The obsidian crown, p.9
The Obsidian Crown, page 9
“Good,” she said, getting to her feet and waiting. “Because if you were going to complain about how powerful you’ve become, and lament about the kind of power you have, I don’t know whether I was going to be able to sit here and listen to it. Anyway. Let’s keep working on this, and you can continue to help me figure out what it is that I do, and maybe I can help you identify your type of essence.”
“That sounds good.”
“In the meantime, I don’t want you going off and manifesting on your own. It can be dangerous. You’ve already seen that.”
“But I need to manifest on my own,” Dax said.
When he said “need,” she arched a brow.
“Because it’s the only way I can visit with some of these elders that I need to visit with. It’s not just the Silkshatter Queen; it’s the Tree Elder, and I’m wondering if it’s going to be the only way that I’m able to find the I’haran. Because increasingly, I’m starting to wonder if perhaps I do need to find the I’haran.”
She was quiet. “What if they don’t want to be found?”
“They are going to have to be a part of whatever is happening. If this strange dark energy that the Tree Elder showed me is real, and if it’s out there and building, I feel like we are going to need more than the help and safety that can be found within the Empire.”
“You don’t think the Empire can protect us? We did it once.”
“It was luck,” Dax said. “And I did what I could, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough if it happens again.”
That was his concern. When he had created what was essentially a manifestation of the Great Serpent, it had been effective, but it had been effective because he had used a significant force of transference. At the time, it had been nearly beyond his ability.
If it happened again, if another attack came, then what would he be able to do?
It was why he felt increasingly certain that they needed to get help from others of power. And the I’haran definitely had power.
“So I need to learn to manifest,” Rochelle said. “And I need to do it quickly. And maybe we need to get Cedrick and Gia involved just as quickly. That is, if you think they can do it.”
“I want people we can trust.”
“Who else can you trust? Desmond?”
Dax nodded. “Desmond. And I trust Alex.”
Rochelle was quiet for a moment. “We don’t know her, Dax.”
“Maybe it’s time that changes.”
“Probably. Especially with how much time you spend with her.”
He didn’t know whether he needed to acknowledge that comment. “And I trust my sister.”
“Do you think you can help her with this?”
“Actually, I do. She would’ve learned the same techniques that I did.” And maybe he needed to have focused on her before now. He sighed. “Well, while we are waiting to go to the Emperor, you have given me a new task.”
“Finding Megan?”
“No. I think finding Megan will be easy enough. It’s teaching Megan.”
“Why do you sound like you are concerned about that?”
“You don’t know my sister the way that I do. She won’t love learning from her little brother.”
Chapter Ten
Dax spent quite a bit of time trying to reach his sister, and given that he knew she likely had Whispers set all throughout the city, and throughout the Academy, the fact that she had not responded immediately suggested to him that she was either ignoring him or preoccupied with something. He did not know whether it was one or the other, but knowing that she had continued to try to reach the Silkshatter Queen, and that the Queen had been aware of Megan, made it so Dax wondered if perhaps that was what was tying up her time.
As he waited to reach Megan, he continued working with Rochelle.
They did so in all their free time. It was a strange sort of project, primarily because they were not focusing on schoolwork the way they once had been. He barely paid attention in any of his classes. For the most part, he didn’t really need to pay attention, anyway.
With transference, it was a matter of serving in the transference barn and doing whatever was needed there to ensure that he was keeping up with his responsibilities.
Valor was relatively straightforward, and given that he had sparred with Professor Garrison, the professor had taken a different approach to him, and had almost softened it somewhat.
Runes was more of the same, and because of his gift with transference, Dax really didn’t need much time to keep track of what they’d learned. And politics was an area that was only of passing interest to him, so while he did pay attention in it, because he knew that he had to at least keep some focus, Dax was not concentrating nearly as much as his friends were on politics, not even bothering to use any bit of transference to master the material. The only time he had ever really cared about politics had been when they had learned about the attack on the southern border.
Then there was essence manipulation. At a time when he had first come to the Academy, essence manipulation had been one of Dax’s hardest classes. In a way, it was still was difficult, but that was simply because the techniques were not any that he could easily utilize. It was strange, primarily because he didn’t have any access to any of the core types of essences they were taught and trained for in advanced essence manipulation, but also because he increasingly found that he learned better by simply observing some of the creatures in the transference barn, and, honestly, some of the creatures that he was able to observe when he manifested and simply hovered above the forest or around the perimeter of the city.
And because he was not paying attention, he was surprised when he realized that Rochelle was not paying that much attention either.
“Have you found her yet?” she asked in the middle of runes, making notes on her page—but it was a halfhearted effort compared with what she normally did.
