INBORN (The Sagas of Di'Ghon) (20 page)

He saw less white in her eyes when the wolves came.

“I see it. It’s a sheepherder knot. And the answer is still the same. It was just me.” Thaniel croaked as hot tears streamed down his cheeks. Elycia.

“Are you telling me you did this by yourself?” The old man studied him again with eyes seeming to dive into Thaniel’s very soul.

A look passed between Lars and Gabril when Thaniel shook his head, unable to speak. Lars Telazno slumped down on the bench, dumbfounded, and began muttering to himself about how old he was for this kind of thing
. Thaniel also thought he heard something about rotten tobacco but that couldn’t have been right.

“You must come with me to Di’
Ghon. You must join the Order.”

“I am not going to Di’
Ghon. I am going to Navillus.”

Elycia didn’t look like she was going anywhere he was.

“Navillus? Do you have any idea what lies between you and Navillus after what you did?” The old man seethed, “Have you not noticed the heat? How long have you been walking in ankle deep slush instead of waist deep snow? What do you think happens when an entire mountain range of snow melts in a few days? Where do you think all this water is going? In a week any stream down there is likely to be the size of a river. Rivers will overflow their banks by miles. Houses, towns, even cities in her path will be reduced to driftwood. Livestock and crops will wash away. If people don’t drown they’ll die of starvation or disease. If the Three Sisters are caught up in this, may the Creator help us all.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Thaniel backed away until his back hit the cold hard stone.

“Do you remember
air
rushing up into the sky and racing away?”

Thaniel cringed.

He faintly recalled laughing as the mighty currents of cerulean
air
slammed into the sky over the chamber, like a giant fist of power. He remembered urging it on somehow, although he had no idea what he did. He remembered the feel of the
air
as it obeyed his every whim. His whim.

He stared at Elycia, whose eyes were as wide as his must have been.

Elycia’s
face darkened. She flew at him, fists pounding on his chest. Her eyes were filled with rage, disgust, and tears. Thaniel just stood letting her hit him, helpless to stop her lest he hurt her. Besides, if the old man was right, maybe he deserved it all. He didn’t know exactly what he did that day in the chamber, but it was obviously something only a monster was capable of.

His tears fell off his cheeks onto the floor, where they would eventually join with all the melting snow. Tears that would join the torrent of death he unleashed. Monster tears.

That was the word she kept screaming at him.

“Monster!”

Capability

“We have a problem.” Lars opened his hand, revealing the Jen’Ghon meldstone. He stared at it as a pale blue light barely illuminated his palm.

Gabril, like all others not
inborn, wouldn’t be able to see the light of any of the ten strands of creation, the Di’Ghon. To him it would be just another rock, like any of the rocks you could find for the taking in the vast wilderness they were travelling through.

“Where?” Gabril’s eyes flitted back and forth. He had already stepped out in front of Lars instinctively.
His dark eyes scanned the gloom of the forest with deadly intent.

Lars Telazno, a member of the Order, Guild of
Jen’Ghon, one of the strongest living inborns the Order had seen in centuries, stood dumbfounded. All of his life he had been so proud of how much the stone lit for him. Few could make the stone do much more than flicker. After years of practice, working under the tutelage of the greatest the Order had to offer, he could finally use his ability to keep the stone lit for minutes at his touch. He still recalled how many of his brothers came to see how the young initiate could keep the meldstone lit so long with a steady soft hum of pale blue light.

Yet, when
Thaniel touched it, the same stone lit up like harnessed blue lightning. Without training or even trying… His raw strength was beyond unimaginable. It was frightening. With power like that the boy could…

“Lars, what is it? I don’t see anything.”

“He’s telling the truth about being the only one.”

“Damn it wizard. I thought those wolves were back.”

“I wish it were only that.” Lars Telazno rubbed at his chin.

“Out with it.”

“The boy’s ability is…” Lars fumbled for words as he stared at the stone. It had already gone dark in his palm. “…beyond equal. He has more raw ability than my stone can measure.”

“Impossible.”

“I know and yet the meldstone doesn’t lie.”

Gabril searched the trees, swords still reflecting points of starlight as the razor sharp blades ebbed with deadly grace.

“So he is the one that changed the weather then?”

“No one could wield the
Jen’Ghon like that and live. Not even him. It should have ripped him apart and burned him into oblivion. But he did it. I can feel the echoes of it in him right now.”

“Nine hells.” Gabril spat and looked at the stars barely peeking through the canopy of pine. His swords spun with a binding whistle as they sank back into his scabbards with a single metallic click.

The stars rarely showed themselves this time of year in the Anwarian Range. The pass was constantly shrouded with snow filled clouds. Yet, somehow the boy had swept them away. Lars couldn’t imagine how much power it would take to alter the strongest trade winds on all of Arth. For the life of him he couldn’t dream of every living inborn all melded together being able to accomplish it. Not that they would. The Creator himself had set the patterns of weather. Who was man that he should think himself great enough to change it? And doing it without setting it right after… Lars stomach clenched.

“We’ve got to get him to the temple.”

“You won’t get that boy to Di’Ghon unless it’s by way of Navillus.”

“Navillus will be in ruin by the time we get there. We can’t go to Navillus.”

“Good luck, wizard. If you think he’ll trade that pretty little girl for a nice long stay on that frigid island, you’re cracked.”

