The Obsidian Crown, page 8
“Debating whether or not you want to be a part of an undercard again?” Alaria asked.
“Maybe,” he said.
“You know, if you want to, during your third year if you focus on valor, I could speak with your professor. We might even be able to turn this into a classroom for you.” She offered a bit of a smile. “But of course, if we do that, then—”
“Then your take is greater,” Dax said.
“Why, of course. If I’m a part of an education, you would be paying me.”
“I’m not paying for the privilege of potentially getting injured here. In fact, I think you still need to be paying me, because we did build up the arena. Perhaps we should have talked about it in terms of an investment in the arena itself.”
She smiled tightly. “If only you had,” she said, and then she laughed.
“Would you have?” Dax asked.
“Perhaps,” she said, shrugging slightly. “But we will never know, will we?”
It was an element of negotiation the Dax hadn’t even considered. What if he had tried to negotiate for a larger take of the arena itself—was there anything more he would’ve been able to gain from that?
Maybe he could have taken a better cut.
And if so, he wondered what that might have looked like.
Intriguing.
When the bout was over, there was another set of tour combatants that included an older, pale-haired woman and that had a simple efficiency to them. There were a few more, and finally Dax saw somebody he was familiar with.
When Malone came out, he moved through the arena with efficiency, almost as if it were a dance. He darted past one creature, knocking it down, then moved to another, jumping past it and raced through.
Alaria sat back, a bit of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“He has decided to call this arena his home arena,” she said. “I do hope that others will follow, but he has a bit of reputation as well, and he is certainly appreciated.”
“I didn’t realize that somebody would do that.”
“Oh, every person on tour needs to have a home arena. An affiliation, if you were. And Malone chose us. I think he had a good experience with his first few bouts, and he liked the challenge.”
As he worked through it, Dax couldn’t help but marvel at his skill. There was a certain gracefulness to it.
And when he was done, he looked up at Alaria, swept his head down in a bow, then strode away.
“That’s it?” Dax asked.
“Not it. A few more, then Vesiryn will come up. And even Malone realizes where he fits in the standings.”
“Oh?” Dax asked.
“Just wait. It is more work on my behalf to host somebody like him, more work on the arena, even, but the rewards are significant.”
“What do you mean that it’s more work?” Dax asked.
“Just watch,” Gia said, as if answering on her behalf.
And Dax paid attention, watching, a part of him curious whether he would be able to tell anything more as he focused. Yet by the time Vesiryn came out, Dax was not at all sure what he was going to find.
But he felt it.
The moment that everything began to shift, Dax could sense it.
There was a surge in the arena. It came through earth, as a trembling energy that began to build, rippling as it washed its way through the arena itself. The power continued to course, coalescing and building in a way Dax could follow. But he also noticed something about it that didn’t feel quite right.
Then pillars began to shift. The ground began to change.
And the arena changed.
In the center of it stood Vesiryn.
He looked…bored, if Dax wasn’t mistaken.
But he no longer seemed as if he had no essence to him.
Now he felt to Dax as if he were filled with it.
All around Vesiryn, the arena came alive. The pillars started to tremble, working their way closer toward him. Constructs popped up from the ground. Several different types emerged and all turned immediately toward Vesiryn, as if they were readying their attack simultaneously.
This was a different sort of bout than what Dax had seen with some of the other tour members.
“This is unique,” Dax said, sitting back and clasping his hands together. “What is he going to do?”
“It’s a speed round,” Gia said, “so we won’t even see him that long.”
“A speed round?” Dax said.
“Right. Sanctioned tour events need to have different types. Some are similar to the mazes, some are about how you navigate the arena, and then there is the speed round. There are minimum requirements for the constructs that are involved, but then the arena itself has to be part of the challenge.” She looked over at Alaria. “From what I can tell, it’s an expensive proposition.”
“Quite,” Alaria said. “But these few moments are worth everything,” she said.
Vesiryn still hadn’t moved.
And all around, Dax was aware of the arena intensity having picked up.
The crowd was unlike anything he never seen before. They were shouting, screaming, and wagering. He could hear it. Their booming voices were carried by the wind; some of it might even have been Alaria, though Dax couldn’t see her doing anything. It was a power that continued to build in a way that he could scarcely even follow.
More and more constructs began to pop up.
“All of that for him?” Dax asked.
“All,” Gia said. “Just wait.”
He frowned, staring, and as he did, he found himself curious. There had to be two dozen different creatures.
If it were him, Dax doubted that he would be able to withstand that.
At least, he doubted he would be able to withstand it just drawing on transference. If he were to tap into the essence node and draw upon pure essence, there was a very real possibility that he might be able to handle it, but even then, there would be a danger, a challenge to him and to what he might be able to do.
