Cloud Lands Saga Box Set Books 1-3

by Katie Pottle

  “It is nine and time to open. We are with the Commons School,” Master Emilio said. He strolled past the attendant who shied away from the old, crazy angel.

  Cadin grabbed Bart, Sun and Lep, knowing Master Emilio would not wait for them.

  “But, the class,” Lep said.

  “Where are we going?” Sun asked.

  Bart followed without saying a word.

  “The only way to train together is with Master Emilio,” Cadin explained as he tugged them past the attendant who was yelling at the nearest instructors.

  Instructor Kade ran to catch up with them. “One moment please, Master Emilio!”

  Master Emilio paused and turned to face Instructor Kade. “Is there a problem with me training these four today, Instructor Kade.”

  “Well, yes and no.”

  “Oh?” Master Emilio’s eyes narrowed.

  “I must complete my head count for the school and get your signature for a release of these four students.”

  Master Emilio looked over Cadin’s team while Instructor Kade marked up a page on his clipboard. His gaze locked onto Lep’s face, and he took a step forward to examine the gin-inflicted wound. Lep appeared concerned, but did not shy away.

  Cadin’s heartbeat thudded hard in his chest.

  “Here you are, sir,” Instructor Kade said, handing over the clipboard to Master Emilio who signed in a flourish. “All set. Meet back here by two.”

  “You three, warm up,” Master Emilio said to Sun, Lep and Bart. “I need to talk to Cadin for a few minutes before we commence training.”

  “Nice to meet you too,” Bart whispered as he turned towards the cove of clouds.

  Even though the Cloud Park changed constantly, Master Emilio was always able to find private nooks among the giant cumulus clouds.

  “Sit, please,” Master Emilio said as he cloud-shifted two simple, yet elegant cloud-chairs.

  Master Emilio never failed to impress him with his subtle and powerful cloud-shifting abilities. Cadin took his seat and a deep breath before looking back into those hypnotizing eyes. He was slightly concerned to see not the forceful eyes of a Master, but the genuine gaze of a man.

  “I was away at an interesting time for you and am sorry,” Master Emilio started.

  Cadin was shocked and could think of nothing to say.

  “I did not think everything would unfold so quickly. An error I am not used to making. First your mistake with the gins in the Red Qualifier and then your wings, which look quite good on you I must say.”

  “Um, thank you,” Cadin said, unsure where all of this was going. Maybe he wasn’t going to get chewed out after all.

  “I should not have been away so long on my journey; however, I hoped to provide us with answers about your gin-blade.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Actually, yes. Some about the blade, but most surprisingly, I learned about your gins.”

  “I thought you said that they were unique as a hybrid?” Cadin held out his hands to accept his bag of gins. They vibrated in welcome.

  “Before we discuss my journey, a few things must be understood first.” His expression hardened. “You disobeyed my explicit orders which directly resulted in the maiming of your teammate.”

  “I…but…”

  Master Emilio held up his hand. “If you want to continue your apprenticeship with me, you will follow my instructions. Agreed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. We will discuss your punishment before we commence with training drills.”

  Multiple scenarios flashed through Cadin’s mind, but he had no idea what the old man thought an acceptable punishment might be.

  “Back to my findings for you gin-blade and gins.” Master Emilio gestured to Cadin’s gins. “Hybrid is a good term because you combined two species of gins. And, no I don’t think anyone has made hybrid gins before. I learned of a Gin Master who used liquid lightning as an additional energy source to fuse gins, and enhance already fused gins with encapsulated elements. He apparently was not always successful, but did manage a few combinations before blowing up his work-shed.”

  “Is he okay?”

  Master Emilio rubbed his hands together before continuing. “He lost a few fingers in the incident and many of his gins were not recovered. He did give me a few pointers that I will incorporate into your training. I also learned of a Gin Master who has a complete gin-blade that was not, shall we say, recorded.”

  “Did you meet him on your trip too?” Cadin was excited by the idea of another gin-blade user.

