The Desolate Mountains (The Divine Elements Book 2) (24 page)

The sun’s brilliant rays shone down on the earth, signaling to the beasts that it was the start of yet another day. Wispy leaves fluttered in the wind, while some got separated from their branches and silently drifted towards the bottom.

Three figures peacefully slept under a giant tree – a human, a wolf pup, and a white lion. The pup slumbered on top of the human’s chest, while the young lion lay not far from them.

As the three companions continued to quietly sleep, a mysterious stranger soundlessly crept towards them. When the stranger got close to the human figure, she bent down to his left ear and began chanting.

“Shaa, sha-shaa… Shuu, shu-shuu…”

Hearing an uncomfortable sound on his left, Calron abruptly woke up as his eyes flashed open and sparks of lightning danced around his fingertips.

However, after seeing who the stranger was, he grunted out a curse and stated with exasperation in his voice.

“What in the heavens are you doing?”

“Laris told me that doing this to males while they were sleeping would cause them to subconsciously urinate themselves. I had always wanted to try it, but alas, I never had a male student until now, bahaha!”

Tarnila roared with laughter, as she gave the routine slapping on Calron’s back.

Hearing a commotion, both Avi and Rebran gradually woke up as well, groaning their protests.

Knowing that nothing that he did would make a difference, Calron sighed in resignation and spoke up.

“You left yesterday without telling me where to meet for my training.”

“Yes, that is why I’m here. Hurry up, and let’s go! I already have breakfast ready for you three, haha.”

The crafty raccoon exclaimed as she bent down and picked up the excited wolf pup, who had begun to jump up and down on the mention of food.

Meanwhile, Calron was contemplating if he should inform Tarnila of the previous incident with the reptilians. There was just something very eerie about that whole situation, and he did not know how to go about it.

I don’t know much about her yet, so I better wait it out for a while.

Calron mused to himself, slowly standing up and stretching his body.

“What food do you have?”

Rebran mumbled while rubbing his paws against his eyes to dispel the sleepiness.

“I’m not sure… I just told little Laris to sneak some food away from the palace. Now human, change back into being a birdy so we can all quickly get to my home!”

The grey raccoon shouted, urging Calron to shape-shift into his beast form.

Grinding his teeth at being treated like a beast of burden, Calron gradually began to transform.

*chi-chi-chi*

Gazing at the brilliant golden scales shooting across the human’s body, Rebran let out a gasp of astonishment.

Beautiful…

Even though he had seen the golden bird before, just watching the transformation was a sight that evoked a sense of true awe.

“C’mon, you fluffball, let’s go!”

Tarnila chuckled, as she eagerly leapt onto Calron’s back with Avi and called out to Rebran, who was still standing on the ground.

Rebran was going through a mix of emotions. On the one hand, he did not know who these people really were, and they were clearly very powerful, but the human had also saved his life twice in a row.

Sensing something wrong, Avi turned her head to face the young lion.

“woof?”

Staring into her bright purple eyes, Rebran knew one thing for sure: She was his first friend.

“Hehe, wait for me, I am coming!”

………………………..

“Pay attention! If you lose your concentration, your lightning will rampage within your body.”

A grey raccoon admonished a seated human boy, while she walked around him.

“This is not fair, why can’t we do this after I eat? I’m starving!”

Calron complained, as his stomach let out a loud growl.

Watching the two little beasts stuff themselves with meat and milk a few yards away, he knew it was only a matter of time until all that food would gradually disappear. Both Avi and Rebran paid no attention to Calron, and continued to munch down on the delicacies.

“There is more food, do not worry about it. What I need right now is for you to concentrate. Close your eyes and visualize the lightning within you.”

Tarnila stated in a calm and solemn voice, as she sat in front of Calron.

Detecting the abrupt change in the raccoon, Calron knew that she was finally turning serious. Pushing away any thoughts of food, he slowly closed his eyes.

“Imagine a current coursing through your veins. Imagine its path, its form… its emotion.”

The raccoon whispered in a soft voice.

Emotion? Lightning has emotions?

Calron doubted, but still followed her instructions.

Delving deep into his inner mind, Calron began this new mental exercise. Imagining the lightning was easy, as he had always done that whenever he released his essence.

