Rohvim #1: Metal and Flesh (29 page)

Priam thought a bit. “No. I don’t. It seems they are all invited from the noble families. Just before the invasion, Aeden was invited.”

Yoruth continued, “My point, Priam, is that the body of priests as it stands now, is just another avenue of advancement for the nobility. And do they really need any more advancement? What about you? You have skills, you work hard, but they will never ask you to be in the body of priests. They will never promote you up above the twenty-first level of nobility. You will inherit your father’s post as, what was it, guardian of the artifacts or something like that? Is that what you want to do? And if you had brothers or sisters, you would be fighting with them for the same inherited title, and the loser would most likely have to be a farmer or a travelling merchant or the like.”

Priam said nothing.

“Tell me, Priam, who fought in the battle of Elbeth? How many died? Of the dead, how many were common men and women, sent to die by their overlords, obligated to lift a sword just because they rented land from a lord or sold goods in a shop owned by a lord? How many more good people must suffer, be suppressed, be thrown out of their homes, be overtaxed, be ridiculed, and be killed by the nobility of this kingdom? Tell me!”

Priam paced before his wall, not looking at Yoruth. “You speak truth. I have often thought these things, but have not dared to tell anyone. As good a friend as he is, I have often thought of Aeden and how everything just … happens, for him. But really, what can be done about it? I don’t want to strip him of anything. Maybe just humbled a bit.” He conceded.

Yoruth came to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Priam. We can do something. I am doing something. The world will change. It has been prophesied, and the times of change are upon us. And you will be instrumental in that change and will usher in a better world. A fairer world. A prosperous, peaceful world. You shall be as Ilien the fair.”

Priam nodded. “Very well. What do I need to do? And mind you, do not ask me to betray my friends or try to stop their mission. I won’t do it. I want the warlord Shiavo dead. He killed Aeden’s family, and a lot of good people in Elbeth—most of whom were forced to fight for the nobility anyway.”

Yoruth removed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and pointed to the top of Priam’s wall. “Do you see that? Those symbols above the glass screens?”

Priam looked up at the strange markings:
MODELO DOS

“What do they mean?”

“Like I said, we don’t know for sure, but it indicates that you are a rohva of the second kind. Priam,” he said, turning to the boy, “I would never ask you to betray your friends. Frankly, they are on an honorable mission, and I will not attempt to stop them. But first, there is one thing that we need above all else. We need that mechanical toy that the master healer carries with him, and second, we need to find the three that remain lost. You can help me obtain the one possessed by the master healer, and later we can ponder on the location of the others. I have some ideas on those. Oh, I suppose you realize also that we will need the one that your father holds for the lord of Elbeth.”

Priam thought hard. “Why do we need those toys?”

Yoruth replied, “I believe them to be part of the key to fully understanding our nature. There are twelve of them, and twelve rohva kinds. I will reveal more to you when I know more, and when you prove yourself, for now I just have a few hunches. But having all of them I hope will confirm my thoughts—my hunches are rarely incorrect, you see.” He said with a wink.

“Very well then, I believe I can easily convince my father to let me see his collection, though with an occupying army in Elbeth, that might not happen for awhile ….”

Yoruth waved his hand in dismissal, “Do not worry, your friends will be successful, no doubt. The army will be gone within a month or two. What about the master healer’s. Will you retrieve it for me?”

Priam paused, and slowly nodded, “I think I can. Do we need it right away, or can it wait?”

“It cannot wait, my friend. The times of trial are upon us and I do not know how quickly events may proceed. Let us err on the side of speed.”

“Well then, I suppose if I can find the company, I can sneak into the master healer’s things when he’s not looking. The others will wonder where I have been, though, and it might be a little suspicious if I tell them I’ve been held captive by an associate of the warlord and he just let me go.”

“Very astute, my young friend. Truly you are wise beyond your years. I propose this then, if you concur. Return to your company, with a small band of the warlord’s soldiers as your hidden backup. Enter the camp as with the stone face of one of those soldiers that the warlord has in his control—they will then suspect you are also under his control. Before they can react, blast them with your rohva soul shock power. When they are unconscious, take the artifact and return to me. Later, when they assault the warlord in his stronghold, when they win, you can approach them and profusely thank them for freeing you from bondage.”

