Hi everyone!
It’s so great to have you all here! Your support and encouragement are what I live for these days. Thanks so much for sticking with me through Chapter One.
If you’ve missed any so far, posts are numbered, one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. Just click the number for a direct link. And if you don’t want to miss anything else:
This nr 8, marks the start of Chapter Two, and things only get more intense from here.
I hope you enjoy, and please leave a comment if you feel like it.
Oh, and I met Bing Image Creator, super cool! I hope you like the new graphics as much as I do. In case the change is a little jarring, and for the sake of inclusiveness - this one 👇🏻is Misty’s.
INDEX | Chapter Two: | Scene 1 | Next Scene →
I remember getting knocked over, something biting me in the neck, then things slow down a lot.
Time is measured in heartbeats as strength bleeds out of my limbs with each slow boom.
Boom, boom.
The air is thick, and the colors are seeping away.
Boom boom.
Triumphant laughter echoes in the narrow metal passage.
Boom.
All sensation is fading.
Boom.
A curtain falls.
Boom.
* * *
I know I am dreaming. In the dream, I fly.
There is nothing but air surrounding me, nothing but icy wind, swirling all around to stimulate a sense of touch. The release of all that pent-up power and the peace that comes with it, feeling light and the taste and smell of the thin atmosphere. Utter freedom!
I open my eyes to see Teag standing over me, behind the tinted shimmer of a Stasis Barrier. My muscles tense even though I know it is no use, the rigid energetic cocoon will prevent any movement.
"Remember that you are unique, in all our wide world, sweet little one, there is only one Teleran that can do what you can.” He says oozing pride and self-satisfaction even as his greasy blonde bangs dangle before his eyes. I stare at my trainer, hating him as he paces slowly around the hospital room. Curse his pride. He is the reason I am here now, immobilized. I want to scream at him! I can just picture myself beating his face with my small fists until it is nothing but a bloody pulp, but it is useless. It is not the first time I have been patched back together with stolen parts - another innocent talented girl mutilated to replace skin and muscle, to speed the recovery of the star pupil. As long as I stay here, it won’t be the last.
“Disregard this confinement and the pain of your injuries. Physical pain is nothing when measured against the immensity of the renewed power you will possess when your body repairs itself. It won’t be long now before-” He prattles on, telling me again how wonderful it is to have a Teleran body, blah, blah, blah. I can’t focus on his words, I couldn’t even if I wanted to, and I don’t. All I can think of is the itch on my eyebrow and the fact that I can't move to scratch it no matter how hard I try.
All I did was lose a sparring match against a boy twice my size and Teag flayed me to satisfy his frustration at the bet he lost, now he acts like it was all worth it because it will only make me stronger.
As a distraction, I look inward at the glowing inferno of raw energy that is already brimming within me, and Teag's plummy voice fades into the background. I did not release a lot, its replenishment shouldn't go out of control this time, even inside the stasis barrier, even though it is already starting to burn... Breathe through, James will help.
But James is late in coming and as the burning intensifies, my screams start to get loud enough to go the force field. The guard smirks and tightens his hold but doesn't seem bothered.
Time passes like falling snowflakes, now fast now slow. Inside the energetic case, I drift in and out of my airy dream world until I hear my Mind Smith's voice at last.
"There, my dear. I am here now." James sings softly as he enters the room, and I cannot resist my subconscious opening to him like a blooming flower when he renews our telepathic link with a touch. James inhales sharply and then sighs as he closes our eyes and the agony of my raw energy corroding cells that can no longer contain it bleeds off instantly. The relief is shamefully divine.
"What no fight for dominance today?" He tut-tuts, as I look away, failing to hide my awkwardness. "There's no need to feel embarrassed my dear. Pain is the lot of the Penitent, and I want you to know that I waited until you were ready to receive me."
* * *
The Penitent, the penitent. It echoes. My unfocused eyes see blurry lights. There are some people around me, I don’t know how many. I think I hear voices. “200, clear!” Then I am thrust back. Dreams and memories swirl and eddy in my mind like a cloud of dust in the sunslight. Lessons. Such a rich history. So many details.
