“Really, Alex? I thought you may have found something useful,” Gaby said, her face betraying a mix of anger and amusement.
“I’m trying, but I’m distracted. At first, I didn’t understand its attacking pattern and then realized that it absorbed my attacks and got stronger and…” Alex’s eyes opened wide as saucers, the smile disappearing from his face. “That’s it!”
“Oh dear Heavens,” Gaby said, cringing. “He has an idea.”
“Is that bad?” Fionn asked her, confused.
“Alex having an idea is a wondrous and dangerous proposition at the same time,” Gaby replied. “It can work perfectly or blow up in his face. Most of the time it’s both.”
“Excuse me, I have to go and check some books inside. I just hope this place truly holds all the knowledge available.” Alex ran away from them and into the library.
“For what?” Gaby called after him.
“I think I found Byron’s weakness,” Alex replied with a wink.
† † †
Gaby and Fionn were eating the fruit that the gardens of Ravenhall offered. Most looked and tasted like regular fruit like applelimes and oranges. Others, such as a pear-shaped fruit with a rugose skin, tasted like recently baked bread. Smaller, round red fruit, whose skin felt like wax, hid a soft filling inside that tasted like cheese. The water from the fountain was clean and with some creativity from Fionn, he improvised a decent meal for him and Gaby. Alex hadn’t been seen in almost a day since he disappeared into the library.
“Who would have thought that the trees in this place are basically magickal vending machines?” Gaby asked, taking a bite of an improvised cheese sandwich. “It even has full bathrooms, which I’m thankful for.”
“Well, this place was built by the Trickster Goddess and she is renowned for her peculiar sense of humor. I wouldn’t be surprised if the place shared that trait. After all, you can’t pass a test by the Goddess if you are starving,” Fionn replied, munching an applelime and looking around the place. He heard the sound of footsteps approaching quickly. Fionn turned his head around and saw Alex run towards them, his hands full of parchments and a black, obsidian cube with azure light lines running through it.
“Seems that the genius is back,” Fionn pointed at Alex.
“Where have you been and why did it take you so long? Have you eaten something? Please tell me that you had a bath.” Gaby bombarded Alex with questions before smacking him slightly on the head.
“Relax, Mom,” Alex told her. “I was busy looking for this.” He put the parchments on the floor and expanded them, holding them in place with the weight of the cube. The first set of parchments were diagrams of the dreadnought, including all of its systems. Alex then rolled a second set, which had depictions of the Bestial.
“What’s that?” Fionn asked, pointing at the black cube on the floor. Alex had grabbed a sandwich and was eating it.
“Some kind of data crystal, far more advanced than what we have at the university. Anyway, it has a digital copy of many of the books here and that made the search easy. And I’m right,” Alex replied smugly, grabbing an applelime from their pile of fruit.
“About what?” Gaby asked.
“I was thinking. Fionn, you healed after you got away from him when you were falling. A few seconds after he dumped you. It means that he didn’t nullify your Gift. He was just absorbing it. A subtle difference with massive implications.” Alex mimicked the motion of an explosion with his hands. “This is my theory: Ywain was the one who fought him first on purpose. Byron used that fight to drain him dry. He took away Ywain’s entire Gift. It explains why, according to my granddad, his father had health problems later on. Ywain never fully recovered. Byron used that excess energy to beat you all. That’s why he seemed to be so unstoppable back then. But like a battery, he lost charge over the years. Now, he is recharging again. That’s why you felt like your Gift stopped working. He is siphoning it.”
“Are you sure?” Fionn was pondering what Alex was saying. It made sense, even if he didn’t feel the energy leaving him when he was facing Byron. And Ywain had the habit of using too much energy during his fights; he was almost a living battery. Byron had used that against him. Fionn needed to keep him away from Gaby and Alex.
