by Zen DiPietro
“No.” Luc was brusque. “Stilling a mana-holder is a death sentence. Blanketing was a rarely used but useful tool, but you should never even suggest stilling to a manahi. It’s considered a death threat.”
He focused on Kassimeigh. “I did sense your mana signature on you once the blanket was lifted. But even before that, I knew you’d been blanketed.”
“You sensed it?” Kassimeigh was surprised. She’d always understood that sealed abilities remained undetectable unless a manahi intentionally probed for them. Even then, the subject must consent. Or so she’d thought.
“No. Actually, I was the one to blanket you.”
A silence fell.
“But I don’t remember meeting you when I was a child.” Surely she would have remembered Luc.
“Intentional. I took care of that when I took care of the other. You see, I sensed a tremendous ability within you, stronger than any I’ve ever experienced. Given the tendencies of cabalites to mishandle mana, I took extra precautions in sealing your abilities, and encouraging you to forget me.”
“You could have told me sooner,” she remarked, though her voice held no reproach.
“Could have. But didn’t. It usually pays to keep one’s own counsel. If you hadn’t been a shiv, I’d have had to intervene when you were unblanketed. As it was, I decided to watch and wait.”
“So you two are soulbonded,” Izzy mused, still working through the implications of recent events. “I knew there was something unusual going on with you two.”
“Not that she’s made it easy,” teased Arc.
Too tired to dig into the particulars of her relationship with him, Kassimeigh simply shrugged.
“We should let you sleep,” Izzy realized “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“We should address one other issue first.” Arc rubbed a hand over his goatee. “What no one has said out loud yet is that we’re seeking an impossibly powerful manahi. And we’ve just found one.” He eyed each person in turn.
“We could easily conclude that Kassimeigh must be responsible for Sorrow. If we didn’t know Kassimeigh,” Izzy mused.
Luc waved a hand dismissively. “Nonsense. She’s a shiv, the antithesis of a murderer or a psychopath. Besides, as you all just learned, she was blanketed when Umi Cabal and Sorrow were destroyed. She simply didn’t have the mana to do it.”
“Plus,” he added, “the entire battalion saw her sacrifice herself for them. Her act of valor couldn’t come from the same person who destroyed two towns full of people.”
Will nodded. “Agreed, and that’s enough said on the topic. If anyone in the battalion has any errant thoughts in that direction, they will be quickly yanked back to reality. With prejudice.” His eyes darkened.
“Izzy’s right about Kassimeigh needing rest.” Luc gathered himself and stood. Only his slowness in moving betrayed his own exhaustion. He looked at the shiv. “You have many things to learn, and the first is how debilitating it can be to use mana. I’m dead on my feet. I can only imagine how you feel.”
“What’s the second thing?” Kassimeigh asked as they filed out of the tent. Her eyelids struggled under all the weight of Terath.
“You’ll find out tomorrow.”
Chapter 11
Watching Kassimeigh was always fascinating to Arc, but after a couple of hours watching her sleep he grew restless. And hungry. And he needed to find a nice big rock to duck behind. Satisfied she was resting peacefully, he left the tent to see to those needs.
Afterward, he took a slow walking tour of the camp. It felt great to unfurl his body and shake off the inactivity. Having recognized a similar restless energy of unapplied adrenaline among the troops, Will had organized the troops into a series of vigorous drills and exercises. Hard training soothed rough nerves. It also kept everyone in top form and familiarized them with one another’s abilities. Arc appreciated Will’s proactive approach to handling the mood of the battalion.
Arc spotted Izzy watching Carston spar with a burly opponent. She didn’t react to his approach, but he knew her well enough now to be assured she was aware of it.
He edged in next to her. “I’m still trying to get used to calling you just Izzy.”
“You should never call me ‘Just Izzy’ unless you want to get punched in the face.”
He laughed. The sensation was incredibly welcome. He suspected she knew he’d needed a laugh and he felt a new appreciation for her empathic ability.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yup.” She continued to scrutinize the sparring bout, but when he said nothing else, she finally looked at him.
“I tried for years to figure out why people call me by my whole name. Never got anywhere, so I just accepted it. It’s probably just fun to say.” She flipped her hand in a “whatever” gesture and returned her attention to Carston.
“You like him?” Arc asked. It was a personal question, but he was pretty sure he’d earned the right to a personal question or two every now and then. If not, she’d just have to give him that punch in the face.
“Sure, he’s gorgeous, easygoing, and has a good sense of humor. What’s not to like?”
“Ah. I see.”
Her eyes flicked in his direction. “You think you see.”
Arc always found Izzy’s tartness refreshing. She was like the little sister he’d never wanted.
“Fine. We don’t have to talk about it.” He leaned back against the rock she’d perched upon and joined her in observing the exercises.
“How about you?” she fired back several minutes later, as though there’d been no pause in their conversation.
“Yes, what about me?”
“Your girlfriend transformed into a phoenix and made an army of monsters into charcoal. How do you feel about that?”
