Fractured Darkness Page 3

  “A wall without a door is unusual.”

  “When we took over, a stone talent sealed it and made it her life’s work to build up the walls.”

  “Her history is recorded in the library?”

  “It is. There is an archive power who used her skills to write the life stories of everyone who has ever been given shelter here.”

  “How does she know them?”

  “She can touch an object of any person and know their life’s story. She then writes it down.”

  Noma made a mental note to stay out of that woman’s way. Her life story wasn’t something she wanted to see in print.

  They walked until they reached a canopy with tables and chairs clumped together under it. He escorted her to a seat, and a young woman with sparkling amber eyes brought them drinks.

  “Dinner tonight is stew and bread.”

  Urad chuckled. “Just as it is every night.”

  Noma raised her eyebrows. “Every night?”

  “The best way of feeding several hundred people at a time is a soup or stew. The bakers and the cooks rotate with other positions but generally choose to stay in the food service segment.”

  Noma looked around and saw only a few other couples sitting in the immediate vicinity. “What do you use as currency?”

  “Our service to the community. Each hour you spend in service gains you more access to food, clothing and lodgings. We offer lodgings to each new member for one month until they settle in to our way of life. You seem to have grasped it immediately.”

  She grinned and sipped at the glass in front of her, blinking at the alcoholic hit.

  “There wasn’t anything to grasp. I am always looking for something to do.”

  “Where did you learn all that? I mean the breathing and the control.” His expression was earnest.

  “When my sister and I first began to surge, we were away from a city. My mother had learned techniques to calm anxiety from her own mother, and she took us through breathing and focus. We worked together and gained control of our individual talents as well as we learned to quell each other when we got out of control. Once I met other talents, I learned that it was being able to use the power that caused the control and let us grow. No matter how much my power ratchets up, I keep control because I acknowledge it as part of me.”

  She was leaning forward and he was amused.

  “Sorry. I get a little passionate on the subject. It was a concern at home and I can see it is one here as well.”

  Urad took his glass and leaned back in his chair. “You seem to have come from a world at war.”

  “I came from a world preparing for war. It went to war the moment that I left it.”

  She tried not to imagine what was happening at home. Resicor would not have split them up if she didn’t have to. Their world had been determined but not cruel.

  “So, you have a shadow power?”

  The food arrived and cutlery to match it.

  Noma looked into her bowl and flicked her gaze up to him. “Very observant.”

  He smiled and set his glass down on the table. “Aren’t you curious about my power?”

  “A little, but you will tell me if you want to.” She took a piece of bread, tore it off and dunked it in her bowl before eating it.

  The spice of the stew made her smile. The light burn in her mouth woke her senses and made her head spin.

  She sipped more of the beverage and swallowed heavily.

  “So, Urad, are you and your sister close?”

  He nodded. “We ran from our home the moment that the priests started visiting our home on a daily basis. Our parents packed us supplies and smuggled us out of the city at sunset. We travelled for two weeks, hiding during the day and running at night.”

  “How old were you?”

  “I was twelve, she was thirteen. It was my power that tipped them off.”

  He was giving her a teasing hint.

  She sighed, “It is considered exceptionally rude and quite dangerous where I am from, but what is your power?”

  “You will find out in a few minutes.”

  It was another tease, but she shrugged and finished her meal, setting her spork down with a sigh. “That was really good.”

  “They mix up the themes of the spices, but the ingredients remain the same. We aren’t exactly set up for herding our own animals.”

  “So, these animals are hunted?”

  “Some are hunted, others are called when their death is near. They walk here and spend the last days of their lives in comfort. We honour their end.”

  Noma nodded and sat with her glass between her palms. “There is a huge space around this structure, why don’t you use it?”

  “We are safe here. It is the only place most of us have been safe in our entire lives.”

  She looked at his sombre gaze and accepted what he was saying. The talents around her were afraid of the outside world, and they had reason to be. To fight against that was to disrespect their struggles. If she was to understand the people she was with, she had to keep that first and foremost in her mind.

  They sat in silence for a moment, and before they could change to another topic, there was a large group of children gathered around them.

  The light was fading and the children looked at Urad with anticipation. The young healer that Noma had carried in was with two other girls, holding hands tightly.

  The youngest looked at Urad and smiled hopefully. “Is it time yet, Urad?”

  Urad looked at the sky and nodded. He held up one hand and a ball of light formed before it left his palm and began to move through the open areas of the keep. Every fifty feet or so, a piece of light broke off and illuminated the area.

  Noma laughed. “You are a light talent.”

  He inclined his head. “You are correct.”

  “My sister is a light talent. You have excellent control, but why are you in charge of security?”

  “Someone has to be, and I have been here for two decades. This is my home and I will see it defended.”

