Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (46 page)

A pitiful wail erupted from the stalls as Raza and Achilles bolted up and looked about wildly. Raza then pointed to the stall closest to them and ran to it.

Inside they found Sally sobbing hysterically. Breeze was trying to console her as Raza scooped the girl into her arms and held her close.

“Hush, my sweet, hush. You are safe. Do you hear me? Safe. No harm will come to you, I swear it.”

Sally wrapped her arms around Raza and cried.

Achilles pointed at Breeze. “What was the duration of your time here?”

Raza waved a hand at it. “It does not matter. They needed to hear this story. Everyone needs to hear these stories. We have been remiss in not speaking about the past. This is at least a beginning,” she said and stroked Sally’s hair. “There now, child, there now,” she kept repeating.

Breeze stood up and dusted himself off.

Achilles tilted its head. “Master Corinth, if I may so inquire, how were you and Ms. Trumbull able to achieve such close proximity to us without our detection?”

“I think she shielded us, the air around us kept shimmering until she screamed just now.”

“Fascinating. Her skills seem to grow continuously. The greater the pressure on Ms. Trumbull, the more she seems to amaze,” Achilles said.

Raza stood up and helped Sally to her feet. She brushed hay from her hair while Sally clung to her waist.

“Come now, young ones, and let’s go back to the house for milk and cakes,” Raza said.

“Don’t go,” Sally whimpered.

“Child, I would never leave you. I have already lost one daughter, I will not lose another,” she said assuringly.

Breeze saw the comm units Achilles had been working on earlier. “What’s all this for?” he asked.

Achilles stepped over and placed a hand on the console. “Raza had requested that I make the attempt to contact Perihelion in order to establish communications with Oslo and to ascertain his whereabouts.”

Breeze sat down in a chair before the comm unit. “Achilles, do you think I can try to contact my father from here?”

Achilles’ eyes flashed for a moment, then nodded its head. “I surmise that a possibility may exist to establish contact, though the ionosphere had been quite erratic lately. It is as if a solar storm is approaching and has made long range communications quite problematic.”

The robot rotated a series of dials and a low hum began to emanate from the machine. Achilles reached for a headset with a microphone attached and handed it to Breeze. He waited patiently as Achilles continued adjusting dials.

“Master Corinth, I am scanning all frequencies across the bandwidth, but I cannot raise anything but static. Every territorial outpost seems to have gone offline and is not transmitting. I am not sure what else I can do.”

Breeze nodded. “Yeah, fine. What about Oslo and Nina? Any word from them?”

“I am afraid much of the same,” it replied.

Breeze took off the headset and dropped them on the console. “Okay, not much has changed then.”

Raza placed a hand on his shoulder. “Breeze, I understand your desire to return home. I promise it will happen. But for now, stay with us. We need you.”

“Need me? For what?”

“Breeze, hear me out. There once was a time when three young people gathered together and made a pact to uncover the evil that was sweeping across the world and to alert the people to the oncoming disaster heading their way. We stuck together as best as we could, but ultimately, we lost our faith, fell apart, and went our separate ways. I speak of course of myself, Oslo and Bram. Breeze, sometimes in life you must face the unpleasant truth that you know something is wrong, and yet no one will listen. I sense this about you, am I wrong?”

Breeze shook his head.

She continued. “Many do not want to be confronted with unpleasant truth. They want life to be as mundane and predictable as possible, though there is nothing wrong with wanting that, as everyone craves stability in one form or the other. But the world, the universe, does not work that way. Life is like the tide, it rises and falls. What has happened before, will happen again.”

“Oslo was always saying that to us.”

Raza smiled. “I know, where do you think I got it from? Breeze, you want everything to go back to normal, but as you can see, it won’t. Most likely because our lives were not meant to be normal. We have been destined for greater things, or perhaps condemned to walk a harsh road. Our attempts at trying to establish something that resembles normal is the reason why we keep experiencing setbacks in our lives, as if the universe is trying to tell us in its own way we should be doing something else. I do not believe in coincidence, and that is why I believe the three of you were brought to my doorstep for a reason. I have to do my part and help the three of you become more than what you are. You are all destined for great things. I see you all as heralds of a new beginning.”

