Grai's Game (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  “Silence!” Dread ordered again through the Shengari’ as, he stood and walked over to Dare and Tristan.

  “Don’t fear him. Relax and concentrate on what he’s doing.” Dread said only to Dare, Balduen, Grai and Viper.

  “Is that energy strands?” Someone in the room asked. Dread’s glare silenced them.

  “Oh my God! He’s forming the bonds with the baby through the Shengari’. Tristan, that’s wonderful! Thank you.” Dare grinned, tears shimmering in her eyes as she placed her hand over his little one on her stomach.

  Moments later Tristan pulled his hand from Dare’s then patted her stomach with both hands before placing a loud smacking kiss on her slight belly.

  “Thank you baby.” Dare said leading the little boy to the plate of pancakes she’d already cut up for him. She added the syrup on the side of the plate the way he liked it. Sitting down beside him, she began talking to him and helping him get his milk and napkin.

  “Is he really doing that?” Grai asked Dread in disbelief.

  “You can all speak now. And yes, that is what he was doing. I needed the silence to see how he was doing it and to make sure that the voices wouldn’t cause him to make a mistake.”

  “Did you not know that your son can manipulate the energy fibers that make up the Shengari’?” Dread asked, surprised that Grai truly appeared not to know.

  “What?” Grai looked at Dread like the man had lost his mind. Thinking back he was trying to figure out if the man was sleep addled when Dread responded.

  “Your son, those hand gestures that he makes all the time. He is creating, destroying and rebuilding energy pathways through the Shengari’. I was concerned that the noise in the room might hinder his ability to create the connection with the child that he was building.” Dread explained.

  At Grai’s blank look, Dread pushed him into the seat by Tristan and sat down on the other side of the table. Looking around the room, he saw that every person in it was hanging on every word he said.

  “Would you rather we speak of this in private?” Dread asked Grai through their private path.

  “No, they should know. In case there’s something we shouldn’t be doing around him.” Grai said aloud, turning to look at the familiar faces gathered around the table.

  Dread laughed for a moment before realizing that no one else was laughing. Sadly, even warriors weren’t immune to paranoia; he thought with a sigh.

  “He’s hyper-sensitive, a conduit. When we touch we feel our own feelings of how the other person’s skin feels. How soft their hands are or how large or small. When he touches, he feels everything YOU feel. He hears your thoughts, your fears, feels your pain, your hopes; it's why he can’t touch for too long before he becomes overwhelmed.”

  “Because of his hyper-sensitivity, he can see things that most cannot. He sees the strings of energy that form the pathways of the Shengari’. Like you just witnessed, he created a path between himself and the child who has his beast brother. If he chose to, or felt it necessary he could destroy the connections of everyone in this room without much effort.”

  “He’s called a Conductor. He maintains order and balance throughout the Shengari’.” Dread explained, even though he felt sure that he was going to have to explain it to Grai again, in private. The man looked like he’d been hit with the bad side of a long sword.

  “I thought he was autistic?” Grai asked, still struggling to understand what Dread was saying.

  “I am unfamiliar with this… autism. I am familiar with conductors. There are conductors of varying degrees of strength scattered throughout many worlds. Your son is the strongest that I have ever met.”

  “He displays all the signs of a hyper-sensitive. He doesn’t look you in the eyes very often. When he does it feels like he sees into your soul, because he does, and in a crowd like this, he could easily become overwhelmed by all the emotions and thoughts of those around him.”

  “He cannot stand to touch for too long, if at all, because the thoughts and feels bombard him. How many of you touch him and have thoughts running through your head about how sorry you feel for him or how you wish he could speak?” Dread asked looking around the room at how many faces looked away.

  “He hears those thoughts and he pulls away. I would be willing to bet that the only people he can touch for long are Grai and Tricia. Because when they touch him, their only thoughts are love, affection and acceptance of how he is. Even that, he can’t handle for too long before he becomes distracted by the energy strings that call to him.” Dread said, watching the small boy with such a powerful gift eat pancakes with one hand while strengthening the bonds of the Shengari’ paths of those in the room with his other.

