Son of Soron (21 page)

The next day Theron took his grandson for a walk around the town. Amradin was a very interesting place to Nathan. He was learning a lot about his father’s people. One of the first things he noticed was that while some of the men were incredibly large like his father had been, not all were so. On average everyone was certainly a little taller than people on the south sides of the mountains, but he didn’t see any true giants either. He asked his grandfather about this.

Theron laughed, “I remember how those southerners talk about the north. They like to think we are all fierce, scary giants and the weather is freezing all the time and we devour children if they don’t eat their vegetables.”

Nathan smiled; this wasn’t far from the truth.

“The truth is, there barely are any giants left in this part of the world and most of our people only have a little giant’s blood in them. Occasionally you see a throwback, someone who exhibits giant traits; someone who is exceptionally big and usually as strong as an ox. But for most part, our people are not much different than those south of the mountains. Some of the bloodlines are a little stronger. Our bloodline has more giant blood than most and it is very likely you will grow to your father’s size. Even for a northern boy you are exceptionally strong for one your age. Sur’ath told me how you forged the medallion. Two hours straight without a break, and barely broke a sweat. That is strong; it is no wonder your father chose sword breakers as weapons for you.”

Theron and Nathan walked towards the stables and looked at the horses within. Even Nathan who had little to do with horses understood that these were magnificent creatures. “Beautiful aren’t they. Besides blacksmithing and fighting, raising quality horses is one of the things we do best in the north.” Past the stables towards the fenced off pasture they walked. One horse, in particular, caught Nathan’s eye. It was a large, well-muscled stallion with a deep night black coat, and thick long jet black mane and tail. It walked with a majestic pace and seemed to stare right back at Nathan. Theron watched as Nathan and the horse eyed each other up. Some of Theron’s thoughts about Nathan were now starting to make sense.

Theron decided to put his theory to the test. “Nathan, I want you to close your eyes and don’t open them until I tell you. Now picture that black stallion you were looking in your mind. Focus on the stallion and without talking call it to you. Just picture the stallion walking towards us. Keep doing it until I tell you to stop.”

Nathan was not sure what was going on but he knew there was something special about this horse. He closed his eyes and focused hard, imagining the stallion standing there looking back at him. He thought about the horse walking up to the fence and putting its head over the fence close enough to rub his nose. He could almost feel the animal in front of him now.

”Now without moving or saying anything I want you to open your eyes,” said King Theron.

Nathan continued to humor his newly found grandfather and opened his eyes only to be staring right into its eyes of the magnificent stallion. Nathan was amazed, he had never done anything like this before, but then he remembered the wolf and had a flashback to the fox dropping the rabbit.

As Theron watched, the stallion walked up to the fence. He knew that he guessed correctly. Nathan was a throwback, but not to just giant’s blood. The Stoneblood family tree did not just include giants but also members of the ingla, an ancient race from the far west. Many of the ingla had lived in the north hundreds of years ago, enjoying the company of giants. Ingla were some of the strongest users of magic ever known. But as the currian people who had already populated the southern part of the continent began to move north the ingla people began to return home to the far west.

Currians, for the most part, were a decent people. But they held a deep distrust for the supernatural and rarely reacted well when an ingla of any real power was around. Of the few ingla that stayed in the north, most had very weak powers or chose to hide them to make staying in their new home easier. Theron had heard of ingla who that had an affinity for nature. Some were simply attuned with the weather and would tell you days and weeks ahead what was coming. Other more powerful ingla would control or communicate with animals. Ingla mages were often talented with controlling fire or water. Theron did not have any of the ingla traits, but his father had shown the affinity with animals. He could not control them, but certain animals had been drawn to him and understood his wishes and thoughts. Knowing his own bloodlines were strong in giant and ingla blood it did not surprise Theron that his grandson would show the same talents.