Breeze leaned back in his seat and sighed. “I’m just a guy from the desert. I can barely fly without crashing into anything and destroying it. What do you want from me?”

“Humble. Self-deprecating. The true sign of a warrior who does not seek glory,” Raza said as she kneeled before him and held his hands. “Stay with us. At least, stay for Sally. You are like a rock to her. Let Achilles and I train you as best as we can and allow us to impart our knowledge onto you. Give me that at least.”

“Oslo already tried with us. We’re hopeless.”

“Yes, because in your minds you knew you had someplace to go back to. Home. Only now do you realize, there is no home, at least for them. Those who have attacked us in the past have returned and they wish to silence Earth once and for all as they cannot tolerate our kind. We have, and always will be, a beacon of hope for mankind, even in their darkest hour. Don’t ask me why the Elephim have a vendetta against us, we just know that we cannot be their victims any longer.”

Raza stood up and addressed them all. “I’m tired. Tired of everything. I have grown weary living here in exile, all alone except for memories. I won’t do this anymore. Tonight is the beginning of new possibilities. We are going to start putting our lives back together. We will reach out to others of our kind and remind them of our glorious past. Many will turn a deaf ear to us, but it will only take a few to start making a difference. We are a candle and a flame. We will share our flame, the flame of knowledge. We will make a lot of noise and we will awaken this planet. Those above will hear and see us and they will react with violence. They will try to destroy us, yet what more harm can they do? Have they not taken away enough from us as it is?”

Sally sniffled and nodded her head.

“The days of hiding are over. It is better we die as free men than as slaves to worry and fear. We start tonight,” Raza held her hand out to Breeze, and then reached out to Sally who brushed it aside and hugged her. Breeze reluctantly stood next to them.

She looked at Achilles. “Well, tin man, will you join my family?”

Achilles chuckled. “It would be an honor to do so. And probably a first for human-robot relations.”

Raza laughed. “Welcome then.”

Achilles placed a hand on each of the teens’ shoulders. “I look forward to working again with young paranormals, for it has always provided the greatest satisfaction to work with the most extraordinary of humans.”

“So, does this mean you’re going to give up fighting at Hammer Jack’s?” Breeze said.

“My career in martial arts for monetary compensation is officially terminated. Consider this robot retired from the world of arena fighting, and is now establishing a bright new future as a coach and mentor.”

They all laughed as Ray stumbled into the barn. His hair was rumpled as he rubbed his eyes. “What the heck is everyone doing here so late at night? What’s going on?”

“Master Verhesen! Most excellent of you to join us,” Achilles boomed.

Ray looked at them bleary eyed. “Why is everyone smiling?”

Raza spoke up. “Breeze has decided to stay and complete his training here.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. What else does he have to go back to?” He pointed at Raza. “And why do you look even younger than before?”

Sally turned to face her. “What is going on with you? Is this one of your gifts? Are you a shape shifter also?”

Before Raza could respond, Breeze spoke up. “It’s the pool, isn’t it? The one in your cellar?”

Raza’s jaw dropped. She glared at Breeze as her eyes narrowed, then drew a breath and smiled. “Nothing escapes you young ones, combined with your endless curiosity about everything.”

Breeze shrugged. “It’s just that it seems awfully similar to the one I woke up in at Perihelion. I guess Excort and Mila put me in it after I was rescued from the mountains. The water was so warm and it was like having a blanket cover you and it made you feel like you didn’t care about anything in the world anymore.”

Raza smiled. “Mila. How is she? What a sweet thing she is.” She sighed deeply, then spoke, “yes Breeze, you’re right. The pool does have healing properties, just like the one at Perihelion.”

“So that’s why you look so young?” Sally said as she took Raza’s hand.

Raza nodded.

“So why did you let yourself get so old in the first place?” Sally wondered.

Raza touched her cheek. “I was giving up, as I concluded there wasn’t much worth living for. I had a husband and daughter who were out of reach, along with a world I had known that descended into chaos. It all became too much. Then, three angels arrived at my doorstep. I brought them into my home, and then chased them out. I tracked them like animals and brought harm to them. It was then, in my darkest hour, that I turned to the light and climbed out of the tomb I was living in. The three of you are gifts from above. You are my second chance to make things right. Forgive me for hurting you like I did.”

