Lumen

by Joseph Eastwood

  “Ow!” Mark shouted and then barged out of the circle to stand beside Jasper.

  “Is everything alright?” Reuben asked. Daniel bit his bottom lip, expecting a comeback, but Mark shook his head. “Good.”

  “Yeah, do it again, rile Reuben and he might not do the lesson,” Jac said in a panic-stricken breathe, “you can’t let him go through with this!”

  Daniel coughed into his hands; he didn’t have any words to say but the cough sounded like he wanted to make some silence to speak.

  “Sir, aren’t the Luminary sacred?” a girl asked. Daniel smiled at her, perhaps Jac had got to her as well.

  “Very. And we all pray to them, or we should, and this is just like a prayer that we know they’re going to get,” Reuben replied, slipping a hand into his jacket pocket. “I have a special stone. This stone can call upon any Luminary, and they will appear, albeit not physically, but they will be here, and confined until we will them away.”

  “Ask him who he’s willing through, ask him!” Jac’s voice rung rings inside Daniel’s ears.

  Daniel coughed again, this time louder. “Who will come through?”

  “The one with the power, the one at the head of the bloodline, but if you wanted to call for the ancestor you’d need another stone,” Reuben said, playing with the stone inside the red velvet pouch.

  “Oh. Why are we calling a Luminary?”

  “Because of what Leigh said, Luminary are the seven most sacred people in existence, who would be of more value than someone to whom we prayer to?” Reuben asked, raising his eye at Daniel.

  “Won’t it anger them?”

  “Do you think it will anger them, Daniel?” Everyone turned to Daniel as he flushed red and smirks formed on everyone’s faces.

  Daniel shook his head.

  “Good. We don’t need weak links here.”

  “Yes, Daniel. Yes, it will anger them,” Jac said quietly, like he’d given up.

  “I don’t think any of you are weak, if I did you wouldn’t be here. This has never been done before, but this stone, this has been in creation for hundreds of years,” Reuben said, holding the stone up, still inside the red velvet pouch. “You are the most gifted bunch at the Academy, and I believe that we have the power to summon a Luminary.”

  “I thought we were going to be learning about energy stones and the healing qualities. Revolutionary things, being able to heal all those sick in the Lowerlands and letting the earth be your teacher. That sort of stuff,” Leigh butted in.

  “Oh, this is revolutionary, and the first of many classes, may I add. Besides, you’ll go down in history as one of the people to summon a star, a planetary being, think of the demands, think of how we can control the wellbeing of all those sick, all of those people who have to die, just at the flick of a Luminary,” Reuben chuckled. “Leigh, if you object to any of this, then you know where the exit is.”

  “No, I’ll stay,” Leigh said, with a grin on her face. Daniel finally placed her face, he’d seen her with Carlie, she was probably Mark’s girlfriend or something, she certainly belonged to that crowd.

  “You do realise that this is not what you want,” Jac said, “you want peace with these people. You need peace with them, if you go around acting all hostile then they’ll never trust you again.”

  “Never trust me again?” Daniel said under his breath.

  “Don’t do this, you can’t do this.”

  He didn’t know what Jac was talking about, but the Luminary were people who founded the power which he embodies, and from what he’d heard they were ruthless beings that enslaved an island with its natives.

  Reuben finally picked the stone from the pouch; it was a dark polished yellow. “It was created with an acidic poison inside the core, and that makes escape impossible, well without first harming themselves. So to all of you who thought that their wrath would come crashing on you the minute they came, you’re wrong.” A hand rose to question him and he shooed it down. Reuben broke through the circle and placed the stone in the centre of it. “Focus all of your energy into that stone, and I’ll say a few words to summon Mercury, a popular choice, I do believe.”

  The word, Mercury, started to ring inside Daniel’s ears like the word had a layer of negative intent. His throat constricted and his skin pimpled, he closed his eyes, he couldn’t put any energy into that rock. It was dangerous, and everyone in that room knew it.

