by B L Barkey
“Or, you can head home now.”
Ammon looked at her, and then turned towards the trail. He started walking up.
“With haste, or not at all! If you are slower than your last ascent, you will be dismissed.” He started jogging up the slope. Good thing I didn’t give it my all the first time.
It took considerably more effort to get up it the second time, especially with his new bruises. Ammon stopped to catch his breath at the lake, then made up for time letting the downhill pull him back to the start.
The trees and rocks had silver outlines, helping him glide through the darkness. He tripped a few times, though he caught himself before tumbling. Fireflies bobbed in the trees, though they seemed fewer than usual. Their light was more a comfort than a guide, as their range of light was small. In fact, he wondered if their light was lesser than usual.
Just then, he felt a sharp pain on his neck. Still running, he swatted at the pain. He looked at his hand then, seeing the remnants of an insect. It was a firefly, its light gone out. But fireflies never bite. Why would it do that? He had never heard of insects biting people before, except for brief mention in the ancient texts. He felt like there was something important there, but just then, he spotted Naomi’s dark form in the distance.
As he entered the small clearing, a dose of déjà vu struck his memory like a tuning fork. Finding comfort in the chill, he stood before her once more.
“Water,” she commanded.
Ammon went over and grabbed his bottle. It had been refilled. He glanced over towards her, but she still had her eyes closed, legs crossed on the ground. He finished off his bottle, then stood across from her. Despite the cool night air, he was sweating profusely. He stripped to his undershirt, throwing his outer garment on his bag.
“My question for you is this,” she said.
I guess it’s time to begin, thought Ammon. I will strike immediately after my answer. Therefore, whether I am right or wrong, I may gain the upper hand and finish her.
“Have you studied much of the physical sciences?”
Ammon nodded.
“Are you familiar with the speed of light?”
Ammon nodded once more.
“Then tell me. What can travel faster than light?”
Ammon thought for a moment, and then thought again. The obvious answer was nothing. It was almost too obvious to be right, but it was all he could think of.
“Nothing,” he said. Then he lunged forward.
“Wrong,” the woman responded with chilling patience.
He kicked hard from the right, aiming for her skull. And then he felt pain. Shards of it shot up from his right knee, creating a sound like a cracking tree branch. His momentum was used against him as he was sent spinning horizontally through the air, landing on the coals of the dying fire. His searing flesh smoked into his nostrils as he rolled away in agony.
Again, he had no idea from whence her attack had come. He was sure she had not moved. The object that had struck him had not felt like flesh, either. It had felt solid, like a stone. A random thought appeared from his past. Does she have control over rock like the Guardians? Can this woman move mountains? He felt a flair of hope, which then vanished just as quick. Of course not.
Ammon looked through pools of tears in his eyes to see her standing over him. She continued her response, with the same tone of voice. “There is one thing. One thing faster than the speed of light. And until you can tell me what it is, you will continue to run up this mountain. For you obviously will not defeat me in combat.”
“What is this accomplishing? Who are you? What are you!” Ammon yelled in exasperation, standing to his feet. His right knee buckled and he fell once more, palm in the searing coals. Adrenaline doubled in his veins. Time slowed to a crawl.
“The name that you shall know me by is Naomi Sophia. I am here to shape you into a warrior. Your potential is far greater than any other from this island. Far greater than you could ever imagine. Greater than the renowned Guardians.”
Greater than the Guardians? Does she know what they can do? His flair of hope returned, flickering twice as long before fading again. Could this actually make me stronger than…
“You have potential. It was a gift given to you. Even so, ‘potential’ and ‘power’ are two different things. Power is realized, while potential is idolized. Potential can become power if forged in the proper ways. And that is what I offer. The proper guidance, should you prove able to handle it.
“You have no idea what I can show you. And you will never know, unless you impress me. Now, ascend the mountain. Faster than the last time, or else run home.”
Ammon began crawling to the start of the trail. He then stood slowly, the pain in his knee miraculously fading. He looked to Naomi, wondering what it was she was doing to him. She had already closed her eyes in meditation. Ammon started up the trail, the muscles in his legs screaming. But he pushed harder, getting up to the peak in record time. He dunked his head in the water, the frigid cold welcomed by his over-exerted body. He felt as if he would die. She wouldn’t let me push that hard, would she? Yet even if she did, he would do it. I will die before returning home a failure twice over.
“What are you waiting for? Move!”
Something snapped behind him. He looked back, spotting a large rock hurtling out of the trees. He narrowly dodged it, then sprinted back down the mountain. She was ascending to the peak too? Had she done it every time? Sure enough, as his exhausted body fell to its knees in the open grove, Naomi was seated, cross legged and completely composed. Nothing makes sense anymore… Waves of nostalgia swept over him. He felt as if swimming in the waves near Guardian Isle many years before. Before his brother had left him alone.
