The Keepers of Eternity

XLIX

There were no dreams in the Eternity Phase, only a vast white fog where you could wander aimlessly for an indefinite amount of time. Without proper training, one could get lost in it, and be consumed by the whims of the Disc like a swimmer being swept out to sea by a riptide. Blaise had spent a hundred years in the void once, and it had felt like an eternity.

Control was the key. If you could control how your mind reacted to the Eternity Phase, you were able to demonstrate total mastery over your Disc. You became one with the force of nature that you sought to bend.

After his first trial with Faeluna's Eternity Phase had ceased, Blaise struggled to grasp the concept of control. He returned to the only home he had known, and climbed the tallest peak in ancient Saosavae where a cave lay nestled above a vast snowbank. With no one to guide him, Blaise spent the next month in a deep meditative state, trying to ease his way into the Disc's pathway that existed in his mind. After weeks of failed attempts, his consciousness finally settled on a singular point, and it was there where the core of the Disc existed: a tunnel into the unknown.

It was difficult, however, to maintain. It naturally became harder to gain control under stress, or when the Disc's core became triggered by certain external factors. The latter was an issue Blaise still did not understand, as it was related to the purpose of the Disc, which was a subject way above his current level of worldly understanding.

"Blaise." A voice said. "Blaise."

The world rocked, and he realized he was about to wake up.

Returning from the Phase wasn't instant—it often took minutes to hours to fully regain perfect consciousness.

Lenore pressed him. "I think we're getting close."

Blaise opened his eyes and blinked away the fog in his vision. He looked down to one of his bandaged hands, and to his satisfaction, he flexed his fingers without pain. An hour of deep concentration was enough to repair enough motor function in his left hand, though his other wounds remained in their previous state.

After Thadan had re-opened his stomach wound, his Eternity Phase had concentrated healing to his midsection, where it was most needed to keep him alive. He was fairly certain that more healing was needed in order to guarantee his internal organs weren't going to fester or suddenly start to fail, but for now, this was enough. He could operate a disc again, which was the most important part.

"You can untie me. I'm done healing for now" Blaise told her, fidgeting in his saddle so that he tugged on the rope that connected him to Lenore. She had to make sure Blaise wasn't going to plop off the horse during his night of deep sleep.

She grunted back at him, and loosened the slip knot.

Blaise stretched his back, noting the pain in his abdomen, and looked towards the sky. His bats were starkly visible against the cloudless sky, a black mass of wings and chirps. As Lenore had observed, their flight pattern had changed, a sure sign that the creatures were approaching their quarry.

"I was wondering...how exactly were you able to control the bats if your hand was all mangled?" Lenore asked.

Blaise always tried to avoid answering questions about his bats, mostly because he himself knew very little of it. Discs were a simple, straightforward science, but the magic of the bats was far more ambiguous in nature. It would have put his mind at ease if the phenomenon simply ceased; at least that way he could firmly say he knew how the world worked.

"It's...difficult to explain to people like you." Blaise told her.

He could sense her irritation. "Well, I want to know anyway. Tell me." There was still a dry tension that remained between them, making their conversation awkward. It hadn't ceased since she'd hit him earlier.