  “You need to push and flex your energy into the stone. Do not try moving it or calling out to the Divides to heat it or take it back into the stony breadth of the earth. Just let the flow of energy pass,” he continued.

  Daniel opened his eye as his fingers started to tingle by his side, and the tips had started to spin beating veins of gold that weaved through the air, aiming for the stone. He made fists of his hands, but the faint yellow glows of purity were now wrapped snug around the stone. The more the stone tugged, the more lax his fists became and the faster the stone could reel his energy in.

  “Taking from this energy, I call out. I call out to Mercury. Mercury, show yourself, or may your blood turn black and the poisons of the stone forever dwell inside you,” an enthralled Reuben let go of his walking aide and hailed his hands high above his head, “I call out to Mercury!”

  The stone started to vibrate and clatter against the rock floor. A small tremor escaped and shook everyone. Daniel tripped over his feet and whacked his head against the wall. Nobody noticed. Daniel rubbed the back of his head and tried to focus his eyes, staring at the stone, it seemed to have split open and something was pouring out of it. There was a huge gasp as a figure appeared hissing and scratching at his neck. It was Mercury, but the half-conscious Daniel knew him as Karsar.

  “What? Why am I here? And who the hell are you!?” Karsar snapped, the cuts on his neck started to heal as he stood straight.

  Daniel scooted his back against the wall, trying to keep from Karsar’s view. He’d thought he’d finally gotten some peace, but this wasn’t peaceful at all.

  “It’s a neat trick,” Reuben said.

  “But you can’t keep me here,” Karsar said with a smirk.

  “I think we can.” Reuben turned around to face the rest of the class, and they all broke out into excitable laughter. “So who wants to see what else we can do? Who wants to command Mercury, tell him what you want, make him will it!” Nobody spoke up. Nobody wanted to be in the wrath of the Luminary. “How about you, Ven, we all know that you can’t teleport, well he’s the guy. Ask him, go on. Tell him. He can’t say no.”

  Ven glanced from Reuben to Karsar; Karsar’s eyes were black, like Daniel had remembered them to be. Ven shook his head and butted his lips shut, he didn’t hate the Luminary at all, the truth is, he prayed to them in his first year when he couldn’t teleport and that’s when his flare developed and he grasped a section of the Divides far greater than anyone that’s been before him at The Croft Academy.

  “Ha. You called me to make his wish come true?” Karsar asked.

  “No. I’m surprised you’re even co-operating and not trying to communicate with the other Luminary. You’ve probably only just come into your power, have you?” Reuben asked.

  “I’ve had it long enough to know my way out of a summoning stone,” Karsar laughed.

  “How often are you summoned?” Reuben lifted his eyebrows.

  Karsar glanced from the floor and then to Reuben. “I’m never been summoned, people fear the thought, let alone go through with the act.”

  “Oh, but you do realise that this stone is infused with a delicate balance of poisons at the core, and you heard the little threat when you were summoned, right?” he asked.

  Daniel sputtered, sat at the back of the room, he continued to cough, shaking his bone structure out of the phase of lucidity. Everyone moved out of the way so that Reuben could see the person who seemed to interrupt. Daniel climbed to his feet, rubbing the back of his head and feeling a clump of his hair stuck together. He brought his fingers to his face. It was
definitely blood on them. He felt again, but there was no cut.

  “Something you’d like to say, Daniel?” Reuben asked. Daniel glanced up, realising that everyone was looking at him, even Karsar.

  That was the first thing he noticed, Karsar, glancing at him, looking at him like he’d grew horns and was about to charge right through him. He sucked in a deep breath and his sight moved and met Reuben’s. “No sir, I fell.”

  “Why don’t you ask Mercury for something,” Reuben said, “hmm.”

  “Umm.” Daniel gulped. He wiped the blood on the back of his pants and looked up at Karsar, it was definitely him.

  “No?” Reuben asked. “Anyone? Ven, guess we’re coming back to you then.”

