Bren closed his eyes again and tried to take control of his own emotions and the fire that burned within him. He was starting to understand it was not just the elements trying to take him over, but it was his own feelings and fears that were doing it. The control that the man was talking about was not the control over the elemental energies but his own energies.
Now that Bren understood how the elements worked inside his own body, he found it much easier to control them. He didn’t know why it had taken him so long to understand. It should have been easy. People have their own traits that govern how they act and perceive the world; those views dictate what elements they have the best control over. It isn’t because those elements are the most influential in their life or the most present, rather that they are the elements that the person could understand on a basic unconscious level.
It suddenly made sense to him, and then again, it didn’t. Everyone felt anger and hunger in their life, but not everyone could use fire magic. It was only those who felt a keen understanding for it that could use it—people who enjoyed confrontation. Not like the Vathari, who enjoyed a fight because it was a show of skill and power, but people who enjoyed it because it made them feel alive. Bren had met a few fire mages, and he had to admit that they enjoyed picking fights and were seldom easy to befriend.
The more he understood about how the elements worked, the more he understood how odd he really was. The elements were basically raw emotions that had been cultivated throughout a person’s life, and once the person died, their spiritual or energy center was split apart to become part of the eternal either. It wasn’t just one person or creature’s feelings but that of countless beings, and Bren could feel them all. Every human could feel fear, hate, loss, anger, and love, but only a few could understand those things so deeply that they could use their responding elements to their full power—yet Bren could use them all. That knowledge scared Bren far more than anything else he had ever learned. It meant that he was more than human—he was something new.
Even though Bren seemed to grasp more of what was being taught, it still didn’t make it any easier. Knowing that he had to fight and tame his own emotions did not mean that he could simply do it. By the time the sun rose the next morning, Bren had been forced to fight against sleep while keeping his eyes closed, lie under a pile of dirt for hours, and stand at the top of a tree so he could feel the morning wind.
“What is next?” Bren asked after he climbed down from the tree. His eyes heavy and his mind weary, Bren was finding it hard to stand let alone think.
“Next we eat and then we shall sleep,” the man said, pulling a large piece of bread from his pack. “It has been a long night and many more of those shall follow. We must be sure that you are in control. It only takes one time, and then you will find yourself nothing but a tool for the elements and your own emotions. That is not the way of a true warrior.”
The meal was simple but filling, and more important than anything was the sleep. Bren didn’t care that there was no soft bed to sleep upon, nor did he care that the ground was littered with rocks that poked and prodded him. All that he cared about was that he was being allowed to sleep. At that moment, nothing seemed important other than closing his eyes and letting the darkness take him away.
Chapter 5
For more than seven days, Bren was forced to do the most odd and dangerous things, and each time, he found himself battling for control. It was getting easier with each confrontation, yet he still found times when he just wanted to let go.
“I believe I have taught you all that I can,” his teacher said, giving him a slight bow, which Bren returned bowing even lower. “The rest you must master on your own; otherwise, it will hold no true meaning.”
Bren gave the first real smile since he had left the Brotherhood’s camp. “I don’t know how to thank you enough,” Bren said happily.
“You can thank me by taking good care of my student,” the man replied with a saddened smile. “Hayao was not the best of my pupils and showed very little skill in learning to master his chi, so he was sent, like many others, to guard a local lord, yet he was still one of mine. His shame is mine, and his honor is mine, and I wish him the best.”
The look on the man’s face told far more than his words. “He will become a part of my family. I promise he will lack for nothing for as long as he lives.”
The man gave one final bow then disappeared into the woods. Bren could have followed him, but it was obvious their time together was over. The only thing Bern wished was that he had learned the man’s name. It felt odd to be trained by someone who would remain nameless for the rest of his life.
When Bren returned to the house, the sun had just touched the far horizon, and everyone was gathered around for the evening meal. “Bren,” Faye shouted as she hurdled from her seat and wrapped him in a tight hug. “They told us you were training, but we were all starting to get a bit worried when you didn’t return the first night. If not for Hayao, I think Cass would have marched into the elder’s building and demanded to be taken to you.”
“Then it is a good thing that Hayao was around, isn’t it,” Bren said laughing.
“I haven’t had a good meal in days, so why don’t we all talk after we eat. I for one could use it,” Bren said as he deeply inhaled the aroma of the food that had been brought out for them.
The food was good, though after what he had been fed for the past few days, anything would have been welcomed. After the meal, Bren and the others headed for the baths then back to their room.
As soon as he entered the room, Bren found himself bombarded with questions about where he had been and what he had been doing. For the most part, Bren kept his answers very vague as he didn’t want the others to know how empty he had felt before. He still didn’t feel the same as he had before the incident with the Brotherhood, but he once again felt things other than emptiness.
