Iona
Iona, caring a small satchel, wanders down the streets with Nero and a growing number of people. All the Borukins they pass smile or nod at the two. Iona rubs her fingers on her palms and notices them becoming sweaty.
Nero slows down. “Do you think we should be going this far?”
I knew he would be a downer. “Come on, just a little bit farther. Look, the park should be just down there.”
Iona leaves Nero standing by himself as she walks down the road. He eventually catches up and they weave a path through the Borukins. The buildings come to an end and a giant park is revealed. Dirt paths separate areas of thick, tall trees and foliage and open areas of well-kept green grass where Borukins lounge or run about. People walk down some paths that cut into the thicket and are gobbled up almost immediately by the plants. Little vendors are set up about the edge of the park, selling all manners of items. Iona and Nero stop at one booth with plants that have giant flowers of reds, purples, and oranges.
“Woo, neat,” Iona says as the flowers move to her hand while she waves it in front of them.
Other venders have colorful figurines of blown glass and souvenirs of the Borukin royalty.
Iona suddenly feels a surge of energy, right when Nero grabs her arm.
Iona spins around. “What is it?”
“Did you hear that?”
“I hear a lot, as there is a lot to hear.” Does he want to go back again?
Nero shakes his head. “Never mind.” He looks off towards the park. “I'm going to check something out.”
What? Is he losing his mind? It takes her a moment to realize he is already walking quickly through the crowd.
Nero ducks into one of the naturally wooded areas and sneaks through, stooping behind a tree and looking out. Iona crouches down beside him. A Borukin woman is arguing with a male vendor of another race, who is smaller and lighter of skin. He has a small portable setup that looks as though he could carry everything on his back.
The Borukin throws up her hands, accentuating the definition in her strong arms. “That's a ridiculous price.”
“Not if others will pay it,” the smaller man says with a cold face.
“It’s an intelligent and noble creature. They’re rare enough yet you'll sell it to someone that’ll eat it as a delicacy.”
“And some think they’re evil,” the man says. “I've heard stories where they've killed entire families. Maybe the world is better off without them.”
“They’re misunderstood and have suffered a near extinction because of it.”
“Lady, in the end, I'm a business man. I can hardly concern myself with such trivial matters. This is the price no matter what you plan to do with it.”
“I could just report you,” the woman says.
“You could,” the smaller man says calmly. “But you have no proof and they can't search my stuff without it.” The man puts his foot on a light colored perforated wood box. “Even with proof I would disappear before the police arrive. Your only options are to pay the money or leave.”
Nero clenches the side of the tree. “I'm going to save it,” he says in a whisper without facing her.
“Save what?” Iona asks.
“The creature in the box.” Nero turns to her. “You going to help?”
“The guy said that it’s evil.”
“It's not.”
“How do you know?”
“Just cause.”
“But you can’t just take it,” Iona says and Nero flinches.
“I can’t?” His face hardens and a strange fire glows in his eyes. “I can and I will. If you’re too scared, then leave.” Nero starts to sneak around behind the vendor's stand.
What the heck has gotten into him? It takes her a moment to regain herself. I guess I should try to create a distraction. Iona walks towards the vender and the woman who are still arguing about the price.
Iona grabs a small, blue little sphere with a swirling green light from the vendor’s collection. “Oooo this is pretty. I'm going to go show my friend. I'll be right back.” She turns around and starts to walk off.
The vendor removes his foot from the crate and grabs her by the shoulder. “Hey there. Not so fast.”
Iona slumps her shoulders. “Oh come on, I'll bring it right back. I won't be gone long. Just a second at most.”
“Are you out of your mind?” The vendor asks. “No way little girl, give it back. You can look but don't touch.”
Iona holds it out of his reach. “Please mister!”
“No.” He finally snatches it away.
Iona stamps her foot and frowns. “You’re mean.”
“Both of you are out of your minds.” He looks at the Borukin and Iona. “I'm running a business not a charity.”
“Well then how much do you want for it?” Iona asks reaching into her pocket and holding out some money. “I’ve got ten Anterren but I’ll only give you five.”
“It’s worth 200.”
“What!? What a rip,” Iona says. She cocks hear head to the side. “What is it anyways?”
The vender puts the sphere back. “It’s a Ethnohap gem that I bartered for from the Aquarians across the Sirean Sea. It was no easy task and you may never see another in your life.”
“Where’s that?” Iona asks.
