Spilt Secrets (A Talnarin Novel Book 2)

by D. E. Chapman

  Before I can think further, I’m yanked from my thoughts as a bolt wizzes by my ear. My eyes widen as my body freezes. That was too close. My heart thunders painfully in my chest. Delayed, my limbs start to tremble and more sweat beads down my neck. I eye Zeke as he slowly starts to circle me, electricity snapping in his palms. That wicked smirk still rests on his face, his eyes dancing with mischief.

  Enough fooling around. While I have a moment to breathe, I call for my energy buried in my soul. For once, I don’t bother closing my eyes as I visualize the energy flowing through me. I don’t want to give Zeke any warning that I’m readying myself to strike. Instead, I reach for the hollowness inside my soul and dig deep. I pull my energy from the lower depths of my being and break through the invisible barrier. The trail of heat the energy leaves, bleeding into every corner of my body under my skin.

  There it waits.

  For some inexplicable reason, the heat feels different. Instead of a smooth flow of energy inside, it feels sharp. Not painfully sharp but prickly, almost as if little shockwaves make their way through my body. Perhaps it’s a result of being too close to Zeke’s electricity.

  But it doesn’t matter.

  I concentrate my energy away from myself just like I did in training with Erik all that time ago. I remember clearly what had happened from the concentration of energy in one small place. A great explosion sent both of us flying across the arena. Despite the risk this explosion presents to both Zeke and myself, I’m willing to do it. If it stops his attacks, that’s all I care about.

  I need to make my move. Just like in practice with Erik, I center all my energy in front of me. I picture the invisible energy gathering a few paces from me in a ball no larger than my head.

  Boom!

  The world in front of me explodes. A loud band echoes through the arena and a blast sends me flying into the wall. The aches in my body scream as they connect with stone and sand. The breath leaves my body in a whoosh and I struggle to breath. I allow my body to sink to the floor, unable to hold myself upright. As I slouch and attempt to get my breath back, I look around. Much like the first time I created a bomb, there’s a giant hole in the sand where I had concentrated the energy. However, unlike last time, there is no smoke coating the arena and no singed clothes.

  Eyes wide, I look to Malik and Zeke and find them both standing upright, shocked expressions on their face. None of their clothes are singed either. How strange. Even stranger though, is that they didn’t go flying across the arena like I did. Maybe I didn’t concentrate the energy close enough to them. Did I misjudge the distance?

  Yet, when I look at the hole in the ground, Zeke stands less than a pace away while Malik stands nearly five or six paces away. It’s understandable that Malik didn’t get knocked but Zeke? He was right on top of it, wasn’t he? Unless he moved closer after the fact.

  My brain hurts.

  Everything hurts.

  I struggle to my feet, my breathing even. I wobble on my feet for a second and rub my hand down my neck. Expression regretful, I approach Zeke cautiously. I peek up at him from under my eyelids and find a bewildered expression on his face. He opens his mouth once and then closes it with a click. Finally, he manages to say, “Did you just try to blow me up?”

  I gulp. “Yes.” It comes out as a whisper.

  With a smirk and a shake of his head he says, “Well, well. Gutsy aren’t you, Red? Didn’t think you had it in you. Though I know I was testing your aptitude for Elestal and all, but shit.” His lips turn down in the corner in a mock frown. “You didn’t have to try and incinerate me. That’s just cruel.”

  I cross my arms over my chest despite my muscles protesting. “Well, you were trying to electrocute me. I retaliated.”

  Zeke steps closer. “And let me guess, you’re one of those that dish out tenfold right?”

  My brows crease. “What in the Hellvian are you talking about?”

  His mouth drops slightly open. “What? You’ve never-”

  “For fucks sake. Enough. What were you trying to do?” I turn to Malik and find him at my side, a carefully blank expression on his face. “What affinity were you trying to manipulate?”

  My brows furrow. “Uh… Firvo. What else would I try?”

  Arms crossed over his chest, Malik says, “That wasn’t Firvo. Not even close.”

