by Frank Morin
Then the full weight of their problems hit him like a fresh collapse of Jagdish mountain.
“If I can’t tap serpentinite, how am I going to ascend?”
51
Usually It’s a Bad Thing for Kids to Hear Voices
Christin opened the door to the cottage and smiled. Nicklaus’ governess looked relieved to see Jean, and gestured her and Gisela inside.
The cottage was cozy, designed for long-term rehabilitation. Nicklaus and Christin were the only residents at the moment. The boy jumped up from the table spread with scrolls and heavy, leather tomes where he’d obviously been studying. He looked ecstatic for a chance to take a break.
“Jean!” he shouted, taking two quick steps, then jumping. He came down with legs locked straight, leaning back a little. He slid fast across the floor, and Jean side-stepped to avoid a collision.
The boy cut off the power and with a couple of quick steps stopped right in front of her. He grinned and hugged her.
“What was that?” Jean asked with a smile, relieved to see his energy and enthusiasm returned.
“Slipping shoes,” he said proudly, lifting one shoe to reveal little pieces of basalt embedded into the sole. “I borrowed the idea from Verena, although she usually likes to ride basalt on her knees. Don’t understand why she does that. Maybe she doesn’t want to fall. You know Verena, she’s better in the sky than anywhere.”
He was just as bubbly as ever, talking fast. Jean ruffled his hair and said, “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“Much better,” Christin said, giving the boy a stern look. “Slipped out before lessons again. I didn’t catch him until he was halfway to Faulenrost.”
Nicklaus shrugged, looking unaffected by her reproof. “They’re making that new secret suit of Hamish’s there. I wanted to see it.”
“How do you know about that?” Jean asked. They had moved that project to Faulenrost to keep it secret from Hamish until they finished the new model.”
Instead of answering, Nicklaus asked eagerly, “I’m happy you came. Are you releasing me today?”
“Not yet. I just stopped by to see how you’re doing.”
Nicklaus slumped, looking dejected. He gestured toward the table and sighed. “Terrible.”
“We still have a lot of catching up to do. You prefer skipping more lessons than studying,” Christin said.
“Like I said, terrible,” Nicklaus groaned. Then his eyes brightened and he grabbed Jean’s hand. “Unless you need me to come test shooting soldiers again!”
“Hopefully soon, but not today, I’m afraid.” He sighed again and she suppressed a smile, then asked, “Have you felt anything from your affinities yet?”
Nicklaus shook his head. “Nothing. They’re gone, Jean. I broke them.” He seemed to notice Gisela for the first time and scowled at her. “You should have told me you made a bad stone and maybe I wouldn’t have.”
Gisela tried stammering an apology, her fair skin reddening as she blushed.
“You know Gisela didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” Christin chided Nicklaus.
“I know, but it’s really frustrating,” he admitted. He gave Gisela an apologetic smile and wandered back to his seat. He perched on the edge of it, and his expression brightened again.
“At least my Builder powers didn’t get wrecked. They’re stronger than ever.”
“Really?” Jean asked. She and Gisela followed him.
Beyond the table was a sitting area with a comfortable couch and several chairs arranged near a fireplace and bookshelf. A warm fire was burning in the grate. Several Builder mechanicals in various states of disassembly were scattered across the hardwood floor or the square piece of carpeting set in front of the couch.
Nicklaus led them to the mechanicals. One looked like a miniature windrider, another like parts of a personal defensive mechanical vest, while a third was a jumble of parts she couldn’t define. Pieces of stone lay scattered everywhere. Jean circled the carpet, keeping away from the fire, inspecting the half-built mechanicals.
Christin picked her way through the mess and sat on one of the chairs. “Master Nicklaus has been very busy tinkering with mechanicals during his convalescence.”
“Have you discovered anything new?” Jean asked, happy to see that the boy was using his time well and focusing on the powers that remained to him instead of pining about what he’d lost. That kind of attitude was one of the most important aspects of healing from deep trauma.
He nodded and dropped to the floor next to the defensive mechanical. “See? I figured that if we pair two smaller quartzite stones like this, we can improve the coverage and duration of the defensive vests nearly twenty percent.”
“Wow.” Jean exchanged a surprised look with Gisela, who immediately produced a pad and pencil and began jotting notes. Jean’s hand itched for her own notebook, but she’d been training herself to let others take notes for her. It was one of the unexpected prices for leadership that she didn’t like. “That previous design was already so much better than the last one.”
“Mine’s better,” Nicklaus said simply. He gestured toward the partially assembled mechanical she hadn’t recognized. “I started building a water purifier too.”
“A what?” Jean asked. That was new.
“Water sometimes gets messy. I figured people like to drink clean water, but sometimes can’t get it. This pulls in water through this feeder tube and separates out the bad parts.”
Impressed, Jean settled to her knees beside the boy. The ramifications of such an invention were wonderful. She glanced at Christin, who beamed at her ward and nodded at the unspoken question. “It seems to work remarkably well.”
“How did you come up with such an amazing idea?” Jean asked.
