by Jordan Baker
"Is it still true if I change things?" Lexi asked.
"You will always be true, if you know who you are," Ashan said. "The more you know yourself, the greater your truth. Your oasis will be deeper and the rock will become stronger, no matter what your sands become."
"I will try again," Lexi said, and she closed her eyes.
"Good," Ashan said. "Now, feel the waters within you, like the oasis, calm but rippling slightly with every thought, and with the things you hear and feel. You are the water."
"I am the water," Lexi said.
"Now, do you feel the rocks within the sand? They are near the water, always."
"I do not know."
"Maybe the rocks are buried," Ashan said thoughtfully. "It does not matter. They are there or you could not stand. Now feel the sand around you, feel the infinite shifting grains of sand gathering together in drifts and dunes. They are your arms, your legs, your body, your form, in one shape now, but changeable."
"I feel it," Lexi said as the sensation of change tingled all over her body, and she began to hear strange things in her ears, almost like voices.
"What is your form? What are you, truly?"
"I do not know." Lexi wavered, distracted by the sounds and the strange feelings that began to echo in her thoughts.
"Ask the question and let the answer come," Ashan told her, his voice calm and reassuring. "What are you?"
"I do not know," Lexi said again, feeling the frustration grow within her. "I cannot tell."
"Don't answer the question, Lexi. Ask it of yourself."
"I can't," she said as the tingling feeling went away. "I don't know."
Lexi opened her eyes and for a moment the world looked strange, like everything had more detail and depth and she could see more than the mere surface of things. She saw the heat radiating in the air from the desert sun blazing upon the sand, and she noticed the cool places on Ashan's face where sweat beaded and evaporated, as though heat was a color. Lexi also noticed that she could hear the sounds of the fight happening nearby and hear limbs moving through the desert air with every swing and step of the battle. In a way, it reminded her of how she felt when the traders had given her the blue potion, as though all of her senses were heightened, but without the nauseating sickness nor the constant craving for more. Instead, she felt clean, her senses sharp and invigorated.
"You did very well," Ashan told her.
"I failed," Lexi said, disappointed.
"No, you didn't," Tash said from where she sat nearby, watching. Ashan turned to her and shook his head, holding his fingers to his lips, then he looked back at Lexi.
"Tash is correct," he said. "You did not fail. You achieved quite a lot this time."
"I did not change," Lexi said, looking down at her hands and arms.
"You did," Ashan said. "Only a little, but you did change, and yet you remained yourself."
"I didn't change at all," Lexi told him. "I could see and hear a little differently though. It isn't like how I learned to see power and essence, and that shadow power." She glanced over in the direction of where Aaron was training with the other Ansari.
"How was it different?" Ashan asked.
"It is like looking through a window but instead of things being less clear from the glass, everything is more clear, and I can see where things are hot and cold and other things too."
"Very good," Ashan said. "The shifting of your senses in such a way is a very promising sign."
"Things still look different than they were," she told him. "Should I make them shift back?"
"If you wish, but there is no need," Ashan said. "It is dragonsight that you describe and with it you can see many things in the world that others cannot."
"How do you know what it is when you do not see with my eyes?" Lexi asked.
"I know what it is, for I have taken dragon form," Ashan said.
"You have been a dragon?" Tash asked, perking up a little. She had asked Lexi not to tell Ashan what happened in the forest, and she was still trying to understand it.
"It is a form few Ansari would take," he said. "I know you have tried to take a form resembling that of a dragon, young one, but to truly become such a creature is difficult and very dangerous if you are not already attuned to it. It also takes many years of practicing with powerful forms to achieve such a transformation."
"Why is it dangerous?" Tash asked, her face pale as she remembered what she had become, and she tried to pretend she was only curious, hoping Ashan would not notice.
"Dragons are dangerous," Ashan said. "They are powerful and they are emotional creatures and the power of dragons comes from anger, which fuels the fire within them."
