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A warm gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the forest, increasing the difficulty for Atiniir who was listening for his dueling partner Jerome. Excited by the discovery of their new-found ability, they had snuck out to Tokul forest to practice them. At any moment, Jerome was to attack with an unknown weapon and from an unknown vector – and it was Atiniir’s job to reflex in time. Crouching over and planning every slow footstep, Atiniir crept forward. The partial moons gave little light through the tree canopy and Atiniir opened his eyes wide like Leora had taught him to capture more light.
He paused and held his breath.
Atiniir swore he heard an anomalous rustle. He struggled with the thought of his mind playing tricks on him.
Atiinir had lighter skin but a dark complexion to him, likely due to his darkened hair and tanned skin. He rarely let his scraggly hair style grow past his ears since he hated the tickling feeling, and often opted to have it slicked back and shaved up on the sides. He had heard rumblings that the family didn’t care that he didn’t have a fresh royal look, but he wasn’t sure what that really meant. He felt at home in the forest – Leora told him it’s likely due to his heritage, something about his family being “Trifon” and coming from the forest.
Atiniir let his eyes dart around the tree trunks while his body remain motionless. He suddenly felt a strong urge to turn round and swiveled on the toe of his worn brown kid-sized combat boots. A small pebble was floating in the air toward him – as if someone was levitating it smoothly in his direction. He raised his wooden toy sword in front of his face to deflect the rock. His sword moved slowly too, but still twice as fast as the rock. The pebble struck the wood of the sword with an unexpected force causing a small chunk of wood to splinter off in spectacular slow motion. As soon as the pebble had started to fall away it began moving at normal speed again and before Atiniir could blink it had hit the ground.
Jerome leapt out of the bushes beaming from ear to ear. He stood a mere quarter inch taller than Atiniir – something they fiercely debated – and had lighter skin and silver hair that he opted to keep quite short and styled. He was unmistakably Nektolen, since no other demographic donned such argent hair color.
“That was incredible!” he clamored as he ran over to pat Atiniir on the back, “I threw that rock as hard as I could that time.”
“Hey! And what if I wouldn’t have stopped it? You going to explain to my father why I’ve got a black eye?!” Atiniir retorted, mostly proud but slightly annoyed.
“Psh. Honestly I’d be more scared of your grandmother. Besides, I can’t seem to land a hit on you.” Atiniir thought a moment about Leora, and how a single scowling glare from her felt like sudden rain on a sunny day.
“It’s your turn. I get a 10 second head start!” said Jerome, running into the thicket.
Jerome and Atiniir continued practicing for some time then settled down on a felled tree to rest. The forest was a small but heavily wooded reserve that measured only two square kilometers. It stood directly adjacent to Revolu’s palace and was meant to be cut down. However, King Thimoteo favored it for its abundant wildlife despite the lack of size and years ago ordered it to be encased by city walls instead.
“I wonder what our next ability will be,” Atiniir said breaking the silence as he stared up at the stars through the canopy.
“Leora said we won’t know until we turn nine,” Jerome reminded Atiniir.
“I know. I just don’t want to wait.”
“’Where’s your patience, Atin’” Jerome said, mimicking Leora.
Atiniir reached out to playfully punch Jerome on the shoulder to rebuttal, but Jerome caught his hand reflexively. A not-so-subtle reminder that thus far they had identical abilities. Jerome let out a wry smile and Atiniir rolled his eyes, turning back to face the sky.
Mere moments later, the sky lit up with blinding light. The boys covered their eyes while the energy-bolt pierced the sky, rattling the branches and leaves around. Dazed, they stood up, frozen in confused fear, eyes wide and looking up and all around.
“Atin… what was that?” Jerome whispered with bated breath.
“I don’t… It.. it feels bad.”
Atiniir and Jerome were deep into the small forest, almost up against the outer walls but they still were able to hear muffled screams coming from the palace.
“We should go,” Atiniir said with new-found confidence.
As the boys rushed for the palace they began to fill up with a noble desire to help – truthfully it was a naive sense of swagger that they could use their new abilities to assist, maybe... somehow. They knew the way out of the forest without hesitation – the forest was often their playground and they loved getting lost on purpose – Leora even encouraged it.
