by Elana Brooks
She gasped and instinctively put her hands up to cover the place where her tether sprang from her heart.
He suppressed a chuckle. “I know. But our bodies are right here. Plenty of time to get back to them before there’s a problem. Here, I’ll let you break mine to show you how it works.” He put out a hand and held it flat, palm up. A swirl of shimmering white light gathered above it, growing until it was bigger than a basketball. “Energy is everywhere in the astral plane. Your astral self can manipulate it. Put your hand out and imagine gathering a big swath of energy from the air around you and concentrating it into a ball.”
Beverly followed his instructions. For a moment she feared it wouldn’t work, but as soon as she tried to picture the energy surrounding her, it was right there in her awareness, humming and glowing like an electrically charged cloud. It sprang to obey her will, racing to her hand with only a slight pressure of thought. Her ball swelled so fast she had to slam the brakes on immediately and crush the energy so hard it flamed too bright to look at. She still ended up with a beach ball-sized sphere.
Adrian’s lips curved knowingly, as if that was just what he’d expected. “Later on you’ll learn telekinesis, where you take the astral energy into the physical world and use it there. This is simpler, because it’s all on the astral plane. See that target?” He nodded past her.
Beverly turned and saw a subtle bullseye pattern worked into the tile of the wall. “Yeah.”
“See if you can hit it.” He drew back his arm like a pitcher and hurled his ball of energy at the target. It struck dead center and splattered into a burst of sparkles like a Fourth of July firework.
“I’m terrible at throwing,” Beverly warned, awkwardly cocking her arm.
“Don’t worry. It goes where you will it. The movements are just to help you visualize.”
Beverly humphed skeptically, but as she lobbed the ball of energy she made sure to picture it as vividly as she could flying fast and true to smack the heart of the target.
The ball followed exactly the trajectory she imagined, bursting into an even more spectacular display than Adrian’s had made.
He echoed her delighted laughter. “See. Told you this was where your natural talent would come in.”
“Yeah.” Beverly shook her head in wonder.
“Now, pull up another one and hit my tether with it. Don’t worry, I won’t let you hurt me.” He dropped his hands and stood, heart open to her, defenseless.
She gulped but did as he directed. She hesitated with the ball in her hand, eyeing his vulnerable tether worriedly. It hadn’t hurt when hers snapped, but the terror with which he’d responded and the agony of the forced bond were too closely tied up with the memory to separate out. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” His relaxed posture and confident voice left no room to doubt his sincerity.
She tossed the ball, wincing. It drifted toward him, and she reluctantly directed it to the center of his chest. It nudged into his tether and popped with a fizzle.
“Not very forceful, but it did the job.” Adrian briefly displayed the dangling end of his tether. Her ball of energy had left it with a jagged, burnt end. Beverly’s heart pounded and her stomach clenched.
He stepped over to his body and dropped back into it. The breathing that had paused started up again with barely a sputter. Beverly found she could breathe again, too.
After a moment he popped up and nodded at her. “See? All there is to it. You’ve got about three minutes, but it’s best to act as quickly as possible to be on the safe side. No more dangerous than a boxer knocking his opponent out. Here, do it again and I’ll show you the other way to recover.”
More confidently this time, since it obviously hadn’t hurt him, Beverly pulled up a new ball of energy and lobbed it at him. It snapped his tether in a satisfying shower of sparks.
“Much better.” Adrian grabbed the loose end of his tether before it could writhe away. Holding one end in each hand, he jammed them together and focused until they fused into an unbroken whole. On the cot, his body gave a snorting gasp. “A little sleep apnea, that’s all.” His manner sobered. “In a real battle, far from your body, that can save you.”
Beverly swallowed. “Did you try?” She kept her eyes fixed on the soft glow of his tether between where his hands still gripped it. “When mine broke?”