  Dread was fascinated by the way the boy could reach out and pluck a string from the coiled strands of energy that existed all around us and reweave the frayed fibers until it was stronger than before. Others he destroyed without a blink of his eye and used the broken pieces to create new paths or repair others.

  “Is that why he can’t speak?” Grai asked, staring at his son with surprise.

  “He can speak, just not with his mouth. Conductors live in many worlds. Their body is in the physical, but their mind sees the shadow worlds that most cannot see. He sees the colors of your aura, the individual Shengari’ connections that you have with everyone, even the electricity can be seen by him and those like him.” Dread said, feeling the curiosity of those around him.

  “So how does he speak?” Grai asked, wondering if there was a way to talk to his son.

  “I do not know yet. Since he has been awake I haven’t had a chance to travel with him in his mind and find the world where he speaks.” Dread said, realizing he was confusing Grai more.

  “As I said earlier, he lives in many worlds, one here with us physically, the other, his mind lives in the shadow world where the Shengari’ exists. I haven’t been able to determine if his voice is in the shadow world, or if he has not learned how to use it yet.” Feeling the confusion all around them, Dread continued to explain.

  “Because a conductor lives in many worlds he has to learn and grow in each world. If he spends half of his time in the shadow world, then his learning in the physical world suffers. It would take him much longer to learn things that we take for granted like walking, eating, dressing himself, brushing his teeth, and talking.”

  “This normally makes it take longer for him to learn the shadow world as well. That is not the case with Tristan. He’s a natural conductor. His abilities in the shadow world are far advanced, the strongest I’ve ever seen.” Dread said, glad that no one in the room was showing fear.

  He grinned at Tristan as the little boy weaved the energy strands, uncaring of what was going on around him physically as he concentrated solely on repairing the strands that most could not see.

  “Thank you, my friend. That strand with Viper is used very often, and we appreciate your assistance in repairing it.” Dread said through the newly created strand that Tristan had made between them, speaking to the boy’s beast.

  He wasn’t the least bit surprised when Tristan turned his head towards him and gave a quick nod before turning back to the strands he was deftly manipulating with his fingers. Dread had no doubt the child could speak. They just hadn’t found where and how he used his voice.

  “Have you allowed him to see Gibly since he has been awake?” Dread asked.

  Grai was taken aback for a moment by the question. “No. I don’t think he’s seen Gibly at all since we came here. Why?”

  “Conductors live in the shadow world, but they aren’t the only ones who can see in that realm. Some animals can also see and speak there. It’s how some species communicate with one another. Like the Sibiox. Most conductors have a strangely close relationship with certain animals.”

  “The beast species are not the only ones with a communication path like the Shengari’. Where we only use and sometimes see the Shengari’, there are thousands of other paths like that for other species. Tris
tan sees them all; I believe.” Dread explained.

  This was proven moments later when Niklosi and Decano had barely opened the door to the dining room, when Gibly came running past them and headed straight for Tristan at a full run.

  Grai, unsure if the cat was going to hurt his son, was getting ready to lunge for the boy, when Dread stopped him with a strong arm across his chest.

  “Stop! He will not harm him. I promise. Just watch.” Dread said roughly. He was curious to see what would happen between Gibly and the boy. As was the entire room. The silence hung in the air thickly as everyone was glued to the scene unfolding before them.

  Gibly jumped up on the end of the table and ran halfway across the top, dodging plates and glasses before stopping in front of Tristan. Reaching up, Gibly nuzzled one of Tristan’s hands as he manipulated an energy string.

  Tristan stopped mid-motion and turned to look at Gibly, in the eyes. A moment later, Tristan grunted loudly and opened his arms wide. Gibly jumped into the boys lap and nuzzled and cuddled him as Tristan hugged the cat closely, humming softly.