  “I was unable to meet her on this journey; however, I did hear a few specific stories of things she was able to do with her gins and gin-blade. One thing she was known for was attaching two propeller-shaped gins to her blade and launching it at distant targets.”

  “Cool!”

  “Amazing for sure. We must be vigilant and alert in our training. We don’t know what the gin, gin-blade and your mixed Aura combination are capable of.”

  Cadin looked over at Lep who was working on escaping Sun’s cloud-trap. “We can’t train with my friends then.”

  “Training with your friends is the way to give you the control you need.”

  “Are you mad? They could get hurt—again!” Cadin said as he stood up from his chair.

  “Exactly.”

  Cadin started to leave. Crazy old man!

  “Stop, Cadin! Listen.” It was not a request. Cadin turned to face Master Emilio but did not sit back down. “This is the best way to protect your allies in the long run. If you train with your friends, knowing that the drills are potentially a danger to them, it will sure up your focus.”

  “But, in the Qualifier…Lep’s eye…I could have killed him with the gins without meaning to.” Cadin said it for the first time aloud and his eyes started to tear up.

  “Yes, and you cannot afford another similar blunder. You must proceed with your gin-training with your team to hone your skills. This is your punishment, which in time will become your reward.”

  “Hey, are we going to train together today or what?” Lep asked as he walked up to Cadin, leaving a healthy distance between himself and Master Emilio.

  “That is up to Cadin.”

  Cadin contemplated Lep’s smiling face marred by his gin-scar. He hated the punishment, and would rather clean all of the toilets in Town Hall for the remainder of high school than accidentally bury another gin into one of his friend’s faces again. However, he figured that was why Master Emilio was pushing him so hard—to teach him control. Even if he strongly disagreed with the method.

  “Let’s go!”

  At the start of the training session, Sun, Bart and even Lep all selflessly offered themselves up as guinea pigeons for Master Emilio’s gin-control drills. Cadin’s focus never wavered for the hour that he spent sending gins at targets resting on his friends’ heads, and any other crazy drill up Master Emilio’s sleeve. He finally allowed his muscles to relax when Master Emilio declared they had made enough progress with gins for the day and could now move on to team training.

  Even though Master Emilio’s wings were old with some of the feathers starting to curl inward—he flew like a mad warrior.

  “Lep, watch out above you!” Master Emilio yelled during one of their mock battles. They were playing protect the statue with various two on two and three on one match ups. Lep was protecting his statue which Master Emilio had floating on a miniature cloud that moved with Lep as if attached by a cord. Cadin had been able to exploit Lep’s lack of experience with flight and mid-air protection by sneaking below and behind him while his focus was on Bart who was directly in front of him, and Sun shooting from a distance. Cadin disabled Lep by grabbing under both wings to prevent him flapping. They fell while Bart and Sun took out the statue.

  “This is hard!” Lep said as Cadin jumped off his back and helped him up.

  “You must change the way you think now that you have wings,” Master Emilio said not only to Lep, but to all
four of them. “Your battlefield is no longer two dimensional. Your enemies can also now come at you from above and below. You three had a good strategy of attacking from different angles—and Cadin, beautiful wing take-down. Most angels these days prefer their weapons, but it is important to remember you are strong without accessories or embellishments. With multiple opponents, you must do your best to line them up and not let them surround you. If what you are protecting is mobile, then fly into clouds and use cloud-traps or cyclones—yes, Sun?” Master Emilio stopped to acknowledge Sun who had raised her hand during the last bit.

  “We are only second years, aside from Bart. We have not learned how to make or defend against cyclones.”

  “Hmmm. That will be a distinct disadvantage for you to achieve your goals of qualifying for the Calvarian Games. Follow me,” he said as he took to the air.

  They flew around the Cloud Park until they found a group of older kids in mock battles. Master Emilio cloud-shifted a solid surface on the peak of a natural cloud where they all settled to watch.

  “Notice the defender in this battle,” Master Emilio said as he pointed to a group of kids who were older than any of the angels in the Commons School of Glade. “He is moving toward the clouds, while keeping all of his attackers in sight.”