It was a ball of pure energy, with torrents of lightning darting around it.

However, the ball simply floated in front of him and did not move.

“It’s not working.”

Calron murmured while keeping his eyes shut.

“Your mind is subconsciously containing the lightning’s power. Do you think that the true form of lightning is a mere ball? Break the chains within your mind, kid, and let your power free!”

Tarnila spoke in a heavy tone.

It was true.

Calron had been unknowingly suppressing his normal lighting for so long in fear of the Azure Lightning accidently unleashing itself, that he had mentally constricted its true power.

“Lightning is infinite and has no form besides its flashes of bright light. Imagine it flowing like a river within your veins and embrace it to find what is deep inside it.”

The raccoon continued speaking in a quiet voice.

Gradually, the energy ball in Calron’s mind started to crack until a sound of glass shattering could be heard and streams of lightning burst out from the golden ball.

He stood floating there, as torrents of lightning crowded into the space in his mind and charged straight at him.

Warm.

Calron had gotten used to this feeling of warmth whenever lightning rushed into him. Although it was not usually as powerful of a sensation as it currently was at this moment, he knew this feeling.

Delving into the channels of lightning passing through his body, Calron tried to touch it with his mind.

*Bzzt*

“Easy… this is your own mental world, so everything depends on your emotions. Steady your mind and get rid of that nervousness.”

Calron heard Tarnila speak next to his ear.

What Calron failed to notice was how the raccoon knew exactly what was happening within his mind.

Taking deep breaths, Calron calmed his heart rate and once again tried to touch the stream of lighting within him.

*sha-sha*

A string of emotions rapidly trailed into his brain.

These emotions… are mine!

A sudden thought entered Calron’s mind when he realized that the emotions he was receiving from the lightning were actually a reflection of his own.

Detecting the expression on the human’s face, a hint of a smile spread on Tarnila’s face.

“Yes, your emotions are also a part of your lightning. It feeds it and if your mind is weak, then your lightning will be weak as well. I do not know why you have been restricting your power, but remember, lightning’s true power stems from its wildness and raw violence.”

Tarnila explained while abruptly standing up.

“Now, remain in your mental world and see the face of my lightning.”

The raccoon laughed, as bolts of golden lightning danced around her claws.

………………………………..

“Xardoth, is that right?”

A feminine voice entered his royal tent, while the Griffin King was lying down on his bed. He was currently in his humanoid form.

“Who are you?”

Xardoth asked with fury when he saw a hooded figure in his tent, and quickly got up. The fact that someone dared to address him with such blatant disregard, caused him to seethe internally.

“It doesn’t matter who I am, I am only a messenger.”

The cloaked figure laughed in a sweet voice.

“What is your message?”

Xardoth inquired, while simultaneously alerting Orpen and the others of an intruder within their camp.

The hooded figure let out a quick grin, as she said slowly.

“Your son, Rebran, was killed by the Dragon King.”

“Your son, Rebran, was killed by the Dragon King.”

A sudden jolt of pain instantly burst through Xardoth’s heart the moment he heard those words.

*thump-thump*

*thump-thump*

His blood pressure started to rapidly rise, as his heart violently pounded against his chest.

It’s not true… it’s not true… IT’S NOT TRUE!

His mind started to shamble in pieces, as despairing thoughts of his wife came to his mind and how her life would crumble if she found out that her son was dead.

“You are lying. How can I believe what you just said?”

Xardoth asked in a cold voice, as his feathery fists tightly clenched together and the fur around his body began to distort into the shape of a griffin.

“Trust me or not, but you will see for yourself once you enter the city. I see that you have already called your little friends, so it is time for me to leave. Do what you wish…your highness…”

The cloaked figure mockingly laughed at the end, instantly vanishing from sight.

Just at that exact moment, Orpen and the other griffins burst into the tent with wild waves of essence spiraling around them.

“My King, where is the enemy?”

Orpen asked with fear in his voice. He could detect the rapid detoriation of Xardoth’s mind through their mental link, and the current emotions of the king greatly alarmed him.

“Wake the troops up. We will march through the night and attack the city tomorrow.”

Xardoth slowly raised his head to face the group of griffins, as veins of blood popped up and spread throughout his eyes.

