Thunder Struck (7 page)
The others murmured agreement.
Kedna got to her feet and addressed them. “If you have a wild animal around you, do you cage it? No. It will claw at its cage and try to get out. The null harnesses are so you can get a good night’s sleep and feel normal
occasionally
. You can and will tear through its protection if your body has time to get used to it.”
They looked like they doubted her. “Pahla, did I summon weather outside?”
She frowned and nodded.
With complete calm, Kedna opened her suit and released the harness, pulling it out from under the fabric. “I was able to use my talent around the null harness without any problem because my body has solved it. It keeps the mood surges down, but I can consciously get past the mechanism now without any problem.”
Her novices looked at her with wide eyes.
Recadd asked, “What use are they then?”
Kedna sat down at the table again. “When I was little, my sister was a pusher. I don’t mean she knocked me over, I mean she goaded me into using my talent over and over for her entertainment. Her mind pushed at mine and my mind had no natural defenses. I had to be fitted with a bio-monitor because using my talent nearly killed me. My father is a healer, and time and again, he brought me back from the edge of death. If I had had this harness, or my sister would have had one, I might have been able to live my life with my family instead of going into fostering.”
The rest of them looked at each other, no doubt remembering similar incidences.
“I am not saying that the null harness would have ended my problems, but it might have bought me more time with my loved ones and some nights after I was separated from them, that was all I wanted.”
“What happened to your sister?” Pahla asked her.
“You picked up on that, did you? She was sent to Thoola Education Centre for girls. It is a Citadel outpost. I spent the first four years on Iskan learning how to sort my talent out, and then one day, I was on a Sector Guard mission with a jackass and putting my energy into a strange sky, restarting a weather system.”
Haedock laughed into his hand. “The jackass would be me.”
The table at large laughed but Sohosh was disapproving. “You have been with him since you were a child?”
Kedna shook her head. “No. The courtship has only begun. Last night in fact. We have never been in any illicit relationship. His ancestor would have killed him if he had tried anything untoward.”
Haedock muttered, “That is the truth.”
The novices were staring at him and Leyan asked, “Ancestor?”
Ked looked at Haedock, “Do you want to tell them?”
“You do it. You know her better.”
Kedna smiled, “Iskan is a sentient world. Inside it lurks a consciousness that controls its fabric and elements. It has probably had hundreds of Avatars in its time, but I am familiar with the most recent incarnation. Halwis is a lovely woman of the Iskanoi who became the Avatar after her husband died and all her children were grown. She is the living voice of the world beneath your feet, and she and Iskan have agreed to all the changes that are currently underway.”
Leyan leaned forward. “What is she like? The planet I mean.”
“Iskan is a male mind. He and Halwis have a relationship like a well-worn marriage. They speak for each other and switch conversations within one sentence. When her eyes are golden, she is Halwis. When the darkness swirls inside, you address her as Halwis-Iskan. When the eyes are dark, you are speaking with Iskan. The planets address each other before the Avatar, which I believe is just rude but that is my opinion.”
The group laughed. She rose to her feet. “Racadd, pull off that harness and let’s head outside. It is time to see what you can do. Leyan and Sohosh can practice in the fun room.”
Leyan was blinking. “You weren’t kidding?”
“No. Those foam blocks are really for you to play with. Go and pelt each other without your harnesses.”
Quen nodded and inclined his head. He beckoned to them and they followed him.
“Pahla, this is Master Healer Yini. She will help you to analyze your own talent, and if Sohosh throws the foam blocks like a girl, I am sure that one of them will have a minor injury that needs tending to. Tend, you are with the pretty ladies, I am heading out with Racadd so I want you all indoors.”
Racadd laughed. “It sounds like you don’t have faith in my abilities.”
“I don’t know what they are, so let’s give you a shakedown and find out what you can do.”
She headed outside with him trailing behind her.
He sighed. “I know that weather is destructive, but is there anything interesting that I can do with it?”
Ked laughed as they stepped outside and away from the building. “I think I can show some interesting applications.”
They kept walking until they were five hundred metres from the Citadel, and she turned to face him. While he watched, she called the wind and urged it to lift her up and away.
She flew up a few hundred feet and then slowly lowered herself to the ground. “Is that interesting enough for you?”
He whistled and applauded wildly. With a grin, he opened his novice suit and removed his null harness. He carefully placed it on the ground and stepped toward her. “Teach me.”
She picked up the harness and tucked it on her belt under the robes. “Show me what you can do.”
Racadd shoved his fist to the sky and a bolt of lightning streaked out of the cloud to strike the ground just ahead of them.
Ked snorted. “Men. What else? A member of the Sector Guard can’t just be used in battle situations; they must be able to be useful to planets in need.”
Racadd called down a gentle rain, but his face showed that it was a tremendous effort. He swayed.
She laughed and watched until he couldn’t hold himself upright. “Right. Okay, you have a lot of potential, but your actions would have doomed the northern continent to a drought.”
He was sitting on the damp earth. “Would have?”
“You are here with me, so I shielded this area from outside influence. As we speak, I am pulling water out of a nearby lake to make up for the lost moisture you just squeezed out. You have to work with your environment. You, my friend, need to study meteorology.”
She reached out and hauled him to his feet. “I can show you some methods to work on minute control. You have the gross control down, but you need to work smaller. I believe you would do well to practice indoors or in the weather dome.”
“Weather dome?”
