The HaRT Knight Decaverse

Heir of Magic

Chapter 31

Burning Spirit

Sweat ran down Alexander’s face and naked torso as he and Jared worked to rebuild the destroyed section of the pride village with their geoturgy. They had already erected four new huts, however, unlike their predecessors, these were not the same round cylindrical structures. Even though Jared said that creating a cylindrical structure out of the stone was possible, he felt that a square structure made from four interlocking stone slabs was more suited for a beginner like Alexander.
As the two of them prepared to raise the third wall of the fifth structure, Jared continued his lecture, “From the books mister Dante gave me, all five branches of ecoturgy work by the user manipulating energy. Wind and fire express their energy constantly, but the energy in the ground and its minerals is not like that. It is stagnant, potential energy. We use our geoturgy to force that energy out of its stagnant state and do our best to guide it along specific parameters to make the shape we want.” The two of them grunted as they literally pulled the slab of rock out of the ground.
Jared did most of the work in guiding the dormant energy in the stone to form the slab that fit between the other two. Alexander examined how the small cevarion’s slate-blue aura wrapped itself around the energy in the stone and carefully, but forcefully, guided it to take the shape he wanted. It was a lot like the control needed in pyroturgy to keep the flames from burning you, except, where that required a subtle touch, this required thaumaturgic strength guided by an unbending will and character.
Jared wiped his brow and said, “We have to be careful though, because once that stagnant energy becomes active it can grow out of control and express itself explosively. It is because of this need for absolute control that we need to always be in physical contact with the mineral or metal we want to manipulate with our geoturgy.”
Alexander grinned at the young boy who was his teacher. “You know your stuff.”
Jared gave an embarrassed smile then said, “Thanks. I’ve been working nonstop to be ready ever since I met mister Dante.”
“It shows,” Alexander said, rubbing the boy’s head.
“This is still just the beginning, though. Stone is a lot easier than gemstones. But we’ll start working on them as soon as we are back in the city. For now, let’s get this last wall up,” Jared said as he pointed to an empty side of their stone square.
Alexander nodded and the two of them knelt down and placed the palms of their hands onto the ground. Jared resumed his lecture. “While the material influences the difficulty, the size of the material you wish to manipulate is of no concern. You can just as easily move a pebble across the ground as you could a boulder.” Alexander groaned as they pulled the slab of stone out of the ground but he tried his best to focus and continue to listen to Jared. “Metals are easier to work with. Even though they need more energy and concentration to alter, a mistake with them is easier to fix. If you break a gemstone or rock, you can’t put it back together. But by far the most difficult medium to work with is sand. As a geoturgy user you can’t view sand as a single thing, but you have to keep in mind that its millions of tiny stones with most of their energy lost—You did it.”
Alexander turned and to his surprise saw that Jared stood to one side, his hands folded behind his back and a mousy grin on his face. His jabbering, while still informative, had been a distraction so I wouldn’t realize I was pulling the last slab out on my own.
“Well done. Your first solo geoturgic spell, and it fits perfectly between the other two walls.” A small frown creased Jared’s face. “You did, however, forget the door.”
The mousy cevarion smacked his fist against the stone wall and stepped back as sand began to trickle out of the stone, creating a perfect square doorway, just as the slate blue aura had outlined in that second of contact.
He might be young, but the lad is every bit as skilled as Claus or Chaka had been with their respective ecoturgy branches.
“Shall we take a short break?” Jared asked, looking up at the sun. Unlike pyroturgy or aeroturgy, geoturgy required a lot more physical exertion, and beneath the desert sun that was a lot more tiring.
“Sure, I could use a drink,” Alexander said truthfully.
The two of them moved over into the shade of a nearby acacia tree and sat in silence for a while. Alexander watched as the people of the pride placed the straw roofs onto the new buildings.
“How did you come to learn you could do this, Jared?” Alexander asked after a while.
Jared shrugged. “I’ve sort of always been able to do it. At least for as long as I can remember. I didn’t think it was something out of the ordinary until mister Jonah found me in the streets of The Wandering City. I was playing with a ball of led. It’s the easiest of all the materials you can manipulate with geoturgy, and I was shaping it into a toy soldier when mister Jonah found me. The smithy had fallen on hard times and he figured the two of us could help each other out. So, he gave me a place to stay and taught me everything he knew about working metal, and I helped him to produce metalwork no normal smith with a hammer could ever compete with.” Jared smiled at the memory. “That’s how mister Dante found me. He said he came across one of my creations and recognized it as something born from geoturgy.”
Alexander frowned. “But how are you able to use geoturgy, Jared? Was one of your parents a druid?”
“I don’t know. I never knew my parents.” Jared shrugged. “I asked mister Dante the same thing. I had wondered why I could use geoturgy ever since mister Jonah told me how rare it was. But all mister Dante said was that I shouldn’t tell anyone else about what I could do. He said if Cain found out about me, he would want me killed or captured for sure.”
“I think Dante was right,” I said, his thoughts drifting to what Cain would do if he found out about Jared.
“Blacksmith!” a new voice shouted from a distance. Kohr came walking up to them, dressed for travel. “We’ll be leaving in an hour.” To Alexander he said, “If you wish to see Chaka, it’s now or never.”
“All right,” Alexander said, hesitantly.
“Go. I can finish up here,” Jared said, taking Alexander’s hesitance as a sign that he did not want to leave him alone with the rest of the work.
“Thanks, Jared. I’ll see you at the caravan when I’m done.”