When Faye approached him for the first time, Bren felt a warmth spread through his body as she lightly placed a kiss on his lips. It was an odd sensation, and Bren found himself suddenly embarrassed as he noticed that Cass was watching him intently. Bren cleared his throat and looked around the room. “I think it’s time we focus on the reason we came here.”
Bren pulled the large map from his pack and unrolled it for everyone to see. “This map shows the location of the doorway to the veil. Once we find it, we can move to the real reason we left Torin.”
No one pressed Bren for more answers. He could tell that a few of them wanted to know what was on his mind, but they kept it to themselves, and for that Bren was grateful. “Does anyone know how to read this writing?” Bren asked, pulling everyone’s attention back to the map.
“It looks a little like our writing, but I don’t understand any of the characters,” Hayao said, running his fingers over the strange letters. “My father or one of the clan elders might know something more about it.”
“Why did the Brotherhood have a map written in your language?” Brenda asked, raising her eyebrows.
“I don’t think that it should be that surprising,” Hayao replied with a slightly raised voice. “The map itself is of Northern Kurt, so it would make sense that it was written in our language. If you do not mind, my lord, I will take it to my father and see what he thinks. There is still a possibility that it is too old to even be read.”
“I don’t think we have much choice in the matter,” Bren said with a deep sigh. “Right now it’s the only lead we have.”
As soon as Hayao left, Cass pulled Bren to the side. “How long do you think we will have to stay in this village?” Cass asked keeping his voice low.
“Until we know where we are going,” Bren replied. “Why?”
“Everyone here is polite, almost to the point of exhaustion, but ever since we arrived, I have felt eyes on us,” Cass said quietly. “They watch everything we do and even when I sleep, I still can feel their eyes on me. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. It is driving me out of my
mind.”
“Is that all,” Bren said laughing. “You will just have to put up with it for now. We need their help, and right now, we are safe from the Brotherhood.”
“From what I heard, the Brotherhood shouldn’t be much trouble for you,” Cass replied slyly.
“If I knew they were coming or where they were, I don’t think they would be, but that doesn’t mean I could keep all of you safe at the same time,” Bren words drifted off as he spoke. “It is just too risky. Right now, we need to stay put until we know what to do next, and there is no better place than this village for that—at least, not for the time being.”
“I think I would rather be surrounded by a bunch of the Brotherhood soldiers than have to spend another day in this village,” Cass said irritability. “At least I know they just want to kill us.”
Before Bren had a chance to say anything else, Hayao returned followed by the older man that had greeted them when they first arrived. Thanks to his new abilities, Bren could tell that the man held no hostilities toward him nor any of the others, but he still couldn’t make himself like him. Every time he saw him, Bren still remembered the first meeting and how he had treated them. He knew that it was more half-truth and a show of disapproval to his son, but it had left a sour taste in Bren’s mouth.
“Where did you come across this?” the man asked, his voice deep and filled with concern.
“We relieved the Brotherhood of its ownership,” Cass replied casually.
The man’s face took on a look of concern. “The Brotherhood,” he said, looking at the rolled up map that he held in his hand. “That is most distressing news. I didn’t like the idea of you having possession of the map, but the Brotherhood having a copy is even worse.”
“Why is that?” Bren asked his interest piqued.
Hayao’s father unrolled the map and pointed at a small dot with words scribbled that sat in the middle of a village. “This is our village. As my son might have told you, its location is supposed to be a secret, and we have gone through great lengths in the past to keep it that way. It is not only our village that is on the map, however. There are many such villages like ours throughout Northern Kurt, and each one of them are present on the map along with many other places that are only supposed to be known to a select few. It is as if someone had taken the time to write down all the secrets of our land and plot them out to be easily found.”
“Then you can read what it says?” Bren asked ignoring the man’s worries.
“Not all of it. It is actually the locations I am familiar with more so than the words,” he replied looking annoyed. “I don’t know why you have this map, but we cannot allow you to keep it. There is just too high of a chance that another might come to its possession, and that would cause far greater damage than you could ever imagine.”
Cass took a step forward his hand half drawing his sword from its sheath. “That is fine,” Bren said as he stopped his friend with an outstretched arm. “I don’t need the map, I only want the location of one place that it tells of. I need the location to the veil.”
“As I said, I cannot read the map. It is written in a dialect that hasn’t been used in more than ten generations,” the man repeated heatedly.
“Then mark off all the places that you know of and then isolate the ones that you do not know and place those on a separate map, and we might be able to narrow down our choices,” Bren replied steadily.
“I cannot make that decision on my own,” he said with a worried look on his face. “Even if I do not know the places on the map, it is certain that others are not supposed to know of them either. I could be sending you on your way with the locations of places that are meant to stay hidden away from others knowledge.”
