by Mike Simmons
Darkness spread over the sky, turning the shades of blue to blackness. The stars sparkled clearly and the moon peered a crescent eye over the world. A small fire crackled in a shallow pit. Edward and Jasmine shared a seat on a fallen log, both staring blankly into the fire. Brandon leaned against a small aspen as he too watched the fire dance within the pit. Behind him, about twenty paces, the Guardian stood tall, looking around the woods on alert. The Guardian never seemed to relax; always at battle ready attention.
Earlier, Brandon dug a grave underneath a shaded birch tree, where they buried Donald. He lay within, his hand across his chest, holding his mace. Brandon filled in the grave with dirt and then stuck the cross, two thick branch ends tied together, into the ground. They all stood, hands together, looking down at the mound where their friend rested. Edward said a small prayer, giving praise to the fallen warrior, and asked the Gods to favor his valiant deeds and to aid him in his next journey into the afterlife.
They made camp at the edge of the trees on the Paraline. Brandon caught a small fish from the river using a long branch and some thin cord, but hunger evaded them all. They nibbled on the cooked pieces of fish mindlessly, minds filled with the day’s events.
As they sat around the fire, Edward looked up to Brandon. They hadn’t spoken much, their thoughts occupied with the loss of their friend.
“Brandon, are you okay?”
Brandon moved his eyes casually over to Edward and smiled softly. Exhaustion showed on his face like a stamp.
“Yes, friend, I am okay. Tired, but okay. It’s been a hell of a day.”
“There is so much I want to talk to you about, about what happened, about the Guardian… I don’t know where to begin.”
“Just pick a question, and we’ll start there.”
“What happened today?” The question appeared simple, but it implied a lot things.
Brandon did not know how to answer that question. He opened his mouth a few times trying to find the words, but nothing came to him. The difficulty of the question became obvious to Edward.
“Okay,” Edward said, “Answer this. Why did that monk keep calling you The Willbreaker?”
“It’s a title given to the person who has the power to alter someone’s will, using their gift.”
Edward’s look of confusion molded into fear and excitement as he said, “So why are you called…” He jumped to his feet, now talking and moving with enthusiastic energy.
“You? Are you serious?”
Brandon nodded his head, “Yes.”
Edward’s eyes darted back and forth, his mind racing with new questions. He took in a deep breath, eyes getting wider with each passing second, as he reached the peak of his emotion. He spoke slowly, each word enunciated and clear.
“Do you realize what this means? If this is true, we can end this war in one motion. We travel down to Orlimay, and all you have to do is alter Aurora’s will.”
Brandon shook his head with resolve. “No.”
Edward looked surprised.
“I won’t do it again. Changing another’s will is against every fiber of my being. It goes against everything I stand for: choice, freedom, and free will. We are trying to take down Aurora because she withholds those freedoms from her people. She is an enslaver. It is no different from what I would be doing. In fact, my ability is worse than what she does, because her people still have a choice to follow or not.”
Edward had no words. Brandon had a very good point but the thought of being around someone who had such ability staggered him. Never did Edward think he would live in a time where a person could control that much power, and now he stood next to one.
“So is that what happened with the Guardian?”
Brandon sighed. “Yes, but I didn’t understand what I was doing, or what was happening. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“You saved my life by doing that.”
“I should have tried to save your life some other way.”
“You used what you were gifted, whether you meant to or not. It’s okay, Brandon.”
“No, it’s not okay. I should not have done that. I took away everything that creature was.” He pointed into the woods towards the Guardian. “I stole his entire mind away from him. I wiped his mind clear, and put in my own thoughts and feelings. Our enemies do less forceful things than that and we want to overthrow them. It is not okay now, and it will never be okay. We will have to find another way, because I won’t do that again.”
Edward studied Brandon a long time. Finally, he tipped his head up and down slightly; an understanding that came hard felt. Knowing that Brandon could solve all of the world’s problems so easily, yet burdening him with weight of breaking every morale he believed in was hard to swallow. Edward could not imagine what the weight of that power, or burden, felt like.
“Ok, Brandon. I support your decision all the way. We got this far, we can make it to the end as long as we do it together.”
Jasmine stood up and rushed over to Brandon, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. She waited all night to do so and she could not hold out any longer. He wrapped his arms around her tight, feeling his tension and stress fade away from the warm embrace. Her body felt wonderful, warm, and living. It brought the situation into perspective; his focus could not be solely on Aurora, he needed to remember life, love, and family.
Jasmine pulled away momentarily to look into Brandon’s face. She had tear streaks down her cheeks but she smiled happily. After a quick look into his eyes, she buried her head in his chest and squeezed him tight.
“I’m so glad you are alright. I thought you were going to die.” She whispered.
Brandon said nothing, but comforted her by rubbed his hand up and down her back.