He shrugged, looking away. “Yeah. But it was so fragile it disintegrated when I touched it.” With visible effort he forced a cheerfully admonishing look onto his face and shook a finger at her. “Another reason to always keep it thick and strong.”
She made herself match his demeanor. “As mine is.” She grabbed her tether and tugged it hard to demonstrate. The tether itself transmitted no sensation, but it felt like a bouncy rubber hose in her hands.
“Very good.” He gave her a careful look. “Ready to try?” He pulled a ball of energy into his hand.
Despite herself, Beverly’s voice squeaked. “You’re going to break my tether?”
He nodded, not taking his eyes from hers. “You need to experience it under controlled conditions so you get used to how it feels and how to deal with it. That way in an emergency you’ll be prepared, and you won’t get into trouble the way you did before.”
She could see his point, but the thought still freaked her out. “You’re sure it’ll be okay?” Damn, her voice was shaking.
“I am. I’m here to help if you need it, but I’m confident you can handle it yourself with no problem. Ready?”
She had a strong urge to call the whole exercise off. But manipulating energy was so easy, she was sure she could excel at this game. She badly wanted to prove to him that she wasn’t totally incompetent. And he’d dealt with his tether breaking with such easy aplomb. It couldn’t be that hard.
She took a deep breath. “Ready.”
The ball of energy drifted slowly toward her, giving her plenty of time to step out of the way if she’d wanted to. It took every ounce of self control she could muster to stand still and let it bump into her tether. A pop and a shower of sparks, and she was looking at a ragged blackened stub protruding from her chest.
It didn’t hurt, and she didn’t feel any different. With a strange, numb detachment she reached out and caught the other end of her broken tether as it slithered away. She brought it up to the stub and touched them together. A moment’s thought fused them. Her body resumed breathing. A little more concentration, and the join smoothed out and vanished into a seamless whole. She stood there, staring at it, panting.
Adrian came up beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Perfect. After you’ve done it a few dozen more times, it won’t even bother you.”
She nodded wordlessly. The warmth of his hand felt good. It brought her back from her numb daze. She put her hand up and covered it, pressing it more firmly into her shoulder. His fingers tightened a little, softly denting her astral flesh.
After a moment he gave her shoulder a firm squeeze, pulled his hand away, and stepped back. With a forced-sounding laugh, he said, “All right, one more demonstration and then we can play. Toss another one at me.”
A flash of mischief seized Beverly. She whipped up a ball and snapped it at him almost before he finished the sentence. He jumped back with an exclamation of surprise. In the instant before the ball reached his tether, he threw his hands up. A disk of energy sprang from them, shielding him. The ball struck it and bounced harmlessly away.
“There you go. Attack and block. If you’re good, you can aim your opponent’s ball back at him. I’ve seen bouts that looked more like tennis matches.” He dispersed his shield with a wave of his hands. “Give it a try.” He pulled a ball of energy into existence, watched to make sure she was ready, then sent it floating toward her.
He didn’t have to be so careful. Beverly had no trouble summoning the energy and forming it into a good, solid shield. As the ball approached, she took careful aim and ricocheted it straight back, much faster, at Adrian’s heart. His shiel
d flashed and knocked the ball toward her, but it flew wide.
He dropped his hands to his sides and strode to stand in a small circle inlaid in the stone midway between the center of the arena and its edge. With a jerk of his head he indicated she should take her place in the matching circle opposite, and she complied. “First one to break their opponent’s tether three times wins. After a break, play stops until it’s reattached, and the break-ee signals the restart. If a player steps out of the arena, it counts as a break against them. Any questions?”
“No, I’m good. Let’s go.” She spread her feet a little and balanced her weight between them, watching him closely.
“All right. Three, two, one… Start!”
He whipped a ball of energy at her. She got a shield up in time to block, but couldn’t aim, so it flew wide and splatted against the wall. His next one she bounced back at him. While he was knocking it out of the way with his shield, she summoned a ball and fired it at him, then two more in quick succession. He blocked the first two, but the third struck his tether and snapped it with a bang.
