The Brightest Shadow, page 64
Chapter 48
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"We already face one terrible form of opposition: Koreinan Aryabaus. I do not know if he is one of the terrible Deathspawn masters who the Legend proclaims will stand alongside the Dark Lord, but he very well may be. If that is so, then we are already playing a critical role. For as the Legend says, while the Hero defeats each of the Deathspawn masters, he may be assisted in each battle by his noble companions."
- excerpt from a letter written by Lady Karerela of East Corah
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"Elima, is something burning?" Slaten had been uncertain about it for a while, but decided to simply ask. The old healer moved a bit closer to his bed, sniffed the air, then shook her head.
"No, nothing burning."
"I see. Then I'd like to speak to Graenin, if possible."
"I don't like having the old goat in here, but fine, I'll send one of the girls to ask him."
She left, and that was it. Slaten stared down at his hands.
After so long struggling to deepen his understanding of sein, he'd reached the next stage anticlimactically. When he flexed his hands and let sein flow through them, he could access the new pool that dwelled within him. As he waited, he discovered that it was much easier to smell the work of the healers than it had been to taste or feel it. But for the most part, this new power didn't flow well with the rest, as if he'd been handed a weapon unlike any he'd ever trained with.
Without a way to use the new sein directly, Slaten shifted to a position where there wasn't any pressure on his healing leg and began to meditate. Not on sein directly, but envisioning combat within himself. That, at least, was much improved. Before it was all movement and instinct with the taste of blood in his mouth. Though smell didn't seem like an important sense, it made his internal vision of combat much more visceral.
While waiting, Slaten tried to envision himself against Narenel, Hanfel, and Graenin. Though it was only an estimate, he was confident in his conclusion that he would lose to all of them. He didn't even try to simulate a fight with Destrela, since he hadn't seen her in combat. With Graenin, he doubted he could close the distance between them. With Hanfel, it would all come down to if he could break the other man's defenses. With Narenel...
"You'd better not waste my time with this."
He opened his eyes to find Graenin standing beside his bed and frowning down at him. Slaten hastily inclined his head respectfully. "Elder Balunel told me that if I succeeded in deepening my sein, I would need to speak with you, since you have the most mastery of this type."
"Then show me. Whatever art you have to circulate it, just demonstrate."
Slaten hadn't expected such a direct demand, but hastened to obey. Most likely this would determine whether or not Graenin was willing to spend any time helping him at all. Laeri had said he refused to have anything to do with her, so the bar might be high. All he could do was focus on his new flow of sein and draw as deeply as he could.
Before too long, Graenin grunted. "Your internal discipline is very good for a swordsman, and your new reserve of sky sein is deep, for your age. But you completely lack the training to make good use of it, so it might as well be pointless."
"I would rather not believe that is true." Slaten had almost contradicted him more directly, but held himself back. Graenin frowned and examined him closely.
"Perhaps it would be best to pool all your sein to use your current abilities. Balunel explained the water metaphor to you, I presume. Though it isn't as efficient, you can draw one well of power up into your shallow pool. That will increase your stamina and reserves when fighting. You will need some time to master the technique and increase its efficiency, but I can give a few suggestions."
In response, Slaten tried to do exactly as he asked. He could feel the sein within him and drew it into his body, following the Coran strength techniques he'd learned. Though he did feel much of it slipping away from him, he could also feel the strengthened flow.
Graenin stared at him, then shook his head. "Hmph. Mudmen."
"I've heard that before. What does it mean?"
"It is a technical term in Estronn, not one you need to concern yourself with."
Slaten stared back at him. "I would prefer to know."
"Well..." Graenin threw up his hands. "The types of sein you primarily use are properly known as earth sein and water sein. Those fuel the strength and speed that most physical warriors use, and many never go beyond that. What do you get when you mix earth and water?"
"I see. Thank you for explaining." It had obviously been an insult, so he preferred to understand the meaning. That also explained why Graenin was reluctant to try to teach him anything new. The older man watched him for a time, stroking his goatee, then sighed.
"I stand by what I said earlier: you would be best served by just using your deepened sein as a raw reserve. But if you think you can accomplish something else, then I will teach you the most basic of exercises. If you can gather sein outside of your body, I'll consider teaching you anything else."
Graenin quickly showed him the basics and Slaten failed even the first steps of the exercises. Yet he felt fascinated by the techniques in a way he never had been when trying to learn how to heal. So much of his training had focused on sein flowing within his body, naturally it would be difficult for him to grasp a skill that did the opposite. But he had managed it for his blade, so given time he felt he could learn this as well.
And if Graenin refused to teach him, he'd learn what he could himself.
~ ~ ~
Once, Slaten would have believed that having nothing but time to train would have been a blessing. But as his days stretched onward, he found himself dissatisfied. Simply waiting to heal wasn't enough. The healers had a rhythm of life and work around him, but for him, the infirmary was nothing but a series of moments floating in the flow of his training.
His leg felt essentially better, so he dared to sit up and swing his legs off the side of the bed. This summoned Elima instantly, who swatted his head as she came up behind him.
"Don't go injuring yourself again!"