“Bah.” The vendor waves his hand at her. “I’m not about to give world lessons to an untraveled youth as yourself.” The vendor spins Iona around and pushes her away. “Now go away, I don't need annoying little children hovering around.”
Iona slowly walks away and glances back. Nero is nowhere to be seen and the small box hasn't moved. What am I going to do? Was that long enough? She catches a glimpse of something off in the trees moving away. Nero?
Iona hurries and in a few minutes she catches another sight of Nero ducking behind some bushes. When she arrives, Nero is pulling off a beige hood from the head of a small, black furry creature that is clinging to him with dark stick like arms no thicker than her pinky finger. To Iona's surprise the animal has four arms in total, with stick like legs as well, an egg shaped body, a lighter colored mouth that looks like a beak that hardly sticks out from its head, and large blue eyes. Nero strokes the creature's head.
Iona feels like her chest is incredibly light and she smiles at the creature. “She's cute,” Iona says. “Or is it a he?” Nero shrugs. “How the heck did you release it so quickly?” Iona tentatively reaches out and scratches the creature's head.
“It wasn't too hard. There was a little latch on the box, so I just snuck around and popped it while you were talking to the guy.”
Suddenly a shadow blocks out the sun. Iona and Nero spin around.
“That was an impressive little move you two just pulled. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what you were doing.” The Borukin woman says with a smile. “Now what do you plan to do with your prize, young man?”
“It's not my prize,” Nero says quickly.
“Then it seems we’re on the same page. I would be very happy to see the Zarta back in the wild where he belongs,” the woman says.
“But we can't just let him go here. He'll be captured again,” Iona says.
“Here he would but I can take him away. I'm from an old mining town named Jasmeer. There are plenty of secluded areas for him to live in peace.”
“Did you know the Drebin where just near there?” Nero asks.
The woman nods. “That’s actually why I'm in the city but I heard things have settled down so I can head back immediately.”
“How can we trust you?” Iona asks.
“Well we could let the Zarta decide,” the woman says. “Have you named him?”
“It's a boy?” Nero asks.
“I believe so. Girls are typically lighter in color.”
“Okay, then let's name him Jacob,” Nero says.
Iona frowns. “That's no fun.”
“Jacob's a fine name.” The woman scratches the top of Jacob's head.
“So how do we let him decide?” Nero asks.
“Zarta's are very smart and good at reading people’s intentions, that’s why he was hooded.” She points to the hood on the ground. “If he’s willing to come to me, then that should be sufficient proof.”
“What will you do with him?” Nero asks.
“I'll take him back home and tend to him until he's ready to be released to the wild,” the woman says.
“You swear on your life?” Iona asks.
“I promise on my life and on the lives of everyone I love that I'll do what’s best for Jacob and help him back to the wild,” she says quickly.
Nero wiggles Jacob loose and holds him out to the woman. She slides her fingers into Jacob's hands, and after a moment he finally releases Nero's arms and clings onto her.
The woman smiles and pets his head. “He's in good hands.”
“Why did the guy back there say they’re evil creatures?” Nero asks.
“Well this little guy is going to grow much bigger than me and he’ll be very good with Aether. He’ll actually start to project his arms with pure Aether, which will make him pretty intimidating. As long as people don’t threaten him, he’ll be quite peaceful, but if he’s pushed he’ll push back, hard. This gives them a bad rep.” The woman glances back in the direction of the vendor. “I must hurry away before any trouble turns up. My name is Herith and yours are?”
Iona and Nero introduce themselves.
“If you’re ever in the area, you’re welcome at my house. You’ve earned my respect and I’ll never forget that. I hope to see you two again someday.” Herith quickly moves away.
Iona turns to Nero. “I can't believe you rescued that creature. No offense, but I thought you were scared of everything.”
“His name’s Jacob.”
“I know I’m just surprised. That was really nice.”
“Yeah well... It was the right thing to do.”
“How did you know it was there?”
Nero hesitates for a moment. “Uh. I don't know... I just had a feeling. Thanks for your help. You did good…”
“That was exciting. Do you think Jacob will be okay?”
Nero nods. “Yes. Herith seemed nice enough.”
“Yeah, let’s hope so. We should head back soon; Sosimo’s training is probably almost over.” Iona smiles at him. “You know, you’re not so boring after all.”
A small smile spreads on Nero's face and he looks away.
