The Edge of Shadow, page 39
part #5 of The Kin of Kings Series
Eventually others began to train with them. All still had to climb up and down the wall each day as they waited for a training area to be built, but Basen didn’t mind. He would often be called away during training to join Wilfre in some task, and he enjoyed showing off his skill by leaping up to grab the wall rather than using the rope.
Neeko continued to teach the manipulation of pyforial energy in Redfield stadium, though he too would need a more suitable training area as people showed real promise with the skill. Micklin turned out to be Neeko’s hardest working student. Basen walked by Micklin in the dining hall once and found the boy using the energy to move food from his plate into his mouth. It was almost painful to watch the agonizingly slow process, but Micklin was so intent on succeeding he didn’t notice Basen.
Wilfre had sent demands to Tenred to bring Crea Hiller to the Academy, alive or dead. Everyone was prepared to get Fernan involved when Tenred refused, so it came as a surprise when an envoy came in a carriage to present her dead body. She’d been stabbed in the heart but also in the back. Basen found it fitting considering everything she’d done to the Academy. He just wished the envoy would tell them who had done it so Basen knew who to thank if they ever met.
Kyrro scouts investigating the neighboring territory reported battles beginning in Tenred as men tried to claim the crown. After all the deaths in both territories, but more so in Kyrro, the armies were of nearly equal strength now. Basen was glad when Wilfre agreed that they shouldn’t get involved, and he was even more glad when Fernan came to the same conclusion.
Fernan gave Alabell the choice to return to the castle to be the head healer as she’d been training to do before this all began, but she’d already decided to stay at the Academy. She spent her days in the medical building treating the injured from the war. Basen didn’t know whether she would stay there as a healer or become an instructor, but she seemed happy to do either, and so was he.
Eventually she told him what she’d been writing: a true story of the war. Many people undoubtedly would write and sell the tale in hopes of exploiting the people’s natural interest, but no account would be as accurate as hers. She felt obligated, for her mother had spent years teaching her to write well, and she was one of the few people at the Academy who would have time to finish it. Basen was flattered to the point of embarrassment when she told him he would be the hero of the story, but he could tell from the way she spoke about this project that it was bigger than the two of them. He would never ask her to change anything or stop, as uncomfortable as it made him.
It was a solemn day when all the new names were added to the red wall of Redfield. The number of fallen exceeded those still alive who had been with the Academy from the beginning. Many came by to pay respects, Basen included. He took his time to think about Nick and Alex when he found their names, specifically how much he missed both of them even though he’d barely gotten to know them. Many people would rekindle their anger for Sanya that day, but she would not be put back in prison. Everyone could see how hard she was trying to fit in. She showed up at one point and spent most of the brief time staring at the ground with a guilty look.
Basen thought of Peter next. He’d been angry enough at Basen for abandoning him in the Fjallejon Mountains that he’d gone against the Academy, protecting Abith when he had tried to kill Terren. The act must’ve taken more bravery than most men could muster, especially when Peter realized the kind of company he’d associated himself with and returned to the Academy’s side. Basen would try to honor the warrior’s brave spirit as he continued to use his sword.
Eventually his thoughts shifted to Jackrie, reminding him of his test to get into the Academy. Had Basen performed for someone less understanding, like Penny for example, he might’ve failed right after his botched fireball and never would’ve made it into the Academy. Jackrie reminded him of Alabell in how much she cared about everyone. He would never forget how she’d given her life so Cleve and Annah could escape.
Terren…the school seemed less alive without him. Whenever Basen found himself wondering if his ideas about the Academy were good, he’d ask himself what Terren would say, and he’d always gain confidence. Everyone here might’ve been killed if it wasn’t for Terren’s quick thinking to get them into the forest. Basen was certain that if the late headmaster had survived, he would’ve come up with a plan similar to the one Basen used to win the war.
He somehow felt close to all of these people while standing here near the wall. He was thankful that no one disturbed him and he was able to stay here and remember his fallen comrades for hours. By the time he finally left, he felt changed, as if part of them had come with him.
Basen participated in many of the discussions between Wilfre, Jack, and Fernan about their prisoners of war. Eventually they came to the conclusion to send them back to Greenedge. Everyone agreed there was little risk of them returning to Kyrro.
Cleve had resumed his warrior training for the first week since the Redfield announcement, dominating the surviving Group One warriors. Eventually Sneary suggested Cleve try a few training sessions with Abith to see if it would be a good fit. Cleve might not have the same skill over bastial energy as Basen and Sanya, but he’d demonstrated the ability to focus the energy into his muscles already, and he didn’t have much room to grow among the other swordsmen.
