Chapter 9 - The Last Messenger

Chapter 9 – Aael

“Si’Aln, what do you fear?” the Abbot asked.

Si’Aln was the Abbot’s nickname for Aael, used in private or to get his attention, and was the useless bits of aln left after a craftsman had finished their work. Aael couldn’t make si’aln himself. 

Aael’s worthlessness was so great he couldn’t even make something useless.

Happiness that the Abbot had given Aael a special name mixed with sadness that it defined him so well. The emotions swirled inside him like candle wax and water.

Aael clenched his hands, causing his knuckles to pop, and he gritted his teeth. Did it matter if Mia saw his disease? She had seen him exposed before. But it had been dark, and blood had covered him. This would be different, like telling a stranger your deepest secret. Did her opinion matter? Why should he care? He had already caused so much trouble today. It was probably best to just do as Padda asked.

Aael slowly removed his shirt and hood. The sun’s energy hit him like a thousand pebbles, a rockslide of power that his body absorbed. That the sun could affect him from so far away made him wonder if the stories were true, that the sun was Thalt’s prison, and the relentless heat his anger.

Terrified of what Mia’s reaction might be, Aael avoided looking at her. Instead, he closed his eyes and relaxed into the First Ring, a morning routine his entire life. At first, he’d thought himself special, singled out by the Abbot to perform these exercises. After a while, he concluded it was some sort of punishment, a task he could never escape. Now it was just a wasted hour of his day.

Aael placed his feet just wider than his shoulders, back straight, knees bent, a relaxed tenseness in his body, opposing forces balanced. He turned his left palm upward toward the sky while the right faced the ground. He tried to clear his mind and failed.

“Over a decade and still not right,” the Abbot said.

“Not helping,” Aael said, his eyes still closed.

The Abbot ignored him. “A clear mind is the path to your center. It allows the proper flow from Ring to Ring, like a flower in a stream.”

“I’ve recently decided I hate flowers,” Aael said.

The Abbot continued. “Aael’s mind is like a mountain stream. It moves too fast for anything useful and is full of rocks and falls. In the end, you reach the sea. It’s just riskier and wasteful.”

“I’d appreciate less talking,” Aael said.

It was quiet for a moment and Aael thought the Abbot had finished. He hadn’t.

“In all these years, he has never found his center,” the Abbot said.

“You realize I can hear you,” Aael said.

“A clear mind would see this for what it is and not for what you perceive it to be,” the Abbot replied.

Aael sighed. “That wouldn’t make sense in anyone’s mind.”

“Si’Aln, look, Mia has found it,” the Abbot said.

Aael opened his eyes and looked at the pair. The Abbot fussed around Mia, making small adjustments to her stance and alignment.

“Good, find the place that moved the aln,” the Abbot said.

At the mention of moving the aln, Mia’s eyes got wide, her form collapsed, and she took a step backward.

The Abbot held up his hands. “It’s alright. We do not fear the darkness. You are safe here.”

Mia looked ready to run, her indecision painful for Aael to watch. Her breathing became rapid and shallow.

The Abbot tried again. “Mia, hear me. You are home. You can stop hiding.”

Aael studied Mia. The Abbot’s voice was gentle and calm, like a fire on a cold night. But Aael could see Mia’s years alone would win. He knew about fear and how hard it was to overcome. Only a few things could overpower it, and he possessed a gift for something that did.

Aael opened his mouth and did his best to keep her there, close to him. “Her form is terrible. She looks nothing like me. Someone like her doesn’t belong here. She seems too dumb to teach.”

Mia’s fear turned to anger. Her pupils dilated, and her lips pressed into a thin line. Aael wondered if he’d overdone it.

Mia strode up to Aael, her cheeks a pretty red, and slapped him. He could have dodged it but thought it better to let it play out. After all, he was trying to help.

A second later, her fist struck Aael in the jaw, wrenching his head to the side. He reached up and rubbed his chin. It hadn’t hurt, but the strength of her strike surprised him.

“Someone like her!” Mia shouted.

Aael winced. Yes, he’d overdone it. She was upset. Using anger to manipulate people was difficult, and he usually erred on too much. Mia continued to yell, and he kept his mouth shut, allowing her to vent.

The Abbot pulled Mia back a few paces. She waved her arms, agitated, but her fear had disappeared.

“Begin the Second Ring,” the Abbot said.

Aael started immediately, glad for the distraction. His muscle memory took him through the transitions from stance to stance, the movements slow and controlled. Butterfly Gate to Begging Mantis. How mad was she? What if she thought he believed those things? Drunken Breeze to Blooming Cloud. What if she hated him? What good was it to keep her here if she wouldn’t talk to him?

“Aael,” the Abbot barked.

He stopped in the middle of Four Elbows and looked at the Abbot.

“Where is your mind?” the Abbot asked.

“Four Elbows.”

“I doubt that. You move, but you do not connect,” the Abbot said. “Mia, what did you see?”

Aael locked gazes with Mia. She shook her head and turned to the Abbot. “It was beautiful.”

“And?” the Abbot asked.

“Cold,” she said.

The Abbot nodded. “Yes! You sense the absence of spirit. Sandstorms are created one grain at a time. The wind holds them together and makes them powerful. Spirit is the soul’s wind, and without it, we are just grains of sand.”

The Abbot glanced at Aael and then turned back to Mia. “Try again.”

Mia flashed Aael a fierce look and then closed her eyes. They stood there in silence and waited for Mia to create a sandstorm.

“I can’t do it,” Mia said.

“I’ve seen you do it,” Aael replied.

Mia and the Abbot looked at him.

Aael sighed. “Imagine a bow in your hands, an arrow notched and anchored, the fletching against your cheek, your eyes focused on the most handsome man –”

“Aael,” the Abbot said.

Aael frowned. No respect for an artist painting a picture. Was that a smile on Mia’s face? It disappeared before he could be sure. She closed her eyes again, and the change was immediate. She appeared relaxed and balanced. Mia held her center, filled with spirit, something he had failed at his entire life.

The Abbot radiated approval, and he turned to Aael and bowed. Aael’s chest warmed.

“I feel it,” Mia said.

“We see, child. That’s enough for today,” the Abbot said.

Mia opened her eyes and smiled, knowing she had done something important.

“Let’s get lunch,” the Abbot said.

Aael scooped up his clothes and pulled them over his head as they started to walk.

“I’ve seen your Rings before,” Mia said. “In a fight.”

The Abbot waved his hand in dismissal. “Fighting? Nonsense. The Rings demonstrate a transfer of force and energy. They’re for balance and finding your center.”

“If you sped them up, you could fight with them,” Mia responded.

Aael stopped. He wanted to smash his head into something. Speed it up. He’d done these movements his whole life, and it had never occurred to him they might have a purpose other than keeping old men healthy. 

And Aael realized he’d seen the Rings used in a fight too. The movements had been faster, and the order wrong, but the similarities were too strong to ignore.

The Shade Elu had used the Rings when he’d saved Aael in Hylt.