Fifthwind (17 page)

"Or
a curse. Once winter sets in, we'll be locked into this valley. There
will be no getting out even if things turn ugly." Ben looked up at
the white sky then moved his eyes between the forest and the
mountains. The valley was small and secluded. Once the roads stopped
carrying the usual traffic, the world would forget about the
existence of Kishell Springs until the thaw came.

Ben
could almost feel the walls closing in around him. "I can't shake
the feeling that they're out there waiting for us to be trapped."

"We'll
be alright, I know that you'll see us through the winter safely,"
said Kyla.

Ben
absently looked at his empty palms. "You should be more careful
where you place your faith. I know everyone is counting on me, but
I'm not as strong as you think."

"You
are the best hope we have. I feel safe knowing you are here to help
us."

Ben
stood and walked a few paces away. He said, "I'd like to finish
what Tad started. But, as far as protecting the town from a direct
attack by hostile forces... there are only eight of us."

"You'll
do fine." Kyla said.

"I
have a knack for screwing things up."

Kyla
probed, "What happened with you on the Royal Guard. Why were you
discharged?"

Ben
turned and looked away. He knew that Kyla was waiting for his answer
but he stood and looked blankly into the distance. The sound of
winter swirled around the pair in the awkward stillness. Ben finally
spoke. "Someone died. Someone who was depending on me."

After
another deliberate pause, Ben sat back down and changed the subject.
"Aren't you cold?"

Kyla
laughed, "By the looks of Brother Babbitt you'd think I should be,
but I love the winter here in the mountains. At least until it gets
colder."

"I
guess growing up here helps," said Ben.

"That
would help, but I'm not from here." Kyla turned as if looking far
beyond the southern horizon. "This is only my second winter. Father
and I came here from the south near the port city of Kinston."

"I
know Kinston. I trained for a time there, under the Swordmaster
Garron D'or, of the monastery's private guard. He's getting old, but
he's still the best that ever was."

"Garron
is a good man." Kyla rubbed her hands together to warm them.
"Father was the chief historian for the libraries located in the
monasteries. Before that, he'd been an apprentice librarian in the
Royal Library in the heart of Arden City for years, but when mother
got sick he requested a move to Kinston, to be closer to her family."

Ben
said, "Arden City enjoys the protection and grace of King Erlich,
but Kinston offers so much more for someone like your father. The
libraries there are amazing."

A
warm look came over Kyla's face as she remembered. "It was there
that father first encountered his suspicions about the cycle of the
Fifthwind and how some of the old stories might be true. After mother
died, we came to the north in search of Stonewall. Father had no
trouble finding it. He's a genius with historical folklore."

Ben
had no desire to intrude on painful memories of lost family and
forgotten homes. He had plenty of painful memories of his own and
understood that it was best not to pry. Ben looked for a new subject.
"Your father suggested that I practice my Mindsight and I've been
trying hard."

Kyla
sat up straighter and smiled. "I've been hoping you would."

Ben
almost laughed. "I don't know what to believe anymore. A month ago,
my life was simple. Today, I'm faced with monsters, magic and
childhood stories come to life. So, I have to either accept certain
truths, or else go mad."

"It's
hard for all of us. Especially those of us who know what's happening.
It sometimes feels like a heavy weight we carry. The world we once
knew is changing and it frightens me."

Ben
had almost forgotten that Kyla was caught in the midst of these
changes as much as he was and for a moment, he almost felt selfish.
He passed his hand through the empty air around him. "I think I
need to understand the Fifthwind if I'm ever to improve. What can you
tell me about this energy?"

"I'm
not sure if I have all the answers. This is all new to me as well and
it seems that you and I use the Fifthwind in fundamentally different
ways. It's hard to explain."

"Try."

"The
Fifthwind is the life energy of the land. That is why some call it
the Soul of the World." She stopped when she saw the somewhat blank
look on Ben's face. She bit her lower lip as she searched for another
approach. "Without looking down, tell me where your right hand is."

"It's
on my right thigh."

"Are
you sure? How can you know without looking?"

Ben
calmly answered, "Because it is part of me. I can feel it."

"Good,"
Kyla said. "Now, if you can only learn to accept that you are part
of something bigger, then the same principle applies. Consider the
world to be an extension of yourself, and just as you felt the
presence of your hand, you will learn to recognize the feel of the
ground, trees and rocks around you."

"Sounds
complicated," Ben said, "but I think I understand."

"You
are but a small part of this world. Let go of yourself and become
something more."

"Now
you're starting to sound like Vincent. He keeps telling me to lose
myself in the greater consciousness of the land." Ben rolled his
eyes and said, "That man has got to learn to stop speaking in
riddles if I'm ever going to understand him."

Kyla
said, "I don't have all the answers, and neither does father. We've
come a long way in understanding the forces at work around us and how
those forces are changing our world, but we are living in unsure
times. There are clues hidden in some of the old stories. Father is
trying so hard to make sense of them, but we still have a long way to
go."

Ben
looked at Kyla and, for the first time, he saw a frightened little
girl. She was caught in the middle of a changing world and faced with
forces that she only just barely understood. While he looked to her
for answers, it hadn't occurred to him that she must have countless
questions herself.

She
continued, "I didn't entirely ask for this. The Fifthwind affects
us in unexpected and sometimes unwelcome ways, but Father is right
about one thing. Letting go is an important first step."

Ben
asked, "Is that how it works for you?"

Kyla
narrowed her eyes. "At first, yes. I had to learn to release myself
into the Fifthwind so that I could better understand how it flows in
and around me. Now, it's a little different. I have to focus hard.
Really hard. And if I concentrate enough, I can almost see the
Fifthwind. I can see strands of energy connecting me to everything
else and if I tug on the right combination of strings and get the
desired effect. It's like playing a harp with ten thousand strings.
Finding the correct chord can make beautiful music."

