“A story for another day, perhaps.”
“But…but,” said Falcon, looking around. “If there’s a plan I think I should know it.”
“Don’t fret too much about it,” said Zoen. “Ignore the ramblings of an old man.” Zoen tapped his shoulders reassuringly. “You’re a good person. I’m certain that when the time comes, you’ll do what is right and make these men proud.” He motioned at the two piles of rocks before them.
“These?” asked Falcon, confused. “I could see K’ran being proud, but not Kraimaster.”
“Why do you say that? Because he yelled at you? Didn’t let you get away with anything? Demanded that you work harder than any other student? Gave you work study for any minor infraction?”
Falcon nodded. “Yes, that’s pretty much it. He made my life miserable.”
“Professor Kraimaster knew that you possessed a power unlike any other.” Zoen retained his calm voice. It was so serene that Falcon was afraid the grandmaster would fall asleep in mid-sentence. “He made your life miserable, as you so adequately put it, to prepare you for the tribulations you were destined to face. He would have done you no favors by pampering you.”
Falcon felt a cold lump of coal in his throat.
How could it be?
Zoen turned and opened the door to head back into the house, but before he went in he stopped and took one last look at Falcon. “Things in this world are usually gray, not black or white as we would like them to be.”
Still speechless, Falcon stared at the pile of rocks before him, unsure of how to register this new information. “Th…thank you, professor.” His breath came in quick bursts. He said his goodbye to K’ran and headed back into the home, still reeling from the news he had just gotten.
~~~
Falcon’s ill mood lightened a bit once he opened the door and saw Hyromi staring back at him. Sure, he’d heard she was all right, but seeing her in the flesh made it all more real. She wore her usual tight-fitting blue jumpsuit. Her silky brown hair traveled down her back and ended at her thin waist.
“Nice to see you back,” welcomed Falcon, taking a step toward her.
“No!” cried a chorus of voices around him. Falcon stared at the group of people standing in the living room, and that was when he noticed their worried faces. Everyone from Faith, Aya, Emperor Romus, Zoen, and even Doctor Solis wore a mask of sadness. The children he had saved cowered behind a sofa.
Falcon looked up and saw the thick, sharp icicles encrusted in Hyromi’s fingers. She held them up, as if confused as to how they’d gotten there. She had blood across her waist, probably self-inflicted.
“Hyromi,” said Aya tentatively. She walked slowly toward her. “I’m a water wielder too. Listen, you have to bring up the heat around your fingers. Or you could hurt yourself again.”
Hyromi’s eyes darted around in confusion. “Voices in my head! Telling me to…to…to—” She reached for her head, spike first. Aya raised her hand, and in an instant the icicles dissolved into mist of ice. Hyromi’s hands landed on her head, unaware of how close she had come to impaling herself. She beat her fists on her skull. “Get out, get out, get out, get out…”
Emperor Romus came behind his daughter and grabbed her hands. Through tear-streaked eyes he begged her to stop, but she continued her relentless attack.
Faith marched up to Hyromi. She waved her hand, and a golden mist covered Hyromi’s face. Faith snapped her fingers. Instantly, Hyromi’s body went limp as she fell into a deep sleep.
Emperor Romus caught her before she fell. He hugged his daughter tightly, still sobbing.
Falcon stood in awe, scared for his friend and confused at what was going on.
Chapter 9
Hyromi sat in the corner of the living room. She muttered words under her breath as she held herself in a self-hug. “Where is he? He was there, there, there, there, there. I thought I saw him, him, him, him, him, him…”
A teary eyed Emperor Romus stood over her daughter, speaking softly to her. But he might as well have been invisible. She didn’t pay him any mind.
“How could this have happened?” asked Falcon. His mind was racing, trying to register what he was seeing. Hyromi had always been a person full of life, bringing a smile to anyone she encountered. Now she seemed trapped inside herself, begging to get out.
“It be a poison wielder,” said Doctor Solis. “Poison her mind, she did. Nothing my medicine can do to heal her.”
Falcon gritted his teeth. He should have known. Chonsey had told him that Hyromi had dueled and killed the poison wielder, Dokua. But it looked as though the victory had come at a heavy price. Hyromi’s mind had been twisted beyond any medicine on Va’siel.
Wait. That’s it!
He faced Faith as hope energized him. “Faith, you can heal her, right?”
“Yes!” cried Emperor Romus. He took a hasty step toward Faith. “You’re a holy wielder. Surely you can heal my precious daughter.”
“I…I will try,” said Faith. She glanced at the hunched figure in the corner. “But please don’t get your hopes up. The damage done to her mind might be too great.”
Emperor Romus grabbed Faith by her shoulders and shook her violently. “No! Don’t say that. You must heal her!”
Fuming, Falcon took hold of the emperor and tossed him into the wall. “Don’t touch her. This is all your fault!”
The emperor shook his head, as if unable to believe a simple commoner had dared put his hands on him. “
My fault
?” he asked, once he got over his shock.
“Aaaaaaarghhhh! Screams inside!” Hyromi beat her head with her fists. “Get out.”
