Doublesight (18 page)

19

“THAT WAS THE MOST ARROGANT THING I have ever seen,” Mianna said.

Lankor lowered his head and let his shoulders slide forward.

“What in The Great Land do you think you were doing?” She bent toward him.

Rend still held his son's arm firmly.

“They were accusing us,” Lankor said.

“They were stating a fact,” Nayman said. “There are still dragons in The Great Land. These doublesight didn't know that until now.”

“They made the announcement only when dragons posed a threat. That implicates us.” Lankor turned to his father. “You knew about it. We were supposed to be late. You walked us into the middle of a potentially dangerous position.”

Mianna slapped Lankor on the back of the head. “You will not talk to your father in that way.”

Rend indicated with a nod of his head for Nayman to find a clearing and set up camp.

Lankor stood on the path and between two large cedars beside his father. Mianna acted angry, where Rend only appeared to be disappointed.

Rend shoved Lankor off the path and onto the ground. They sat opposite each other. Rend took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, then lifted his head and stared into his son's eyes.

Lankor suddenly felt an unbelievable power come from his father, a power he had never sensed before. He had often been aware of what he considered his father's weaknesses, but never his strength.
At that moment, the power grew so overwhelming, striking him in the chest and head that Lankor turned away from Rend's eyes.

“Look at me,” Rend said.

Mianna stood behind her son. Her quiet voice entered Lankor's ears. “Listen. You are about to learn a great lesson.”

Lankor did as his father and mother requested. He met Rend's stare with his own squinting and angry glare.

“You have been taught to sit in silence? To meditate?” Rend said.

“To calm myself before sleep or to control my anger,” Lankor said.

“No,” Rend said. “To harness and focus your power and strength. Your brother has already learned this lesson. Now I offer it to you. You must do as I say. Explicitly.”

“Why would you wish to teach me now after what I did?” Lankor said.

“So it doesn't happen again,” Mianna said.

Lankor felt Rend's power decrease once he began to talk. The focus averted. “What just happened?”

“Close your eyes,” Rend said. “Focus on shifting, but stop short of entering a shift. Once you begin to create ectoplasm, you cannot stop. The best way to stop the shift is to open your eyes at precisely the right moment, bring your focus to the other person, and hold the feel of the shift.”

Lankor closed his eyes. He allowed his mind to drop into his dragon consciousness. He began to feel the burn and opened his eyes with a start, stared into Rend's face. But it was too late. His arms cracked and spread to his sides. His face pushed into a beak and grew spikes. The pain caused him to groan and call out. As his torso felt enflamed, it grew, and pushed against the tree behind him, sliding him across the ground toward his father. His sight shifted. Colors took on a strange appearance. The dark, which spread all around them, took on its own hue. There was no black, only color. He felt the flame inside him. Lankor drew a winged claw close to his face to be sure that he had changed. It struck him that he had failed his father's lesson. His anger would not let him stop short of the shift into beast image.

A quick, logical focus and he began his shift back to his human image. At the crown of his head Lankor felt the tingling sensation of a gentle massage. The sensation rolled down his neck and hovered
over his shoulders. He relaxed and let the muscles reform into their natural shape, all tension released as they changed. He took a deep breath. The darkness fell in around him. The black shadows obliterated what was once there to see. “I failed,” he said.

Rend appeared satisfied by the event. “Now try again. Remember, just before the burn.”

Lankor focused inward in search for the very beginning of a shift. His determination heightened, but his control did not. His dragon image thrust off his human image as it transformed into existence. As he returned to his human image, he felt tired. “I failed again.”

“We will practice more. Do you sense any difference?” Rend asked.

“Little. By the time I notice the shift, it is too late to stop it.”

He tried again. Once he shifted into his dragon image, a gasp came from the path. Lankor turned and three boys huddled together. “The dragon,” one said.

“Yes?” Rend said to the boys.

“He is summoned to the cabin of The Few.”

Rend nodded and the boys ran off faster than they had arrived.

Lankor shifted back into his human image. “What is going on? Are they going to banish me?”

