Earthborn Awakening

by Matthew DeVore

  “That sounds amazing,” Ethan said. “The part before the whole destruction, that is.”

  Aleena stared at the ceiling, clearly dreaming of home. “It was. Is that what your cities are like?”

  “Not really,” Allison said. “We do have tall buildings, but we don’t have ships zooming about everywhere and only a few spaceports.”

  Ethan looked down at his watch, “Oh, we’re late—very late!”

  “Late for what?” Allison asked.

  “I promised Aleena I’d take her on a walk outside the cave. She hasn’t been outside yet,” Ethan answered.

  “Yes, let’s go,” Aleena said quickly. “You can come with us if you want, Allison.”

  Allison looked much more relaxed than she’d been a while ago, before she learned of Aleena’s true identity. “I think I’ll stay here this time.” She stood up and walked over to Ethan. “I’m sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion.” She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss he wouldn’t soon forget. “Though we do have a sleeping arrangement problem.”

  “What do you mean?” Ethan asked.

  “Well, it appears that your room is actually Aleena’s room.” She was very uncomfortable with her boyfriend sleeping in the deepest, darkest region of the cave next to one of the most beautiful girls she’d ever seen. “I think Aleena could use some privacy. She can stay here, or in your alcove if anyone else asks, and you will sleep with me.”

  Ethan’s eyes widened, and his cheeks flushed red.

  “I mean, you won’t actually sleep with me, if you get my drift. Not yet, anyway.” She gave him a tantalizing smile. “But you can sleep in my room, by me.”

  Ethan grinned like a little boy at Christmas. “Sounds great to me.”

  “Okay, I’ll go back to my alcove to make a little room for you while you two go on your walk.” Allison began walking slowly to the door but let her hand slide across Ethan’s chest as she left. “Aleena, I’m sorry about before. Feel free to borrow any of my clothes that you need.”

  Aleena smiled. “Thank you, Allison.”

  Once Allison was gone, Aleena moved back to the control console and reactivated the barrier. She and Ethan passed through, then walked to the mouth of the cave. When they had exited, Grant came running up to them.

  “You’re all clear,” he said. “I told Adrian to keep quiet, and he was fine with it.”

  “Thank you,” Aleena replied.

  “Anything for you, Aleena.”

  “Seriously, Grant, let her be,” Ethan said.

  Aleena just smiled. “You’re too kind.”

  Grant beamed back at her. “Oh, and Ethan, rumor has it that you’re in it deep with Allison. About half the cave heard her yelling about catching you and Aleena together in your room.”

  Ethan let out a large sigh. “It’s not like that, Grant. Aleena and I are just friends, and you can tell everyone else around here that as well. I’m going to let Aleena have my room, and I’ll move in with Allison. I was just showing it to her, that’s all. It was a big misunderstanding.”

  “All right, just checking. So, you’re single, then?” he asked, looking to Aleena.

  “Ignore him,” Ethan said. “Let’s go.”

  Ethan turned around and waved to Adrian, who was hiding in a tree on a ridge just above the cave. Adrian waved back, and Ethan and Aleena started their walk just as the sun was beginning to set.

  “I found a small clearing in the forest not too far from here,” Ethan said. “I like to go there and think sometimes. Its peaceful. Somehow, it feels different than the other parts of the forest. I want to show it to you.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Aleena replied. “Lead the way.”

  As they walked, Ethan explained the current state of Madison City, Earth, and the Urlowens' occupation. He told her how the Alliance was driven back but not defeated yet, then about the strange feelings he’d been having. The path they were following was difficult to recognize since many things had grown, died, and regrown in the years since Aleena ran to the cave, but she suspected they were traveling the path she’d used many years before.

  When they arrived at the clearing, Aleena stared at the tree trunk and grass-covered crater. She knew exactly where she was.

  “This is the place that you come to think?” she asked.

  “Yeah, isn’t it great? Like this tree, or what’s left of it. How did that happen? Cool, right?”

  Aleena walked to the trunk and ran her hands across the old bark. She could feel the magic coursing through it, an endless loop of energy she had put there. It had protected the stump from rotting away to nothingness and must’ve even maintained the crater in the ground. She lost track of what Ethan was saying as disbelief set into her own mind. How could I have done this?

  Aleena had never heard of magic persisting beyond the concentration of the wielder for more than a few years. Even the magic of the noble Valaan would only persist for three years in his absence. She was brought back from her shock by Ethan’s voice.

  “Then this morning,” Ethan continued, “I was sitting here, leaning against that stump, and had one of those feelings again. This time I felt like the war was about to change. I just knew I was going to find something or someone so amazing that the resistance, the Alliance—all of us, really—would have a chance in this fight again. I thought that whatever it was, it might even help us win this war.”

  Aleena looked up from the trunk and turned slowly to meet Ethan’s stare. She was starting to feel very uncomfortable. She knew where this was going, and it was too much pressure. She may have survived her war, but she was the only one. The Earthborn had lost.

  Ethan’s face glowed with his passion. “I found you, Aleena.”

  Aleena shook her head. “No, you’re mistaken.”

