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

by R. J. Batla

  “Uhhh…”

  She smacked me in the forehead. “Come on, man, where’s your mind at? They told me you were smart. All right, let’s start with some basic movements – concentrate on blowing this whiffle ball back to me,” she said, pushing a blast of air and moving said ball to a stop in front of me.

  I spent the next four hours trying to make it move precisely – and failing miserably. Apparently it’s a lot different getting the precise control of air without the aid of the Ignis. Or when you’re in a fight for your life.

  Finally, my break came: you had to trick the air into thinking it wanted to push the ball. Yeah, I know, sounds stupid, but that’s how I rationalized it in my head, so lay off. Instead of trying to force the air to move, which was like pushing on Harlingon itself, you simply moved a tiny bit of energy, attracting the air to it, and then extending that will outward. If that makes any sense. Nope, it doesn’t. I couldn’t say I understood it really.

  “Great job! About time, Jayton! All right, now bigger bursts!” Sonora said, and we worked on air bursts for an hour, getting progressively bigger. I was pretty satisfied with my progress; Sonora was not.

  And I thought I was done.

  The whole group was walking out, myself included, when I heard Royn from behind me, “Jay, you’re not done, son. Get back over here.”

  Ugh! “Well I’ll see you guys later, I guess,” I said, waving to everyone.

  I know, I know, I needed to train. I was going to be the one in the ring, all alone, blah blah blah. But that doesn’t mean I had to like it.

  “Yes, sir?” I said as I got back to him.

  “You and I are going to be staying late every night from now on.” I started to groan but caught myself, thankfully. “We need to train your Fire Eyes.”

  Oh. Now that would work!

  “Yes, sir!” I already knew how to get in and out of the Ignis, but was there more? “So what are we going to be doing, sir?”

  “It will be one of your greatest assets in the ring. That being said, we don’t want to go around advertising that you are an Ignis user while we’re on the West Side if we can help it, or it might make you a target. Hopefully everyone doesn’t know your name or your face, so they won’t know that you’re the one who has the Fire Eyes. That being said, we want to keep that fact a secret for as long as possible. So you’ll be wearing these,” he said, pulling out an awesome-looking pair of what I assumed were sunglasses, except they hugged your head like goggles. “They’ll dull the light from the Ignis to nothing, so everyone else can’t see when you’re using it.”

  “Plus, they make me look like a badass,” I said, slipping them on and striking a pose.

  Royn rolled his eyes. “I want you to be wearing these during your training from now on, and during the whole trip when we leave.”

  “Yes, sir.” They were comfortable and everything looked the same, as if I had nothing on at all. “So what now?”

  “Now, we’re going to practice quickly turning the Ignis on and off. The glasses won’t work with prolonged exposure. Later, we’ll do the same, but you’ll be getting information. Then we’ll use that information in combat. Eventually, you and I will be pretty much dueling like you will be in the ring – but not to the death obviously – while you flash the Ignis on and off to aid you in the fight.”

  Till ten or eleven o’clock every night, we worked. It was severely eating into my sleep. I trained with Sonora during the day for a week and a half, mastering all I could. Air was very different than the other elements. Bouncy. Acrobatic. Like if you mixed the flowiness of water, the flourish of energy, the aggressiveness of fire, and the sturdiness of earth, you could then work with air. You could manipulate it to increase your agility, or allow you to do multiple flips and twists and land perfectly every time. It was also a subtle element – push too much and you got nothing, don’t push enough and you got…nothing.

  When Sonora was done with me, and everyone else wrapped up for the day, I trained with Royn. It was great stuff, and much needed, but I was missing the comradery of the group at night.

  And, to top it off, Royn made me take off my scale armor that first night we returned from the smith’s. Said I wouldn’t rely on it when I trained if it wasn’t there, then when it was needed, I’d have it as a backup. Whatever. He also made me wear some kind of heavy fabric to mimic the weight of the armor so I got used to that. It itched.

  Chapter 35

  Once Sonora had deemed me “not quite as much of a knucklehead,” Royn decided that we all needed to train together. Which didn’t mean as a team, per se.