“Can’t be one hundred percent sure but it makes sense. Otherwise, you would be dead,” Alex said, still smiling. “But if I’m right, I think we have a way to beat him. If Hunt’s notes were right and Byron is trying to fuse the Bestial with the dreadnought, he would have to merge with it as well to control it, right? That means that the core of the ship would become Byron’s heart, giving us a bigger, easier target. Killing him would cut the head off the beast. We just need a plan. And you need to find a way to fight him without the Gift. If you go full on against him, you will suffer the same problem as Ywain. If I’m right, even being on that ship will drain us. We need to even the odds or at least save energy for when it will be really needed.”
The three of them remained silent for a few minutes. The only noise was the one coming from Alex chewing his food.
“I owe you an apology,” Fionn said, breaking the silence and extending his hand to Alex. “You solved the problem in a way I would never think of and for that I thank you.”
“Don’t worry,” Alex said, taking Fionn’s hand in a handshake. “It’s a matter of approaches.”
“You are right,” Fionn replied. “I have been trying to train you the way I was trained. But you already know how to fight and have been living with the Gift for a decade. What I need to teach you is what you can do with it, with patience and calm during a fight. Can I get a second chance?”
“Of course,” Gaby said. “Right, Alex?”
“Oh, yeah, yeah,” Alex said distractedly. “We still need a plan though.”
“I already have one. But for it to work I need to teach you as I should have from the beginning,” Fionn said.
“Let me clear my busy schedule first,” Alex joked.
“First take a bath, please,” Gaby told him, smacking him softly on the head again.
† † †
Alex and Gaby were sitting around a small bonfire. The garden of the Ravenhall was covered in the shadows of the artificial night, with the Long and the Round moons casting faint white light that contrasted with the yellowish hues from the fire.
“It’s funny, from here the Long Moon looks like part of a ring or a puncher device,” Alex mused to Gaby.
Fionn arrived with a small pouch that he had found in the library cabinets. It had taken him a while to find it amongst the expansive rooms of the place, but the search had proved fruitful.
“What is that?” Gaby asked while Fionn took some colored powder from the pouch.
“I haven’t tried this since I was a kid. But here goes.” Fionn threw powder into the fire and the flames changed colors, portraying colorful yet simple images that matched Fionn’s speech word by word. “This is an ancient freefolk tradition, a form of storytelling to pass the tradition on. It speaks from the heart of the storyteller, with the help of powder made from freefolk crystals and ancient macabow trees. It was created to share knowledge, to teach. So bear with me,” Fionn took a seat in front of them, across the bonfire.
“I think I should have gone to the bathroom before this,” Alex murmured. Gaby elbowed him and put a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.
“Just look at the fire and clear your mind,” Fionn said. And then he started to tell them a story. The flames rose and inside them the silhouette of a person appeared, greeting them with a hand wave.
“What is the Gift? It’s the ability to draw from a deep well of inner power within our souls that allows us to perceive the world differently. I would say, with more intensity,” Fionn said, as the silhouette changed into a ball of energy then transformed into a succession of shapes: a river, a forest, a mountain, different anima
ls, ending with the head of the silhouette.
“No one truly knows where the Gift comes from or who grants it,” the silhouette shrugged its shoulders. “Some believe that the gods or even the universe granted us part of their strength. Others say that maybe the Akeleth didn’t disappear, but their bodiless essences merge with us at the time of our death.”
The shape of a galaxy appeared in the flames, transforming into a cloud that entered a body. “I do know how painful it is to receive it.”
The silhouette fell to the ground, with the shape of a lance impaling it. “And how much the Gift messes with your head, scrambles with your mind. You keep hearing voices, seeing things that others don’t see. It can drive you mad if you aren’t ready.”
Alex shifted in his seat and looked to Gaby. Fionn noticed how uncomfortable he seemed to be. His face turned red and he slumped in his place, trying to hide. If he had to guess, Alex still heard the voices; and given his particular manifestation of the Gift, like Ywain, he could actually see energy flows which would explain his peculiar behaviors. Fionn needed to reassure him if this was going to work.