Priam cautiously stroked his chin, “It sounds possible. I don’t really know how to control that power, though.”

Yoruth smiled. “Fear not, my son. I can show you. With your skills, you will be a master of it within an hour, for you are one who sees clearly the truth before him. Come, let us return to the world.” Priam saw the man disappear, and he followed. Still strapped to the table, he felt someone untie his bonds. He got up and took off his blindfold. He opened his eyes and saw his captor, whose hand rested on the head of the companion. He received his instruction, and after more discussion and counsel, saw clearly.

The company awoke early, but was slow to break camp. For days the pace had quickened and all wearied of it, and so they lingered on the beautiful hilltop. The leaves on the trees were now solidly orange and red and brown, intermingled with the evergreens in their verdant coats. The weather was particularly fine that morning, with the early mist dispersing and the air warming to a refreshing level. Darla and Frederick bantered and joked. Stuart munched on his ever-present stock of provisions. Aeden and Rupert chatted, still on their beddings. Betha and Diana entered the mind of Gregory to assist him in healing his aging knees and ankles. Edwin, Arturo, Ellen, and the master healer exchanged stories and anecdotes of life in the capital city. An hour passed like this, all content and not desiring to immediately continue the journey.

The master healer walked over to where Aeden lay. “Aeden. I promised to teach you how to perform a mind shock, or a soul shock or whatever the kids are calling it these days. Come.”

Aeden got to his feet and followed the old man. “First, go into your mind somewhat, and find the controls for shocking that you have learned from master Arturo,”

Aeden’s eyes defocused a bit and he said, “Got it.”

The master continued, “Now, look a bit to the right, and you’ll find more controls. These are directly associated with the shock controls. The first one you see will store energy that you deposit there—which I will show you how to do in a moment. The second is how to release it, the third is how fast you release it—generally the faster you do the more powerful the effect will be. The fourth controls what I can only call the repetition rate, though it repeats far too quickly for us to consciously discern. Just keep it near the middle of its range and that will suffice. Now, direct your attention to me.”

Aeden concentrated as he looked at the master healer, struggling to remain aware of the controls at the hands of his mind’s eye. The master healer held out his hands, roughly in the shape of a cup, the fingers of each hand pointing to the corresponding finger of the other hand. “Do this.” The master directed. Aeden complied, still struggling to maintain his mind’s concentration. “Now, with the shock controls, initiate a shock as if you were holding your sword, but instead of a quick burst, maintain it. This is how you pump energy into the storage control I spoke of before.”

The old man’s hands suddenly arced with energy, lines of crackling lightning shooting between his fingers. Aeden tried. Sparks shot out from his fingers, but they flickered. He tried again and they flickered more. “Increase the energy you are supplying.” Suggested the master healer.

 He tried again, and this time, weak tendrils of energy shot out and converged on the other fingers. “Now, when the indicator above the controls suggests you have stored sufficient energy, release it, while simultaneously bringing your fingers together like this.”

He demonstrated. The lines of energy converged into one as the fingers approached one another, and Aeden felt a pulse in his mind that made him momentarily dizzy.

“Hey!” yelled Darla. “Cut it out!”

The master healer turned to her and bowed slightly, “My apologies, madam. Just a few more small shocks and we will be finished.”

Darla mumbled under her breath, “I’ll show you finished …” and continued her flirtatious banter with Frederick.

Aeden, still maintaining the energy between his hands, put his mind’s hands on the appropriate controls, and, struggling to coordinate four different hands at once, snapped his fingers together as the master healer had done while releasing the stored energy on his wall. He released the energy before the lines of crackling light had converged. His fingers seared and he yelled in pain. The other youth erupted in laughter, and Aeden glared at them as he gingerly rubbed his finger tips.

