The Gift of Volkeye

by Marque Strickland

  Gazing through the cloud of dust she conjured upon landing, Lyn stood dumbfounded at her new talent. She knew that what she had just accomplished was a much greater effort than the waterfall, and therefore regained her confidence. Taking a few paces back, Lyn leapt from one side of the waterfall to the other, retracing her every step. Moments later, Zynathian and the others saw Lyn Sha’s blur of colour reappear in the eyes of the binoculars. She was winded upon arrival, but squealing excitedly.

  “Oh, my god, Daddy, I’m so fast! …And I can jump off the planet if I want to! Watch!” She leapt to one of the miniature islands in the middle of the lake.

  “Oh…my…god!” Asha said, placing her hand over her mouth in disbelief.

  “What next, Zynathian?” Belch asked.

  The others stood off to the side with their eyes wide. Zynathian swelled with pride, seeing everyone marvel at his work. He noted that Lyn Sha, too, was quite happy with her talent. Twenty yards away, on the tiny rock surface, whose top ever so slightly peaked above the water, she danced in circles and stuck out her tongue at the rest of them.

  Hah, I can do something you all can’t! her childish actions said.

  Zynathian rolled his eyes, grinning. “Come back over here, you silly goose!” He hastily moved out of the way as Lyn cleared the distance in a single bound.

  Zynathian observed the massive bolder near Maugrimm.

  “Okay, Bahzee, in a moment we’ll test your strength, but first we must give you something to grab onto. The rock is so smooth, you’d never be able to grip it,” he said.

  Bahzee couldn’t believe what she was about to attempt. The rock had to weigh tons! All the while, Belch rubbed his forehead, in disbelief of all that he was seeing.

  Khyeryn spoke up. His ears and cheeks flared red from impatience. “Dad, what about me?”

  “We’ll get to you last, kiddo. Your gift is a little more…powerful. Therefore we’ll all have to stand back a bit. Be patient,” he said, rubbing Khyeryn’s hair over his eyes.

  Khye winked at Lyn Sha. Overwhelmed, they shared a smile.

  Zynathian addressed his daughter once more. “Lyn Sha, blow some holes in this rock, so Bahzee has something to grip. We’ll step off to the side,” he said, waiving everyone out of the way.

  What? she thought, glaring at him.

  “You heard me, do exactly as I said. But do not, under any circumstances, turn to us without putting that thing away. The same rules will apply when it’s your turn, Khyeryn.”

  At last, Lyn understood. That’s why it felt so strong. Since they had woken from the surgery, she and Khyeryn could not put their finger on what it was that was different about their bodies, but they knew something had changed. Their father had dismissed all their questions the day before, allowing the answers to reveal themselves at this moment. Lyn looked down at her left arm, nervous and hesitant.

  “Focus and it will obey your command,” Zynathian said.

  All eyes were upon her. Not a sound could be heard in the distance. Even the birds in the trees had stopped chirping, making it seem that time had stood still for this moment. Khyeryn, being the smart boy that he was, deciphered his father’s hints, knowing that they pertained to him as well. He raised his right arm at the same time that Lyn did her left. Much to their surprise, their skin sunk backwards and disappeared. It was replaced with a strange metal, as was their bone and muscle tissue. Before their very eyes, their arms had become lethal weapons.

  Lyn Sha’s, very long, slender, and elegant, had only one barrel. It was silver and so shiny it made one blink to look at it. More intimidating, Khyeryn’s was long and wide with five separate articulated barrels from which it would fire. The metal on his was dark and rust coloured.

  “Very good, Khyeryn. Don’t fire yours yet—we’re all a bit too close,” he said. Everyone was speechless.

  Smitten by their newly transformed arms, Khyeryn and Lyn Sha shared an expression of utter shock.

  We’re robots! they thought.

  Somehow, Zynathian managed to read their minds.

  “Do not think of yourself as anything less than human, you understand. You two are merely special.”

  Khye, being a bit nervous about his weapon, was startled when Jix flew to his shoulder, perusing over his new instrument. Khyeryn gasped and began his heavy breathing, cheeks and ears now an even darker shade of crimson. “Oh, it’s just you, buddy.”