“That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it just means that your mind is processing information at a speed your body is not used to. It takes time to get the hang of it.”
The silhouette gave a thumb up to Alex, who smiled faintly.
“More important, the Gift makes you feel the life teetering at the edge of death, face to face with the Tempest, the border between the material and the spiritual world.”
The silhouette was standing in front of a hurricane and on the other side there was a shape that looked like the drawing of a ghost.
“But once you get the Gift, when it is fully bonded with your soul, with the right presence of mind, you can do things that seemed impossible before. You already know how the Gift allows you to summon the wind, control electricity, command the fire or grants you rapid healing. But the Gift is more than that. It allows you to feel the heartbeat of other beings as if it was yours, to draw strength from the mountain and speed from the lightning. It can even let you see the flow of time as if it were a movie, and hear the cosmic music that the stars sing.”
The silhouette first threw a fireball, and then extended its arms and the flames flickered. Then, it stood atop of the shape of a mountain while lines representing the wind tried to make it fall. Finally, it started to run so fast that it became a blur. And while it was doing that, the faint sound of a tribal song, composed of flutes, drums and a chorus of kids speaking in the freefolk tongue about the stars could be heard.
“Now, this is the first real lesson I will teach you. Close your eyes.”
Alex and Gaby did as instructed. The music increased in volume.
“Reach deep within you, feel that tiny ball of energy, the power inside you. That’s your Gift’s core. To attune with it you need a clear head, and to be able to calm yourself, even in the midst of a battle. You must become the eye of the Tempest. Chaos could be running amok around you, but you remain still. Grab the ball and then open your eyes.”
Both Alex and Gaby’s irises were glowing as they summoned the Gift. Fionn’s irises were glowing as well. He smiled at his students.
“The Gift is like the wind or running water. It can be quiet and relaxing, or strong and chaotic. That’s because it fluctuates with your emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the output. You need to be calm. Emotions are good, but only if you are in control of them. Otherwise you won’t be able to regulate how much to use, or when to use it. You won’t even notice that there is a conscious version of the Gift, and an unconscious one. For example, my healing is my unconscious version, my body just does it. I rarely use the conscious one; but when I do, I focus it through Black Fang, allowing me to cut things at a distance, with the wind. That takes us to the next point.”
Fionn grabbed Black Fang and unsheathed it. Its silvery blade was surrounded by a green glow.
“There is a reason our swords are called the Tempest Blades. Like us, they can dwell within the Tempest itself, and harness it as long as it is to protect others. They are living weapons, not just tools. Any being, provided that the blade allows it, can use them. But thise of us with the Gift, can synchronize with them to the point we can even control their edge. To do so, you need to learn one more thing: A tempest doesn’t care about its power, it just is. You can feel fury, but it has to be a tranquil fury. Now, that ball of energy you are holding inside? Release it slowly, one breath at the time. Don’t think of any other thing. Just focus on your breathing and grab your blades.”
Gaby and Alex followed the instructions. Heartguard, Soulkeeper and Yaha were glowing in red, blue and golden light, respectively.
“You might not be able to do it right now, maybe not even in a few years, as you will need more practice. But if you listen carefully, you can feel the swords’ souls, you can hear their faint voices speaking to you.”
Fionn focused, and the flames started to react to the wind. The silhouette was sitting at the bottom of the flames, watching attentively, as Gaby and Alex’s auras started to grow in size, combining with the glows emitted by their weapons. Fionn could feel goosebumps along his arms.
“You need to let go of all your myriad thoughts and just feel the Gift and control it. Be one with your blades, one with your Gift. Just let go and act, feel, don’t overthink. Trust your feelings, your knowledge. Trust yourself and there will be no chain capable of tying you up. You will be invincible.”
Thunder could be heard in the distance. Electric arcs were crackling around Alex’s arms. Gaby, on the other hand, looked distant for a second; not noticing what was going on around her. Fionn grew worried that he had accidentally made her fall into that Ice State. But then she smiled at him with her peculiar crooked smile.