  The ball of light returned to him in four minutes with the exhausted and laughing children right behind it. Well, all seemed tired but Robik. He was grinning and laughing at the others, his speed had kicked in and he was delighting in showing off.

  Noma covered her mouth as she grinned. Something else was about to kick in.

  He was laughing one minute, and she caught him in her shadows the next. She carried him to her and looked at the server. “Can you bring three bowls of stew please? Robik has increased his metabolism, and he is burning through more calories than he consumes by about five to ten times.”

  The woman returned to the kitchen and brought a huge kitchen bowl full of stew. She winked at Noma. “I thought it would be faster to bring the big bowl.”

  Noma sat Robik up and held him in a proper position while she spooned up some of the stew gravy, and she slipped it between his lips. She rubbed his neck and he swallowed. It took five spoonfuls before he opened his eyes and he took over feeding himself.

  “Don’t use your speed, Robik. You will only need more food, and I am sure that this restaurant closes eventually.”

  Urad shook his head. “How do you know the vulnerabilities of the powers?”

  “Years of study. I was given access to information on talents and I read everything I could. It put me into the position to come here.”

  “Your people know about talents?”

  “They hunt them and lock them away, much as your priests are doing here. I think that was why I ended up here. It is a similar situation.”

  “And you are saying that your world sent you here?”

  “She did. She occupied the body of my sister and sent me through the portal.”

  Robik kept eating, but his gaze flicked between them.

  Noma removed her shadows from him now that he was eating on his own.

  Urad looked at her and he smiled. “I think
you have explained enough for one day. I will show you where you can rest and recover from your ordeal.”

  Robik was nearly finished with his meal, so Noma got to her feet and patted his shoulder. “Eat when you are hungry and do internal checks to verify your energy level. If you don’t know how to do that, I can show you tomorrow.”

  He nodded and she left the café area. Urad followed and when he caught up to her, he offered her his arm. “Hang on to me; you will be staying in the tower until a permanent residence has been arranged for you.”

  She looked up at the tower and thought of all the folk she had helped to find the Citadel, and she smiled. “It is appropriate.”

  Chapter Five

  In her new rooms, she had a bathroom, a bed and a window. It was all she needed.

  Noma reached into her robes and pulled out the orb. “So, why did you get chucked through the gateway?”

  Light danced out of the orb and across her eyes. Numbers, images, details of the local terrain, it was all there.

  When the light display was over, Noma was blinking. “What do you mean I am over six hundred years in the past?”

  The image of the tower she was in with the word Citadel embossed on it repeated over and over again.

  “You have got to be kidding.” Noma rubbed at her temples. Exhaustion pounded like a drum in her skull.

  The orb tucked itself against her side, but when she closed her eyes, she could still see the word and the image. If this was a Citadel, why wasn’t anyone training?

  Daylight ripped into her window with fury. Noma fought the hiss as she got to her feet, and she stumbled to the bathroom with eyes narrowed against the brightness. Morning light was her least favourite.

  Summers at her grandmother’s cabin came in handy in dealing with the plumbing and her talent for shadows made it easy to move in the dark. She was going to have to rinse out the bodysuit she wore under the robes. She was fairly sure that she hadn’t earned sufficient work credits to earn a new outfit.

  With a deep breath, she opened her door and headed out into the hallway and down the myriad stairs to the main floor, and then, she followed the smell of bakery products.

  There weren’t many folk around, but the few who were up gave her sleepy smiles and confirmed that she was, indeed, headed in the right direction.

  A few of her students were at the dining area, and they showed her where to go to get the breakfast pastries that everyone else was enjoying.

  Breakfast was quick, and when she had put her plate in the washing station, her students hauled her back to the classroom and Noma came to a stunned halt. Eighty hopeful faces turned toward her and she blinked. “We are going to need a bigger room.”

  A wave of laughter ran through the crowd, and they went in search of a bigger room.

  The breathing and focus class went well outdoors with their backs to the tower, but when they lined up in the practice yard, she had to group them by talents.

  The healers were standing by in case anyone got a little carried away and the shielding talents were in front of them.

  Fire went first with ice immediately behind them. Water was on the far right, just in case.

  “All right, whenever you are ready, fire at will.” She smiled at her own joke and remained on guard to stifle whoever got out of control.

  Flames of varying hues shot out randomly, some in streams, some in spurts. The bright heat was intense, and the ice talents kicked in, cooling the air around them and everyone else.

  Noma smiled. This is what she had been told the Citadel did. Talents worked together to teach each other and helped personal advancement.

  When the flame talents had flickered out, the ice and water talents got together, and several managed to craft sculptures made with their powers.

  The crowd applauded when they had run their course and the shifters jumped into action. Claws, spines, fur and scales blurred in a frenzy of shredded fabric and practiced control.

