by David Wind
She waited a few seconds. “Have you built your shield in your mind?”
Listening to her, Mikaal had built a perfect globe. He nodded.
“Good. Now, project the shield outward from your mind. Picture the shield surrounding you, with you afloat in its absolute center.”
When he had done as she asked, he nodded. “Brace yourself,” she commanded and then constructed a glowing ball within her mind and, reaching down into her seat of power, released the ball at him.
The fiery ball struck his shield with an explosive thud. The next thing Mikaal was aware of was lying on the ground, ten feet from where he’d been sitting.
“What?”
Areenna motioned him to come closer. “You need to make it stronger. Mikaal, you have physical strength, great strength, but it’s time to build a new muscle—your mind.”
He stared hard at her. “So now my mind is a muscle. And just how do I build this mind muscle?”
She smiled widely. “It’s rather simple—use your mind instead of relying on the bulk hanging below your neck. And for pity sake, stop thinking about how and just let it happen.”
“It’s that easy is it?”
“Well, yes,” she said thoughtfully. “You need to use your mind to construct the framework of the spell, and then have the internal strength to know it will protect you.” Without warning, she sent another fiery ball toward him, holding nothing back.
Mikaal, taken off guard, instinctively raised both hands as the fiery globe streaked toward his face. This time it struck his shield and exploded harmlessly. “How…?”
“You stopped thinking! It was perfect!” Areenna exclaimed. “How did it feel this time?”
Rather than answer quickly, Mikaal allowed himself to search within his mind and body. “I don’t know. It happened so fast.”
“Yes,” Areenna said with a large smile. “It always happens fast. Do you understand more now?”
“Understand what…how I somehow stopped you from roasting my head? No, I don’t.”
Areenna was surprised. What he had accomplished was amazing. When she’d been in school, she’d watched many girls try to master such spells and it had taken them dozens of attempts before accomplishing it. Mikaal had done so on the second attempt. She wondered what other surprises had he in store.
“How can you not understand? It’s simple. It is your natural ability!”
“I don’t know what my ‘natural’ ability is. What I know is when I feel the pommel of a sword in my hand I have the power to protect myself. I don’t understand how I have even more power without the sword.”
“Damn it, Mikaal. Just look inside yourself. Feel your power—no, accept your power. Only in that way can it be done.”
“How can I accept what I cannot control?” he half shouted, his irritation at his inability to comprehend making his voice tremble. “I have been trying since I was a child, but nothing I do helps. We have spent days with you attempting to teach me, and I have spent almost every minute of every day since we started on this journey trying to figure it out, but I do not!”
“Because you’re too stubborn to let go!”
“Let go of what?”
“The control you believe you need to have over yourself. You don’t need it. You already have it!” she shouted, her words echoing from the boles of the surrounding trees.
Before either of them could say another word, the air turned electric. The hairs on their arms stood out like blades of grass stretching toward the sun. The sensation of something mystical and ancient filled every square inch around them. And then a voice commanded them to stop and come to the road.
Both turned and saw, twenty feet away, a swirling and shimmering mist of pale blues and silvers building in the center of the road. A heartbeat later, the mist solidified into a woman. Areenna gasped when she saw her mother’s face grow on the shifting image. Her heart began to pound. Her breathing became forced and labored and the need to run to her mother grew out of control. Unable to stop herself, she moved toward the woman, her heart and mind captured by the visage. Her only desire was to go to her, to hold and be held by her.
She took three steps before Mikaal grabbed her about the waist, refusing to allow her to go. “It is not she… It is not your mother. Look at her!”
The harshness in his voice broke through the trance. She closed her eyes, cleared her mind and looked at the woman again. The shimmering grew stronger until it coalesced into someone else.
As Areenna and Mikaal stared at the apparition, the shimmering turned into a beautiful tall and lithe woman with long and deeply golden hair. Her skin was the color of newly fallen snow. Her face was smooth, unwrinkled and ageless, casting a beauty that held them both in thrall. She was surrounded by a light aura which hid nothing of her.
“Who are you?” Mikaal asked.
The woman smiled at them. “I was known as Bekar when I walked freely, but that was a long time ago.”
Areenna stared at the image of the woman, knowing full well she was not a living being. “Why should I accept that?”
“Why should you not. Think you I mean you harm? If I did you would already be destroyed.”
Areenna sent a probing thought. A moment later shock raced through her mind, followed by a feeling of warmth so deep it brought tears spilling onto her cheeks.
The woman smiled. “Now do you have belief?”
Without speaking, Areenna took Mikaal’s hand in hers and walked toward the woman. At the same time, she built her power, drawing up a ring of protection around them both despite the intense feelings her mind was flooded with.
“It is unnecessary,” Bekar said, “You already know I am here for you and him alone. Areenna, I have been waiting a long time for this day.”
Areenna felt the truth of her words deep within her.
“Who are you?” Mikaal asked again.
