CHAPTER 19
“I am not buying it.”
Raine’s voice pulled me out of my own head.
We sat against the wall near the training troughs, both of us wrapped in towels, steam still curling off the hot bath behind her and cold mist lingering over the ice bath beside me.
“Buy what?” I asked, eyeing a particularly nasty welt on bare shoulder.
“This training method.” Raine wrung out her hair, sending droplets of water dripping onto the sandstone. “I don’t feel stronger. I feel like I have better control of my breath, and visualizing the ‘light’. But as for actual strength? I don’t feel it. These techniques are something anyone could really do. These methods aren’t logical.”
She scrubbed her head briskly before looking back at me.
“Well, none of this world is logical to me,” I said, twisting my torso to stretch my back. “I come from a world with no magic at all. If you wanted to get stronger, you did it the slow way, in the gym. You improved your cardio by running yourself to death. You ate clean, slept right. Every day, for years, and even then you would only be able to lift heavier things or run further. No sort of powers like we have with our infusions.”
Across the room, Leace stood watch over the ice bath. A reed stuck out of the water like an antenna.
“But do you believe that THIS training will change us?” Raine asked.
“If there is one thing I have learned, it is that power in Mourne comes in opportunities. You either seize them or you lose them. I seized the moment to come to the Pillar and be a Cinder. I seized the moment to train and reach Third Form. Now, I am seizing the moment for this Breath. We saw that Jorik could do it, and the Guru and Leace seem to think we CAN learn it. So, I will be patient and hope it comes.”
Raine went quiet for a moment. “I guess we will see. I just feel like we haven’t had that moment that tells us, yes, you will get power from this. You know? Like we haven’t give enough of ourselves yet.”
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and touched my finger to the red welt on her shoulder. “This isn’t giving enough yet? Or the burning water, or frozen plung? Or the non stop running and meditating?”
She shook her head. Nanda broke through the surface and began climbing out of the ice trough, crystal at his throat glowing a steady green. For someone who had hesitated so hard before getting in, he seemed strangely untouched by the extremes.
“Then what, does it seem too convenient? Too easy in comparison?” I said.
“Yes. Exactly.” She leaned back on her hands and let out a slow breath. “I like patterns. Rules. Things I can reason through. This? It’s chaos and faith that it will ‘manifest’ within us. I do not trust it.”
“You are too logical.”
“There should be an order to things,” she said. “Right now, it feels like there is none. We are being dragged along like puppets.”
I laughed. “Well, now you’re starting to sound like me when I talk to Fern. It’s like, what are the odds that we happened to run into a member of the rebellion who introduced us to a teacher to make us stronger, just as we lost an entire army?”
“Exactly, too convenient. What are the odds that your brother became a TwinSoul with that Sibling? What are the odds you keep appearing in their ‘prophecy’?”
My lips tugged into a tight grin. “Exactly. Too convenient.” I let my head rest against the wall. “Feels like the walls are closing in and our only choices are get strong or die.”
After a moment, Raine looked back at me. “Why do you not run?” she asked. “You fight this prophecy at every turn. You could flip the table, walk away, and leave the Criers, leave the Cinders, and the whole thing in ruins.”
I laughed softly. “Whether I like it or not, I cannot leave my brother’s body in the hands of that monster.”
She hesitated. “…Even if his soul is—”
“Yes,” I cut her off. “Even if Noah’s soul is truly gone. Even if Astrifer swallowed what was left of him. I will lay Noah to rest somehow. So, no matter what the ‘fates’ think they have planned, I am going to keep moving forward until I get my brother back. Dead or alive.”
“Hmph, there it is again.” She said.
“What?”
Raine reached behind her to her training robe she had taken off, and grabbed her notebook. “That phrase, ‘keep moving forward’.”
I looked at her, confused. “I don’t think it’s like… a phrase I think people just say it.
Raine shook her head. “Lucile, the Criers, and you used that exact phrase. I don’t know if it’s another convenient coincidence, but that phrase has been uttered a lot. Like someone wants us to echo that battle cry of optimism constantly.”
