The ground shook and a deafening roar was all that stopped Spirion from gleefully leaping over the brink of utter madness. There were soldiers scattered on all sides. Some were wearing dented and smashed armor. Others sightlessly stared in horror from where they lay. It took a moment to register that no weapon had made those neat rows of puncture wounds that nearly severed them in two. The blood was everywhere. His hands were slippery with the gruesome stuff. He saw his arms covered in seeping cuts. The pain slammed into him yet felt distant. Like it was happening to another person. Flickers of memory tore through his daze. A battle. Losing. Dying, but now he was not, or was he?
A flash of motion caught his eye through the smoke. A gray shape took form as the dragon stalked through the gaping breach in the wall. There had once been a hole and before that a set of doors, but now all that remained was a pile of rubble, the wall even was gone. The confusion dissipated as the dragon made its way over.
“I spared you and the ones that fought by your side because of your elven blood. Also because you were keeping the iron shells away from Setur. Explain yourself.” Spirion thought to shake his head his head, but even admitting existence unleashing a torrent of pain that coursed through his body. He knew that the dragon wanted an answer, but words were hard to come by with your body rigid with spasms of pain.
“The gold one said that he would let us into your village if we kept an eye on the sleeping dragon.” Elgis was barely able to stagger.
“I asked the elf.” Elgis didn’t seem to care when the dragon snarled at him.
“He is dead. Can't you see that? No one can survive wounds like that. He died protecting your dragon friend over there.” Spirion pondered the words. The pain had retreated and he was careful not to make the mistake of thinking about moving again. From where he lay, he could see Samir climbing down from her vantage point with Kliven. She briefly paused before turning away with sorrow in her eyes. Spirion wondered why. A moment later, he saw her propping a listless Sjad up. Her hands glowed strangely as she placed them on a bleeding gash over his gut. The blood ceased to flow and she turned to Elgis who shrugged her off and returned her attentions to drawing Sjad back from the edge of life and death. Odd that Samir had never mentioned being able to heal. He had known her for nearly an hour now. So near a lifetime.
“He still draws breath. Answer me elf. What is your purpose here?” The gray one hovered with her maw mere inches from Spirion’s face. He could nearly feel her hot breath. He could have if he weren’t so intent on ignoring what his body had to say. What it was distantly screaming.
“I might have been able to heal him if he wasn’t dead. Look at him. He has even stopped bleeding.” Samir ignored the dragons and stepped up to Spirion. She leaned down and looked into his eyes a moment before declaring him dead.
Spirion would have continued listening except he grew distracted. Being dead was not what he had expected. It seemed boring. Trapped and helpless. Doomed to watch without interacting. Something nudged at his thoughts. Something that didn’t feel like it belonged. As if turning away from a set of windows, he looked over his mental shoulder. There was a light. Drawn closer he saw a single stem growing from a dark, undefined, and misty floor. Above a small spray of fine leaves, a rose bloomed. The petals were red, except they emitted a light verging on green. Verging on green, red, white, yellow and blue. Looking at one petal, you could see one color of light yet shifting to another revealed a new shade. Looking back at the first petal discovered a new color. After coming to the realization that there was an infinite number of colors, something else caught his eye. A form dimly visible in the light from the rose. It drew closer until he recognized the face.
“Mother? You are here. We are both dead now.”
“No, my precious child. She is dead.” Spirion felt like a child again as she placed a tender kiss on his brow.
“But I heard them say I was dead.”
“They don’t understand.”
“I don’t understand. If you are dead and I am not, what is this place? How are you here?”
“I am not here. Nor there or anywhere.”
“I don’t understand, mother.”
“Peace my child. Look at the pretty flower. Don’t think about the rest of it. Forget the pain. Embrace the core.”
