“I did not ask for your help.”
“No, you didn’t,” Jason answered. You were a little busy at the time. Not so long ago, he probably would have added the remark to his reply, but if nothing else, his time in Teleria had taught him that sometimes it was better to keep quiet until he could learn more about a situation.
“Why did you interfere?”
Interfere? Jason couldn’t help himself. “You’re kidding, right? That thing was about to eat you!”
“Perhaps that was my intent.”
“You’re saying you wanted to die? Really? Then why take a sword? Why not just jump in the pit?”
Elam scowled. “You did not answer my question. Why did you inter—” He stopped and took a deep breath. “Why did you help me?”
Jason shrugged. “Because I wouldn’t want to see anybody, not even my worst enemy, go out like that.”
Elam glared at him. “So you do consider us enemies?”
“No!” He shook his head. Wow, people are really literal here. “I just meant I’d have done the same thing for anyone. Besides, I’ve got enough problems with the one enemy I do have. I don’t need to go looking for more.” He yanked at the rope around his neck. “But I didn’t expect to be rewarded like this.”
“Why did the Circle send you into the Riftlands without telling you of us?”
“They don’t know where I’m at. I had to leave fast.”
“Why?”
“’Cause that one enemy I told you about was there, and he was looking for me. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Regor. He’s an Altered, the one they call the Shadow Lord.”
“We know of the Altered and their return.” He waved a negligent hand. “They are of no consequence to us. Their power is as useless against us as is yours.”
“Lucky you.”
“Perhaps,” Elam replied. He took another step toward Jason. “Our village has been very divided regarding your fate. Some believe we should use you to force the Circle to consent to certain demands. Others believe you should be denied your power and released into the Riftlands to meet your fate.”
“Denied my power? What’s that mean?”
“You are bound with shackles of our devising around your wrists.” He indicated a set of shackles hanging on the far wall made from a dull maroon metal. “This renders you incapable of using your power. Then you are taken into the heart of the Riftlands and released. You would wander the Riftlands until someone, or something, found you.”
“Ah. Any other choices?”
“There are a few who believe you should be killed immediately.”
Jason looked away and shook his head with a sigh. Why does everyone want me dead? “I don’t suppose anyone’s suggested letting me go?”
A grim smile tightened Elam’s lips. “No, that was not one of the choices.”
“So, some of your people think I should be killed just because I can use dimsai? Without even knowing anything else about me?”
“They think the only way to be safe from saiken and those who serve them is to make sure they cannot use their power at all, and the safest way to ensure that is to kill them.”
“Do a lot of you feel that way?”
Elam shook his head. “No. Only a few hold to that extreme.”
“What about you? Do you think I should be killed too? For helping you? No wait, I’m sorry, for shaming you?”
“I have no love for saiken, but you are not of our world. Perhaps in your world those with power and those without walk equally, and it is just your misfortune that has placed you into our hands on a world that does otherwise.”
Jason shook his head. “On my world, nobody has power. At least not the kind you’re talking about.”
“A world of nasaiken. An interesting concept. And yet you use power here, one of only two Far Planers ever known to do so. How do you explain this?”
“I don’t. I don’t know why I can use dimsai, or why Bothan…Bodann…could. But while we’re on the subject of explaining things, why don’t you tell me why you people hate saiken so much. If I might die because I can use power, you owe me at least that much.”
Elam nodded. “If I were in your place, I would want to know. Very well. How much do you know of dimsai and the various Orders?”
“Well, one of the Loremasters told me that most kids start showing their power when they’re around ten years old. Sometime after that, they and their parents decide what they want to use their power for and find someone to train them.”
“And what did he say about those children born without dimsai ability?”
“He didn’t say anything about it.”
“Of course not. Listen, then, and hear of the injustice of the nasaiken.”
“Occasionally, children are born who never display any power at all. If, by the time a child reaches the age of fifteen years, they have not shown any dimsai ability, they are labeled nasaiken. Once a youth is declared nasaiken, they are taken from their village to a compound located at the edge of the wilderness. There, they receive survival training for ten sixdays. Once the training is complete, they are given a knife, clothing, and supplies, and then banished into the wild with the warning never to return.”
“Seriously?”
“I would not lie about something as serious as this, Far Planer. As if banishment were not enough, we are also blamed for any ill that befalls a village. If a village suffers a tragedy, and no nasaiken are present, search parties go out into the surrounding areas looking for the nasaiken that is believed to be nearby.”
“That’s crazy! Are you sure the Circle knows about this?”
“They should. My own father is a Loremaster.”
Unexpected Guests
Seryn counted off the last step and turned. She watched as Brin reached his final step and stopped as well, but instead of facing her, he merely stood staring at the ground. Then he did turn, but not to her. He looked at his sons, who still had yet to move. His face, what she could see of it, was calm, as if he had finally solved the greatest riddle of his life. After several long moments, he turned the rest of the way and gazed at her with an expression she could only think of as serene, the slightest of peaceful smiles touching his lips.
