Amendments (27 page)

              Finn got another pin in place and suggested, “Stranger things exist than din, Aimee.  Think about how you breathing air energizes your body... that's
amazing
!”  Finn got the second to last pin in place.  “Think about gravity… or the sun… or think about our very existence!  We can't--”

              “Stop,” Aimee said.  Finn expected the girl to simply silence him again, but instead she stood in her cell and faced him.  Finn got the final pin in place at that moment and the lock fell to the ground.  She didn't even react to the cell door swinging open.  “Stop right there.  You said gravity.”  She paused for a long moment.  She seemed to look at Finn with confused interest.

              “Yes... gravity.  What about it?” Finn said with confusion.  He returned the lock-picking tools to his pack and stood.

              “Gravity is a concept created in
my
world!  I learned about it in school.  It's impossible for you to know about it!  It's impossible for you to know the English language, for that matter.”

              It was Finn's turn to stare at the girl with confusion.  “Of... course I know about gravity.  I am not--”

              “No, you understand the
concept
of gravity.”  Finn took a step back as the girl walked toward him with a sudden frenzy of interest.  “You may understand that things go down, yes, but to actually
call
it gravity and understand the principal... that's impossible.”

              Finn held out a hand of caution as the woman approached him, but she ignored it.  “You have to tell me how you know about gravity!”

              Finn shook his head.  “I will later, but guards could come any second.  We have to free these pe--”

              “They don't exi....”  Aimee trailed off in thought.  “Or... no, they do!”  Suddenly Aimee flung herself against Finn.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged tightly.  “No, they exist!”

              Finn patted the Din Mage on the back with trepidation.  “Okay... that's good,” he stammered in a confused way.  “I'm... glad we got that out of the way.  I'm Finn, by the way.”

              “Well, Finn,” Aimee commented as she released the hug and stepped out of the cage, “let's free all these people.”  To Finn’s surprise, Aimee was smiling.

              Finn furrowed his brow.  The young woman was like no one he'd ever met before.  “Why the sudden change of heart?  You go from starving yourself to hugging and wanting to save everyone in a matter of minutes.”

              “Because,” Aimee said as she playfully punched Finn in the arm, “I just figured everything out.”

              Finn shrugged and shook his head.  “Figured what out?”

              “I figured out where Noir, Dad, and I are.”

Chapter 26

Nidhoggr's Wrath

             
Noir's body ached.  He looked down at his eight-year-old body and the broken bicycle that lay nearby.  He couldn't take his eyes off the two large patches of red on his knees.  They had already started oozing blood and they stung tremendously.  Noir screamed, “Daddy!  Mommy!”

              Hurried footsteps came down the sidewalk in Noir's direction and he suddenly found himself in his father's arms.  “Noir, are you okay?”

              “It hurts all over, Dad!”

              “All over?  It should only hurt on your knees!”

              His father was right, Noir realized.  Why did his entire body sting when only his knees had been injured?  “No, it hurts all over.  Why is it all over, Dad?”

              “I don't know, but I do know what we need to do.”

              Noir suddenly realized that his father was holding him over their above-ground pool in their backyard, but didn't remember him carrying him there.  “Dad, what are you doi--”

