Taming the Elements: Elwin Escari Chronicles: Volume 1 (25 page)

“Going up and down is the easy part,” Jasmine said. “After you master this, I will show you how to go forward and backward. It is a matter of altering your will. The flow of Air is not what sustains flight. The flow of Air is essential, of course, but your consciousness is what guides the Elemental power. This is why you must master your mind’s eye. Feel what I am doing through your essence. The vibrations from my flow of power can be felt by your essence much in the same way you can see me with your eyes. Focus.”

Elwin did as told. But, in truth, he didn’t have to focus. He could
feel
the pull of Air flowing around her body to lift her. Elwin thought he could replicate her actions in a similar way he could reproduce the fighting forms by watching Jasmine or Zarah go through the motions.

Jasmine reduced her flow and her feet eased back to the beach.

“Now,” she said, “Who wants to tell me how it was done?”

Zarah opened her mouth to answer, but Elwin cut her off. “I don’t know if I can
tell
you, but I think I can show you.”

“Very well,” Jasmine said. “Proceed.”

“What?” Elwin said, not bothering to hide his shock. She had not let him do more than open his essence to Air and release the power. Having the permission granted so casually had taken him off guard.

“I said, I want you to show me. Go on.”

Elwin stood up, a sudden feeling of excitement creeping onto his face. He smoothed the grin away with his hand. This was no time to look like a country bumpkin.

Then he took a deep breath and focused on the Air. Feeling the power all around him was much easier than trying to move his essence, and by now opening his essence to Air was a simple exercise. As it filled him, his heart beat faster. This was the part where he had always pushed it back into his surroundings. The palms of his hands began to sweat.

The breeze around him felt cooler. He could taste the spray of the water and smell the scent of bark from the trees. Forcing his breathing to slow, he willed the Air from his essence. Flows surrounded him slowly and became a part of him as if he had grown a new arm or leg. Or wings.

Before attempting to lift himself from the sand, he worked on maintaining the balance of Air going through his essence. He could feel his essence drain as the flow of Air surrounded him. But, he could balance the amount he tamed by leaving his essence partially open to the incoming flow.

“Here goes,” he said.

He willed the flows surrounding him to rise. His feet lurched from the ground, and he found himself falling a dozen paces upward. Not again. No. He wouldn’t allow himself to panic. He focused on the Air around him and in his essence and realized significantly less Air remained than when he had started a moment before.

His memories darted back to the day of the solstice festival, and it became clear to him. He remembered thinking he had
grabbed
the Air to lift him. And he had. He had pulled Air through his essence to fly, just like he did at the moment. To fall, all he had to do is not pull more Air into his essence. If he pulled too much, he would go up, but he need enough to sustain his flight.

Trying to judge how much had been required to go this high, Elwin opened his essence to what he gauged to be the right amount of Air and let it fill him while willing himself upward. His stomach lurched as his body jerked another dozen paces upward.

Halving the amount of Air, he repeated the process. This time he only went up a few paces. He continued this process a few more times until he didn’t go up or fall. Air surged through him, sustaining his flight.

Then he looked around.

More than twenty paces below, he saw the pond. Red and yellow leaves mingling with the green, announcing the coming fall. He was higher than many of the trees, but the tallest redwoods still hovered above him. They were sparse enough that he could see the castle beyond the garden.

His already rapid heartbeat began to feel like thunder in his chest. Below him, Zarah was on her feet staring at him in stark disbelief. He couldn’t believe it either. It felt amazing.

“I did it,” he called to her. “I’m doing it!”

Jasmine nodded, the corners of her mouth turned upward in the briefest of smiles.

“Now,” she called up to him. “Can you come back down?”

Elwin thought about it for a moment. “I think so.”

Unlike going upward, he didn’t have to will the flows to take him up. He simply had to lessen the amount of Air flowing through him. His body eased back toward the sand. When his feet touched, he sat down and released the remaining Air. Sweat touched his forehead, and he found his breath labored as if he had run a league. His heart still thundered in his chest.

“Very good,” Jasmine said. “The fatigue you feel right now is normal. In time, you will become more efficient at taming the Air necessary to sustain your flight. The amount you used just now is far more than you will need with practice.” She turned to Zarah. “Would you care to try?”

She nodded, but her face had paled.

“You can do it,” Elwin said.

