Elevation of Mana Chapter 37 New Man

Cala had been taken off to rest, and to sit with Rindal while mother tried to do what she could for him.  Once she was clear though, I had the real fight to start.  Isha kindly stayed, waiting to see what would happen.

“Tell me what you know,” I demanded, furious that I'd been to that cave several times and she'd still hidden this away.

“I will, but you'll watch your tone with me boy,” Elaya responded.  “You'll need to know, if only so you don't try and figure it out yourself, one death is enough.”  She seemed to consider for a few moments.  “Your mother had a brother, Jolin, did you know that?” she finally asked.

“Sort of?  She never spoke of it.”  The name pinged, her having even used it against Elaya once, a cudgel for some wrong she thought our elder had done.

“You're a lot like him, both of you liked to go and learn as much as you could, both with such potential.  He was the last one who drank from the pool, curious about it when he found it much like you did.  I found him not long after, already gone.  Your mother was too young to hear the details, but she remembered, remembered that I'd returned with his body from the training I'd taken him on.”

I knew mother had been furious, and very unwilling to send me away with Elaya as a child, and now that fell into place.  I didn't know the details, and probably never would, but if your brother was taken away only to come back dead anyone would hesitate to allow another of their kin to go away with the same person.

“The water though, what is it?” Isha asked.

“Light, but too strong, and not in a way that people can use.  I'm not sure why, but there are things like that, they force the power into you, but... it's not natural growth, it destroys the body rather than strengthens it, like a disease,” she explained.

“So he'll gain power?” I asked.

“Yes, of the same kind you and I have, but it will destroy him.  The more he uses it, and the stronger it is it will destroy him.”

“You know a lot about this,” Isha said quietly.

“I've been around a long time, and I've seen it here before, and other places too.”  At our questioning looks she shook her head.  “You're both so young.  Ancients sometimes fight, and when they do they drag along everyone else.  Atal has gone to war before, our elder of elders leading a host against others.  I was very young then, but I saw the same kind of thing happening.  Forbidden arts to concentrate light from beasts and plants into mixes for desperate soldiers to drink.”

“What happens to them?”  I wanted to know, if this was a danger of our world, then I wanted to be prepared.

“Everyone's light grows with time little Elian.  If Rindal had lived long enough he would have gained power like any other, but those mixes, and that water forced it in.  Those soldiers knew they would die, but wanted to save others, so they accepted it, a sacrifice to protect their loved ones.  They got strong, very, but within five years all perished.  That is what will happen to Rindal, getting stronger, but dying as a result.”

“If it's a poison, we can draw it out, I know mother can do that much.  Maybe some way to drain away the power before it corrupts him...” I began to think of ways to maybe do something.

“The damage is already done Elian.  If he consents you can try other ways, but many have tried.  The best thing for him would be to never use it, but you and I both know what he will do with that strength.”

“Rindal has always wanted to have a light.  If you tell him not to use it now, he'll rebel and probably use it more,” Isha observed.

“Yes, and he'll need to be made safe, which he'll hate.  It may be even more dangerous to train him, dying as he is,” Elaya answered.  “Dying men are unpredictable.”

I sat beside Isha, wrapping an arm around her.  It was clear that she felt as horrid about this as I did.

“I'll help you seal it when the time comes,” I told our elder.

Later that day we went to see Rindal, my mother having returned and told us that he was awake.

“How are you?” I asked my fellow villager, motioning him to say on the small mat where he lay.

“Feel like I fell off a cliff.  That water packs a nasty punch.  Suppose I might have made a mistake on that one,” he admitted.  “But look at you two, is this the light you were talking about?  It's beautiful.”

He poked at my aura, his own angry one pushing it away as he did so.  In a moment of thought he turned his hand and a small ball of light appeared there.

“Hey Rindal, maybe hold off on using it until Elaya gets a chance to talk to you,” I said, trying to smile.  “There's a lot going on, and it might not be good for you at the moment.”

“Pfft, it feels... good, like it wants to be used.  I get it now, get why you use it all the time, it's amazing, like your body is warm and strong.”  I wanted to sigh, but it was clear that soon Rindal would be using magic just as much as he could, a part of me felt terrible about it, but another just didn't care, it wasn't like I liked him.

“Still, I'm sure mom will come by and help when she can, but you should listen to Elaya, she's knows more than she lets on,” I pressed.

“Maybe, but honestly, she's just obeyed because she's so strong.  Well, more than her can be strong though.  We can tell the others about the water, maybe drink a bit less.  Think that's how she got so powerful?”  He tried to rise now, a smirk on his face.

“Rindal, that water makes you sick,” Isha said, reaching out, only to have him pull away.

“Isha, I've never felt better.”  He rose, and I could see where he was supporting himself with his magic, it was sloppy, and inefficient, and he was using a ton of it.

I held Isha and let him go.  We needed Elaya to tell him the truth of the matter.  Even if I wanted to help he didn't trust me, and pushing now would only cause more damage.  If we were lucky we might be able to extend his life for a few more years, but if we weren't... I supposed he'd burn hot and fast, and leave nothing behind.

Over the next few days several of the older members of the village tried to reign Rindal in, but to little avail.  Larus had the best luck, as pretty much everyone respected him, but even that was limited.  Rindal either didn't believe that using his magic was killing him, or didn't care.

I was worried as he worked on it more and more.  He was sloppy, but he was throwing around massive amounts of power, more than I had.  The few lessons he attended with Elaya didn't seem to help much, and he outright refused to leave the village with her for training.  That was unusual, as was the fact that she let it happen, normally she was quite set in her ways.

I sat back outside my shop one afternoon, watching him juggle rocks in the air before a cheering Cala.

“It won't be long,” Elaya said, coming to my side.  “And I told him as much.  This isn't your fault.”

“Doesn't he feel it?” I asked.

“Some poisons feel good before they kill you,” she answered.

“Will he know when it is coming?” I questioned, turning to her.

“I don't know.”  Her answer was hardly comforting.