……………………………

“A pity… so gullible and yet so noble…”

A figure suddenly appeared in a flash within a distant mountain above the series of tents below.

Withdrawing back her hood, the figure’s bright red hair spilled out onto her shoulders. Compared to the darkness of the night, the bright red hair appeared to be drawing in the moonlight as it illuminated with a strange glow.

“If only I did not have to hide my identity from the Emperor, I could have dealt with these two measly kings on my own. But then again, this game of cat and mouse is also fun in its own way.”

The red-haired woman murmured to herself, as she watched the chaos unfold in the camp below.

…………………………..

A blazing beacon of light shone within Calron’s mind the moment Tarnila released her essence.

Compared to his own lightning, it was clear that her’s was much more terrifying and he had to briefly compose himself, as the mere aura of her lightning was causing his breathing to constrict.

It was the same sensation that the guards had felt back in the Arena when she had activated her essence in front of the crowd.

“Let me decrease the potency of the lightning, so you can see it better.”

The raccoon calmly spoke, and gradually the blazing light within Calron’s mind started to dim a bit.

“Notice the path that my lightning is flowing in and try to glean my emotions or thoughts from that stream.”

Focusing his mental consciousness towards the raccoon, Calron furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to understand the pattern of the lightning and to detect Tarnila’s thoughts.

Droplets of sweat began forming on his forehead under the intense concentration.

“Gahh! I can’t even penetrate your barrier. Your lightning is stopping me from even coming close to your thoughts.”

Calron stated in frustration as he finally opened his eyes, and panted audibly.

“Hmm… this is my first time teaching this technique to someone else with a lightning element… how about trying it on one of them?”

The raccoon replied while turning her head to face the two little beasts on the side who still gorging themselves on food.

A look of panic immediately surfaced on Calron’s face, but it soon disappeared once he realized that this technique was different from his Divine Perception, in that he could not forcefully influence their minds, but only detect their thoughts and emotions.

“Alright, let me give it a shot.”

Very carefully, Calron spread his mental consciousness towards the unsuspecting beasts and started with Avi’s mind.

Unlike the thick torrents of lightning that existed in both him and the raccoon, the two little beasts each had very thin and fragmented paths where lightning passed through. Bringing his mind closer to Avi, Calron started to get a few traces of random thoughts.

Food… biting…tasty…meat…hurry food… competition… eat more…

Although the string of random phrases were all jumbled together, Calron could still gain a general understanding of what was going through Avi’s mind. Rather than comprehensible words, the information he got was more about her emotional state and what the pup was feeling right now.

Switching over to Rebran, the young lion had similar thought processes as Avi but there were hints of worry and concern layered beneath within them.

Tastes good…friend… home… family… miss…

Calron could tell that the thoughts of his family and concern for how he will return back to them was looming over the young lion’s head. It was probably his first time being away from them his whole life.

Feeling pity for the isolated beast, Calron stopped using his technique and opened his eyes to the sadly smiling raccoon.

She appeared to have noticed the white lion’s sadness as well. However, Calron did have to praise the little beast for his courage. Even with his mind in such duress, Rebran did not let it show on the outside.

“Looks like our time is up for today, birdy, we have a guest coming over. Quickly change back to your beast form.”

Tarnila said, as she glanced in a distant direction.

Curious as to who this new person was, Calron rapidly shape-shifted into the golden bird.

Standing at a height of over ten feet tall, he could now see that an armored figure was casually walking towards their location.

……………………………..

“Master, was the food to your liking?”

Laris asked politely with a smile when she saw piles of empty trays next to a bloated Avi and Rebran.

“Haha, it was satisfactory and I’m sure our two esteemed guests appreciated it.”

The raccoon chuckled, seeing the look of content on Avi’s face as she rolled around on the ground.

“Laris, you could have come later for the trays.”

Tarnila said while glancing at the nearby Calron.

Unbeknownst to Calron, Laris had already discovered that the golden bird was a human and Tarnila did not want any friction to occur because of this. Although she trusted her student whole-heartedly, Calron did not have the same level of trust towards Laris.

“Master, I have come for another reason.”

The blue-skinned female stated while shaking her head.

“There are people looking for him.”

Laris revealed, as she nodded her head towards Rebran’s direction.