Last Messenger - Chapter 26

Chapter 26 - Caden

Aael looked down at his chest. “I’ve felt it. Twice.”

Caden nodded. “It continues to grow. The Abbot wants to take you to the Cloud Temple. He thinks it is your last chance.”

“Why not tell me about,” Aael waved a hand across his chest, “this, earlier?”

Caden leaned back. “We were scared it might lead to an accident. No one wants to see what happens if you open your Void again. You first need to learn control.”

“But I haven’t learned anything!”

“Not a single thing?”

“You and Mom ruin my evenings with study. I spend my day at the shop, mostly in the way, and Padda wastes my mornings doing old man exercises. When would I learn anything...” Aael’s voice trailed off, and he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “The Rings.”

“Yes,” Caden said. “To shape an arrow, like the crafters you idolize, requires no mastery of your Void. Instead, the Abbot has taught you the Void Walker Lun’Tir, advanced lessons on control, your entire life.”

“If the thing,” Aael stopped, swallowed hard, and started again. “If I crystalize myself, will I be stuck like Dakkar?”

Caden shrugged. “No one knows. You may remain immobilized, unable to communicate, or you may die.”

Aael rubbed the hard dark lumps under his skin. “This is Aln?”

“Yes.”

Caden felt the pressure build against his mind, and the distant connection to Thalt thrummed as his Lord reached out to him.

“RETURN!” Thalt demanded.

The command vibrated through Caden’s mind. He didn’t use thoughts of his family to circumvent the compulsion, but let the command wash over him, accepting it. He thought of the journey north they would start tonight, and the compulsion faded, satisfied.

“Our time grows short,” Caden said. “Do you have more questions?”

“Who are you and Mom? I know you aren’t the weak mages you made me think you were,” Aael said.

“We are your parents,” Caden said.

“You are Cheriphim. Both of you.”

Caden had kept the stories of the Return Festival from Aael. They still celebrated the holiday in the north. It marked the day the six Cheriphim had resurrected, their bodies glowing from Thalt’s touch. In the north, many still worshiped them as gods.

“Yes,” Caden said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“My parents are resurrected gods, and it doesn’t matter?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Caden replied simply.

“Which ones are you?”

Caden forced the words out. “I am the Red and your mother is the Green.”

“But I’ve seen you both use multiple colors.”

“Your mother and I are unique, even among the Cheriphim. My power with Orange and Yellow magic rivals those Cheriphim. Your mother is the same with Blue and Violet. Together we are nearly unstoppable. Which is why you shouldn’t worry about us.”

Aael nodded. “Why aren’t you affected by the compulsion like Raph? You said he was nearly insane from the wait.”

Caden looked down to hide his face, not sure he could mask his emotions. “When your mother and I were sure we would be parents, a seed was planted in our minds. As you grew in the womb, this mental seed sprouted and overwhelmed the compulsion. Our love has allowed us to dampen the urge.”

“You were there for the Separation?”

“We died there.”

“You’ve met a god?”

“I’d rather not talk about it, but I will if you’re out of questions.”

“No, I have more,” Aael said.

“Then hurry,” Caden replied.

“Raph said he sensed something in me.”

“We come to Kael’s Heart. What do you think the Separation is?” Caden asked.

“Kael was upset with her brothers’ war. She separated them from our world and took their power in the process.”

Caden nodded. “The truth is a little more personal. Kael’s attack blindsided Thalt and Raln, who were weak and distracted from the war. She ripped each of her brothers into six pieces and bound them together. Each piece formed a prison for the other. These six pieces were scattered and lost.”

Aael shuddered, “The Separation was literal?”

Caden thought about the compulsion, and the centuries spent searching. “Yes. Thalt’s task for us was to find these pieces, gain the advantage in the balance, and reform him. The Cheriphim worked endlessly to find the pieces and eventually succeeded. But the balance was against us and we discovered something else.”

Aael leaned forward, fascinated. “What?”

“Kael separated herself as well. And if her brothers are released, and she is not there to bind them, to bridge the transfer of power between them, it could destroy the world.”

“So what is Kael’s Heart?”

Caden shrugged. “No one knows.”

“You don’t know what to look for?”