He inclined his head to her. “Be at peace, my friend. Do what you must, as I will, and all will be well.” A sob caught in her throat as she heard the compassion in his voice, so different from the decisive, sometimes almost challenging, manner he used in the Circle meetings. Every gentle word was an arrow through her heart.
“A few final words, Loremasters,” Regor said, interrupting her thoughts. “I expect to see your full effort in this contest. If I believe you are not trying to the utmost of your abilities to win, these lives are forfeit. Also, if either of you are thinking of being noble and deliberately losing, keep this in mind: You fight not only for your lives, but for these as well. If you die, they die.”
She glanced at Brin as his shoulders sagged, the peaceful expression replaced by one of resigned frustration. That was his plan, she thought. He was going to allow me to kill him, thinking it would save his sons. Oh, Brin! She tried to push aside the thought that, in just a few moments, she would be using her power, a power she had trained for healing, to kill another member of the Circle. She wracked her brain. There had to be a way out of this. There had to be someth—
“Begin.”
The word had barely registered with her when she heard Brin say, “Forgive me.” An explosion at her feet sent her reeling backwards. Instinctively, she shielded herself, only then realizing that the battle had begun. Bursts of light exploded in front of her eyes as a hailstorm of rocks and pebbles from the training yard attacked her defenses. A rumble ran through the ground underneath her as she tried to blink the spots from her vision. Her eyes cleared just in time to see a massive boulder Brin had torn from the earth dropping toward her. She dove to the side, feeling the shock of the impact as the boulder crashed onto the spot where she had been standing an instant before. The sound of
Regor’s laughter registered in the back of her mind. You will pay for this someday, she thought as she rolled to her feet. She only hoped she lived to see that day.
Hardly believing what she was doing, she reached out with her power and cut off Brin’s air. She had to break his concentration. He was quite likely the strongest of them all, and would almost certainly defeat her in a contest of pure power. However, her years of training in the Diamond Order, learning the intricacies of the human body and its processes, made her the deadliest member of the Circle. The irony that the very skills that made her a healer also made her the most efficient killer was something she had pondered many times during her tenure as Loremaster.
Brin clutched at his throat, appearing confused as he staggered back. Then his eyes focused on her and he sent a blast of crimson power directly at her. She had to release him to pour more power into her shield. The concussion forced her back a step, and gave him time to send more power rocketing toward her. If my shield fails, he risks backlash with these direct attacks. Is that his intention? Only her training in the Diamond Order allowed her to safely use her power directly on another saiken, and even with her skills she had to exercise caution, as dimsai backlash could be dangerous, sometimes even deadly. Although rare, one never knew when backlash would occur. Brin’s direct assault seemed to imply that he was hoping for such an outcome.
His barrage kept her on the defensive, preventing her from forming her own counterattack. She waited for the slightest break in his assault, then dropped her shield and sent a bolt of dimsai into the ground at his feet. As he stumbled backwards, he threw another blast. She dove to the side to avoid his final bolt and, without rising, used her power to sap the strength in his legs.
As he fell, she shot a stream of power into his chest. His eyes went wide as her dimsai wrapped around his heart. She could feel each beat as if she held it in her hand, could feel the warmth of his blood streaming through her fingers. With a simple exercise of will, her power would constrict and the rhythm of his life would be silenced forever. A myriad of thoughts flashed through her mind as she watched him writhe on the ground, gasping for each breath. Even as he fought to stay alive, his eyes, fixed to hers, told her that he knew he had lost. Tears blurred her sight as she saw him try to force a smile through his pain. Brin! How can I do this? Her entire life had been devoted to mending torn flesh, knitting broken bones back together, curing illnesses. She was a healer. Could she truly kill another for her own purposes? And if she did, could she ever go back to teaching others to heal without feeling the burning self-condemnation of her own hypocrisy?
She blinked her vision clear and looked to her mother and sister. A shock ran through her as she saw their eyes focused on her. I cannot let them die. Then the gleam of a single tear wound its way down her mother’s cheek, and the woman who had given her life now gave the slightest shake of her head, the message as clear as if she had spoken it aloud. Do not do this, my daughter. Not even for us.
It was too much. “Ahh! I cannot!!” She released Brin and buried her face in her hands. She had sentenced her family to death. She could not watch their execution.
Then she surged to her feet, fueled by an explosion of rage that threatened to burn every trace of mercy and compassion from her soul. Eyes blazing with dimsai, she sent a torrent of argent fury streaking toward the shadowy figure on the throne.
“You will not touch them while I live!” Her voice crackled with power as she poured every ounce of herself, all that she was and had ever been, into her attack. The gems in her bracelets and headpiece burst into small suns, and silver flames danced over every inch of her body.
Regor had risen from his seat. The impact of her attack knocked him back, forcing him to grab the arm of his throne to keep from falling into the seat. His eyes flared as he regained his balance.
“Impressive,” the shadow said, “for a Loremaster. Almost, I am tempted to keep you alive. Your passion could provide an endless source of amusement for me.” He turned to her family. “However, only almost. You have failed. Prepare to pay the cost of your failure.” Tendrils of darkness reached for her mother and sister. Their eyes pleaded for a rescue she could not give.
