On the other hand, his lifelong drive to discover and experiment longed to be satiated. He had so many questions! How had Raimie drawn in the opposing energies at the same time? What was that combined stream of dusk that he’d tossed into the tear? Most importantly, could this change be used to end the cycle?
Kheled hesitantly placed a hand on the sleeping human’s arm and released the smallest tendril of light over it. There wasn’t a single reaction from Raimie’s body.
He did not want to ask for his splinter, but…
“We should discuss this development, Creation,” Kheled murmured under his breath.
His splinter manifested in fits and starts. He bit back a gasp at the sight of it. Its Eselan guise had broken on nearly every body part, leaking enough white light from the cracks to fully illuminate the campsite. Both of its arms hugged tightly around its stomach, and it trembled in and out of existence, holding its presence in this reality with enormous effort.
“Gods! What happened to you? Did Entropy…?”
“No!” Creation snapped. “My enemy is contained. The closure of one of the gaps in your reality has merely made it more difficult for me to come to the physical realm. I’ll stabilize once you near another.”
Kheled cocked his head. He’d never seen the splinter so… irritated before.
“Have you ever seen anything like that before?” he asked.
“So far as I’m aware, no one has ever closed one of the gaps,” Creation answered as he shifted from foot to foot.
Kheled narrowed his eyes.
“What about blending energies into that murky power that forced the tear closed?”
Creation picked nervously at the sleeves covering its cracked elbows.
“I’ve never observed such a phenomenon personally,” it answered.
Kheled allowed the weight of his scrutiny to linger on the leaking figure for several heartbeats.
“You’re hiding something,” he stated. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I… I…Deliberately misleading is something Entropy does!” Creation whispered, horrified.
It shook itself violently, sprays of light scattering from it like shifting sunlight through the trees.
“I must consult with the whole!” it exclaimed in panic.
“Wait, no!” Kheled blurted, reaching forward. “You were only now…”
Creation popped out of existence.
“… becoming tolerable,” he sighed, leaning against the tree trunk.
He tilted his head back, blankly gazing through the leaves and branches. When his splinter returned, it would once again become a self-righteous annoyance, one that had dogged him from the beginning.
“What are you doing?”
The question came out of nowhere, and Kheled surged to his feet and stepped in front of Raimie before the words registered.
“Thinking out loud, if you must know,” he said, squinting to make out his companion’s face. “Dath? What are you doing here? I thought the council was holding the trainees in reserve.”
Dath stalked to Raimie’s sleeping form and squatted beside it.
“I’m no longer a trainee if you must know,” he echoed Kheled’s original air of hostility. “I received special dispensation from Councilor Yrit to accept my commission before we left.”
He selected a twig from the host of its brethren littering the forest floor and idly poked Raimie’s shoulder. Kheled bent over and grabbed his wrist.
“Congratulations are in order,” he stiffly complimented. “If anyone deserves such an honor, it’s you.”
He released his hold, and Dath shook his wrist out. Kheled clasped his arms behind his back.
“Was there something you needed, master?”
Dath shook his head.
“I only wanted a glimpse of our supposed savior. I thought maybe my humiliation at his hands would hurt less now that he’s proven he can meddle with a tear and survive…”
He stared at Raimie’s slumbering face, holding his breath. Kheled subtly reached for his blades, but the recently raised Zrelnach simply released his breath with a puff.
“… but he still looks like an inconsequential human child.”
He raised his eyes to Kheled’s.
“It’s disappointing really. I’d hoped to find something to dissuade my course of action. In any case, I’ll bid you good night, Healer. Try to get some rest, yes?”
Dath wandered off, picking his way around and between sleeping men and women. Kheled tracked him until he disappeared from sight. Only then did he let his fingers drift away from his blades’ hilts.
* * *
The morning brought with it his assigned turn on summoning detail. Kheled held his hand palm up, convinced that he’d carried a stack of hardtack from Allanovian specifically for this batch of soldiers. Five crackers appeared a hand span above his waiting palm, and he floundered to catch them all.
The soldiers made not a single joke or comment about his sloppy technique. They respectfully thanked him and retreated to consume their breakfast.
Kheled had hoped that employing his healing skills for the humans injured beneath the mountain would help bridge the chasm between the races, and so far, those hopes had been wildly fulfilled. He’d received the brunt of the humans’ newfound respect, but it had leaked over onto other Esela as well.
He’d been surprised that so few members of the group had been harmed in the fight. With the amount of sheer loathing between the races, Kheled had been sure that more would be seriously injured or killed when the violence came, but besides the one young human who’d broken his neck right at the beginning, there’d been no other fatalities, just a lot of cuts, bumps, and bruises.
Another group of soldiers approached, and Kheled suppressed a groan. He and his cohorts had fed about half of the humans, or at the very least, he hoped it was so. The sap of energy accumulated strength with every summoning, and using this much magic set Kheled on edge.
“Khel!” a voice drifted over the sounds of camp breaking down, quickly increasing in volume.