“How did you…,” he started.
“I will ask you once more. What can travel faster than light?”
He had thought about it the whole way up and down the mountain side. It was the only distraction that had kept him sane. His thoughts were racing, unaffected by his fatigue. This was what influenced his answer.
“Thought,” said Ammon. “Thought can travel faster than the speed of light. It can be instantaneous in some cases. As are our emotions. There is no distance required to pass an emotion to another.”
A subtle glimpse of surprise appeared on Naomi’s face. The look didn't last long. In fact, if Ammon had blinked at that exact moment, he might've missed it. I actually caught her off guard. He felt a joy spark in his heart, renewing his sense of accomplishment and drive. Naomi picked up on this and walked towards him casually, kicking small stones on her way.
“An acceptable answer,” she said, looking at him with an intrigued sideways glance. She was seeing something new. A different person than she had been looking at just moments before. This is going to be interesting, Ammon thought.
“Now, again.”
Ammon heaved with disbelief. He stood there, rooted in place, waiting for her to revoke the last command. She stared at him.
“If you would like to fill a bag with some rocks and wear it on your back… That can easily be arranged.”
He started with a slow jog, waiting for her to call him back. She did no such thing. He continued up, turned at the top, then ran back down. Again. Up, and back down. Sunlight began to spill into the valley. Morning already? he thought, aghast. He felt his concepts of reality slipping away.
“Again. Faster than your first ascent.”
He knew this was impossible. He expected she also knew. His ascent time had to have doubled by now. Yet she kept him going. He wasn’t sure what sustained him at this point. He hadn’t eaten in hours, his last fruit bars long gone. Perhaps it was his new drive. The one born within him that would not allow another failure. It might have also been the subject of his thoughts which danced around a new hope. The hope that he might yet learn how to move mountains.
Failing the Trials of Guardians had made him angry. It had left him feeling worthless and betrayed. This, in turn, had made him despise himself.
So really, he was getting what he deserved. Climbing the mountain over and over again was punishing. And he deserved it. He deserved every last bit of it. For that, if not anything else, he would continue to climb.
“Water,” Naomi called.
He emptied the bottle on his head. He was too tired to be hungry. Again and again, he climbed to the mountain top. Finally, once he reached the bottom, he fell to his knees.
“Again,” came her calm, unimpressed voice.
He wanted to cry. And then he remembered it again. I deserve this punishment. He summoned new strength and pushed on. He started climbing on his hands and knees. He thought of wolves. Of ghostly panda bears. He thought of Tobias.
He made it halfway up the slope before collapsing to the ground. Each breath brought dirt into his gaping mouth. He coughed, then rolled onto his back. Finally, he broke. He had no more energy to keep up his guard. It was useless. He had no more energy to care, and just enough energy to exist.
Naomi appeared, standing over him. Her look was unreadable through his puddled vision. It doesn’t matter. He was done.
“I’m done,” he tried to say, though it was muffled by the dirt in his mouth. He coughed, then continued.
“I feel like I’ve wasted my time. Most of my life. Gone. Everything I have learned. Everything I have fought for. It is all over.”
He spoke, though he could not hear his own words. He felt every last ounce of energy leave him then. His face went blank. He stopped breathing. In minutes, he knew he would be dead. And he would drift off. His mind lingered on a ghost of a care. That maybe he was offending Naomi with his words. A voice inside himself answered.
These words are spoken so true from your heart that fear has left you. This allows you to hear me. Over time, you will learn to hear me more fully.
Ammon then felt something, like a flint sparked upon a dry pile of autumn leaves. The sparks were the words he had just spoken. They were meant to be. The flint sparked again, and he realized it was an echo from when he had initially spoke. The words had come from his heart. They were true. They are true.
It had been as if he had said something that was destined to be said at that exact moment, in that exact situation, and what would be, would be. He felt as if he had taken a step forward on the right path. But how can that be? My path was to become a Guardian. How then can this be the right path?
The flint of his desire sparked a third time, and this time, it caught fire.
She was still looking at him. He recognized her. Looking through his tears, aided by the returned light to his soul, he knew he had seen her before. It was the fourth, the woman with forest green eyes from the temple center. The one he had seen as he had passed out. He hadn’t recognized her at first, as he had started the process fresh and energized.
Now, as he had been crumpled like a dead leaf and scattered over a rocky bottom, he saw her true beauty. His tunnel vision cleared some. He saw the same glint in her eye from before. Yet instead of wanting to kiss her this time, he wanted to learn from her. He wanted to embrace her teachings. She can do it. He knew it then. She can show me the way from potential to power.
