Child of Time (52 page)

“No, no I'm not. I'm just the forest tribe hero.”
Riftor looked crestfallen at the news. “But Kiyan is a luminous
one. I have seen him glow like this glow flower.” At this the light
was back in Riftor's eyes but there was a little disappointment
there also.

“Did you fight him? Did you defeat him? Riftor forgot
about his food in his excitement.

“No! If I had defeated him he wouldn't be the chosen
one now would he?” Kiyan was surprised to hear Sapphire talk about
her defeat with anything other than embarrassment.

“If he was the hero then shouldn't he be nicer to
people?” Kiyan rolled his eyes at Riftor's comment.

“He really is nice if you give him a chance.” Kiyan
realized that Sapphire was exceptionally good with children. Luke
also was thinking the same thing.

“Let's get some rest. We have all had a busy day and
night.” Sapphire laid down and covered herself and Riftor with the
cloak.

“Are you going to be warm enough?” Riftor sat up
quickly as he thought of Kiyan sitting in the cold.

“Don't worry about me, I kind of like the cold.”
Kiyan got up and tucked the elf back in. Sapphire was already
falling asleep. A soft smile played across her face as some
pleasant thought or memory presented itself.

The cold night air felt comfortable to Kiyan as most
cold things did. Heat didn't bother him at all. Mostly because he
could simply became colder to compensate. A chillier than normal
breeze came down the hillside. The two elves under the cloak
shifted as the extra chill leaked in. Kiyan began to wonder. He
knew if Terra were here, she would be curled up under one of
Freya's wings to keep the cold at bay while Kiyan actually enjoyed
it. Perhaps the Voth and ascended were too different. Kiyan was
tired of these thoughts and glanced around the pasture. The rocca
were bedded down on the far end, their fright from before
forgotten. The vine with the glowing flowers shed light around the
small group of people. Kiyan leaned against a smoother spot on the
rock wall and shrugged a couple bumps away. His troubling thoughts
grew distant as he steeped himself in the cold and drifted to
sleep.

--------

Riftor was the first to wake up as the sun crept down
the mountain side. Sitting up and brushing the cloak off he rubbed
his eyes as the frigid morning air finished waking him up. He
looked at the cloak that he had been under most the night. It had
been warm but not quite as warm as a pile of rocca. Remembering the
events of the night Riftor leaped to his feet. There leaned against
the side of the rock wall was the object of his excitement. Kiyan
still looked asleep. Riftor took the opportunity to examine the
strange man. He looked curiously at the well-fitting uniform like
garb that Kiyan wore. It looked like some kind of dark animal
leather with straps and buckles along the sides and front. It
didn't look uncomfortable but it looked durable. It almost
glimmered in the early morning light. Riftor's eyes widened when he
came to the stranger's face. A thick thatch of blond hair stuck in
every direction over a longer pale face. What Riftor saw though was
the oddly deformed ears. Unable to help himself, Riftor reached out
and touched Kiyan's ears as if to see if they were real. Riftor
jumped back as much from the touch to the icy cold skin as from
seeing Kiyan's eyes open.

“Good morning.” Kiyan broke the awkward silence as
Riftor stood frozen, one hand half extended towards Kiyan's
ear.

“You are really cold.” Riftor withdrew his hand.

“I don't feel cold.” Kiyan took a deep breath and
normalized his temperature and held out a hand to Riftor. The elf
flinched when he touched Kiyan's hand but realized that his skin
was warm now.

“Burr. It’s freezing.” Sapphire announced her return
to the land of the awake. “Ouch, I'm too young to feel this way.”
She rubbed her stiff joints and grimaced as she stood up.
Sapphire’s living plant like clothes thickened and shifted to
provide more protection from the elements but she still wrapped the
cloak securely around her and looked enviously at Riftor's warm
wooly outfit. A quick glance told her that the rocca had probably
provided the hair the clothes were made from.

“I could make a fire to get warmed up by.” Kiyan
offered a solution for the problem.

“No fire.” Both the elves looked at Kiyan like he had
made a threat.