Jasmine gave him one last squeeze and then backed away, going to sit down next to Edward. Edward lost himself in thought. He wanted to know more about Brandon’s transformation and his newfound power. He had not touched his own magic since being nearly blinded by the strange white light earlier in the day. The idea of it frightened him, but his confidence slowly grew. Edward unshielded the coolness of his power and cautiously pulled in smalls breaths of it. As he did, a radiant light grew in intensity. The brilliant white light emanated from Brandon. Edward realized the light came from Brandon’s aura. His ability to see people’s auras became a hobby for Edward. It interested him how they changed. Emotions, feelings, and even the weather could change one’s aura. Their size, shape, and color would vary from day to day. That is what attracted Edward’s attention to Brandon; his golden aura never wavered or changed. Now, for the first time since they met, Brandon’s aura had changed. Its brilliant and celestial white light seemed to flood the world in its greatness. Edward could not pull the full power of his gift because he thought the light would blind him.
As he quelled that aspect of his gift, he once again became overwhelmed with surprise. Brandon’s power baffled Edward. Through his power, Edward could read the potency of another person’s magic ability. He learned through study and experience what the different feelings translated to according to the world’s classification of magic. Edward could look at any person who could call upon magic and he could tell you what field of magic they could control and at what degree. In a single look, Edward knew that Jasmine could channel from the Body sphere, Transformation, and at class level three. He could do this to everyone he looked at, except Brandon.
He could feel that Brandon pulled from the Will aspect of the Spirit sphere, but nothing else. He could not focus in on the depth of the power until now. As he shifted his power away from the aura reading, Edward felt the extensive amount of power that Brandon could access. The pool of magic Edward pulled from paled in comparison, and Edward had access to above average magic. He had Control of Mind, which gave him the ability to access two different aspects of the Mind sphere; in his case, Psionics and Sensor. Edward’s available pool of magic stood like a candle compared to Brandon’s power, which rivaled the blazing furnace of th
e Sun.
Edward, awe struck, thought about the potential of Brandon’s abilities. Taken back by the depth of it, he tipped backwards over the log he shared with Jasmine and fell on his rear. Brandon perked up and moved quickly over to help him up. Jasmine twisted and grabbed his arm, helping him back to a sitting position.
Edward could not pull his eyes from Brandon.
“Edward, what’s the matter? You are looking at me like you just saw a ghost.”
Edward stuttered, still bearing the same look on his face. “Ba…ba…ba…”
“What? Are you okay?” Brandon reached down and grabbed ahold of Edward’s arm, holding him so he would not fall back over.
“Edward?” Jasmine asked. She now looked concerned.
Edward turned his head to look at Jasmine and then immediately back to Brandon.
“What is it, Edward? Please, speak to me!” Brandon said with concern.
Edward recognized that he caused Brandon and Jasmine confusion so he consciously eased his look of astonishment.
“Brandon, your power…” He said slowly. “I can finally read it.”
Jasmine turned her head to look at Edward. The tone in his voice frightened her.
“You are worrying me, Edward. What is the problem?” Brandon said.
“Brandon, I don’t understand. You power is magnificent. I have only seen your power levels in…” He paused again. Brandon sighed quickly.
“Come on Edward, spit it out.”
Edward took a breath and spoke clearly. “I have only seen power levels like yours, well, actually, I have never actually seen anyone with power levels as high as yours. I have seen a handful of the Gifted who can wield their power at class four level. Donald was one of those Gifted. But you, Brandon, you are beyond that. I can see it now. You are a class five Gifted.”
As he finished speaking, Jasmine put her fingers over her mouth as she gasped. Her full attention focused on Brandon.
Brandon did not know what it meant to be considered a class five Gifted, but he did know that the coolness he could feel in his mind seemed boundless. It slept there, waiting to be summoned, an epic beast ready for action. Brandon sat in the shadow of it, the titanic form of ethereal force looming over his mind, waiting for his command. Brandon mastered the magic only he could control or release it.
“Brandon?” Edward asked quietly.
“Yes, friend?”
“Are you really a class five Gifted? And why am I feeling that there is more to you than just Will? I would not believe it if I was not sitting right here. I’ve followed you since the day we became friends, and these feelings and senses are all new.”
“I’m not totally sure of how it happened. One helped me figure it out; he helped me remove the blocks that diluted my power.” As he spoke, he remembered what One told him about Aurora. My mother? He remembered how Edward told him about Aurora when they first travelled from Greylin. As a child, she excelled in psionics. Her mother sent her to train with a man named Korgen Kitadel, a teacher at the school for the Gifted. Her ability came easy to her. Korgen, assigned by the Director’s Board to instruct her, helped her advance her power.
Korgen betrayed the trust of the teachers and students alike, when one late night he locked himself in the room with Aurora, just a young woman, and forced himself upon her. Edward told Brandon what he read from the history books. Aurora entered a comatose state for eleven months. The rape of Aurora could have produced a child, and she would never know because of her unconscious state. Could it be? Could I really be the child of the Empress? The healers could have delivered the baby, and possibly the baby would have been sent away to be taken care of by another family. When Aurora awoke and murdered everyone in the school, the secret of the baby could have been lost.
His mind worked in a hundred different directions but he realized he had not finished his conversation with Edward. He did not know how to tell Edward that Aurora might be his mother.