"Am I still not healed?" Slaten didn't put any weight on his legs, but left them dangling off the edge of the bed. "I know the breaks were serious, but I expected them to heal faster than this. How long is ideal for a recovery?"
"As long as you have." Elima sighed and rolled her eyes. "But I do understand how warriors are. I've been doing this for a long time, after all. All of your critical bones and muscles are in decent shape. If you absolutely must jump up and fight people, you won't destroy your leg. But it would be better to sit back and let your body do the healing."
Nodding his acceptance, Slaten slid his legs back onto the bed, but spoke to keep her there. "And how long do you think my body will decide to take?"
"It really isn't as simple as that. As much as I respect working along with the body instead of flooding sein into every problem, the body can be stupid. If you set a bone improperly, it will grow back wrong. Now, we've done all of the basics. But when it comes to sein and flesh..."
"Wait... is that why you've been doing so much sein-intensive work?"
"Look at you! So much more observant than before!" Elima patted him on the cheek. Given that she treated everyone that way, he didn't feel too demeaned. "Yes, you could think of it as setting your sein properly. There's some sort of terrible burning I've been working to fix, but that's not the biggest part. You've been working on Coran strength, Oken techniques, that awful skin-rupturing skill, and heaven knows what else. Not only your leg, your whole body will take the opportunity to adapt to it all."
That matched his personal efforts to unify all his training, and Slaten marveled at how much Elima could pick up from sein alone. But her words brought to mind an obvious conclusion. "If healing can have such an impact, why stop at healing injuries? Could you continue and make the body fundamentally better than it was before?"
To his surprise, Elima turned on him with a serious gaze. "Most warriors with a brain in their skulls think of that eventually. Don't. The body is a delicate thing. Most likely you'd do something wrong and create some horrible side effect."
"Most likely?"
"Even if you did everything right... there are lines that people should not cross." Elima was still looking in his direction, but her eyes focused on something beyond him. "It is natural for the body to grow stronger as you develop your sein, but to try to manipulate it unnaturally... that will lead to a place you'd regret."
She said nothing more, moving away and continuing with her work. Slaten didn't bring it up again.
~ ~ ~
Though he could walk on his own, Slaten was still careful to put most of his weight onto the crutch. It made reaching the eating chamber painfully slow, but he hoped it would help his development. His leg felt good, but he was still adjusting to the new flow of sein. Given how the injury had happened in the first place, he didn't want to take risks there.
When he arrived, he found the usual crowd of resistance members scattered across the tables. He spotted more scars and grim looks than he remembered the last time he had been there, but otherwise little had changed. Tani raised her hand to gesture him over.
"This way, Slaten!" When he approached, she looked at his leg in concern. "Was the injury more serious than they thought?"
"Just taking my time to recover properly." He eased down into the seat opposite her and looked over all the food on the table: chopped cockatrice meat, roasted strips of aurochs, cut fruit, and fresh vegetables. "I didn't know they had things like this."
"They don't, I brought them back from the mission." Tani gestured to the table. "Please, enjoy! It won't stay fresh for long, and I wanted to share this with someone who would appreciate it."
Tani set to eating with obvious relish herself. Slaten allowed himself to relax for a time and simply enjoy the food. It was certainly a pleasant change of pace from the daily bread in the infirmary. But as much as Tani was enjoying herself, he could see that her thoughts wandered elsewhere. Eventually her eating tine halted by the plate and she slowly finished chewing before speaking.
"What Celivia guessed was right. Most of the 'donations' to the resistance are just extorted from local villages. Banditry overall has gone down, but only because the resistance has pushed out smaller groups. Most of what we eat here is stolen."
Slaten glanced down at the food and Tani shook her head with a quick smile.
"Not this. Narenel is a stickler for honorable behavior and so it was all purchased. But most of the rest..."
"And you aren't comfortable with that?" Slaten had suspected as much and still wasn't sure how he felt about it. Given his focus on training, it had been easy to let it slip out of his mind. Judging from Tani's expression, she had spent a long time focusing on it.
"I don't know what to think. In a sense we don't have a choice, since we can't simply leave, but I don't find that comforting anymore. I want to do the right thing, I just can't tell what that is."
"Have you ventured into East Corah? Do you think stopping the fighting there justifies the methods?"
Tani sighed, took a bite, and chewed it thoughtfully before answering. "I won't deny that I've seen some terrible things. Aryabaus does seem to be a brutal warlord, and I don't think he has any intentions for peace like Kolanin did. But I don't know if the resistance can actually stop him. If most of their actions are devoted to protecting and feeding themselves, isn't that just a cycle causing unnecessary suffering?"
"That's difficult to know." Slaten felt that he had no answers to give, but since Tani seemed troubled, he offered the best he had. "Back in Bundlin... I often wondered if it would be easier if we surrendered and let the mansthein take over. It would be worse for a while, but perhaps fewer would suffer in the end."
"The idea of the Nelee surrendering makes me unhappy, but I do admit I think about it when it comes to the Coran kingdoms. Which isn't a comfortable thought. I'm glad I can't actually make that choice for them."