Cleve seemed to relish the challenge of facing Abith, Basen, and Sanya, but all for different reasons. Abith seemed to be the only swordsmen left who could beat Cleve in an honest duel, though he would lose just as many as he won. Basen could catch Cleve off guard with surprise blasts of energy and bursts of speed, though it was his only chance to score against the superior swordsman. Cleve still beat him most of the time.
Sanya had the strongest weapon of all, her psyche. She was still learning how to use bastial energy to fight with more speed and strength, but even without honing that talent, she could beat any of the rest of them when she pained her opponent with psyche.
Basen knew her advantage wouldn’t last long. The three of them were already talented at resisting psyche and would only get stronger as the year went on.
Tauwin’s mother was still alive, as Sanya noted to Basen one day.
“Is she a threat?” he’d asked.
“No. She’s always avoided conflict, and she has no incentive to cause problems. There are other Takarys in Greenedge, though. I know nothing about them.”
“If they didn’t get involved with Tauwin and Ulric, they probably won’t now.” It was the best Basen could hope for. They weren’t about to go to war with the most powerful family in Greenedge.
Sanya still ate alone most of the time. Greg made several more attempts to court her but eventually gave up. Basen and Alabell would’ve accompanied Sanya during meals in the dining hall, but Basen already spent most of each day with Sanya, and that was enough. Her abrasive personality hadn’t exactly gone away, though he could tell she was working on it. Her biggest problem was severity, as nothing was casual to her. Every meal was to fuel her for training, and all her time spent training was to improve. During their time in the Tenred castle, she’d never learned to enjoy herself, and he worried she was gravitating toward the same disposition. Fortunately for Sanya, Reela had taken an interest in helping her. In rare occasions, even Effie would sit with the two of them during meals.
Basen had seen Sanya and Effie speaking but they’d always fall silent whenever he or anyone else came near, so eventually he stopped coming over to bother them.
“What do you talk about with her?” Basen had asked Sanya one day while watching Cleve work up a sweat trying to get through Abith’s defenses.
“Severe topics,” Sanya had answered. “The exact opposite of what you think I should do.”
Basen had constantly given her the advice to take life more casually, but he stopped after that. Whatever Sanya was doing with Effie and Reela seemed to be helping her.
*****
Because of Sanya’s crimes, she wasn’t allowed to be seen anywhere at the Academy alone at night, and she wasn’t allowed to leave the campus without permission from Wilfre or Jack. It didn’t bother her. Considering what she’d done, she felt she deserved much worse.
It was the first time in years that she had no plan for her future. She often went to bed worried that if she didn’t come up with a goal to work toward, she would wake up one day done with the Academy, having wasted her time. She had to continually remind herself that she had years to think of something, and it was important to relax. At least that’s what Basen had kept telling her until recently.
But relaxing was impossible when she saw Effie so frequently. The mage had demanded that Sanya visit her campus home every other night. The first time Sanya went, she didn’t know what to expect. The decision of whether or not to bring a weapon made her chew her nails off in deliberation. She was glad after she arrived that she’d decided not to.
With Gabby, Steffen, Reela, and Cleve all living in the small home, Effie met Sanya outside and said they would go for a walk. The mage had remained silent until they were out of the large area of campus homes. Sanya was surprised when Effie had told her that she would be taking Reela’s advice to speak about her feelings.
The first walk had been painfully awkward and full of anger and tears, but after weeks of the same routine, Sanya’s nerves were no longer on edge around Effie. The mage began to speak about Alex not as Sanya’s murder victim but as a memory. She would talk about the things he used to do, but never for very long. Instead, she had many questions about Sanya’s feelings toward her dead family.
Sanya hadn’t realized until then that there was much more than just anger buried in her heart. The agony of loneliness had been the worst of her childhood, but if she searched long enough she did find moments of joy she’d forgotten. She never questioned why Effie decided to keep up their clandestine walks, and she never skipped a meeting, as painful as some of them were.
Tonight was the first change of their routine. Effie requested that Sanya meet her in the training grounds of the Group One mages. Effie was late, making Sanya nervous as she paced around in the very place she’d killed Alex. She half expected the mage to come through the single opening in the wall with her wand out.
Effie was shaking when she arrived.
“What’s wrong?” Sanya asked.
“This is hard for me.”