“Megan has been quiet,” Dax said. “And I’m starting to wonder if we’re not going to be able to reach her before we leave.”
“We still don’t know when we’re going,” she said. “Desmond hasn’t given any indication.”
That was maddening, partly because in Dax’s mind, Desmond needed to keep moving so they would get an opportunity to get out of the Academy grounds and finally meet the Emperor. Maybe it was going to end up like the last time they were supposed to meet the Emperor, and he wouldn’t get word from him.
But this time Dax thought they were in a better situation than before. They had made a significant difference in the attack. At least, Dax had made a significant difference in the attack. He didn’t know how much the Emperor was aware of his role in it, but he did believe that the Emperor was aware of what he had done, or had recognized that Dax had some influence in it.
“I know,” he said. “She can travel on wind now, so she doesn’t need to stay in one place. I keep sending out messages. But I don’t know where her Whispers are located. And without knowing that, I don’t know where to target.”
That was one of the harder things for him with his sister at this point. His sister obviously was going to have Whispers set throughout the Academy, and throughout the city, but without knowing what she had done, and where she had placed them, he wasn’t exactly sure how to target them. He could certainly see essence, and given his sister’s use of some of that essence, he figured he should be able to see more, but it was also difficult for him to track down what else she might have been doing.
“I think that I’m getting closer with mine,” she said, looking over at him. “Or maybe I’m not, and I’m just trying to tell myself that.” She shrugged. “I know how that probably sounds, and I’m trying to convince myself that I have uncovered some secret, but I feel like it is close.”
“Maybe it is,” he said.
It was difficult for him to say anything, because he had no idea what it was going to take for her to find her core essence. He simply believed that she needed to find her core essence, because he believed that the core essence she was going to find would help her unlock something in herself, something more to what she was able to do.
But how could he help her identify what was core to her?
What was core to him was different than what was core to her, and it was different than what was core to others.
It was one of those things that he simply didn’t have a good answer to, and though he wanted to help her, until she had a better idea about herself and what her essence might look like, Dax didn’t think there was going to be any way for him to help her quite as much as he wanted.
“Can the two of you keep it down?” Karelly said, glancing over her shoulder at them and scowling.
Dax didn’t know how much she had been listening in, but considering that he had been trying to shield their conversation, he doubted that she would’ve been able to figure out all that much. Then again, Karelly was skilled in her own particular way. He hated to admit it, but unfortunately, it was the truth.
“Maybe you can stop listening to us,” Rochelle said, “because we are not doing anything to you.”
“I’m going to talk to Professor Alibard after class,” she said. “I can’t have you two distracting me. Maybe you need to go back to the remedial class.”
“I think Dax could be teaching this class,” Rochelle said, leaning forward. “So maybe you’re the one who needs to go to the remedial class.”
Karelly glanced over at Dax, and when he offered just a bit of a shrug, she scowled again and turned away.
“I really can’t stand her,” Rochelle said, not bothering to mask the comment whatsoever.
“Careful,” he said.
“Oh, there’s no reason for me to be careful around her. She doesn’t intimidate me.”
Karelly stiffened.
Dax wasn’t sure that was the right approach for her to take, but then again, he wasn’t going be the one to tell Rochelle to keep it down, especially when it came to somebody like Karelly or any of her minions who followed her around the Academy.
As the class came to an end, Professor Alibard called Dax over.
Karelly shot Dax a smug look, then skipped out of the class.
“Should I go with you?” Rochelle asked.
“No, that’s not necessary,” he said.
He approached Professor Alibard, and while he didn’t think he was going to say anything to him about talking in class, he was a little hesitant.
“Mr. Nelson, I appreciate you meeting with me.” He frowned. “I did notice that you were a little distracted today.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Given everything that has been happening lately, we have been trying to figure out—”
“I understand your distraction. From what the headmaster tells me, you are preparing to take a little journey.”
“He told you that, did he?”
“He said that he was going to have several students leaving with him on an expedition to the capital. I assume that means you, as he didn’t tell me which students.” He frowned. “Does that mean Ms. Alson, as well?”
“I’m not sure,” Dax said.
He didn’t really know who all Desmond intended to bring with them, but he did feel as if there were going to be benefits to having his people, his friends, come with him. They were people he trusted, which in Dax’s mind was the most valuable aspect.
“Before you leave, I was hoping that you could help me with several different runes that I have come across.”
Dax frowned. “You want me to help you with runes?”
“You have a talent for them, I believe. I don’t often go to other students looking for assistance with runes, so I hope you understand that this is an unusual request.”