  Jix uttered a series of chirp-like sounds. Didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted a closer look, because I knew something was different. I shall have to get reacquainted with your scents, as you two smell very strange with this substance connected to your bodies! From afar, I could accidentally mistake you for Bahzee!

  Meanwhile, Toodles scurried about Lyn Sha’s feet, trying to be picked up.

  “Not now, she’s busy.” Sing Tzi Yi scooped Toodles up, never taking her eyes off the spectacle before her.

  Lyn Sha brought her weapon closer, running her fingers over the surface. It was strange to feel so human, but seeing that part of her body was anything but. There was something else she noticed as well.

  “Daddy, I know I can’t see it right now, but…”

  “You can still feel your hand,” Zynathian finished for her.

  “Me too,” Khyeryn added.

  “Of course you can. I didn’t remove your hands, I merely enhanced their performance. Khyeryn, put your gun away. Lyn Sha, do as I asked.”

  Khye thought it absolutely impossible to hide such a massive piece of machinery in his skin again. ‘Focus and it will obey your command,’ he remembered his father saying. Finally, with some effort, the weapon concealed itself once more.

  Teshunua stepped closer, watching Khyeryn unveil his weapon several more times.

  Lock, unleash. Lock, unleash. Lock, unleash. Lock, unleash…

  When Khye was convinced that he had mastered it, he teased Lyn Sha. “Are you gonna do what dad asked, or not?” He grinned.

  Lyn rolled her eyes at him. “Daddy, I’m worried.”

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of...this is just like anything else. You know how to take extra care when using knives in the kitchen, don’t you?” She nodded. “Well, think of this as the same. Be very careful, and everything will be fine. You can do it, Lynnie.”

  Lyn aimed at the boulder, took a deep breath, and fired. A flurry of white lasers punched through the rock, making her shriek as she instinctively let go of the invisible trigger. She held her hand to her chest as her breathing calmed.

  “Sorry.” Lyn giggled at how easily startled she was, already having jumped over a waterfall.

  “It’s okay, try again.”

  Lyn relaxed, seeing that the shots were accurate and no particles from the rock had gone flying at anyone. She aimed and pulled her trigger, this time not stopping until there were two large, ragged holes in the bolder, resting about four feet apart.

  The openings went straight through, enabling them all to see the landscape behind it. Khye walked close, examining the smoking edges of the lesions in the rock. He yanked his hand away, it being far too hot to touch at the moment.

  “Can I try mine out now, Dad?”

  “Of course, you can both practice,” Zynathian said, pointing to rocks off in the distance. “Lyn, yours is made for precision, and I suspect that you could be an excellent sniper if you chose. Try the laser sighting,” he said.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Sure you do,” he said, contradicting her.

  Lyn aimed far and away, focusing. Suddenly a slot opened in the middle of her barrel and more machinery emerged. A cylindrical shaft, with the same surface as the body of her weapon, stretched its way up her arm, flattening out but curving to meet both eyes. She looked in, and her sight leapt all the way out to the horizon, touching the hazy blue, morning light, tickling the belly of the playful clouds as they scurried past.

  Lyn Sha chuckled at her father’s mind, not even bothering to question his ability to conceive such thin
gs. She then looked to the lake and aimed at the tip of a miniature island. The tiny land mass stood a mere six inches above the water. When a red targeting dot appeared, Lyn cut the rock to pieces. Having obliterated its peak, the top of the rock now rested beneath the water. Everyone applauded.

  “Well done!” Zynathian said, turning to Khyeryn.

  “Now yours, Khyeryn, is much more powerful. Your weapon will, without a doubt, destroy anything in its path,” he said, slapping his son on the shoulder.

  Khyeryn aimed at a large spear-tipped rock, jutting from the earth, looking much like an inverted stalactite.

  Unleash, he thought.

  Khyeryn’s skin sunk beneath the emerging metal skeleton, and soon no trace of humanity could be seen past the forearm. Zynathian gave him no instructions, as Khye had already begun to experiment. Not only did he discover that the barrels at the end of his gun sat upon a rotating plate, but he could also aim them.