  Chapter 8

  “What?” A hysterical laugh bubbles up but I hold it back. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just say that wasn’t Firvo?”

  Zeke looks at me incredulously. “I asked if you attacked like that intentionally. You told me you did.”

  I narrow my eyes menacingly. “I did. I manipulated my energy into a concentrated area in front of me.” I look back and forth between them. “I did it once before in practice with Erik. It created what he called a bomb. That’s what I did again.” I implore them to see reason with my wide eyes. “It was Firvo. Sure, there were some differences this time around but that could be for any number of reasons. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t Firvo. Because it was.” I inhale a quick breath. “Firvo I mean. It was Firvo I manifested.”

  I’m rambling. Shut up Alanna.

  “You manipulated Elestal.” Malik looks are me like I’m stupid or crazy. Maybe both. “I had my doubts, but it looks like my theory is at least partially correct.” He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. “In time, we’ll test the rest.”

  “What theory?” As an afterthought, I say, “There’s no way I manifested anything but Firvo.” I’m stubborn like that.

  Malik sighs deeply and rubs his hand down his face. “Since you’re a hybrid, Abel and I suspected that the rules don’t apply to you like they do the rest of us, the talnarins. We predicted that you would be able to manipulate another affinity alongside your primary one.” My eyes widen at the admission. “That’s why we paired you with Zeke. He put pressure on you as he hounded you with his energy. We had hoped that this exposure to the Elestal affinity would force your instincts to fight back with the same power.”

  A small smile tugs at Malik’s lips. “I’m going to take a guess here and say that you were thinking of ways fire can trump electricity, am I right? And I’m going to guess you couldn’t come up with anything sufficient enough either.”

  My mouth drops open at his nearly spot on analysis. “Your instincts took over. You couldn’t fight electricity with fire so your energy manifested itself into something that could fight back.”

  My mouth closes with a click. “I’ll ignore how strangely correct you were on my thought process and say that I followed most of what you said. But how the fuck does electricity fight electricity?”

  “In rare cases, those with equal energy levels and opposite charges are able to neutralize each other. Two bolts of similar magnitude and strength effectively cancels the other out.” Malik shrugs nonchalantly. “Well, in more common cases, the unequal charges in the energy repel each other.”

  My irritation spikes. I don’t know if I’m angry about the fact that I don’t know what they are talking about or that they assume that I do. Either way, it makes me feel stupid. I grumble out, “I don’t follow.”

  “For Elestal affinities,” Zeke cuts in. “Equal energy levels cancel each other out. For unequal energy levels, they simply repel each other. Now do you follow, Red?”

  “Well, enough.” I wave my hand dismissively. “But how do I just manipulate the Elestal affinity? How are my instincts enough to manifest the electricity? That doesn’t make sense.” As an afterthought I say, “I don’t believe it.”

  “As I said, we assume that because you’re a hybrid, the rules are different for you. This aspect is one of the many we plan to test and uncover.” Malik smirks dangerously. “But I must say, I wasn’t expecting you to match Zeke’s energy that well. That was quite a blast. Fortunately for you, Zeke’s one of the best. Otherwise you would have had to live with a dead talnarin on your conscience.”

  I scoff at his overexaggerating. “I didn’t aim
to kill. I just did the same thing I did when I made the bomb with Erik that day in training. I concentrated the energy. It explodes. No one was hurt then either.”

  The thought of hurting or killing someone unnerves me. I’ve done it before and enjoyed it, but that was when I lost control. I don’t want to lose control like that again. I can’t lose control like that again. It’s disturbing. Eventually I will kill Him, but I want to be sane as I do it.

  I’m drawn from my thoughts by Malik saying, “Two things. First, no one was hurt then because you faced off against a strong Firvo manipulator. To a certain extent, Erik has a natural defense against flames and explosions but a stronger blast would have killed him. Not all talnarins have this natural defense.”

  He gives me a pointed look and I pale. I figured that since I’m so new to all this, that anyone would be able to defend themselves against me, weak as I am. I know I burned the talnarins down all that time ago in the prison, but I thought it was because I caught them off guard.