*****
Over the next month, the children continue to work their routine with Sosimo, and during Aether lessons, Iona and Nero explore the city.
“So what do you want to do today?” Iona asks as she walks down the street with Nero.
“Should we explore the park?”
“Nah, we did that yesterday. Let's go to the west side.”
Nero shakes his head. “No way.”
“Aw, are you chicken?” Iona says.
“Hey. Last time we went there you got us so lost and I had to hold your hand because YOU were scared.”
Iona blushes. “It wasn't that bad.”
“Yeah it was. I had nightmares about it for a week.”
“About being lost?”
“No about holding hands.”
Iona punches him in the arm. “You jerk.” She turns away from him and smiles to herself. I'll have to make up for getting lost. She waves her hand over her head. “Come on. I won't get us lost this time.”
Nero sighs. “Fine, but I'm not holding your hand.”
Iona marches forward, pretending to not have heard.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, Nero suddenly grabs her arm and pulls her to the side. He squats down and peers into a cluster of bushes at the base of a rough stone building.
“What is it?” Iona asks.
“I hear something.” He moves around for a better position. “Look there, at the bottom.” He points into the bush.
Iona follows his finger with her eyes and just at the bottom of the bush is a chirping baby bird. She looks up and sees a nest a few stories high in a nook by a window. “The poor thing must have fallen out of its nest. Do you think it's okay?”
“The bushes probably broke its fall, but I don't think it'll survive down here.”
“That's so sad. I wish there was something we could do.”
Nero eyes the building and its rough stone face. “We could put it back.”
“Are you crazy? How do you suppose we do that?”
“Well look.” He grabs a stone emerging from the building. “The stones have enough grip we could climb up here. Then work our way along that edge where there’s a little more lip, which will take us to the window.”
“But it's so high, what if you fall?”
Nero raises his eyebrows. “So I'm getting voted to go?”
“I'm not doing it. That's just stupid.”
“Aren't you always giving me a hard time for being scared?”
“Yeah, but that's because you’re scared of little things, like the dark and exploring and strange sounds. Where do you get the nerve to climb to your certain death?”
“Jeeze. Thanks for being optimistic. At least help me pick it up.”
Iona grabs his arm before he reaches into the bush. “Wait. I don't think you want to touch it and you're going to need both hands when you climb. Give me a second.” She empties her satchel and puts the baby bird inside, wrapped in cloth. “Here, just be careful.” She feels a surge of energy and sees his eyes are clear and focus.
“Sure, no sweat.” He tenderly puts the satchel on and begins to climb. When he is a story up, his foot slips but his hands stay firm.
Iona gasps. “Nero! Are you sure this is a good idea? Because I certainly don't!”
Nero looks down at her, his face is red and his forehead glistens with sweat. “I'm already half way up. Would you stop your nagging and help me?!” He climbs a little higher.
Me nagging? “You’re lucky I care at all!”
Nero turns back down again. “What did you say?”
“I said... just don't fall.”
Nero shakes his head and continues to climb. “Very helpful,” he mutters to himself.
“Hey! I heard that!” What did he say?
Nero makes it to a ledge, and, hugging the wall, he shimmies across two stories above Iona. He makes it to the window and pulls the satchel around with hardly enough room to balance. Iona holds her breath. Using only one hand, he slowly reaches into the satchel and removes the baby bird, carefully placing it back in the nest among two other babies.
Nero looks down at Iona. “Alright, it's back. I'm heading down.”
“Be careful!”
Nero works his way back across the ledge with little effort and starts his way down, which proves to be much more difficult then going up. He struggles to see good places to put his feet and hands, and it takes him several minutes to lower himself half way. Suddenly his right hand slips and he swings around like a barn door, barely gripping on with his left. Just as his left foot slips off the wall, he turns and jumps, landing hard at the edge of the bushes and the stone path.
He rolls onto his back and curls his knees to his chest, with his eyes tightly shut. “Ooooo that hurts.” His left ankle seems to be hanging limp.
Iona runs over. “That's your own fault! I told you not to fall.”
“It was a controlled decent.”
“Oh, is that what that's called?”
“Yeah it is. Maybe if you would’ve been a little more helpful I wouldn't have had to.”
“I told you this was a stupid idea… Are you okay?”
Nero moves his ankle weakly. “I think so. I rolled it a bit when I came down. At least the baby bird's back.”
Iona smiles. “Yeah, I'm glad you rescued the poor thing.”