Arc sat dumbstruck. He processed Izzy’s words and couldn’t resist the gigantic smile that claimed his face.
“Damned if I know,” he admitted. Awareness of his ignorance did not dim his delight one bit.
Izzy smirked. “Pathetic. All I said was ‘girlfriend’ and you light up like a sunrise. I guess that tells me what I need to know.” She shook her head slowly, but a tiny smile belied her tone.
“I doubt ‘girlfriend’ is the right word to use. Not that I’m sure what is.” He’d have to ask the justice what she thought.
“What do soulbonded people call one another?”
“No idea. Don’t you know, with all your psychology and sociology and everything?”
She studied the display of muscles and skill before her. “Nope. Sorry. Guess you’ll have to figure it out.”
Arc followed her gaze, where Carston had moved on to another sparring partner. Will demonstrated a shield technique to them. “Guess you will, too.”
“Hmm,” she answered noncommittally.
“So what do you think of it? Kassimeigh, a manahi. One that shapeshifted into a phoenix.”
Finally, she pivoted her entire body toward him. “She’s always been special. Now she’s monumentally special, and much more vulnerable. You have a big piece of the whole equation. I like you, though, so I’m not mad about that.” She considered what she’d said, then gave a nod of satisfaction and focused on the feats of strength and skill ahead of her.
Arc had hoped for a little more, but he knew that was all he’d get for now. Fortunately, patience came to him naturally.
Thirty-six hours later, Kassimeigh returned to the valley with Luc. She’d slept straight through thirty-three of those hours. Finally, she’d risen, hungry and achy. After a wash, fresh clothes, and some lunch, she felt almost like a normal person again. Other than fatigue and the radiant sensation sliding around under her skin, she could almost forget anything unusual had happened. The fatigue was easy to enough to accept, but she hadn’t been pr
epared for the sensation of mana constantly lurking within her.
Now she tackled a crash course in mana-holding. The battalion needed to move, but first Luc had to ensure that she wouldn’t sneeze and conjure a tornado or something.
“Adolescents adjust gradually as they come into their abilities,” Luc advised. “The magnitude of their potential increases at the same time their skill grows to encompass it. The process dovetails nicely. With you, however, you’ve suddenly blown the lid off a tempest, with no idea of how to manage it. You’ve shapeshifted, which no manahi has ever done, and yet you don’t have a scintilla of training. I’d no idea when I blanketed you that your ability would prove to be so profound.”
She considered telling him about her experience of going home when she lay near death in the valley. He’d visited Umi Cabal and even met her mother. He represented an unexpected connection to her childhood, and she felt a small pull to discuss it with him. Maybe. Another day. When there was no important work to be done.
“I did manage to flatten an army and not die. That’s got to be worth something.”
“Yes.” He harrumphed. “Though the not dying part of your boast is largely due to the other manahi and me bleeding enough of the mana from you that you managed to avoid going supernova after transforming into the phoenix. You ripped so much mana from Terath that you were about to incinerate yourself. Even interlinked, the rest of us couldn’t hold and release it. We had to transmute it into fire to get enough of it out. So I wouldn’t dwell on that bit about surviving if I were you.”
“Ah. Fair enough. Show me what I need to know.”
“I wish we had time for me to give you a thorough grounding in the basics, but we have to do what we can. What you most need to consider when you touch mana is that what you harness, you must release. You can’t hold mana indefinitely, or it will short-circuit your body. You’ll suffer nerve damage, at best.”
“And at worst?”
“Brain death. The mana will come out, whether you’re alive or not.”
“Oh, great.”
He ignored her. “Most people, when they first learn to harness, must strain and struggle to hold even the tiniest bit. Your problem will be not ripping off half the face of the world, since you have unprecedented ability yet zero experience.”
He frowned into the space between them for a while, rubbing his chin. Finally, he continued. “Think of mana as a sun. You can harness the energy. But to use it, you need to focus it into a sunbeam so fine that you can shine it through the eye of a needle. Once you’ve refined and controlled it, you can wield it with precision.”
Her frown matched his. “Okay.”
“So, I want you to clear your mind. Focus. Your training at the keep should give you a tremendous advantage with this. Once you’re centered, open your senses to the mana around you.”
Years of practice allowed Kassimeigh to easily ground and center her mind. She thought about the sensation under her skin and opened herself to it. Gradually, she sensed pulses, wavers, and flows of mana surrounding her like air currents.
“I sense mana.” She tried to maintain both her mental center and her connection to the mana.
“Good. Make yourself absorbent, like a dry sponge dropped into a bowl of water. Soak it up, but just a little. Remain in control.”
She felt one of the currents ripple as she reached her senses out to it. She tried to pull it in. The air around her rent itself violently, and mana rushed into her like a vortex.
“Too much,” Luc barked. “Close yourself off.
With effort, she made herself hard and impenetrable, denying the mana entry. Still, her body swirled with the heady sensibility of harnessed mana.