The boys sprinted as fast their small legs would let them. The cocktail of fear, duty, and youth kept them running the entire distance, leaping over logs and ducking under low branches. When they finally reached the edge of the forest, they slid to a halt.
Before them at the trailhead stood Leora. Wind-torn and also out of breath, she held out her hand for them to stop. The boys examined her face and found relief, but Leora spoke with a certainty and power that indicated a deep severity:
“Turn back, we must leave.”
Atiniir was taken back and blurted a flurry of heated questions: “What? Why? What hap--”
Leora shushed him, shaking her head. “Your lives are in danger, we must go. Both of you, come. No questions.”
Atiniir’s thoughts were scrambling. The safest place he’d ever known was sitting behind Leora – the palace, the guards, his father – all there to keep him safe and now Leora wanted to head in the opposite--
Leora stepped forward, headed back into the forest – pushing in-between the two boys and leaving them behind her. They hesitated, staring at the side entrance of the palace glowing with commotion and then back at Leora walking into the now still quiet forest. She was holding back something.
“Boys, I’ll explain everything in time. You must come now, and you must be quiet” she loudly whispered over her shoulder as she picked up the pace. Confusion and terror continued to flood the boys’ thoughts – but they knew it was no use challenging her. They followed in bewilderment, wanting to ask a myriad of questions. Leora was more likely to tie their mouths shut before answering, and they knew it too.
Before long, they found themselves off the trail and deep in the thicket. Leora looked up at the tree husks as they cut through the brush until she found what she was looking for. A small carved symbol on one of the trees, a few meters up. It resembled two letters “HH” but the inner vertical lines were much longer.
“We’re here,” she whispered. The boys looked around, completely lost as to what here was. Although they’d been here before in their play, there was nothing particularly special about this place despite the symbol. Atiniir glanced at Jerome. Jerome presumably read Atiniir’s look and shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in dismay.
Just then a soldier’s voice echoed through the trees – a command of some sort.
Leora pointed at the ground near the tree and got down to her knees. “Help me dig, they’re searching for you.” she said with increased ferocity. The boys without hesitation dropped to the ground and pawed at the soil. Atiniir tried to avoid the obvious rebuttal that soldiers are typically on his side – moreover, he was their prince. He could only assume there had been some attack, and these soldiers aren’t friendly – perhaps the folks at Hightower had finally decided to attack --
“Here!?” Jerome excitedly whispered, pointing at some round metal piece.
Leora nodded, grabbed the metal piece and pulled hard. Dirt recessed away and revealed a wooden hatch which Leora opened fully. Inside was a rotted ladder and stone-paved hole down to darkness. Leora ushered the boys down, one at a time. She placed twigs and more dirt on top of the hatch and carefully closed it behind her, removing the only light source in the darkened hole. The boys, devoid of sight, reached out their hands to feel for their surroundings.
Leora felt into her pocket and pulled out a small crystal and started shaking it in small brisk motions – as if mixing up a drink. The crystal flickered with light and then produced a steady glow. The boys turned toward the light source in relief.
The newly illuminated cavern showed the rickety ladder to their side and a long seemingly straight tunnel in front of them. It was about one meter in diameter and mostly hardened clay supported every so often with the random plank of wood.
“Jerome, you lead – I’ll take the rear,” Leora commanded while handing the light crystal to Jerome. Assuming their positions and Leora slightly ducking, they hobbled down the corridor.
Jerome finally broke the silence and whispered a question back towards Leora: “How far does this go?”
Leora looked annoyed only briefly but presumably realized that the boys had done admirably thus far at keeping quiet. Thus, she chose not to punish Jerome for his question but still remind him that this is no time for conversation.
“Far enough,” she whispered with the unmistakable teaching tone. Jerome got the message.
The trio traveled for what seemed like an eternity. Every so often Jerome had to re-shake the crystal to refresh the light. Finally, they reached what appeared to be an opening covered in vines and shrubbery. Jerome hacked away with his wooden play sword revealing the tunnel’s exit on the side of a heavily vegetated mountain path. The path carved through the rolling mountains and looked as if he hadn’t been used for decades. Decorated with wild trees and stone, it seemed to provide a sense of relief to Leora who was scanning the area.