“NO!!” She sent another burst of dimsai searing toward him, but a casual flick of his wrist sent her power back to its source. The concussion threw her backwards, slamming her onto her back as darkness gathered at the edges of her vision. Struggling for breath, she bit down hard on her lip to keep from losing consciousness. She could taste blood, felt it flowing down her chin. She rolled over and tried to rise, but with another gesture from the shadowy hand she was crushed into the dust of the arena. She could only lie there, gasping for breath, as she watched dark power envelop her loved ones.
“Regor, stop.” A new voice tore her attention from her family. Nyala? She forced her head to the side, feeling the coarse dirt of the arena grinding into her face, until her gaze found the speaker. It was not the sparkling form she expected. She went over what the Circle had discussed about the Altered. This one was…
“Nivek. What are you doing here? Why are you interfering?” Regor did not release her mother and sister, but neither did his power advance. His attention was on the shifting form of the new arrival.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Nivek answered.
“Talk? About what?” Regor’s power still coiled and shifted around the two women, but he remained fixed on Nivek.
“Nothing in particular. Just talk.”
Seryn’s gaze went back and forth between the two Altered. While Regor’s attention was on Nivek, there was still hope for her family. From the periphery of her vision, she saw that Brin had risen to one elbow and was also watching intently. The other Loremasters had not moved from their places at the edge of the darkness, although Reyga looked as if he could run to her at any moment. She caught his eyes and shook her head almost imperceptibly. She did not want anything taking Regor’s attention from his unexpected visitor.
“You’ve come at a bad time. As you can see, I am in the middle of entertaining.”
“Entertaining? Entertaining who?”
“Why, myself, of course. We can talk another time.” Seryn’s heart sank as the shadow turned his attention back to his captives. She saw the strain on their faces as his pressure increased, but she was still pinned to the ground of the training yard.
“Please, Father,” Nivek said. “Don’t.”
Father? Nivek was Regor’s child? The thought that the Altered could have children seemed strangely out of place in this setting. The shifting shadows surrounding the pair of women became completely still. Regor did not turn back to Nivek, but it was clear that the other Altered had his full attention.
“You haven’t called me that in centuries. Why now? Do you believe it will sway me? Why should I stop?”
“It’s not necessary, and it’s not like the man I grew up looking up to.”
Regor slowly turned back to his son. “You’ve been speaking with your mother.”
“No,” Nivek shook his head. “But I have been remembering.”
“Have you? Then let me give you the same advice I gave your mother: Stop living in the past. It’s dead and gone. All that matters is here and now. And here and now, we are in charge, able to do what we wish, when we wish, for no other reason than that we wish it.”
“Just because we have the power to do whatever we want doesn’t make it right for us to do it. We used to be like these people. A simple twist of fate shouldn’t make us forget that.”
“You have your mother’s sentimental streak.” Seryn thought he sounded both exasperated and nostalgic at the same time. “Still, I’m not having this conversation again. I’ve already had it with your mother, and once is enough.”
“Then just this time,” Nivek added before Regor could turn away. “Just this one time, don’t. In honor of the man who taught me so much, so very long ago…don’t. Please.”
Seryn waited for Regor’s answer. Only when she felt a
strain in her chest did she realize she was holding her breath. Carefully, so as not to draw any attention, she exhaled slowly and drew another quiet breath. She almost choked when a voice suddenly spoke inside her mind.
“Loremaster Seryn, if I am able to stop my father, you and the others must leave tonight. Go somewhere and hide. Even if I can stop him now, I won’t be able to stop him the next time, and I promise there will be a next time, there is no doubt. Leave. Tonight!”
Her gaze locked onto the shifting form of Nivek, but he gave no indication that anything had passed between them. He and Regor faced each other silently.
After what seemed an eternity, the dark shadows around Seryn’s mother and sister dissipated, and the power pressing her into the ground eased.
“Very well,” Regor said, “but this will be the only time I will allow such interference.” The fiery eyes turned to her. “Healer, do not think you have been saved. Consider this a temporary reprieve. If I were you, I would take this time to say your goodbyes.”
Then the two Altered and the darkness surrounding the arena disappeared.
Seryn pushed herself up from the dirt and turned to the others. “Everyone has to leave. Tonight.” Then she rushed to her mother and sister.
*****
Jason went over his conversation with Elam in his mind. No matter how much he had pressed, Elam refused to tell Jason who his father was. Jason couldn’t believe the Circle would allow something that sounded so barbaric. To exile your own children just because they didn’t have any power could only be described as heartless and cruel. He tried to imagine how he would feel if his own dad had abandoned him like that. If all of the nasaiken had suffered the same fate, it was no wonder they hated saiken so much. If and when he saw any of the Loremasters again, he would be asking them about it, that was for sure. No matter how he felt about Teleria, how could he support the Circle if they knowingly allowed this kind of thing to happen?
Altered Intentions Page 8