Rindu started walking back toward the door. When he was twenty feet from the first pot, he stopped and turned around. He looked at Sam. “This is your lesson today, Sam. Please watch closely and I will explain.”
Rindu closed his eyes briefly and took a long, slow breath. Then he opened his eyes and fixed it on the pot twenty feet ahead of him. He made a quick gesture with his right hand, flicking the wrist as if striking something with the heel of his palm. The pot shattered.
Sam had seen the pulse of rohw energy as a flash of light. It was impressive that Rindu could project it far enough to damage something twenty feet away. Impressive, but not unexpected. He had seen the man do so many amazing things in the time he had been with him, this didn’t seem to be outside the realm of possibility. Maybe he was just becoming jaded.
Rindu looked at him and raised one eyebrow. “Did you see the rohw?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Can you duplicate this feat?”
“No,” Sam said, but then added, “I mean, I can try.”
“You will,” Rindu said, a lightness in his voice. “But not yet. That is not the lesson I would teach you.”
The monk faced the next pot, thirty feet from him. He repeated the process, shattering that pot as well. Sam was a little more impressed. Thirty feet was a fair distance over which to project energy like that.
Without speaking further, Rindu faced the third pot. His face grew more intense. He closed his eyes, as before, took a breath, and made the same gesture as he released his breath. The pot, forty feet away, made a thunking noise and swung on its chain as if pushed.
Rindu frowned.
The Zouy planted his feet—both pointing forward and parallel—breathed in a deep, slow breath and let it out. Then, he breathed in again deeply. His eyes slowly opened and he put his hand up, moving it slightly as if to track the swinging pot. In a sudden burst of exhaled air, he flicked his wrist again, harder than before, and the pot shattered. Sam was more impressed with this.
“As you can see,” Rindu said, “that is the limit of my abilities to project my rohw forcefully enough to break the pot. In order to increase the distance, I must have more power. But from where can I get this power? Is not the universe full of rohw energy? Should I not be able to snatch just a bit more for my purpose?”
“Not if you have reached your limit,” Sam said.
“Good. You are correct. It is not the lack of rohw that is available, but my ability to utilize it. In order to do so, I must be more than what I am. I must somehow increase myself, increase my abilities. But how can I do this?”
“Um,” Sam said, figuring he knew where this was going, “harmony?”
“You are correct,” Rindu said, clapping Sam on the shoulder. “But who is there for me to harmonize with?” he asked, looking around the room.
“Me,” Sam said with a sigh. “What must I do, Master Rindu?”
“Ah. Thank you for volunteering, you among all those here.” Rindu’s smirk made Sam war with himself over whether he wanted to laugh or growl. “I will gather as much rohw as I can hold. You will try to join with my rohw, try to become one with me and that which I hold. If you do it correctly, you should be able to shatter the last pot, using your energy as well as my own. When two come into harmony with each other, they are more than either alone. Their rohw is added to that of the other, making it possible for them to perform feats neither could do by themselves.”
Sam tried to meld with Rindu. He entered the khulim and found his teacher’s mind easily enough, but he flailed about, trying to come into harmony with him. After trying over and over again, he was becoming frustrated.
“Stop,” Rindu said. “I will be honest with you, Sam, I cannot understand why it is so difficult for you to do this. It is my failing that I cannot give you better direction. Perhaps if I show you how to accomplish it, from the other side, you may understand better.
“I want you to gather rohw into yourself, as much as you can hold. Gather it from the surroundings, from the heat of the fires, from me if you wish. Gather it and hold it. Do not attempt to use it in any way.”
Sam nodded. He was already doing as instructed before Rindu finished speaking.
Rindu breathed in deeply and then let loose with a burst of rohw so powerful, Sam could see the flash behind his closed eyes. He opened them just in time to see the pot shatter and fragments spray far enough to hit the walls on either side.
“What did you feel, just before I shattered the pot?” Rindu asked.
“I felt a calmness, like the stillness of the water in a deep well,” Sam said. “I felt intent and then execution just before I sensed the flash and then saw the pot explode.”
“Do you believe you could reproduce the feeling if we tried again, with you trying to come into harmony with me?” Rindu asked.
“Yes, let’s try.”
He tried for another hour, but was never able to get the feeling back. “I don’t know why I can’t do it. It’s like something inside me is blocking it. I’m trying, Master Rindu. I really am.”
“I know, Sam,” the Zouy said. “Let us stop for now. I will meditate upon it this evening and see if I can determine what it is that I need to do to make you see the way. Disciples practice these exercises when they are very young. Perhaps since you were an adult when you began learning to use the rohw, your mind finds something foreign or objectionable about joining with another’s energy. We will solve this mystery, though it may take time. For now, we must clean up our mess. As it is said, ‘cleanliness is beside religion.’ You will find brooms in the cabinet. Please take two out and help me get these shards together.”