“We have to keep moving,” Leora said. The boys were tired and building up angst, but Leora urged them on. The pace had slowed to walking, and the moonlight revealed their path.
Hours passed in silence. The boys’ minds continued to swirl around as the last drops of intensity faded from their bones. It was now the dark of the early morning and Leora could sense they were finally at their end of themselves and began giving instructions to make camp. Although Leora directed them to make a soft bed in the soil for themselves, they couldn’t be bothered and collapsed on the ground passing out almost instantly.
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Warm sunlight burned through Atiniir’s eyelids causing his now waking eyes within to see a fleshy orange. He flickered them open, wondering why he was outside laying in the hard ground. He sat up on one arm and looked around. He spotted Leora who was sitting on a flat-topped boulder looking out along the mountain path. Suddenly, the events of the night prior flooded back into his memory. His heart skipped a beat recalling the energy bolt arc across the sky, the screams, the running. The fear he felt in the tunnel as they crawled away to safety. Someone wanted to hurt him, maybe worse.
Leora noticed him awake, hopped off her perch and held out her hand with a small green apple in her palm. Atiniir sat up the rest of the way, stretching and taking the apple.
“Here’s another, for Jerome. Go wake him,” she said as she reached for another apple to hand him. “I picked them last night along the path when we were walking. It’s all we have, so we’ll have to be on the lookout for more food as we travel today.”
It seemed to Atiniir that since Leora was suddenly more talkative that they were safe to do so as well, at least for now. He rolled over to Jerome and shook him awake, handing him the second apple. While Jerome came to, Atiniir collected his thoughts as he prepared to question his teacher.
Leora of apparently knew this was coming and gave him a comfortable smile. Before he opened his mouth Leora said: “I know you both have questions. You deserve answers. I will tell you everything you want to know, once you’ve eaten your breakfast,” she said nodding toward the apple in hand.
Suddenly Atiniir’s stomach growled in hunger. He wondered if Leora had stayed awake all night – it was certainly a possibility. One of her four abilities was increased energy capacity. It was one of the things that made her a fantastic teacher – every student knew it. The time spent quietly eating also afforded the boys the opportunity to gather their questions and prioritize them. Atiniir was first to finish off his apple and promptly jumped into questioning before even swallowing the last bite.
“What did the lightning bolt do?” he said still chewing.
Leora lowered her head and shook it slightly. “The better question is ‘What does the energy bolt mean?’”, she replied. The boys twisted their heads and squinted their eyes in thought. Thankfully, her question back was rhetorical.
“The energy you saw wasn’t from some unseen storm, it was a release of deep magical power. It is what always happens when someone with great power dies, particularly when a seven dies. Sixes only send out a localized shockwave – sevens split the sky in two. We call it a ‘Sky Rupture.’ Other able-bodied humans rarely emit much.”
Atiniir’s chest imploded with an unfamiliar emotion of terror, as if he’d seen a volcano erupt nearby. There were only two sevens in the castle at the time: his father the king and his father’s best man Kaelsis. He loved them both dearly, and after hearing the panicking screams from the castle it was now that he began to realize that one of them had died.
Jerome was the first to speak up.
“I thought sevens live forever. How can one die?” he asked innocently.
“It’s true they don’t get sick or poisoned and absorb power from the world to prevent getting old – but they are not indestructible. They can still be killed by a blade,” Leora corrected him.
The next silence was longer. Leora waited for them to come to grips with the news. Atiniir finally asked the question. He had pieced together the screams, the lockdown, and the sudden need to flee.
“My father…?” he said, raising his head toward Leora with a glare that broke even Leora’s spirit. She was struggling to meet his eyes and he could see small tears forming. She took a deep breath, as if her chest was heavier than usual. Furrowing her brow, she gave a solemn miniscule nod.
Anger and agony joined into the chorus of emotion, and it was too much for him to handle. He stood to his feet, now fuming. Head and hands shaking, he began to pace. His mind was ransacked with furious thought. His father was beloved. He had made the world a better place. He can’t have died, he’s too powerful. How does she know? Was she there? How did he die? Who did this? I will…
“You’re the king, now...”
