The Darkness Before the Dawn - By Ryan Hughes Page 0,50

can explore mentally, but we always come back to where we started. Our bodies never go anywhere in the first place.”

“Hmm,” Kitarak buzzed. “This power of yours doesn’t seem very useful for practical things.”

“That’s why we’re looking for a mentor,” Jedra said. “Somebody who can help us learn how to… ah… do more with it.” He didn’t want to admit that it was out of control most times.

“Toward what end?”

The question caught Jedra by surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you want to use the power for?”

“I don’t know,” Jedra said. “How about levitation, for starters?”

“Very good,” Kitarak said. “Clever.” He turned away and began walking again, but more slowly.

Over his spiny shoulder, he said, “What else can you do, besides push buildings over?”

How much do we want to tell him? Jedra mindsent to Kayan.

Don’t let him know we can communicate without speaking, she sent back. Or mind-merge. We may need the advantage if he’s not what he seems.

I agree.

Kitarak was waiting for an answer. Apparently he could see ahead and back at the same time; he didn’t stop walking, but he didn’t turn his head forward again, either. Aloud, Jedra said, “I can sometimes tell when people are watching me. Especially if they’re a threat.”

“That sounds useful,” Kitarak said. It was hard to tell when his voice carried sarcasm, but he seemed sincere this time. “Anything else?”

Kayan said, “I can heal most wounds, if they’re not immediately fatal.”

“That definitely sounds useful. Can you heal a tohr-kreen?”

“I don’t know. You want to hurt yourself and find out?”

Kitarak actually seemed to consider it. He tilted his head from side to side and rattled his mandibles like a person clicking his tongue. “No,” he said at last. “Advance knowledge might lead to foolish risk-taking. I will proceed on the assumption that you cannot, and hope to be pleasantly surprised if I need your services.” “Good idea,” said Kayan.

“Of course.” Kitarak said nothing more for a few minutes, merely turned his head to the front again and hiked on through the rocks at his steady pace. Now that he had slowed down, Jedra was glad to follow his lead; he didn’t like being first in line through unfamiliar territory. But the tohr-kreen wasn’t through. He turned his head back again and said, “Do you lust for power?”

This time it was Kayan who said, “What?”

“In my experience, there are two reasons for seeking knowledge,” Kitarak said. “Simple curiosity and thirst for understanding is one, and lust for the power that knowledge can bring is the other. Which is your reason for seeking a mentor?”

“I don’t think it’s either one,” Kayan said.

“Neither one! How can that be?”

“I’ve already got the power,” Kayan said. “I just want to find out how to use it better.”

Kitarak clicked excitedly. “Aha, you dodge the question. Why do you want to use it better?”

“Because!” Kayan said in exasperation. “I don’t like being ignorant. It’s frustrating and it’s dangerous.”

“Good,” Kitarak said. “Indeed, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. You have a certain wisdom about you. It’s crude and unpolished from too little introspection, but you do understand the basic issue. How about you, young Jedra? What are your reasons for seeking a mentor?”

“Power,” Jedra said immediately. “Greed. I want to rule all of Athas with an iron fist.”

“Do not take up gambling. You lie poorly,” Kitarak said, but he turned away and left Jedra alone, which was what Jedra wanted.

All the same, as they hiked on toward the afternoon sun the tohr-kreen’s question hung in his mind. Why did he want to learn more about psionics? It wasn’t just because his power was dangerous; he could simply stop using it if that were the case. No, there was definitely an allure to it that kept him coming back. Especially when he and Kayan joined minds. Every time they had done so it was because of some emergency or other, but he yearned for the time when they could do it for the sheer joy of the union. To share their thoughts and their emotions—to share everything that made them who and what they were—without fear of repercussions.

A wild thought suddenly came to him. Was he describing love? Did he want to do it for love? Jedra had never considered that possibility. Not just that he might be going on this quest with Kayan for love, but that he might love someone to begin with. It had seemed so unlikely when he lived in an alley in Urik that