Theron had briefly wondered if Nathan has some of the ingla abilities when Sur’ath had described the way Nathan had forged the black steel medallion. Forging black steel took giant strength but what Nathan was doing went beyond strength. Sur’ath had described the way Nathan focused on the metal as if he was in a trance. With each blow of his hammer, the metal seemed to move exactly where Nathan wanted it, as though the metal wanted to be changed. It was very uncommon for a smith to make detailed work like the medallion out of black steel. The graphite and phosphorus made the metal very hard and difficult to work with. Nathan being able to produce detailed medallion was an indicator of possible ingla powers. When Theron saw the stallion focusing on Nathan he had guessed this was another indicator of the ingla abilities. “Come, Nathan, let us go find Verin. The three of us have much to discuss.”

They found Verin with Burinn and Magnus waiting for them at the steps of the Great hall. Burinn and Magnus were getting ready to leave. Magnus tried to give back the medallion to Nathan. Nathan refused and told Magnus it was a gift to remind him that Nathan did not lie. Once Burinn and Magnus were gone the three went to the king’s private chambers and sat down around the small table.

King Theron started the conversation “Verin, what do you know of the ingla?”

Verin looked at the king then over at Nathan. “There are still a few ingla on Balta. They often possess some degree of magic. The ingla name for people with magic is a’kil. At one time, they were rather common in Solotine, but like giants in the north, few remain. Back in Mithbea the a’kil are much more common.”

“Forgive me if this is rude but were there any ingla among your family’s lines?” asked Theron.

“Actually, there were several. Several of my relatives have some sort of magical power. Nathan’s mother Velaina had the unusual ability to tell when someone was lying. It was why she hated living in Venecia and dealing with all the royal politics. Everyone lied and it would give her migraines. It was also one of the reasons she loved your Soron so much. He never lied to her.

Nathan, surprised to hear that his mother had magical powers, thought back to how she always seemed to know how he was feeling and when he was lying. This certainly made sense.

“You’ve noticed the boy has powers then.” Verin was speaking to the king but looking at Nathan. The king was also looking at Nathan while he spoke. “His metal craft had me wondering, it was a little too good, but today at the stables a stallion was attuned with him.”

Nathan was starting to be a little uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going but held his tongue. Verin saw that Nathan was getting frustrated.  “Basically it comes down to this. Both of your parents families have ingla bloodlines, and you boy are going to have special abilities. The only question is how strong they will eventually be.”

Have I magic power? Nathan thought to himself. I guess that explains some of the things that I can do. “So what do I do now?” Nathan asked with earnest. Weird magical sounded terrible and yet intriguing at the same time.

Verin smiled “You can relax. These abilities are a blessing, not a curse. So far all you have shown is a rare connection with nature. Certain animals seem to respond to you and your ability to work with metals seems to be enhanced. You are not going to turn into a dragon…. Well I don’t think you will.” Verin winked at his nephew.

Nathan chuckled at the thought of turning into a dragon, now that was a little absurd, but the rest seemed possible. If it was true that his mother was a’kil then it certainly wasn’t a bad thing, and he did not feel any different. Having the stallion come to him was very cool. Nathan decided being a’kil might not be so bad after all. It was time to go see his magical companion again. “Grandfather, is it okay if I take the stallion for a ride?”

Chapter twenty nine

WHEN NATHAN GOT BACK to the stable, Taneal, the stable master, was waiting for him. “The king said you would be coming. I warned him the beast of a horse isn’t rideable but he gave instructions to let you try. He seems to imagine you are just going to jump on and go for a jaunt” said the man with a small smirk
.

Nathan could sense the stable master was hesitant to let him ride the stallion. “He seems gentle, what is the problem?”

Taneal gave Nathan an incredulous look, “Gentle? Are you crazy? That horse is wild. It has only been in the stables for a month and no one has been able to ride it. Three good horsemen have nearly died trying to get on that black devil. But you go ahead boy, I will not argue with the king’s grandson. He is over there in the big corral.”