  “Secondly, you didn’t use the Firvo affinity, you used Elestal. The two affinities behave in different ways. While the Elestal affinity still explodes, it sends bolts out in every direction as well. It’s important to know that they can extend thirty or so paces out. What you just did was not a concentrated blast of fire, it was concentrated blast of electricity shooting out in every direction, looking for a target. Even from where I was standing, you could have incinerated me if I’d been weaker.”

  Shit. “I didn’t mean to use Elestal.” I plead. “I didn’t even know I could do it in the first place. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

  Malik’s face seems to soften marginally. “I know. That’s why you’re practicing with Zeke and I. Whatever you throw our way, we can handle. But enough practice for now, we’ll break for lunch.”

  “I want to try it again.” I protest, crossing my arms. “I want to see if it was a bluff or not.”

  Malik turns and makes his way to the archway. “No. We’re breaking for lunch and that’s the end of it.” I bristle at the command.

  Another talnarin enters the arena with two trays in his hands. I haven’t seen him before. He has pale blond hair cut short against his head and vibrant violet eyes. Another Mindula manipulator. On the trays are plates of food stacked upon each other. He places them carefully on the stone seats before bowing slightly to Malik and Zeke. The sight catches me off guard but I push it aside, not wanting to dwell any further.

  The talnarin makes a swift exist.

  I stay seated against the wall while Zeke sorts through the food. Glancing down, I find my clothes in the same condition as I started with this morning. No singe marks on mine either. Zeke places a tray of fruits and vegetables at my feet, and I offer him a small thanks before he walks away.

  I gratefully dig into the succulent fruit and nearly moan in satisfaction. To make it even better, my hand isn’t ablaze like it was yesterday. Due to Malik’s instructions to keep the flames manifested as long as I can, I ended up having to eat one handed, a rather tricky endeavor surprisingly. While my right hand was on fire, my left was busy shoveling food into my mouth.

  Once my belly is full, I glance up at the two talnarins on the other side of the arena. Malik has his head in his paperwork while Zeke plays with his affinity. The small bolts of yellow electricity dance around his body before jumping to the roof of the arena. I stare in wonder for a few moments as it sets off beautiful yellow sparks in the air. Seeing the Elestal affinity move like that causes a surge of longing to flare up inside me. How amazing would it be to be able to manifest something so mesmerizing and beautiful?

  Firvo is mesmerizing, but it’s a common thing. It’s so easy to start a fire and watch it dance in a log pit. But electricity is an element that plays in the sky, far out of reach. How powerful one must feel when handling something so rare.

  Malik did say I manifested Elestal. Why don’t I confirm that now?

  I still hold reservations that they saw wrong. The possibility that I hold the ability to manifest not one but two affinities seems too farfetched to be true. I hardly believed I could manifest Firvo the first time either. Perhaps they’re right and I do possess the ability to manipulate both.

  I close my eyes and lean my head against the wall. I search inside my hollow chest for the brief flicker of life. Once I spot it and reach for it, the energy surges forward and welcomes me. The heat I feel rushing through me nearly brings a smile to my face. It no longer feels invasive and foreign. Now it feels like a long-lost friend. I will it to manifest on my palm and open my eyes.

  Disappointment floods through me as flames appear instead of bolts.

  Not one to give up, I close my eyes and try again and again. Each time silver, molten flames greet my eyes instead of electricity. All hope that I could manipulate both affinities deserts me.

  Malik saw wrong after all.

  My attention is drawn up as Malik and Zeke stand in front of me. I sigh heavily but before I can say anything, Malik asks, “You tried to call the Elestal affinity forth, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah.” I glance away, considering standing. While I don’t like the two talnarins towering over me, I dislike the idea of standing more right now.

  From the corner of my eye I see Malik cross his arms over his chest. “And?”

  I look back to him, brows furrowed. “And what?”

  “Did you succeed?”

  “No. I told you it was a fluke.”

