Wings of Arian

by Walls, Devri

  “You told Eleana that it wasn’t too tight.”

  “It’s not. I told you every muscle in my body is killing me!” he groaned, trying again.

  Kiora jumped up to help. She took his jacket and pulled it tighter around so that he could get his arms in it.

  “There, you big baby,” she laughed smoothing down the front of his jacket.

  “This morning you were worried that I wasn’t going to make it, and now I am a big baby?”

  She shrugged again, ‘I only speak the truth.”

  He leaned in and kissed her. “I don’t believe you.”

  “That’s too bad because…”

  He kissed her again.

  “Because if you don’t believe me...”

  He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her again.

  “Are you... trying.... to get me to shut up?” she asked between kisses.

  “Yes!” he exclaimed holding her at arm’s length grinning. “Why isn’t it working?”

  Smiling, she leaned into him, kissing him back. It was slow and sweet and exactly what she needed after the last two nights.

  He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For staying with me.”

  She didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to. They both knew she would do it again.

  “We had better get going,” Emane said, kissing her one more time. “I have a feeling this is going to be a long day.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  THE ELEMENTS

  THERE WAS A LONG table in the center of the practice room covered in an array of objects and a few chairs placed around in no particular order.

  “What is all this stuff?” Emane asked, walking along the table. There were small stones, a glass full of water, a dagger, a container of sand, a stack of paper, and a bug in a jar.

  “I will explain, but first I need Kiora to summon the Book of Arian as well as Emane’s weapons.” It wasn’t but a few seconds before she held the book in her hand with the chest of weapons sitting at her feet. Smiling at Kiora Eleana remarked, “You’re getting faster.”

  Emane stood examining the bug in a jar. It was possibly the largest insect he had ever seen, black and red and none to friendly looking. As if in response to his thoughts, the thing hissed at him. Emane jumped back.

  “Kiora and Emane, please have a seat.” Eleana said. “There is much about magic that neither of you understand. Before I try to teach you how to use it I need you to understand it.” She waited for the two to find their seats before continuing. “Magic affects each person differently. Outside magic, such as what you are wearing, Emane, acts differently than internal magic, such as Kiora’s. All magic is completely unpredictable in how it will present itself. The best example I can think of to help you understand this is human talents.”

  “Everyone is gifted, some more than others,” she expounded. “For some, their talents seem innumerable, others may have just one. Some may have a talent for sword fighting, but be far outmatched by someone else with a superior skill for sword fighting. Magic can be as small as being able to make an object move, to as grand as what Kiora is capable of. Magical beings are usually skilled in specific areas and weaker in others. Our friends, the Shapeshifters, are phenomenally gifted in changing their physical appearances. They can also slightly alter their threads. However, they are dreadful shield makers, and their bubbles are weak and short lived regardless of what form they have chosen. Aleric is skilled in many areas, yet lacks superiority in them. He also has no healing ability, so he depends more on potions to make up for his lack of gift in that area.” Moving to the table, she waved her hand over the array.

  “Today I have brought in different elements of nature to test where your natural abilities may lie. It is also likely that the magic you have received will work to amplify your natural non magical abilities, such as your fighting,” she added giving a nod to Emane. “We would like to test that. We will be entering into a great battle sooner than I would like and it is important that you know where your limitations lie. It is also paramount that you understand what you can do and what you need to do it. We will start with the elements. Fire, wind, water and earth. There are two groups that have been known to be able to control all the elements. The first group is called the Chaoses, they earned their name by being able to control all the forces of nature

  “The Chaoses?” Emane said shifting in his chair, “There are creatures that can control all of nature?”

  “The Chaoses haven’t been seen here in sometime,” Eleana said. “And the other group you know quite well. The second group has always been that of the Solus. Kiora is proving to be no exception to that rule. The rest of the magical community is usually left with no more than two elements; sometimes none.

  “What about you, can you control all of them?” Kiora asked.

  “I can, but I am an exception to many rules.”

  Emane sighed and rubbed his head, it was all ready starting to pound and they had just started. “Have I mentioned that I hate all these exceptions?”

  “I will have Kiora show you what I need you to do, and then we will begin.”

  She took half of the stack of paper and laid it on the stone floor. “Kiora I would like you to start a fire.”

  Kiora stood. “You just want me to do it?”

  “Explain what you are doing while you go through the motions.”

  Holding out her hand she explained, “First, I see it in my mind, what I want it to do, as if it were already accomplished. Then I focus, allowing the magic to leave my body. I can feel it leaving through my finger tips and...” the paper ignited into flames.

  Emane looked at the burning pile on the floor wanting to laugh. Those were his instructions? Grabbing the rest of the paper he dropped it on the floor next to Kiora’s burning pile. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes he mumbled, “Ok, see it in my mind.” Breathing in through his nose, he cleared himself of every thought but fire. “Then I focus on allowing the magic to leave my body,” he repeated. Next, he became conscious of the foreign substance wrapped around his arm. It pulsed, moving through him, aching to be released. Rolling his shoulders he tried to relax, willing it to move to his fingers. Despite his anxiousness, the magic would not move. Frowning he pushed harder, trying to force it in the direction he wanted it to go. It responded, moving down his arm several times but would stop just below his elbow and snap back. “How do I know if it’s just not working or if am doing something wrong?” he asked irritably trying again to force his magic into submission.