“How do you feel?” Fionn asked, smiling. He saw the energy being released by their bodies, increasing in intensity rather than flickering as usual. They were getting the hang of this, or so he hoped.
“All fuzzy inside,” Alex replied, shambling from one side to another, his irises colored in a golden hue.
“I’m actually fine, relaxed even,” Gaby added, smiling, her irises, in turn, colored with an intense electric blue with golden specks. “I… I think that I get how I can use the Gift to enter the Ice State without risk of losing myself.”
“Good. Are we ready to truly test your Gifts?” Fionn’s irises were a bright shade of grassy green, as intense as the light that Black Fang emitted from its blade.
† † †
“Shoot already!”
“But…” Alex stammered.
Alex wrinkled his brow, trying to contain the beads of sweat that ran down it. Sweat in the eyes hurt and messed with his focus. If he messed this up, it could end badly. His shoulder blades were aching. One thing experience teaches you in archery is that you don’t hold an arrow on a pulled string for long periods of time. Your arms get tired, your pulse gets shakier and, contrary to popular belief, your aim doesn’t necessarily improve. That’s why you learn to aim and release fast, so you keep the accuracy and don’t get tired. But unlike other times, Alex was not aiming at a particular spot. He was instead trying to call forth the Gift’s enhanced vision. Most of the times, it came involuntarily, if it came at all, like during the fight at his school campus. The enhanced vision allowed him to follow trails of energy, detect the cores and nodes where energy – be it power or life force – accumulated. He had used it before to evade attacks and avoid being hit. But it had been involuntary, like reflexes. This time he was trying to learn to do it in an active manner. To find the energy nodes in opponents and objects around him would give him a decided edge in combat, if he learned how to use it properly.
Gaby had explained to him that certain combat techniques worked around the idea of paralyzing or even killing someone by hitting certain vital points, like nerve clusters. Those techniq
ues were based on ancient Kuni healing teachings and the Sisters of Mercy had adapted them for their purposes. So far he had managed to do it hand to hand, using precise pokes in nerve clusters that had paralyzed the limbs of both Fionn and Gaby.
Fionn, in turn, theorized that Alex’s particular version of enhanced sight could be paired with his archery skills to make him a more efficient fighter. And then, contrary to Alex objections, he decided to force him to shoot Gaby to test the theory. Of course, Gaby wouldn’t be a sitting target. Her task was to avoid, deflect or catch every arrow by using her own version of enhanced sight and the basics of the Ice State. She was trying to use both in a way that didn’t sink her into being an emotionless assassin. And she had found that with some practice she was on her way to doing it, with mixed results.
Yet, Alex was afraid of seriously hurting her, so he was looking for a non-vital target in case she was too slow. It was one thing to shoot at monsters, but totally different to shoot at a friend, even if it was practice. Since he’d gotten the Gift, Alex had been careful of not letting go, always keeping it in check. Otherwise the results were not pretty. When he let loose, a darker side of him appeared and the aftermath ended with the place in total disarray and a considerable bodycount, and him barely remembering a thing. That was the real reason he uses a bow instead of Yaha; the bow taught him self-control. Even with Fionn there to guide him, he wasn’t feeling confident. He was starting to have serious doubts about the whole ‘stop villain, save the world’ thing and whether he would be able to do his part.
What was I thinking when I offered to help?
“Alex, seriously, shoot already. I’m not that fragile, y’know? I will catch it,” Gaby told him in loud voice. “I’m getting old here.”
“Just do it for Heaven’s sake!” Fionn encouraged him. “I promise, it will be fine. You can do this, so can she. I believe in both of you. It’s ok to have doubts, to keep yourself in check. But something I learned by fighting alongside Ywain, is that sometimes, letting go, even if it’s just a bit, can be helpful. Control is not about a tight grip, it is about learning to live with what you are and what you can do, and acting accordingly. One step at a time, then move onto bigger things.”
The Withered King Page 23