  I was glad – air was the hardest so far.

  Sauntering down to the training grounds, Royn gathered everyone together. “Jayton, get in that circle – we’re going to test your air skills. You can’t use any other element.”

  Of course. Dangit. “The other twelve of you will be his ‘enemy’ in that circle,” Royn said. “Rules: each of you has to stay in your circle and don’t kill each other.”

  “That’s it?” Celeste asked, cracking her knuckles and popping her neck.

  Oh crap.

  “That’s it. The goal is to knock the other out of their circle. All right, take your spots.” I took a few deep breaths and took a fighting stance. The others did the same. “Go!” Royn yelled.

  All twelve threw a straight shot at me, so I simply air-assisted jumped all of the blasts. Then things got more interesting. Someone shot a water jet at me that I deflected upwards. Adjusting, I tossing back an air wave that had the effect of a wet noodle thrown at them. Rocks were flying, which I split in two with air blades, caught them with a wind tunnel, and hurled them back. One got so close to Celeste that she jumped out of their ring, knocking Katy out in the process.

  “Celeste, Katy, you’re out!” Royn shouted, and they walked off dejected to stand next to Royn. But that didn’t stop the other’s onslaught.

  Dodge a rock, jump an energy blast, air shield air shield air shield, blast back, swerving all around. Sonora was floating above the ground, with the others below her. How was that “in” the circle? Euless tried to attack from behind, curving the energy around, but I was able to deflect in into the ground. Then I got hit with a rock in the shin, and barely evaded a fire blast, which singed the hair on my arm. The slight pain, for some reason, made me mad. Really mad.

  Oh crap. Oh crap oh crap oh crap.

  I could feel it again – the Morsenube, still there, just beneath the surface. I was able to beat it down mentally, for the moment.

  “Royn, I feel the Morsenube rising.”

  “Fight it, Jayton. You can do this.”

  “Yes, sir.” I wasn’t so sure though.

  Still good. Dodged again, attack, air shield both sides. I jumped up, and on landing, rolled forward, brought my arms together in front of me, and sent a concentrated air stream about the size of my fist at forty-five degree angles into their circle. I knocked Euless to the ground, and Troup and Anton out of the circle. Four down, eight to go.

  I had to duck to dodge an air blast from Sonora, but the second one caught me, and I slid back to the edge of my circle, pushing back against the maelstrom of wind, just trying to keep my feet under me. Then I saw a stream of energy coming to knock me over. I saw it, but I couldn’t do crap about it. It swept under me, taking me out at the knees, the air torrent blowing me several feet backward before my head hit the ground. The pain was instant but it went away just as fast as it was replaced with gathering darkness.

  Raw destructive power enveloped my hands and coursed through my veins. I wanted to hurt, to cause despair, to cause fear, and those energies pulsed from the cursed black energy balls surrounding me, almost stifling everyone in the room.

  In a flash of blue light, someone was behind me, grabbing my hands as I stood up, pinning them behind me. Part of me was seeing this in slow motion and screaming for it to stop, but the rest of my body wouldn’t respond, was beyond rational and sane thought. The person behind me was pu
lling energy, trying to keep me down, but I was stronger and the stranger was losing the battle.

  Then there was another presence beside me. Female.

  “Your name is Jayton Baird! You are not a monster!”

  Was someone talking? It’s so dark. I could barely see. It hurt. There was nothing here.

  “Jayton, you calm down right now!”

  I knew that voice. I thought. Didn’t matter. Everything needed to be destroyed anyway, nothing was any good.

  “Jay, you are not the darkness. Find the light! Follow the light!”

  Light. Yes, I saw some light. It was dim though. It was pretty – I wanted to touch it. It was far away, though. No, it was closer. Here. I could feel it. It was warm. It felt like…

  BOOM! My head snapped back as the energy around me collapsed on itself. Someone was gripping my wrists from behind, but Leona had her arms around me, very tightly, like she had trouble hanging on, and I could feel her hot breath on my right ear. I was breathing in gasps.