Zarah’s scowl could have peeled flesh. “I know I can. I have been waiting for permission to do this for at least a year.”

She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath with a look of determination gleaming in her eyes. A moment later, a breeze stirred and Air fused with her essence. The flows surrounded her and for several moments, she didn’t move. Elwin could feel the adjustment in her taming the moment it happened. Zarah’s feet lifted from the beach with much more control than Elwin had demonstrated.

Her body rose no more than four paces above the pond and hovered in place like Elwin had. A smug smile crept onto her face as she looked down at Elwin. Then, she lowered herself back to the beach without a flourish.

Jasmine nodded in approval. “Very well done Zarah. Perhaps, I could have let you learn this sooner. But, if your father had his way, you would never learn to fly.”

Zarah’s smile faded at the mention of Zaak, and her chin rose a few notches. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and puckered her lips in a sulky expression.

“In any event,” Jasmine continued, “waiting has proven no harm. Now, I want you both to practice a few more times before Lord Lifesong meets you for sword training. Elwin, you first. This time, I want you to ease yourself from the shore. Careful now. Follow my instructions … ”

Chapter 12

A Direction

Bain sat up in his bed.

The words, “Seek him in the nation of islands,” hung in the air like a dissipating fog.

The Father had not come to Bain’s dreams in years. Not since he had shown him where to find the Book of Erudition. Bain would be a fool not to listen to the Father. The book had led Bain to the castle of Abaddon and to his position of power. And of course, there was the Father’s other gifts. He would be nothing without those.

And now he had a direction.

Hours remained before first light, but near-on fifteen years had been long enough to wait. Bain dressed and shouted orders to Bertavan, his manservant, as he hurried toward his war chamber.

Taming Fire and Death, he untethered the wards around the double doors and entered and walked to the massive, stone table that stretched across the room. A miniature replica of the known world protruded from the top.

In several places on the board, wooden figurines in the shape of skeletons had been placed in areas of Bain’s control. Hundreds of black-robed figurines rested on every major city in every nation. Each had a number carved into the back of the head, matching a corresponding name in the ledger lying open in front of him.

Even while he dominated southern Alcoa, his agents gathered intelligence to conquer others. He had taken many of the cities south of the Tanges River and could finish them if he continued his current stratagem. Of course, those plans would have to wait.

His eyes settled on the group of islands to the west. Somewhere in the cluster of islands far south of the Blood Isle, called the Island Nations, someone held his son. After she had stolen Elwin away, Athina had returned such a short time later, so he had never considered a search so far west. Travel by sea would take a quarter to a third of a year to reach the islands. And, the islands were scattered and many. Searching them would have taken years. And likely still would.

Why had the Father not been more precise?

No. He would not question the Seeker’s wisdom. The fault was his own. None of Bain’s agents in Alcoa or elsewhere had found his son. All these years, Zeth had failed in his search for Elwin, because Bain had sent him north to scour Norscelt and Kalicodon. At last, Bain now had a direction to send his hound.

Bain looked back to the ledger. Who all would he send to conquer the islands? Some must stay behind. Losing ground to Alcoa was not an option. He simply needed to hold their advance.

Fasuri entered wearing only his small clothes and saluted. The man’s bald head accentuated his gaunt face.

“My liege.”

“Sit,” Bain said. “You are from the Island Nations. Correct?”

“Aye,” Fasuri said taking a seat. “I was born in Napri. It is amongst the smallest of the islands.”

Bain nodded. The smallest island far to the west. Athina was wise.

“I am changing course for our savants, and I want you to lead them. Zeth’s orders will supersede yours only in matters of finding my son. This is what I would have you do …”

Chapter 13

Regrets

A man follows his destiny like a leaf blown in the wind.

At times the wind is a soft breeze, carrying its passenger to some quiet place, where the gentle hand of nature caresses him as a mother does her child. There is peace in this haven, where the traveler is at one with his destiny.

A storm is most vicious when it finds one in his haven. This storm is like a living force, the Tempest, who ensnares her unwary prey. With all the fury her name implies, she thrashes and tears apart what is safe, unfettered by the damage caused. In her wake, she imparts to her lowly victim knowledge that strengthens and binds, destroys and rebuilds, brings love and harbors hatred. It is in this place where a man is made or unmade.

This is her gift. But in exchange, she takes something as precious as new life. Once taken, this treasure can never be returned or held again.