Nathan walked up to the edge of the corral and hopped over the rails. He continued a gradual walk towards the magnificent black stallion. The horse was standing in the middle of the corral, as if waiting for him. It did not move as he came up to it and started rubbing its chest. Not sure how the connection between him and the horse was supposed to work Nathan thought back to earlier, when King Theron made him close his eyes and visualize the horse coming towards him. Nathan did the same now. He closed his eyes and imagined himself jumping up onto its back while the stallion stayed still.

Nathan opened his eyes. He grabbed a handful of mane in his left hand and jumped up. He swung his right leg across the animals back until he was sitting on the stallion's back. So far so good he thought to himself. Next Nathan closed his eyes imagined the horse slowly walking up to the corral gates and then going off at a trot. He added some detail to his thoughts this time, visualizing the stallion responding to gentle steering by pulling on its mane to the left or right. As Nathan opened his eyes once again the stallion started walking towards the corral gates.

Taneal watched as the boy walked right up to the wild horse, his jaw nearly hit the dirt. He was surprised that the animal did not move. He was even more surprised as the beast stood its ground while the lad jumped on its back. As the boy rode the horse towards him, he silently opened the gates and let them out. Taneal was flabbergasted; amazed how gentle the stallion was with the young boy. Never would he have believed it had he not seen it with his own eyes. And even then he doubted what had had witnessed.  It was as if the boy had magic. Taneal's face grew concerned.  He worried. He looked about to make certain no one else had seen what he saw.  He muttered some more about fools and kings that ought to warn a body. Taneal was loyal to Theron but it could not be said the same of everyone in the kingdom or the castle. The castle oft had ears and eyes unseen. 

Nathan rode the stallion for hours that day. Despite having no reigns or saddle, he was so excited by the ride that he ignored the pains in his bottom side. After a short time Nathan realized that he did not to close his eyes and visualize. As long as he kept his thoughts about what he wanted the stallion to do, the animal responded. Being ak'il was amazing. The stallion was amazing. Whatever concerns he previously had about magic blood evaporated into thin air.

The cool northern wind felt good on his skin as they galloped aimlessly along. Riding a horse, especially one like his big black stallion was exhilarating. But his bottom really was getting swore, so Nathan thought about heading back to Amradin. As he finished the thought, the horse began to curve to his left bringing them around to head for the town. As they made their way towards Amradin, Nathan decided that he needed to have a conversation with Taneal. A saddle was going to be necessary.

While Nathan was out riding the stallion, Theron and Verin were discussing Nathan’s future.

”There is not much love for the a’kil in Solotine. Even here in the north the boy would have problems. In Amradin, I rule by bloodlines. The surrounding clans accept me as king because I am the strongest chieftain. When my rule is over, the next king won’t be chosen by bloodline but by power. The clans will gather and if one chieftain is strong enough to enforce his will on the majority then he will be king, if a king is not chosen then there will be fighting amongst the clans until one emerges.” Theron paused for a second before continuing, “If Nathan stayed in the north, he would one day be chieftain of Amradin and possibly king of the north, but not without much hardship and shedding of blood. Nathan would be seen as an outsider because he was not raised in the north. His being a’kil would further the distrust that many would have. Amradin does not need Nathan here to thrive. I have other strong family members that will be capable of leading our people. Nathan should go with you to Balta. In Balta, he can be accepted for being a’kil. That won’t happen anywhere in Solotine even the north,” said the king with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Verin was in agreement with Theron. As much as the boy might enjoy growing up in the north with his grandfather, he would be much safer in Balta where being a’kil was not frowned upon. “I’m afraid that regardless of where he goes Nathan is going to see war and bloodshed. Balta has been at war with Morthon for many years and that is not likely to change. But it is true that in Balta being a’kil will not make him an outsider. In Balta, he can learn about magic so that his abilities don’t become a danger to himself or others.”

Theron sighed, he was not pleased to think that Balta was safer, but he would not jeopardize his grandson’s life for his own selfish reasons. “Then we are in agreement, the boy stays with you and goes to Balta,” said the king.