“I… uh never noticed. But now that you say it… You’re right.” I scratched my head and laughed.
Nanda walked over, with a towel draped across his shoulders. He knelt beside us with a wide grin.
“It is good to see we are all getting along better after some mild trauma bonding,” he said. “Is it not, brother, sister?”
I nodded. “Nothing like being boiled and frozen alive to make you appreciate people more.”
Raine exhaled, but I caught the corner of her mouth twitch.
“Alright, you three!” Leace’s voice cracked across the room like her cane. She strode over, hands resting on the whip. “Good job, you did the hard part. Well, the hard part so far. Your bodies can now accept Breath, but if you thought that was uncomfortable, you are in for a rude awakening. Up. Sammi, Alexia, Clover! Clean up the area and meet us back in the main hall.
“Yes ma’am!” The three girls said in unison.
She waved the cane toward the door. We glanced at each other, then followed.
———
We filed back into the main chamber, the underground coliseum where the Criers hidden hideout was built around. The air still smelled like charcoal and stone dust, and the benches around the arena were now half-filled with masked Criers.
The other scout teams were already gathered. Everyone looked wrecked. Damp hair and red eyes. Brusing on skin and exhausted breaths.
“Long time no see,” I said, making my way to Mel and Silas.
“That was brutal,” Silas said. He was messing with the metal where his skin and prosthetic met. Angry red skin peeked around the steel.
I caught his wrist and pulled the arm closer. “Let me see.”
“Ow, careful, man.”
“Sorry.” The skin around the metal was raw and shiny with a dark yellow gel. “You could not use your infusion to heal a bit?”
“Not all infusions are the same, Erik.” Silas tugged his arm back. “Besides, Jessa already helped me. TitanSnail serum.”
Jessa stepped up beside him. Her auburn hair was a nest of tangles, and she hugged herself like she was still shivering, but her skin looked unharmed, and a little glossy from whatever she had slathered on.
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“How did you all do?” I asked.
Mel puffed out her chest. “Do you even have to ask? Of course, I nailed it. The cold took some getting used to, but I got my crystal green first.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “Because you already know how to activate your Third Form. Not exactly starting at the same level.”
“Oh, that is right,” I said, scratching my chin. “How did you handle the baths, was it harder not having built up to Third Form yet?”
“Well, I did not say we didn’t get there eventually,” Silas said. He glanced at Jessa and smiled. “With Mel’s tips and the Criers’ meditation drills, we both managed to do something incredible. We were able to reach Third Form ourselves by day four. Mel just got a head start.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Both of you? That is incredible. How?”
“With Mel’s advice,” Jessa said, “and the Kutasha drills too. The extra tips from the Criers made it easier to confront our infusion beast. We went deep and fought them in our deepest memories, like you had when you obtained Third Form. Still, though, despite reaching Third Form, I hated every second of Breath training.”
“Yeah, it sucked,” Silas said. “Hot and Cold, lots of whippings, but we all made it through.”
Jessa rubbed her hands together. “I am a little nervous for what they have planned for us next though.”
We all agreed.
“Oh! Also,” Silas started. “Everyone else, who hadn’t done so already, reached their own Third Form!”
I smiled, “That’s going to make fighting a little less nerve wracking now! Everyone’s gotten so much stronger already.”
“Exactly,” Silas said.
I looked around at the rest of our friends. Sora stood with her twin, her posture fresh with confidence. Lucius’s white hair was still damp, and his eyes shone with a cocky edge. He must be excited about gaining his Third Form. Tevin towered beside Zenobia who was fixated on talking to Ruriel. Tevin seemed slightly bothered by that. I couldn’t believe it. Everyone had progressed to their Third Form, and now, we were on the way to getting even stronger. A small flicker of hope bubbled in my chest, but I tried to calm it and stay realistic.