Sally hugged her. “There is nothing to forgive. You have endured so much for so long. I’m just glad to be here.”

Raza’s voice quavered. “You have all given me a new lease on life. I have a family now.”

Ray raised his hand. “Does this mean we can have breakfast?”

They all laughed as Ray stood dumfounded.

BREEZE WAS ALOFT AND
hovering in place, while struggling to maintain his position. Below, Achilles was calling out instructions to him as it sat on a stool in the middle of a field.

Over the past several weeks, Raza and Achilles had been training the teens in the use of their powers. Sally and Ray were spending most of their time with Raza, as Breeze was the furthest behind in the mastery of his powers. It required the patience of Achilles to give him the much needed guidance.

“Maintain your axis as it relates to the surface below you,” Achilles spoke over the intercom as it craned its neck upward at the sky, “you must acquire the ability to affix your position without the aid of visual cues, for within the darkest depths of space, you will not find a star to use as a guidepost.”

Breeze held his arms straight out as he strained to hover in place. “As if I’m ever really going to do that,” he muttered.

Achilles tapped the side of its head. “I have received your last transmission. May I suggest that you switch to an internal monologue if you choose to make critical comments?”

Breeze laughed. “Nothing gets past you…whoa!” he shouted as he lost control and plummeted to the earth. Cold air rushed past his face as the ground rushed to meet him. He grimaced as he flung his arms out and halted his descent. Breathing heavily while his heart raced, he glided up to his original position.

“Concentration, my young aviator. Focus. Your mind is a whirlwind of thoughts and images. Learn how to brush them aside and see nothing. It is there, in the space between thoughts, that you will find what you need to know,” Achilles said.

“How can I find what I need to know if I don’t think of something…not again!” he shouted as he almost lost control, but quickly recovered.

“You are far too raw and undisciplined to even contemplate the notion of engaging in verbal repartee while in use of your powers. You, my friend, were never given the fundamentals. It is quite a testament to your tenacity and perseverance that you were ever able to achieve any ability to fly whatsoever.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like my father was too….keen…on showing…me…how to do it!” Breeze rocked back and forth as a gust of wind blew him off course. Once again, he glided back into position.

“I do believe he possessed a perfectly valid reason for withholding your training,” Achilles said.

Yes, Achilles, of course. The father understood what a powerhouse he would become. A god to lead the rabble out of the quagmire, or a devil who would suppress them,
Achilles heard the voice say as it blinked rapidly and shook its head.

“Oh, and what would that be?” Breeze asked.

“He was greatly concerned that you would harm yourself.”

Breeze laughed, and then dipped slightly, but regained altitude. “If he was so worried about safety, he wouldn’t have me working in a foundry next to huge metal buckets filled with molten slag…oh boy!” he stretched out his arms as far as he could as he suddenly dropped several feet toward the ground.

“Less verbal emittance my sky lord, and more concentration,” Achilles said.

“How can I concentrate if you…keep talking to me…come on!” he shouted as he plummeted to the earth and impacted the ground. His shield quickly surrounded him as dirt and rock flew everywhere. He crawled out of the crater he made and glared at Achilles.

The robot ignored his stare as it brushed dirt off its metal body. “Master Corinth, did it ever occur to you that your father had perhaps delayed your training because he understood that your powers would have overwhelmed you at such a young age? That the possession of such power could have corrupted and eventually destroyed you?”

“Achilles, the only thing I know how to do is fly in a straight line, then crash into the dirt. How much power could I possibly have?”

“Your gifts are multi-layered in nature. Consider this, young friend. You can fly, yes, but how many other paranormals are you aware of who possess a similar talent?”

“I don’t know of any others, it’s not like my town is crawling with them. My father then sends me to Perihelion where I met Ray and Sally. And Nina. Yeah, none of them can fly, but come on, they’re good at what they do.”

“Are they?” it replied as one eye glowed brightly while the other diminished.

“Well, yes. Look at how they have it so together.”

