Fire Eyes Awakened: The Senturians of Terraunum Series (Book 1)

by R. J. Batla

  “Why?” I asked.

  Royn shrugged. “To thin our ranks, to make everyone distrust the council, or themselves, or who knows. I mean, the Wall has stood for hundreds of years, and now there are attacks on the East Side? What would you think? Would you feel safe? I have to report this so people can get the word out to save as many as possible. We thought the Ints were isolated, but I guess they weren’t.”

  Royn pulled out his badge and started talking as we continued to walk, speaking directly to Councilman Talco, expressing concern about the wolves and the Ints being on the East side. The two went back and forth, trying to figure out how the creatures were getting across, if they had help, who it could be, and if the Wall could possibly already be breached in some way.

  The breeze blew down off the mountains to our right, whistling through the pine trees as we walked on their needles. Keeping a good pace, I started calming down – it was over. The air was clear here – startlingly so. I took it in, smelling the pine, the earth, the snow. It was nice, peaceful here. Leona would love to have seen this.

  Royn put his badge away and I turned my head toward him. “During the fight, you told us the wrong number of werewolves. Did you know there were two more?”

  He said, “Yes, I did. I wanted to—”

  “See how we’d do,” Gilmer and I said in unison, to which Royn might or might not have laughed.

  Chapter 31

  Clouds began building in the north as the sun dipped below the horizon that night and we awoke the next morning to a steady downpour. We were soaked in five minutes, severely cutting into our travel speed. The wind and rain beat on us as we headed toward a flat-topped peak, at the base of which sat the Smith’s shop. The trees provided cover from the elements for a time, but the terrain became more open as we traveled, making it impossible to stay dry. Royn didn’t even let us stop to eat – he said we were close. I was OK with that, as I had just about had enough of this blasted weather by midafternoon. I had water in places I didn’t know I had places. Thank God Royn gave up on training – I was having enough trouble just keeping my feet to even think about working my powers.

  Finally the sky cleared above us; the sun fighting its way through, teasing us as it slowly dried our clothes. The ground was a muddy mess, causing us to slip and slide. Gilmer had a worse time of it, but not by much. The flat peak loomed just ahead, staring down at us from the heavens, pressing its immensity on us like a wet blanket. Nearing the base of said mountain, we came upon dense undergrowth, slowing our progress even further. We picked and weaved our way through, and Royn was not as far ahead as he usually was. Then he was behind us. That wasn’t like him, I thought, just as the trees gave way and Gilmer and I stood in awe of what lay before us.

  Twenty feet of solid metal wall stood in front of us and stretched two hundred yards each way before curving out of sight. There were no seams, no rivets, no bolts – nothing. Just solid, unblemished metal sitting there in the middle of the forest. Directly in front of us was an equally thick, metal gate, all of it shining in the sun. It was almost blinding.

  “Well, knock,” Royn said, so I did.

  And we waited.

  And waited. When I looked at Royn he just shrugged. “He either lets you in or he doesn’t. Just because you’re summoned doesn’t mean –”

  The doors swung open without a sound, and as I turned, I came nose to nose with a set of beady eyes behind inch-thick glasses.

  “Oho!” shouted the short, bald man staring back at me, checking his watch. “You’re late.” Balding, with slightly pointed ears, he had the dark complexion of a Dwarf and the height to match, with a bushy white beard that stuck out in all directions. “Well, don’t just stand there – come in, come in!” We stepped forward as the Dwarf extended his hand to each of us in turn. “Leander Smith, blacksmith and metal worker, at your service.”

  The little valley practically vibrated with Earth Powers. As soon as we stepped across the threshold, the gates shut without a sound, and all traces of the forest disappearing behind that twenty-foot metal wall that carved out a circular mile of the open grassland. A stone walkway wound its way up to a large two-story square house, with windows on only the second floor. The house was big, but was dwarfed – pardon the pun – by the building behind it, which easily had to be five stories high and about a half a mile long. Both gleamed in the sunlight, their metal exteriors perfectly smooth and seamless.