Raimie dashed around and sprang over an obstacle course of men and equipment impeding his progress to the healer. Eledis and Ferin trailed behind him, grimly picking through the chaos left in his wake. Raimie ground to a halt before he barreled into Kheled and clasped the healer’s biceps.
“You have to help me!” he said, his words a mish-mash as they tumbled over themselves in their bid to escape his tongue. “They’re insisting that that woman teaches me to fight, but I don’t want her to! Please, you said you would train me. Tell them!”
He pointed at Eledis and Ferin. The two seemed amused. Ferin’s eyebrows soared on her forehead, her face pinched with amusement, and Eledis crossed his arms.
“He’s right. That’s what I promised,” Kheled confirmed while gently pulling Raimie’s hands off.
Eledis snorted back a laugh, but before he could voice his opinion on the matter, Ferin closed the gap and pulled Kheled to the side. Behind her, Eledis’ face tinged pink, and he tapped his fingers against his arms.
“Are you sure about this?” Ferin whispered fervently. “I’m more than willing to take the boy on. If you accept his apprenticeship, you’ll be forced to the forefront. You won’t be able to skirt about in the shadows as you like.”
“I know that, but he needs me,” Kheled calmly replied.
She gave him a funny look but didn’t protest and shrugged at Eledis.
“I’m not going to take him as a student if he already has a teacher.”
Eledis drew himself up.
“Fine,” he said through white lips. “You’re the one to whom I owe a debt for saving Raimie’s life?”
Kheled smiled as the aforementioned young man trotted over happily, beaming up at him.
“It was the least I could do for my sover-”
Eledis jabbed his fingers at Kheled’s midsection, and the strike almost got through with the healer so focused on Raimie. At the last second, he smacke
d the attack away and brushed the subsequent punch at his temple to the side.
He retreated, seeking to create distance, but Eledis followed every step, allowing the healer no room to breathe. The old man punched at his throat, and Kheled easily intercepted the strike. He danced around Eledis’ next attack, jabbed the old man twice below the ribs as he spun, and kicked at the back of Eledis’ left knee. It was simple enough after that to knock the old man’s feet out from under him.
Eledis landed heavily but quickly recovered to a standing position with fists extended. A look of understanding passed between the two men, and Eledis lowered his hands.
“Forgive me, but I had to ensure that you’re qualified for the job. I’ve never met a healer who can fight, and may I say, you blew apart all of my preconceived notions,” he confessed sheepishly.
“Perfectly understandable, sir. Does that mean I have your permission to teach Raimie how to fight?” Kheled asked.
Better to give the old man the pretense of a say in the matter. It would lead to fewer problems in the future.
“I don’t think I have much choice,” Eledis said, ruefully shaking his head. “Raimie’s a headstrong lad. Once he’s made a decision, there’s no changing his mind.”
“That’s not such a bad quality, is it?” Raimie asked defensively. “In this case, it got me a proper tutor.”
Kheled folded his arms.
“You know that Ferin’s the commander of the Zrelnach, don’t you? She’s more than capable of teaching you.”
The human blushed fiercely. He mumbled what sounded like an apology and backed away. Kheled shook his head at the self-assurance of youth, and Eledis harrumphed uncomfortably.
“I’ll leave him in your care,” he told Kheled. “Be prepared to depart for Paft soon.”
And he was gone.
“Paft?” Kheled asked Ferin. “Interesting choice for a way-station. They won’t have much to trade.”
“No,” she replied, “but it’s the closest settlement between us and our destination.”
“Which is?”
Ferin had a distant look in her eye.
“Eledis is haunted by some unseen specter. He’s convinced we’re being hunted by enemies and insists that we reach the open ocean as soon as possible,” she mused.
Shaking her head to clear it, she addressed Kheled’s question.
“He’s decided on Sev as our port of call,” she gripped his arm. “Khel, he’s considering cutting through the Withriingalm to shave a few days off of our travel time.”
The old man must be severely on edge to contemplate such a desperate route.
“I’m sure you can convince him that that’s a supremely bad idea.”
Ferin’s hand fell away, and she hugged herself, shivering.
“I certainly hope so,” she said, glancing back at the inquisitive young man sidling in on their conversation. “I’ll leave you with your newfound responsibility. Have fun!”
She raised a hand in farewell.
“Does that mean I’m off of summoning rotation?” Kheled called after her.
Her shoulders shook with laughter as she abandoned him to Raimie. He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He pointed vaguely with the other hand to a less occupied copse of woods.
“Go practice the forms I’ve already shown you. I’ll be with you as soon as I’ve finished feeding your men.”
Raimie readily complied. Without the wealth of authority figures protecting him, a brigade of ravenous soldiers descended on Kheled.
While absently dispensing rations to the gathered humans, he took a moment to examine the shell of his heart. The addition of so many long forgotten emotions to boredom and complacency surprised him. Of course, some were sensations he was willing to forget like annoyance and anger, but others, those he couldn’t bear to lose again. The joy of freedom from a despised prison, the horror and surprise of encountering something brand new, the hope that this time might be different.
For so long, he’d moved along in a bland, gray fog, fulfilling his role to the letter with no extra effort. Now, he’d cultivated a small garden of fragile hopes to encourage him to break free once more. If something came along to trample the garden and uproot this positivity, well, he didn’t think he’d recover.