The emperor rushed to his daughter, but before he could reach her, Faith got in the way.
“Get back, please,” she ordered.
“But—”
Zoen put his hand on the emperor’s shoulder. “All this screaming is only aggravating your daughter’s condition. I suggest you step back and let the young holy wielder try her method.” The grandmaster faced Falcon. “You too, Mister Hyatt.” Zoen’s suggestion sounded more like an order, and both Falcon and the emperor stepped back and remained quiet, though Falcon still wanted nothing more than to put that pompous fool in his place.
“Do you think Hemstath can help her?” asked Sheridan as he stood beside Falcon. His usual wide smirk was absent, replaced by a mask of worry. “She can, right? She’s a holy wielder, after all.”
“I hope so,” muttered Falcon. He felt a deep sorrow for his friend. Sheridan had been smitten with Hyromi for as long as he could remember. He was sure this was hurting him more than he let on.
Faith took a careful step toward the hunched figure in the corner. Her hand was held out, and a glittering mist flowed out of it and around Hyromi’s head, surrounding her like her own personal solar system. This seemed to calm Hyromi, because she stopped yelling and hitting herself, and instead focused on touching the glow around her. The mist simply dissolved and rearranged itself as she ran her hands through it.
“Hyromi?” Faith crouched. “I’m Faith Hemstath. I want to help you.”
The princess looked back at Faith with a look of confusion. “Voice tells me. Can’t find him, can’t find him…”
“Who are you trying to find?” asked Faith.
“Can’t find him. Can’t find him.”
Faith closed her eyes and put her hand on Hyromi’s forehead. To Falcon’s surprise, the princess did not complain. Faith hummed quietly under her breath. After a few minutes, she turned to the emperor as Hyromi returned to playing with the mist.
Falcon felt his heart drop when she noticed Faith’s saddened expression.
“I’m sorry. She can’t be fully healed.”
The emperor, who up until now had looked hopeful, crashed to the floor, looking beyond defeated.
“I didn’t say all hope was lost,” said Faith, turning back to Hyromi. “I believe I can heal some of the damage that’s been inflicted. However, we’re going to need to go through sessions, at least two times a day for the moment. If she gets better, then we can lower the sessions to once a day.”
“That mean she’s going to have to come with us,” said Falcon.
The emperor’s eyes widened at this. “What do you mean by
come with us
?”
“I mean exactly what I said. Faith, Aya, and I are headed for Missea. You saw yourself what happened to Ladria. We need to warn them and get them on our side before the Suteckh sack them too.”
“My daughter isn’t going anywhere with you lot!” Emperor Romus moved toward Hyromi, but she backed away before he had a chance to get too close to her.
“It is the only way,” said Zoen calmly. “Young Miss Hemstath must stay with Mr. Hyatt. He needs her to complete his holy training. And now…” He turned to the princess. “It looks as if your daughter needs her too.”
“Then I will go with them,” the emperor quickly added.
“I’m afraid that can’t be done,” said Zoen politely. “You are needed here to rally your people. Draknorr may be gone, but the Suteckh army is still intact. We must use this moment of confusion to take Ladria back. The people of Ladria need you more than ever.”
Emperor Romus looked from Zoen to Hyromi. Falcon could tell that he was trying to think of something, anything. Some clever ploy to refute Zoen’s logic and prove that he needed to go with his daughter. But as the seconds trickled by, it became apparent that he had nothing to counter the grandmaster.
“Fine,” he mumbled. Then he turned to Falcon, Aya, and Faith. “But you three better take—”
“Four?” Sheridan chimed in. “I’m going too. On my honor, I will make sure Hyromi is safe.”
Falcon reeled back a bit. Never in his life had he ever seen Sheridan be so serious.
“You better.” The emperor took another quick glance around the room and stormed out of the door, making sure to slam the door.
“Fool,” mumbled Falcon under his breath.
“Don’t say that,” said Faith, looking offended. “He’s failed his people, and now he thinks he might lose his daughter. It must not be easy being him.”
“This wouldn’t have happened if he had listened to me when I tried to warn him of the Suteckh threat.”
“Yes, I know. But nobody is perfect. He made a mistake. We all do, right?”
Falcon remained quiet. The anger in him wanted him to shout. To say that yes, not everyone was perfect, but what the emperor had done was beyond a mistake, it was pure idiocy. He cared more about parties and noble ranks than the safety of his own people. Staring into Faith’s kind, emerald eyes made it impossible to voice his words though.
“So what now?” asked Sheridan.
Faith took Hyromi’s hand and helped her up. “C’mon, sweetie. Come with me.”
“Where are you taking her?” Aya asked.
“I’m going to begin the treatments now. The sooner the better.” She opened the door, letting the sun sneak in in even rays of light. “But I’m going to need a few days to get her to a decent state. So no traveling for now at least.”
Falcon nodded as Faith and Hyromi walked outdoors. Ideally he would leave at once, but Hyromi had been a good friend. How could he now deny her the help she needed?