For he who gains the most in knowledge, loses the most in innocence.

Elwin closed the book and glanced at the setting sun. Spending his day studying the words of Machiavel had become one of his favorite pastimes, but his free day had almost come to an end.

He stood and stretched. The spire beneath his feet was the tallest of the castle. It was one of the few places he could go to feel at peace. No one ever bothered him up here. He stepped to the top of the parapet and watched the setting sun.

The pink rays stretched out over the city of Justice like a blanket of warmth. The sun was already too low to make out the details of the larger houses belonging to the nobles quarter of the upper city to the west, so he faced the commons to the east of town.

Shadows from the redwoods fell across the wide lake that separated the common’s quarter from the noble’s. Though it seemed natural to the eyes, the divide had been created by the Elements. When close to the lake, he could feel the power that kept the water from escaping.

He had learned much this last year, but as his trial approached, he could not feel success from his achievements.

Worse, war had come to the northern isles. Already, so many lives were being lost around him. Before, war had only been a word that he read in stories. The meaning had been lost in glorious tales of heroism and valor.

In real life, war meant that soldiers and friends would leave, and many would not return. It made him think of Feffer. He had not seen Feffer since the day of his trial. Communication at all took place over days, if not an entire tenday via letter. Furlough for soldiers was rare, and most of the time it appeared to be given with spontaneity. This allowed Feffer to leave word at the castle, but not enough time for Elwin to respond before the day of furlough ended.

And, every day was full for Elwin while he trained with Jasmine and Zarah. Between lecture and working on his talents, he had little time to send word to Feffer. His only free time was in the evenings after supper, most of which he spent up here. He enjoyed most of his studies. Except, once a tenday, he and Zarah were given training with wooden swords by Zaak Lifesong. Though Zarah took to it with a natural grace, Elwin found he did not much care for swords.

Swords had one purpose. Even though it had been an accident, he had already killed with a sword. However, Jasmine insisted that learning would save his life one day.

As the trial day grew closer, he found it difficult to focus on much else.

“If only I could go back,” Elwin told the fleeting sun.

He had flown off the warehouse and then wind thrust the table. He knew that now, and he would have given anything to go back in time to stop it. Childish fancies.

But, maybe there was a way to slow time. He did not want to see Biron’s family and open the old wound. Six days until Summer Solstice and a tenday beyond that, he would return to the trial. Not quite the full year they had promised, but it would be good to be done with it.

Jasmine had suggested for him to go back to his home town for the Summer Solstice Festival. No. She had ordered him to go.

Elwin had his trepidations about going back to Benedict, but he missed his mother and father. And he wanted to see Poppe and Momme as well. Even if they weren’t his real family, he would always care for them. In their absence, he knew this to be true. And in a couple of tendays he may be executed.

He had wanted Zarah to go with him, but Jasmine would not allow it. Jasmine did not tell him the reason for his journey home, and he couldn’t figure out what it could be. Today had been his first day off in a month, and it had only been given for him to ready for departure. Now he would receive a tenday or more off to travel home? It didn’t fit.

“I wonder if she is testing me, somehow,” Elwin said. “Giving me a chance to run?”

Maybe she wanted him to run. Elwin shook his head. Of all things, that made the least sense. He wanted to run. But he wouldn’t. He would face the Inquisition with his head held high. He had been an infant with a knife. Elwin had flung the knife without knowledge of the danger he held. He would never stop mourning Biron’s death, but he would not blame himself either. He would make the inquisitor see the truth in this.

Shaking his head, Elwin pushed the trial from his mind and turned his thoughts on home. What would they think of him now?

At least he didn’t have to face them alone. Feffer would go with him. All of the soldiers in training were to be given a tenday furlough. The order came down from the king. Elwin had already coordinated their trip home with Feffer. In the morning, he would meet Feffer at the Kicking Breed near the east gate. It was a stable. Feffer had been receiving soldier’s pay and had money that his father had given him. Now he claimed that he needed a horse.

Of course, he would have to meet Jasmine for training one more night, but all that stood between Elwin and seeing his friend was a single night’s rest.

He made his mind empty and felt the Air around him. Upon first glance, the northern breeze seemed to caress the castle. The wind flowed around the castle’s sides and spires, but this was the result of a resisting power laden in the castle’s walls. Grey stones of the southern mountains had been used to form the castle.

