“That hadn’t occurred to me,” Kheled mused. “After all, no one’s ever wanted to help in the past.
“I’ll share what I can. I suppose you’ll want to start with anything applicable to combat, that being what first prompted your curiosity.”
“It’s as good a topic as any,” Raimie agreed.
“Well, Ele is mostly concerned with preservation and protection,” Kheled gestured expansively as he talked. “There’s not much you can do with its energy that’ll physically harm or cause any form of destruction to another, but that doesn’t mean it’s totally useless in combat. Namely, Ele can preserve your life when someone attacks you.
“When you’re drawing on Ele’s energy, you’ll be much swifter than normal, able to dodge attacks that would normally run you through. It feels a bit like the world had slowed down, and you have to wait for it to catch up.
“Besides the increase in your agility, you can use the energy to propel immediate dangers away from you, including other people. Creation tells me this has something to do with the value of primeancers to the whole as compared to the average person, but I’m not sure how that fully explains the paradox of a force of protection allowing a mortal to lash out with it destructively.
“Lastly, it can stave off the effects of a multitude of wounds for short periods of time.
“That’s the basics of combat with Ele, but feel free to experiment on your own. After all, I know next to nothing about what happens when you draw from Daevetch.”
“Interesting,” Raimie chewed the word like it was the most delicious cut of meat he’d ever tasted. “That healing effect you mentioned only works on yourself? Not on others?”
He held his breath for the answer. If it was as he suspected, then he’d have to reevaluate his friendship with the enigmatic Eselan he’d met scant weeks before and seriously consider what to do with his newfound powers.
To Raimie’s surprise, Kheled sadly chuckled.
“I wish. First of all, Ele’s energy won’t really heal you. For a very short period, it keeps your body functioning perfectly despite any injuries, but when it wears off, you’d better hope you’re near a healer because whatever effects may have been delayed by its power will return in full force with interest.
“Besides that, you don’t know how many times I’ve yearned for Ele to allow real healing. If it worked the way I desired, my parents and my sister might be alive today.”
Caught off guard by the unexpected response, Raimie floundered for his own reply.
“Your sister? Ren, right?” he dragged from his surprise. “She’s the one I saw in the Joining during the second trial. She looked very much alive when the Joining broke off.”
“You didn’t see what happened after that,” Kheled curled up on himself, resting his forehead on his arms on his knees. “She tripped and fell. Broke her ankle. If Ele healed as I’d like… but it doesn’t.
“I could have stayed to fight off the Kiraak chasing us, but she begged me, begged me, not to sacrifice my life, to run. I honored her wishes, and I’ve regretted that decision every day since.”
“How could you…”
The horror choked off Raimie’s question.
“Leave her?” Kheled spat. “I’m not perfect, Raimie. I couldn’t bring myself to die to protect her, not with her crying at my feet to run away. Maybe if I’d been older or stronger, I would have fought, but I was a child. I didn’t know what else to do.”
When was Raimie going to learn he couldn’t open his mouth and say whatever came to mind? If only he could control his tongue, he might not land in sticky situations such as this.
“In any case, we were discussing battle strategies involving primeancy,” Kheled flatly continued.
“Yes, we were!” Raimie eagerly seized the return to a more comfortable topic.
“Did you have another question, or have you already gotten the answer you were looking for?”
Raimie’s eyes jerked to the top of Kheled’s head. The Eselan’s arms hid his face.
“Y-you know nothing about possible applications for Daevetch?” Raimie stammered.
It was a clumsy attempt to hide his surprise.
“I don’t, although I’d guess Daevetch is much more useful in combat that Ele, being the opposite of preservation and all,” Kheled unfolded, slight irritation injecting into his voice. “Anything else? It’s been a rather long day.”
“No! Please go to bed and thank you for checking on me!” Raimie said, standing at the same time as the Eselan.