“Try again. Let us walk a distance from the others so you don’t accidentally knock them all out…”

They removed themselves fifty yards or so from the rest of the group and Aeden brought his hands together again. Energy leapt out, and after a few seconds of holding it steady, he brought his fingers together, releasing the energy a fraction of a second later than he had before. The master healer wobbled a bit.

“Good! Good! You did it. When your life is in danger, you will have to put far more energy into it, and greatly shorten the time of the energy dump. Practice here awhile. If you don’t mind,” he said, rubbing his head, “I will wait with the others since being here next to you would likely make me quite ill.”

“Master healer?”

“Yes?”

“Before we left Ramath, my mother seemed to be going a little crazy. She ranted on and on about finding Cassandra. She saw her killed, and held her dead body, seeing no breath escape. But she is convinced that she was mistaken, that she survived and was healed and taken somewhere. I thought she was insane, broken up by grief. But now, with all I’ve seen, the healing, the stone-faced warriors carrying Priam off, maybe, just maybe, might she be correct?

The healer looked out at the forest and considered. He answered, “Your sister is in all likelihood dead, as is your father. I could have possibly healed a wound such as hers, but as you and your mother said, there were none but the defenders and stone-faced soldiers about when she fell. So no, I don’t believe your mother is correct, and that she is speaking from grief.”

“Is there even a chance?”

“There is always a chance, Aeden Rossam. In fact, with the events of the past few weeks and months, very little would surprise me.” He touched his arm. “Practice now.”

The old man returned to the camp and Aeden resumed his practice. He reached back into his mind and held up his hands. The energy sparkled. He brought his fingers together and released. Snap. Again—Crackle. Sparkle. Snap. He spent ten minutes practicing the same motions, still frustrated by his apparent lack of proficiency at being aware both of his body and his mind. After a few more burnt finger tips he returned to the camp.

Grudgingly, their hearts still held captive by the beauty of the day and of the golden hilltop surrounded by brilliantly colored mountains and forests, the company packed up their camp and resumed their journey. “We are but two days journey from the southernmost towns of the kingdom of Volda.” Announced Diana, as they passed over the saddle between two peaks. They ascended higher and higher, and the air grew cooler. Deer and elk from the higher elevations now descended from their summer homes to find more fruitful grazing grounds. They climbed a ridge, a shoulder of the large peak to the west. Several ridges descended from the peak as fingers from a bulbous hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aeden caught sight of a wild dog, on the prowl. He looked farther along its path, and saw its prey—a small herd of deer, among which wandered several foals. As the company marched northward up the ridge, the deer scattered and pranced away to the west. Aeden watched as the dog made its move—it darted at one of the lagging foals, grabbing its hind leg in its jaw. The foal stumbled, kicking and flailing. The dog released its leg and lunged for its throat. Other wild dogs emerged from the undergrowth and joined in the kill. The foal twitched and brayed, and fell silent, the blood of life flowing from its neck and leg, mixing with the frothy saliva of the barking dogs. The other deer had now pranced far away, escaping the pack. 

The evening sunlight now slanted low through the trees, caught here and there in the dust and pollen and appearing as golden shafts out of the sky. As the sun passed behind the massive mountain to their left, they found a place to make camp near the top of the ridge looking out over the valley they would soon cross over on their journey to the north. The elder members of the group sat and rested on fallen logs or large rocks while the younger healers dropped their belongings and began the task of finding more wood and devising a setup of branches and stones by which they could cook a hot evening meal, for Gregory and Betha had decided they would eat well that night.

Aeden and Rupert, now fast friends, wandered off in search of firewood. The two boys walked a distance into the woods, stooping here and there to retrieve fallen dead branches.

Aeden asked his friend, “So Rupert. Any women in your life?”

Rupert bent to pick up another large stick. “Just my mom.”

Aeden gave a sharp laugh. “Thanks for the perfect setup! But that one would be too easy …” He chuckled, “no, I mean, girls. See any you like?”

Rupert paused, “Well, there’s not much variety out here. You seem pretty fixed on Betha. Darla acts practically as Frederick’s blanket. Ellen and Diana … hmm, interesting, but not my type …” Aeden shuddered. He continued, “Haven’t really given it much thought …”