He stepped back and sank into his body. Bouncing out again, he said, “Good shot. Beverly one, Adrian zero.” He strode back to his mark. When she reached hers, he said, “Three, two, one, start!”
She threw herself into the combat, firing ball after ball at him. If he’d been taking it easy on her before, he wasn’t anymore. Shields flashed, balls flew and exploded, both of them darted and dove and ducked. Exhilaration filled Beverly. Her astral form was so much faster and more nimble than her physical body. It did exactly what she wanted, instead of balking and misfiring like her real arms and legs were prone to do. The energy balls danced to her commands almost before she formed them. They became extensions of herself. She soared into the air, dropped a dozen balls on Adrian’s head, then dove and blasted a dozen more up under his raised shield.
He grabbed the writhing ends of his tether and jammed them together. “God, Beverly, give a guy a break.” Laughter mixed with his panting. “Told you you’d be good at this. Where did that move come from, anyway? I’ve never seen anything like it.” He flopped, arms and legs spread wide, and hovered a couple feet above the floor. “Let me rest a minute so your third break isn’t a complete gimme.”
Beverly dropped her hands to her sides. She felt a little winded, but she didn’t want to rest. She wanted to keep playing. “You’re serious? You’re not just exaggerating to make me feel good?”
“Hell, no. I haven’t had a match this good since Steve and I teamed up against Rabbi Sensei and Keiko. They’re good, but Steve’s the best; with me to balance him the teams were pretty evenly matched. It was epic. Went on for hours. The whole Covenant showed up physically or astrally to watch before we were done. Finally Keiko feinted an opening, and while Steve and I were both going for her, Rabbi Sensei ricocheted a ball off three walls and the ceiling. It caught me from behind a second before Steve got Keiko. I’ll have to show you the memory sometime. People still pull it out anytime there’s a Covenant get-together.”
“I’d like that.”
He drifted vertical and stretched. “All right. Time-out’s over.”
Beverly darted to her circle and raised her hands in readiness. Adrian groaned and brought his own hands up. “Three, two, one—I’m going to regret this. Start!”
Chapter 14
It took every ounce of concentration Adrian had to protect his tether from the first volley she fired at him. He pulled out all the tricks he’d learned in years of training and recreational games. They allowed him to hold off her attacks for a while. She lacked finesse, but she had so much raw power it hardly mattered. Great sizzling balls of energy pelted him constantly, and she showed no signs of slowing down.
He threw up a dome-shaped shield and huddled under it to catch his breath, watching her intently as she rained energy against it. He timed his move for the precise moment she concluded that tactic was useless and paused to reconsider her strategy.
The instant her attack ceased, he dropped the shield and rocketed straight up. He gathered the biggest ball of energy he could manage and hurled it down at her tether. She whipped out of the way and tossed a wild flurry of balls at him. He shielded his tether successfully, but one of her stray shots went wide and clipped his ankle.
He cursed at the pain but otherwise ignored the hit. He dove to the side and fired a hard shot at her chest.
She didn’t block it. Her hands went to her mouth, muffling a scream. His ball cut through her tether and flew on to shatter against the far wall.
He floated to her, his surge of triumph at having scored against her fading before her obvious distress. “Beverly, what’s wrong? Do you need me to help you with your tether?” She wasn’t even trying to snag the ends or move toward her body.
“Your foot!” she gasped, pointing.
He glanced down. Her ball of energy had vaporized a big chunk of his astral flesh, including most of his foot. The pain had stopped, but it hadn’t had a chance to regenerate yet. “It’s fine. Come on. Back in your body.” When she didn’t move, he grabbed her arm and tugged it. He kept his voice light. “Time’s a-wastin’.”