"Anger?" Lexi asked.
"While anger is not their only emotion, it is the most powerful," Ashan explained. "Dragons are capable of very deep feelings and thoughts, and great wisdom and perception, but it is the rage of the beast that gives them their strength."
"Is that why they are dangerous?" Lexi asked. "They are monsters."
"They are not monsters," Ashan said. "They are very controlled in their ways, for the have found ways to master their anger and use it to make the fire that gives them their power. If it were not for such control, which they have inherited from their ancestors through wisdom that is passed from one dragon to the next, they would become wild beasts. Without wisdom, they would be monsters."
"You said you became a dragon, and that it is dangerous," Lexi said. "If it is so dangerous, why do you want me to be one?"
"I do not want you to be one, Lexi," Ashan said. "The dragon is already part of what you are. It is a very powerful form that you can take, if you choose."
"But Ansari choose not be dragons," Lexi said. "Why can't I become something else?" She thought of the many forms she had already seen the Ansari take in their training fights with Aaron.
"You are not Ansari," Ashan said. "It is possible that you may learn to take other forms, but that would require a long journey of learning."
"Tash can do it," Lexi said. "She can take different forms."
"Tash is Ansari," Ashan said. "It is natural for her. What is natural for you is to be what you are."
"Yes, a monster, an abomination," Lexi said. "That is what I am."
"You are who you are, Lexi," Ashan said. "I do not think you are a monster and neither does Tash. Now let us follow the path of who you are. Are you ready to try again?"
"Yes," Lexi said with a sigh, and she closed her eyes again.
"As before, feel the world, then feel your form," Ashan said.
Lexi listened and felt the world around her again, her heightened senses taking in more than before, feeling the slightest touch of the wind, hearing the tiny grains of sand grinding together underfoot, and she heard the sound of voices again, like distant chatter only they were louder this time and she could almost make out what they were saying. Not to be distracted by them, she focused on the slow shifting of the sand as its own weight collapsed dunes and the wind picked up bits of dust and tiny grains, whirling them and scattering them around. Lexi felt her arms and legs, her entire body, the muscle and sinew, the soft parts of her skin and the scaled parts as well. The tingling feeling returned once more and the voices became louder in her thoughts, distracting her. Determined not to fail this time, Lexi persevered ignoring the voices and focusing on the feeling of who she was, of what she was.
"Lexi," whispered an urgent voice that she thought she recognized as it rose above the chatter. "Please hear me."
"I can hear you," Lexi said.
"What can you hear?" Ashan asked.
"No, Ashan," Lexi said impatiently. "I hear something else."
"Lexi," the voice said her name again and she knew it was the goddess, Ehlena. "You must save him."
"I don't understand," Lexi told her. "What's wrong?"
"Stroma has betrayed me," Ehlena whispered, her voice an echo on the wind. "He used a godsword to take my power. He is coming for Aaron."
"What
sword? Why?"
"A godsword," Ehlena said, her voice becoming weaker and her words short. "Both you and Aaron carry one. He seeks power. Use the godsword. It is the only way. Stroma must be stopped. He is coming."
"What do I do? How do I use it?" Lexi asked.
"You are with Ashan," Ehlena said. "He will know. You must hurry."
Lexi's eyes snapped open as Ehlena's voice faded. She looked at Ashan and found it strange that he appeared to have grown smaller, but she had no time to wonder about the changes in her vision.
"Ashan, how does someone use a godsword?" she asked.
"A godsword?" Ashan's lips drew tight and his eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask?"
"Ehlena said this sword is one of them, and she said you would know," she told him as she drew the weapon from her belt.
"Ehlena? When did she tell you about this?"
"She just spoke to me, on the wind," Lexi told him. "She said Stroma is coming to hurt Aaron."
Ashan's eyes widened.
"Show me your sword," he said and Lexi held it up for him to see. "Remove those leather straps from its hilt."