"If
you think fire is beautiful," Ben said.

She
forced a weak grin. "The Fifthwind is growing stronger, I can do a
lot more than just burn things."

She
moved back several paces and lowered her gaze against a melon-sized
rock at the edge of the road. She rotated her shoulders and tilted
her head from side to side as if stretching before a physically
demanding event. Then, she closed her eyes and Ben watched as she
noticeably stiffened.

As
before, the air took on a bitterness and the hair on his arms stood
on end as she began to draw energy toward her, but this time she did
not appear the least bit uncomfortable. In fact, though it was
obvious that she was straining, she seem to be enjoying the effort.

"Can
you see all the colors?" she asked, opening her now blue eyes and
smiling. "The Fifthwind is so beautiful when it converges in one
spot."

Ben
could see nothing, but he did sense a gathering of power, more so
than when he had last witnessed her skill in Vincent's underground
library. Like before, there were no colors, only a draining that left
everything dull and chalky.

She
lifted a hand toward the rock on the edge of the road and it
immediately began to tremble. Within seconds, it was vibrating enough
to make it move back and forth. She balled her outstretched hand and
tightened her fist. The vibration of the rock became so rapid that it
clattered against the ground. Then, she mouthed a silent word and
opened her fingers wide. The rock immediately stopped trembling as if
the force had been swallowed into the depth of it's core. A moment
later it groaned a violent release and cracked in two.

"There,"
she said. "No fire."

Ben
moved to examine the rock and picked up one of the halves. "It'd
take a heavy hammer to crack a rock this size. That's a dangerous
little talent you've developed."

"It's
getting easier since the Fifthwind is getting stronger. I can feel it
stretching outward from within me, reaching to connect with the
things around me."

"So
the Fifthwind is more like a web," Ben said, understanding. "With
us at its center."

Kyla
looked up surprised. "That's a great way of looking at it! A web
that flutters or vibrates with the activity around you and when you
try, you can feel it."

Ben
hopped up to the top of the outcropping and looked out over the white
fields to the rolling hills on the southern rim of the valley. The
snow had stopped falling and the sun was peeking through the hazy
clouds stifling the chill. He could still see his breath in the air
but no longer felt uncomfortable in the cold. He jumped lightly down
to the ground and moved into the road.

"For
me, it's really quite strange. When it happens, and if I can keep my
mind clear, I can see in every direction at once."

"You
have
been practicing," Kyla said, "and improving more than
you've let on." She moved toward him and said, "Show me."

She
pulled the scarf from her neck and twirled it to a tighter diameter.
She then placed it over his eyes and as she reached around to tie the
knot, her cheek brushed his. Her warm soft skin surprised him and
despite his best efforts, he blushed.

"There,
that should do," she said, quickly moving away.

He
lifted his face upward and tilted his head to one side to ensure he
could not see around the edges of the blindfold and then knelt down
in the center of the road, placing his hands on his thighs. He slowed
his breathing and concentrated on the sound of his own heartbeat.

"This
is difficult for me. Don't expect too much." Ben whispered.

Alone
in the cold and dark, Ben concentrated on clearing his mind. In the
shadowy corners of his thoughts, he found random combinations of dull
blackness swirled together with sporadic flashes of light. Gradually,
the sounds around him began to bring life to images floating in the
dark abyss.

The
caw of a nearby crow pierced from his left and Ben focused his
thoughts on the soft fluttering of its wings as it lifted off the
ground toward the rustle of a nearby tree.

A
weak breeze moved around his still body in an uninspired effort to
travel east and a moment later Ben heard the distant rustling of that
breeze when it encountered the forest.

The
soft crunch of icy snow before him indicated that Kyla was moving to
his right. Ben grinned. The game had started.

Drawing
on what he had learned in the last weeks, he disregarded the sounds
around him and concentrated instead on what he could feel.

Movement.
He suddenly sensed movement behind and to the right and remembered
that Kyla was roaming somewhere nearby. He focused his efforts on
locating her exact position and was surprised to find that he had no
trouble in finding her. In fact, her image began to take shape as she
crouched low and circled to the rear.

"Eight
paces behind my right shoulder," said Ben triumphantly.

The
movement stopped and Ben squeezed his mind to maintain his lock on
the dull gray image crouched in the snow. He strained his thoughts
but only managed to give himself a headache. Frustrated, he focused
more until his head began to swim and a familiar dizziness came over
him. He remembered the night in Tad's cottage, when he had fought the
Murg; he had experienced a similar dizzy sensation.

"It's
happening," he said.

The
sky above him became a little more vivid in his thoughts. A patchwork
of light and darkness moved across the image in his mind as clouds
drifted in the sky. He could not be sure what was real and was of his
own making, but piece by piece, the landscape around him came to life
in a blurred assortment of gloomy colorless formations.

"What
do you see?"

The
sound of Kyla's voice startled him and broke his concentration. What
little clarity he had achieved in his mind began to crash around him.
Light and shadow swirled around him in a chaotic dance. He was
instantly lost in the madness of his crippled vision.

Then,
to his surprise, the scene around him blossomed with substantial
clarity. Ben could feel the very air around him and he could perceive
growing details in every direction.

"This
is amazing."

"What
do you see?"

"Everything."

"Describe
it to me."

"I
see a rock," Ben said as he stood and moved forward about four
paces and leaned over with his hand outstretched. His finger moved
slowly toward the ground until he stopped. "One more inch and I
will touch it."

"Yes!"

"I
see three trees behind you. One has two crows on the lowest branch
and the other tree is bare." Ben quickly shot up his hand, "No,
wait, there's a third bird perched near the top, I almost didn't see
it."

"You've
done it!" Kyla said. "You can actually see."