She yielded and moved over to her body, though she couldn’t tear her eyes from his damaged foot. She sank within for only an instant before popping up again. “I’m so sorry. I swear, I didn’t mean—”
“No, really, it’s fine. No harm done.” He floated higher so she could get a clearer view of how his astral foot was starting to reform. He concentrated to speed up the process. “Hurt like hell for a second there, but that’s just part of the game.”
She gaped as the missing segment of his leg and foot became hazily visible again. His toes and heel solidified into their usual translucent appearance, along with the hem of his pants. “How—? I don’t understand.”
“Astral bodies are malleable. Has Rabbi Sensei showed you how we can change form yet?”
She nodded dumbly, comprehension starting to dawn in her eyes.
“They’re not real, exactly, the way our physical bodies are real. Their shape is just what our minds project. If a bit gets destroyed, your mind interprets it as pain, but then goes back to projecting its usual image pretty quickly, pulling in energy from around you to make up the difference. Only if nearly the whole thing is destroyed are you in trouble, and even then if your tether is intact you can usually manage to either regenerate or retreat back to your body.” He flexed his ankle. “See? Back to normal.”
“Thank goodness.” Beverly shook her head. “I didn’t know. God, when I saw that big piece of your foot gone, I thought—”
“It was my own fault for not blocking better. In friendly games we don’t usually aim for bodies, but it’s not against the rules. This is primarily intended as a training exercise, to prepare us for real combat. The Seraphim won’t pull their punches to spare us a little pain. If a body shot distracts someone from defending their tether, they’re going to get hit and maybe killed. If we don’t learn to handle it here, we won’t have a chance against our real enemies.”
She nodded slowly, eyes shadowed. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Are you all right? Because I’m ready to go again as soon as you are. We don’t have to count that break, since you didn’t know.”
“No, you’re right. If I freak out in a real fight, I’m going to have to deal with the consequences. I don’t want to get in the habit of making excuses.” She moved to her starting circle. “Ready?”
After a careful look to make sure she really had recovered from the shock, Adrian took his place in his own circle. “Ready.”
She was a little slow for the first couple of volleys, but even though Adrian tried to take advantage of it, she managed to block every attack. Gradually the exhilaration of combat overtook her again and he was forced to the defensive. By darting all over the arena, making her chase him and constantly re-aim her shots, he held out for a good long time. But finally she sent a single tremendous ball that burned thr
ough the thickest shield he could form and obliterated his tether so thoroughly there were no ends to catch.
He dropped into his body and lay there for a few minutes, panting. He loved this feeling of having been pushed to his limits, of having exhausted himself pursuing a goal. The loss, or at least how thoroughly he’d been outclassed, rankled a little. But that feeling was minor compared to his pleasure in a skillfully played game and his delight at Beverly’s prowess.
With a groan he raised his astral form to find Beverly watching him with an anxious but pleased expression. Remembering his goal, he let the feeling he might otherwise have kept private slip from his lips. “God, you’re amazing.”
Her astral cheeks blushed bright pink, just the way her physical ones would have. “Really?”
He rose and came to stand before her. “Really. You picked that up so fast, it was incredible. I think Steve could give you a run for your money, but he’s the only one of the Eight who could. Maybe I should ask Rabbi Sensei to bring him in to teach you advanced techniques. There’s not much more you can learn from me.”
Her smile faltered. “But I thought you were going to keep coaching me in the gym, and working on the other psychic powers with me—”
“Of course. I’ll still be teaching you all that. I just meant for energy combat.”
His heart soared as her smile returned. She did want to spend time together, just as he did. She looked down and to the side. “Oh. That’s all right, then. I want to learn as much about combat as I can. That’s the way the Seraphim fight?”
“As near as we can tell from what the Memories show. On the astral plane, at least. Astral energy doesn’t have any effect on the real world unless you change its form, like with telekinesis.” He gestured at his cot. “You could explode energy balls on my body all day, and it wouldn’t give me so much as a sunburn. And if my spirit was inside, instead of projected, it couldn’t be touched either.”