  “I’m not. It’s not a coincidence that I had this feeling and then found you. All these feelings, it’s magic. It has to be. You even said it yourself in my room. You said I have magic. It all makes sense now. The sense of hope I had—it’s you.”

  Aleena slowly slid down the side of the trunk, leaning against it for support. In her view, she’d destroyed this tree only two days before in a mad attempt to save her life. She’d improvised the spell. She didn’t know what she was doing, but here it stood over ten thousand years later. The tree trunk remained imbued by her power, and now learning that Ethan had been drawn to this very spot, she couldn’t ignore it. He didn’t even know it was her magic that flowed through this place.

  She knew his words were true but didn’t want to accept them. It’s too much. It’s all too much.

  Ethan watched her expectantly. “Aleena, there’s something about this place. Can you feel it?”

  Aleena looked into his brown eyes and knew she didn’t want to disappoint him. She wanted to be the person he believed her to be. She just didn’t know how.

  After a moment of silence, she finally answered him. “I did this.”

  “I know, that’s what I’ve been saying! You’re the reason for these feelings. You’re the help we need.”

  “No, no, you misunderstand,” Aleena countered quietly. “I created this place. Ten thousand years ago. I was running from a member of the Guard and destroyed the tree that rose from the trunk behind me. I knocked it to the ground with magic and it exploded on top of the Guard, leaving that crater. It’s my magic you feel.”

  Ethan was silent, a sense of awe rising within him. She wasn’t just a seventeen-year-old running from her Great War. She wasn’t just an elusive and unknown help waiting in a cave in a teen’s armor. For the first time, he began to truly hope.

  She was a warrior. She was a weapon.

  She could save them.

  “Teach me.”

  She shook her head again. “Ethan, I barely know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to control it like the masters did.”

  “I won’t take no for an answer,” Ethan pressed. “You said I have magic, and you’re the only person I know who knows how to use it.
Teach me.”

  Aleena thought of her family, her friends. They were all gone now, lost to the Urlowens. “All right, I’ll do it, but you can’t tell anyone. Not yet.”

  “Deal,” Ethan said, sitting down beside her.

  “And no more talk of me being this great help and winner of your war.” Even as she said it, she knew it was still her war as well.

  “Fair enough,” Ethan agreed. “Can we start now?”

  Aleena laughed at his impatience, her tension easing a bit. It reminded her of her brother, who’d begged their father for months to begin his magic lessons when he was old enough.

  “We can start now, but you have to listen to everything I tell you. Uncontrolled magic can be dangerous, even lethal,” Aleena replied.

  “Dangerous, lethal, got it. Not a great confidence booster, but I’ll take it.”

  Aleena giggled. “Really, Ethan, magic can be dangerous. Follow all my instructions, and don’t use magic to fight until I tell you. Those are my terms.”

  Ethan stood and gave her a playful bow. “I accept your terms, Master.”

  Aleena rolled her eyes. “And don’t call me—”

  “I know, I know. Don’t call you Master. I got it. I’m just messing with you.”

  Aleena got to her feet. “We’ll need to practice every day.”

  “We can do it here, away from the others. I’ll come up with some excuse if people have questions.”

  “I’ll also teach you hand-to-hand combat and how to shoot. You won’t be ready to rely entirely on magic for a long time. It takes years to master magic. I haven’t mastered much more than the most basic skills that were taught to the Earthborn. I barely even deserve that title. It was only given to me when I passed my tests and received my armor last year.”

  “Compared to me, you’re a magical prodigy. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  Aleena liked having Ethan around already. He certainly knew how to see the best in her. “Let’s get started. Sit here in front of the tree stump.”

  Ethan did as he was told.

  “I’m going to teach you how to make your palms glow,” Aleena said.

  “Really? Make my palms glow?”

  “You have to start small. Close your eyes and reach down deep inside yourself. When you do it correctly, you’ll feel a small well of energy. The size of the well you feel is irrelevant—it feels small to everyone.”

  “Like the saying goes, great things come in small packages.”

  Aleena had no idea what he was babbling about. “Quiet,” she told him. “You’ll have to learn to focus. All magic is dependent on the focus of the wielder.”

  She had him focus for half an hour before they decided to call it quits. The sun was well beyond the horizon by that point, leaving them in darkness.

  “I didn’t feel anything,” Ethan said, obviously frustrated.

  “It’ll take time. All I know is you’re capable of magic, though I don’t know how capable. It could be that magic will always be difficult and elusive for you. Only time and practice will tell.”

  “Well next time, let’s bring a gun and work on combat training as well,” Ethan said. “At least then I won’t feel like a complete failure.”

  “That’s a good idea. Now let’s head back. I’ll give us a little light for the trip.”

  A small orb of light popped into existence above Aleena’s hand and moved in front of them.

  “That’s so cool,” Ethan said.

  They walked back toward the cave, following the orb. Ethan couldn’t wait until his next lesson tomorrow.

  Chapter 18

  The Guard had been patrolling the forest for two weeks and still hadn’t found any resistance members. The tracks they’d initially followed into the forest disappeared into the underbrush so abruptly, so expertly, that Kalma suspected someone had intentionally covered them. He figured they either had outside help, or there was a trained spy in their midst.

