Gavin ran a hand through his hair and nodded. He did understand those emotions. He remembered how he felt after his grandmother died and, even more than that when his parents had died. Those were deep, powerful memories. How was he supposed to help Farah overcome something like that? He didn’t even know where to start, though he found himself sincerely wanting to try. That shared experience was somewhere to start, at least.
“Was there something else you needed?” Gavin asked. “Or did you only come here because of Farah?”
“I was looking for Beryl,” Khari said. “The clan leaders are asking for access to the armory, but the door to Beryl’s smithy is locked. I can’t seem to find him anywhere.”
“The last I saw of him was the other day when he broke up that fight between the Heltorin. In fact, that’s the only time I’ve seen him.”
Khari shrugged. “No matter. I’ll find him eventually. That storm will delay the departure a little, so we’ve got time. Now go on, find Farah. She’s the only one left to teach you about your powers. I can’t afford for you to build rifts already.”
Gavin sighed, but did as he was told. Behind him, the aevian clicked its beak and laughed at him.
Chapter 8: Reconciliation
“The next Iteration is that involving the element of energy. Those possessed of this power are called ‘relampago,’ which is a fine and altogether adequate description of their abilities.”
—From Commentary on the Schema, Volume I
It took well over an hour for Gavin to find where Farah had gone. He’d had to ask several people to get a general direction at first, but he’d eventually found her in one of the wide canyon-like caverns in which the Roterralar grew their grains. She looked up at him when he entered.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her eyes were red, her face puffy. Gavin felt a fool, but he also had a new understanding of her situation. Khari was right, he needed to make this right.
“I came to apologize,” he said.
She sniffed. “How’d you find me?”
Gavin grinned. “I followed your trail of broken dreams and shattered hopes.”
Farah chuckled softly. She wiped a hand under her eyes and shook her head.
“I didn’t know about your family.” Gavin began, but Farah held up a hand.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “I’m just a little emotional today, especially when it comes to the clans leaving. It was wrong of me to take it out on you.”
Gavin shrugged. “I apologize either way.”
Farah rolled her eyes and held out a hand for Gavin to help her to her feet. “Sometimes you can be an idiot, Gavin, but at least you’re an earnest one.”
“Idiot?” He pulled her to her feet. She was surprisingly light, even for her slight frame.
“Yep,” she said. “Dumb as a post, but we’ll fix that. Come on, I think I owe you a lesson or two about those powers of yours.”
Gavin wasn’t sure how he felt about being called an idiot, but Farah seemed in better spirits now, so that was something. Even with tear stains down her cheeks, she was still quite pretty. It seemed she changed moods quickly though and Gavin wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to that.
Farah stepped away from him a few paces and then turned around to face him. Her face pulled together in concentration and Gavin felt something building around him. It was that same feeling he’d felt before, like ants crawling across his skin. Crackling white energy burst from both Farah’s hands, which sprayed the surrounding area in amorphous white light.
She raised one of her hands. “This is what we manipulate. Energy. A common misconception is that we create it, but that is a lie. We simply gather it from around us and then redirect it where we want it to go.”
“We gather it from around us then,” Gavin said. “That’s what I’m feeling just before you use the power?”
Farah nodded. “There is a lot of extra energy in the sands. The energy we use is the energy of movement, of resistance. The more something moves against something else, the more energy it builds up. What we do is harness that energy through our bodies, draw it in, and then direct it out.”
As she finished speaking, she gestured with one hand and a faint crackling bolt lanced from her fingers.
Gavin jumped back, even though the energy was not directed at him and it vanished only a handspan from her fingers. He felt it dissipating, but it was a distant echo beneath the thunder of his beating heart. He immediately corrected his expression, falling back on his acting training to allow him to mask his emotions. Farah grinned at him anyway.
“So how do you gather it in?” Gavin asked, ignoring the look of humor on Farah’s face.
“You reach out and will it to come into you.”
Gavin raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s probably the most descriptive thing I’ve ever heard.”
Farah shrugged. “That’s all I can say. It takes practice, long repeated hours of constant practice. It took me a year before I could summon the energy at will every time. You just have to practice.”
Gavin nodded and then raised his hands out from the side of his body. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, willing the energy to coalesce and come to him.
Nothing happened.
“Direct your thoughts downward, into the sandstone and walls,” Farah said. “You have to gather the energy, so focus on the areas where it would collect.”
Gavin adjusted his focus, pushing his thoughts toward the sand and rock beneath his feet. Again, nothing happened. He strained, pulling hard and forcing his will outward. For half a second he thought he felt something, a brief moment of sudden tingling, but then it was gone.
He sighed and opened his eyes. “Practice,” he said. “Lots of practice.”
Farah smiled. “That’s right. Lots and lots of practice.”
Gavin scratched at his forehead. “What can you tell me about the other magic users?”
Farah shrugged. “Not much. There are two others, the wetta and the magnetelorium. Wettas can manipulate and find water. Magneteloriums manipulate metal.”
“That just confirms what I already know. Are there more of one than the other? How many mystics are there, altogether?”
“Counting you and Beryl there are five of us now. Why do you ask?”
