by Narro, B. T.
Zoke would be safe, fighting alongside Vithos. Effie needed to convince Alex to stay around the psychic as well. She visited his house when Penny concluded her lecture.
But Alex wasn’t there. She figured he was still with the other warriors, probably involved in the same discussions.
Shortly after she arrived at her student house, she heard someone come in and slam the door. Effie poked her head out of her room to find Reela with fists clenched. It was strange and frightening to see her friend so angry.
“What happened?” Effie asked.
“Cleve and Rek left, and they didn’t even tell me. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this furious.”
Effie was confused, but she didn’t want to pry. She would’ve offered a hug, but Reela seemed in no mood. Her eyes darted around, as if looking for something to break.
“I can’t believe they did that.”
“Where are they going?”
“Some men came for Cleve when we were at Terren’s house. I talked my way into going with him. They took him to the castle to meet with the King. I saw Rek there. We talked for a while, but then he and Cleve left while I was in the privy. I thought they might’ve been summoned to a meeting, but a guard told me they were sent to the Krepp encampment with the insane task of killing the Slugari leaders. They’ll be gone for many days, Eff. They might not come back, and they didn’t even tell me!” Reela’s teeth were clenched. “They just left without a word!”
“Maybe they had to leave immediately,” Effie suggested. It was the only thing that made sense.
“No. They could’ve waited, and it would’ve made no difference. They just didn’t want me coming with them. I’m sure they knew I would try.”
“You wanted to go with them?”
“They’ll need as much help as they can get. They’re sneaking into the Krepp encampment to shoot Doe and Haemon. It’s suicidal.” She turned and muttered to herself, “And they just got back from Greenedge.”
She doesn’t want to risk losing them again. “I’m sure they didn’t tell you because they didn’t want to put you in danger.”
“I don’t care about their reasoning. You don’t just leave with the chance of never returning…” Reela’s voice was cut off with a whimper. Tears fell from her eyes. “Without telling me.”
Effie moved in and squeezed Reela, letting her cry on her shoulder.
“They’re bastards,” Reela said.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Effie soothed.
A woman opened their front door. Given her age, she likely was an instructor.
“Reela?” the woman asked. She stepped in and folded her arms. “Why weren’t you in class?”
Who was this woman to just come into their house? Effie already was annoyed.
Reela glared. “You don’t even knock?”
“It’s my right to search for my students when they don’t show up. You can be severely punished for this, Reela.”
“Terren gave me permission to leave. It was very important that I did.”
“You must’ve used psyche for him to grant it! You know that’s not allowed. There was an important announcement at Redfield and an even more important discussion later.” The woman’s burning gaze shifted to Effie. “Did you tell her about Tenred?”
“Not yet.”
“Leave us,” the instructor pointed at the door. “I need to speak to Reela without distraction.”
The audacity of this woman. “This is our house,” Effie said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Reela held her shoulder. “It’s alright, Eff. If you don’t mind?”
Effie checked Reela’s expression and saw her strength had returned.
“I’ll be back later,” Effie said, thinking she would try Alex’s house again. She did need to speak to him before morning came.
He was home this time. They kissed, and he shut the door behind her. He lived with a friend from Oakshen who didn’t appear to be home at the moment.
“I was going to come by later,” Alex said.
“It’s better we meet over here.” Then she told him what happened with Reela.
When she was done, Alex said, “I guess I should tell you now, then. I’m going with Zoke and the others to Tenred.”
Even though Effie had expected it, it still felt like a chunk of her stomach had been removed. “When I heard your brother was leading the attack, I figured you would go.”
“I don’t think too many of us will die.”
Effie slapped his chest. “What a thing to say!”
“Sorry, I meant…” His eyebrows lowered, and he used his fist to gesture. “The victory will be swift with very few casualties.” His tone was far too serious to be natural. “I’m sure that’s what my brother would say.”
Effie laughed, then kissed him. “Just make sure you stay behind your brother and his men.”
Alex scoffed. “Even if I requested to be beside him instead of behind, he wouldn’t allow it. He’s always been protective. Anyway, he’ll be in the most danger, not me. He’s leading the charge.”
“Are you worried?”
“Somewhat. I don’t know how strong Tenred really is. We beat the Krepps, but Tenred is filled with mages and psychics. The battle will be quite different. I’ve never fought against a mage or a psychic. I’ve asked Reela in the past to help train me to resist psyche, but she refused. I don’t know why.”
Reela had told Effie about that. It wasn’t long after she’d first met Alex. “It takes her some time to even discuss psyche with people. I’m sure if you asked again she would be willing.”
“Oh, is she coming tomorrow?”
Effie felt a pinch of panic when she realized that she hadn’t had a chance to ask. “I don’t know.”
“If she doesn’t, I’ll have to find another psychic willing to train with me. Though, I don’t know any with her strength…unless Vithos is coming?”
“He is.”
“Good.” Alex looked at Effie inquisitively. “You haven’t told me if you’re coming or not.”
“You want me to?” It wouldn’t change Effie’s decision. But she was curious.
“I do and I don’t. That’s also how I feel about myself going.”