* * *
We are superior in every way. Anatomy lessons taught me every strength of my body and every weakness that can be used to kill. Most babies are born weak, even in the Elder Races, but we Telerans are born encased in a unique energetic barrier that holds the raw energy in, trapping it so that it concentrates, making us tougher than most, a little more developed. Thus, even though the raw energy can’t escape, can’t even be measured, Teleran babies are born full of concentrated power, as much as they will ever have. The energy shell spreads out as they grow until it is thin enough to let some little bits of power through and then the children can learn to draw it out.
And as the energy runs down with use, it builds back up again to its natural limit, and the more you use it, the faster it builds. Children up to about four or five don’t even have an energy signature, but if they are strong, as most Teleran children are, they should be able to learn to release it before it starts to naturally escape the Vital barrier, which is why parents teach kids Forms, as a basic martial art, from age five.
James told me that my energy signature was already obvious at age three, and unmistakable by five, but it wasn't because my Vital energy was low. Mother always said I was a difficult child. James helped me learn about my birth and how by some trick of fate, I stole some of my mother’s Vital energy and nearly doubled my own. The problem, we only found out later was my raw energy doesn't slow down when it gets close to the limit of what my Vital energy barrier can contain, it never has. It just carries right on building, and the energy people could sense when I was little was leaking out. And so they call me Penitent. And so I suffer.
I learned so fast how to release it, but controlling my energy, took longer. I was four then and it was no secret I was one of the strongest among the other Talented. “Such a young wielder of Raw energy is unheard of.” They would say, whispering in the corners as I walked by behind Teag on our way to the gym. I never liked that all the children my age were scared of me. None of them could stand against me in the sparring room, which was why they always pitted me against the older group. The problem there was that Teag was a betting man, and he didn't like to lose. I was almost always in recovery for injuries. Even if I didn’t get hurt sparring against someone bigger and more experienced, Teag seemed to like punishing me if I disappointed him.
* * *
The memories meld together, so heavily that I cannot wake, and even though I know I am dreaming all I can do is observe…
Mother’s hair smells so nice, like herbs and wildflowers. I love the way she ties her hair, in a tight braid behind her head, and her dark blue skirts that hug her hips but not her knees.
I never understood it then, but it was James who helped me see that she never looked at me the way she looked at my older sister. Her loving smiles lied about the fear in her eyes and her hands always shivered when she touched my skin. He told me she used to be a warrior, even after Kayten was born- but after me, her ability to store raw energy was crippled and she never really recovered.
James showed me a lot of things that the naivete of babyhood hides, like how obvious it was that I had been marked as Talented from birth and that they had been watching from the start.
I remember my mother cried when the Mind Smiths came to test me. Father had been teaching my older sister Kayten Forms for a season, and I had been joining in for half that. They were trying to make a fireball and I was following the instructions, even though Father said I shouldn't be able to manifest anything yet.
It was an accident. No one told me the energy would be so hot and I only shook it to get it off my hands. I didn't mean to hurt the neighbor's boy.
They came the next day. They said even getting tested was a great honor for the family.
* * *
I am asleep. Warm and comfortable and safe. I don’t know how I know this, but I am safe. I try to remember... Everything is muddled now. I know Chrys and I escaped from TTH. I remember that I ran until I couldn't anymore and then... The Manorians - saved me. I remember the warmth of their ship and the fight and then... what happened then?
Okay, maybe a slightly slow start, but vital information. This paints the picture of Misty’s past, and her family life, and gives a little background for how her world works and what makes her different from a human. Plus some ominous mentions of a vague illness that has to do with her energy and makes her suffer somehow. Ooooooh. (Rubbing hands together and grinning.)
And remember, the next installment features Logan, where you will get to see what happened after he stopped Misty’s heart.
Tuesday people, around this time.
Thank you for the back story and racial trait explanations. Very helpful for the world being built in my mind.
I'm drawn into this story, and binging it. (nudges) and you say that you've never done this before. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a natural. It took me 20 years to find the voice I wanted to use.
Keep up the good work.