was the explanation for Sorak’s failure to display his psionic powers. He did not really have them, in a sense. The other members of his inner tribe did.
“Tribe?” said the Guardian. “Why do you call us that?”
“You are many who form a tribe within one body,” said Varanna, “a ‘tribe of one.’ It is rare, yet not unheard of. I, myself, have known two others, though it was many years ago. And you are doing Sorak no service by sheltering him from his true nature. He knows that he is unlike others, and not merely because he is an elfling. He knows that he possesses powers he cannot summon forth, yet he does not understand why. This is what confuses him and causes him distress. You cannot protect Sorak from the truth about himself. If you persist in your efforts to shelter him, then you shall only cause him pain and suffering.”
“The boy suffered when he was abandoned in the desert,” said the Guardian. “We sheltered him from his suffering. He was prepared to surrender to death. We gave him the strength to go on.”
“But there is a limit to how much strength you can give him,” said Varanna. “Despite your efforts, the boy would have died had not the pyreen found him. She brought him here so that we could give him shelter and the knowledge necessary to comprehend his nature. He will be stronger for this knowledge of himself, and with the proper training, he can learn to live more easily with what he has become and call upon his abilities much more effectively. There is strength in a tribe that is united. But so long as you shelter Sorak from the truth about himself, he shall always remain weak.”
The Guardian was silent for a while, considering what she had said. When the Guardian spoke again, it was in a more relaxed tone, though still a cautious one. “There is wisdom in your words. Yet, if you have known the truth about us all along, you could have told Sorak all these things yourself. Why have you refrained?”
“Because I, too, care for Sorak’s welfare,” said Varanna. “And it is not enough merely to tell someone the truth. He must be prepared to hear it”
“Perhaps the time has come, then,” the Guardian replied. “The boy bears great affection and respect for you. Prepare him to experience this truth. Then, in our own way, we shall reveal it to him.”
The next thing she knew, Sorak was gazing at her once again, a puzzled expression on his face. “Forgive me, Mistress,” he said. “I must have fallen asleep. I had the most peculiar dream…”
That had been the beginning of Sorak’s true awakening. Gently, and with great care, Varanna had told him the truth about himself, a truth he had, up to that point, not even suspected. And as she spoke, the Guardian gently eased Sorak’s anxiety and apprehension. In the coming weeks, the Guardian gradually allowed Sorak to discover more about his multiplicity. Initially, this strange learning process took place, for the most part, while Sorak slept and dreamed. Then, when the context of his situation started to become familiar to him, Sorak experienced the gradual emergence of his other personalities, without suffering lapses, but remaining conscious on some level while they were dominant in his body. It was a slow process, however, and one that was still unfolding.
From the beginning of Sorak’s inner journey of self-discovery, the Guardian had been his guide and Varanna his mentor. She studied the journals of the two priestesses who had had the same condition, spending hours each day in the temple library, trying to relate their experiences to Sorak’s. In some ways, it was easier for Sorak because the alternate personas of his inner tribe were inclined to be cooperative, and there did not seem to be any competition between them. Varanna believed this was the result of Sorak’s ordeal in the desert. His young mind had fragmented because it could not endure the pain and suffering inflicted on him. To survive in the desolate Athasian desert, his different aspects all had to work together.
Every evening, Sorak would come to Varanna’s chambers, and they would discuss the Guardian’s gradual revelations. In time, Sorak came to accept and understand his condition. As the years passed, he learned how to communicate with his inner tribe and how to function with them, as well as how to give way and allow them to work through him. It