When they had returned to the part of the keep Sam knew and Rindu had gone his own way—back to his own room—he headed to where Nalia would be. Doing some sparring would be just the thing to clear his head of the disappointment of not being able to do what Rindu asked. He hoped the Zouy would figure out what was wrong. Sam knew what he was being taught was important. It also bothered him that he couldn’t seem to learn what children learned to do in the temple. What if his life depended on this skill someday? He would need to master it. But how?
Chapter 50
The morning dawned gray and cold. Sam, Nalia, and Ix gathered their supplies and bundled into their cold-weather clothes and cloaks and headed back to the last spot on their journey. It was Sutow-Rup, the second month of winter and things could get chilly, even this far south.
The first jump brought them to an area with rolling hills and folds in the land. It made Sam think of a massive sheet that had been billowed out and then allowed to settle back down lightly, causing patterns that were smooth and pleasing to the eye. The vegetation was thinning, so Sam could see the terrain for miles in any direction through the trees.
After the second jump of the morning, Sam could see some kind of city or town in the distance.
“What is that city?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s Somas,” Ix answered. “It’s a small town, with less than a hundred people, mostly relying on trade for their living.”
“Somas,” Sam said, trying the word out on his tongue.
“We should make it to the town on our mounts, instead of teleporting there,” Nalia suggested. “We do not want to be seen displaying such abilities.”
“Good idea,” Sam said. “Let’s get off the road and I’ll go back and get them. It will only take me a few minutes once I have learned this place.”
In less than an hour, the three had their mounts. Nalia and Sam had their rakkeben and Ix had a manu bird named Feather. It was an ironic name, Sam thought, considering the bird was the fattest manu he had ever seen.
As they neared the town, which seemed to spring up in the middle of the hills and folds in the land, it was obvious something was amiss. People were scrambling everywhere and there was damage to some of the buildings, including two that looked to have been on fire. The scent of wet, charred wood reached the trio as they came
to the outskirts of Somas.
People stared at them as they made their way to a building that seemed to be a tavern, as indicated by the bright green door. Being a trade town, Sam knew it wasn’t just that they were strangers that caused the others to take special notice of them. Something had happened to make the townspeople wary.
“Excuse me,” Ix said to a man hurrying by. “but what happened here? Is there trouble?”
The man rushed by without a word. Ix sniffed.
The next two people she asked acted in the same way. Her mouth pressed into a straight line and her jaw clenched.
“You,” she said as a young man passed her. He was close to a foot taller than the assassin, and Sam was sure he outweighed her by nearly two to one, but Ix grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him toward her. “What has happened here? Why is everyone ignoring me?”
The young man’s eyes widened at her audacity and a look of shock and fear ran across his face. He looked down and his expression settled into a more neutral one. “Sorry, miss,” he said, ducking his head. “There was trouble earlier and everyone is still recovering. We mean no disrespect.”
“That’s fine,” Ix said, eyeing him coolly. “What kind of trouble was it?”
“A large group of people came through here early yesterday. Or should I say, they started to come through early yesterday?” He fidgeted as if he wanted to escape. “It was an army, an honest-to-goodness army. The leader, some woman—a woman!—talked with the traders here and purchased a few things, but we didn’t have what she was most looking for: food. We trade but we don’t have many farms of our own. Being a small town, we didn’t have nearly the amounts she wanted.
“She wasn’t too pleased at that, but she didn’t cause trouble, either. She and those with her continued through the town and out the other side, heading east. It wasn’t until later that there were problems.
“The force took a long time to go through the town. As they passed, most of them minded their own business and just continued marching. Toward the end of the procession, though, were a few troublemakers. They demanded strong drink and began to get grabby with the town’s women, including the carpenter’s daughter. When he intervened to protect her, one of the soldiers killed him where he stood. Then everything went crazy, townsfolk and soldiers fighting, people dying—mostly us—and some of the soldiers started looting and setting fires.
“They didn’t stick around. It wasn’t because they were afraid of us. I think it was because they didn’t want to get behind in the march. I don’t think that woman who is their leader would have been happy with them falling behind. We just finally got the last of the fires out and we’re trying to figure out who is missing and what was taken.”
Sam looked at Nalia and at Ix. The former was expressionless, though he could see the fire in her eyes. The latter had a pinched expression on her face. “Thank you,” Ix said. “I won’t keep you any longer.”
The young man ducked his head again and took off at a brisk walk.
While the man was giving them the news, Sam saw that others had noticed them. As they headed toward the tavern’s door, three older men were coming directly toward them. Sam took Ix’s lead, dismounted, and went into the building.
All around them, there were pieces that had been tables, benches, and chairs as little as a day before. The three had no sooner settled in at one of the few remaining tables in the common room when the townfolk pursuing them came through the door. Ix waved to a man with an apron to get his attention.
“Good afternoon,” one of the men said. He was tall, lanky, and had the silliest hairstyle Sam had ever seen. His black hair was long on top and was combed over to his left side, where it covered part of his eye and hung over his left ear. The hair all along the sides and back of his head was shorn short. “I’m Stumin Kile, mayor of Somas.”
“Good afternoon, Mayor,” Ix said.
“I hate to be rude,” the mayor said, “but seeing as we just had a traumatic experience with strangers, I owe it to the people of Somas to ask about you and your intent. I hope you understand.”