He waited, and when a bell finally tolled, signaling the beginning of the bout, Dax had been drawn forward, curiosity getting the best of him.
And Vesiryn surged.
Dax had never seen anybody fight like him.
He withdrew his blade, moving in one fluid movement, and then he glided toward the first of the constructs.
He powered through the construct before Dax could even see what he had done, and moved on, continuing to glide, probably using wind—though even with that, Dax couldn’t fully identify just what kind of power he was wielding—and shattered construct after construct.
It was all over within the span of moments.
And the crowd around him screamed.
“See?” Gia said. “That’s something you’ve not seen before.”
“It’s quite impressive,” Dax said.
And as he looked at Gia, he saw the fire in her eyes, and he knew she thought it more than just impressive.
That was what she wanted to learn.
But if Dax wasn’t mistaken, she would need to know how to tap into multiple types of essence. Because he might not have been able to feel what Vesiryn had used, but he could see that he had drawn upon quite a bit of essence, and he had used it in a manner that had been considerable and impressive. He might have even been using pure essence.
Chapter Nine
Dax didn’t mind being alone these days.
Too often he was surrounded by his friends, and while he appreciated them for the role they played and what they were trying to do, he also recognized that his friends were not able to do some of the things that he was able to do, and in a way, his friends were worried about him when he tried to push himself the way he knew he needed to. Increasingly, Dax couldn’t help but feel as if the only way he was going to learn what he needed to learn and be able to control what he needed to was by continuing to push his power to ensure that he could handle everything that might come his way.
Because now there were new threats that he had not faced before.
Something that would manifest and link to the pure essence node to attack him was a dangerous threat. But it was rivaled in its danger with someone who could influence him along the conduit. Especially when the conduit was not altered, and there was no change in the pure essence he used, as there had been when the Essendar had been trying to do something similar.
So he took his time and stood in his room, waiting, readying to manifest.
Until the knock came at his door.
He got to his feet, pulled open the door, and found Rochelle on the other side.
“What were you going to do?” Rochelle asked.
“I was going to look into what happened.”
“You’re going to manifest again.”
He shrugged.
“And you don’t think that it is dangerous for you to do that, especially with what you’ve been seeing, and how you’ve been attacked? You’re going to just do this on your own?”
Dax looked around and pulled her inside of his room, then closed the door. “I am not trying to do anything dangerous. I’m just trying to understand what it is that I do, and what it is that I can be.”
“And I think that makes sense, but you keep trying to do it in ways and places that are unsafe.”
“Nobody else can help me with this,” Dax said.
That was a hard thing for him, because increasingly, he did feel that way, though he hated that he did. He hated that it felt like there was nobody else able to understand what he was doing, and the way he was doing it.
But it was true.
“You don’t have to look at me like that,” Rochelle said. “I know what you’re thinking. And you know, there was a time when you were trying to work with me, trying to help me find the same technique, but ever since the attack, you have been avoiding it.”
“Because it’s a complicated technique,” Dax said.
“Not so complicated,” she said. She dropped down onto his bed, and she pressed her hands together, as if she were going to try to push herself out. “It’s a matter of finding essence, right? That’s what you were saying. You told me that it involved drawing upon a core part of your essence. I’ve been struggling with that.” She looked over. “Because in my mind, my core essence is water, and when you tell me that it involves something else, a different part of essence, different than what I learned about, it makes me think that maybe water isn’t my core essence.”
“Water is the essence that the Great Serpent gave you.”
Or at least, water was the filter that the Great Serpent had placed on her, though that was another aspect of power, and what they had been dealing with, that Dax wasn’t entirely sure he could explain to her. He had no idea how to put it into words that others could understand. Because if she could remove that filter, she would have the ability to wield essence differently than others. At this point, Dax didn’t know if he could help her remove the filter, but if he could, what would that do for her, and what would she be able to do with it?
Maybe she could keep up with him.
“Water is,” she said. “You know, everybody in my family has some form of water, but mine is a little different. I thought it was because the attack on the Great Serpent changed things, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s different. Maybe it’s tied to me in a way. Or maybe it’s because of the time that I spend around you.” She started to laugh. “Although I doubt you can influence my essence.”
“I might be able to,” Dax said.
She looked over. “You think you actually could?”
“I think there is a possibility I might be able to add or change essence,” he said. He did so carefully, as the idea was one that he had to approach delicately; it was not something he wanted to acknowledge too openly. “Essence can be transferred to you through the essence node. We’ve seen that. And I can help with that. I’ve already used transference other ways.”
“You have, but what you’re talking about is transferring power in a different way?”
