Two months had passed when the heat of the desert grew hotter. Brecken had never experienced a summer outside of the east coast, where it was cool most days of the year. He was unsure it really could get hotter than it had already been, but every day the heat of the sun bore down more, coupled with somehow even colder nights. The Empty Ocean was a land of extremes, something he learned very quickly.
Lucas had taken his place of power better than Brecken would have thought. It was like he was born to lead these people; born to be at the helm of an army. After only a week or two of Cain showing him the ins and outs, he took over, only asking questions when he didn't understand something. He insisted that Brecken be with him at all meetings. He said it was important that a person who has worked and lived under the empire recently should have an input.
He and Lucas were no closer to figuring out exactly what the prism was. After months of trying different things, they had all but given up. Lucas tried everything he could think of, sending his energy through it, trying to pull energy from it. Lighting it on fire or putting it under water. Nothing effected it in any way. It was becoming clearer that they needed to ask Orhin for help.
The old man knew they had it; he must have. The looks that Brecken got when Orhin was around showed him as much. That same look of jealousy. Like a mirror image of Lucas's reaction. Orhin was much quicker to hide it though, and not once did he bring it up. It was almost like he was trying to ignore its existence other than the few slip ups.
Brecken's favorite thing by far though was the training they did together. Lucas said he needed a core group of people around him in the battle to give them an edge over the King. Together, he said, they could beat him, no matter how strong he was. Every other day Anai, Ezra, Hurin, and Brecken would meet Lucas in the flats outside of the camp to become familiar with fighting alongside one another.
Sometimes people would come and watch, oohing and aahing at them as they learned how Lucas could supplement their gifted forms. There was no greater feeling than the one Brecken got when they were together. It quickly became all he looked forward to, other than meals of course. Whenever the time came to confront the King and his armies, they would be ready.
On a particularly hot afternoon, Brecken sat on a chair in his tent waiting for the next meal to come. There was at least another hour until he and Hurin could go down to the meal tent and get some soup, or a cut of jerky and a biscuit. The meals were never incredibly filling, but they did the job well enough and were always tasty. Apparently, there were salt mines in the desert that made it very cheap to obtain good seasoning.
Hurin was out making his rounds of the camp with the other guard members. He wasn't fond of sitting around between practice sessions and meals, so he joined up to try and earn his keep. Brecken was too busy in meetings with Lucas to have time for such things, so in between them he tried to relax. When Cain, Anai, and Ezra entered the tent, he jumped up, startled at the sudden movement.
"Brecken, something has come up. Lucas needs us all immediately. Where is Hurin?" Cain said, his commanding voice requiring the upmost attention.
"He is out with the watch. What's going on, is everything okay?"
Cain gave Anai a nod. She unclipped her dress, handed it to her brother and disappeared.
"We will talk about it with Lucas and Orhin. Bring your mace."
The group hurried out towards Lucas's tent. A line had formed at the food tent, and others milled about carrying firewood or sacks of grain. The entire camp was the exact same it had been every other evening. Ezra and Cain both wore worried looks, like there was some imminent danger that could spring up at any moment.