  “You won’t at first. Once you use it for the first time you will be able to feel the difference. Let’s move on. This one will be new for Kiora as well. It may be good for you to watch her learning a new skill.”

  Emane fought hard not to roll his eyes. Watching her learn a new skill would do nothing other than emphasize how fast she learned. If Eleana was going for motivation, she had missed the mark.

  “We are going to be working with wind. Kiora, I would like you to read with Emane how Arian suggests you control it. Let me know when you are ready.”

  Kiora opened the book. “Controlling Wind,” she said. The books pages began to turn until it found the desired topic.

  There are creatures of magic that are capable of controlling the elements. The elements of nature are a powerful weapon; more powerful than any weapons man has conceived. You must learn how to control, counteract and reverse such powers. A Solus is able to command these elements but must always do so with extreme caution. Even in situations that seem controlled, things can go horribly awry.

  The first element is Wind. To control wind you must see it and understand it as a substance: something that can be molded and controlled. You must use your hands to help direct the wind in the way you need it to go. You may also use your hands to soften or increase the force. To soften or decrease a strong wind you must use your magic to soothe the force. Use your hands to make it smalle
r and more manageable. To increase the wind you need to imagine it getting larger, more powerful. You will need to urge the winds to increase with your hands. Once you have increased it, you may direct it where you would like it to go. You can also mold the wind into funnel clouds when needed.

  “That’s it?” Emane asked. “They want you to control wind and that is all the instruction you get?”

  “Aleric tells me that these instructions are remarkably clear,” Kiora said, shutting the book and laying it on an empty chair.

  “I bet he did.”

  “If you are both ready we will begin,” Eleana announced from across the room. “Emane, I apologize for this,” she added, “but we are running out of time.”

  As Eleana raised her arms Kiora realized her intentions. Turning to Emane she yelled, “SIT DOWN!”

  Emane sat down abruptly, wondering what was about to happen. He didn’t have to wonder long, the wind hit him full force. He gripped the sides of his chair and wrapped his ankles around the legs to keep from being torn from his seat. Kiora did not fare so well, she went flying across the room, slamming into the wall.

  “Kiora!” he yelled but his voice was swept away by the swirling winds. He tried to get up but the wind shoved him firmly back down in his chair. Straining, he turned his head in Kiora’s direction to see her still pinned against the wall. Her eyes were shut, her dark hair twisting around her face. She was struggling to get her hands out in front of her, trying to calm the winds.

  Just as he thought the wind was responding to Kiora’s direction and releasing him from his four legged prison, Eleana forced more wind into the room, pushing him back into his chair. There was nothing he could do as the wind lifted him into the air, flipping him out onto the ground.

  Sliding across the floor, he grasped at the smooth polished stone. He too slammed against the wall with one arm wedged behind him. Kiora was pinned a good six feet above, her eyes now open and flashing in anger. Throwing one arm into the wind she shouted something that he could not hear over the roaring in his ears, and then it stopped. The pressure was gone and he saw the wind almost as tangible as Arian had said it was, hurtling back towards Eleana. It shoved her forcefully into the opposite wall. A second later Kiora hit the ground with a thud, crying out in agony.

  Pushing himself partially up, Emane scrambled over to her. “Kiora, are you ok?”

  “No,” she moaned, leaning her head back against the wall. “I think I broke my foot.”

  “Let me see.”

  Kiora shied away, swatting at his hand. “No, please! It hurts too bad.”

  “Kiora listen,” he tried to speak softly to calm her nerves, “I know it hurts, but we have to look at it. I know what I am doing.”

  “How could you know what you are doing!? How many times have you broken your foot?” She snapped and then moaned again in pain.

  “Kiora, I don’t have time to argue with you. Medicine is one thing I did actually pay attention to in class.” He gently took her foot in his hands, “Now relax. I need to get this boot off and the more tense you are the harder it will be.” Opening the laces as wide as they would go, he gently pulled it off. She winced in pain. “I’m sorry, were almost there.” He peeled off her sock as gingerly as he could. It did not look good; her foot was already beginning to swell and was turning purple. Very gently he placed his hand underneath her heel to move it into a better position for him to wrap it, but as he touched her skin he could feel the magic begin to hum inside of him. It moved rapidly down his arm and into his fingertips. Jerking his hand back he looked at it dumbfounded. What had just happened? He heard Kiora exhale.

  “I was not expecting that,” Eleana’s voice came over his shoulder.

  Emane quickly forgot his hand as the anger rose within him, he wanted to jump up and confront Eleana about what she had just done, but didn’t want to risk jolting Kiora’s foot. Instead he spoke through clenched teeth. “You could have killed her slamming her into the wall like that!”

  “I was in control of the wind speed Emane, she was fine.”

  “Fine?” his head whipped around. It was her calm that infuriated him the most. “This does not look fine!”