“Together? Is that an apt description of them? Do you believe your statement possess any logic to it?”

Breeze grew irritated. “What do you mean? Why do you keep leaning on me? They have control over their powers. They went to good schools that trained them. They had parents who paid attention to them. I didn’t.”

Achilles raised a hand and shook its head. “Your attention please, my captain of the skies. Do not confuse false bravado and high handedness for mastery of any skill. What amazing displays of wizardry have they performed for you to give you that impression?”

“Well, just the fact that they can use their powers without a second thought. It’s like they’re always on and ready to go.”

“And this is enough to give you the impression that they possess ultimate mastery of their abilities? That they have exploited them to their fullest potential?”

Breeze shrugged. “Well, yeah.”

Achilles pointed a finger at him. “Your basic assessment is correct. They have attended academies that have taught them what they need to know. Listen again to what has just been revealed to you. They were taught what they need to know. Nothing more. Nothing less. Do you understand?”

Breeze looked at the robot with a blank stare. “Yeah, they can use their powers without thinking about it while I have to stand around like an idiot wishing to fly.”

“What this humble robot wishes to convey to you is that they were never given the keys to become any more powerful than what they are now. They were taught enough to perform the most basic tasks, nothing more. Do not allow the supposed prestige of whatever academy they attended to blind you to the obvious.”

“You’re saying that Sally can do a lot more?”

“Infinitely more. Remember, the path before you forever recedes. You are an eternal student, Breeze, and one’s work is never done.”

Breeze’s gaze drifted toward the mountains in the distance.

“Master Corinth, you mentioned earlier that your father never trained you in the use of your skills. Do you sincerely believe that to be true?”

He nodded as he returned his attention to Achilles. “Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t like he tried to send me off to some school or anything, and if he knew Oslo for so long, he never once mentioned him to me or about Perihelion. He only sent me away after I went to the air show and…here I am now.”

Achilles placed a hand on Breeze’s shoulder. “You had said that your father possessed no concern for your safety by allowing you to work so close to the molten slag buckets of the foundry. Did it occur to you that he very well knew it would be safe and that no harm could come to you?”

“What are you getting at?”

“You just fell out of the sky, master. And yet observe yourself, no harm has befallen you, with the exception of the hapless earth and the crater you left behind.”

“Well, yeah, my shield always seems to kick in before I crash into anything.”

Achilles gripped his shoulder a little tighter. “Listen carefully to your words. Any sign of danger and your shield raises to protect you. You worked in dangerous conditions at the foundry, yet were you ever involved in an accident?”

“No, not that I can think of,” Breeze tilted his head, “wait a minute, I do remember a bucket that was traveling above me on the overhead gantry. One of the arresting cables broke and the bucket tilted and molten slag fell out. I remember that it almost hit me, but then it just seemed to, I don’t know, slide away from me?”

Achilles nodded its head. “Activation of your shield for the first time.”

“I don’t get it. What are you trying to say? I don’t remember doing anything at all.”

“Did it occur to you my fledgling, that your father purposefully placed you there in an attempt to jump start your abilities?”

“You’re saying that my father risked my life? On a hunch?”

“Your father was training you, but in secret. Think back over your life to this point in time. Everything your father wanted of you, every chore and task you had to perform more than likely possessed a direct correlation to your training. Not just in the use of your gifts, but in your mechanical skills as well. You possess an adeptness for machines and how to fix them. Have you seen these skills on display from your teammates?”

Breeze didn’t answer as he stared at the robot.

“I will accept your silence as a no. There were taught what they needed to know in a controlled environment. Pull them out of that environment and they seem unable to function, so they default to the only person they know who possesses any level of real world skill. That is you.”

“But I still don’t know what I’m doing when I’m up there.”

“Negative. Your subconscious has been filled to the brim with all of the knowledge you need to know to maximize your potential. Together, we shall demonstrate it. Return aloft, young man.”

Breeze closed his eyes, stretched his arms out and within seconds he felt the air rushing across his face until he came to a stop. He opened his eyes and looked down where Achilles was just an ant on the ground from his vantage point.