  Leander caught me staring. “Like me metal house and workshop, eh?” He was eager to explain and burst into a detailed history on everything from how he had smelted the metal to how he fastened it together.

  “Blasted sun,” Leander said, looking up at the burning sphere in the sky. “Much cooler underground. As I was saying, I formed the tin into sheets m’self. Didn’t take much time at all. ‘Spect everyone’ll have one someday.” A wide smile crossed the Dwarf’s face, and his eyes went misty. This Dwarf was different – I didn’t know what to do so I just nodded. He stayed in his fantasy land all the way around the house until we approached the bronze door of the workshop. “Anyway,” he said, shaking his head like on old bear, “here’s me shop.”

  The door opened by itself; good thing too, because there was no handle, and the smith held it open as Gilmer, Royn, and I walked in. My eyes took a second or two to adjust, but when they did, I found three tables scattered around the forge on the left wall, each holding a wide range of tools, and on the back wall another brass door, with no knob or hinges, but several locks.

  “Excellent! You must be ready or me shop wouldn’t have let you in! Shall we push on to the weapons, then?” Leander asked, pointing toward the handle-less door.

  Stopping before it, I wondered how we were going to get through when it didn’t open on its own.

  Pausing only a second, Leander said, very clearly, “Leander Smith, with two customers and a guest.”

  Locks clanked open quickly, slides eased back with a snap, and chains rattled to the unlocked position. Once all the locks were out of the way, the door, instead of opening, disappeared altogether.

  We stepped through, and without warning, the door reappeared with a huge clang. Gilmer and I jumped forward.

  Answering my quizzical look, Leander said, “Voice activated; very secure. No one but me can open that door. Lights!” Flickering slightly, glowstones attached to the ceiling lit instantly, their soft light revealing the glinting weapons beneath them. My mouth fell open as rows upon rows of weapons were illuminated as each set of lights flicked on – swords, spears, battle axes, others I didn’t recognize. It took five full minutes of flickering before the last set of lights sputtered to life what seemed like a mile away. Directly in front of me on the floor, were three white, glowing stones, each about the size of a desk and raised slightly off the floor. In front of those was a large, black line drawn on the floor, and on the other side were matching white, glowing stones.

  “Don’t cross the black line,” Leander said, “unless you want to get incinerated. Each of you step up onto a platform, please. Thank, you. Now, sit and meditate. Let your mind flow free. Try to direct your thoughts to your powers – how you use it, what it means to you, what you like about it, what you don’t like about. Do the same with your fighting style – are you a hand-to-hand fighter or prefer to keep your distance? Are you a strike fast and fade away type or are you a brute force man? Think on these. And we will see what we get. Good luck!”

  Apparently the smith didn’t waste time.

  Gilmer and I shrugged at each other. With him on my left, I sat down cross legged and did as the Smith asked, the Dwarf and Royn grabbing chairs and sitting behind us. I closed my eyes, put my right hand over my left fist, and started breathing deeply. I relaxed. Deep breaths. And nothing happened. An hour went by, and I heard Gilmer exhale deeply beside me, then gasp.

  Sneaking a peak, something had appeared on the platform in front of Gilmer. Just appeared. Like, “poof” appeared! Gilmer started to get up, but Leander stopped him.
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  “Don’t move yet, boy, let me take a look.”

  Abandoning my meditation for the moment, I watched the Dwarf walk past Gilmer and pick up the first item – a large round metal shield, with dragons, lions, and various other animals carved all over the front. Leander put it on his left arm, screwed up his face, and it shrunk down to the size of a cookie imbedded in a leather arm guard.

  Leander grunted. “Shrinking Shield. Good quality, some tungsten mixed in with the steel, I think.”

  “Didn’t you make it?” Gilmer asked.

  Leander looked annoyed and shook his head. “Yes. I’ve made most of the stuff here. But it’s been over fifty years since I last saw this one, so bear with me if I can’t remember the exact metallurgy. I have slept since then. Anyway, it’ll connect with you when you put it on – think about it opening and it will open, think about it closing, and it’ll close. You’ll be able to engulf it in any kind of magic. You can store energy in it too – looks like. Very nice.” He then handed it to Gilmer, who eyed all the miniature versions of the carvings.