  Daniel could see a bright glowing fluid saturating the floor around the stone and Karsar’s feet. It was notably the colour of pure energy, but it might as well have been blood, he knew it was his, and it was being wasted. Daniel glanced up at Karsar, his jaw was clenched and he held himself with both arms, there was still that black look in his eyes, but too glossy for it to have been fear. He was trying not to cry.

  “He’s a Luminary. You’re looking in the eyes of a Luminary,” Jac’s faint voice, seemingly sharing the same body as Daniel for the moment as he partially left it.

  All Daniel could think of was how people prayed to him, people prayed to Karsar, the guy who’d almost convinced Daniel that he was going crazy. He glanced down to the glowing pool of energy, and it was growing, enveloping the feet of everyone in the room. Nobody else could see it, and it didn’t touch Daniel, it wrapped a ring around him where it wouldn’t touch him.

  “You have a bad feeling about this. I told you they’d be furious. Will him away. Do something!” Jac pushed.

  “What like?” Daniel cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered. He glanced up at Karsar and shook his head, while he nodded back and smirked.

  Daniel gritted his teeth and sighed, while the wicks in all the candles burst and the crevices of light died out. The room became locked in darkness. Daniel trudged his feet into the pool of pure energy. “I will you away, Karsar,” he whispered as everyone fumbled around in the dark.

  “You did that! Mercury!” Reuben roared as the room returned to normal, and Karsar was gone.

  Most of the group had vanished, teleported out, but Daniel, Jasper, Carlie and Ven stayed. Daniel stayed and played the part of equally shocked; he was, he didn’t know if it was going to work.

  “Where’s he gone?” Reuben asked.

  “Maybe the poison wasn’t strong enough,” Jasper said.

  “Maybe you should just go home! That poison was the strongest toxin, and that clause, that threat, that was binding!” Reuben shouted. He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. “All of you, out, now!”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Daniel teleported to the path outside his dorm room block, although it left him feeling a little dazed and the spot where he’d hit the back of his head was still throbbing. He rubbed at it, and the lump was slowly swallowed back to normalcy. He sighed and embraced the gentle sunlight.

  He reached the hall where his dorm room was. There were brash and heavy footsteps, a few curse words, and then something smashed. Daniel froze, it had to be his room, and it had to be Karsar coming for him. He teleported in and threw a bolt of air in every direction. His new mirror smashed and the duvet threw itself across the room. The intruder had been Jac.

  “Daniel,” Jac said. “Jeez, I did tell you that I was coming.”

  “When? You’ve just been telling me all this stuff about them and being all cryptic and everything and then you’re here. Why didn’t you tell me then?” Daniel sighed and sat on his bed. “What did you break?”

  “A cup, it was an accident, and in my defence it was a lot more important than telling you I was in your room,” Jac said. “Besides, you’re the one that goes to the fancy school. You do know how to fix it, don’t you?”

  Daniel rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Just brush it to the side and I’ll deal with it later.”

  Jac noticed the plimsolls on Daniel’s feet and raised an eyebrow. “Really?” he grinned.

  “Yeah, you have to wear them, or cut your feet open on the rock,” he replied. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

  “Because I said that I was gonna, and let’s face it, you were chucking your guts up and blocking me out.”

  “I wasn’t poisoned though,” Daniel said with uncertainty. “Did you tell my parents that you're coming?”

  “Yeah,” he said and hummed some laughter. He sat on Daniel’s bed and then bounced up and down on it. “They sure do treat you like royalty here then.”

  “All of the rooms are like this,” Daniel said.

  There was a knock at the door and Daniel froze on the spot.

  “Should I get that?” Jac asked, “or go hide?” he grinned.

  “Yeah, go in the wardrobe, and take that!” Daniel shooed Jac and kicked his satchel to him as he climbed into the wardrobe.

  “It’s roomy in here,” Jac said, sliding the door shut.

  Daniel fumbled with the lock, although it only went clockwise. His worst fears were that this was Reuben and he knew what he’d done. He closed his eyes and pulled the handle to open the door.

