The Cleansing (Book One: The Folara Chronicles)

014:Rion

Rion finished training. One of the younger applicants to the Quarso had shown definite signs of ambition and promise. It gave him a sense of satisfaction he hadn't felt in days. As he wiped the sweat off his brow, his eyes felt scratchy and a strange dizziness came over him.

Out of the way, at the edge of the training field, a ledge of huge boulders were arranged to overlook the sea. Rion made his way there, and rested against one, his hand against his clammy neck, his eyes still slightly unfocused.

He blew out his breath and took another deeper one, smelling the salty air, the pungent fall gathering of grains and harvest. He looked toward Auditorium and could barely make out over the tall stone walls, the fields inside where the slaves were working to grow more food. Tall yellow plants waved in the wind, and brought him the scent of cooked bread. It might be fall, but it was warm in the sunshine.

He let his mind wander deliberately, imagining the golden shards he'd seen earlier, the broken glass and intricate patterns on it. Gold was a color he now associated with the little Searcher girl. As he opened his eyes and saw the golden fields above, he could see in his mind another such field.

He felt himself to be sitting there, his legs and butt touching the hard packed ground, and the yellowish grasses all around, not as tall or as plentiful as the harvest, these grasses were short and tended, as if they were stunted. In his hand, an unfamiliar arrow, clear and tawny, mirroring the colors all around him.

He would have marveled-- this vision ability was extraordinary, unheard of. It excited him, and caused the blood to pump faster in his veins. There was an overlying welling of strong emotion.

Where was the girl in this vision? He had sensed her in the broken shard view, now he sensed her again, but couldn't see her. It was as if he were in her, seeing what she could see.

That was supremely interesting to him, this view of another domain, but the feelings pouring off her were overpowering. He concentrated on them, sorting them out one by one. The strongest was humiliation and he was shocked that this could be so. He'd not sensed in her a lack of confidence when he'd encountered her before.

A feeling of protectiveness coursed through him, his own feeling. That someone should have humiliated her made him extremely angry.

He could hear snatches of her thoughts only, barely even words.

Not go after... he went inside... not tell us... Jerrika...

That last was telling. The name of the intact searcher girl was Jerrika. He felt a rush of adrenaline.

Who had humiliated her?

She did not give him that information, as she waited on the golden field. He concentrated hard on her essence inside him. It took all his effort to project words.

Gone inside where, little one?

He felt her become alert. So alert, he could have laughed at her attentiveness. She in no way knew to temper her reactions, she was as untrained in mind awareness as a child in his culture.

She didn't realize she could answer him.

Who has gone inside, little one?

She broadcast a natural sense of violation, as well as a strong feeling of confusion.

I am here, inside your mind, but I am separate. I mean you no harm, you may answer me in words if you so choose.

She didn't. A moment passed and he held his breath wishing she would acknowledge him and wondering what she might say if she did. Obviously, the thought of mind speech was completely foreign to her.

Obviously, you are mistaken!

Her voice snapped into his mind forcefully, and without boundary. She had used words, but not on a tight separate frequency. Presumably, anyone with the Zalez mind speech in her vicinity could hear her answer.

He chuckled, allowing her to feel his gentle amusement. If not foreign to you, then tighten your frequency and speak directly to me so as not to wake the dead with your shouting.

Her hesitation was palpable as he softly entered her mind again and this time opened the places of possibility as he would have if teaching a youngster. He showed her the way to close off parts of her ability and focus easily on just one frequency. He tutored her slowly and distinctly, showing rather than telling.

He waited for her to speak again, to try out the information she was curiously gleaning from his instructions and when she did not, he managed to go back and see through her eyes to know if she was distracted by something else. He found her completely honed in on his frequency, trying to ascertain who he was, just as her eyes focused on a figure coming toward her through the grasses.

She stood. As the person came into focus, he withdrew carefully, recognizing just from the carelessly broadcast aura around him, the presence of a Valdemarian Warrior. It would not do for this man-- one highly trained in Zalez to sense his interest right now. Not until he knew more about her.

But just as he was about to completely sever the contact between them, he turned, one more question in his mind. One he had to have the answer to at all costs, as foolish as it was, he had to know.

He entered her frontal lobes, expertly probing for feelings. Hers were easily read and he felt a wash of annoyance pierce his chest as he held his breath. The most prominent feeling this searcher girl had for her Valdemarian warrior was love.

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