“And that’s how I feel about staying.”
He nodded. “Danger is more often the path chosen than the one forced upon us.”
When Effie realized he was right, she couldn’t help but wonder. “Why is that?”
Alex’s eyes lifted to the ceiling. It was clear he didn’t know. He looked back at her and smiled. “Because you’re beautiful.”
“That has nothing to do with anything,” she said with a laugh.
Then he kissed her, ending the conversation.
After she and Alex finished dinner at the dining hall, Effie returned to her student house feeling impatient to speak with Reela.
It was a relief that not only was Reela home, her bedroom door was open.
“Are you feeling any better?” Effie asked.
“I’m still angry with Cleve and Rek, if that’s what you mean.”
Does that mean now is a bad time to ask her if she’s leaving tomorrow?
Reela stood, setting her book down. “You can ask me whatever it is.”
Damn psyche. “Did your instructor tell you everything about tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’m going with Vithos and the others. Are you staying here?”
Effie hadn’t been sure how she’d feel about Reela’s answer, but now that she’d heard it, sheer disappointment came over her.
She shook her head. “Steffen and I are both staying.”
“You should come,” Reela said flatly. “It’s going to be weird to fight without you.” Reela shook her palms. “I shouldn’t try to change your mind. If you’re coming, I want it to be your decision.”
“I appreciate that,” Effie said. “But I’m not going.” She reflected upon what Alex had said earlier. “I don’t feel comfortable putting myself in such danger when I have
the choice.”
“I don’t either,” Reela agreed. “But I feel even less comfortable staying while Cleve and one brother have practically abandoned me. I have the chance to fight with my other brother. I feel I must take it.” She quickly asked a question before Effie could reply. “Is Alex coming?”
“He is. He wants you to help him train against psyche on the way there.”
Reela hummed. “Yes, I suppose I should, though it’ll be quite uncomfortable.”
Effie realized she hadn’t the faintest idea what was required to train Alex to resist psyche. “Why is it so weird?”
“It’s like an intimate dance,” Reela said. “Are you sure you want to know?”
Effie’s arms folded. “It’s not like you’re going to be touching while training, right?”
With a wide smile, Reela seemed to be enjoying Effie’s reaction. “Not physically touching.”
That confused Effie even more. “Well, then what?”
“Debilitating opponents with pain is a manipulation of their feelings. In order to resist it, Alex needs to learn how to keep himself from being manipulated. That means I’m going to be twisting his emotions, making him feel things he doesn’t want to feel while he tries to stop me.” Reela brought a finger to her lips as her eyes shifted to the side. “Maybe dance wasn’t the right word.” She looked back at Effie, her stare intent. “It’s more like wrestling.”
She couldn’t help but imagine Reela and Alex actually wrestling. It wasn’t a comforting thought.
More out of curiosity than for specifics, she asked, “Can you teach me how to resist psyche?”
“I—”
“Just for a little bit,” Effie interrupted. “I know there isn’t much we can do in such a short time, but I want to get a better idea. Then maybe I can practice while you’re gone.” She had a sad realization. “I’m probably going to be bored with everyone going.”
“You’ll have Steffen.”
“Yes, but we’ll be alone in this house for weeks. I can’t wait until he starts asking me to test out his potions.”
Reela giggled, then came in for a hug.
“So you’ll cast some psyche on me?” Effie asked, not knowing the proper terminology for their “mental wrestling.”
“I will. But you’re not going to like it.” Reela held out her hand. “Have you ever been pained with psyche before? Do you know what it feels like?”
Effie stepped back. “No.”
“I think you should, just so you’ll be more prepared if Tenred ever attacks the Academy. They’ll definitely have psychics.”
Effie could feel her muscles tightening in anticipation. “If it’s so important, why don’t our instructors have us train against psyche?”
Reela shrugged. “They probably don’t even know how to defend against it themselves.” Suddenly, she grunted and jerked her hand. A pain unlike any Effie had ever felt swelled through her entire body. Every muscle, every joint, everything hurt. She collapsed, screaming.
But then it stopped.
Before she knew it, she’d jumped to her feet and started toward Reela with her fist clenched. “You didn’t even warn me!”
“Effie, relax!” Reela quickly backed up, her eyes wide.
Effie stopped herself, still furious. “Bastial hell, that hurt!”
“That’s exactly what’ll happen when a psychic as strong as me targets you. I didn’t want you to be prepared for it because you won’t be at the time of attack.”
Effie slowed her breathing, realizing Reela was right. Still, it felt unfair. How was she supposed to defend against that? It wasn’t like a sword or a fireball. She couldn’t even see it.
“I should’ve had you train me months ago,” Effie said.
“We won’t get very far tonight.” Reela rolled up her sleeves. “But I’ll teach you what I can.”
Before she started, Effie had a question. “What’s it like for a psychic to go against another psychic?”
“Just like any battle. You must find a way to be offensive while defending yourself. Are you ready?”
Effie tripped backward over her feet in her haste to get away from Reela. “No, don’t do that again.”
Reela looked to be holding in a laugh. “I meant, are you ready to get started?”
