m actually saying this. But I feel like I’m getting clumsier somehow. That things are a little bit harder to do, or not guaranteed to happen like I expect. Maybe I’m just imagining it all,” Alrion said. He felt silly for even mentioning it, but it had started to weigh on him. And he didn’t know what to think.
“That’s not as crazy as you may think. The Blight doesn’t just attack you at one point. It takes over your whole body,” Alyx said.
“How much do you know about this?” Alrion said.
“Qu
ite a bit. I’ve never experienced it myself, well until now. But I’ve seen many turn, and I’ve watched some do it slowly like we are now. I made it my business to know how they tick, because it was crucial to my revenge. I had to understand how they worked, so I could ensure that I would not fail. I only had one chance,” Alyx said. There was no passion in her voice, only cold fact.
“How can you detach yourself like that? Those are quite intense experiences I can imagine.”
“It’s a technique you should try and learn. Maybe you can keep these creatures away by not giving them any help.”
“How would I learn?”
“I’ll teach you what I can. It’s all about separating the fuel of the emotion from the emotion itself. You can deal with the emotion rationally, but harness the fire from it any way you like.”
“That sounds interesting. You must be an expert,” Alrion said. The more he spoke to Alyx, the more impressed he was. She had discarded everything unnecessary to her purpose, and in the process constantly refined what she was to perfection. He had gone through no such process. He’d just been fumbling along, taking the information he could get his hands on, and trusting his instincts and the people around him. But this was too important to leave to chance.
“I am too much an expert. Let’s leave it at that,” Alyx said. Alrion wanted to know more, but he respected her wishes.
Maybe she can’t go back?
It was sad, if true. But then, it looked like she had made peace with that choice a long time ago.
“I have a suggestion,” Alyx said. She stopped walking and turned around. She had a defiant pose to her.
“Let’s hear it,” Vincent said.
“Up ahead I can see we have a bit more room. I suggest that we give Alrion a quick sparring session. He can improve his technique a little, and also work on getting some of this anger out. It may improve our chances for the next attack,” Alyx said. She looked at them all in turn and waited for a response.
“It’s worth a try I think. It may buy us more time later,” Vincent said. He looked over at Lara.
“I can keep a look out and advise of anything approaching. It should be easy to spot travellers on this road.”
“I’m game. We need to try something. Either I’m giving them our location or contributing nothing in these fights. This works for both,” Alrion said. He was willing to try anything. And he thought that just maybe he could stay a step ahead of the infection if he kept trying to hone his skills. It was worth a shot.
Alyx pointed out the area she had mentioned. It was a rough circle of dirt to the left of the path. There were steep drops all around it.
“You may want to avoid the edges,” Lara said, peering down.
“Vincent you’re up again. I need to observe the fight without participating,” Alyx said. Vincent nodded and drew his sword. Alrion did the same. For some reason, it felt different this time. Like a lot more was riding on it than just a normal sparring match.
Here we go.
“Alrion, go on the attack. Use the sequences we worked on,” Alyx said. Alrion stepped forward, thinking of how to begin. He started the first one he had learnt, the rolling barrel. However, instead of just flowing into the next, he repeated it. This time with more speed and intensity. The change caught Vincent by surprise, but he easily defended it all.
“It’s too easy for him. Are you feeling frustrated yet?” Alyx said. Alrion did in fact feel a bit frustrated. Normally he would ignore it, but he let it rise up.
“Imagine that the frustration you feel is actually fuel. It’s making your muscles burn with feverish intensity. You can move even faster,” Alyx said. Alrion listened carefully and tried to follow. He tried to recognise the emotion within him, and locate the intensity of the frustration. Channel it like he had done before.
He almost channelled it into his Spark, which came naturally. It was how he had originally increased his power. But he caught himself and instead did as Alyx had instructed. He imagined that it enhanced his muscles. The heat of the frustration working his muscles harder and faster. He could feel the intensity of the heat rising from them. He pushed more and more, upping the speed.
His arms moved almost automatically, seamlessly flowing into another sequence, interrupting it halfway to change into the rolling wave. With a bang their swords collided, Vincent stepping forward to halt the assault. Alrion looked up and saw sweat dripping down his father’s brow. Alrion stepped back, letting go of all the tension. He felt wiped out.