Nicklaus shrugged. “Like I said, after I broke my affinities, my Builder powers seem stronger than ever. Especially with mechanicals that use elemental powers.” He leaned closer and his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Sometimes I can hear them.”
“Who?” Jean asked.
“The elements.”
She blinked in surprise, then glanced again at Christin, who looked troubled. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged again, regarding her with those too-mature eyes. “I broke my affinities with water. You’d think she’d be angry about that, but she wasn’t.”
“She?” Jean asked.
He nodded. “I’m pretty sure Water is a girl. She sounds real nice, although I can only just barely hear her. Sometimes I can’t hear anything, but sometimes the whispers are really clear. She’s the one who suggested I purify the water. I think that makes her happy.”
Jean frowned, puzzled. She had no idea what he was talking about. She glanced at Gisela, who looked equally puzzled.
Christin said, “I’ve asked Nicklaus to repeat everything he hears from those whispers. I’ve started writing them down.” She held up a small notebook and Jean eagerly scanned the one page covered with writing.
Most of it seemed gibberish, but a few bits and pieces stood out like the line that said, “Your sundered bridges blocked vital access.” Another included the tantalizing bit, “The gateway to unlocking vast powers.” And a third, “Walk with me and I can teach you.”
A couple of the lines seemed more complete, like one that stated, “Activate a counter current to the one that draws the water. Utilize the junction of pressures to siphon the impurities through the screening barrier.”
“This is amazing,” Jean breathed, her mind whirling as she considered the possible meanings.
“So you believe me?” Nicklaus asked, again studying her with eyes that seemed to read her doubts.
“Why wouldn’t I? You’ve always possessed a remarkably strong Builder power. This is unusual, and we need time to understand what you’re experiencing.”
“I bet I could hear the whispers better if I got to use more explosives,” he declared.
Jean smiled, but Christin quietly made a “Definitely not!” signal
with her hand behind him, looking terrified by the idea. “Perhaps under the right circumstances, and with the right protections in place.”
“Great! Let me know when we can blow up some stuff. Can we have lunch now?”
“We’ll leave you to it. I’ll check in with you tomorrow,” Jean promised. She and Gisela excused themselves.
“What does it mean?” Gisela asked as they walked through the hospital campus.
Jean said slowly, “I’m not sure, but it might be an important breakthrough. I’ll send word to Verena and see if she has any insights.”
52
You May Have to Fail a Hundred Times Just to Figure Out the Right Questions to Ask
Verena entered Shona’s private apartments, situated at the top of one of the two central towers of the palace of Merkland. She really liked the sumptuously appointed apartments, ever since that day when she and her small company kidnapped Shona with the weakening powder.
She had also assumed those apartments temporarily before the battle of Merkland, and although Shona had taken them back when she switched sides and joined the revolution, Verena still felt a small sense of ownership. Shona’s quarters were some of the very few rooms that hadn’t gotten trashed by the recent fighting.
Shona was there already, along with Ivor and Wolfram. Even Ilse had made it. Verena had thought she was still out patrolling the outer defenses, but greeted her with an enthusiastic hug. Ilse and her small contingent of reinforcements had bolstered everyone’s spirits.
There were still weeks of work ahead of them to rebuild Merkland, but they couldn’t ignore other priorities. They were gathering to continue testing in the effort to figure out the secret to loaning Petralist powers.
Verena had volunteered to join the effort to see if she could sense any connections as a Builder that they might have overlooked. Plus, she appreciated having a tough mental puzzle to occupy her mind. Otherwise she’d probably end up worrying about Connor. She hated to think that she might be sitting in luxurious comfort while Connor and the others might be battling for their very lives.
There was nothing she could do to help him, so she forced herself to focus on the current task. The recent attack on Merkland by that swarm only highlighted how badly they needed to succeed. She’d used Kirstin’s Defense and needed to figure out how to find that threshold again. So much to do, and time was desperately short.
Evander, who Verena had somehow not even noticed sitting in a gigantic chair slightly apart from the others said, “Smiles of greeting warm the heart, while thoughts race upon the wings of light.”
“I’m glad to see you too,” she said with a grin.
Evander had arrived in Merkland just hours earlier, shortly after Ilse. He had slid up to Merkland on his signature earthen chair. For such a giant man, sometimes it seemed that he could shield himself from view as readily as he shield himself from earth powers.
He pressed his enormous hands to his eyes as the rest of them settled into the comfortable chairs drawn in a circle. A moment later, he pulled his hands away from his eyes. He held a tiny bit of white lamacal powder.
Verena was impressed. All Petralists could purge primary affinities, but she doubted more than a handful of people outside of that room understood that it was possible to purge secondary and tertiary affinities too. Harley had somehow loaned quartzite to Shona through her lamacal.
Evander said, “Flowers open at the touch of gentle sunlight, and the whisper of a child at times confounds the wisest.”
Verena loved the images of that Sentry speak, but didn’t get a clear sense of how to interpret it. Shona and Ivor looked equally nonplussed, but Ilse nodded and smiled. “Excellent way of putting it. Some of the hints we’ve received from your account, Lady Shona, have helped open our minds to new ideas, and the research Evander has been reviewing clarifies some of the assumptions we’ve long held inviolate.”