  A few false shifts caused a rush from the healers, and Noma watched with attention to detail as the shifters were coaxed out of their half forms and back into normal shape.

  When the physical talents had all had a turn, she smiled at the psychics. “I know you want to try your hand, but I believe a more controlled and less emotional environment might do for you. Separate classes will be necessary for practical application. The telekinetics shall practice lifting a single grain of sand and alternately heavy weights. Empaths should work with the newcomers to determine their state of mind as well as work screening newcomers for specific needs they have not detailed. Telepaths should pick information from the library and have a silent debate club, all on different topics and all in the same room. This will teach shielding. I can give you the basics but cannot demonstrate it for you.”

  The telepaths grinned and nodded.

  “Now, for the three shapers that we have on hand, I am going to set you to tasks that you no doubt have already undertaken. I need a few changes of clothing.”

  Laughter rang out, but one young woman gave her a serious look. “Will you come to my chambers for a fitting? I can make up something in bark and local fibres.”

  Noma looked at her and smiled. “If you are willing, I will be your dressmaker’s model.”

  The young woman gave her a thumbs-up.

  Urad stepped forward. “Noma, we have yet to see how your skills would blend with ours.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Really? You want to pair up with me?”

  A giggle rolled through the crowd.

  Urad bowed, “More than anything.”

  She beckoned him forward and called out, “Clear the line. This could get messy.”

  They lined up, his right shoulder to her left, and they extended their hands. She placed her hand on his wrist and she glanced up at him. “Ready when you are.”

  She could feel the power surging through his arm and gathering in his hand. She met it with darkness, and when he reached critical mass, they fired.

  Her darkness and his light twisted together, writhing as they rocketed toward the wall. The crowd cried out as the power ripped through the wall and made a rather sizable hole.

  Noma jerked her hand from Urad’s and stepped aside as she cut the power. The hole was dramatic, and it looked as if the power had continued on.

  Urad was next to her as they approached the wound in the stone. “We did that?”

  She nodded. “We did.”

  “Well, as you know all about powers, what would you call this?”

  “Vibrational synchronization. I will just say that it isn’t common, and when it occurs in psychics, it can be devastating to those around them.”

  “How so?”

  “They can broadcast and control others if they are inclined to. It is how entire cities on my world fell to whatever they chose to use to influence them. Paranoia against physical talents was part of it.”

  The walls of the hole were smooth and cool. The track of their power had continued and left a scorched mark through the landscape until she couldn’t see how far it went. “Wow.”

  She looked at Urad. “I want to see how far it goes.”

  Before he could say or do anything, she slipped through the hole and had her shadows sprinting across the landscape. The tower was a tiny speck when she turned and the streak of energy still hadn’t stopped. As far as she could tell, it eased up and into the sky taking out trees, rocks and even the tip of a mountain.

  Shaking her head in amazement, she returned to the city, and since the talents were already sealing the hole, she climbed up and over once again.

  The crowd was helping the shapers by giving them materials to seal the breach in the wall. Upon seeing how hard they were working, she climbed back over the wall and headed for the nearest pile of tumbled rocks. She lifted a large chunk of minerals with her shadows and hiked back to the tower.

  Noma had to admit it was freeing to be able to use her talent and no
t care who saw it. She hauled the rock up one side of the wall and carefully lowered it from the battlement before she descended herself.

  One of the strength talents was already smashing up the rock and handing it to others who put it in place for the shapers. It was an act of community power and spirit and made Noma smile.

  Not bad for her second day.

  Urad was sitting with her during lunch, and he was still a little stunned around the edges. “I have never felt a power rush like that in my life.”

  Noma poured another glass of water from the pitcher. “Me neither. It was quite something.”

  “So, are you teaching tomorrow?”

  “Yes, I will teach until there is no one else who needs to learn, and then, I will move on to more detailed lessons, classes, tutorials, that sort of thing. Of course, I need to do some exploring. I need to go out and find a pit.”

  Urad paused. “Why would you want a pit?”

  “I need to know what is inside it and how it works. I suspect that there is a vessel and some cold storage inside one, but I need to get into one in order to make that determination.”

  “That will be a dangerous mission.”

  She snorted. “I have ripped through time and space. I think I am up to some priests and chains.”

  “They have wants, staves, all designed to stun and keep you passive.”

  “I am sure they will get in a few good shots, but I am not a normal, untrained power. I know what I can do and I have surrendered to my fate.”

  He reached out and grabbed her hand, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. “I do not wish you surrendered to fate, I want you to surrender to me.”

  She blinked and wondered if her mind had mistranslated the phrase into something suggestive. “Not until I get a change of clothing.”

  He stared at her and started laughing. “I had forgotten that you did not run here with supplies. Minny is willing to make you clothing.”

  “I thought she and the other shapers would be too tired after today.”