  He pushed through a large patch of chest-high bushes and came to a halt as the sound of movement caught his attention from ahead. He pulled back into the bushes just enough to conceal himself while maintaining a view of the small clearing where the sound had originated. His approach had been quiet enough that anyone in the clearing would’ve been hard-pressed to hear him, even if they knew he was coming.

  In the clearing, he saw two people practicing hand-to-hand combat. A black-haired medium height girl was battling a taller brown-haired boy. He watched as the girl wiped the floor with her opponent. At one point, she stood perfectly still as the boy rushed her. Right before he connected with a right-handed punch, she twisted smoothly to the side, grabbed his arm, and used his own momentum to flip him hard onto the ground. The boy let out a moan as his body thudded into the grass. It took him a few minutes to catch his breath and get back to his feet, because the blow had knocked the wind straight out of him.

  Kalma smiled broadly. She might make a great Guard with the proper training.

  He watched as they continued to spar for at least ten more minutes. After each victory, the girl helped her opponent to his feet and then gave him tips as to what mistakes he’d made. When they finished, they sat in the grass and talked.

  Kalma was too far away to hear what they were saying, but based on their sparring match, he was sure they must be connected to the resistance. He marked the location on the map provided by his multiband but didn’t send it to the others; he wanted to follow them to their camp before deciding his next move.

  The two sat for a while before the girl stood up and stretched. The guy joined her, then walked to the edge of the clearing where he picked up a small sidearm from underneath a bush. The girl set up five small empty food canisters about a hundred feet away at the opposite end of the clearing. He opened fire and managed to hit two of them in his first five shots.

  He needs some work.

  After an embarrassing number of misses, all the cans had been shot down and the boy held the gun out to her.

  Now this should be interesting, Kalma thought, moving forward a little to get a better view.

  The show did not disappoint, but it wasn’t at all what Kalma was expecting. First, the girl turned down the weapon. Then she stood facing the boy for a moment and neither of them moved. Kalma inferred that she was giving the other instructions, because he moved to the side of the clearing as she walked to the center. She then lowered her head and the five cans rose from the ground, seemingly of their own accord. They each moved to a different side of the clearing, spacing out equally but avoiding the area where the boy stood watching, mesmerized.

  With the cans in position, hovering around the clearing, several things happened in quick succession. The girl lifted her head with mild concentration flickering across her face. At the same time, the cans shot up into the air at varying speeds and directions. Not a fraction of a second later, streams of red energy flew from her hands as she spun and targeted each can. She aimed her shots perfectly, leading the targets so each bolt met a can and showered the ground beneath with small shards of tin.

  Kalma kneeled just ahead of the bushes in shock. After a moment, he realized the danger he was in from exposing himself too much. He’d thought he was dealing with simple resistance fighters, but he’d clearly been mistaken. He shrank back into the limbs and let them obscure his view a little more than he liked. She’s Elven. There isn’t any other explanation. A shiver of excitement ran through his body.

  After the remains of the cans fell to the ground, the boy ran over to her as excitedly as Kalma felt. Kalma watched as the kid pelted her with questions. She kept shaking her head, which Kalma suspected was her refusing to teach him what they’d both witnessed.

  Stupid Humans. Magic is certainly beyond their race.

  The two left the clearing then, heading toward the mountain peaks to the west.

  Now comes the tricky part. He still wasn’t sure how he was going to pull this off, but for now, following would suffice. Kalma trailed the two, giving them a
very large breadth. He wound his way through the forest undetected, as only the most expert trackers could manage. It didn’t take long before the two approached the opening of a cave partway up a ridge. As they neared the entrance, Kalma stayed hidden behind a boulder nestled against a large tree. He spotted two lookouts poorly concealed near the cave, one on the top of the ridge above the cave entrance, the other off to the right-hand side.

  The lookout on the right moved to meet the two people Kalma had been following. They paused to chat, and then all three of them disappeared into the maw of the cave. Kalma marked the location on his multiband but again didn’t send it to the others.

  After a few minutes of waiting, a familiar form emerged from the cave. He hobbled out on crutches, one of his legs in a splint and the other wrapped in bandages.

  I thought I broke both his legs. I guess I’m losing my touch. I should probably work on that.

  Kalma watched as Eric moved slowly to the left of the cave entrance toward a rock big enough for him to sit on. After sitting, he looked out around the forest, then opened a book and started reading.

  Moving very slowly to not draw attention to himself, Kalma backed away from his hiding spot, making certain that he covered his tracks completely. When he was confident that he was out of sight and hearing of the lookout, he pulled up a map of the region on his multiband. The cave sat on the upward slope of a ridge at the end of a canyon. He shut the map down and hiked up the southern canyon slope, making his way behind the mouth of the cave.

  Once he was sufficiently behind the entrance, he approached, now moving east, and descended the mountain slope above the cave itself. He moved swift and quiet from cover to cover, slowing when he came into visual range of the lookout on the ridge above the cave. The lookout had matted dark hair and was taller than Kalma. He looked sturdy.