  Deciding there was not much more to it than the few features he had just discovered, Khyeryn began firing at the nib of the rock. Blue lasers spat from invisible conduits at the end of his gun. The plate upon which the barrels rested was spinning far too fast for the human eye to make out shapes. Hence, the lasers looked as if they were being conjured from thin air, making Khyeryn’s weapon seem like it was charged with magykal power.

  He started from the top of the rock and worked his way down, moving his arm side to side. Though the lasers punched straight through, the rock was being hit in too many places at once for the excess debris to just fall to the ground. Instead, shrapnel raced in every direction, slicing through the air and stabbing everything within reach. Now Khyeryn understood why his father wanted them to be at a distance.

  Khye stopped firing. Beyond the smoke rising from the barrels of his weapon, he could see none of his target, because there was nothing left. The once gigantic, stone had been reduced to rubble. Behind him, Khyeryn could hear a noisy round of applause. He turned to the others, blushing.

  Lock. His arm reappeared, and he went to hug his father.

  “Well done, lad,” Zynathian said. Khye noticed that Lyn Sha was having trouble sheathing her weapon.

  “It helps to think of a word, Lynnie…then recite it in your mind every time. That’s the command it’ll obey,” Khye suggested. Zynathian nodded proudly.

  Lyn tried it, thinking. Conceal.

  The laser pistol retreated underneath her skin, and her forearm and hand reappeared.

  Reveal.

  Once more the weapon came to be. Then she put it away with ease and began jumping up and down, applauding herself.

  “Good job!” Zynathian gave her a kiss, and then turned to the others. Well? his expression asked.

  They immediately let go of a flurry of disjointed statements and queries. Belch was the most obviously affected by the events, as he was just sitting on the ground shaking his head.

  “All right there, mate?” Zynathian asked. It took Belch a moment to reply.

  “Zynathian…seriously…you are NOT of this world!” Belch replied.

  Zynathian took the compliment well. “And I’m not even finished yet!”

  “Yes, it’s Bahzee’s turn, isn’t it?” Belch said, getting up.

  Zynathian called Bahzee and Maugrimm over to the now-perforated stone. Mawg was immediately angry with him.

  “Why you gotta’ make an example outta me, man? Me guessin’ that yer’ about ta show me that this little girl, who don’t weigh no more than one hundred twenty pounds, is stronger than me? This is completely embarrassin’!”

  “I’m not trying to embarrass you. I merely need her to understand the scope of her strength, and you’re the best example to teach her with.”

  Maugrimm shrugged, frowning.

  Oppositely, Bahzee was astounded at what Zynathian had just said.

  But he’s about a million times my weight and size…how can this be?

  Everyone had gone quiet, watching.

  “You’re first up Mawg,” Zynathian said.

  “Me can’t lift the damn thing, alright!” He gripped the boulder regardless. Maugrimm grunted, giving his all, but in the end, the rock didn’t budge. Ashamed, he slunk away.

  “It’s okay, Mawg,” Zynathian said. “Now, Baz, this might prove difficult at first, but keep at it. I think you will notice a change.”

  Not quite understanding what he meant, she grabbed hold of the boulder, effortlessly rolling it so that the holes faced the ground (a seemingly simple act, which Maugrimm could not even accomplish). Now, she meant to hoist it above, but it wouldn’t budge.

  At it for quite some time with no results, Bahzee was ready to quit when she noticed the stone lift a few inches from the ground. Surprised, she accidentally let it fall. Adjusting her grip, she lifted again, this time getting it a foot in the air. She held it steady and then gave a hard push, rolling the stone onto her back. She was in a kneeling position with the rock now resting atop her shoulders. Taking a very deep breath, she shoulder pressed the stone above her head, growling with success as she completely straightened her arms.

  “Holy god, Zynathian!” Asha remarked. The others were silent.

  Bahzee stood solid, beaming at them all. With each moment that passed, she noticed that the weight of the stone bothered her less, until finally the weight wasn’t even worth acknowledging.