“Never,” Rend said. “The Few have only the doublesight in mind.” Rend stood and held out his hand.

Lankor stretched his arm up. His father had a strong grip. Rend leaned back and Lankor lifted to his feet.

“Oronice was right. I may have done the same had I been in that position,” Rend said.

Mianna stepped around Lankor and pulled close to Rend. Lankor sensed a bond between them he had never noticed before.

“You must practice, my son. Practice every moment you can. With a partner, if possible. You'll find that you can control a conversation or situation merely by increasing your human energy toward shifting.” Rend patted Lankor's shoulder. “I'll walk you to the cabin of The Few.”

Mianna kissed her husband's cheek.

On the way toward the cabin, Rend said, “It is said that when your beast image is larger than your human image, others can sense it. To many people, you already feel powerful, larger than what you appear to be. Do you see?”

“I think I'm beginning to.”

Rend changed the subject. He laughed and said, “Oronice knows me as well as I know myself.”

“Were you that angry when you were younger?” Lankor said.

“Frustrated and trapped. I know what it's like not being able to show your true nature. Even when people tell you that it's all right to do so, they don't mean it. Except Oronice. Before I learned her beast image, I used to think she, too, was a dragon.”

“What image does she hold?”

Rend placed a hand at the back of Lankor's neck. “One of the most amazing animals I know of.”

“A bear?”

“No, although bears are magical in their own way. No, Oronice is a crow image. And among the crow clan, she is the most powerful. That's why she is part of the council,” Rend said.

“Then you are the most powerful of the dragon clan.”

“There are so few of us to choose from. I am merely in line to represent the clan. I have to admit that I am surprised to learn that there may be more of us. Perhaps your uncle…”

“Maybe he saved two clans of dragon,” Lankor suggested.

With the cabin in view, Rend stopped for a moment. “Listen, I don't like what's going on here, either. I trust the council. I trust Oronice The Gem. There are other, unfamiliar faces. What I'm saying is, not all of these people are council members. Watch your step.”

“Will you wait for me here?” Lankor asked.

“No. You'll be fine. I have to be sure Mianna and Nayman are all right.” He patted Lankor's shoulder. “Now go on. You can find your way?”

“I think so. The path winds a bit, but that's all.”

The three boys sat on a log near the doorway to the cabin. They stood and backed away as Lankor approached. Two of the boys shoved the other one forward. “Is your skin hot? Can we touch it?”

Lankor stepped toward them and said, “No.”

The boys backed away, stumbling over each other and forcing one to the ground.

Lankor opened the door and stepped into the cabin.

Two small benches sat on either side of the door. Hammadin, Crob, and Wellock stood against the wall in front of him.

“Close the door and sit,” Hammadin said.

Lankor looked to both sides. The woman who stood with Oronice at the council meeting now sat with the man who had the thylacine pet. On the other bench sat a small-built man. Lankor sat next to him.

Hammadin stepped forward to address the five of them. “The doublesight are in need of information if we are to battle and win against an enemy none of us have seen and we are only guessing exists. We have heard most that the hatred stems from Castle Weilk, that this crazed doublesight is killing humans systematically. We ask that you five travel together. The doublesight attacks have increased in number and in severity, so you must hide your identities. Your journey is only to gain information. You will travel in peace, but that does not mean there will be no danger. I cannot promise that in these troubled times. Do what you must to survive and return.”

Lankor looked from side to side to size up the others.

“Brok, please stand for a moment,” Hammadin said.

Both Brok and his pet stood, Lankor noticed.

“I am sorry to hear of your father. Fremlin was a great and loved man, highly admired by the council. We hereby honor you with his post on the council. Do you accept this honor?”

Brok lowered his head. “I accept.”

Hammadin motioned to the others. “These doublesight and we, The Few, witness this acceptance. You are to give your life for the doublesight no matter what they may bear as a beast image, no matter what they may appear to do or say in your presence. There are longstanding feuds even among our kind. These feuds must end now. You must swear to abide by this rule. Will you abide?”