  “Are you here?” she whispered, her breath tickling.

  “Yes,” I whispered back. “What happened?”

  She swung around till her nose was almost touching mine. “I thought I’d lost you for a second there, Jayton Baird.”

  Gulp. “How…how am I still standing? Is everyone all right?” Then it hit me. “It was your voice. I heard you through the darkness, calling me back. How did you know it would work?”

  She was breathing hard too. “I didn’t. I thought it might, you know, Guide and such. I’m glad it worked,” she managed to whisper before we were crowded around with the rest of our group.

  “I believe that is the end of training for today,” Royn said behind me as he released my wrists.

  “Not so fast, vermin!” I heard the distinct sound of a blade clearing its sheath.

  “Oh great, not him,” Celeste said as the executioner ran toward us, knives drawn.

  “Time to die, Ranger. The Morsenube has emerged; you lost control. By the law, and with the backing of the council, I sentence you to be executed immediately,” he said, black blades drawing all the light towards them.

  “What is it you think you saw, sir?” Anton said, looking around. “We didn’t see anything.”

  “Step aside –”

  “What witnesses do you have, Mister Executioner?” Marlin said, stepping in front of me. The others moved to do the same. When I looked, there wasn’t another soul around.

  “All of you, move aside. You’re interfering with the laws, and by the power given to me by the council, if Jayton Baird loses control of the Morsenube, he is to be executed, no questions asked…”

  “But that’s not what you saw, now was it?” Arp said, stepping forward and towering over him.

  “Yes, that’s exactly –”

  “Could have been just dust in the air or something,” Sonora said, flicking her wrist and sending a blast of air and dirt swirling away. “No one would believe me; it’s not like I’m an Air master or anything.”

  “Now, look here…”

  “If it was me,” Royn said, “I would leave this alone. You didn’t see what you think you saw. Even if you claim to have the right, and somehow manage to make it past us and kill the young Ranger, you won’t make it out of this area alive.”

  “Are you threatening an officer of the council –”

  “Not threating, just stating facts. A lot of power might get thrown around, and as self-respecting Rangers and Senturians, we would have to contain the fight. No way could we risk innocents getting hurt. Lots can happen in a battle like that. People get awful sloppy with their aim.”

  The executioner looked around once more. Eyes darting around, I could tell he was thinking long and hard.

  “Besides,” Royn said, this was just a training exercise. Jayton didn’t lose control of anything.”

  The executioner snarled, then sheathed his knives and pointed a finger at me. “Your luck will run out one day, rat, and I’ll be there to end you!” He spun on his heel and stormed off.

  We might have laughed at him.

  I was thankful the next lesson was healing, because I damn sure needed it. The day after my “episode,” as we entered the training grounds, Royn said, “Josey, it’s your turn. Take our friend and show him the ropes. And try to keep him from exploding.”

  Josey just nodded and I followed the tall Elf to a different training circle, and sat cross-legged across from her. Josey was almost too thin, yet exuded strength. The woodsman armor she wore blended seamlessly with her purple skin as she took a deep breath. “Hold still while I try this,” she said, placing both hands on the sides of my head. Purple light flared down the length of her arms and her face twisted in concentration.

  My own head felt like it was in a clamp, or between a rock and…a bigger rock. Intense pressure, not physical but like an enormous headache, pounded me while the Elf worked. After a full minute, the purple flames died and we were both breathing hard.

  “Damn,” she said. “I don’t think that’s going to work.”

  “Pardon if I intrude, but what isn’t going to work, ma’am?” I said between pants, the pain slowly ebbing.

  “I tried to put in a block, to keep the Morsenube in check by removing its access to anger in your head. I tried to put up a brick wall, but I think it ended up more like a sand dune. But we’ll see. I did manage to block the activator the ghoul put in your shoulder, so that particular trigger won’t work again.”

  Thank God for that.