“It’s no problem,” Ix said, “we are not here to cause problems. One of your citizens was kind enough to explain what happened. We are sorry to hear you had troubles with outsiders.”
“That’s very kind of you. May I ask your names and your purpose for being here?”
“My name is Ix,” she said. “My friends are Nalia Wroun and Sam Sharp. We are merely—”
“Sam Sharp?” the man said, his eyes growing wide. He eyed Sam’s staff. “The Sam Sharp?”
Ix looked the mayor over as if he was an apple she was thinking of purchasing. “I’m not sure if he is the Sam Sharp, but he’s the only one I know with that name.”
“You pardon,” Stumin Kile said. “I have family in the west, in Bayton. We keep in touch by writing letters that we pay traders and other travelers to carry for us. I just received a very long letter about some important events along the coast. Turns out that a tyrant who had been spreading his influence far and wide was overthrown. The name of the hero who performed the task was Sam Sharp.”
Sam tsked. The mayor looked at him, an offended expression on his face.
“I’m sorry,” Sam said. “That wasn’t meant for you. I just keep hearing about how I’m the one responsible when I did very little myself. My friends, Nalia here and her father, mostly, along with my hapaki friend Skitter, were the heroes. I was just along for the ride. I don’t know how the stories got it so wrong.”
The offended expression left the mayor’s face, replaced by a smile. “It is you. Oh, what a great honor. Wait until I tell my brother about this.”
Sam wondered why he couldn’t seem to explain to others what really happened. He felt his face warming. Well, there was no use in trying to change the man’s mind. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“Have you come to defeat the army that passed through here?” the mayor asked him.
“No, not right now, though we are working against the leader of the army, Ayim Rasaad.”
Stumin Kiles beamed. “That’s wonderful. Towns and villages the size of Somas are no match for a force that large. Many cities are not even a match for such an army. The letter I received said something about a new government, one that is unified. Is it true? Is such a thing being set up?”
“It is,” Nalia said. “As we speak, Dr. Walt is discussing it with leaders from many different areas, trying to create a government that will benefit all.”
“I received no notice, no invitation,” the mayor said. “Is it only for larger populations? Do small towns have no say?”
“Oh, it’s not that,” Sam said. “It’s just that it takes time for news to spread. Dr. Walt is concentrating on local areas. If he waited for all of Gythe to hear and respond, nothing would happen for years. All towns, villages, and cities are welcome to take part. No matter what size.”
“Wonderful. I will send a letter immediately. No, I will go myself, just as soon as I am able to get things under control here.”
“I’m sure Dr. Walt would love to have your input and support,” Sam said. “In fact, I think I can help you to get there much sooner than you would expect.” He explained briefly to the man about his ability, and Ix’s, to teleport instantly to Whitehall. Sam offered to take him back with them when they finished their traveling for the day.
“That would be grand, and very much appreciated. It will take me a few days to do what I need to do here, however.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Sam said as looking at Ix and Nalia. They both nodded. “When we are done traveling for the day, we can stop back here and bring you with us when we go back to Whitehall. Then, you can discuss whatever you like with Dr. Walt and when we start traveling again tomorrow morning, we’ll drop you back here before setting out. You won’t be gone for more than one night.”
“Is such a thing possible?” Stumin asked.
“It is,” Ix answered. “That is how we have been trav
eling. We return to Whitehall each evening and sleep in our own beds.”
The mayor bought the three drinks the man with the apron brought them and discussed the new government with them. Sam peppered him with questions about Rasaad and her army also, but the mayor didn’t know much more than the man they talked to earlier. He soon took his leave, his two shadows following closely, telling Sam where to find him when they returned.
Sam finished his drink with a smile. “That was fortuitous. Dr. Walt will appreciate an ally this far out. The more people involved in the new government, the better.”
Ix and Nalia agreed. The three went outside, mounted, and headed out of town. When they were out of sight, Sam memorized the location so he could return in the evening, then Ix took over, jumping to the next location.
When they appeared in the middle of the road at their next stop, Sam noticed immediately that things were different.
“We’re ahead of them,” he said plainly, looking at the roadway that had just a few wheel tracks and a handful of impressions from the beasts that had pulled the carts or wagons.
“Yes, or they left the road and are taking another way.” Ix said. “Now we can set the pace. We should easily be able to make it to Iboghan before Rasaad does.”
There was enough time before sundown for two more jumps. The terrain Sam needed to memorize had transformed to a flatter geography with fewer trees. In fact, it was starting to look to Sam as if it was the Southwestern desert climate he was accustomed to seeing in this part of his own world, though he had never imagined it as being so cold. Then again, there had been some cold days and nights at his home in the desert, too.
“There aren’t many trees here,” he pointed out.
“It is so,” Nalia said. “I have not seen such a lack of vegetation before in Gythe. Is the land sick?”
Ix as shaking her head. “No. It’s just the way it is. It is drier here, with little rainfall. I have seen areas like this before. I don’t think I would like living where there are no trees.”
Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set Page 90