It was Jerome’s calm and gentle tone that brought him back to reality. Jerome’s eyes were also watery, but only a single tear could be found on his cheek. Jerome had been essentially adopted by Atiniir’s family – Thim was like a father to him, too. He somehow had managed to muster the half-hearted encouragement to his friend – although it backfired.
“I don’t want to be king! I want my father back!” Atiniir exclaimed, now facing away from the group. He felt like screaming, or running, or punching… anything to change or dull the pain. Everyone went silent – probably for the best
“When you’re ready, I’ll tell you what happened,” Leora started, “But for now, let’s start walking the path to ease our minds.” Atiniir stared out into the distance, seemingly at nothing, still a little shaky.
They walked for what seemed like hours, only Leora holding her head high. Landscapes foreign and otherwise interesting passed him by. Maybe in some other reality where his father was alive and his life wasn’t falling apart around him he’d care to see the sights, but he could care less. Eventually they came to a clearing in the mountain siding that opened to reveal a gentle winding path downward, south into a vast forest. The forest was so large it went past the horizon beyond the perceivable curvature. Mountains surrounded it on both sides, creating a vista so epic the boys were forced to raise their heads and gawk. Leora veered off to the side of the path and sat on a felled tree which allowed her to overlook the scenery.
Atiniir came and sat down next to her and Jerome on her other side. Staring out into the beauty, he felt his soul lift ever so slightly. He wondered if Leora chose this path on purpose – she was always doing hidden things… always annoyingly for his betterment. With a resounding sigh, he finally said: “Tell us everything, gram.”
She nodded, as if she had expected the request and began to recount her story from the moment she heard the rupturing thunder.
“You might be next. I had to find you,” she said having caught up the story to that point, “I used an ability you don’t know about yet.” Jerome raised a single eyebrow. “I’m an empath. It’s one of my four abilities. I can reach out and sense your deeper feelings. I can’t read your thoughts, but I can experience exactly what you’re feeling. I’ve gotten good enough at it to do it through walls and somewhat long distances,” she explained.
“How far, exactly?” Atiniir asked.
“Not too far. I’ve only been able to sense people a few houses away”, she replied and continued “but I used the ability to detect if you were nearby. Because I couldn’t sense you, Atin, I knew you were not in the castle. My attention then switched toward Kaelsis who I hoped would help me find you and bring you to safety.”
Kaelsis Quinn was as close as an uncle to Atiniir as any, given he had no real blood uncles. He always let Atiniir hit him as hard as he could with his sword, since Kaelsis had that Stoneskin ability that conjured up rocky armor. Kaelsis would cast it, turn into a boulder-human looking monster, laugh, and let Atiniir take swings at him. It would be nice to have Kaelsis here, protecting them from whatever danger found his father.
Leora paused at this moment. She started to tense up, as anger began to cloud her memories. A few deep breaths later, she had allayed her emotions and continued with the story.
“I could feel Kaelsis’ emotions, so I knew he was in the castle and I assumed he was in the King’s chamber. I became confused however, since his emotions weren’t that of grief. They were something else. A different kind of fear. I discarded the unexpected reading and made for the King’s chamber. The guards saw my approach at a distance and cracked the door to say something to someone on the other side. The door then flew open, and Kaelsis came running out to meet me.”
Leora needed to pause again. The boys detected that this was a pivotal moment in the story, as Leora started to struggle more with her words.
“He began displaying grief and dramatic emotion for the death of Thimoteo, which was odd because I could sense he wasn’t genuine. I wondered if my own emotion was clouding my senses, as I too was struck with grief. He then changed his tone to match what I sensed from him, by asking about you Atin. ‘Where is the young prince? I must find him,’ he said. I agreed, and started to propose a search party when he interrupted me saying ‘Would it not be better for you to be at the side of your son?” It was then that I put the puzzle pieces together. He didn’t want my help, and I’m the only locator for miles.”
A locator is a term that Leora had taught the boys in their sixth year – someone who can locate someone else their abilities. The most prominent are telepaths, followed by empaths.