“Fine. We have some food left but it is cold.” Kiyan
picked up the partially full bag and withdrew some fruit. He saw
Riftor perk up at this suggestion and eye the bag in Kiyan's hand
longingly. Sapphire gave a final shiver and went about gathering up
her glow vine. The flowers still faintly glowed but had withered
over the night. Sapphire carefully collected the new seeds and wove
them into a bracelet before getting some food for herself. Riftor
had watched her as he consumed a piece of fruit.

“Why don't you have a glow stone? It takes a bender
to recharge them but they last for days.” Riftor offered some sage
advice.

“So why don't you have a glow stone?” Kiyan sliced a
long thin crisp fruit into pieces with an ice blade.

“I'm not a bender like you guys are.” Riftor lowered
his eyes as he admitted his fault.

“Nonsense! You bent some good sized rocks at my head
last night.” Kiyan recalled the fight in detail.

“I just threw them at you.” Riftor looked sorry.

“Nope. You may have thrown them but you aimed and
propelled them with bending.” Kiyan had definitely felt the boy
bending.

“Really?” A look of hope flickered over Riftor's
face.

“Enough about bending and all that stuff. Riftor
where are your parents?” Concern was evident on Sapphire's
features.

“I don't have parents.”

“What happened to them?” Kiyan now was concerned.
“Living out here on a mountain must be difficult alone.”

“There was a landslide and our house fell off the
mountain.” Riftor blinked in an attempt to keep tears back. “The
other elves made me go to another house and live with a family but
they didn't like me so I ran away.” Riftor rubber the corner of an
eye in an attempt to remove a tear before it got discovered.

“That's terrible!” Sapphire looked shocked.

“It’s not so bad.” Riftor glanced around him. “This
was my parent's fold and I caught and tamed the rocca. I trade
their hair for anything I need like clothes. The weather hardly
ever gets any colder and I can usually find berries all over.”
Kiyan decided that they must be near the equator in order to have
such constant climate.

“You want to find the mountain tribe hero?” Riftor
smeared some sticky juice across his face with the back of his hand
in an attempt to remove the mess. Kiyan could see Sapphire wasn't
done with the topic though but she let it rest for the time
being.

“Yes I think that would be best.” Kiyan lifted the
food bag onto his back when they were finished eating and grew a
few straps to hold it into place. “Do you know where we might find
a guide?” Kiyan watched as Riftor jumped to his feet.

“I can take you.” The elf suddenly looked
crestfallen. “That is if you want me to go with you.”

“Of course we want you to come with us.” Sapphire
flashed a smile towards Kiyan. Kiyan smiled back but caught
himself. Luke was in the back of his mind fuming. Kiyan reacted
without thinking and slipped the silver bracelet off his wrist and
tossed it towards Sapphire. Thin strands of silver stretched out
and clutched at Kiyan's fingers but he moved too fast and Luke's
nanites flew through the air. Sapphire caught the bracelet with a
confused look.

“What?” Sapphire looked confused for a moment then
started laughing. “He thinks I like you more than him.” This was
followed by another laugh. Controlling herself, Sapphire slipped
the bracelet on her wrist and held it up admiring the woven silver
band. Kiyan rolled his eyes at Luke's irrational actions and
glanced towards the confused Riftor.

“What was that about?” Riftor glanced from the
bracelet to Sapphire to Kiyan.

“Luke is in love with me and he is jealous of Kiyan.”
Sapphire held up her wrist with the bracelet.

“Love? That's gross. How can a bracelet love
anything?” After Riftor's outburst both Kiyan and Sapphire started
laughing as they sensed Luke sulking. Apparently when Sapphire was
wearing the bracelet, she could sense Luke much like Kiyan
could.

“Maybe you will understand in a while but Luke is
that bracelet. He is a shape shifter and can look like just about
anything he wants.” Kiyan tried to explain but Riftor was still
clearly disgusted by the idea.

“Can we go find the hermit now?” Riftor warily eyed
the bracelet as if he expected it to bite him.

“Come on let's go.” Kiyan messed up Riftor's hair as
Sapphire swung her backpack onto her back and looked up
expectantly. Riftor took one last glance at the bracelet and began
climbing the rock wall on one side of the fold. Kiyan followed
pulling himself up with the numerous hand and foot holds. It didn't
take more than a few seconds to reach the top. From this vantage
point Kiyan could see the slope that ended with the cliff from the
previous night. On one side was a steep rock slide leading up the
hill and on the remaining sides was a valley with at least a dozen
folds similar to the one they had spent the night in. A few of the
house sized boulders could be see with windows and doors visible in
the distance. Riftor descended the other side of the wall and
headed up the hillside. Kiyan and Sapphire dropped down the side
landing lightly on their feet and followed the boy.