“I can feel the full depth of the coolness now, and I can do more than heal. I am not sure exactly how I know, but I guess you can describe it as instinct. It is like running or climbing a ladder, I just know how to do it. I can control all of the sides of Spirit. I can feel it and I know it.”
“Unity of Spirit? All four sides?” Edward’s worried look turned to a look of amazement and excitement. “You can touch Vision, Life, and Death too? That is incredible! Are you sure? What is that like? How does that feel? Can we use that to help us in our journey? Can you…”
“Edward. Edward! Calm down, please. There is something else I must tell you, something of great importance.”
Edward’s look of excitement turned to concern as he looked at Jasmine.
“Please, sit, there is something that I must tell you. You must know if we are going to continue this journey. I think that Aurora may be my mother.”
Silence swept over the camp as they stared at Brandon as if he became another person. He told more of his vision of the Umbrasphere and the conversation he had with One. They listened as he talked, neither one asking questions. It all made sense as he explained it.
He ended the conversation with his uncertainty of it all, but let them know the possibility could be real.
“We need to reach Orlimay, and if we leave at first light, we should arrive at the same time as Reinhold’s armies. Once there, we’ll have to see what happens,” said Brandon. He knew that Reinhold would be there when they arrived. In a shadowy vision that danced on the side of his mind, Brandon saw himself sitting on the edge of a tree line, the majestic city of Orlimay ahead of him in the clearing. As he looked to his right, he could see the Banner of the Red Lion, held high by the infantry of the King. The trees behind the banner men shuffled with movement, the indistinguishable armies of the King.
Brandon did not need to concentrate or sleep to see this. It rested there in his mind, like a future memory. The Vision aspect of his powers worked at a subconscious level, and he knew it would happen just as he knew the sun would go down.
Edward nodded, and Jasmine simply said, “Alright.”
Chapter 18 - The Water Runs Deep
The fire still crackled in the fire pit. Jasmine slept as Brandon and Edward watched the flames eat the left over logs within the stone-ringed pit. Occasionally, the Guardian’s heavy footsteps crunched through the woods as he moved around.
Brandon thought about the new understanding he gained from his interactions with One. He understood with the Life aspect of his powers; he devoted the early years of his life to his skill in healing. After he accepted the title of Willbreaker though, he gained extensive knowledge of his other abilities. The Spirit sphere, the sphere that Brandon controlled, consisted of four aspects: Life, Death, Vision, and Will.
Life effected attributes of the living, like healing of wounds, curing of sickness, and even regeneration of limbs. Town healers and medics often use this power, and is the most gifted ability of the Spirit sphere. Some gifted in life became famous shadows of powerful kings and queens, providing long lasting lives free of sickness and wounds. Others learned the art of war, unstoppable warriors and fighters who could heal their wounds in mid-combat. One of these warriors, an arctic barbarian, could use his ability to heal so efficiently he regrew his own dismembered arm in the middle of a single fight.
Death gave the controller manipulations of the spirit after life. It contained power regarding the absence of life and the ability to see and control those manipulations. With Death, one had the capacity to see and speak to restless spirits, as well as alter and change the connection of life to the afterlife. A famous Death user, Vilka Beck, sat alongside the Lord of Surdar, the desert kingdom north of the Tusk mountain range. Vilka, a class five Gifted, broke the ties of the fallen armies of Surdar to the afterlife, enabling them to walk amongst the living. Their ethereal bodies and weapons were brought into the same plane as the living, allowing them to interact and fight in this world. Vilka and his ghostly army destroyed the Lord of Surdar’s stan
ding forces and he reigned as King of the Undead for sixty years.
Vision grants foresight and images of future events. Certain scholars and teachers believe that déjà vu is an after effect of vision use. Along with Death and Will, Visionary Gifted are scarce. Known as Seers in some lands, Visionary Gifted wrote all of the recorded prophecies.
The most rare and specialized aspect of Spirit is Will. Will is the least studied of all the aspects, due to the small amount of people able to channel within the aspect, but Gifted believe it to be more powerful than any of the others. Its power is often subtle and there are no flashing fires or floating objects to signal that Will has been touched. It involves conscious and unconscious thoughts and desires to act certain ways. It affects the power of choosing one’s own actions and the process of using or asserting one’s choices. Some say that will bending is similar to mind control, but they are technically as different as water and rock. Mind control is implanting actions or forcing a person to do as the controller wishes; typically a controlled use of power that could be against the wishes of the controlled. With will bending, the controller bends or breaks the target’s free will, allowing them to make choices and decisions on their own, targeted around the ideas sculpted and created by the controller. It essentially rewrites their minds and makes them process the embedded thoughts as their own.
People test their will when trying to do things they are determined to do, such as keeping secrets or losing weight. The stronger their will, the more likely they are to succeed in their goals and plans. Kings have used torture techniques to break the wills of the captured, searching for secrets and information regarding their foes. Pain is a good destructor of will.
There are side effects of will bending though. In order to bend another’s will, the user must transfer his consciousness into the will of his target. By doing so, the user is able to model the new will from their own or change it based on views or opinions crafted from their conscious thought. This leaves traces of the bender within the target and alters some physical trait within the target. The stronger the bender, the less obvious the changes are.