The room Chaka had been taken to for recovery was pitch black, and Alexander could barely see where he was going. An eerie memory of a dark place with two wolves came back as he moved through the darkness to where Chaka was laying. A single candle on the bedside table illuminated the pride warrior.
“My boy!” Chaka exclaimed as he saw Alexander approach. His voice seemed gruffer than before.
“How are you?” Alexander asked.
Alexander didn’t know what to expect from Chaka, perhaps to reprimand him for his loss of control during their duel, perhaps to tell him off for the injury he had caused, or worst, to tell him he never wanted to see him again, but the last thing he had ever expected was the smile that met his eyes. “I am so proud of you, lad,” Chaka said.
“You’re proud of me?” Alexander asked incredulously.
“Of course. You beat me. I didn’t want to admit this before the duel, but I never thought you could do it,” Chaka said.
“What?” Alexander blurted out. He had to remind himself how even he had doubted that he could win the duel.
“You have to understand, lad. I had to finish five years of training into a matter of months with you. You are preternaturally skilled, yes, so you kept up, but still, you did not have anywhere near the experience those who take part in the Right of Surpassing usually have. Worst of all, I was your opponent.” Chaka tried to laugh but descended into a fit of coughs instead.
“Why are you laughing?” Alexander said incredulously. “I injured you. I took your arm from you.”
“What happened to me is nothing out of the ordinary for my people. Geteye even killed his teacher in his Right of Surpassing.” In a soft, kind voice, Chaka said, “Listen to me, Alexander. I know you feel guilty because of this, but I assure you that there is nothing to feel guilty over. Few pride members have made it to my age with no scars to show for it. It is how we live here. For the rest of my life, I’ll brag to anyone I meet about how great my first student was.” Chaka gave Alexander a radiant smile. “As the teacher of the Phoenix King, it is as good as a certainty that when the day comes that my father steps down as chief, that I will take his place. That is thanks to you.”
Traditions of other people are to be respected, no matter how bizarre they might seem to you. Dora had taught him that many years ago as they traveled across the Steredenn Islands on The Golden Spear.
“I’m glad for you, my friend. You will be a magnificent leader to your people one day,” Alexander sighed.
“Thank you, and remember what my father said. When the day comes that you are ready to face off against your uncle, the People of the Pride will be beside you,” Chaka said.
“Yes, I know, because I am the Phoenix King,” Alexander said bitterly. He had come to terms with the fact that he was the person from the prophecy the pride received all those millennia ago, but that only added to the weight on his shoulders.
The doubts and fears in Alexander’s mind must have shown because Chaka asked, “Do you see this candle next to my bed?”
“Of course,” Alexander nodded.
“Look at the difference in size between the flame at the top and the body of the candle.”
Alexander looked at it. The candle was as thick and long as one of his forearms, and on top was a small dancing flame.
“The flame at the top is small and alone, sure. It is forced to follow a preordained path down the string in the middle. The candle might be bigger and more solid, but as long as that small flame burns, the candle will melt. With time that tiny flame will have burnt through that giant candle. You are like that flame, Alexander. As long as you don’t lose the fire inside yourself, you will overcome every obstacle in your way. Never lose that burning spirit inside you, and you will defeat Cain.”
“Thank you, Chaka,” Alexander said gratefully.
“Don’t mention it. Now go, those city dwellers must already wait for you.” Alexander turned, but before he could walk out the door, Chaka spoke again. “Be well, my friend, my son, my brother.”
“Be well, my friend, my father, my brother,” Alexander replied and stepped out of the dark hut into the bright hot day outside.