ThePudding

  Chapter 59: Horizon Bearer

  TASTKA POV

  The hushed murmurs rose to a volume that made my ears twitch before the Grand One raised a hand, and the noise died down. Our guide was staring at us in concern, his ear twitching as well when the Grand One quickly spat out a string of words so rapidly I could catch only one or two.

  Instead of immediately transting, our guide had a very short exchange with him, then turned back to us – specifically, to me.

  “The Grand One wants to know where you heard that name.”

  His voice was level and serious, but I could see his tail swinging slowly. I was still tense, but as I gnced around, I saw that those who had been so shocked wore expressions more akin to concern and surprise than anger. Whatever I had said had stirred them deeply, but it seemed to worry them more than it threatened us – at least for now.

  I gnced at Fisk, but he just flicked his ears in an affirmative gesture, confirming that it was my choice what to share. I turned back toward the Grand One instead of our guide so he would know I was addressing him directly, trusting the guide to transte correctly.

  “That is very complicated and hard to expin,” I began, my tone apologetic as my tail dipped down in a gesture of submission. “You mentioned recent changes – and those changes happened to us, as well. One of those changes was a strange css that I don’t feel comfortable speaking about fully right now, because I don’t understand it myself. What I can say is that this name came to me as a result of that css, and I don’t know the significance of the name beyond that the one who bears it can answer my questions.”

  Our guide reyed this in rapid back-and-forth speech, because the Grand One responded several times before the guide finished. I caught a few words and was sure I heard the word female repeated several times in the quick exchange.

  At st, our guide turned back to me. “The Grand One requests that you step forward and allow him to use a rare ability upon you. It will not harm you, but it may feel strange for a moment. I suggest that you do so.”

  I bristled internally at that suggestion that sounded more like an order, but reminded myself we were still technically their captives. Yet I didn’t move immediately, and instead asked our guide, “I feel a little uneasy because I heard you discussing that I was female. I can’t help but notice your people have no women among them here. Is that something I should be concerned about?”

  Surprisingly, the guide’s tail swayed low to the ground, and his ears drooped in an apologetic fashion.

  “Please do not be armed or offended, but it is the way of our people to be very protective of our grown women. The Grand One should have been aware that the ways of your people are different, but he overlooked it. I had to expin to him that women of the Calen often perform many of the same duties as the men, and this is seen as normal for them.”

  The guide paused with another look of concern. “Please remember that you are strangers here, and so our women are staying in the shelters where they are safer. He only speaks out of concern for your well-being. But I know much more about your kind than many of the others here, and I understand that you are not refugees fleeing some danger.”

  One of my ears rose in a curious tilt, but I didn’t pursue the questions this raised, knowing the Grand One was still waiting for an answer. Yet I still wasn’t sure about this ability he wanted to use on me, so I hesitated and asked for crification first.

  “What sort of ability is this?”

  The guide’s drooping ears lifted in a half-amused expression. “It will allow him to see your affinities and any primary csses you have, and their levels.”

  I gnced down and brushed my lips with a fingertip, thinking. My tail rose, flicking in nervous anxiety while I considered my options. If our guide was telling the truth, it was probably safe. My [Soulkeeper] css was strange, but if he only saw the name of it, then it would likely be fine. However, if he got more information than that, it could raise questions.

  Yet we were still captives of these strange Aravel, and refusal might bring more trouble than a few awkward questions about my Status Menu. I sighed and lifted my head, stepping forward two paces.

  “I give him permission,” I said to the guide.

  That didn’t mean it would be free of consequence, though. I also activated my Pattern Sense ability so I could see how this ability worked. I had never heard of such a power, and I was curious to see what shape its mana would take.

  Said mana appeared simple on the outside, but was deceptively complex.

  As I stood there, the Grand One held out his hand, palm forward. In my strange sense, I felt a spiral of Lumen mana encased in a sheet of Pure mana arc from the Grand One’s head and pierce into my own. True to the guide’s word, I felt nothing more than a faint tingle—yet my tail twitched anxiously as I sensed the incredibly intricate bond forming between the two of us.

  The threads of Lumen were held in pce by even finer threads of Pure mana, with small lines of Flux woven through them, linking me to a far more complicated pattern that surrounded the Grand One’s head and pierced into his skull. I saw the Lumen activate, then withdraw, leaving behind a sudden fring pinch of pain between my eyes.

  At the same moment, the Grand One flinched, his tail lifting in shock. Had he seen something in my second css that he didn’t expect? Or was what I carried so strange it hurt him as well?

  The rest of the Council murmured in concern as the Aravel rubbed his head, but he held up two fingers in what was apparently a gesture meant to forestall worry. He spoke quietly and quickly to them – too fast and soft for me to catch any words – then turned to our guide and spoke in the same way.