Evander passed half of the powder to Shona. Verena leaned closer, fascinating. Usually lamacal was considered a waste product and brushed away, but Harley had made Shona consume it. That had been a key to loaning the affinity, although Evander hadn’t managed to produce the same effect.
Grimacing, Shona licked the tiny bit of lamacal off her palm, then chased it down with a swig of water. “I hope we figure this out, because I still think lamacal is disgusting.”
Shona might be complaining, but any number of people would eagerly volunteer for the opportunity to take her place in the testing. The promise of gaining one of the coveted tertiary affinities was a dream normally far beyond the hope of most people. Verena doubted Shona would ever cede her position to anyone else.
Not only was she the only person alive who had experienced the effects of a loaned Petralist power, but she would never grant anyone else the potential glory of becoming the one who figured out how to make it work. Verena only hoped that her past experience helped facilitate success.
They waited expectantly as Shona closed her eyes, opened them, rubbed them, and glanced around the room. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head. “No different than last time. I feel nothing.”
Verena asked, “What variants have you tried?”
Wolfram said, “We’ve used different strains of stone, with various affinities tapped. Nothing seems to affect the resulting lamacal or Shona’s ability to tap its powers.” He extended a hand and added, “May I inspect this batch?”
Evander passed the last little bit of lamacal to Wolfram. He poked and pried at it with his fingers, his expression intent. Verena took the opportunity to reach out and touch the powder too. She flicked her Builder senses across it, and felt something.
Sitting up straighter she grinned. “I can feel power in this lamacal.”
“Really?” Shona asked, looking excited. “Can you activate it?”
Verena tried. Reaching out with her Builder senses, she sought the invisible crack that she could pry open to unlock Petralist powers. There. She felt the crack, but could not seem to pry it open.
With a frown she said, “There is power there, for sure, but something’s blocking me from reaching it.”
She loved research and the wonders of exploring, but she preferred to have a sense of what she was doing. Many of their best inventions had come more as accidents than intention in the early days of their research, but recently she felt more and more like they were working on proven methods and principles.
This research was casting them back to the early days of just throwing ideas into the dark. At some point they would succeed, but there was no way of knowing when.
Wolfram continued prodding at the powder, looking thoughtful. “I sense a whisper of your intent, Evander. I still feel that combining your elemental power with sandstone and focusing on your intended target helps you connect with Shona, but there’s something missing.”
“Obviously,” Shona said with a frown.
“What could be missing?” Ilse asked calmly. She had displayed extraordinary patience and a methodical mind as she helped Jean work through the myriad iterations of her summoned limb.
Verena asked, “Have you tried touching Shona as you prepare the lamacal? Maybe one hand on her shoulder the way you might if you were healing her?”
Shona rolled her eyes, looking impatient. As a high lady she was not used to having to wait for what she wanted. She made a dismissive gesture. “Yes, yes. We’ve done that. No difference. When Harley loaned me quartzite, she did not touch me, so I don’t think that’s a requirement.”
Verena nodded, nonplussed. “We may want to retest it again at some point, because the contact might facilitate the initial breakthrough.”
Ilse repeated, “So what else is needed? We have the power, Evander can expel it. We had the intended target, and sandstone is applied to help facilitate connection with that target and transition authority to tap that affinity.”
Wolfram looked up from the lamacal and asked softly, “But what of the connection to the affinity itself?”
Verena w
as not sure what he meant, and by the frowns of the others they felt the same. Shona said, “You’re holding it. The affinity itself is the connection to the affinity.”
Verena snapped her fingers as the concept slipped into place. “Perhaps not. We can remotely trigger power stones that we cannot otherwise access. The secret to that ability lies in obsidian.”
Wolfram nodded, a slow smile spreading on his face. “Obsidian. That may be it.”
“How so?” Shona asked, shuffling forward in her seat, expression eager.
Wolfram said, “Obsidian is a unique power stone. Not only does it allow Builders to connect to remote obsidian and from there to other power stones, but it plays a unique role for Petralists too. As High Lord Dougal demonstrated, it is possible for one tapping obsidian who has ascended the proper thresholds to connect to another Petralist also tapping obsidian, and through that connection exert influence over their mind.”
Verena took up the train of thought. “So if we add obsidian to the mix, it might add that missing piece, the connection to the affinity, and from there to the mind. Coupled with the sandstone connection that facilitates the targeting of the individual, that might complete the loop and allow it to work.”
Ilse looked to Evander, who was slowly nodding, his brows furrowed in thought. “Harley did possess affinity with obsidian. She rarely used it, seemed to never trust it, but she had it. Obsidian was the first-ever power stone, and she was one of my grandmother’s chief assistants, so she established affinity with obsidian first.”
That was perhaps the longest plain speech Verena had ever heard Evander make, which reinforced the importance of their train of thought. She loved the feeling of knowing they stood on the cusp of a great discovery, but her good humor faded with a new thought.
“How have we not considered obsidian before?” Verena asked.
Evander shrugged, his expression pained as he again spoke plainly. “Like I said, Harley almost never used it and I lack an obsidian affinity.”