“Kael’s brothers are trapped in six colored gems, each smaller than your thumb nail. No one knows what form Kael’s separation took.”

“Raph thought I had it?”

Caden shook his head. “He sensed your Void surrounded by magic. The mixing of the two would feel like Kael’s presence. Kael is necessary for Thalt’s safe return so the compulsion would drive him to see what he needed. That’s why your mother and I need to return. We need to suppress, or at least control, how the information is delivered. I don’t want you to become a pawn in the war these gods wage.”

“Will it be dangerous where you and Mom are going?”

“Danger is everywhere.”

“It’s my fault you’re leaving,” Aael said, and looked down.

Caden reached across the table and lifted Aael’s head. “There is a purpose in this. Guilt will deaden your mind. Let the past go.”

“It’s hard.”

“Most things are.”

Caden waited quietly while Aael absorbed centuries of secrets. He had wanted to dole it out in smaller chunks, but Aael’s coma had denied him that luxury. There was more to tell, but it would have to wait.

Caden thought of Saniel, waiting for him to finish so she could spend time with Aael. “We had better start back. If I take all the time that’s left your mother will make this trip miserable, well, more miserable.”

“What about—” Aael began.

“No more Aael, we have to go,” Caden said as he stood. “I haven’t told you everything you need to know. If something happens to me, I can’t risk you never knowing. I made a promise to your mother.”

“Nothing will happen to you—” Aael started.

“It is just a precaution.” Caden said and walked around the table. He gestured for Aael to stand. “I’d like to place some things in your mind, locked up.”

“Locked up?”

“Only for a while.”

“Will it hurt?”

“No,” Caden said with a laugh.

Caden grabbed the back of Aael’s neck and gently pulled forward until their foreheads touched. Aael’s skin was cool and Caden felt the tenseness in his son’s body. He opened his Lym and instead of using the energy that escaped, he pulled. The Red magic hit his mind like the ocean in high tide. He let it soak into every cell of his mind and then split it, duplicating himself. He took the clone and condensed it.

Pushing the Red stream aside, Caden carefully avoided the Orange stream, not wanting to get unstuck in time. He found the Yellow flow and connected his mind with Aael. Aael’s Void and the locket both pulled at his magic, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. He burrowed into Aael’s earliest memories, misty images the mind recorded before it had any context, and placed the copy of himself there, accessible by Aael’s memory paths. He locked it and molded a single trigger that would unleash the memories.

Caden closed his Lym and leaned back. “Are you ready to leave?”

“What?” Aael asked. “That’s it? You just put something in my head?”

“Yes, what were you expecting?”

Aael rubbed his forehead. “I’m not sure but you barely touched me and now there’s something in here.”

Caden smiled. “I know, and it will die of loneliness.”

“Is it always that easy? To do that?”

“No, you were willing and there is a personal connection.”

Aael’s eyes widened. “Is it watching me?”

Caden laughed. “No, it’s passive. You are as paranoid as your mother.”

“Says the man who just put something in my head,” Aael said warily.

Caden put a hand on Aael’s shoulder. “Three final thoughts.”

“My mind is already full.”

Caden held up his other hand, index finger extended. “I know you will research the Cheriphim. Have you ever known me to do anything without purpose?”

Aael shook his head.

“Remember that.”

Caden held up a second finger. “You are reckless. Heavens know the only reason you’re alive is because your mother can almost heal the dead.” He tightened the grip on Aael’s shoulder. “We will not be here to pick up the pieces. You must think before you act. More importantly, we won’t be here to find a cure. You need to help yourself.”

Caden stared at Aael until he nodded.

Caden held up a third finger. “What is the first lesson of Bandt?”

“Don’t play anyone over a thousand years old,” Aael said with a serious face.

Caden laughed. “Good advice. Now you can give me three.”

Aael groaned and thought few moments. “The first is sacrifice. The second is detachment. The third is victory mandates choices.”

Caden hugged the boy he had raised, trained, and loved. The tangle of threads that branched from this moment became thick and entangled. The path ahead had finally become opaque to him. He had spent millennia shaping events to bring Aael into existence and get to this moment. It was time to leave him. The first lesson of Bandt demanded it.

Caden pulled Aael tighter. “I love you.”