  “Calling forth another affinity is never a fluke.” He smirks. “You either have the capability or you don’t. You do. It’s just a matter of determining the best way to draw it out.”

  Exasperated, I say, “I tried. The only thing that manifested was Firvo. You saw wrong.” Malik’s expression darkens as his smile slips away. “Maybe Zeke manifested his affinity at the same time my bomb went off so it just looked like I did it.”

  At the last sentence, amusement etches itself across his face. “Zeke wouldn’t slip up like that. We know what we saw. The bolts weren’t yellow. They were silver, like your flames.”

  “But-”

  “No. And I’m done arguing with you about it. We’re resuming training. If it happened once, it will happen again. As I told you before, it just a matter of determining the best way to draw the affinity out.” Malik smacks Zeke on the back once and they share a smirk. “It seems that for you, life and death combat is the way to do it.”

  I stare wide eyed. They can’t be serious.

  “You sitting there with flames instead of electricity means you aren’t facing the right circumstances to call it forth. So, get up. You go again.”

  I groan softly, my muscles protesting the sudden movement. This practice is going to go swell. I can tell. Malik moves back to the wall and leans against it casually. I’m half tempted to throw a nasty look his way but that would be childish, and he doesn’t need more reasons to call me girl. I turn around and find Zeke already facing me.

  “Stretch, Red. Run through the poses I showed you previously.” He gives me a half smile filled with pity. I hate pity. “If you don’t, it’s only going to get worse for you.”

  I grit my teeth against the order and move through the positions slowly. As I near the end, the aches ease, and moving becomes tolerable.

  Just as I finish the routine, Zeke strikes.

  A yellow bolt hisses over my head. I flinch as I drop to the sand roughly. My body lands with a thud. Before I can push myself to standing, a loud snap echoes near my ear. I gasp and roll out of the line of fire. Somehow, I manage to jump to my feet and face Zeke once more.

  He strikes again.

  Training continues until the sun sets over the horizon. Malik finally calls an end to practice and I nearly collapse in relief. Sweat is coating my body like a second skin. My hair is plastered to my forehead and my leathers feel slimy. My chest heaves and my breaths come out as pants.

  Anger bubbles just beneath the surface as I’m dismissed. Not once had the Elestal affinity manifeste
d during training. All that training for nothing. They are so insistent that I have the capability but they have nothing to show for it. I don’t bother glancing at them as I leave the arena and head to the room. As soon as I arrive, I slam the door closed and lean against it heavily.

  This training with be the death of me.

  Finding the strength, I somehow manage to climb into the bath and scrub myself clean. Once I pull myself out, I dress in my night clothes, and drag myself to bed.

  I’m out even before my head hits the pillow.

  Chapter 9

  I startle awake as once again my covers are yanked from my body. Without picking up my head, I chuck my pillow towards the foot of my bed. Yes, my bed. I’m claiming it. It’s mine now and how dare Malik terrorize me in my own bed.

  It’s so frustrating I nearly scream.

  Somehow, I manage to speak without yelling. “Go away, asshole.” A deep chuckle sounds near my feet and I bolt upright. I steady my glare on his amused face and snarl. “Wake me up like a normal fucking person, Malik.”

  Another chuckle and “five minutes” is all I get in response as he leaves the room. I huff and push the matted hair from my face. Damn it. Wavy hair tangles so easily. I have half a mind to just cut it all off.

  I stand, my aches roaring in agony. “Fuck. Shit. Five minutes my ass. Ouch. Shit.” I march through the pain and to the bathroom. I pull to a stop outside and glare down at the offending pile on the hard floors. Last night I had peeled the sweat soaked leathers from my skin and dropped them in a heap. Rather than clean them out in the bath, I’d left them to marinate in sweat all night. The smell is so offending, I nearly gag.

  There is no way in Hellvian I am putting those gross clothes on again.

  I rub my neck and look to the ceiling, muttering curses the entire time. This morning sucks and it just started. I look around the room for alternate clothing options and find my saving grace at the foot of the bed. Malik must have brought in new leathers this morning. For once, he did something right.