It can’t be the place. She trains here every day, so she must be used to coming here by now. “What is?”
Effie took an akorell bracelet from her pocket, then broke the sartious casing around it. “I want you to take me to the spiritual world. I want to say goodbye to Alex.”
“I told you it’s dangerous to go there.”
“I remember everything you said about it. I still want to go.”
“I’m not sure he’ll even be able to hear you.”
“Then you can use psyche to speak to him for me.”
Sanya had gotten to know Effie well enough by now to realize that there was no changing her mind when it was set.
“All right,” Sanya said. “Do you have any questions before I open the portal?”
Effie handed her the akorell bracelet, and Sanya put it on.
“How long will we have?” Effie asked.
“A few minutes. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Sanya had been practicing everything she was capable of, including opening portals to the spiritual world. It was easy compared to forming gateways to other places in their world, which Basen now did with ease. Though he still hadn’t figured out how to open a portal to a place he’d never been before. Nor could he create a portal unless energy had been gathered in the same spot over time.
Sanya believed she would one day be able to maintain a gateway from one location in the physical world to another that was large enough to walk through, but for now she could barely make one bigger than her fist.
She opened the red sphere. Effie took a breath and stepped in. Sanya followed.
Effie muttered something in shock as she looked around. Sanya could see it through the mage’s eyes: the sharp, pure color, reds and oranges too vibrant to compare to the otherwise dull colors of the natural world. It was as if the energy here was alive, breathing. And everything was made of it.
Effie’s black hair was as white as snow, dancing around her back as she spun to look in every direction. The tint of her human shape was between orange and red, a shade darker than Sanya’s. Spirits wafted around them, floating clusters of energy. They were more complex than the energy of the landscape around them. Trying to read them was like looking at a page of jumbled letters. Only when their message was clear could Sanya understand them. She sensed them stronger than she could see them, like smelling freshly baked bread before spotting it.
She’d felt her mother’s spirit draining during the war. Sometimes Sanya would fall into the spiritual world during sleep and immediately start to nurture her mother, only to remember that she had to let go.
It seemed so long ago that she’d lost the feeling of contact. No one had noticed or cared when she’d spent that day in the corner of the basement of their temporary headquarters in the capital crying softly.
“What am I feeling?” Effie asked. “What is this? It’s like a bundle of emotions, with edges and colors. I can’t see it, and yet I can.”
“I thought only psychics could feel that. It’s psyche.”
“Alex!” she yelled.
“He’s already here.” Sanya pointed.
The clusters parted to leave one glowing sphere of yellow, like the sun breaking through clouds.
“It is him,” Effie whispered to herself. “It’s you. I can feel you close to me again!”
He hovered nearby. worry.
“I’m fine,” Effie assured him. “I just wanted to see you one last time.”
safe. tranquil. together with brother.
“Your mother misses you both, and so do I.”
love. He drifted toward Sanya. her?
“I’ve spent my life atoning for my crimes,” Sanya said. “And I don’t plan to stop until I die. I’m sorry, Alex.”
peace here. i forgave already.
Sanya’s eyes prickled with tears.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Effie said. “I’m losing memories of how you used to look, how you felt…I don’t want to say goodbye, but everyone tells me I need to let go.”
let go. live and love.
“I don’t know how.” She began to cry, clear blue lines down her cheeks.
forgive is the answer.
“I don’t think I can.”
A spirit of vibrant red drifted over to them. Effie let out a gasp. “Terren?”
yes.
A third spirit joined them, this one with a hint of blue among the red. Sanya felt a wave of comfort flowing through her as she recognized Jackrie.
The three spirits huddled together and spoke at once, each with the same message.
in death there is peace…do not regret.
you can cry but you must laugh too.
you can hurt but you must rejoice too.
live and love…we will always be with you.
Sanya suddenly felt her sister’s and her mother’s presences and collapsed to her knees. She couldn’t reach out to either like she had with her mother before, but she knew both of them still existed. It might’ve only been in Sanya’s heart where they lived, but it was strong enough for Sanya to know she would never lose them completely.
The spirits spoke in one final word, though it came out with such force that it lifted Effie and Sanya up from the ground.
proud.
The two young women drifted back through the portal and landed on the sand as the gateway shut. Effie cried into her hands. Sanya shed her own tears in quiet, cherishing the feeling of her mother in her heart.
“He’s always been with me,” Effie said. “And he always will be. Thank you for letting me see that. I forgive you, Sanya. I do.”
END
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B. T. Narro, The Edge of Shadow