“Only five?” For some reason Gavin had thought there were more of them. Why did five people need their own leader?
“There used to be more. Four relampago fell in the battle for the Oasis. Kaiden is a mystic, but he’s not one of us. Sarial, well, she’s gone now too, for all we know. You left her in the cell inside the Oasis walls. I bet she’s dead by now.” There was no pity in the woman’s voice.
“And do new mystics surface often?”
“Why all the questions?” Farah asked. “Is there something you’re getting at?”
Gavin shook his head. “Just curious is all. Do we get new mystics often?”
Farah half shrugged and shook her head. “Not that often. I was born here and I can only remember Kaiden and Lhaurel besides me.”
“Then how do you sustain yourselves? I mean, I thought . . .” Gavin trailed off.
“You thought all the Roterralar were mystics?” Farah supplied with a smile. “Not even close. Some of us are born mystics and some of us aren’t. I know Khari mentioned she’d felt some unbroken potentials among the clans. Hopefully she’ll convince some of them to stay.”
“Unbroken potentials?” He was coming to the conclusion that there was a lot about this he didn’t know. How did Khari expect him to lead a group of people he knew nothing about? Part of him whispered that he’d just attempted to rule all the clans and he knew nothing about them, but he ignored that voice.
Farah nodded and took a seat. “I guess I should start at the beginning. You’re already broken so I didn’t talk about any of that. I’m new at this, so bear with me.”
Gavin nodded and sat down with her on the sands. He was genuinely curious about the people he
was supposed to be leading and also hoped that focusing on something other than Farah’s loss would be good for her.
“What we do, using magic, isn’t something our minds or bodies do naturally. From what was explained to me, our minds and bodies put up barriers to that power. It is only by breaking through those barriers that the power itself can escape through the cracks and be used.”
Gavin frowned in concentration. “So how does one break those barriers?”
“Usually, trauma of some kind, though it differs from person to person.”
“Why would our bodies put up barriers like that?”
Farah shrugged. “No one really knows. My theory is that the body knows when it is doing something it was not originally intended to do, or at least, when it is going to do something that will change it. It’s a means of self-preservation, I think.”
“Change it?”
“Nothing comes without a cost of some kind. Using magic changes the body. I was born with brown hair, but the more I use my powers, the lighter it becomes.” Farah said, running a hand through her blonde locks. “You can see even clearer examples with Lhaurel and Beryl. Both of them have had drastic changes come over them from using their powers.”
Gavin leaned back against the wall, troubled. He’d thought that his powers could be some sort of amazing weapon, but it seemed the weapon was two edged. Any strike against the enemy also cut him too. It made sense, though, that there was a cost. Every choice had consequences, every action had a reaction.
“Khari wants you to take Sarial’s place, doesn’t she?” Farah asked quietly.
Gavin turned to look at her, expression carefully neutral. Farah wasn’t looking at him. Instead she looked down at the ground and stirred the sand with one finger.
“It makes sense. You’re a leader. The clans respect you, even after your idiot stunt.”
Wait, was Farah jealous? Gavin struggled to keep his confusion and annoyance from marring his neutral mask. Did this woman’s emotions ever make sense? He looked over at her. She glanced up at him and then nodded slightly before returning to her sketches in the sand. No, not jealous, not entirely at least. Part of it was laced with understanding and respect.
“I’m here to learn, Farah.” Gavin said. “Not take over anything. You’re right. I need to know about my powers and I need to understand this people better than I currently do. Help me?”
Farah was silent for a long while and Gavin wondered what he’d done wrong this time. Then Farah flicked the sand away with a swipe of her hand and got to her feet.
“Of course I’ll help you. What else are friends for?”
“We’re friends now?” Gavin asked. “Not that I’m objecting, but usually the pretty girls run away from the outcast boys. They don’t become friends with them.”
“Of course we’re friends,” she said with a small smile, extending a hand to help him to his feet. She was surprisingly strong and her hand warm. Gavin was mildly surprised at how glad he was that she’d agreed. “But if I’m to help you, those aren’t the only things you’ll need help with. Come with me.”
* * *
A few minutes later they were back in the eyrie once more, Farah leading the way. Gavin looked around, half hoping to find Khari so he could ask her something that had been bothering him since Farah’s explanation, but she wasn’t there. He filed the question away for later.
“What are we doing here?” Gavin asked.
Farah smiled. Gavin was coming to realize that the smile wasn’t always a good thing. Sometimes that beautiful smile was the mask for something devious.
“Well, if you’re going to be one of the Roterralar, you’ll need to be able to ride one of these.” She whistled sharply.
One of the smaller aevians leapt from a nearby outcropping of rock and flew over to her, the motion creating a small cloud of dust that made Gavin cough. The aevian gave a small chirp and ruffled its feathers as it bent low to let Farah scratch it beneath the beak.
Gavin swallowed, unsure of what to do. Even his training as a storyteller failed him. The aevians were amazing, majestic creatures which Gavin found more than a little intimidating, but also completely fascinating. They were more than mere beasts, he could tell that. The aevians allowed the Roterralar to ride them more as an agreement between equals than any specific training on the part of the Roterralar.