“Ammon.” Her voice was no longer that of a stranger. She knelt down and looked into his soul, as if she understood him completely.
“Ammon,” she said once more, placing her right hand on his forehead. “Everything we do matters.” And he cried. Not like before. They were tears held deeper within his being. Tears that are released only when a heart is reminded of the great truth of things.
More tears sprang forward then. Tears for the death of the Arcanums. Tears for the violent death of Maison right before his eyes. Tears for his failures. For letting everyone down. Tears for how much he would miss his family and friends. He would miss Cephas Island.
“You knew this once. We all did.”
She pushed him harder, but her words brought him strength.
“I will teach you in the ways of remembrance.”
There was a new air of understanding between Ammon and Naomi. Between apprentice and master.
“We will expand your horizons. Push your limits.”
The sunlight was blooming all around them. He had been going for the entire night. This was the last sunset of his first life. The only life he had yet known. Countless other sunsets would pass before he saw his friends again, and even then, he would be completely changed. And Sadie… He would miss her love.
Yet in a way, he was doing this for her. To protect her future. To protect the future of all families. He hoped he would return someday to enjoy the fruit of his labors, to share a future with her. But no matter what, at least she would be protected.
Naomi spoke. Her tone had shifted to one of finality. She had made her final judgment. Though he lied there dying, he would at least know the outcome of his efforts.
“You have passed my trial. A higher one than all you have previously experienced. Come with me and I will take you higher still. You have no idea what you are capable of, Ammon.”
She paused, but he didn’t notice. All things had started blending together.
“I have been watching you, Ammon. Watching you for a long time now. You have seen me in multiple forms within the last week. This is because the time has come for you to see. To realize your role in all of this. Through your studies and decisions, you have shown understanding. Understanding the way of the world is the key to it all.
“I was there when the wind called to you. I heard your song, of which you had weaved with truths incomprehensible. I was there when you looked into the Whirlpool. There, you faced the approaching threat to all mankind. And instead of fearing it, you watched and tried to understand it. I was there when you saw the storm, with its glowing beasts and transcendent trees. Universal forces waged war that day, and you were of the few who could see.
“I was there when you entered the Guardian temple center. Every Trial is unique to the apprentice, and yours was by far the most difficult. Don’t you see? You didn’t fail the Trials. You are instead meant for something more. All these things make the difference. They make you different.
“You seek to move mountains. This power comes from one of the seven Creation Stones. To even glimpse this power, you must first have understanding in the Stones’ essences. And you… You have shown understanding in them all. You have shown the capacity to perhaps, someday, wield one of these Stones yourself.
“The chances are small, but the potential is most certainly there. This calls for a very unique training regime. A training held under one who already wields a Stone.”
The implications of her words barely grazed his consciousness as he struggled to stay awake.
“I will teach you to understand.”
Ammon drifted further from reality, almost forgetting it entirely. His mind was pulled into the Whirlpool, returning to the past. He heard a name, but it slipped away, reminiscent of ‘guide him’. Gurgitem. The name was snatched up like Maison had been, carried away by an impossible Leviathan. It vanished, just as Kokua swam by, peering at Ammon with its painted eye.
He thought of mountains and temples, knowing now that there was little difference between them. He had found truth in the temple, though his training had ended there. He was finding truth in the mountain now, though it was only the beginning. The beginning of his new path. The beginning of a new life, with new freedom and choices.
He was learning. Growing, gradual and consistent. This is how mountains are created. Before, he had seemed whole. Yet now he asked himself, What lack I yet? He was strong, yet something was still missing. Not missing, but needing to be replaced. My potential is a placeholder. It is now time to turn it into power.
He pondered his place in all things. What he would become. Why he had been created. He reached out for guidance and peace. What he caught was a fleeting thought of how the world was created from the peak of a mountain.
Epilogue
The five friends from Cephas Island shared a dream that night. They remembered
the day the wind spoke to Ammon, whispering to many on the way, though few listened. Yet they had listened. They all had listened.
Ammon lied on the rough bed of a ship, unconscious and drifting away from his home. Bastion had just said his goodbyes to his animals in preparation for his voyage. Krystal had been asleep for hours, exhausted from a day of fighting, though she now lied awake, sore and too tired to miss her friends. Jonah held tears fondly in his eyes as his thoughts wandered about the loss of his parents, though he wore a subtle smile in his new home at the Leviticum.
Mikael was in his bed, eyes wide in fear of entering the Sector Guard training alone, unaware of where his brother had gone. He could feel the distance growing between them, a soul union being severed. Yet he would hold on. I will hold on.
Before each of them slipped into a deep sleep that night, they thought of each other, whether conscious or subconscious. As they faded, they heard words to the tune of planets spinning. Though many verses slipped away, some stuck with them, as songs often do.