“You’re welcome, my friend. But Raimie?” Kheled hooked Raimie’s eyes with his own, an intimidating intensity boiling behind them. “The next time you have a specific question, just ask. If there’s one thing I despise, it’s clumsy manipulation.”
Raimie swallowed hard.
“Of course! I will!”
Kheled held his gaze for a moment longer before he ducked through the tent flaps. Raimie collapsed to the cot. Beside him, Chela stirred momentarily, muttered fitfully, and settled back into sleep. He resolutely ignored her.
“Well? Was he telling the truth?” he asked the empty air.
“Every word he spoke was true although he may have misled you in other ways,” Bright instantly answered.
Both turned to Dim. He was already doing his best to bother Chela even through her dreams.
“What?” he said grouchily. “Just because my whole’s generally associated with deception means that I can detect any lie now, does it?”
“I thought it might since you warned me about Dath…” Raimie trailed off suggestively.
“I could only smell that bastard because he’d been marinating in revenge for weeks!” Dim protested indignantly. “That doesn’t mean I can pick up on a tiny lie in a sea of truth.”
Raimie wrinkled his nose.
“Gross! You smell us?” he asked with feigned disgust.
Dim stopped plucking on Chela’s hair, hanging his wrists over bent knees.
“If you must know, yes I can,” he huffed, “and some of you living beings smell better than others. Notably Dath. That worm smells so much better than you…”
His teeth clicked together as he took in Raimie’s grin.
“Oh, I see how it is,” he returned the smirk. “Two can play at that game, kid!”
Raimie chortled at his small joke, but he also extended a hand disarmingly at Dim.
“I’m sorry,” he said through giggles. “I couldn’t resist.”
Dim made a silly face which intensified Raimie’s laughing fit. He only calmed when Chela half awoke.
“That rules Khel out,” Raimie stated, wiping tears from his eyes.
Dim and Bright remained notably silent, and he rolled his eyes at their reluctance to help.
“Which leaves Alouin,” he continued. “I need to find a tear.”
“Why are you so focused on what healed you?” Bright quietly asked.
By Chela, Dim stilled.
“Are you kidding? There’s a power out there that can essentially bring someone back from the dead, and you ask why I’m interested?” Raimie hardly believed the question was real. “I want it for myself, of course!”
Bright bit his lip and turned away, and Dim shrugged resignedly. Lost in fantasy, Raimie didn’t notice.
“I could fix dad and move on to others in equal distress. I could help so many people!”
“At what cost?” Bright asked the tent wall.
Dim jerked his head up in surprise as his counterpart advised against their human’s yet to be realized fantasy. Raimie broke out of his beautiful vision, confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think such power comes without a cost? There’s a balance that must be maintained, child. Consider that before you go to sleep tonight.”
Bright popped out of existence. Irritated at his splinter’s abrupt departure, Raimie considered calling him back forcefully.
“I wouldn’t,” Dim advised, idly flicking Chela’s ear.
“Why not?” Raimie asked shortly.
Dim shrugged, declining to provide an answer.
“If you’ve nothing useful to add, feel free to leave as well!”
Abandoned to the mostly empty tent, Raimie wondered at his splinters’ behaviors. Bright had acted completely out of character, his behavior bordering on defiant - a complete change from his normally eager to please attitude, and Dim’s quiet resignation was the opposite of his typical boisterous and mischievous self.
Left irritated by both conversations, Raimie flopped as comfortably as he could onto his half of the cot. He reached for the topmost of the unread books and settled in to study.
Chapter Eighteen
Instead, I marshal the last of my sanity to hold Corruption off one last time in order to convey my wishes before I no longer can.
It had been an entire week, and Kheled had gotten nowhere with his investigation. He’d followed several avenues of inquiry with no significant results.
First, he tried tailing Dath, but the newly sworn Zrelnach was wise to the healer’s suspicions, ensuring that he never did anything to validate them. By himself and with no good way to disguise his face, Kheled would never get the opportunity to discover what Dath was actually up to.