“’The prince’s life is utmost importance. I doubt the king will die twice while we look for Atin,’ I told him. I then asked if he had another locator that was better suited, and he smiled awkwardly at me – but underneath I sensed frustration. He mentioned something about hiding from the public that you might be lost, although I could sense he was lying. ‘I am just deeply concerned about the prince, I must find him,’ he would say.”
Pausing for breath, she then turned to Atiniir.
“He immediately became my primary suspect. Unknown to him I dug deeper into his emotions and clarified the fear I detected earlier.”
Again, she paused to compose herself.
“It wasn’t a fear for your life… it was a fear of failing. An angry fear of losing. But there was more. There was also an anxious curiosity to him – as if he desperately needed to know something. Lastly, there was a repressed excitement for the events currently unfolding.”
She looked up from the ground and directly into Atiniir’s eyes. A single tear rolled down her left cheek when she blinked. Atiniir, only eight years old, hadn’t quite pieced together what was happening. Jerome also wore confusion on his face. It just didn’t make sense that Kaelsis could be feeling some level of excitement, how could that be?
Atiniir looked down and his feet, trying to make sense of everything, and Leora apparently detected his struggle and spoke up with more frankness.
“Kaelsis betrayed you and your father to usurp the throne. He wanted your family dead last night – and you would have been… if you were where you were supposed to be and hadn’t snuck out into the forest to play with Jerome,” she finally finished.
Poor Atiniir still didn’t quite understand. What does ‘usurp’ mean? Kaelsis… is the killer? How can someone so kind…
“He wanted to slurp the throne?” Jerome attempted to clarify, erroneously.
“It’s ‘usurp’. And yes, he wanted to become king,” Leora replied, “and he was perfectly placed to do so, as Major General. He’d take over control and power in the event of your father’s death until you are of age to rule, Atin.”
“Wouldn’t you become queen again, Gram?” Atiniir shook his head in confusion.
“It’s confusing, but I never was queen. Our law dictates that power transfers down, not up --,” she answered before getting interrupted by Jerome.
“How did you get away?” he eagerly asked.
“I never trained Kaelsis, and I spent little time with him overall – so he did not know of my empath abilities and that I had detected his plot. I played along. I chose to lie and say at this time of night if you weren’t in your chambers you were likely sneaking off to play with friends in the town. The truth is I know you likely came to the forest, as this is where I---” Leora explained before getting interrupted again, this time by Atiniir.
“We have to go back,” he said with sudden renewed vigor.
“I agree,” said Leora, “but not yet. We are not ready to face Kaelsis. And since I’ve now disappeared when I’m meant to be looking for you, I’m likely a suspect. We also have no real proof. We cannot accuse and dethrone Kaelsis with words and killing him would only incite chaos.”
“So we’re just going to let him win?!” Jerome barked back.
“Yes. Yes we are. But he was sloppy and will spend far too much time covering up his lies. Our collective disappearance cannot be easily explained away. And while he’s busy picking up the mess he made, we’ll be preparing to take back the throne and avenge your father,” Leora said now filling up with gilded confidence.
Atiniir was silent. Goosebumps riddled his skin as he entertained the thought facing Kaelsis, potentially fighting him. Anger swelled as he pictured his beloved father dying at the hands of his trusted adult friend. It was overwhelming, and Leora sensed he was shutting down and retreating psychologically.
“What do we have to do?” Jerome asked eagerly – not nearly effected as Atiniir.
Leora turned her attention to Jerome. “Complete your training,” she said with a confident tone.
This line snapped Atiniir’s focus back in. “Complete our training? Are you kidding? That will take years!” he yelled.
“Seven or eight years, yes.”
“We must go back sooner.”
“No. If we go back without you two having all of your abilities, we will fail. Don’t be naïve. You have never faced a seven in battle, let alone one leading an army. And children will not be taken seriously in court, even if you’re the prince and heir. Yes, Kaelsis must be removed – he is bound to rule in ways we do not like and your father deserves real justice… but he will forever be searching for us until he hears another thunderous roar from the sky,” Leora said, shutting down Atiniir.
“So we’re just going to run and hide?” Atiniir blurted back.
“Only until you’ve learned how to fight,” Leora said with a strangely contagious hope.