“Carefully now,” Luc cautioned. “Simply release the mana. Don’t do anything with it. Open a window and let it drift away from you like a fog.”
Her forehead wrinkled as she concentrated. Wisps of fog-like mana eased away from her, and she felt the subsequent relief of burden. A thick ball of mana still remained buried in her chest, and she gave it a little nudge to encourage it outward. The air around her and Luc rumbled with crackling thunder.
“Sorry.”
“Again. Draw in the exact same amount of mana you did before. Then release it. Don’t push, just let it go. No thunder, no effect. Just let it sigh out of you.”
They continued on thus. Luc calmly gave instruction and Kassimeigh diligently applied his wisdom. They did not progress past simple harnessing and releasing, but a few hours later, Kassimeigh felt they had covered significant ground. She knew how it should feel to pull mana and release it. She could manage to do so if needed. She supposed at the very least she’d manage to avoid accidentally leveling their camp with a random thought. That had to count for something.
“Enough for today,” he finally announced. “Rest for a while. Eat. Look after your body. One common failing of mana-holders is the tendency to forget about physical needs. Food, exercise, and rest must not be neglected. If you’re up to it, you can practice holding and releasing mana later. You should develop the habit of constantly cycling mana, to the point that you do it as unconsciously as breathing. Do not attempt anything more than what we’ve practiced without my guidance. I can’t tell you strongly enough that you are a danger to yourself and to others until you become proficient with your mana.”
“Of course. I will be cautious. I will remain centered.”
Luc studied her. Whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him.
“Before you sleep tonight, I’ll set a shield over you. In case of nightmare or other confusion. Should you pull mana toward you before removing the shield, you’ll get a sharp jolt to bring you to your senses.”
“A jolt?”
“Like a small electrocution. Painful and startling, but not harmful. It won’t stop you from harnessing mana, but you’ll definitely not do it without awareness.”
“Ah. The joys of holding mana continue to bless me.”
He burst into a sudden grin, and Kassimeigh remembered how charismatic he could be when he wasn’t grimacing and vexing. Humor and charm eclipsed his peevishness. The idea struck her that, like her, he had to balance his nature with his vocation. The realization combined with their time together inspired a rare sense of connection with him.
“Will you join me for some lunch? Or dinner? Or whatever the most appropriately-timed meal is?” she invited. “I’m all upside down on time of day right now.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Will had already eaten half his lunch when Kassimeigh and Luc joined him. He finished long before they did, but remained to chat. Kassimeigh described her mana training, which he found fascinating. He opened his mouth to ask another question when he noticed a scout group approaching.
“General,” the leader of the scout group addressed Will. “We think we’ve found it.”
Will fought down a thrill of hope. “Report.”
“We covered the northwest quadrant. About three hours from here, we noted a structure in a low-lying basin. Its position is a poor choice for defensibility, but excellent for avoiding detection. It lies low enough that it doesn’t stand out against the horizon.”
“What makes you think this is what we’ve been seeking?” Since they didn’t know for sure what they sought, being so sure of its discovery was dubious.
“It’s a sizeable structure. I’d almost call it a small fortress. Not tall, just a single story. The walls are stone but almost glassy, and too squared-off and perfect. No one would truck such materials all the way up here to build with, and if they had, people would have noticed the great amount of time and effort required. The fortress has to be the product of mana.”
“Did you see anyone, or did anyone see you?”
“No, on both counts, sir. At least, not that we observed.”
&nb
sp; “Thank you, Rus. You and the other scouts should split up and inform the quadrant leaders. We need to determine our plan.” Will knew he needed to think quickly.
“Yes, sir.”
Will faced Luc and Kassimeigh. “I expected Arc to join us. Any idea where he is?”
“Probably sleeping,” Kassimeigh answered. “He’s missed a good deal of sleep lately, looking after me.”
“Luc, what’s your impression of this fortress? Ever heard of anything like it? It’s a shame Apex doesn’t have satellites.” Will knew that without a large population to require comm relays, satellites weren’t worth the cost to deploy. He couldn’t help regretting the fact, because satellites could have helped them find this place long before now.
“If the scouts’ impression is accurate, someone’s made a huge effort to live in isolation. Given that they’ve used a great deal of mana to do so, we should investigate, with all due prejudice.” Luc’s eyes narrowed in an expression that Will found disconcertingly menacing.
“I thought the same.” Will wanted to see this building immediately. “We need to move out. Whoever’s out there might have closed-circuit surveillance and know they’ve been discovered. We don’t want to give them more time to prepare than we must. Do either of you see any reason not to mobilize the entire battalion and rush the fortress?”
Kassimeigh shook her head. “If this were any other situation, I’d say we should do reconnaissance before marching in. But in this case I agree that we cannot delay.”
“Maybe this is what we’re looking for. Our troops surely won’t mind the chance to do more than stand around with their mouths hanging open.”
Kassimeigh sent Will a rueful smirk. “I assure you, I’d rather they did all the work this time.”