  “Thank you,” Gilmer said.

  Leander had already moved on to the next object – a single-handed, double-edged short sword about two and a half feet long with simple gold plating cross guard and pommel. The grip and scabbard were leather wrapped, the scabbard with intricate designs in the leather. It looked awesome. Leander swung it a few times, saying, “Yes, still balanced well. This will be a nice sword for you, young Ranger. And finally,” he said, picking up a clear round stone on a chain. “Well, now, lookie here! I do believe we have a –”

  Royn cleared his throat.

  Leander continued on quickly: “A…ah…a place to store your extra energy! I’m guessing this will happen later, Royn?” Royn nodded. “Gather your stuff, Mr. Gilmer.”

  He did, but asked, “How did they appear? Where did they come from?”

  The Smith chuckled. “The building knows. It’s been analyzing you since you came in, searching the records of all the weapons available to find you the best match. When it does, it sends them here to you.”

  “But how?”

  “Because that’s what I made it to do,” Leander said simply. “Very well. You are all set, sir! You may get up and start training with Royn here until Jayton gets his. Or should I say if.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Gilmer said again, and greedily grabbed his weapons and moved outside, Royn close on his heels.

  “Good luck, Jay!” they both said as they exited.

  “Well, looks like it’s just you and me, kid. Don’t just sit there, get back to it!” Leander said. So I did.

  Another hour went by. Nothing. I tried playing with my powers around me but got nothing. Another hour…nothing. Twelve more hours and still nothing, though I was getting tired of sitting in one spot. Surprisingly I didn’t have the urge to go running to the bathroom. I started to get up at one point because I was bored out of my mind, but Leander said, “If you want your weapons, you’d better stay seated, sonny.” So I groaned and eased back down.

  I bet Leona didn’t have to work this hard to get her weapons.

  I stayed awake through the night somehow, and the next morning, Gilmer and Royn came in to check on me. “Anything yet?” they said.

  “Nope,” Leander replied.

  “All right then; we’ll be outside.”

  I fell asleep sitting up several times that day, but woke up before I fell over. I hadn’t eaten, I hadn’t slept much, and I had to go to the bathroom so bad, I was seriously considering wetting myself. I didn’t understand. Why wasn’t this working? Evening was coming on fast, and I was tired of sitting on a flat rock. Frustrated, tired, hungry, irritated, I tried everything I could think of, but nothing happened. Finally, I gave up. I took a deep breath, and exhaled. “Lord, please help me with this…”

  Suddenly I wasn’t in the shop anymore – I was surrounded by white light, sitting in a chair, facing a very handsome being. He appeared human, but he was more than that. He was too perfect, his shirt and pants too white, and everything about him exuded power. “Hello young Senturian,” he said in a deep voice. “My name is Coysiesixiswmtixmwmzuamquaia. But you can call me C.”

  Thank God. He said it and I still didn’t have the faintest clue how to pronounce it. I didn’t ask him to repeat it. I wasn’t even sure if that’s how you spelled it.

  “Hello, C. Um…where am I? And, though I know you just told me your name…uh…who exactly are you?”

  He grinned. “Oh, you’re in the shop; this is all in your head. And I am an angel of the Lord of Hosts – here to help you on your path.”

  “OK,” I said, waiting. He stood there and smiled, so I added, “So what now?”

  “I was told to offer you this advice, in three. First, follow your heart. Let it be your guide when all is dark.”

  I gulped. “Thanks!” I said, because I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Second,” the man continued, “the key is on your arm.”

  I looked at my arm – didn’t look any different. Or like a key.

  “And finally, young Jayton Baird, this last one, I must say, disturbs me the most, but I must say it, or you will be lost.”

  “Yes, sir?” I gulped. His tone was sad and ominous.

  “In order to win, you will have to lose. In order to live, you will have to die. To find relief, you will have pain. You alone are the hope. And yet, you are not the one to save it all.”