Still, I would have been lying if I said I was not a little jealous. It had taken Waelid and me months on the Second Floor to reach Third Form. We trained day and night with Bartholomew and Al in the ghostly ruins, yet my companions all achieved the same power in under a week. Then again, we didn’t have ancient Crier-guided Breath training and near-death bath exposure.
“Alright, alright. Quiet,” Leace shouted, cutting through the conversations. “Line up.”
“Forceful as always aren’t you, Leace?” A second Head Crier, named Belen said, stepping up beside Leace. She was tall, with pale, almost gray skin and a thick single braid that down the back of her head.
Alongside Leace and the Belen stood the two other Head Criers. A broad-shouldered man with dark skin and a purple mohawk hair, named Aer, and an older woman with thinning gray hair named Weiss. Weiss wore a special half-Crier mask covering the right side of her face, which seemed to cover up an injury.
Leace stepped forward. “I am proud to say that every one of you…even the old men and the woman… achieved the first step of establishing coherence.” She glanced down at Hakashi and the other Firebrands, who raised an eyebrow at the term ‘old’.
The Criers around the room applauded.
“Alright, enough,” Leace snapped, silencing the room. “I do not know why you all act so joyfully. You know this is only step one. And for some of you…” She pointed the cane at the Firebrands. “…this is as far as you can go so far.”
“Oy, what makes you say that?” Hyper asked. “If anything, we are the strongest here.”
“It issss true,” Srilick hissed. “We have the mossst experience, and the mossst control over our infusssionss.”
“I do not care about that,” Leace said. “Your strength right now has nothing to do with wether you can progress with Breath right now. It is your age that holds you back.”
A murmur ran through the other Cinders. Behind me, I heard Rinka whisper, “What does that mean?”
Lucius hushed her. “Shh. Surly she will explain.”
Leace lifted a hand. “I swear, if I have to quiet you again…”
Silence covered the room like a blanket.
“As I was saying,” Leace continued. “You four are too old. It is that simple. You can still learn Breath, but it will take you at least a year of dedicated training. Every day.”
Blank looks greeted her. She let out a groan and rubbed her eyes. “Aer, explain. I am not in the mood to pretend to be a patient tutor.” She stepped back, grumbling. Where are the gurus when you need them.”
The man with a purple mohawk stepped forward. His voice, when he spoke, was deep and smooth.
“With pleasure, Head Crier Leace,” Aer said. “Cinders, your bodies change as you age you know this. By the time you reach nineteen, your spine has nearly finished growing. The joints between the vertebrae begin to fuse, and in simple terms, you stop growing.”
He traced a line down his own spine with one finger.
“Once that happens, each spinal disc hardens. Unfortunately, to use breath you must have all nine channels, spots between each spinal disc, open to utilize breath techniques. Now typically, Criers will have to train for a year to open these as most are above the age of 19 when they learn. However, for those of you that are young, there is another option.”
Raine raised her head next to me. “Ahh, there’s the price I was looking for,” She said under her breath.
Hyper raised his hand. “So what you are saying is…”
“You are too old,” Leace cut in. “Thank you, Aer. I will take it from here.”
She pointed her cane at the Firebrands. “You four have learned the basics. To progress, you must train your bodies. Stretch your spine and strengthen your core. Do that while you keep up your Kutasha training, and maybe in a year you will have opened enough to move forward.”
Great, I thought. Four fewer heavy hitters on the front line.
How old is too old, exactly? Fern asked quietly.
You heard them. Nineteen. Why?
The Ashsteel Sword, Fern said.
A cold chill ran up my spine.
Shit, I thought. That would make us… shit.
Based on the number of times we’ve used the sword, and how we looked, I’d bet that I was at least a year or two above twenty. Sweat crept up my back.
“You’re kidding,” Hakashi said, stepping back from the group with his usual annoyed energy. “We can’t at all? We have to leave this to the kids?”
Heda huffed. “And for the record, I am hardly an elder. I am only twenty-five.”
Leace waved her and the other Firebrands away to the stadium seats said. “Clear the main floor please, we need all the space we can get.”