  Dread moved slowly, closer to the boy and the cat to see how they were interacting. Kneeling beside the child’s chair Dread watched the energy spark around the two. It was as if the child, and the animal were sharing their energy. Dread had never seen anything like it.

  Bright sparks and flashes of energy crackled around the two for a few moments. The strands from the cat were combining and separating from Tristan’s as if in a strange dance. Tristan’s humming seemed to help weave the energy around the boy and the cat, finally settling the energy strands around the two like a blanket.

  Dread watched in fascination as the energy vibrated as if being fed by the boy before being bounced to Gibly, who absorbed it, magnified it and bounced it back to the child.

  “What are they doing?” Grai asked in a whisper, afraid to disturb the smiling child and cat.

  Dread looked to Viper who was grinning, before turning his own smiling face to Grai. “They are bonding and communicating.”

  “What are they saying?” Grai asked, hoping to finally hear the words of his son.

  “I do not know. I cannot speak or hear along the path they are using. I believe they speak on the Sibiox version of the Shengari’.” Dread explained, slightly in awe of the boy’s abilities. Grai’s hope felt crushed. If Dread couldn’t hear or speak to his son, then no one could.

  “He can speak in every realm that he can see. Which is many. How many I cannot even guess because I can only see four. The Shengari’, Gibly’s, the Zendarian’s and one other that I am still unfamiliar with.”

  “I do not have even close to the level of power that the child possesses. I can only estimate that he can conduct dozens, if not hundreds of energy paths.” Dread said, trying to ease Grai’s disappointment.

  “If he can conduct the Shengari’, then can’t he speak in it?” Grai asked.

  “Have you tried to speak to his beast?” Dread asked.

  Grai looked at Dread like he was slow in the head, before replying, “Of course. He wasn’t bonded though. There was no ability to communicate. It was nothing more than pain and fear.”

  “So you haven’t tried since he became fully bonded…” Dread said with a grin as he watched it finally dawn on Grai that he hadn’t.

  Grai was so nervous and excited that he didn’t notice that everyone but Tristan, Dread and Gibly had left the dining hall. He sat heavily in the empty chair next to his son, who was still holding Gibly in his lap.

  Reaching out gently, he tried to speak to his son through the Shengari’. “Tristan, can you hear Daddy?”

  “He says can hear you, but he can’t speak there yet. It’s too new, and he’s still a little afraid of it because that path has only hurt him for so long. It will take time. But he will heal and eventually speak there.” Gibly said, his eyes glowing with an eerie halo around his green eyes.

  Grai was too stunned to speak, so Dread asked the questions for him. “Gibly, can you speak to him?”

  “Of course! He’s my friend. One of my kind is meant to be with him.” Gibly said, arching his back with pride as he nuzzled the boy’s cheek.

  “What do you mean? Why should one of you be with him?” Dread asked curiously, while Grai still tried to absorb that, his son could speak.

  “My people help balance the conductors.” Gibly said simply.

  “Because of all the energy they deal with?” Dread asked, still trying to understand what Gibly meant. Speaking with the cat wasn’t always easy due to the obvious differences.

  “The conductor is consumed by the pull of the energy. Because they exist in more than one world, they are drawn to stay in the world whose energy is the strongest. That is not this world.”

  “My people help the conductor balance the energy and ground them enough to help them strengthen their bond to their world.” Gibly said, swishing his tail and tickling the boy until he giggled.

  “So you can reach him where no one else can and help him anchor himself more fully in this realm?” Dread said, finally understanding it.

  “Yes!” Gibly said happily.

  “So he’s still afraid of this realm and the beast bond because of the pain, but you can help anchor him and teach him how to interact more in this realm? Eventually use the beast bond and communicate?” Dread asked, trying to help simplify the explanation for Grai’s sake. The poor man still looked shell-shocked and hadn’t said a word since Gibly started speaking to them.

  “Yes.”

  Dread wasn’t surprised he was right. He was beginning to understand this now. “He will always be more drawn to the other realms, but the energy of your people around him, helps to draw him into this realm more. The more time he spends with you, the more he stays grounded here long enough to learn more about how to navigate this realm.”