Kedna walked back toward the Citadel. She pointed to the far right. “There. It is attached to the Citadel by a tunnel so you can get there without facing the natural weather.”
“Isn’t that the point?”
“Not really. You need to learn from natural weather, not be drenched in it. I have a series of educational vids for you to study to get you started. When you deal with weather, each move, no matter how small, has a global effect. The lightning you forced could have dissipated the power of the cloud formation and stopped the rain from falling on the other side of a mountain range.”
He frowned and looked worried.
She laughed, “It is a tremendous burden to bear, but it is also very cool. Let me show you the tempest in a teacup. It is one of the stress tools that I was taught, and it never fails to calm me down. It is also a lovely party trick.”
Inside, she sat him down in the empty commissary, and she held out her teacup, pulling the steam into a cloud and getting the cloud swirling with lightning sparking.
He blinked and grinned. His grin showed how young he truly was. His body was a man’s, but he hadn’t grown into it.
“How do you do that?”
She talked him through putting a pressure system on top of the tea and using the heat to generate everything that came afterward. It took him nine cups of tea, but he eventually got a dense fog with dripping rain going.
She applauded and he grinned. She felt like cheering. He didn’t have as much raw power as she did, but properly trained, he would be formidable in a very short period of time.
When the others slowly drifted in for mealtime, Kedna had to stifle a laugh. The two telekinetics had their hair standing out at odd angles and were carrying dozens of bruises. Both were grinning wide.
Haedock came to Kedna’s side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Congratulations. You did what you set out to do.
What was that?
In the absence of fear, greatness can flourish. They are beginning to flourish.
She smiled and got to her feet. “Enjoy the rest of your day. Do what you like and don’t over tire yourselves. You have plenty of time to get control. Today was just about seeing what you were comfortable with.”
Racadd smiled. “Thank you.”
The others murmured thanks, but they were all clearly exhausted. Ked knew that look. They were going to pass out the moment they lay flat.
Three months later, Kedna’s family arrived. They were just in time for the wedding.
Leyan and Sohosh were so fond of pelting each other with foam that they decided to form a partnership.
Racadd stood up for Sohosh and Pahla held the bouquet of flowers grown in the green dome by the new horticultural talent.
All twenty of her Citadel novices were there, her family was there and Haedock was standing next to her as Halwis-Iskan formalized the union and recorded it for all archives.
Dancing to the music of the
Phantom Band
as played by the bride and groom, Kedna heard, “Will you marry me?”
She nearly wilted against him. “Yes. It is about freaking time.”
He laughed and spun her around.
Halwis looked at them and the ground shivered under them. “Finally!” She took off skyward and a shimmering wave of light emanated from her. When she landed, there was a delighted grin on her face. “Sorry, I couldn’t contain myself.”
Several folk had not seen the Avatar in full force, so the flight took them aback.
The invisible band played on.
Back at her home, she smiled at Halwis-Iskan and stood next to Haedock with her family standing behind her.
Haedock held her hand and she squeezed his just as tightly.
Halwis-Iskan smiled at her. “Kedna, you arrived on our world as a frightened child with tremendous power. You were determined not to hurt anyone but rather to get control of your talent and protect yourself against interlopers. You turned into a confident woman who has earned the respect of anyone who has met you. Your transformation has been glorious and your career is only beginning.”
Halwis-Iskan wiped a tear off her cheek. “Now, that said, you are marrying the descendant of not only myself, by my daughter, Kiada. Haedock is descended from the kindest, strongest and most open minded of my children. Kiada had all the empathy that her father could give her, and she made it her own. I hope that Haedock will embrace that part of himself in dealing with the demands that the worlds will put on Kedna. He will need it.”
The Avatar sucked in a deep breath. “Well, now that the day has changed, we are free to join you two in marriage. Do you, Kedna Kencort, take Haedock of the Iskanoi as your husband?”
Kedna looked at him. “I will.”
“Good. All settled then. Everyone clear out. This couple needs their privacy.”
Her family hugged her amidst the laughter and greeted Haedock warmly. When they were alone, she looked at him. “Didn’t you have to agree to take me as your wife?”
He wrapped his arms around her and smiled. “I did. I agreed every time I asked you to begin courtship. My agreement is on the record.”
She was going to ask him to clarify where this record actually was, but he kissed her and so began her honeymoon.
* * * *
Halwis stood next to Racadd on the tower of the Citadel. “It will be a long night.”
He nodded. “I know. I will contain this just as she taught me to.”
She smiled.
He was determined not to let Kedna know if her wedding night caused a weather fluctuation. It was good practice for him and made him feel useful. It also showed him that Kedna could keep control under any circumstances, and that there was nothing wrong with losing control once in a blue moon if life warranted it.
“Good lad. Call out if you need me. I will be nearby.” Halwis-Iskan stepped out of the window and let the currents of energy surrounding Iskan sweep her to her mountain where she could watch over all the newcomers to her home.
Her heart wept when she thought of those she had lost to time, but it soared when she imagined what was yet to come. Iskan would be great once again.
Let me be frank. I started out a little unfocused again. Haedock was originally Hadock, and when I sounded the name out, I had to go out for fish and chips. Things went downhill from there.
For those who count on my books every few weeks, this summer (July and Aug), I am going to be travelling, so my release dates will be…unpredictable. I am not saying that I won’t try, but I might not succeed.
Thanks for reading.
Viola Grace
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.