“As for the rest of you,” Leace continued, “you are in the perfect age range for the second portion of Guru Seraphina’s fast-track experiment for developing Breath for those with strong spirits.”
“Seraphina?” I asked.
Leace rolled her eyes. “The Guru in charge of the Third Tier is a genius in her own development of teaching techniques. This one is specifically designed for the situation we are in now.
Raine lifted a hand. “Did you say experiment?”
Leace gave her a flat stare. “Yes. We have never had anyone reach coherence so quickly. When you came here Guru Kael gave us instructions to follow Seraphina’s plans. And this last portion, the one you need to open your channels and develop energy needed for the techniques will be the most painful of them all.”
The word hung in the air.
“You will be strapped down, and you stay as still as possible. If you scream, and move, or flinch, you could ruin the entire procedure,” Leace said.
She paused for a moment, expecting someone to interrupt again. But we stayed silent, hanging on her words, waiting to see what exactly this procedure was.
Leace continued. “There will be no pain medication, so you will need to be strong-willed and able to bear it all. First, we will cut down and along your spine. We will peel back your skin and muscles, and manually open up your channels while your spial discs are still elastic enough,”
She snapped her fingers, and the three criers who helped Leace before, Sammi, Clover and Alexia came in pushing a flat cart. I could only tell them apart from their orange, blonde, and black hair poking out behind their masks. The cart carried a wooden box. Leace pulled the lid back and reached inside.
I glanced into the box, and inside, nestled in black velvet, lay dozens of pencil-thin, needle-point crystals, each a little longer than my pinky finger. They shimmered faintly, catching the yellow crystal light, like a small flame was inside each one.
“These will go into your spinal discs,” Leace said. “They will force the channels open and in one procedure, you will have skipped a whole year of intensive training. If you move, if you twist when the pain hits, if you jerk while you scream, the crystals will shatter inside your spine.”
My mouth went dry. “What happens if they break?” I heard myself ask.
Leace smiled. It was not a kind smile.
“Then your spine breaks with them,” she said. “You lose any chance at Breath. And possibly, the ability to walk.”
A ripple of unease went through us. I heard Sora suck in air sharply. Tevin’s hands tightened, and even Mel’s usual bravado flickered. Jessa wrapped her arms tighter around herself.
Erik, Fern said. His voice carried real fear. If nineteen is the line and the sword has aged us…
I know, I thought. This could kill end it all for us.
We should walk away, Fern said. Find another way.
We don’t have that luxury, I thought back. We grit through the pain. We force them to do the procedure on us. I will not let this chance go by.
Fern was quiet for a second and then he said, I trust you.
“Anyone who does not wish to participate may sit out,” Aer said. His voice was calm. “It is not shameful. But some of you, some of you must bear the pain. Our mission is critical, and we do not have the gift of time.”
Jessa, took a step back, shaking her head. “I am sorry,” she whispered. “I cannot.”
No one judged her. She was training to be a nurse after all, not a fighter. She ended up in this situation by pure chance. She made her way to the stands and sat next to Hyper who patted her on the back.
Raine’s jaw was clenched and shaking, but her eyes were steady. Nanda’s fingers trembled for a moment, then stilled in a prayer gesture across his chest. Mel muttered something under her breath, and Silas stared at the crystals and then back at his metal hand.
“Anyone else?” Leace asked. “No? Good. Bring out the beds and the straps.”
Masked Criers rolled in a dozen simple cots on wheels, lining them up in front of us. Leather restraints hung from their sides with buckles clinking softly against each other.
The sight made my stomach twist, when I saw the surgical knives being laid out on each bed. My legs wanted to step back, but I made myself move forward with the others.
“Remember,” Leace said, walking along the row of cots, cane tapping against each metal frame. “No moving. No jerking. You will either become the fastest ones in history to learn Breath… or you will never walk again.”
I met Silas’s eyes. He had the same expression that I felt.
Fear.
I took a breath, felt my heart quicken with adreneline, and stepped toward the nearest bed.
Should the next series I write be in this universe or a new one?