“It is a place just as you described that we are trying to find,” Bren said slowly, allowing his words and meaning to sink into the other man. “If I must, I will take the whole of the map with me and visit every place one at a time. I do not care if it takes me a lifetime I will find the place I am looking for, and I know that it is on the map before you. Nothing will keep me from learning where it is at.” The certainty in Bren’s voice made the man take a step back.
“I don’t think you understand,” the man said trying to make his voice sound intimidating.
“No. I think is you that doesn’t understand,” Bren said, raising his voice as the wind around him began to pick up until it was a small gale that forced everyone back. “Neither you nor anyone else will stop me from my intended goal.” Bren’s voice sounded like thunder as the wind drove the man to the ground his eyes wide with fear.
Bren felt the rage welling within him, threating to overcome him but fought back, forcing himself to calm. After a few tense moments, the wind died down to a small breeze and Bren stalked off, his eyes catching the look of fear on many of his friend’s faces. He had thought that after his training, he had himself under control, but as long as he had emotions there was the chance he would lose himself to them. It was a constant battle and one that he was not sure that he could win. Once he was outside the house, Bren could see the damage that his small tantrum had caused. The thin doors that hung throughout the house had been ripped apart, and many of the roof’s clay shingles had been blown over the yard.
Bren closed his eyes, pulled in the magical energy around him, and focused it. The ground seemed to turn to water as the clay tiles were absorbed by the ground and returned whole and unbroken, and then a soft gentle wind blew through the trees lifting the tiles back up, replacing them where they belonged. Within a few moments, the house looked as it had only moments before Bren had lost control. He knew it would do little to ease the fear the others had of him, which he could feel emanating from the house, but it did help soothe his own conscious.
Once he was done, Bren continued his walk, letting his legs carry him out of the yard and down the street. He didn’t pay much attention to where he was going, and within a few moments, he found himself walking down the road where he had first felt the presence of magic being used. What Bren found amazed him. He didn’t know what to expect, but there was no way it would have been what he found.
In the south, it was understood that magical powers didn’t fully manifest until around the age of fourteen. There were cases of it happening earlier but they were rare. The same rules didn’t seem to apply in Northern Kurt.
More than a hundred young men ageing from five to fifteen were spread out across the courtyard, and Bren could feel magic coming from each one of them. Most of the magical energy was so small that Bren doubted it could so much as move a leaf, but it was there none the less.
Bren found himself looking at the young men and boys closer. He could see the magical energy flowing through their bodies, but it looked different from others. It all seemed to move into place as he looked around. Now he understood why the people of the village had given him such an odd feeling.
Unlike external mages who pulled in the magical energy from around them and bent it to their will on external objects, or internal mages who pulled in magical energy from the outside to alter their own body in some way, the northern mages were quite different. They didn’t pull in energy from the outside at all; they only used what was already within their body. Bren knew that every object on earth had magical energy naturally present within it, but he had never thought that it could be used since it was normally such a small amount.
Looking around, Bren could tell that the younger boys had a normal amount of magical energy within their bodies, but as the ages of the boys advanced, so did their body’s capacity to store energy. It was such an outrageous thought that had he not seen it first hand, Bren would have never thought it was possible. Not only had the amount of magical energies within their bodies increased, it had its own flow as if tiny rivers no bigger than a hair ran throughout their bodies. The most fascinating part was that Bren could see the small points in the river’s path that guided it. Focusing harder, Bren could see the small gems no bigger than the point of a needle
spread throughout the children’s bodies.
“I see that we have a visitor,” a sharp voice said from behind Bren, making him jump. Quickly turning around, Bren found his face only inches away from an older bald gentleman with a long salt and pepper gray beard.
“Sorry,” Bren said, bowing his head slightly. “I did not mean to intrude. I just found myself following the magical energies these children were putting off.”
“Magic?” the man said more than asked with a stern look. “We do not lower ourselves by relying on the power of the gods. We use our own power.”
Bren started to argue with the man but quickly decided that it would be a useless course to take. It didn’t really matter what they believed that they were doing, all that really mattered was how and what they were doing. “I see,” Bren replied bowing again.
The man didn’t try to stop Bren as he started back the way he had come, but Bren could tell that he wanted to. He had the urge to turn around and continue studying the young men and their use of magic but pushed that feeling aside. He had not come here for that. He had come for his father, and anything that delayed that course unnecessarily would just have to wait.
When he returned to the mansion, Bren found all of his friends awaiting him. Some of them still looked at him with a hint of fear in their eyes, but for the most part, it was overshadowed by the worried expressions that plastered their faces. For a few moments, he thought Faye or Cass were going to say something about what had happened, but they remained silent, though the looks on their faces spoke volumes.
To Bren’s surprise, he found Hayao’s father waiting on him. The man’s face slightly paled when Bren entered the room, but other than that, he gave no outward sign that the mages presence bothered him. “I apologize. It seems I let my anger get the better of me,” Bren said, bowing as low as he could without hitting his knees.
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