She intended to pry the leather straps from the sword but her sharp, thin fingernails had become sharper, even more like claws than before and they sliced through the leather with one light scratch. The wrappings fell away, revealing a simple yet elegant hilt and crosspiece, with a large jewel embedded in the pommel.
"It is beautiful," Lexi said, enthralled for a moment by the glittering gemstone.
"It is also very dangerous," Ashan said. "That is a forbidden weapon."
"Ehlena said you would tell me how to use it," Lexi told him. "She said you must hurry."
"With the gemstones covered, godsword are much like any other swords, except they are made of a silvergold, which is much stronger than steel," Ashan explained. "If you uncover the gems on such weapons, they give you the ability to take the power of your opponent."
"Take their power? How?"
"That I do not know," Ashan said. "But I believe it is simply a matter of will and desire. That is what the Lady, Ayra told me about them once, long ago. It is strange that she would ask me to explain this, for she knows more about such things."
"Ehlena said she could not talk, that she was weak," Lexi said, feeling strange thoughts within her that made her heart hurt and her stomach turn and she knew what the feeling was. "She sounded very sad, Ashan. She said Stroma used a godsword to take her power."
"What? Stroma would do such a thing?" Ashan's normally placid expression flashed with anger.
"She said he is coming for Aaron," Lexi told him, and she looked over to where he was fighting at the center of the circle of Ansari warriors, then she heard a whisper in the air.
"He comes now. You must stop him." Ehlena's voice echoed in her ear and Lexi took off at a run.
Aaron was tired, bruised, battered and cut in hundreds of places, but he could feel his power rejuvenating him, slowly flowing into him and away from the shadow. It was difficult to let his energy move in such a way, to resist the urge to seize it and use it, especially now that he was no longer cut off and could feel it at the center of his being. Aaron could also feel the shard of darkness, flickering like a black flame, so close to his power, waiting for him to reach for it, almost urging him to use his power, and he pushed away those thoughts and focused on his opponent.
He faced a thin Ansari woman, who took the partial shape of a serpent, striking like a snake in quick attacks, her two swords like a pair of fangs, cutting and stabbing toward him. She had already cut him several times, and the power that seeped into him was barely able to heal his wounds for he needed that energy to quicken his step and match the speed of her blades. He was readied his blade for her next attack, hoping he would be fast enough to counter her and strike back, but then he felt something strange in the air and his skin began to itch as raw energy crackled around the edge of the circle.
Like a wall of lightning the fighting circle was surrounded by energy and with a thunderclap, Stroma suddenly appeared at the center, standing between Aaron and the Ansari snake warrior.
"Stroma, you have returned," Aaron said, smiling at the god, who had become his friend when he was cut off from his own essence, cursed to be unseen by the world, and calling himself Anonymous. "Is everything all right? Where is Ehlena?" Aaron noticed the hard look on the god's face and saw that he carried a sword that was markedly similar to his own.
"Ehlena has fallen, Aaron," Stroma said. "Kenra moves now. We have no time to waste. Come here, my boy."
"What must we do?" Aaron asked, taking a step toward him.
The Ansari woman hissed and bared fanged teeth at Stroma.
"He lies," she said, rearing up on her snake like body, ready to strike. "The god seeks your power."
"What?" Aaron was confused.
The Ansari woman struck at Stroma, her attack far faster than those she had used in her fight with Aaron, but the god moved like pure energy and blocked her swords. With deadly viciousness, she snaked her head forward and bit at Stroma's arm, her sharp teeth tearing his sleeve and cutting him.
"Back!" Stroma yelled and slid his sword away from her two blades, and he slashed at her, his sword a lightning strike and cracking with the same blinding light.
The Ansari woman flew backward as her blades caught part of his attack, taking the brunt of his strength, but the tip of his blade cut a gash across her chest, spilling blood to the sand as she hit the wall of lightning behind her. Her body convulsed as she touched the energy and she hissed and cried as the power held her, trapped in place, paralyzed and twitching.