While he might attempt shape change to follow a human unnoticed, he knew better than to attempt such a tactic on Dath. Esela and in particular Zrelnach warriors were especially sensitive to that type of magic since it could easily be employed for nefarious purposes, most of which the warriors were employed to guard against.
Honestly, the kid’s continued existence surprised Kheled to no end. He could only assume Eledis hadn’t located the young man or couldn’t eliminate him diplomatically. Either way, it wasn’t his concern. The old man would find a way around whatever obstacle blocked him whenever he was actually inclined to do so.
As expected, Dath disappeared toward the end of the week. Kheled attempted to discover the fate of the young Zrelnach, whether Eledis had eliminated Dath or whether the youth had sensibly returned to Allanovian, but no one was inclined to answer his questions. After several frustrating conversations with obstinate Zrelnach, Kheled gave up. Perhaps Dath’s comrades would be willing to talk once weeks had passed absent the youth’s presence.
With nothing to show for his efforts on that front, he investigated the group of men and women Dath had been in the company of the night Raimie had died. Some of them were less careful with their actions than their youngest member. They led Kheled to a number of low-ranking Zrelnach involved in the conspiracy, and the healer might have further progressed with his investigation if the call hadn’t come down from on high to move out.
Digging further into the heart of the conspiracy proved nigh impossible while traveling inside the Withriingalm’s borders. The driving pace maintained during waking hours pushed even the most experienced and in shape men and women to collapse into bedrolls when the day ended which meant very little activity arose from the identified conspirators until the army escaped the swamp’s clutches.
Upon their return to the grassy plains, the little army collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Superstition had proven false. The marsh’s wraiths were nothing but malicious living beings, nothing supernatural about them at all.
Even with their safe passage, men and women whispered to one another over late night campfire’s that the wraiths had indeed come for them, but Raimie had heroically driven the demons away hence why he’d been in convalescence for several days.
Kheled laughed at the bittersweet disappointment the rumor provoked. Even with a perfectly rational explanation, people would concoct stories to attribute life’s difficulties to something magical or otherwise beyond their control. No one wanted to accept reality’s truths.
The group returned to a more relaxed pace on the plains. Eledis’ ghosts dogged them on, but without a dose of fear from immediate danger to further propel them, it proved impossible to keep up the near run they’d sustained within the Withriingalm.
The slower pace allowed an increase in the conspirators’ activities. Earlier stops in their daily march led to nightly meetings where orders were delivered. Kheled could only occasionally sidle close enough to eavesdrop on the conversations, but it was enough to learn that the recent random axle breaks and food supply contaminations were acts of sabotage and not accidents as had been assumed by leadership.
If nothing else, initial inquiries allowed Kheled to truly appreciate how outmatched the humans were. In purely numbers, the two races may be equal, but that didn’t take into consideration the Zrelnach’s lifetime of experience defending an often-times besieged home. When their capabilities were factored in, the advantage in any fair fight landed squarely in favor of the Esela. Kheled hoped never to witness a struggle between the races. He wouldn’t be swept up in a massacre again.
Kheled believed that he’d soon have a comprehensive list of those working against Eledis to bring to the old man. Unfortunately, he had to juggle his investigation with other undertaken responsibilities which delayed that delivery day by day. Every night before he was freed to pursue his own interests, his training session with Raimie required completion.
Since his return from death, Kheled’s student had taken a guarded attitude with everyone he interacted with. The healer understood the change completely considering that Raimie’s trust was what had led to the assassination attempt that had nearly seen him killed, but Kheled was pained to see the same suspicious attitude directed toward him. The strained distance was jarring, especially after he’d only recently come to realize how important Raimie’s friendship had become to him.