During the following days, Falcon settled into the same routine. In the morning he would have breakfast and then head outside and train with Aya by the river. But it was much more than simple water wielding training. Aya had the most focused energy that Falcon had ever seen. Her ability to pinpoint power points was beyond human. If only he could learn to do the same, then perhaps he could retain some control over the elements, instead of relying on them to unlock at random moments.
Secretly, Falcon had hoped that he could use these training moments to speak with her, just as they used to do all those years ago. But, to his dismay, Aya acted much different. She was more silent and rarely spoke of anything that didn’t have to do with the training. Obviously the news that she was a Suteckh had gotten to her.
On the third morning of their training, Aya showed up without her usual white blouse and black skirt. Instead, she wore a white martial arts
gi
and baggy brown pants. She steeped over the sharp rocks of the riverbank without flinching in the slightest.
Falcon cringed. “What happened to your clothes?”
“Those clothes have the emblem of the Nakatomi clan. A family entangled in lies. I won’t be associated with that.” Her face remained emotionless as she faced Falcon. “So, I was thinking today we could focus more on one particular element, instead of a group of them.”
“Y…yes, let’s do that,” he muttered, deciding not to push the subject of her wardrobe.
“What elements do you think you have mastered?”
He scratched his head. “I think I have a good grasp of all the basic elements.”
“Even mind?” asked Aya, with a look that told Falcon she didn’t believe him.
“Well…not mind, but that’s not really important. The main ones that I need to control are holy and chaos. Chaos is the one that continues to threaten to overtake me, and holy is the element that I must master to control chaos. So I think I should focus on those.”
Aya shook her head. “No. We’re concentrating on mind.”
“But I need—”
“No buts, Falcon. Mind wielding is the element that requires the most precision of all the elements. You can’t simply go around throwing your immense pool of energy at anyone who gets in your way. That’s what has been getting you into trouble up until now.”
“Okay, then,” said Falcon, mildly irritated. “Tell me what to do, then.”
If Aya noticed his annoyance, she didn’t show it. She pointed to the river, whose current was running slowly. “Pull up your pants to your knees and stand in the middle of the water. I will create spheres of ice by your feet. Without looking down, I want you to use your mind wielding to pinpoint these balls and gravitate them out of the river.”
“Sounds easy enough.” He hoped she couldn’t hear the doubt in his voice. Of all the basic elements, he’d always hated mind the most.
He stood in the middle of the water and stared directly into the line of trees before him. A second later, he felt a small growth of icy energy floating beside his left foot. Without looking down, he focused his mind and called to it. The ball of ice glided out of the water and in front of his face.
“Good job,” said Aya. “Now let’s add a bit of movement.”
The sound of an object rippling through the water surrounded him. No, not one object; he felt two, maybe three. He closed his eyes, trying to get some focus. That helped a bit but not nearly as much as he’d hoped. He still couldn’t pinpoint the ice balls. One moment he would feel them circling by his right foot, the next second they were beside his left ankle.
Concentrate, Falcon.
His hand reached out. “Come forth.” Two ice spheres shot out of the water, smashing into each other and blowing frozen ice chunks into his face.
“I got it!” he cried.
Aya gave him a wry smile. “It was a bit…unrefined, but yes, you did get them.” She waved her hand, and Falcon felt the icy energy under the water return. “Now let’s see if you can do it without blowing them to oblivion?”
~~~
The lesson dragged on most of the morning, with Falcon finding mild success. He managed to get three spheres out of the water intact, but anything over three proved impossible.
Aya told him she was impressed with his performance, but Falcon was sure she only said that to make him feel better.
After the training, they headed back to the cabin. Faith and Hyromi were in the front yard. They were sitting face to face, holding hands. A light glow surrounded them.
“How is it going?” Aya whispered to Sheridan, who was sitting on a tree stump outside the white fence.
Sheridan smiled, looking much happier than Falcon had expected. “Hemstath is amazing. She actually got Hyromi to speak in full sentences for a bit.”
“That’s great,” said Falcon, feeling more hopeful than he’d felt in a while. “What are they doing now?”
Sheridan shrugged. “Don’t know. They have been like that for a long time now.”
Both girls opened their eyes at the same moment and stood.
Faith took Hyromi’s hand. “Let’s head inside.”
“Yes.” Hyromi droned. She looked lost, as if her body was here, but her mind was somewhere else.
Falcon and Aya followed them inside, where a warm fire roasted on the chimney. Three cinnamon scented candles rested atop the kitchen table. Flanking it were a dozen plates of food.
“I didn’t know you knew how to cook, Doctor Solis,” Falcon said hungrily. He rubbed his growling stomach as he eyed the bowls of clam soup resting on the table.
“Before becoming doctor, cook I was.” She poured steaming milk into the empty mugs.
“Doctor Solis is the best cook I’ve ever met,” said Aya, looking hungrier than Falcon. She took a seat on one of the empty chairs and reached for each of the food bowls at the center of the table. By the time she was done, her plate had a little bit of everything: drumsticks, bread rolls, clam soup, and dried berries.