"Stop this!" Aaron yelled.
"It is too late, Aaron," Stroma said. "I must do what is needed to stop the shadow, to destroy it once and for all."
The smell of burning flesh filled the air and the Ansari fell to the ground, with smoke rising from her dried, dead corpse, and Aaron felt the fire at his core grow hot as his anger rose. He felt the shadow reaching for him and he forced himself to remain calm, steadying his breathing, letting his power flow slowly into him, wishing it would come faster. Stroma flashed with light and Aaron raised his sword just in time to block a lightning fast strike.
"You would kill me?" Aaron rasped through gritted teeth as fingers of power traced across his arms, with fire and heat.
"There is no other way," Stroma said and he pushed him back, hard.
Aaron felt his feet leave the ground at the force of the god's strength and he saw Stroma leap after him. Aaron used the bit of power he had to make himself heavier and he dropped to the ground, skidding backwards on his feet and stopping just short of the wall of energy that encircled them. He caught Stroma's next attack with the crosspiece of his sword and the power of his strike drove Aaron's feet deeper into the hard packed earth. Aaron shoved Stroma back, using the weight and the force he had instilled in his limbs, and the god tumbled through the air toward the other side of the circle of power. The brief hope that Stroma might be caught in his own trap dissipated as the god landed on his feet, standing horizontally on the wall of energy and light. Stroma walked calmly upward and Aaron realized that Stroma had created a sphere of power around them that was like a dome overhead but was impenetrable from any angle, and he knew that he would receive no help from the Ansari, for they could not intervene even if they wished.
"I am truly sorry, Aaron," Stroma said, looking down at him from above. "You are something unexpected in this age, and I had great hopes for you, but the threat of the shadow has returned and I swore an oath to myself long ago that I would stop it."
"We can stop it," Aaron said. "I have been training with the Ansari, learning how to use my power without feeding the shadow. We can fight Cerric together and stop the dark god."
"Kenra gathers power from all around, Aaron," Stroma said. "He is already more powerful than anyone who might stand against him. He was very clever to plant the seed of shadow within you, for yours is one of the few powers in this world that coul
d be a threat to him. Without the shadow, you might have had a chance, but you cannot fight him as you are without the risk of giving him everything. If Kenra were to possess your power as well as what he already holds, he would truly be unstoppable."
"So you want my power?" Aaron asked. "Is that it?"
"Yes, Aaron," Stroma said.
"Can I give it to you? " Aaron asked. "There must be a way."
Stroma dropped to the ground and lowered his blade a little as he stared at Aaron.
"You continue to surprise me," he said. "What I do now may be my greatest regret, and I have had many regrets over the ages. There is a way for me to take your power, Aaron, but with the shadow in you, I cannot simply absorb your energy, or I would take the shadow as well and face the same problem as you. This weapon will allow me to destroy the shadow and gain your power, but to do so requires a killing strike. If I were merely to cut you with this blade, it would make me stronger, but in the time it took, I would be exposed to the shadow. There is no other way, Aaron. Will you truly agree to give me your power, that I might stop the shadow, even if it means you would be destroyed?"
"If it would save everyone, yes I would," Aaron said, and Stroma shook his head with a sad smile on his face.
"I believe you," he said. "It is a hard thing I ask, Aaron, but I must ask it. Put down your sword, and let me do what must be done."
"Promise me you will protect them," Aaron said, glancing outside the circle. "Give me your word that you will do everything in your power and mine to protect them, to keep them from harm. If I am to die, then I would want to know that he others are safe, the Ansari, the people of Maramyr, my friends, and the people I care about. If Cerric and Kenra are destroyed, that will leave three gods, you and Carly and Ehlena to watch over the world. Promise me that you three will keep the people of this world safe."
"I can make no promises on behalf of anyone else, but that is what I intend," Stroma said. "I will destroy Kenra and watch over this world as I have in the past. I will make that oath."