Raimie’s incessant questions about primeancy ceased after their last conversation on the topic. Instead, his student preferred to experiment on his own. Disquieted by the possibility of experimentation gone wrong but unable to change Raimie’s mind, Kheled focused his student’s lessons on martial aspects and fighting forms, the only subjects Raimie was willing to take advice on.
As they completed the evening’s training session with their typical sparring bout, Kheled struggled to combat his student’s change in fighting style.
Raimie swiped at Kheled’s undefended stomach forcing him to hurriedly retreat. Even with his magically enhanced speed, Raimie’s fist grazed his clothing. He batted away two swings at his face, and the power behind the strikes made Kheled falter.
His student seized the opening, growling victoriously.
All Kheled could see was a fist covered in darkness driving into his face. He instinctively pulled Ele to his hand and caught the incoming strike while at the same time throwing his own punch at Raimie’s midsection.
The light and dark met with a quiet bang, intertwining like warriors locked in death’s embrace before fading away. Raimie folded around the fist buried in his stomach.
Kheled quickly backed off once he’d ensured his student wouldn’t collapse, horrified that he’d retaliated instead of dodging the attack. It wasn’t like him to fight back while training a baby warrior. Over the years, he’d discovered that the frustration caused by failing to land a blow was a better learning motivator for new fighters than the anger caused by a beating.
Raimie gulped at the air like a fish while his lungs regained their ability to breathe. Kheled watched with concern, worried that he may have hit his student with too much force.
Fortunately, the human recovered quickly. He laughed hysterically, slapping his hands on his knees.
“Did I hit you too hard?”
Raimie violently shook his head, struggling to contain his giggles.
“No,” he gasped around them. “That was wonderful! Absolutely incredible! I’ve never felt such power before.”
Kheled bit his lip, disconcerted by Raimie’s out of place ecstasy. What should he make of it?
“Did you pull from Daevetch?” he asked, voicing a dreaded suspicion.
Raimie nodded as he caught his breath.
“Finally! I’ve been trying t
o get Daevetch to come when called during our training sessions since I woke in the Withriingalm. I’m curious what I can do with it.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Kheled asked, his eyebrows drawing together. “Daevetch is generally considered evil. Blindly messing with it could come with consequences.”
Raimie’s head snapped up, his lips peeling back from his teeth.
“I am so sick of being helpless,” he hissed. “Every time I’m attacked, whether by an enemy or potential ally, my inability to defend myself gets me or someone I love hurt, and I can’t stand it. Excuse me for assessing every tool at my disposal so that next time, the person attacking me will be the one destroyed.”
“I understand your frustration!” Kheled growled back.
Why wouldn’t Raimie listen to what he’d said?
“I only want you to consider every possible outcome of your actions!”
Raimie angrily shoved a finger in Kheled’s face.
“What makes you think I want your advice, Khel?” he snarled. “You’re not that much older than me. You’re what? Twenty-five? Twenty-seven? What makes you think you’ve learned something in the decade between us that could possibly be useful to me?”
Kheled stiffened.
“I remember what being young is like, so I’ll stop your tirade before you say anything you regret. Go to bed now and cool off before you speak another word.”
“I’ll say what I want, when I want, you insufferably self-righteous bastard!” Raimie screamed, his face turning red.
“We’re trading insults now, are we? Finally!” Kheled growled. “You’re acting like a child.”
He shoved Raimie’s chest.
“You’re whining about past harms and taking easy routes to power instead of working to become stronger which makes you a petulant child.”
He poked again.
“And you’re experimenting on me with your new powers without considering my safety or feelings which makes you a selfish, petulant child.”
Raimie screamed with fury and stabbed at Kheled’s throat with his fingers.
The healer smirked. He’d meant every word he’d said, and the anger had been very real. He’d learned long ago, however, to harness anger and use it for his own purposes. By goading Raimie into a fight, he hoped to both demonstrate how dangerous drawing from Daevetch was and at the same time, break past the new wall of distance Raimie had erected.
The Undying Champions (The Eternal War Book 1) Page 34