“Much better. Don’t you agree Vincent?” Alyx said.
“Definite improvement. I was almost overwhelmed by that slight change in intensity. It’s a very powerful tool if you can harness it correctly,” Vincent said. His breathing was deep as he recovered.
“And how do you feel now?” Alyx said to Alrion. He pondered that for a moment before replying.
“Better. Emptier, if that makes sense. Ready to go collapse somewhere.”
“Not just yet, we have a way to go. Take a few minutes to recover, and when Lara returns we will be on our way again,” Alyx said. She walked down the road to look for Lara. Alrion sheathed his sword and slump down next to a large rock. It dug into him a little but he ignored it. He needed to rest.
“ALRION.” Wraith’s voice thundered within his head.
And here we go, Alrion thought. But he kept his composure and prepared to listen as carefully as possible.
11
TRACKING
Celes slowed and finally dismounted. Everything hurt. She had travelled hard, but never like this. She looked over at Tarren and he looked like he could keep going. It had already been days of constant travel. Avoiding settlements and eating and drinking minimally.
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said.
“You don’t want to know. I’d rather not,” he said. Celes found a softer patch of ground near a tree and sat down. She should have stretched her legs more, but it felt nice to be sitting and not in motion.
“We’re finally in a secluded place. I will rest also,” Tarren said. He started to remove the bulky cloak he had been wearing.
This will be interesting.
She watched carefully, curiosity with a bit of fear mixed in. She would finally see him for what he was.
Tarren’s face was relatively normal, although he had some black markings on his neck and forehead. He was skinny and wore all black clothing. From what she could see from his arms, they were covered in intricate tattoos. His pants were only knee length; his legs displayed the same pattern of tattoos.
“Interesting tattoos,” she said. Tarren glanced at them and looked back at her.
“Part of the process. As far as I understand they were made with a liquid form of the Blight. The application and the design are crucial. It was an incredibly painful process.”
“I can imagine. You seem quite hardy, and can travel incredibly fast for long periods. Apart from the tracking capability, what else can you do?”
“I don’t want to spill all my secrets just yet.” Tarren found a place to sit opposite Celes. He did look weary now that she could see him properly.
“I need an idea of what you can do. Otherwise how do we work together? What if we get attacked?”
“That’s fair. I will add, that I can also meld into the shadows. Only useful at night, but it makes me just about invisible.”
“That’s very handy. Are there any limitations? Things I need to consider?”
“I can’t hide in direct light. But where it casts a shadow I can obscure, to make myself harder to target.”
“Thank you. I hope that nothing happens, but this is useful information. Since I know how you can be effective, we can play to that.”
“How about you?”
“I’m good at stealth and picking locks. I also have a few potions that can be used to create opportunities.”
“You’re basically a thief then?”
“More or less.”
“You don’t see many your age
. They tend to die out,” Tarren said. Celes laughed.
“I am retired for a while.”
“To bring up your son. And now you’re out helping him?”
“That’s right. You’re quite perceptive,” Celes said. The Tracker before her clearly had his full mental faculties. She always wondered how much people were transformed by the Blight.
“You could say I’m lucky in that way, since I’ve retained my memories, identity and ability to think for myself. But, that’s also quite unlucky.”
“Because you know what you’re part of?”
“Yes. And there’s no opportunity for me in normal society. I am shunned, and rightfully so.” Tarren let out a sigh.
“What did you do before all this?”
“I was a thief catcher.” Tarren let a tiny smile loose. Celes laughed again.
“That’s too perfect. You would track down people like me?”
“Yes. I was incredibly good at it too. I could put myself in the right mindset, and used my skill to follow the trail. Or in some cases get one step ahead of the thief.”
“You would make an excellent thief now!”
“That is true. I hadn’t really considered it. I think somehow that’s been a good thing. They would find me regardless, and then I’d be stealing for them as well.”
“There’s no escape at all?”
“No. Especially not with people like me out there. We are attuned to the Blight. With enough preparation and the right stimulus, we can find and track anyone infected.”
“Like Alrion. My son.”
“Yes. I hate to say it, but I am more and more convinced that he is the target for another group of Trackers. And he’s infected too. Is there a chance that he’s travelling with an infected wizard?”
Spark of Truth (The Hidden Wizard Book 3) Page 8