  “This is like exploring a new world for him isn’t it? It’s overwhelming and scary at times.” Dread said, knowing he was right and truly fascinated by all of it.

  “Yes! You understand!” Gibly said excitedly.

  “Why can’t he use me? I would do anything to help him…” Grai said hoarsely, obviously trying hard to contain the riot of emotions that were whipping through him.

  Dread answered before Gibly. “Because you, none of us, have such a high spiritual energy. It’s not so much that he can’t reach us; we aren’t developed enough to reach him. The energy of the Sibiox run along a complimentary path that they can bond on. He most likely can do that with a lot of different species.”

  “He’s very, very special, Grai. He’s a gift. An amazing gift.” Dread said almost with awe, as the implications of what the child was capable of dawned on him. Grai wasn’t ready for all of that yet… none of them were.

  Speaking only to Gibly, Dread warned him of the dangers of telling anyone, even Grai right now, the full power the boy held. The full ramifications of the fact that the human disease may not be a disease… if there were more conductors like Tristan on this planet…

  Gibly made a slight nod of his head. “My people are aware of it; it is why so many of us come now. We are needed. We can speak to some of the native animals, call to them to find their conductors.”

  The prophecies… Dread thought. Why didn’t he see it? He mentally kicked himself multiple times, before turning to Grai. He stared at him for a moment before sending a private, urgent message to the Zendarian leader. Receiving the immediate response, he turned back to Grai.

  “He needs to be protected. Gibly’s people will be coming and will help protect him. But he needs his own guard. At all times.” Dread said seriously, weighing what he could say carefully.

  “What’s wrong? What’s going on Dread? Don’t lie to me! This is my son!” Grai said with a growl, fighting the urge to grab the man and shake him until he told him what was going on.

  Dread held his hands up, knowing Grai’s emotions were on the edge. The whole situation was a lot to take in for him; he couldn’t imagine how Grai f
elt as the boy’s father; and he didn’t even know half of what they were truly dealing with.

  “Nothing is wrong. He has more power than any one person I have ever seen. The true extent of which we can’t even begin to understand yet. Now that he has a way to ground himself more here, through the Sibiox, he may start displaying his abilities in this realm.”

  “Look, in each energy realm he has different abilities other than the Shengari’. The higher the energy realm the higher the abilities. He’s never had a chance to stay in this realm for long and learn it. The more he learns…” Dread let the sentence trail off, hoping that Grai’s quick mind would understand what he didn’t say.

  “The more he will manifest his natural abilities with the energy here. Do you have any idea what those abilities will be?” Grai asked, trying to fathom how he could have possibly been a part of creating such a beautiful being. He wasn’t sure if the Gods were mocking him, testing him or blessing him.

  “I have never seen anything like him, Grai. The only ones who would know would be the Zendarian’s, and I recommend you contact them immediately. In fact, I’ll do it for you and explain to them what I can see. It will help them to figure this out.” Dread offered, not telling him that he had already contacted the Zendarian leader.

  Grai thought for a moment before agreeing. “Yeah, you seem to have more figured out than I do. Thank you my friend.” Grai meant it too. He’d learned more about his precious child since Dread had come than he had in all the years he’d been with his son.

  It didn’t surprise him at all that his son was special; he had always known that. Tristan had always been a miracle to him and always would be; this news wouldn’t change that. What did surprise him was the power he could possibly wield.

  Grai turned to Dread, the fear crawling up his spine as he realized what the man had told him.

  “If Dagog ever got hold of him… Oh Gods…” Grai slumped heavily into the nearest chair.

  “Grai, that’s why we will protect him. The Zendarian’s will help us figure it out. Until then, Gibly can help protect and ground him. Have Tricia pick a house away from the others, so there will be privacy if he starts to display abilities that would draw attention to him. We can do this.” Dread encouraged the scared father, not even sure himself what they could expect.