“Did your ears hurt when they were made like that?”
Riftor was watching Kiyan as he asked the question.

“What? No, I was born with ears like this.” Kiyan
shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“I'm sorry.” Riftor looked sincere.

“Ha ha ha, no no all my people have ears like this.
I'm not from this planet. I came from far away. Another planet.”
Kiyan tried to explain the origin of his ears.

Annoyance swept over Riftor's countenance at Kiyan's
laughter but he quickly forgot his annoyance as he remembered
something Kiyan had said earlier. “You said I could bend? Can you
bend?” Riftor dropped back beside Kiyan as he asked the
questions.

Instead of responding Kiyan snapped his fingers and
watched as a boulder nearby splinter into dozens of pieces. Riftor
watched in awe.

“I wish I could do that.” Riftor looked down again.
Kiyan leaned over and picked up a rock the size of his fist.

“Throw it.” Kiyan handed it to Riftor. The boy took
aim and released it at a boulder nearby. There was a loud crack as
the rock hit its target and ricocheted away.

“No I mean throw it like you threw it at me last
night.” Kiyan picked up another rock and threw it at the same
boulder. He propelled it with his mind and watched as it smashed
into the boulder and exploded into a hundred pieces and a cloud of
dust. That is how hard you threw the rocks at me last night.

“But I just threw it. I didn't try bending it.”
Riftor was confused. He picked up and threw a couple more rocks
without any difference of skill. His aim was true but it was only
his muscles that manipulated the rock.

“Here let me help.” Kiyan handed the elf another
rock. “There is energy in this rock. The energy is at rest until
you give it direction. You can't force it to obey you. Just make
your will known to it and let it go.” Kiyan held his hands on
Riftor's shoulders and helped him direct his mind. There was a
pause and Kiyan sensed not only the rock giving a small almost
imperceptible surge but an unnatural breeze twisting around then
for a moment. Riftor tensed and threw the rock. The throw was
erratic and fell short of its target.

“See! I can't do it. I can't even hit the other
rock.” Riftor despaired.

“Actually that was a pretty good start. I felt you
touch the rock's energy but you didn't give it or even yourself
direction until it was too late. Let's try something else.” Kiyan
stopped and picked up yet another rock. Seating Riftor down on a
flat rock he sat down opposite him and handed him the rock.
Sapphire rolled her eyes and took a seat on a nearby rock.

“OK just close your eyes and hold the rock.” Kiyan
waited as Riftor closed his eyes and cradled the head sized rock in
his hands. “Now describe it.”

“It’s heavy. It’s rough.” Riftor furrowed his
eyebrows. “It feels funny. Tingly? It is heavier on one side than
the other.”

“Now why would that be?” Kiyan watched the rock in
Riftor's hands. “It is nearly perfectly round. Why would it weigh
more on one side?”

“I don't know.” Riftor still hadn't opened his
eyes.

“You do know what it is. You can feel it deep inside
you. Just like you know it feels funny. Like you know it feels
tingly.”

“Riftor focused even harder. It’s not as heavy as I
thought. Kiyan watched as the rock began to slowly levitate. Is it
hollow?” With the last question Riftor opened his eyes and Kiyan
caught the suddenly falling rock.

Kiyan rubbed a finger over a crack in the rock. The
crack followed his finger until the whole rock fell in two. Inside
was a small chamber with a few good sized crystals. Kiyan gently
pried one loose and handed it to Riftor. The clear crystal was a
couple times thicker than a thumb and slightly shorter than an
index finger began to glow faintly.

“It’s a glow stone.” There was a look of wonder on
the elf's face as he cradled the crystal like it was a great
treasure.

“You can't make the rock obey you but your hand felt
uncomfortable under its weight. You wanted it to weigh less so it
did. In fact it weighed so little that it floated into the air.”
Kiyan freed the other glow stones and handed them to Riftor. “Your
mind is subconsciously in phase with the rock’s energy and it gave
the energy a direction to act upon.”