“I will,” Brok said. He nodded to Hammadin, then turned his head toward Lankor.

“Every doublesight,” Hammadin said.

Brok's jaw tightened. “I understand.”

Hammadin then got down on one knee and reached out. “And do you speak for Therin as well? Will he, as long as he is able, abide by this rule with you?”

“I will speak for my brother. He will abide,” Brok said.

“You may sit,” Hammadin said. He pointed at the woman who had stood with Oronice and, saying her name, asked her to stand.
Once again he said, “We hereby honor you with a post on the council. Do you accept this honor?”

“I accept,” Zimp said. “And I will abide by the rule of the council and The Few to give my life for the doublesight.”

Hammadin smiled. “You need not be so eager to hurry this along. Your sincerity might be questioned.”

“My word is my sincerity,” Zimp said.

“Very well.” Hammadin asked the man next to Lankor to stand, saving Lankor for last.

One moment the man sat next to Lankor and the next moment he stood opposite Hammadin, but Lankor had trouble connecting the two positions together with any movement. It was as though the man had been standing the whole time. For a moment, Lankor felt similar to how he felt around the bear doublesight Mammadeen and Mammadoon. He thought it interesting that the speaker for The Few's name was Hammadin, and wondered if he, too, might carry a bear image.

“Raik,” Hammadin said, introducing the man as he repeated the short ceremony.

Lankor noticed that while Hammadin spoke, Raik slumped easily in his own body, almost as though he stood ready to escape the human flesh at that very moment and shift into his beast image. Raik's stance indicated a lack of respect for The Few. Obviously, Raik was not impressed by Hammadin's position. Even the man's answers were slow in coming and direct. Raik stuttered slightly when he spoke, as though he wasn't quite sure of his answers. Lankor liked him already.

When it was time for Lankor to stand, Hammadin stood before him for what seemed like a long time. He sighed. “Please stand, Lankor.”

The bench creaked as Lankor's weight was removed. He stretched to his full height, above Hammadin's by half a foot. “Rend has been a loyal member of the doublesight for many years. Do you feel you can honor him if we accept you as a council member?”

Lankor felt the blood rush to his face. So he is to be humiliated first, he thought. “Can I trust that the council, The Few, and these newly appointed council members will, as you have asked them, die for me as a doublesight council member? After all, my father's beast
image was unknown to many of the doublesight for years. Was that out of fear of what they might do? Should I carry that fear?”

Crob and Wellok stepped closer to Hammadin, apparently for strength.

“Your question: does it come from a lack of trust in your fellow council members or do you mistrust all life except those in your own image?” Hammadin asked.

“I question that allegiance to the death can be acquired in a ceremony of words. I have seen no actions to tell me that I am safe to travel with these doublesight.”

Zimp stood. “And we have no guarantee that you won't burst into anger and turn on us, not after what you did this evening.”

“Stop,” Wellock said. “Perhaps we should choose another way if you cannot swear to our…”

Raik, like the motion of water, took a position next to Lankor. He slid his sword from its sheath and lifted it so that the point almost touched the ceiling of the cabin. “I wa-wa-would protect this man to my d-death, and any other doublesight whether a council member or na-not. It is my word. The word of the G-Guard of Flande.”

“And, I too,” Brok said while standing.

Hammadin asked Zimp, “And you?”

“If he accepts the honor and swears by the rule, I'm in,” Zimp said. “Well, big boy?”

Lankor studied the faces of the others. “I will honor my family and my life as a doublesight by accepting the council and living by the rule of the doublesight as one clan and not many,” he said, finally. Lankor wanted to add that he would do so only if they did, but held his tongue. Hope in the sacredness of the ceremony suggested that those in the room could be trusted, and that he had little choice but to trust in it as well. His father and mother placed their lives in the hands of The Few and the council. He could do the same.

“Then you are all hereby council members,” Hammadin said. “For the night, go to your families. In the morning, meet with your family in the council tent. We will explain the assignment details at that time.”

The meeting was over. Hammadin, Crob, and Wellock turned around and clomped into a back room.