The Guardians of Celesk

Chapter 21: We are the Way

Motivation could be the killer of mindfulness. The desperate pursuit of goals and the desire to meet the status quo was an old world of thinking and it clouded the mind. Sometimes the better nature of the Guardian mentality, the spirit of wellbeing could overwhelm both Bohina and Artreide if they let it. These were the thoughts that had entered Artreide's head as he watched his daughter desperately trying to meditate, as she eagerly sought out his approval. Bohina still had to remind herself that Chenari was still a child, despite her gifts and desire to fill every minute with the pursuit of knowledge.

She closed her eyes and tried to force her mind to relax. On the point of giving up, she relaxed and let her deep breaths in and out. She let the moment pass over and on her second attempt, she moved beyond her initial thought process, trying to catch a cloud in a field of dreams and trying to bust it. Instead, this time she was awash with a swarm of emotion; it started at the top of her forehead and pulsed throughout her shoulders and back simultaneously. The trickle of joy at the top of her forehead ran down on the underside of her facial tissue and changed temperature. The wave of warmth pulsed from her shoulders and projected to her outward extremities. Her mind's eye pushed through the clouds of ideas and traced it all back to a key source. Another inner voice almost sang to her in the background. She pushed away the clouds and in the centre was an orange glowing fire - her previous memory of her father's days of fireside conversations. This fire began to consume her vision, but she was no longer afraid. She respected it and felt the presence of an old friend.

Bohina and Artreide could sense it too. Both abruptly halted their meditations and opened up their eyes to observe their daughter in training. Each could see a pulse surround her in an orange glow, and gazed at each other in excitement, for they knew what was to follow. They just could not believe the moment arrived so soon.

Chenari continued to conjure the image of the flame, framed in its primal form, which continued to beckon to her. She heard her father's voice in an almost distant hollow volume in the back of her mind.

Respect the flame, but do not fear it. For the way is the light, and without it, we are lost in the dark.

The warm channels ebbing and flowing along her limbs continued back and forth, with their temperature gradually heating up. The pain was scorching at first, as she gritted her teeth until the point she was about to burst into a scream of agony, when suddenly it shifted, and sparks shot out of her fingers. A tree behind them suddenly exploded into flames, with each of the eminent licks of flame sliding along the limbs. The flood of emotions enveloped her, dousing the sparks of her fingers, and cooling her core temperature. Chenari was completely overwhelmed and started to sob in huge gulps of air. Bohina automatically gripped her in a warm embrace while Artreide shot out a cooling spray of ice water from his hands, washing over the enflamed tree branches and pilfering out huge tendrils of smoke which puffed out as the external flames were doused. As a reflex, he joined Bohina and hugged his daughter.

"What have I done? What am I?" she shrieked in sobs. Bohina was the first to reply, "You are our daughter. And when you meditated, that was the first step of the journey."

"But it was a flame. Surely that's a sign of evil or something." Bohina was surprised at this outburst. "Nothing could be further from the truth. It was just your first element. Besides, none of us are born inherently good or evil; it's the decisions we make along the way that define who we are." Artreide, in his constant need to espouse wisdom, also added, "and in terms of the way, what happened tonight was a huge leap on the path forward."

"What does that mean?" she asked as Artreide chose to reassure her. "It means you're becoming one with the way. You see beyond mere material objects, and you are starting to see the primal elements that have helped forge our way of existence. Tonight, you experienced fire."

"It scared me, though I tried not to let it."

"We saw that. Don't be afraid, for each one of us sees a different element first. In your case, the flame chose you first."

"What other elements are there?"

Bohina took over the response. "The main elements are fire, water, earth and the storm, although the last one is often referred to as wind, but we'll get to that."

Chenari slowly uncurled from out of their embrace and looked back at her hands in astonishment. It reminded Bohina of the first time she gazed upon her hands like the miraculous things they were, as a baby. Once they had settled, Chenari said "So this is normal? And I'm not a freak of Celesk?"

"Of course not. Well, it's normal for people of our abilities. Not just any scurrier on the street, mind you. And you are not a freak at all, you just have some unique gifts, which in time, you will master," Artreide said.

Chenari crossed her legs again, readying herself for meditation but she could not stop staring at her hands like they would magically explode. "Now try again."

They continued to practise long into the evening. She never set the tree ablaze again or harnessed the flame with as much intensity as the first time, but she was far more successful controlling it, with Bohina allowing her to start their fire without the flint they normally used. She also guided the fire and smoothed over its shapes as the flames danced in the twilight. They finished with a mantra that Artreide had taught her.

The Way guides us, and we are the Way.