With the last soldier fed, he joined Raimie to hold a brief lesson before the army finished mobilizing for the next leg of its journey. His new student had collapsed, pulling his legs up and resting his wrists on his knees. He panted heavily.
“What happened?” Kheled teased. “Did you overestimate your abilities?”
Raimie shook his head, sweat droplets flung in every direction.
“I don’t understand!” he growled. “I had a full night’s sleep. Why am I so exhausted?”
“Maybe it has something to do with what happened beneath the mountain,” Kheled suggested. “Or maybe you’re already tired from today’s lesson.”
Raimie lifted his head from its slump.
“I doubt I can participate in any form of exercise right now, Khel.”
The healer sat cross-legged next to his student.
“That’s convenient. I was planning on discussing a new technique today.”
“Ah,” Raimie waved a hand at him, “please do continue.”
Kheled scooted a little closer to the human.
“Do you remember how you closed the tear?” he asked in a whisper.
Raimie shrugged.
“Honestly, not really. The knowledge is on the opposite shore of an ocean. I vaguely recall bits and pieces, but whatever actions I took wiped the majority of it from my mind.”
Kheled clamped down on a wave of frustration and disappointment. There was plenty of time to ease Raimie into this.
“That’s disappointing. I’d thought I’d need to modify my lessons to include magic combat, but I suppose we’ll have to work solely with the mundane.”
“You think I can use magic?” Raimie asked excitedly, but his face fell mere moments later. “You said that was impossible for humans.”
“I said a human thaumaturge was exceptionally rare,” Kheled corrected, holding up a pointer finger reproachfully. “That doesn’t preclude humans from magic entirely. In fact, watching you close the tear gave the distinct impression of it.”
Raimie silently contemplated, indecision hovering over him like a cloud.
“Start with what you’re comfortable sharing,” Kheled prompted.
His student looked up sharply.
“You’ll probably think me crazy, but I can’t keep this to myself anymore. I just can’t. The stress is eating me alive.”
Raimie slumped into a more relaxed position and fixed his eyes on the canopy above.
“There are two other Raimies. They’re not really me,” he rushed to clarify, “simply anomalies wearing my skin. I think it’s a terrible attempt to reassure me on their part. In any case, Bright and Dim – that’s what I call them – showed up out of nowhere the day after my world ended, when Shadowsteal appeared.”
His mouth closed tight, and Kheled gave him time to collect his thoughts.
“Rather coincidental, don’t you think?” Raimie continued absently. “I find that damn sword, and the very next day, my haunting by figures of light and dark begins. Yet another reason to let Eledis have it.
“At first, those two showed up a manageable amount, but after a few weeks, they were always there, constantly hovering. The truly terrifying part, however, was hearing nothing but buzz from them. Even now, I can only understand half of what they say.”
“You think this Bright and Dim have something to do with the tear?” Kheled interrupted.
“I’m getting to that,” Raimie testily replied before moving on. “We eventually came to an agreement that made their presence more tolerable. They only appear when I’m alone.”
Kheled inwardly winced. Much better to banish them unless called upon.
“We arrived at the tear, and the best way I can descri
be what happened is that those two caused the fight. They were arguing, and each escalation of their clash was followed by one between the races. When true violence erupted, I had to end it, and I knew that somehow the tear was responsible for all of it: the dread, the anger, and the fighting between both Bright and Dim and between the races.
“Being in the tear was… strange. I remember an onslaught of foreign concepts, sights, and sounds, and behind all of that was…”
Raimie waved a hand dismissively.
“Something vast. I can’t remember. The only other fact I do remember is that I drew energy from something boundless and in some way, connected to Bright and Dim.”
Raimie shook his head and slammed a palm against his temple as if to jar more loose.
“I’m sorry. That’s it.”
Poor kid. Kheled vividly remembered the fear and confusion the first time Creation had visited, and he hadn’t experienced the difficulties Raimie spoke of. Constant fear for one’s life he could empathize with, but fearing for one’s sanity? He couldn’t even comprehend.
“You think my mind’s broken, don’t you?”
“No!” Kheled hurriedly exclaimed. “I don’t think that.”
He paused. Gods! Getting this out proved more difficult than he’d anticipated.
“If you’re crazy, then we share the same delusion.”
Raimie chuckled fragilely.
“Are you mocking me?”
“Damn it, Raimie! You just did this. It’s a little harder for me because I’ve concealed it longer!”
The human eyed him with wary disbelief.
“Fine! You want proof?” Kheled glanced to the side. “You can show him.”
A figure of white light materialized between them. Both Kheled and Raimie scrambled backward on palms and feet.
“Who the hell are you?” Kheled barked.
He rose to block the unknown splinter’s path to Raimie.
“You don’t know what that is?” his student shot at him.
“Raimie, shut up and stay still.”
Surprisingly, the human did as he was told.
“You may call me Purity,” the figure answered, laughter in its voice.
The Undying Champions (The Eternal War Book 1) Page 27