Vir sat cross-legged under the leafless tree that had quickly beco his and Maiyas spot. His friend was off doing who-knew-what, leaving him alone under the searing heat of the midday sun with his trusty four legged companion. The bare tree did little to protect either of them. Beads of sweat dribbled down Virs forehead.
Life had beco such a flurry of activity after arriving at Riyans place that hed hardly even had ti to reflect upon the events of that fateful day at the Godshollow. The day Rudvik had died The day hed been possessed. He recalled only bits and pieces of those monts, but he did rember a na: Reaper Ekanai.
The one whod tried to kill Maiya. Whod spoken of so mission that Vir had no inkling about.
The warrior from his vision had been fierce and mighty. Invincible. Though Ekanai was clearly deranged, the sense of total confidence that filled Vir at that mont had been intoxicating. Hed felt nothing like it before Or ever since.
The most tangible effect hed carried forth from that ordeal was his altered eyesight. At first, hed worried that his eyes had been sohow corrupted. As ti went on, he realized that wasnt the case at all. He saw more now. More than he ever had in his entire life.
And now he knew that what he had was special. Riyan had confird it himselfnot even the worlds strongest jai could see prana. For the first ti in his life, he possessed a powerful secret. Sothing no one other than Maiya knew about. Now, he had to learn how to leverage it.
But sothing had been worrying him about the ability. The dazzling intensity of the colors he saw during the vision had dimd significantly. He struggled to see the colors that had almost nauseated him in the forest.
So instead, Vir shut his eyes and fell into his mory of the events back then.
Hed been separated from Maiya. He had run desperately to find her, finding her beset by two of the knights bandies.
Vir recalled the dread hed felt at that mont. Hed been too far to help her. Then then ti had seed to slow.
It rained that day. Black clouds.
No! He realized that wasnt true. Reaper Ekanais mories had bled into his own. There was no rain in the Godshollow, but it was raining in Ekanais mories. Vir focused on the image of rainfall. He soon realized that the rain in Ekanais mory wasnt rain at allit was falling ash.
Ash that fell eternally in a blighted realm.
Then he saw the lightning. So much lightning! A lightning storm, the likes of which hed never seen. Vir had only ever heard of those; Brij never saw that kind of weather. The crack of lightning striking nearby startled Vir. He forced his eyes open, finding only Neel staring at him quizzically.
He took a mont to let the feeling pass over him.
Youre not in a lightning storm. Youre sitting here on a dune under a tree.
There wasnt a cloud in sight.
He repeated this mantra in his head several tis and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes once more.
The lightning from Ekanais mory felt like it was everywhere, scorching the soot-covered earth wherever the Reaper had looked. Everything was so golden. No! Not gold, but one of the new colors that had bled into his vision afterwards. The gold color appeared only when lightning struck, and dissipated soon after.
Gold for Lightning.
Despite Maiyas rejection of his theory, Vir still suspected that his newly gained sight allowed him to see prana. As hed learned from her yesterday, Lightning affinity orbs were golden. Hed initially thought that orbs of the various affinities were dyed in different hues to help people differentiate them. But now he wondered whether they simply took on the color of the affinitys prana itself.
Vir shook his head. It was too early to co to that conclusion. He opened his eyes.
He stared at the ground beneath him. There was a color there, but it was so dim, he couldnt make it out. The problem he currently faced was that his new sight, whatever it really was, had faded significantly.
Vir had hoped that rekindling his mory of the events in the Godshollow would help restore his vision, but it was not to be. At a dead end, he did the only thing he couldtest the other affinities.
If Lightning strikes contained golden prana, and Riyans Life magic was white, then it stood to reason that the other affinities prana should show up in their respective elents. The simplest thing Vir could think of was water.
Vir walked back to the hostead and dropped Neel off inside before retrieving Riyans Ashva from its stable. He hopped on, not paying a single thought as to whether Riyan was okay with him commandeering his animals, and rode the beast a half hour southwest.
The abode was on the southern edge of the central desert. Near to there, the land turned from rolling sand dunes to plains with rivers that eventually led to the Godshollow.
Vir dismounted the Ashva on the plains and walked up to a freshwater stream. He sat beside it and stared and saw nothing.
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Odd
But Vir was not one to give up so easily. For minutes, he sat and gazed at the flowing water. Minutes turned into tens of minutes, and he began nodding off. As his neck lolled, he startled awake, worried that so predator had snuck up on him. His heart pounded within his chest, but as he looked around, he realized it was just Riyans Ashva. The beasts loud grunt mustve scared him awake.
Then he noticed he could see the colors again. The effect died off within monts, but it was enough for him to glimpse Blue within the flowing water.
Vir pumped his fists. Yesss!
Another elent whose color matched the color of its orb.
Now, if I could figure out a way of seeing the colors without having to nod off, first
Despite that inconvenience, he was glad that his enhanced vision hadnt faded away forever.
But why would it only manifest after I wake up? Unless Could that be it?
An idea struck him. He stripped off his clothing and plunged into the stream.
The ice cold water sent a shock through his entire body, and sure enough, the colors ca blazing back in all of their glory. This ti, the effect lasted far longer, lingering until hed dried himself off and done several jumping jacks to warm up.