Dax nodded. “I understand, and I’m not going to say anything—”
“It has nothing to do with you saying anything. It is more about just letting you know that this is an unusual request on my behalf. I’m not ashamed of the fact that there are runes I have not been able to decipher. That is not uncommon, in fact. There are quite a few runes that we have come across over the years that we have not been able to decipher. Most are those that predate the Empire, and some, in fact, come from races that predate humanity.”
“Like the I’haran,” Dax said.
“Oh?”
As soon as he said it, he wished that he could take it back, because he didn’t want the professor to know about his experience with the I’haran, especially considering how many people believe the I’haran were nothing more than child tales.
“I was just saying…”
“No,” Alibard said. “It is exactly like that. Very few people even consider the possibility that the I’haran existed.”
“Why is that?”
“Because they can’t look past what they know, and what they have seen.”
He wondered what Alibard would say if he told him that he had actually met, and interacted, with the I’haran. Maybe he wouldn’t say anything. Maybe there wasn’t anything for him to say.
“But I do have a few items that I would ask for you to evaluate, and if you can find anything, I would appreciate it if you would share with me your thoughts.”
Dax nodded. He took a small leatherbound book that Alibard handed him.
“You will find them in here. Be careful with them, as we do not know what they can do.”
“Are these copies, or…?”
“This volume is old—older than the city, and older than the Academy. So be cautious with it.”
Dax looked down at it. The leather was faded, and there were faint cracks through the surface of it. He carefully opened it, looking at the pages, and realized he understood what Alibard had said. It did look to be old, and there was something odd about its age, something that was a little unnerving. There was a weight to it. He didn’t know quite what it was, but something about the book screamed “ancient.”
“I’ll be careful with it.”
“And perhaps don’t go around showing it to others.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is hard to say whether anybody else will understand what you have here, and they may not appreciate it.”
“My friends don’t have any problem with that.”
“Well, perhaps your friends can help you, but I would not show it outside of your friend group.”
Dax nodded, and he carefully slipped the book into his pocket.
“Again, I want to apologize for my distraction earlier,” he said.
“It is fine. I did want to talk to you about one other thing, Mr. Nelson,” Alibard said. “I wondered if you had given any thought to your studies next year.”
He blinked. He had not, in fact, given any thought to his studies next year. Partly because Dax had come to believe that he wasn’t going to be here in the next year.
“I haven’t given it that much consideration, I suppose.”
“That is typical of second-year students. Most believe that you have the entirety of your second-year term, and you can wait to decide right up until the last moments about what you are going to choose to study in your third year. But it creeps up on you, Mr. Nelson. Time, that is. And by the time you get there, if you do not have a plan, it is likely that you will not have a place. Now, I do understand that you have a predilection for transference, and I know that Madenil intends to keep you, along with Garrison, I suspect. But I would like you to consider runes. It isn’t the flashiest of disciplines, but there is value in it, especially in some of the ways we have been using runes lately. Some of the most recent research has been quite compelling, in fact.”
“I think runes are fascinating,” Dax said. “And I have always seen how they can be used.”
“Yes, well, I believe you may be an exception. But then again, you have been exceptional with runes, as you have continued to work with them and tried to understand the power that is within them. I am curious what you have given thought to taking in your third year.”
How could he tell the professor that he wasn’t even sure that he was going to be here for his third year?
“I suppose the basics,” he said. “At least, the basics that I have already been taking. I would like to have a more formal valor instruction, as valor hasn’t been that complicated for me so far.”
Alibard laughed. “Well, you are a Nelson, so that is not terribly uncommon. I would have expected that Garrison would have given you more direct instruction, though.”
“I think he was trying to get everybody working at the same level,” Dax said. “At least, that is what he implied to us.”
“Yes, well, I find that when you have an exceptional student, if you try to hold them back while others catch up, you simply suppress that exceptionality. Which is why I think that I would do well to work with you. Now, I understand that you have been given great freedoms in transference, and I believe that Madenil would love to have your presence there, but I do think that the two of us can work something out. And perhaps even keep you working with valor, if you would be inclined. But I would warn you that when you get to the third year, and you begin to take some of your focused courses, the rigor begins to increase.”
Dax hadn’t had that impression from some of the third-year students he had interacted with. In fact, most of them seemed as if they were just going through the motions and waiting until they graduated and could claim they were full essence wielders, so they could find meaningful employment.
At least, that had always been the case up until the attack along the southern border. That had changed things for almost everybody and had drawn people into the war in a way they had not been expecting.
“I will give it some thought.”
“Excellent. Now, I need to prepare for my next class. The first-year students have some work to do.”
“What would it look like?” Dax asked.
“Well, it would involve you having some one-on-one sessions, some rune transcription, and it would also involve having an opportunity to travel, where you could visit some distinct rune sites on your own.” He shrugged. “That is considered one of the highlights of the year for those who choose runes.”