“But…”
“Everything is all right, my darling. I promise.” Content with the promise, Spirion focused on watching the fascinating shifts and subtle hues of the rose. All other sensation dimmed until the rose was all that existed. A glorious feast of color, it supplanted every sense. Smell was inundated with the scent of a thousand roses bursting into bloom under a summer sun. A fragrance so strong, he could taste it. The light grew until it blocked out the darkness, until it had enveloped him. It awakened memories of a happy life long forgotten, caressed his skin, as soothingly as his mother had when he was a child. He could even hear the light as melodious strains of music, like songs once known but now only hints of memory. At last, he gave himself over to the euphoria. Nothing else mattered. It couldn’t when the light encompassed his entire existence. The core, as Iliara had called it.
Chapter Nineteen: Learning
“I don’t understand. Why can’t I just heat the blade up?” Halden frowned at Em’risi in exasperation.
“Alvin nearly had his head bashed in by the angry weapon smith he took your last one to. I want you to heat the air around the blade without heating the blade. Heating the blade, like what you did, will destroy the temper and makes it too soft.” Em’risi narrowed her eyes on seeing Halden’s smirk. “In fact, until you can attain that level of control, you will be using this training weapon.”
“But it is wood! It will just burn up.” Halden said it with a tone that, while respectful, made it clear that he considered it a grievous oversight on Em’risi’s part.
“That is a good observation. See that it doesn’t burn up. I want it back when you are done and there had better not be a single singe mark.”
“But…” Halden stopped as Em’risi arched an eyebrow expectantly.
“You were saying?”
“Nothing, Princess. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I am sure that you didn’t. Practice with Carlisle and see if you can’t coat your blade in flames without burning it.” Em’risi watched Halden dejectedly walk towards the warder and begin sparring. Halden was obviously distracted and several of Carlisle’s blows made it through his halfhearted defense. Em’risi watched in frustration as she saw Halden’s energy flowing into the blunted wooden blade. There was a flash of fire that burned furiously for a second before Carlisle waved a hand over it. As fast as they had sprang into existence, the flames died and left a smoldering ruin of the practice blade. When he apprehensively looked at Em’risi, she merely pointed at the rack of spares she had purchased earlier.
“Picture the fire around the blade, but not touching it. Think of the blade as dipped in water and impervious to fire. A piece of ice in your hands.” Halden irritably picked up his fifth wooden blade and returned to Carlisle. This time, a thin nimbus of flames appeared around the blade. It wasn’t coating the blade. There was a hand span of space between the rod and an irregular cylinder of fitfully flickering flames. This collapsed in a fiery whirl a moment after when Carlisle broken his concentration by attacking.
“I can’t do it.” Halden absently traced a shape in the cobblestones until the charcoal blade crumbled.
“Nonsense. You have the idea. It will just take a little more practice.” Em’risi crossed her arms as Halden hesitated. He finally nodded before doing as she requested. He was an interesting one. He did not hesitate when she gave him a direct request or order, but when confronted with an unspoken order, or even one that wasn’t verbalized clearly, he had a way of acting like he decided to do what she wanted because he had thought of it himself. It would have driven some more overbearing individuals to near insanity, but Em’risi had no problem with letting her underlings think themselves the sou
rce of some breakthrough. It gave them confidence that they sorely needed if they were to have any hope of engaging the approaching army.
This time, Halden’s fire held a more controlled shape through a couple moves before dissolving. Em’risi knew from his delighted smile that he now thought her request to be attainable. The simple fact of having an unburnt blade in his hands was enough to give him the encouragement needed to continue. Halden had quickly picked up the basics of using his ability. Clothed in leather from head to toe, he was as fireproof as it was possible to get. As it was, there was a small heap of burnt leather at the corner of the courtyard and Halden’s trips to the water trough were frequent.