              Noir's words were cut off as his father plunged him in the frigid water.  His strong arms held him under the water and Noir couldn't breathe.

~~~

              Noir awoke with a start and splashed furiously in the water.  His entire body stung in the icy liquid.  It took him a moment to realize he was not in his childhood pool, but in the subterranean lake beneath the Tierian capital.  The memories of what happened with Ruith and Nidhoggr flooded back to him.

              Noir ran his hands lightly over the skin of his face and felt scarred, mutilated skin.  He looked down at his arms and saw his entire, naked body was covered head-to-toe with deep, red, angry scars.

              Noir instantly grasped lux within him and started to heal his injuries.  The flesh mended quickly and his pain subsided marginally, but the scars remained.

              Vaguely, Noir became aware of something else inside him.  It was similar to lux, but seemed to emanate from his hands.  Where lux felt pure and calming, this new feeling was inexplicably emotional and energetic.

              Noir was about to attempt to grasp at the power like he had learned to do with lux when a deep, booming voice overhead said, “You are awake.”  Noir stood in the shallow water and looked at Nidhoggr above him.  “I wasn't sure if you'd live through that.  No one has ever suffered as much for as long as you did.”

              Noir stepped out of the water.  He found his brown traveling cloak discarded nearby.  He quickly wrapped it around his naked body.  The dragon continued, “I assume you are the young man named Noir?”

              Noir shivered from the cold water and wrapped the cloak tighter around him.  “Why did this happen to me?”  He looked at one of his hands again and studied the fresh scars that covered it.  “How could he do this?”

              Nidhoggr twisted and pulled against his restraints futilely.  “He believes you can right everything that has been ruined.”

              Noir looked back at the dragon.  “I don't care what that man believes!  He betrayed me!”

              “It no longer matters,” the dragon growled.  “What is done, is done.”  The dragon pulled sharply at his restraints and said, “If you'd like to proceed with what you came here to do, now's the time.  Release me, Noir.”

              Noir couldn't believe what was happening.  He'd come down into the caves beneath the Tierian capital only trying to do good.  He was trying to help his cousin, Nidhoggr, and the other captives in the prison.  How had this all gone so wrong?

              Noir looked up at the massive siphon enchant that held the dragon in place.  Perhaps one good thing could still come out of this descent into evil.  “How do I release you?”

              “You must embrace din, Luxin.  Embrace it similar to what you do with lux.  However, with lux, you let the light and power flow through your core.  It is soothing and feels good.  Din is different.  If you let it envelop your core, it will burn you from the inside out.  You must force din into the elements around you from your hands.”

              Noir tried to listen to the dragon's words, but was distracted by all that had happened.  “How could this happen?” he asked quietly to himself as he studied his scars once again.

              The dragon above Noir let out a sudden roar that made the surface of the lake tremble.  “Focus!”

              Noir shook his head.  He couldn't wrap his mind around what had happened, but he could figure it all out later.  He had to do what he'd traveled there to do.  “Yes.  I am focused.  What do I do?”

              “Like when you use lux to heal or manipulate light or air, you will send out a tendril of din.  You will feel through the din the elements that you wish to harness.  If you want to create fire, feel the warmth around you and focus it into a single point.  It will condense and ignite.  Feed it din and it will grow into a flame.  It is the same concept with cold and ice, but now you must use the power of ground manipulation as your first task.”

              “Fine,” Noir agreed curtly.  He couldn't get Ruith out of his head.  Who
was
he?  Why did he force Noir to gain din?”

              “Grasp the din in your hands and send it into the ground that holds my enchant aloft.”

              Noir frowned.  “But enchants are unbreakable.  It won't matter.”

              The dragon growled, “I know what I'm talking about, you whelp.  The enchant is in several pieces.  We cannot break the pieces, but we can separate them from each other.  Now, focus your din to where the metal poles descend from the ceiling.”

              Noir tried to ignore everything else that circled in his head and focused on the new feeling in his hands.  He calmed himself and grasped at the power like he'd done with lux, but it slipped from his grasp easily.  He tried again and could not harness the power.

              “Din is a separate power from lux.  You do not invite din inside you like lux.  You must control the power of din with force of will.”

              Noir had become so adept at grasping lux that this new power felt foreign to him.  It was like trying to write with his non-dominant hand.

              Noir tried to forget all he knew about lux and tried to follow the dragon's advice.  He grasped at the din over and over to no avail.  Finally, Noir became enraged at his lack of progress.  He inwardly lunged at the din.  He screamed inwardly for the power to obey him and forced it under his control.  Suddenly, Noir saw his hands glow red with din and felt a new, foreign power within them.

              “Yes!” the dragon overhead boomed.  “Now, thrust the power into the rocks above.  Quickly, before the power overcomes you!”

              Noir thrust his hands out and forced the power into the rocks above Nidhoggr's restraints.  Like when healing with lux, Noir felt and understood the rocks in his mind.  He could sense their shape, texture, weight, and all the imperfections within.  “Good, now pull!” the dragon's voice boomed triumphantly.

              Noir pulled on the rocks and was amazed to see them lurch downward.  The metal pole that hung down and held Nidhoggr's restrains lurched down as well.  The dragon fell a bit, and then jerked to a stop.  “Good!” Nidhoggr bellowed.  “Keep going, young Din Mage!  Do it again!”