Thats when the pieces of the puzzle fit together; the jumping jacks had also boosted the colors in his vision.
Its related to exertion!? Or wait, no. My heart?
Back when hed had the vision in the forest, his heart had been pumping madly, and blood coursed through his body. Ever since then, hed been taking things easy to recuperate from his burns, so hed never really gotten his heart rate up.
Itd explain why hed regained the vision when he startled awake, and also when hed done those jumping jacks. Everything fit.
Sight being related to blood flow was sothing that intrigued Vir. He didnt know why this would be the case, but it was sothing to make a note of.
Vir returned to the Ashva and rummaged through a leather satchel strapped to its side. After searching for a mont, he retrieved a tinder bundle of dried leaves, along with so flint and steel. Rudvik had taught him never to venture into the wild without the ans to start a fire, and hed taken that lesson to heart.
He spent several monts scrounging the area for dry wood. Ordinarily, hed choose standing deadwood, but there was none of that here, so he made do with twigs he found on the ground. The blistering sun had dried them well enough to use, and he wasnt going for a big fire. Even a small fla would suffice.
Vir arranged his twigs and built a base for his fire. He struck the flint and steel, causing it to spark. After a dozen tries, the spark finally took to the tinder bundle. He dropped the flint, picked up the bundle, and blew on it. Cautiously at first, then with more force as the fla spread to the dried combustible material.
Once the tinder bundle was ablaze, he quickly laid it down under the twig teepee hed constructed. It took a few minutes for the fire to fully establish, allowing Vir to do so jumping jacks in the anti, keeping a close eye on the nascent fire.
Sweating and heaving, he crouched and stared deeply into the flas.
There was no mistaking ithe saw Red in its dancing tongues. An odd color that contrasted the yellow flas to create sothing that looked supernatural.
Vir pumped his fists with joy. The only elents left untested were ice and wind. He wasnt sure where hed find ice out here, but if he just waited long enough
Whoosh!
As if the gods had heard his thoughts, a gentle breeze blew past, ruffling his hair and threatening to put out his little fire.
Vir didnt care, because he saw it! Green in the air that rushed past him.
He spent the next several hours alternating between exhaustion and giddiness as he repeated his jumping jacks. During that ti, he noticed sothing. The colors had actually beco brighter. Now they were almost as bright as when hed been back in the Godshollow. Almost, but not quite.
The new colors overwheld his vision, but he was much more familiar with them now. He didnt lose his balance or feel nauseous. Instead, he appreciated the world in a way he never could before.
The way the colors danced through the air, the way they swirled through rivers and coursed through the trunks of trees It was all so delightfully elegant. Like hed stepped into a fabled realm of the gods.
Vir cast his gaze on a hare that ran across the plains. In it were traces of blue, green, white, and brown. Several elents were there, but the quantities were so tiny that hed never noticed them before.
Then he looked down at the earth and instantly regretted it. A wave of nausea overca him, making him fall onto his butt. A vast ocean of prana lurked beneath his feet, all of it a single color: Brown. It was both bright and vast to his senses. So vast that he felt it dwarfed all the other affinities combined.
Groundno! Earth Affinity? But thats impossible!
There was no earth affinity. If there were, there would be orbs of that color. Itd be well known and used across the world. But it wasnt. Hed never heard of such an affinity.
Then he recalled Riyan. Hadnt he seen the very sa affinity in Riyans own body?
What does this an?
Then he looked at his arm and saw the prana that coursed through his body. There wasnt a trace of any affinity within his body. Not even a single mote. It was a barren void, with only a slight trickle of a deep, inky black from the marrow of his bones.
Yet despite its paltry quantity, the depth with which that black prana shone was far beyond any of the other affinities hed seen. It wasnt even remotely comparable. But what was it?
Vir felt a sudden prick of pain from his back; his exertion had taken its toll on his nding injuries. Hed have to see if there were better ways of activating his color vision, but for now, he could at least do jumping jacks, or jog, assuming he wasnt injured. The pain from the burn wound had lessened so much that hed almost forgotten about his burns. Thanks to Riyans orbs, he was almost back to normal again.
Thinking about his recovery made him rember Riyans condition for him staying, which soured his mood sowhat. He still needed to prove his combat prowess if he wanted to stay. Virs stamina was always a problem for him, and hed had no training in the combat arts.
If he wanted to prove to Riyan that he was worth keeping around, hed need sothing more. Sothing like this new ability hed gained. Sothing like Prana Vision.
Once again, Vir contemplated telling the man about Prana Vision. He might be able to prove to the man he could see prana, but wanted to reserve that as a last resort. If he failed his physical test, he'd tell him. Otherwise, it would be in his best interest to hide it; he still didn't know how much he could trust the man.
Vir! Vir, are you there? From far away, he heard Maiyas panicked voice.
Boy! You will pay for this! How dare you take my Ashva without permission!
It was Riyans thundering voice. And he sounded pissed.
Oh no. Badraks Balls! Nonono! Virs blood ran cold.
I never told them I was going out.
Next ti: 16 - Rite Of Passage
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