Amidst Em’risi’s contemplation of Halden, something tickled the edges of her consciousness. The fine line of her jaw became more defined as she grimly clenched her teeth. She knew it was Varis. He had been getting stronger at much the same pace as Halden. A glance out of the corner of her eye revealed him chatting amicably with Lesarovich on the far side of the courtyard. He seemed to be oblivious to her existence. She knew better, that he was studiously attempting to avoid paying her any attention. Tracing the pale energy, she was surprised to see it fairly well contained around him. Except for the one gossamer thin strand that snaked around the courtyard, over Landin where he sat suspending a dozen rocks the size of his head, and towards her head.
Em’risi could just have blocked it, there wasn’t many of Varis’ probes that couldn’t be summarily blocked. The few that couldn’t be blocked were easily dispelled in other ways. This one had hardly been detectable. Suppressing a mischievous smirk, Em’risi casually returned to watching Halden pick a new wooden blade out of the rack. Recently, she had discovered that her ability to sense energy in others was not limited to sight. She could detect the energy with any sense she tasked. Touch was to be avoided, it had an effect on the person whose energy she touched. Each type of energy had a distinctive tone, even when she couldn’t see a difference in color. The volume seemed to be in direct proportion to the strength being exercised. The timbre of the tone was related to the skill of the user. At first, the energy had been a cacophony of noise that confused her, but now it was becoming a melody composed of clear sharp tones. Some tones resonate with each other as more than one color was mixed together. Each person had a distinctive tone that could be picked out if she listened carefully. It was when she listened that a new sense revealed itself. Similar to sight yet not limited to her field of vision. She could see the energy around her on all sides in a way that defied explanation.
Finding Varis’ thread, she began twisting it away from herself. The tingling sensation disappeared as the energy twisted into a ball. She let Varis feed more energy into it in an attempt to continue feeling out her defenses. Em’risi let it grow until it was a dense lump before listening for other strains of sound. She could hear all the men assembled, but finally, when they had grown to a deafening level, she heard the faintly present tune at the edge of the courtyard. Animals, to her vision, had no energy yet to her newly developed senses, their energy was faintly detectable. Nothing more than the life energy, but present nonetheless.
Unable to hide the smirk any longer, Em’risi moved Varis’ pale energy towards the mouse. Forming a bubble around the minuscule creature, she hesitated a second before collapsing the bubble. Her concentration suddenly broke as she heard a loud squeak from the other side of the courtyard. Refocusing her eyes, she had to laugh as she saw Varis’ mortified expression and the hand clamped over his mouth. Every eye in the courtyard was fastened on him, but his eyes were intent on Em’risi with astonishment evident when the embarrassment wore off.
“You really should be more careful in the future about letting your energy wander. You never know what you might connect with.” Em’risi struggled to maintain the cool facade as Varis’ dark eyes widened in disbelief. “Iggy, how has your practice been going?” Em’risi regained the grasp on her composure as she put Varis out of her mind.
“I just learned something. Well, not just, it was actually a little while ago.” Em’risi recalled having seen some excited emanations from the man about an hour past.
“Would you care to show me?” Em’risi moved to the table and took her customary seat. Igarlin took the seat on the other side.
“Sure, can I see your ring?” Em’risi slipped the gold wrought oak tree set with a mass of tiny emeralds for leaves from her finger. Setting it in the outstretched hand she waited expectantly. A moment later, the ring began glowing. Small rays of light seemed to dance across the surface. With a look of intense concentration, Igarlin reached down and picked the ring up with his other hand when the glow had faded. When he handed back the ring, Em’risi frowned slightly in disappointment. Yesterday, Igarlin had simultaneously created a dozen marbles with his energy. This little display of lights was nothing in comparison. Em’risi’s disappointment faded when her fingers passed through the ring without disturbing the illusion. The glimmer’s energy seemed immune to her touch, quite the opposite of Varis’.
“That is impressive. Almost worth losing my favorite signet ring to see.” In truth it was worth it, but she wanted to instill a little caution in Iggy. It had been carelessness on both their parts, hers for giving the ring over so quickly and his for having reduced it to an illusion without bothering to ask.