"Even if we could, I'm not sure that we should. Leaders like Kolanin are rare, and even he only reduced the harm of occupation a little. When I hear about some of the atrocities the mansthein have committed, sometimes I think that isn't an option at all."
Tani nodded slowly. "For me, the question is if we could defeat them at all. Their armies are so much larger than anything in the Chorhan Expanse, and the average strength of their warriors is higher. I see why people cling to the idea of a Hero to save them, because it's hard to see another path to victory." She closed her eyes and spoke more quietly. "If you had to choose now, what would you do?"
"In my head, I can justify how one way would be better, but I can make arguments for the other side too. Ultimately, I don't really know what would be best. Trying to force things one way or another might just make things worse."
"Then we're in the same position." Tani sighed and toyed with the food in front of her. "I wish Eraes was here. She could tell us more about how things are on other continents. I've tried to talk with Celivia, but she doesn't seem to like the subject. And most of the others just want to save their home."
"And you can't blame them for that."
"No, but I'm troubled by how many of them talk about needing to kill all the Deathspawn. When I tried to argue that we're not getting closer, some of them actually said we just need to hold out until the Hero comes to save us. Slaten... almost no one seems to know about Melal, but do you think he might still be having an effect?"
"I have no idea." Slaten had been enjoying the food up to that point, but now his stomach turned. "Sometimes I think it's worth it, if it keeps him here instead of causing problems elsewhere. But he's started training sometimes, and he's getting stronger. More focused, too. I'm afraid that we're just delaying the inevitable."
Tani sat in silence without eating for an uncomfortably long pause, then gave him an uneasy smile. "So... what do we actually do? I don't like to just continue forward mindlessly, but no matter how much I think about this it doesn't seem to help."
"I really don't know. Part of the problem is that we don't know what the mansthein actually want, at least with East Corah. Sometimes I think it would be good if Melal and Aryabaus killed each other, but..."
"But they might just send another army, and another Hero would eventually appear." Tani sighed, then forced a happier smile. "Well, I wasn't expecting us to solve this all in a day. Thank you for speaking about it, Slaten. Let's see if we can't enjoy this food properly, shall we?"
Slaten nodded and they both relished the meal, speaking about lighter subjects. Tani was interested in his training and had some suggestions for his new efforts, since the sense of smell had always been part of her sein flow. It was enjoyable and he was glad to get away from the infirmary for a while.
Another part of him was eager to go back and do nothing but heal.
~ ~ ~
Though he couldn't spar, Slaten often made his way down to the training room to continue his work. He kept the crutch now primarily to avoid being sent out on assignment, though he heard rumors that they were short on trained warriors and Destrela would send him in sooner or later. After so long just preparing, he was ready to actually use his skills.
For now, he simply used them in further preparation. That day, he found the training room mostly empty, yet still noisy. Melal was lifting large rings of stone and hurling them into the opposite walls, roaring as he did so. It seemed that expanding his sein into soul senses had made him substantially stronger. By contrast, the others made little impression. Balunel was as placid as always, Hanfel was practicing palm strikes against a wall, and Celivia was almost invisible in one corner.
As Slaten entered, he discovered that there was one more occupant of the room: Walernel. The young man had been watching Melal in awe and turned away only briefly, smiling as he saw him. "Hey, Slaten! Good to see you here, I feel like you've been healing forever!"
"I have mostly recovered now."
"Hurry up, or Melal will leave you far behind! I can't believe how much stronger he's gotten - I can't even budge one of those rings!"
Slaten nodded to him silently and went to meet Balunel instead. The old man was twisting the tuning knobs on his harp without plucking any of the strings. When Slaten came to stand before him, he didn't seem to notice at all, stretching the silence out for a long time before finally speaking.
"Well?"
"I have been trying to merge everything as you instructed," Slaten said.
"Into a defensive skill, yes? Hmm, then you need someone to hit you, don't you?" Balunel glanced over his shoulder expectantly, waited, then sighed and threw a rock in Hanfel's general direction. "Hey, help out the young man with this!"
Hanfel turned to them, wiping off his neck with a towel. Though he smiled, Slaten found himself evaluating the power in his arms and hoping that Balunel wasn't serious about him being struck. Hanfel folded his arms over his chest and watched him.
"Alright," Hanfel said, "show us what you have."
Closing his eyes, Slaten gathered everything that he had learned and tried to focus it into the new form. His chest slowly filled with the stillness of the infirmary, quiet and yet purposeful, prepared to spring into action at any moment. He gathered the flow of his sein first, then tightened his muscles, and finally tried to extend his sein just beyond himself to provide a protective layer.
A jarring harp note disrupted his concentration. Slaten was about to object when Balunel kept playing, a truly discordant song that set his teeth on edge. It seemed to disrupt his sein as well, which was when Slaten realized that it was entirely intentional. Instead of an attack, it was more like facing a strong wind. Resisting it and gathering himself was difficult, but he struggled through.
"You seem a little confused, boy." Balunel frowned and began to play louder. "Do you mean this technique to defend against blades? Against fists? Against sein itself?"
"I..." Slaten had to swallow and close his eyes to reply while maintaining his technique. "I had hoped to do all three."