“Reach down, boy,” she said, staring at him. “Reach down into that pit of raw power you released within yourself last night. Listen to the words of this woman and stop trying to control yourself and everything around you. Stop trying to be a man—become one! There is no more time left! Both of you must reach into your power and find yourselves!” She lifted her arms, keeping her palms parallel to the ground with all ten fingers pointing at them.
Areenna gasped, grabbing at her abdomen as her insides exploded and burned like never before. Mikaal caught her even as her legs began to buckle beneath her. Despite the agony of the burning within her she felt heat pouring out from the center of Mikaal’s body.
As he had moments ago, when Areenna released her attack, Mikaal reached deep inside himself, to the place he had discovered last night and created a shield that flared around them both.
His effort lasted barely a second before the woman made a sweeping motion with one hand and the shield fell apart. “Do not play with me boy. You cannot master what you do not accept.”
An instant later the burning stopped and Areenna sank to the ground while Mikaal stood protectively above her. Within them the burning had turned into a soft, calm warmth.
“Look at me girl. Look closely. Think of your lessons. Think of the stories…”
Areenna rose to her feet to face the woman and slowly traced her memories until one rose, slowly at first and then with such great clarity she knew the misty woman had joined her mind and pushed the memory to the surface. “My mother told me of the old stories, but Bekar of the Woods is a legend.”
“Were that true, you would not be standing in this spot, nor would I be here, yet there the two of you stand and here stand I. How do you explain such, if it is not reality?”
“I have no explanation other than the bedtime stories of my childhood. Bekar of the woods…” Her words faded while the woman’s smile grew.
“Bedtime stories, am I? What think you of those stories now?”
“How is it possible?”
The shimmering woman smiled. “Ask not how; rather, you should ask why.”
Mikaal looked at Areenna. “Who is she?”
“Stop,” Bekar said. “She will give you the answers you seek when we are finished.”
“Finished with what?” Mikaal asked, ignoring the woman’s command to stop.
“Your training…child.”
“Boy, child, what other names have you got for me?”
“Enough of them to last an eternity,” she snapped. “Listen carefully. There is not much time. The dark ones will find you again, and find you soon. You must build your energies by working together. Alone you are each strong, together you are more powerful than any who come against you.”
She flipped her hand at him. A flash of light arrowed toward them. Without thinking, Mikaal blocked her attack as easily as he had Areenna’s a few moments before.
“Good. Perhaps you have gained some degree of power after all.”
“I am not playing this game,” Mikaal said.
“I wish it were a game, boy, because then I could finally rest, but no game is this and it is time you so learned.” She flicked her wrist again and the next thing Mikaal was aware of was floating ten feet above the road.
Areenna rose and threw her power toward the woman in an effort to stop her, but Bekar pointed a single finger at her and tossed Areenna to the ground, pinning her there as if tied and staked. “Hear me both of you. You will learn, you will grow strong and you will defeat the dark ones. There is no choice! If you fail, everyone and everything you love will be destroyed, forever. Now, will you listen to me or will I leave you to become their slaves?”
“We will never be slaves. Not to you, not to them,” Areenna shouted. Standing, she raised her hands, her palms forward. In the same instant, Mikaal opened his mind and joined her. Together, they released a flare of energy at the woman and the world exploded in a white hot blaze.
CHAPTER 17
“It is beautiful,” Enaid said, gazing at the rising moon. “Yet, at the same time so fragile tonight,” she added.
Roth turned to her, drew her to him, and smiled down at her. “Not as beautiful as you, my queen.”
She raised a hand toward his cheek, but a bolt of pain ripped through her. She stiffened, her muscles twisted, arching her backwards as if she were a bow being strung. Roth barely caught her before she fell to the ground.
Holding her tightly, he lifted her into his arms and raced inside and up to their chamber, two housekeepers rushing behind them. He had seen this happen once before. It had been a long time ago, and he knew something psychic was taking place—something important. The last time it had happened was almost twenty years before, when her brother, Darb, had been kidnapped by rogue free-blades. He was sure it had to be connected to Mikaal.
He reached their rooms, dismissed the women who followed, and carried Enaid to their bed and sat next to her. He grasped one of her hands tightly while the other went to her face and moved back a shock of hair covering her eyes and, sat silently with her while she worked through whatever was happening.
During it all, Enaid was aware of everything. Although she could not speak or move any part of her body, she drew strength and comfort from Roth’s touch and opened herself to whatever was happening while ignoring the paralysis holding her captive.
Slowly, understanding came. A channel had been opened within her mind and, while she lay in her bed, she also floated in the night sky, where she glimpsed a vision of Mikaal, Areenna, and recognized instinctively, the spirit of Bekar of the woods. Welcoming the boiling lava within her, she eased her breathing and accepted the pain of a woman’s power.
Teach them, Bekar, teach them I beg of you. Do not forsake them, she pleaded, pushing her petition toward the spirit.
<><><>
The instant the explosive bolt of power Areenna and Mikaal created sped at Bekar, the misty woman grew larger and spread her arms wide. The fiery explosion hit her and, as Mikaal and Areenna watched, the fire and heat folded upon itself, disappearing as if it had never existed.