  I gulped again. Um…what?

  “That is all, young warrior. Use your weapons wisely. Let them become a part of you, and they will become stronger than you can even imagine. Good luck.”

  And then a loud thunk in front of me woke me out of my dream. Or whatever it was.

  Chapter 32

  “Well, it’s about time,” Royn said behind me.

  Leander walked forward, scooping up the pile. “Why don’t you go to the bathroom, Jayton, and we’ll meet you outside for a demonstration.”

  “Thanks!” I said, the urge slamming into me, my eyeballs floating as I rushed to take care of business. Twenty minutes later, feeling much better, I emerged back out onto the grass, with the other three waiting.

  “You had a visitor?” Leander asked.

  “Yes?” How did he know about C?

  “That was for you and you alone.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Very good. Here’s your first weapon – a shield arm guard,” Leander said, strapping it on his huge forearms. Smooth brown leather melded perfectly with seven different colored stones, three on the top and two on each side, each about the size of a walnut. The stones shimmered when Leander moved them through the light.

  “Each stone matches one of the elements: red for fire, blue for water, brown for earth, black for Quantum, you get the idea. You have all seven, yes?” he asked, his eyes flicking up as he examined the arm guard. I nodded. “Makes sense. This will allow you to create a shield of any size, shape, and power. You were having trouble with shields, yes?” Again I nodded. “You can layer as many elements as you want over each other, make it as strong or as weak as you want – whatever your imagination can come up with. Just make sure the stones contact your skin – they go through the leather. They won’t work without skin contact. This thing focuses your energy, allowing you to fend off heavier blows than you would normally be able to. When making your shield, send your energy through the stones, then out to form whatever you need to. Try it on,” he said, tossing it to me.

  I strapped it on my left arm – it fit perfectly, and weighed a lot less than it looked like it should.

  “Looks good on you, sonny. Ooh, this is nice!” Leander said, picking up what looked like a pile of thin rags barely holding together. “Now strip,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Strip, boy, strip! Take off all your clothes. Do you understand words or do I need to draw you a picture?”

  “Oh, OK,” I said, and I sheepishly obliged, the cool breeze…um…was “cool” on my newl
y exposed skin.

  “Now put this on.”

  “How?”

  “Ugh, really?” Then the Smith mimed each movement. “Like you do a pair of pants, then a jacket, then a hood. Honestly, kids these days don’t even know how to dress themselves,” he said, tossing me the rags. Grabbing it in midair, my hand was jerked to the ground – holy crap this thing was heavy! Was it made of bricks? It took all I had to pick it up, find the pants, step into them, pull the sleeves on – complete with full gloves – and pulled the hood over my head. It went over my face, too, which blocked out the sun. I closed my eyes and zipped up the contraption, whatever it was. The thing had to be made of metal thread, but I’d be damned if it didn’t look like white cotton.

  My right arm itched, so I scratched it. Then my left. Then my leg. Then my other leg. Pretty soon, my whole body was an itch, and I was scrambling to scratch them all at once. I’d never been so uncomfortable – every part of me was on fire and I only had two hands. Then, all at once, there was a loud bang, and my skin quit itching. Heat rose up all through the outfit, uncomfortable at first, then almost scalding.

  “G-g-get this thing off me!” I screamed, clawing at the zipper and falling on the ground.

  Then just like that, the heat left, with a slight cooling sensation in its place. I got up quickly, about to dust off, but it was gone! The weight was gone too, though I felt heavier than before, like walking through water. Or maybe really thick air. I looked up in time to see Leander swing a sword at me. What was he doing? He was gonna kill me! The attack was too fast, and all I could do raise my arm in defense, as futile as it would be. I expected pain, but only got a loud thump and a feeling like someone pushed me.

  Leander was grinning. “That’s the only way to test it – looks like it took!”

  “What took?”

  “The Scale Armor boy, the armor! Not sure why you need it. With a shield generator like that armguard you got there, you should be able to defend against almost anything – ‘cept maybe a Skeptor. But if the room says you do, you do!”