  “Now, to learning,” she said, shaking herself and leaning back to an upright sitting position, her posture unnaturally perfect. “Healing is concentrating – willing the body to do what it would naturally do, only much faster. The bigger the wound, the more energy required to heal it. Sickness can be removed, though that’s trickier. Bones regrown. Limbs recovered. Sometimes. So if it can do all this, what else can it do?”

  “Um, well…if it can do all that, can it do it in reverse? Open wounds? Remove bones?”

  She laughed, rocking backward – she had a great, big wide-mouth smile. “No, Ranger, healing is not a double-edged sword – it only works one way. What about mental healing?”

  “Like if you lose your mind?”

  Josey laughed again. “Yes, like that.”

  “I guess so.”

  “You guess. Hmmm. Well, let’s hope you’re never in the situation, but yes, healing can help you find yourself if you’re lost.”

  “What do you mean ‘help’?”

  She got serious. “This is the hard part about being a healer. The person you’re working on has to want it to work. They have to have the will to be better, to heal. You can throw all the energy you want at them, but if they don’t want to be well, they won’t be.”

  “Who doesn’t want that?” I asked.

  She looked down. “You would be surprised. But anyway, your head hurts, you are sore, and you have various cuts and bruises all over you, yes?”

  “Yes, ma’am, but how –”

  “Most healers have a good bit of Empathy, meaning they can tell what is wrong without having to be told. Excuse me…most Elves. Humans rarely have that gift, though many would love to. So anyway, you’ve been basically instructed on healing? Send the energy, concentrating on the wound healing itself?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Then you already have most of the work done. The trick is learning how much energy to pour into the healing. Too little and you could do more damage. Too much and you’re at best wasting energy, at worst making the wound larger. That’s what we’ll be concentrating on. After we heal your ails, we’ll use this,” she said, pulling out a silver cylinder. “It mimics any injury, with my direction, and we’ll use it to learn. Are you ready to start?”

  We went right to it. I closed all my cuts, bruises, and headache. The last one produced a static shock. The bigger the pain, the bigger the shock. Same with the soreness. It was all about touch and feel. If you could feel it, you could heal i
t. I should write ads for the papers...

  By the time she was satisfied with that, it was late, and I had to work with Royn on the Ignis.

  After my work with Royn, I was too tired to think. I ate quickly, showered, got in bed, banked my energy in the bracelet, and passed out.

  The next day was the same, except I was doing stab wounds. Then the next day, blunt forces. Then the next was combinations. Then working with blood, bones, and internal organs – all stuff I couldn’t see. Then re-growing limbs. By the end of the week, I pretty much thought I was bulletproof, since I could heal whatever I broke.

  Of course Royn brought me back down to earth in about three seconds. At Josey’s direction, he held me down with earth magic, pinning my hands and feet. When I was considered secure, Josey pulled out a knife and cut the back of my hand. “Heal that,” she said.

  I tried to send energy to the spot, but nothing happened. I tried to move a rock over to the spot and use that as a substitute for my hand to heal, but again nothing happened. I even tried to spit on it and then use that as a medium. But nothing would happen. Nothing replaced my touch.

  “And that’s why you need to be careful, Ranger,” Josey said, brushing her hand across mine and easily healing the wound. “If you’re incapacitated, or can’t move your arms or legs, you can’t heal yourself. And if you can’t heal yourself, you’re dead.”

  Point taken.

  Chapter 36

  Royn Crowell and Ames Talco sat in Ames’s office on the top of the North Tower, a fire crackling in the fireplace, both fidgeting nervously in their seats. A silent telestone sat between them.

  “Are you sure he said tonight, Royn?”

  “Yes, sir, frequency one-forty-six. Should be any time now -”

  Pops and squeaks broke through the static, before a whispered voice came across. “Lost Chick to Mother Hen, come in Mother Hen.”

  Royn keyed the mic. “Mother Hen here, go ahead Lost Chick.”

  “Your assumption was correct – two ways through: the door and through the keyhole.”

  “Understood,” Royn said, while Ames let out a curse. “Good job, Lost Chick. Mother Hen out,” he said, as he turned the dial down, waiting for the next call from the telestone.