Achilles’ voice crackled through his earpiece. “We shall relive the molten slag incident at the foundry in order to prove the mastery of your abilities and the level of power you posses. For this exercise, you will close your eyes. Do not open them until you are told to do so.”

Breeze complied. He concentrated on maintaining his position when he began to wonder what Sally was doing.

“Now, young aviator, with your eyes firmly shut, sense your shield. I want you to picture it as a bubble and expand it.”

“My shield isn’t up because I’m not in danger,” Breeze retorted.

“Ones does not need visual receptors to sense or recognize danger. Expand your shield, please.”

Breeze reached out with his mind and could feel the energy radiating from his shield. “It’s on!” he called out excitedly.

“Excellent. With your eyes firmly shut, expand it to its fullest extent.”

Breeze kept his eyes closed and could feel the energy coursing through his body as he expanded the shield. Suddenly he felt resistance. He grunted as he strained to push the shield out further, but couldn’t.

“Something’s wrong Achilles, I can’t.”

“You cannot, or you are unable to perceive the danger that surrounds you?”

“What are you getting at?”

“Open your eyes.”

Breeze did and was stunned. He was surrounded by a squadron of hovering attack ships. They throttled their engines and he was overwhelmed by the cacophony of whining turbines.

He struggled to maintain his shield as they pressed against it and responded by thrusting the shield out, but to no avail. They continued to push harder and the shield began to collapse. Amidst the assault, he could see into the canopies of the ships. There were no pilots.

As he began to black out from the strain, he was still able to recognize the triangle symbol painted on the side of one of the ships. Exactly like the one he saw in Achilles’ barn.

“Do not surrender my young warrior, you must resist,” Achilles called out over the earpiece.

“Just…can’t,” Breeze gasped, as the ships pressed and squeezed the shield against him.

“You can and you must. From deep inside, you will find the infinite energy that powers and guides you. It is the eternal fire that cannot be extinguished unless you allow it to do so. Resist!”

Breeze was choking as his eyes rolled back. He surrendered himself to the inevitable when he heard a voice.

“Don’t give up,” said a young woman.

“Nina?” Breeze spun around as he tried to find her.

“Move everything around you,” she said.

He relaxed the shield and it collapsed. He was able to draw a deep breath and steady his nerves as he calmly watched the hover ships rush him for the kill. He heard a hum in his ears as he narrowed his eyes, and in a flash, he flung his shield out in a mighty rush, impacting the ships and sending them hurtling across the sky in all directions.

“Excellent!” Achilles boomed through the earpiece, “but do not celebrate this victory yet.”

The attack ships immediately regrouped. With turbines whining they fanned out into a diamond formation, then advanced towards him.

Breeze glided back in an attempt to place some distance between them. The ships responded by accelerating towards him.

“Strategy, young aviator. Only retreat against impossible odds. You possess the advantage here.”

“Advantage? These things are about to run me over! I’m going to do what I do best; fly away.”

Achilles shook its head as the voice within spoke:
What did you expect from this fledgling, my dear Achilles? He has been a loner for most of his life and is not capable of the things you wish him to do.

“No, this unit will not agree with your assessment, he is capable of so much more,” Achilles replied.

“What did you just say to me?” Breeze tapped his earpiece, “I can hardly hear you.”

Achilles rapped its head with a fist. “Ignore the previous transmission, Master Corinth, and think. You have just demonstrated how your shield is an offensive weapon, and that a strong defense is a devastating offense. Now, what can you do to achieve victory with the scenario you are now faced with?”

Breeze stared at the advancing ships as he thought of Achilles’ words. The whine of their turbines grew stronger, making it harder for him to concentrate as each ship shimmered from the hot exhaust of their engines. “I guess I can just…expand the shield again and bump them again?”

“No,” he heard the robot’s voice over the earpiece, “think between spaces. How can you affect the space surrounding them, or between them?”

Breeze continued to drift backward, mindful of the receding gap between him and the ships. “Wait a minute, I get it. Watch this,” and he accelerated backwards as the ships raced to keep up. In an instant, he came to a stop, then lunged forward, which allowed him to slip into the center of their diamond formation. With a mere thought, he rapidly expanded his shield and again they were flung across the sky like toys.