  Eleana fixed onto him with her blue eyes, her expression the usual mask of neutrality. “She needed to know what she will be faced with if Dralazar ever gets his hands on a Chaos or if he decides to unleash the elements on her himself. Kiora did a wonderful job as usual, that is not what surprised me. You are.”

  Emane clamped his teeth together so tight his jaw was beginning to hurt. “I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t even get out of my chair.” Once again, as a Protector he had proved useless, even with magic wrapped around his arm.

  “No, but we have discovered one of your gifts. You, Emane, are a healer.”

  “What?” Emane asked.

  “When you touched her injury your magic flowed without you forcing it, and her pain stopped.” Emane looked up at Kiora who smiled and nodded. “I suspect you are a healer. I need you to touch her foot again. See it healing in your mind, the damage being repaired. Allow the magic to flow.”

  Staring at Kiora’s foot, his mind raced. Surely what Eleana was asking him to do was not possible. But he wanted it to be. If it were true he could take Kiora’s pain away, he could heal her. Gently he laid his hands on Kiora’s foot and closed his eyes. He imagined her foot whole again. No bruising or swelling. He imagined her bones mending themselves. He could feel the magic flowing again just as it had when he had touched her the first time, down his arms and out his fingertips.

  “Wow,” Kiora whispered.

  Emane opened his eyes and looked down, her foot was perfect, no sign of damage.

  She wiggled her toes in delight. “You did it! It doesn’t hurt at all.”

  Emane pulled his hand back, staring at her foot as she wiggled it this way and that. It wasn’t possible and yet...

  Eleana put her hand on his shoulder. “You could not have hoped for a more useful and needed magical ability.”

  Kiora was walking around the room on her newly healed foot giggling at each step she took.

  “How many healers are there?” Emane asked, watching Kiora prance around like a child that had just discovered her own feet.

  “Very few. It is rare. The Guardians have more than most species, but even within that community there is only a handful.”

  “Can Kiora heal?”

  “No.”

  “Why me?” The Prince was stunned.

  “I suspect it is because of your strong desire to protect and care for her. Love will do strange things to magic.”

  Love… he had not allowed himself to think of that yet. “Will I be able to heal everyone, or just Kiora?”

  “I suspect you will be able to heal anything you truly care about. Maybe even those you don’t, there is no way to know yet.”

  Emane was dumbfounded. He had no control whatsoever over fire or wind, but he had just healed a broken foot in a few seconds. Kiora forced him out of his stupor flinging her arms around his neck.

  “Thank you, you are my hero,” she laughed.

  “And you are mine,” he said wrapping his arms around her waist. “Thank you for getting that wind off of me, that was amazing.”

  “Truly, Kiora,” Eleana said, “that was an impressive burst you turned back on me.”

  “It took me a while,” she said scowling.

  “No, it took you one time. I don’t recall how many times it took Arian. To be frank, I stopped keeping track.”

  Kiora laughed, “Seriously?”

  “Of course,” Eleana said with a straight face before abruptly changing subjects. “The both of you need to eat.” She ushered them out of the room, reminding them how to get to the main hall, where they had had their first meal amongst the Shifters. “I will meet you back here after lunch, I have some things I need to attend to.”

  Emane wondered if by ‘things’ she had meant Dralazar. There had been no mention of what was going on above gr
ound since they had arrived.

  After lunch the work began again, this time with earth.

  Eleana held out a container of sand and the handful of pebbles. “Commanding the earth element can be as simple as moving small stones to creating earthquakes.”

  “You can create earthquakes?” Emane asked stunned. This war was getting more dangerous by the second.

  “I can, although I never would. The consequences of an earthquake spread far beyond the desired target.”

  “But the Chaoses would?” Kiora asked.

  “Yes, although I do not expect you will come across them anytime soon. Now, I would like you to try to move either the stones or the sand. Emane, you go first.”

  “I thought Kiora was showing me how it was done.”

  “She was, until you felt the difference between what worked and what was not going to work. You have felt the difference. Now please…” She extended her hands out to Emane.

  He stood in front of the two items and tried to imagine some movement from the pebbles. He focused on the magic and willed it to raise the stones into the air. He felt the magic moving but it felt slow and sluggish, like molasses oozing down his arm. It continued past his elbows and down into his hands. The further down it moved the thicker and slower it seemed to get until he could move it no more. It sat there, stuck right before his fingertips. Emane growled in frustration.

  “How am I supposed to understand this when every time it feels different!?” He closed his eyes again and willed it onward. “It’s so close, but it won’t move,” he grunted.

  “How close?” Eleana asked.

  “It’s right at my fingertips.” His frustration was growing. “I can’t get it to move past my elbow for wind, it practically jumps out of my arm into Kiora’s foot and now I feel like I have molasses moving through me!” He had moved past frustration into anger. “This is ridiculous.” He flung his hand and the stones went hurtling across the room. Emane’s face fell slack watching the stones clatter to the floor.

  “Did I do that?” His eyes lit with the possibility.

  “You did,” Eleana spoke through thin lips. “It is not something to be proud of.”