“No, no, I didn’t destroy it.” Igarlin opened his first palm and revealed nothing. That was, until the ring ripple into existence. The trick of bending light around something to make it disappear was only a day old. Unfortunately, it only worked on something smaller than a fist. Now he held both the illusionary ring and the real one. One was indistinguishable from the other unless she tried touching the illusion.
“That is impressive… Can you do anything else with it?” Igarlin smiled as if he had been waiting for her to ask. She watched the illusionary ring that he held in his left hand as tendrils of Igarlin’s energy wreathed it for a moment. When the light faded, he dropped them both into her hand. Surprisingly, the illusion had weight. She could feel the cool metal against her skin. In wonder Em’risi picked them both up and examined them. There was no longer the illusion of two rings, but both were identical in every way. They weighed the same when she hefted them. Each of the tiny emeralds glittered with the same brilliance. Even the fingerprints from when she had handed the ring over in the first place had no discernable difference. This realization caused her to furrow her brow.
“Which one is the real one?” Igarlin’s excited smile vanished. Worry took its place. He took the rings back and examined them again, but from his growing scowl, he wasn’t able to tell them apart either. First one glowed, then the other. Illusions appeared then disappeared.
“I don’t know. They… they are the same.” There was a catch in his voice and a blanched pale to his cheek as he looked up. Em’risi allayed his fears with a smile. No real damage had been done. At best, she now had a spare of her favorite signet ring. At worst, the jeweler that had cast it would be irked to know a superb forgery existed. Tapping into her enhanced senses, Em’risi examined the rings. One was emanating an exceedingly faint essence similar to some of the hues in Landin’s colors. The other hummed faintly with Igarlin’s energy. Taking the second ring, she rapped it sharply against the tabletop. At first nothing happened but a moment later and it dissolved into a fine dust that evaporated in a twist of the breeze.
“Tell me about it. I can’t quite see how you are doing it beyond a glow at first.” Igarlin seemed to shake himself out of his apprehension as Em’risi slipped the real ring safely back on her finger.
“If I concentrate on something, I can see it in my head. Every detail of it is in focus. I can even see if there are any defects under the surface. In the ring, there is a softer seam where the metal flowed together in the mold. I once watched a goldsmith make a ring. As long as I am holding on to the original, I can make the illusion without any difficulty. I can even form it easily.”
“As long as you are holding
it?” Em’risi absently asked as she thought about the illusions that the glimmer had been able to conjure. Most appeared real enough, if one didn’t look very close.
“I can still do it without working too hard if I am holding it again.”
“Can you make another ring?” Em’risi frowned slightly as the idea occurred to her of a dozen signet rings running about.
“Yes… but it won’t be the same.” Igarlin called forth another illusionary ring between his thumb and forefinger. It looked the same yet once it had been formed, Em’risi could see that it was a poor replica. The smooth metal was rippled and the emeralds cloudy. Only a light tap was required on the tabletop to dispel it.
“Iggy, I wonder… Alvin, can I borrow one of your arrows?” In response, Em’risi’s bodyguard flicked a wrist and a shaft rose from his quiver. A moment later it was deposited on the table before her. “Iggy, do you think you could make a copy of this?”
“Sure, Princess, it takes more to make metal than it does to make wood. Lighter metals are easier. I could make three iron rings for every gold one like yours. Wood is ten times easier than metal.” Like the ring, Igarlin held the arrow and furrowed his brow. The diminutive beams of light danced across the arrow like the reflection cast on the wall by a shattered mirror. A few seconds had passed and there was only a dim glow left of the pinpricks of light. After hearing Igarlin’s explanation and knowing what to look for, Em’risi wasn’t surprised to see most of the energy flowed into the making of the iron arrow head. He quickly formed a half dozen before realizing that Alvin had left off his earlier activities and was watching his actions intently.
Chronicles of Den'dra: A land on Fire Page 37