Lars grunted and bristled at the insult. A wizard practiced the blood arts, unlawfully taking power that wasn’t his, while Lars was
inborn with the ability to wield the strands of creation. The very fact that he was born with it proved that he had been licensed by the Creator to use his power here on Arth.

“Look, he’s not going to just leave her here. He’s smitten. ” Gabril’s eyes were still scanning the forest as he spoke.

“I think you may be right about that. But she’s from Navillus. We can’t just go dancing down the streets again. We’ll end up a set of pin cushions.”

“They can’t
possibly still be upset about that.” Gabril snickered and spat out into the dark. “Besides, I’ll bring my toys.” He gestured up at the hilts protruding up behind his neck at angles.

“Is that your answer to everything?”

“No. Well, just the stuff that bleeds.”

“We will need to be quick about it. He’s already birthed in
air
on his own. But…”

Gabril knew that being a member of the Order bound him to come to the aid of any other
inborn during their time of transformation. It was one of the first oaths taken as an initiate into the Temple of Di’Ghon. It was as close to sacred as an oath could be.

“But what?” Gabril turned fully towards him then, eyes boring into his. “What are you not telling me?”

“Just that… He lit up the Jen’Ghon meldstone.”

“You already said that.” Gabril shook his head. “You’re acting weird. You know I hate when you act weird right?”

“The other meldstones registered unbirthed abilities.”

Gabril took a step back. For him, it was the equivalent of fainting in shock. The yellow moon raced across the sky, throwing pale shadows across the forest floor.

“Which ones?” 

“All five. Only
air
has birthed. But there is no telling when the others will come.” Lars only had six pieces of meldstone. “There could be more. We need to get him to Di’Ghon to be sure.”

“All five? Di’
Ghon?” The warrior began to regain his composure, eyes scanning the gloom as the moon disappeared.

“Six with the
Jen’Ghon. You know I don’t have a choice.”

“We are not going to make the same mistake as before.”

“Of course not, but we have to try. If he has any chance at life, at finding out what he is capable of, it’s there.” Lars Telazno threw his hands up.

“Capable of? Look what he’s already done!” Gabril gestured at the dripping woods around them. “Like you said, this water is going somewhere.”

The floods that the melting Anwarian Range would unleash could wash away thousands. The boy, whether he intended to use his ability to harm others or not, already had. Once bent in evil, the ability would pull for more. Evil begat evil. It would find a way to sway events in such a way that the inborn would find it easier and easier to do increasingly more harm. Eventually the inborn was lost in unbridled wretchedness. Once that happened there was no return. There was only one cure then. Death.

“He has just as much
capability for good as evil.”

Gabril spat as the keep door swung open behind them.

Melted

Thaniel slammed the door shut behind him, not able to see through the tears.

Monster. She called him
a monster. In her eyes he was no different than the dra itself. He thought his heart would rip out of his chest on the spot. What was he going to do now? Just a few hours ago she was riding snuggled at his side as he brought her home to her father and now she’d probably rather see him roasting on a spit. Or maybe just never see him at all, ever. A lump in his throat throbbed so much he thought he might choke on it.

Thaniel couldn’t have been ten paces from the little keep when he tripped on something solid and landed face first in the half frozen ground. Strong hands almost immediately tried to lift him up. Thaniel swiped away the help and ran. He ran in the blurry dark until he couldn’t breathe. Then he slumped down along the bole of one of the towering pines, covered his head
with his heavy leather cloak, and cried.

“Not a monster.”

He didn’t know how long he sat there all alone in the wilderness, repeating the phrase, that crying turned into mere jagged syllables, over and over again. But he guessed it had been a long while.  At some point one of the moons had risen. It threw pale yellow knives of light down through the tight canopy overhead, illuminating the fog as it rose from the slushy ground. Thaniel shivered.

“That remains to be seen you know.”

Thaniel sprang to his feet in alarm to find it was just the old man, Lars Telazno, shadowed by his protector. The big warrior eyed him appraisingly before he spat.

“Go away. You’ve done enough already. What do you know anyway?”

“You know I am telling you the truth.”

“All I know is that you have some shiny rocks.”

“The path to evil begins at the denial of the truth.”

“You are one of those people that talks in riddles aren’t you?”

“You have no idea.” Gabril smirked. Lars Telazno shot the big warrior a look that would have withered an oak. It slid off Gabril with no effect.

“If you choose to deny your ability that the Creator has given you then you nullify his work in this world. Who knows what you are meant to do?”

“You want to talk, let’s talk.”

The old man folded his hands, a teacher ready to instruct.

“You say the Creator gave me some gift.”

“Ability.”

“Whatever. But somehow I did something horrible with it.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Well, if the Creator gave it to me, and the Creator is all good and everything, then why didn’t he stop me from doing bad with his… whatever.”

“He has a point.”

Lars shot Gabril another glare.

“Thaniel, it doesn’t work like that. If he stopped us from doing bad then we wouldn’t have free will. We would be slaves. What kind of God would he be if he desired a world of slaves?”

“I was a slave for seven years. I didn’t see him come rescue me.”

“Yet, here you are.”

“Yeah, and all those other people are still back there in Ontar Hold. I guess he doesn’t like those people much now does he?”

“I’m starting to like this kid.”

“The point is that for some reason, you have a tremendous ability that can be used for good or evil. Your true nature is revealed by the light of every choice you make. Do you want to be good or evil?”

“I don’t want to be either.”

“Evil conspires and consumes. If you do not choose good… If you do not fight back evil by choosing good… Then evil will entice you. It will enslave you.”