  “Papa Zynnie, I can’t really feel it anymore!”

  She hurled the stone dozens of yards into the distance. The boulder plunged into a jagged skyscraper of a rock, sitting tall above the surface of the lake. The collision was explosive, and the fragments ravaged the water’s surface.

  “That was great, Baz!” said Teshunua.

  “Thanks,” she replied, pecking him on the lips in front of everyone.

  He was surprised, as were the others. Tired of the secrets and now unabashed about her feelings, Bahzee kissed him again, mocking all of their spectators. “As if you all didn’t already know,” she said when her lips parted with his.

  Teshunua’s black skin went a deep purple, blushing. He lowered his head, noticing how Lyn Sha and Khyeryn’s mouths hung open, gawking at them. Until now, they hadn’t known.

  This act raised everyone’s good cheer even further, and Asha walked over, hugging Bahzee and Teshunua. Lyn Sha followed, hardly being able to look her sister in the eye without giggling.

  Shut up, butthead, Bahzee thought as she pinched her.

  “Do you understand what just happened?” Zynathian asked Bahzee. She shook her head.

  “Well, your strength responds directly to your adrenaline level. The direr the circumstances, the stronger you will become…therefore your power is limitless. The same goes for you, Lyn Sha. You’ll be faster and able to jump farther depending upon your emotion at a given moment. Do you two understand?”

  They nodded.

  “Any questions? …Anybody?”

  “What are we made of, Daddy?” Lyn asked.

  Zynathian sighed, for this was a complex subject, and he typically hated giving scientific explanations to people, as experience had taught him that he was always the only one excited about such explanations. However, seeing the sincerity of Lyn’s question, Zynathian thought to give it a shot, explaining it simply as possible. They listened closely.

  “Well, the metal-like substance I created, which I have yet to come up with a proper name for, is what your weapons are composed of. Also, Bahzee’s skeleton and muscles are fused with it, and since circumstance forced me to remove your legs, Lyn, everything beneath the skin, from the middle of your thighs, down, is made entirely of my creation. It’s the same for your arm Khyeryn.

  “This substance of mine, it’s composed of two major things—spider silk and Tungsten. Now, Tungsten is the strongest metal known to man. The very name itself means ‘tough stone.’ So, as a boy of maybe thirteen or fourteen, it immediately took my interest, as I was always trying to find something stronger than it. I could not, but as my knowledge expanded I realized
that I could create something stronger, but I would first need to find another material with which to combine it. Finally, I looked to some of the most amazing creatures Mother Nature has ever given us: spiders. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always admired their habits and complex web building ability, and eventually I began to study the matter within spider silk. I discovered that not only is it biodegradable, but it has a tensile strength of three-hundred-thousand pounds per square inch, and also, its components are stronger and lighter than the compounds based in steel. Spider silk’s strength and near non-existent weight are the attributes which allow you both to easily hold weapons that look far heavier than they actually are.”

  Zynathian paused a moment, making sure they were following everything. They seemed to be just fine, so he continued.

  “...and Tungsten has similar strength attributes, for it has the highest melting temperature of any metal. It can get hot enough to the point where it glows white as a light bulb, and, simultaneously, still be as rigid as it is in its cool state. So, through scientific methods that I absolutely refuse to go into because of their longwinded explanations, I combined the two…and that, Lynnie, is what you are made of,” Zynathian concluded, kissing her on the forehead.

  The others were pleased with this answer.

  “What about our power?” Khyeryn asked. “Will we get tired?”

  “No. Just take good care of your body and eat well, for the power in your weapons is charged from the iron in your blood,” Zynathian answered.

  This seemed to satisfy Khyeryn.

  “Well, with that said and done, we can all go home,” Zynathian said, grabbing Asha’s hand, leading her away.

  Everyone walked with vigor, excited about the long ride home, so they could discuss all that occurred. Meanwhile, Asha kissed Zynathian, praising his talent and boosting his already swollen ego. Zynathian stuck his nose in the air with pride, laughing. Tesh and Bahzee were right behind them, holding hands, with Sing Tzi Yi at their side.