Chronicles of Den'dra - Spencer Johnson Page 0,158

of memory. At last, he gave himself over to the euphoria. Nothing else mattered. It couldn’t when the light encompassed his entire existence. The core, as Iliara had called it.

Chapter Nineteen: Learning

“I don’t understand. Why can’t I just heat the blade up?” Halden frowned at Em’risi in exasperation.

“Alvin nearly had his head bashed in by the angry weapon smith he took your last one to. I want you to heat the air around the blade without heating the blade. Heating the blade, like what you did, will destroy the temper and makes it too soft.” Em’risi narrowed her eyes on seeing Halden’s smirk. “In fact, until you can attain that level of control, you will be using this training weapon.”

“But it is wood! It will just burn up.” Halden said it with a tone that, while respectful, made it clear that he considered it a grievous oversight on Em’risi’s part.

“That is a good observation. See that it doesn’t burn up. I want it back when you are done and there had better not be a single singe mark.”

“But…” Halden stopped as Em’risi arched an eyebrow expectantly.

“You were saying?”

“Nothing, Princess. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I am sure that you didn’t. Practice with Carlisle and see if you can’t coat your blade in flames without burning it.” Em’risi watched Halden dejectedly walk towards the warder and begin sparring. Halden was obviously distracted and several of Carlisle’s blows made it through his halfhearted defense. Em’risi watched in frustration as she saw Halden’s energy flowing into the blunted wooden blade. There was a flash of fire that burned furiously for a second before Carlisle waved a hand over it. As fast as they had sprang into existence, the flames died and left a smoldering ruin of the practice blade. When he apprehensively looked at Em’risi, she merely pointed at the rack of spares she had purchased earlier.

“Picture the fire around the blade, but not touching it. Think of the blade as dipped in water and impervious to fire. A piece of ice in your hands.” Halden irritably picked up his fifth wooden blade and returned to Carlisle. This time, a thin nimbus of flames appeared around the blade. It wasn’t coating the blade. There was a hand span of space between the rod and an irregular cylinder of fitfully flickering flames. This collapsed in a fiery whirl a moment after when Carlisle broken his concentration by attacking.

“I can’t do it.” Halden absently traced a shape in the cobblestones until the charcoal blade crumbled.

“Nonsense. You have the idea. It will just take a little more practice.” Em’risi crossed her arms as Halden hesitated. He finally nodded before doing as she requested. He was an interesting one. He did not hesitate when she gave him a direct request or order, but when confronted with an unspoken order, or even one that wasn’t verbalized clearly, he had a way of acting like he decided to do what she wanted because he had thought of it himself. It would have driven some more overbearing individuals to near insanity, but Em’risi had no problem with letting her underlings think themselves the source of some breakthrough. It gave them confidence that they sorely needed if they were to have any hope of engaging the approaching army.

This time, Halden’s fire held a more controlled shape through a couple moves before dissolving. Em’risi knew from his delighted smile that he now thought her request to be attainable. The simple fact of having an unburnt blade in his hands was enough to give him the encouragement needed to continue. Halden had quickly picked up the basics of using his ability. Clothed in leather from head to toe, he was as fireproof as it was possible to get. As it was, there was a small heap of burnt leather at the corner of the courtyard and Halden’s trips to the water trough were frequent.

Amidst Em’risi’s contemplation of Halden, something tickled the edges of her consciousness. The fine line of her jaw became more defined as she grimly clenched her teeth. She knew it was Varis. He had been getting stronger at much the same pace as Halden. A glance out of the corner of her eye revealed him chatting amicably with Lesarovich on the far side of the courtyard. He seemed to be oblivious to her existence. She knew better, that he was studiously attempting to avoid paying her any attention. Tracing the pale energy, she was surprised to see it fairly well