  “I saw you today,” Carlie said, bursting in through the door and shoved a hand on Daniel’s chest, pushing him over to his bed and kicking the door behind her. “I saw all of that power you used, that was a—a lot of power.”

  “Why are you here?” he asked, swiping her hand from his chest.

  She bit her lip playfully. “I came for you, silly!” she said, slowly putting her hand on his upper arm.

  “Please, just go back to Jasper,” he said, shaking her hand off his arm.

  “He doesn’t protest as much as you.”

  “How come you didn’t tell me?” Jac whispered.

  “There’s nothing going on here,” Daniel replied to them both.

  She stood on the balls of her feet and kissed him on his lips. Daniel pushed her slightly; she fluttered her eyelashes and grinned. She stroked the right side of his face and then turned around and then ran towards the door, teleporting before she would have hit it.

  Jac opened the wardrobe and walked out, blinking and bug-eyed. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on?” he asked.

  “Listen, she’s crazy, probably one of the reasons why Jasper hates me.”

  “And what happened to Mia?”

  “Nothing, I like her and she likes me, but it’s all too weird. I’m here and she’s,” he paused, “off the island,” he whispered.

  The phone in his pocket started to buzz and tickle at his legs. He pulled it out; it was a message from Reuben. He read it to himself, and then read it out loud while Jac made a sly comment about Daniel having a phone.

  “Reuben needs to see me now. I think I know what it’s about,” he said, biting the inside of his lip.

  “Go on, tell me,” Jac said.

  “I set him free. I don’t know what I did but I let the Luminary go,” Daniel said, he opened his mouth to say something else, like how he knew it was Karsar and how he’d been invading his dreams, but that would make him sound crazy.

  “Thank goodness! Well if you don’t come back I’ll presume you’re lying around in a ditch somewhere,” he said.

  Daniel glared at Jac and shook his head. Daniel was outside Reuben’s door within seconds, the black enveloped Daniel as he stepped backwards to see the door. He took a deep breath; the door was bigger than it had been. He wiped his sweaty palms on the back of his jeans and then swiped his hair away from his eyes. His slipped his phone back into his pocket and then exhaled.

  “Come in,” Reuben shouted before Daniel could knock.

  Daniel opened the door, and before he could let go of the handle he was thrown to the floor in Reuben's office.

  “I have an urgent matter at hand,” Reuben continued.

  “Oh, what about? I haven’t don’t
anything wrong have I?” Daniel asked, standing and brushing himself off.

  Reuben chuckled. “No, of course not. I was supposed to grab you before everyone left this morning. It’s about my nephew’s girlfriend, Carlie. She seems to be staring at you, a lot.”

  “It’s not what it seems,” he said and waved a hand frantically to protest.

  Reuben chuckled harder. “I know it’s not, I’m actually protecting you in a different way by telling you this. Carlie leaches of the energy of others, she does not source from natural sources, although she would argue that we are her natural source,” he grinned. “Jasper sleeps with replenishing stones under his pillow, they give him his edge, but you’re stronger than Jasper, if she got to you then she’d take more and that would take a lot longer for you to get it back into your system.”

  “I think I’m following,” Daniel said, after all Jasper’s uncle just said that he was stronger. “Wait, how does she take energy?”

  “Through touch, even if it’s a brush against her, the littlest brush she might catch a hold of that and come on to you.”

  Daniel started to breathe heavily and his heart started to hiccup in his chest. “Hm. She kissed me once. But I pushed her away.”

  Reuben pushed the glasses to the end of his nose and looked Daniel in the eye. “I should have known, I should have addressed you when I found out about your flare,” he sighed. “We’re not allowed to make statements to the school, telling people about students who are afflicted, like her, it’s classed as discrimination. But it would have averted any crisis.”

  “I’m fine though. But what happens if she does get too close and takes all of your energy?”

  “You’d die, I’m surprised you don’t already know that, but I’m not the person you should be talking to about Carlie’s condition. Marianne is in her room now, I think she’d be happy enough to talk to you about it, just tell her that I sent you and Carlie kissed you.”