  “I can’t see much now that they are in the cloud,” Lep said, leaning forward.

  “Wait for it.”

  “Wow!” Lep said.

  “Awesome, look—he is stuck,” Cadin said about one of the attacking angels that had fallen backwards out of the cloud with a large hand-like cloud-trap attached to him, holding him down while the others continued to fight in the mask of the natural cloud.

  “I imagine our young defender is drawing the others closer to him now.”

  “How do you know that?” Sun asked.

  “Because he is preparing a cyclone. Look at the top of their cloud.”

  A distinct swirling pulled the whites, blacks, and grays together. A small cyclone formed with the defender and his charge in the middle. The attackers were thrown aside by the swirling cyclone. All the attackers had fallen except one young woman who appeared to be waiting.

  “Oh, this one has fought a cyclone defender before,” Master Emilio said as he pointed out the young lady. “She knows cyclones take a great deal of energy to make, and although they are highly effective—they do not last long.”

  The cyclone was indeed beginning to fade. The young man in the center slumped. His energy was waning, but his eyes were alert as he peered around and spotted his final attacker. She hovered far enough away to wait out the end of his cyclone. He closed his eyes, Cadin thought in defeat, but was shocked to see him force his cyclone away from himself and at the waiting girl. She was caught off guard as the cyclone enveloped her, throwing her across the clouds before the cyclone faded and dispersed.

  “Awesome!”

  “Amazing, how did he throw it like that?”

  Master Emilio held up his hand for silence. “Let us return to our practice ground and discuss it.”

  They had each gotten out their lunches upon their return and sat in a circle to eat and talk about the battle.

  “Those angels must’ve been from the Academy,” Bart said with a mouth full of sandwich. “They were way older than us.”

  “Yes, I observed some of their practices a few days ago. They are a several years older than you are, and on the Warrior Path in the Academy. They are back at Glade visiting family this week. I’m glad they were here today for you to observe their cyclone strategies as they start teaching cyclones in the fourth year—the age group you will most often be competing against. They will not be as polished in their cyclone skills as the angels you saw today, but now you have a better understanding of cyclone offense and defense. You may not be able to use a cyclone yet; however, you can learn to both defend and attack against someone who can.”

  “But five angels lost against one cyclone!” Bart said, worry in his eyes.

  “However, you saw the young woman’s strategy that almost paid off, correct?” Master Emilio asked as he focused on each of them in turn.

  Cadin spoke up. “She planned to outlast the cyclone and attack the weakened defender after the cyclone dispersed.”

  “Correct. Moreover, a very smart way to attack a cyclone defender. Not everyone can produce such a fine cyclone as that young man.”

  “But the girl still lost! He threw the cyclone at her!” Bart said.

  “Yes, a very talented young man. There are very few who could accomplish such a thing, and obviously, the young woman was not prepared for the move. I am confident at the Commons level you do not need to worry about a cyclone hurler. And now you can develop better strategies. For instance, what if two attackers had held back—one on each side? That could have been a winning attack strategy. You should not automatically lose or give up if you encounter a cyclone defender.”

  Bart appeared thoughtful as he grabbed another sandwich.

  “So, our strategy should we approach a cyclone defender is to stay back and out of the way of the cyclone until it disperses and then attack the weakened defender,” Sun summed up.

  “Correct, young lady. There is another plausible attack against a cyclonist which may be attempted in a time crunch.”

  “What is that?” Sun asked.

  “Fly in through the top.”

  “Ouch,” Lep said.

  “Yes. It is dangerous and you have a good chance of getting caught up in the gusts and being violently whipped out without reaching your goal; however, if you stay tight and center—no flapping of the wings once inside—you have a chance of crushing the cyclonist without them being aware of you until it is too late. I’ve seen it work twice in actual battles.”

  “Only twice?”

  “Yes. I have seen it attempted at least a dozen times.”

  “Master Emilio?”

  “Yes, Cadin.”

  “Can you teach us how to make cyclones?”