“I’m talking about…” He sat down at his desk, and he turned to face her. “There is another aspect of this that I haven’t really talked about with you, or with others.”
He explained the filter concept. It was time for him to be open. “And if it works, I do think that I could strip away the filter, and give you the opportunity to grasp full essence. I think that’s what the I’haran do. And honestly, I think that’s what some of the people that we have dealt with who have had real power have done as well. Maybe not intentionally. Maybe they were gifted a secondary essence the way that my mother, and some of the others we know, were. But I also think that, over time, as you gain mastery, you can sort of give yourself additional essences.”
“And so you’re talking about giving essences?” She started to smile. “I’m glad you told me this before you told Gia, because you know how she would feel about this.”
“I’m not going to mention it to anybody else,” he said. “Even those that I think might benefit from it. Because not only do you have to be capable; you have to be willing, I think.”
“So what made you different?”
“Probably just the way that I acquired the essence in the first place, though I’m not entirely sure whether that’s it. And then it was how I continued to work with it, and the fact that the transference allowed me to understand the essence, the way that I was able to wield it in ways that I would not have learned otherwise.”
“So help me.”
“Just like that?”
“Well, if you think you can use transference and strip away this filter.”
“I think the real challenge is knowing yourself before you do that,” Dax said.
She frowned, falling quiet. “Do you want to help or not?”
“I do,” Dax said. “And I don’t.”
She snorted. “At least that’s honest.”
“I want you to know who you are, so you have an identity before you run the risk of altering that identity. Does that make any sort of sense?”
She was quiet for a few moments. “So you’re saying I need to find the essence that I was born with, and I need to wield that, and once I do that, not only can I manifest, but maybe you can help me strip away the filter and understand how to wield other types of essence.”
“Maybe,” Dax said.
But even if that was possible, he didn’t know entirely if it would work. It was the idea behind it that he didn’t really understand.
“Again, these are things that I’m not entirely sure about. I want to help you. I do. But let’s start with figuring out how you can reach for your own core essence.”
She was quiet for a few moments. “That’s what I’ve been focusing on,” she said. “Like I was telling you, I have always thought it was tied to water, and that because of my family, I was going to be tied to water. But my water is a little different, isn’t it?” She looked up. “And some of the things I do with water are a little different. I’ve been doing my water seminars, training with my instructors, and have learned how to do things like healing and that sort of thing. But it’s not the only thing I can do with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it’s more about me wanting to protect.” She shook her head. She stretched her hands apart, and water stretched from them. She twisted it, and it formed something almost like a blade—something unique, distinct. Something that Dax had not seen from her before. “I’ve been trying to work with water, trying to master the way that I wield it, and trying to understand whether there is some other element to it that I might be able to use. But every time that I do it like this, I feel…well, I feel this.”
He watched her, and he wondered if maybe there was something more that she could do with it than what he knew.
“You can still heal,” he said.
“I heal, but I can do more than heal, can’t I? And some of that I think you’ve been helping me with. You’ve been training me, and the others, to try to use the powers that we have so that we can protect ourselves. Maybe it’s because of the time I’ve spent with valor.” She shook her head. “Maybe it’s just me.”
“So you’re saying you have a violent streak in you?”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Not like you and Gia, but I don’t think I’m a pure healer. Maybe I never was, and maybe I never was meant to be.”
He was quiet for a moment, and he thought about it. “I don’t even have a term for my own core essence,” Dax said. “It’s just the part of me that I’ve known since I was young. It was something that my mother tried to teach me, wanting me to understand what I could do and how I was going to be able to wield essence so I could manipulate it in a way that would change things. But I have not given a lot of thought to what that looks like.”
“But you don’t need to. You sort of know it innately.”
“I know it, but I wonder if you’re right.” Her idea had merit. If he could know himself a little better, and could know his essence a little better, wouldn’t that mean that he would be able to use it in a way that would allow him to defend, and protect, in ways that he had not been able to do otherwise?
“So what?” Rochelle asked. “We both need to learn who we are?” She smiled at that. “Of everybody that I know, you’re the one person who I think knows the best.”
He snorted. “I’ve always been borrowing essence,” Dax said. “Ever since I came to the Academy, that’s what I’ve been doing: borrowing. Transference is useful, but it involves me trying to understand my essence, trying to understand the way I use it in ways that are different than what I have done before. The only time that I feel like I’m truly using transference is when I am connected to the essence node.”
“Because it’s unfiltered,” she said.
“Maybe. Or maybe I don’t even really have my own connection.” He shook his head. “I’m not going to complain. Some of the things I’m able to do, and some of the ways I’m able to use essence, are incredible. I know that. And had I not been able to do the things I’m able to do…I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