  I hadn’t learned as much as I wanted from that glimpse, because the ability was far too complex for me to recreate from memory alone. My tail’s nervous twitching slowed as I noticed that the Grand One’s words seemed to calm the tension in the air.

  “Did something go wrong?” I asked. “That hurt for a moment, but the pain’s already faded. I thought you said it wouldn’t injure me?”

  The guide flicked his ears downward. “The pain was not normal, but the Grand One says it seems to be because something strange is within your csses. You did warn us of such, and the ability worked as normal otherwise. He says he sees no reason to disbelieve you, and the only remarkable thing is that your affinities are unusually high for a Calen, especially one of your level.”

  I let out a slight breath. “Yes. My affinities, especially in Flux, are much higher than most my age. That’s one of the reasons I was chosen to go with the others.”

  I didn’t mention that while that was true, the real reason was that I’d been the one to provide both direction and objective. I wasn’t sure why the Grand One had wanted to see my css like that, but it had definitely caused the Council to debate heatedly among themselves.

  I looked toward our guide and said quietly, “I do hope we’re going to get some answers for all this… or at least be allowed to continue our journey.”

  Fisk stepped forward and quickly said to our guide, “We’re willing to just continue on our way. We only stumbled upon you because of the rain while trying to get our bearings. If it’s any trouble, we can simply move on.”

  Before the guide could answer, the Grand One turned and spoke again, forcing him to split his attention. With an ear dip of acknowledgment to the Grand One, the guide turned back to us and transted once more.

  “You misunderstand our concern,” the guide said. “The Grand One was assessing your abilities because we fear you are heading into danger. He has given me permission to expin the situation to you.”

  The guide took a long, deep breath, then pced his hand upon his chest.

  “Allow me to expin. My name is Kes, and upon my rise to the Choice, I was given the option – and selected – a new css called [Horizon Bearer]. I chose this css because my family has often been the one to urge contact with others beyond. We usually take [Scout], or [Ranger], or sometimes [Hunter] when the choice is presented to me. My ancestors have always been interested in what lies beyond, and in this generation I became interested as well. Some of my family share that interest… but I am the only one who chose the [Horizon Bearer].”

  His accent was still strong, and some of the ways he described his family and his “Choice” were confusing to me. I grasped that “the Choice” was simir to our own Choosing, since he used nearly the same word. The rest was still unclear, but he wasn’t finished speaking.

  “My ancestry often goes farther beyond the edges of our vilge than the others do,” Kes continued. “In those journeys, we have encountered other Calen, and some of another kind who called themselves Sylen. The elves we met sometimes spoke of the one you seek. The way they spoke of them was simir to how we speak of our guiding mother, Kassara. We never met them, but they must have been someone very important to the Calen.”

  He hesitated then, his tail beginning to flick more quickly, agitated by something. “It has been more than one life since we st saw those Calen. The stories they told entertained us, so when they no longer wandered close to our vilge, we thought them dead. Even if they still live, this Kesseken you speak of must surely be dead by now… it has been more than a lifetime, perhaps two, since we first heard that name.”

  As Fisk and the others all looked at one another, my tail started to dip as my stomach twisted. Dead? Had my other self send me after someone long gone? I had a fsh of memories from before, of how warped those visions were before we’d spoken directly. They had tried to expin they saw time differently… did they simply not understand it?

  Fortunately, Kes spoke again before I could fully process the news.

  “They were also called the Green Tender,” he continued. “It may be that the name is passed down as part of a title. We once did that as well, before we acknowledged that we are not our ancestors.”

  Now the Grand One spoke again and made a few gestures that made Kes perk his ears up, his tail lifting in sudden good spirits. His ears stayed high when he turned back to us, his good mood obvious.

  “I have recently–” he said a word I couldn’t understand “–and have wanted to do as my css demands… to explore further beyond. The Grand One has said that if you are going to seek out this name, you will be going very far. It would be safer for both myself and you if I guided you to the edge of our memory – and perhaps beyond.”

  Kes looked at Fisk as he said that, which made more sense to me – Fisk had already been established as our leader – and I quietly stepped back to avoid drawing more attention. I noticed many of the other Aravel were quietly murmuring among themselves again. Kes seemed very excited about this, but I got the impression that most of the rest of the vilge – what he called their “camp” – was less than pleased.

  Fisk looked to the rest of us and caught our slight unease, then turned to consider the Grand One and his offer. When he spoke, it was with great care.

  “We are thankful for this offer, but as you yourself have made clear, we are strangers. We accept your offer of a guide to the edge of your… memory, as you call it. I only ask that you let us decide then if we take him with us any farther. All of us are used to traveling together, and we cannot travel with someone we do not trust.”

  Again, the Council turned to one another and held a very hurried discussion. This one was much shorter and didn’t seem to generate the same discontent as the first.

  Kes turned back to us, his ears still perked with an excited quiver at the tip of his tail.

  “The Grand One accepts your terms.”