  Everyone quieted and leaned in expectantly.

  “Hmmm. I have never seen a second-year Commons student make a cyclone.” Everyone sat back a bit dejected, but Master Emilio was not finished. “I do not know if it is because you do not have the energy level required for such powerful cloud-shifting, it is too dangerous, or it has simply not been tried before; but I guess we will find out. Follow me.”

  “Now,” Master Emilio said as they stopped shy of entering natural cloud. “You must complete two forms of cloud-shifting at once to successfully create a cyclone. One is the cyclone, the other is cloud-shifting clouds to stand on and anchor to so you do not get sucked into the cyclone that you are making. As I said before, flapping your wings inside of a cyclone is a bad idea. I knew a fellow that got a wing ripped off trying that.”

  Each of them cringed at the idea of losing one of their newly sprouted wings. Master Emilio was shifting a natural cloud over to where they stood.

  “How do you summon natural clouds?” Sun asked, intrigued by the way the compact cloud floated over to them and stopped right on top of them.

  “One thing at a time. Better to work on cyclones for now so we will not worry about cloud-shifting land while attempting your first cyclones. Once you attempt making cyclones, you must spread out for safety; however, stay close for now so you can see what I am doing.”

  White mist obscured Cadin’s vision.

  “This cloud is small, so if anyone succeeds in making a cyclone, you will use up most of this cloud doing it. That will prevent two competing cyclones in one small area—also a bad idea. Step one is to plant yourself securely to the cloud-land—use cloud-traps if you want to and connect to the surrounding cloud.” Master Emilio set his stance with his eyes slightly glossed over as if looking into the distance. He opened his hands. “Next you shift as much of the cloud as you can manage to start swirling in the same direction—stay consistent.” Without moving any part of his body, a swirl formed around Master Emilio. Nausea twisted Cadin’s stomach unti
l he re-focused on the stationary Master Emilio. “Once it is started, you must maintain your focus and release your energy the moment you want the full cyclone to begin.” With that, Master Emilio relaxed and the swirling clouds dispersed back into a benign floating mass.

  “Your turn. If you make a cyclone, you must actively cloud-shift to keep it going, but the center of the cyclone is the calmest. You can still see out of it, if you cloud-shift it to be clear. Spread out and make us a cyclone!”

  Cadin shuffled a few steps back, and lost sight of Lep who was across from him. Sun stood to his right, barely visible, and Bart to his left. Master Emilio was in the center and able to be seen by everyone.

  Cadin took a deep stance and reached down to pull cloud-traps firmly over his feet and ankles. As he hardened them, he glanced over to see Sun doing the same. He smiled nervously as he righted himself. Cadin looked forward and found Master Emilio’s eyes pierced through the misty cloud. When he connected to the cloud, his friends’ energy pulsed, pinging their locations back to Cadin’s hands. Their energies felt completely individual like their personalities. Sun’s energy was bright and hopeful and spread out like a glow. Lep’s was strong and sporadic as it kept jumping from place to place. Bart surprised Cadin with how powerful and centered his energy felt.

  I wonder what my energy feels like to them?

  A tiny bolt of lightning zipped his hand—refocusing him. Cadin realized it was Master Emilio trying to redirect him to his task. It was then that Cadin felt Master Emilio’s energy, energy that was immensely powerful and far-reaching. Cadin hadn’t found it before, because there was an elusive quality to it, as if it were being masked intentionally by Master Emilio.

  Another shock hit his knee.

  “Alright!” Cadin said, a little miffed.

  Cadin focused again on the cloud to find a cyclone forming above Bart, and a bunch of mini cyclones around Lep. The pre-cyclones churned the mist in many directions. The cloud might not be able to take the stress of another cyclone, but he didn’t want to get shocked again so he reached out his hands and closed his eyes. He attempted to shift the cloud in a clockwise circle. This disoriented Cadin so much that he released the cloud instantly, feeling like he was going to throw up. Gur tighten his grip on Cadin’s shoulder. He wondered if he should be practicing this with Gur.