Gingerly getting up, Effie said, “I suppose.”
It turned out Reela was right; it did make Effie think of wrestling. She could feel Reela in her mind, tugging, prickling. The most difficult part was that Effie couldn’t stop the feeling when she wanted to. It was purely up to Reela.
“It’s easier to block the psyche when you know it’s coming,” she said. “After someone has started to pain you, it’s much harder to make it stop.”
“Why is that?”
“When I’m causing pain, I first must connect to my targets with psyche. If I can’t connect to them, there’s nothing I can do. But once I’m connected, it’s like I have a hold of their hair. It’s not easy for them to break free.”
Effie always forgot how little she knew of psyche until she talked about it with Reela. “How do you connect with someone?”
Reela’s lips pursed. “It’s difficult to explain. How did Rek describe it to me?” She thought silently for a bit.
“All of us give off Bastial Energy, some more than others, like you.” She raised her eyebrows at Effie. “And just like how mages can draw in BE, so can psychics. But we’ve learned to differentiate between the natural BE in the air and that being produced by Humans and animals. The Bastial Energy coming from your body is unique, like a fingerprint. It tells me what I need to know in order to manipulate your emotions.”
“So you’re drawing in my BE? What happens if you can’t?”
“Then I can’t do anything. That’s one reason psyche doesn’t work as well over long distances. The other is that I have to manipulate the BE within them, and you know how difficult it is to do anything to BE over long distances.”
“What if I hold on tightly to keep all my BE within me?”
“That probably won’t work. I’m not taking it out of you but using it to change the way you feel. Remember, the BE is part of you. It runs through your body like blood. It’s the source of your spells as a mage once you learn to control it. We psychics, though, learn to control the BE of others. That’s why you can create light and heat from the energy, but I can control what you feel.”
“Then why don’t you constantly make yourself feel happy?” Effie wondered.
Reela had an uncomfortable grin. “I’ve used psyche to help myself sleep, but it’s too strange to use it for joy. It’s…awkward. It doesn’t feel right. Let’s get back to it, shall we?”
In order to train, Reela had to make Effie feel something foreign. The psychic chose pain. Her reasoning was that it was the only spell enemy psychics would use during battle. She was gentle with it.
Reela kept telling Effie to set up a wall, adding, “Don’t let me in.”
But no matter what Effie tried, it didn’t work.
“I don’t get how I’m supposed to stop you.”
“Have you ever been so lost in thought you actually felt like you were somewhere else?”
“Like during a dream?” Effie asked.
“Yes, only you’re awake.”
There certainly had been times Effie had relived something that had happened—more recently it had been conversations with Brady—where she’d actually felt that she was there again, falling for him, believing the traitor’s lies. The anger was overwhelming, remaining within her even when she fell back into reality.
“I have,” Effie replied.
“That’s one way to block me, by putting yourself somewhere else, somewhere deep I can’t reach you. It’s one of the reasons psyche doesn’t work on people who are insane. They’re too far from reality to be manipulated.”
“How am I supposed to put myself out of reality yet still be in a battle?”
“Our minds are powerful,” Reela said. “You can sti
ll be aware of your surroundings even when you’re somewhere else mentally.”
Effie grumbled. It sounded impossible.
Reela put her hand on Effie’s shoulder. “It’s not something you can learn in a day.” She turned to the door. “Steffen’s here. I think we should stop.”
The door opened and he came in.
“No,” Effie said. “We haven’t even done any real training. You’ve just pinned me motionless over and over.”
“Hi, Reela,” Steffen interrupted. “Where were you earlier? Vithos says you weren’t at Redfield during the announcement. Did you hear about Tenred?”
“Yes,” she said. “I was at Kyrro City.”
“Where’s Cleve?”
Reela sighed. “He—”
“Steffen, could you give us some time?” Effie asked. “She’s right in the middle of training me to fight against psychics.”
“Oh!” Steffen looked excited. He pulled over a chair and sat. “Go on.”
“Now Vithos and Zoke are here,” Reela said. She smiled apologetically at Effie. “Let’s do it when I come back. We won’t get far tonight anyway.”
“Just give me something to practice in the meantime,” Effie said.
“Figure out a place you can go in your mind that’s easy to get to but hard to get out from. It should be somewhere you could get lost if you wanted. Practice going there while you walk to the dining hall or prepare for bed. When you get better at it, go there while casting a fireball or running during battle training.”
The door opened before Effie could respond, not that she knew what she wanted to ask anyway.
“Reela!” Vithos exclaimed. “I happy see you. I want to meet Rek. Where he?”
“I’m happy to see you,” Zoke corrected him. “Where is he?”
Vithos nodded. “I tell Zoke correct me when wrong. I’m happy to see you,” he repeated. “Where is he?”
Zoke mumbled something in Kreppen. Effie heard the words “told” and “I’m” in common tongue between the Kreppen words. Vithos turned and mumbled something back completely in Kreppen. Then the Elf looked to Reela. “I want to meet brother to me.”
“My brother,” Zoke corrected. “Humans refer to family members differently than Krepps, as if they possess them.”