*****
The children sit around the breakfast table waiting to start eating their food.
“So are you two love birds going off by yourself again?” Korbin asks Iona and Nero.
“Shut up Korbin,” Iona says.
“Iona and Nero sitting in a tree,” Korbin sings. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage.”
Iona punches him in the arm. “That’s not funny.”
“Yeah Korb cut it out,” Ryder says. “They’re just hanging out together.”
Korbin glares at Ryder. “Whatever Ryder, you’re the one that always complains about Iona not being around.”
Suddenly Iona is overcome by an extreme heaviness in her chest.
“Settle down children,” Sosimo says in just above a whisper as he joins them at the table. “Can we please eat peacefully this morning?”
The children turn their attention to breakfast and are soon scrounging for the last bit of crumbs on their plate.
“Why are you sad Mr. Sosimo?” Thea asks.
“I have some bad news.” All the children immediately turn to him. “I had someone poke around back where you’re from and they discovered Fae’s death certificate in the Erohsian public records. It said she died of natural causes.” Sosimo looks at them with sad eyes as he waits for their response.
“That’s crap!” Korbin hits the table. “They killed her.”
Sosimo dips his head. “That seems likely.”
“How can they get away with this?” Ryder asks.
“We have to tell someone!” Thea says.
“I’m sorry children. There’s nothing we can do from here and there’s likely nothing we can do back in Sunta… The Erohsians have been doing this to humans for close to a hundred years. One more death won’t make a difference to them. This is why people are standing up to them. This is why Catalyst exists.”
“Then I want to join them and fight,” Korbin says.
“A child isn’t going to win this war Korbin. You must train and grow strong so you can contribute to their cause.”
“Then let’s train already. Why are we sitting around?” Korbin stands.
“I will train you as hard as you can take,” Sosimo says, “but chores first.” Korbin looks at Sosimo with a determined stare. “This is not negotiable.”
Korbin grabs his plate and heads to the kitchen, followed shortly by Ryder and Sosimo. Thea pats Nero on the back, who is resting his head on his arms. She moves off to the kitchen as well.
“I’m sorry Nero.” Iona looks at her plate. “We all loved her.”
Nero looks at her with blood shot eyes. “I know, but I’m useless and she was the only one who cared about me.”
“That’s not true. We care about you.”
“Maybe Thea…” He flops his head back on his arms.
“I care about you Nero…”
Nero looks at her. “You don’t have to say that.” He grabs his plate and goes to the kitchen.
I’ve been so hard on him…
*****
Later that day, Nero and Iona sit off to the corner of the training room to watch the lessons. They haven’t talked but she can tell Nero is still sad. Sosimo is trying to train the children to use their essence to move objects. Currently Ryder is wearing a circlet Artifact on his head that blocks out all his other senses and Sosimo is using another spherical artifact to excite his essence by putting it close to his skin then pulling it away. So far Thea is the only one that has met with success.
Iona looks at Nero. “Hey. I’m sorry I’ve been mean to you over the years.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just crabby to you some times.”
Nero shrugs.
“It’s just, whenever we were ever doing anything away from Fae and you were around, I’d feel really uncomfortable… like my hands would sweat and my mouth would go dry… It’s really annoying… I don’t know why it happens but it can’t be your fault.”
Nero looks down and sticks his hands in his pockets.
“Can you forgive me?”
Nero glances at her briefly. “I know I’ve been annoying… you don’t need to feel bad.”
“Well I’ve never had so much fun as I did exploring Kiats with you.”
He smiles. “It’s been fun.”
They turn their attention back to the training when Sosimo stops and pulls the circlet off Ryder’s head.
“Did you feel anything?” Sosimo asks.
Ryder blinks and looks around like the world is foreign to him, then shakes his head. “No. What’s it suppose to feel like again?”
“I can only explain it so many times,” Sosimo says. “Let’s try again. You’ll get it eventually.” Sosimo puts the circlet on Ryder’s head and continues what he was doing earlier.
“I don't understand why it's so hard for them,” Nero whispers to Iona.
“So could you really use Aether?” Maybe he was telling the truth…
Nero dips his head. “Yeah... but something's wrong. I’ve tried several more times but I don't feel the same. It’s like I can only use it sometimes.” He looks at Iona. “Maybe you should try.”
“What? I can't use Aether. I've never absorbed an entity.”
“I'm not so sure. I have a feeling that you might be able too.”
“How?”