Teams of men had carried unshaped stones down the River Serene to this location. Masons and artificers had dedicated their lives to the construction of this monumental palace. That was the power of Earth. Old and unyielding, stone must be shaped by a careful hand.

Feeling this strength, he understood the limitations of his own power of Air. The wind beat upon the stone in a frontal assault, but the earth resisted with an unrivaled strength. Elwin could feel the power of the age old blocks resisting the flow of Air around it and altering its natural course. It was as if an ancient battle was ensuing over the right to be in the space where the castle lived.

Jasmine had yet to work with Elwin on anything other than Air and Water, but when he returned, she would begin his training with Fire and Earth. Jasmine didn’t want to train him in the other two before the trial. If the inquisitor learned he was a true elementalist, he might find a way to twist his gifts into something they were not. Jasmine hadn’t said as much, but he couldn’t see any other reason for the delay. He had much more to learn in Air and Water, but she did not want him to be weak in the other two Elements.

Someday, he would tame Spirit. First, he would have to sense his
tether
. He had come a long way with moving his essence around in the shadow realm, but he had yet to sense the power of Spirit through his tether. If he had, he would have become Life bound in that instant, then proving he wasn’t Death bound would have become moot.

Elwin pulled a leather cord from his belt pouch and banded his hair back into a warrior’s tail. He peered over the edge of the spire. The lingering rays of the sun had vanished, so he could not see the inner courtyard in the darkness below. But, he could see the small lights of lampposts making a large square around the garden at the courtyard’s center, and he knew the path below by heart.

Hundreds of grey columns surrounded the garden and spanned upward for each level of the castle. Starting at the lowest level, several of the columns were etched to form the likeness of the kings that had ruled since the nation’s beginning. The majority of the columns on the upper half were unformed, awaiting the kings of the future.

Elwin could not see their faces from this distance, but he knew their faces well. Each new king had similarities to the previous generations. He couldn’t look upon them without wondering who his own face favored. Did he get his nose and eyes from his mother? Or from Bain? So many questions still to answer.
The letter
claimed that his mother had died so that he could live. Was the letter from his real mother? If so, then she would have been alive to deliver the letter. If not, then who was it that cared for him until he was passed off to his Poppe? Maybe he could find her.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the thought once more.

Leaping into the night air, he dove toward the square’s center. He calmed his mind and touched the power of Air flowing around him and let it into his essence. The night air tasted crisper, and his skin tingled with the remaining day’s warmth. It was like the nectar of life, flowing through his veins.

The ground was rushing toward him. No other experience could describe the exhilaration of free falling. His body felt weightless and light. The wind rushed in his ears and pressed against his body, slowing his acceleration.

Using the power from his essence, he tamed this force to slow his decent. Repositioning his body to be upright, he tamed more power and willed his body away from the courtyard. Flying high above the castle, he stopped taming flight and fell freely once more.

He had discovered that if he flew too high, it became difficult to breath. Diving back toward the castle, he spread his arms and legs out wide to aim his body toward the northeastern side of the castle.

As the balcony to his room came near, he tamed enough power of Air to slow his decent. His curtains rippled when he crossed the balcony into his room. He maneuvered his body to face upward and crossed his arms behind his head. Intertwining his legs at his ankles, he eased himself onto the bed. He released the remaining bit of power in his essence and felt the other breezes of air displaced by the flow.

He sighed.

Had he only known
this
skill, the first every elementalist learned, the year before …

He pushed the thought from his mind and prepared for another night of sleep. Another night training with Jasmine and Zarah in the shadow realm.

Feffer balanced atop the wooden beam, ignoring the cheers and jeers of his squad and fellow soldiers surrounding him below. He pushed the roar of the crowd down to the buzzing of a fly in his mind and focused on the man-sized pendulums before him. Each wooden blade left just enough room between them as they passed in front of and behind him to fit a rigid body.

Though all of the blades were blunt, the shape and width of each blade varied, alternating the timing of each swing. The slowest ones were the two behind him, and he had four more to go. Each one narrowed in size, but had enough force to knock him to the mud pit below.

Neither he nor his comrades had made it through this particular obstacle. Sir Gibbins had given the challenge, which offered a nice reward. If any of them could make it across, then all squads got an early furlough. There wasn’t much light left to the day, but early furlough was early furlough. An hour or a minute of his own time had become as precious as his coin purse.