“Do not tempt me to put an end to this. You cannot yet overpower me, woman child, even with the gifts of your complement. And you,” she said, pointing at Mikaal. “Even now your mother begs for your life as well as hers.” She pointed at Areenna. “Shall I accept her plea?”
Areenna and Mikaal looked at each other. A thought flowed between them and acting as one person they turned and released every bit of their power. The night erupted into daytime as they discharged everything they could to overcome the spirit woman. Their muscles screamed, while their minds locked within the battle until, moments later they heard Bekar’s command. “Enough!”
The night returned as rapidly as it had left and the three stood staring at each other. Bekar’s body had become more solid. “Enough of this,” Bekar repeated. “Come, sit with me, the time for teaching is at hand. And you, woman-child, look within yourself to know why your powers have no effect on me.”
Areenna closed her eyes and dug within herself. When she did, recognition came. Bekar was not a single entity, not a living woman, but a melding of the spirits of many of the most powerful women who had ever lived. Bekar was the vessel of the power they had left behind—the container that held their collective memories and powers. Her eyes snapped open, allowing her to see the true vision of Bekar, who was now smiling at her. “How is this possible?” she whispered aloud.
“All things are possible when belief is absolute. I am the very belief of the women who helped create all of this,” Bekar said, her arms expanding to take in everything around them. “Will you now sit with me?”
Hesitantly, Areenna and Mikaal met her halfway and then lowered themselves to the ground. Bekar did the same and, as they looked at each other, the woman of the woods stared deeply into Areenna’s eyes. “The road ahead will be difficult, but it is one the two of you must travel. When you reach the Island and the City of Power, all will turn upon you because of him.” She inclined her head to Mikaal. “You may not see it happening, because there will be tricksters, but if you are not true all will turn against you. For centuries, women have been in control of the power. With him, this changes and people do not like change. But our foreseeing has shown us clearly why such a change is necessary—it is the last chance for us, and you must comprehend the absolute importance of this. You must accept and believe because, if you fail, everything and everyone everywhere will fall to the dark powers. The hundreds of generations that have fought to survive, to grow, and to rebuild this destroyed world will have done so for naught.
“Your father’s life,” Bekar said, turning to glare at Mikaal, “will have been wasted, and with it, all that those who sent him had accomplished will be for nothing.”
The enormity of her words was like an unbearable weight within Areenna’s head, its oppressiveness making it impossible to breathe. Why is this happening? she asked herself. She was barely old enough to think herself a woman, much less the person who must save her world. “How can just the two of us stop them?”
Bekar shook her head. “You do not yet see the truth of it. It is not just the two of you who will do this, it is every living, sentient being of Nevaeh. That is why you must go to the Island. You, Areenna, must finish your training. You, Mikaal, must discover everything about yourself you should have learned years ago. But more importantly, you must find a way to survive the Island. Now, close your eyes. What must be done will be done. I…we have been waiting here for seven centuries. Our sole responsibility is to keep this road protected for you. After tonight, we can all be free.”
Areenna stared at her. “I don’t understand.”
Bekar favored her with a soft gaze. “Do not worry over this. In the coming days and weeks you will understand all too well. Close your eyes!” she commanded.
Raising her right hand, she swept it before both their faces. Areenna and Mikaal fell gently to the ground, as if succumbing to a natural sleep, yet it was far from such. And then, the spirit woman of the forest dissolved within a mist that flowed over and around and into the two s
leeping forms to begin their most important lesson.
<><><>
The rays of the rising sun wove softly through the window to waken Enaid. She opened her eyes to find Roth sitting next to her, her hand gripped within his. She remembered being carried into their rooms and of him sitting next to her while she was in the trance. “You did not sleep?”
Exhaling loudly, he smiled down at her. “I preferred watching over you.”
“They’re safe for now.”
<><><>
Areenna opened her eyes. She was lying on the ground exactly where she’d been when she sat across from Bekar. She sat up and took several breaths before turning to look at Mikaal, who was beginning to stir.
She watched him and thought about last night. She knew, without knowing how, Bekar was gone, perhaps forever. Yet within her was an awareness of new strength.
Closing her eyes, she dug deep into her mind to learn what had happened after Bekar had placed them in the trance. Finding memories that were not hers, she became witness to battles that had raged centuries before her birth—to the unending fight between the people of Nevaeh and the pawns of the dark ones. She was now a first-hand witness to centuries of death and of survival.
“It is so…so…” she heard Mikaal say as if from a great distance.
Opening her eyes, she stared at him. His eyes were different. A new maturity had settled within their gray depths. The gravity within set them aglow. “Yes,” she replied.
Unable to break the stare, she grew conscious of a closeness between her and Mikaal—an intimacy she had never felt with her mother, her father, or even her aoutem. It was so strong, it took her breath away. Her brows drew together with the confusing emotions and she said, “We have changed. I am not sure in how many ways, but we have changed.”