“It's just a feeling. I'll be right back.” Nero hobbles on his sore ankle to the Artifact rack and grabs an Artifact similar to the spherical one Sosimo is using with the other children. He wobbles back and sits next to Iona. “Your essence is like another body part. Once you can feel it, you can move it just like your arm or leg. It’s just a matter of recognizing its presence. Are you ready to try?”
Wow it really seems like he knows what he’s talking about. Iona nods.
“Okay, close your eyes. Take some deep breaths and try to relax.” Nero moves to his knees and picks up her hand.
She feels a slight tickle in her hand that steadily grows stronger. What is that? Suddenly it disappears and she feels a strange snap of something rushing back to her hand.
“Woo, what did you do?” Iona asks opening her eyes.
Nero smiles and shows her the little sphere. “This thing somehow pulls at your essence. It’s weird but I can use it to gently pull your essence a little from your body then if I jerk it away, your essence snaps back, which I was hoping you could feel.”
“I could! How did you know to do this?”
Nero shrugs. “I don’t know, I just can see things different. It’s hard to explain, like a whole world of light. Let’s try it again.”
Nero repeats the process a few more times until the sensation in Iona’s hand becomes stronger.
“So that’s your essence you’re feeling,” Nero says. “Do you feel a tension or something in it when you relax?”
Iona closes her eyes and relaxes, focusing only on the new feelings. Everything just feels right. “I don’t think so,” she says. “Why?”
Nero shakes his head. “Just curious it’s nothing. I want you to try to make your essence respond now. Pretend your essence is just another part of you and push it out of your hand into the world.”
Iona closes her eyes and pushes against what she thinks is her essence and feels it respond slightly but nothing more. “I’m not sure I’m doing it right,” she says. “I barely feel anything.”
“No you’re doing it right you just need to do it more.” Nero brushes his hand over his head looking to the side with an unfocused stare. He smiles. “I have an Idea.” He wobbles back over to the rack with the artifacts and after a moment of study, he selects a pendent hanging on a gold chain and then kneels next to Iona. “Now try again.”
Iona closes her eyes and tries again, this time when she feels something respond, she also feels it get pushed back into her leg. “What was that?”
“Your essence was just barely coming out of your leg. Since this pendant has Aether, I was using it to push against your essence a bit, hoping you would feel it. Did it work?”
“It did! It was weird.”
“Okay go again.”
They continue this for many more times and as Nero pushes her essence back it becomes easier for her to push it out. They do this until she can easily push her essence from any part of her body.
“You’re getting it Iona, nice job. Are you up to try to move it now?”
“Yeah! How do I do that?”
“Do the same thing, but now you need to probe the pendant a bit with your essence. Once you do that enough it’ll start to feel more real and then you can move it. Just give it a shot.”
She closes here eyes and reaches out for the pendant. She feels a strange snag as she senses the pendant and then continues to poke it. After a moment it begins to feel more tangible and she pushes it.
“You moved it!” Nero gasps.
Iona opens her eyes and sees Nero smiling. “I can use Aether!”
“I knew you could.”
Iona jumps up. “I'm going to show the others. Maybe I can train with them now.” In her excitement she fails to notice the smile fall from Nero’s face as she grabs the pendant and hurries over to the others. “Sosimo, I can use Aether!”
“Really? But I thought you never absorbed an entity,” Sosimo says.
“I know. Or at least I don't remember. Maybe I absorbed one when I was little?”
“Perhaps, that would explain why you were so hesitant to go for one in the mountains. I’ve heard of a ceremony by a group of humans called the Daynin, it doesn’t sound gentle so it could have been a traumatizing experience.”
Am I Daynin? “Where do they live?”
“They lived all over the world but I believe most of them integrated into society a long time ago. Maybe your parents had a similar belief or maybe you absorbed one by accident… There are an endless number of possibilities and I’m not sure you’ll ever find out…” Sosimo thinks to himself for a moment and puts a new toothpick in his mouth. “Are you going to show me what you can do?”
Iona hands him the pendant and he looks at it curiously. She closes her eyes and again pushes against it with her essence.
“Wow great. It looks like you can train with us now,” Sosimo says.
Ryder throws his arm around Iona. “Awesome.”
“What made you pick this Icor Amulet?” Sosimo asks.
“Oh it wasn't me. Nero grabbed it.” She looks over to where they were seated and Nero is gone. Her heart suddenly drops.