“You can touch him,” Farah said. “He’ll let you.”
Gavin walked forward with small, careful steps. The aevian turned his head and regarded him with ebony eyes rimmed with gold.
“What’s his name?” Gavin asked, softly.
“We don’t tell others the names of our aevians. It’s sacred.”
Gavin nodded, accepting that response until he noticed Farah was laughing softly. Maybe being friends with her wasn’t such a good idea.
He rolled his eyes and stretched out his hand to stroke the brown and gold feathers of the creature before him. It was surprisingly warm to the touch.
“His name is Talyshan,” she said, stifling a smile. “He’s a kistriel, smallest of the four aevian species.”
Gavin nodded, though there was so much new information bouncing around in his mind he wasn’t sure he would remember the name. But he would never forget how he felt in that moment.
“So what do I do?” Gavin asked. He felt Talyshan’s strength beneath his fingers, felt the power of muscles and recognized the fierce warrior spirit contained within him.
“Well, normally we’d have you feed them for a couple months and see you develop any sort of special bond with one of them,” Farah said. “But that won’t really do for you. For now, I think I’ll just show you how to care for them and teach you some things about the different species.”
“Which is the strongest, little lady?” a gruff voice asked.
Gavin and Farah both turned in the direction from which the voice had originated. A group of a half dozen men stood in front of one of the doors that lead into and out of the eyrie itself. None of them appeared much older than Gavin, though they all bore the lean toughness of those who had seen their fair share of fighting. All wore swords belted at waists of slung across their backs.
“Who in the sands are you?” Farah demanded. “You know you’re not allowed in here.”
One of the men, the same one who spoke before, grinned widely. There was a large gap between his two front teeth.
“Well, little lady, me and the boys here, we was thinking that these here birds would help us out quite a bit once we was back out on the sands again, didn’t we boys?” There were murmurs of assent from the other men. Gap-tooth continued, “So we decided we should take a couple with us.”
Behind Gavin, Talyshan made a strange hissing noise, the sound of water hitting flame and turning instantly to steam. Farah set her feet and threw back her head, chin raised. Gavin dropped a hand onto the hilt of his greatsword.
Farah hissed in an exact imitation of the sound Talyshan had made. “I’d like to see you try it.”
The group of men chuckled and Gap-tooth swaggered forward a few steps. He dropped a hand onto the hilt of his sword.
“What’s a pretty little thing like you going to do?” he said, eyes flicking over to Gavin for a moment before sliding back over Farah’s curvaceous form. “You don’t even have a sword. All you’ve got to help you is this cretin.” He looked her up and down pointedly and his gap-toothed grin widened.
Gavin drew his greatsword in one fluid motion. The hiss of metal against leather almost seemed to echo in the deafening silence that followed.
Gap-tooth turned a lazy gaze toward him. “Put that away, boy,” he said. “Afore you get hurt.”
Gavin raised the tip of his greatsword, holding it steady at chest height. The tip did not waver. He took two steps to the side, which placed him directly in front of Farah and Talyshan. The aevian hissed as the group of men with Gap-tooth chuckled and one of them—a short, wiry fellow—nudged Gap-tooth with his elbow. Gap-tooth shook his head and slow
ly turned to face Gavin directly. He raised one hand toward his shoulder and drew the long, double-edged sword slung across it.
“Well now, boy. We was thinking this would be something simple, come to the eyrie with just the girl here, take some of these here giant birds, and fly away afore anyone could think twice. Simple and easy it was. But this.” He grinned at Gavin, the expression highlighting the man’s youth. “This will be much more fun.”
“I’d like to have seen that,” Farah said with a laugh from behind Gavin. “If you think stealing aevians was going to be simple.”
Gap-tooth glanced in her direction, but returned his attention to Gavin almost immediately. Gavin, for his part, never removed his gaze from Gap-tooth’s face. Somewhere in the back of his mind he acknowledged the minute tendrils of fear working up his spine, but he suppressed them. He was more irritated than anything. He set his feet and felt his muscles relax, though only to the point of readiness, not laxness. It was the same steely determination which had allowed him to climb the Oasis walls when others had failed.
Gap-tooth frowned at him. “Not all of us was happy how you tried to take control of us earlier, boy.” He took a step to the left and allowed his companions—none of which had yet drawn their weapons—to fan out behind him. “You insulted us, tried to take our honor from us. Now we’ll see who’s really the best.”
Gavin said nothing. His grandmother had taught him sword forms, had shown him how to defend himself. Through conversations with Khari and some of the others, he’d come to suspect that what his grandmother had taught him were not the same techniques the Rahuli generally learned, but they were familiar to him and so he dropped into a ready stance, feet planted shoulder-width apart, right foot pivoted slightly to give him stability and the sword held up by his head, blade extended outward and tip toward his opponent. He felt a rush of anticipation wash through him as he waited.
“Stop this,” Farah said. “One word and I’ll have every aevian in this place down on all of you in moments. Try fighting off hundreds of talons the size of swords and see who wins.”
Sharani series Box Set Page 39