              Noir repeated the same process.  It took him a couple tries to grasp din once more.  It took an immense amount of inward effort to harness the power.  To Noir's surprise, completely unlike with lux, he discovered it was easier to grasp if he embraced his emotions.  Noir again pulled on the rocks with din.  Rocks rained down on Nidhoggr, but it didn't seem to faze him.

              Nidhoggr urged Noir to continue.  Noir pulled on the rocks with din a third time and was amazed as the ceiling around the metal pole came crashing down.  Noir ran from the falling debris.  He ran to the walkway that led across the lake and out to the altar.  Once he turned back, he saw Nidhoggr's right arm and head were free.  Several metal poles of the enchant had fallen apart once the support had fallen.  The dragon bent and stretched his freed limbs, and then Noir saw the dragon's body glow with an immense red light.  The red immediately was absorbed into the metal that still surrounded the dragon.

              “The siphon is still intact, Din Mage,” the dragon bellowed.  “More of the structure must still fall!”

              Noir forced the din in his hands to adhere to his will.  He again thrust it into the rocks surrounding one of the other supporting poles of the enchant.  Rocks shifted and groaned, but did not fall.  Noir repeated the process, and was shocked as the entire roof of the cave came crashing down.  Dust and debris filled the chamber.  Noir ducked and covered his face.  Rocks plunged into the lake and pebbles and water pelted the back of Noir's brown traveling cloak.

Once the destruction had subsided, Noir stood and looked at where Nidhoggr had hung moments earlier.  Nidhoggr no longer hung in the evil siphon contraption.  The dragon stood on his own four legs and glowed with a violent red.  His wings were spread out to their full size, filling the chamber.  The rocks that had fallen from the ceiling floated in the air around the dragon.  Nidhoggr looked directly at Noir and growled, “Thank you for freeing me.  I am sorry for what I now must do.”

              Noir began to ask what he'd meant, but the dragon leaped into the air, thrust down his wings, and careened toward the ceiling of the cave.  Rocks and dirt parted in front of the dragon as he flew upwards.  Noir saw red flowing out from the creature's body in front of him as he flew.  Rocks and dirt rained down, and the dragon disappeared into a vertical shaft above where the altar had been.  Earth continued to rain down with massive force until a pile reached the top of the ceiling of the cave and into the tunnel in which Nidhoggr had created.

              Noir shook his head in disbelief of all that had happened.  The rumbling of the burrowing dragon somewhere in the earth overhead died down.  Silence filled the chamber.  The only sound was the quiet lapping of waves in the once serene lake.

              “This
can't
be happening,” Noir said to himself in the quiet.  He looked again at the scars on his arms and legs.  “How did everything to so wrong?”  Noir clenched his fists in anger.  “I have to make Ruith pay.”

              Noir instinctively felt for his sword as if to chase down Ruith and slay him right then, but remembered that all of his clothes and items he’d worn had been eaten away by the dragon's blood.  “Did the blood really disintegrate metal?” Noir asked himself.

              Noir turned to where the altar had been and saw a pile of rocks that had fallen during Nidhoggr's escape.  Noir again focused his anger and fear and directed it into the power that he felt in his hands.  He grasped din and sent out tendrils of the red energy into the rocks in front of him.  He pulled and pushed rocks to the side with din.  They splashed into the water of the underground lake noisily and sent splatters of water onto the small island and Noir.  The large task made only a tiny drain on Noir’s chakra.  He realized he was very strong with din, though he was unskilled.

              Finally, Noir could see the altar.  Inside the metal basin was a layer of dark, coagulating blood.  Noir's golden-hilted sword stood out from the thick blood slightly.  It was deeply corroded and would not serve as a usable weapon any longer.  Noir cursed.  That sword had been a gift from Fafnir.  He’d become very familiar with its balance, and it had saved his life countless times.  He was sad to see it destroyed.

Noir was about to leave when his eyes caught on the shining metal sword that rested on a stand on altar.  What had Ruith called it?  The Einlanzer?  It had dried blood on its tip and down one side.  Noir shuddered at the memory of Ruith slashing open Nidhoggr's belly with it.

              Noir stepped over the remaining rocks, stepped around the basin of dragon blood, and put his hand on the Einlanzer.  As soon as his hand touched it, Noir was immediately aware of a power inside the sword.  It felt like a second source of chakra besides his regular source.  He drew his hand away in shock and the second source immediately disappeared.  “What
is
this?” Noir's voice echoed through the cavern.

              Noir again grabbed the sword and felt the second source of chakra available to him.  He hefted the blade and held it out in front of him.  The edges were impossibly sharp.  A large, blue gem was inlaid in the ornate, pointed handle.  It was moderately heavier than his previous sword, but he thought he could get used to the change with time.

              As an experiment, Noir grasped lux within him, but used the sword's available chakra to fuel a light barrier above his head.  The light barrier sprang to life.  Noir held it in place and felt the chakra of the sword draining instead of his own.  He tried the same with din, moving another boulder into the water and felt the sword's chakra drain.

              The enchant was impressive, but Noir wondered how the chakra would be replenished.  A person's chakra was regenerated with rest.  Noir took the sword and swore to figure it out later.  He had something more important to do at that moment.  Ruith had gotten his way.  Noir could now use lux
and
din.  Noir had to track down Ruith and find out why.