The Ethereal Saga - Volume One - The Child of Light

Chapter Ten - Tom

They left the two girls in the library and Tom led Alex through the corridor of the bunker towards the sleeping quarters. They entered one of the bedrooms which contained two small sets of drawers, a bunk bed and a small en suite bathroom barely wide enough for the shower and toilet it contained.
Tom gestured towards the lower bunk, "Sit, while I rummage through Christian's pile of rubbish."
There were several rucksacks on the floor and as Tom began to empty them out on to the floor, there was flurry of clothes and toiletries and it dawned on Alex he had no belongings of his own should he truly be staying here.
"You see Alex," began Tom, "The shades' acolytes can come here because they are really just creations of the Light's. They are still Ethereals but are possessed to follow the dark. The shades themselves and the ghouls should not be able to come this far up the realms. Not without this."
Tom pulled a shiny black ornament from the rucksack, It was smooth at the bottom and jagged at the top as if it were a part of a larger whole.
"That book you had in there, 'The Seven Sources of Power', It's interesting you picked it up, you've got a good nose for sniffing out answers. That book will tell you a lot about what you need to know but this," he said handing Alex the ornament, "if that book's the theory, consider this the practical."
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"It's power," Tom replied, "Or at least it would be if it was whole. It would be pure unadulterated power. At least, that's how Christian put it."
Alex felt strangely humbled holding this artefact, although he knew little of its use, he could feel the importance and significance of what he held in his hands, "What happens if it's whole?"
Tom's nose twitched uncomfortably, "Bad things happen, mate. This realm wouldn't be safe again. This orb, it's a beacon to the dark creations. When whole, they can follow it through Medial's blockade. The ghouls and shades were banished from here when the orb broke. The acolytes were forced from here when the orb broke too. Christian said they had spent too long exposed to the dark and the blockade no longer recognised them as creations of the light. "
Tom sat next to Alex and reached and took the piece of orb back, "Have you ever felt a power inside you? Something you can't really explain?"
Alex nodded, "I hurt someone, bad."
"You don't strike me as someone who wants to hurt anybody," Tom said reassuringly, "I'm willing to bet you didn't have much choice, and more-over, I bet you didn't really know what you were doing."
"I didn't," Alex agreed, "It was like the power you mentioned, I couldn't control it properly, I just had to save somebody. This green beam came from me."
Tom stared at the piece of orb thoughtfully, "That beam you're talking about is called an Aura. We each have one power that imbues us with special powers. Some of us have the power to control the winds or the seas or the earth. Others summon flames or jolts of electricity. That's where these come in. This power we're talking about? They have sources. Seven sources for seven possible powers. What your holding is a piece of a source. The source of darkness."
"Which one lets you talk to soil?" Alex asked laughing a little at the absurdity.
"That would be Earth. The power of Earth is the strongest of all the lesser sources," Tom explained, "You're a lucky guy."
"The lesser sources?" Alex asked echoing Tom.
"Yeah," Tom replied, "The two greater sources, the Dark and the Light are the strongest of all. Not many Ethereals have ever had the power to use the light and we don't touch the dark. Christian said it corrupts. The other five; Energy, Earth, Fire, Water and Wind, they're for us. Every ethereal gets one. Yours happens to be Earth."
"What's yours?" Alex asked.
Tom smirked, "Mine's the coolest one of all, obviously."
He out-reached his palm and tensed as a small flame the size of that given by a cigarette lighter before it fluttered out somewhat pathetically.
Tom cleared his throat, "I haven't had much practice."
He gestured to their surroundings, "That's what this place is for, really. They're going to train us to use what we've been given."
"I kinda got that impression from the military bunker," said Alex.
Tom placed the orb piece back in the rucksack, and bowed his head solemnly, "But that thing, that's how it happened. The greater orbs power was used to anchor the creatures of the darkness here for about sixteen years. Those possessed Ethereals we told you about? One of them brought the orb here and brought all kinds of evil things through. A few months ago, the orb was broken. The dark creatures were forced to leave."
"Broken by who?" Alex wondered.
Tom shrugged, "I don't know. Christian wouldn't tell me. He said it would be easier to tell us all when we're together. When we've got you."
"Why me?" Alex asked, "I'm nothing important."
Tom laughed at the notion, "You're one of a handful of super-powered beings left in the entire multiverse. If you wanted to, you could become powerful enough to split the ground in two and you think you're nothing important? You might believe that mate but the monsters who want you dead surely don't."
"And they want me dead because of my powers?" Alex asked.
Tom pouted for a moment, "There's more. I think. I don't know much, but I know there's something else going on they haven't told us about. Something they'll tell us when we're ready to fight. Christian only told me we needed you before we can do anything else."
The room fell silent as Alex took a moment to process the information. It struck Alex that Tom was extraordinarily calm, given the circumstances. In fact, Alex thought, he found his own calmness quite surprising. Perhaps this place really was home after all. His drifted to the orb, its colour blacker than anything Alex had ever seen.
"That's the same colour as the shadow that tried to suffocate me," Alex pointed out.
Tom nodded.
Alex had a sudden realisation, "You said things like that cannot come here unless anchored and Christian is carrying that".
"I know what you're thinking," Tom replied nervously, "But Christian wouldn't – he couldn't do something like that."
Alex seemed unconvinced.
"Besides," Tom posited, "You need the whole thing to even have a hope of using it."
"Then what tried to follow us, Tom?" Pressed Alex,
Tom breathed deeply, "I don't know. Nothing good."
"We're the only ones around," said Alex pointing out the obvious.
"It could have followed us?" Tom suggested, "It might have clung to you before we left."
"It didn't," Alex argued, "I remember what it felt like."
"Well, what did it feel like?" Asked Tom.
Alex paused and shivered, "Like... Ice. "
"Ice?" Tom repeated.
Alex nodded, "First it made me feel angry. Like I'd never been before. Then, it was like I was suffocating."
Suddenly Tom's expression changed to one of obvious fear, "Alex, mate... What you're describing... it wasn't an attack. It was a possession. An attempted one at least."
"So why aren't I possessed?" Asked Alex.
"My guess?" Tom said solemnly, "Your mind fought back harder than they expected. It took too long and..."
"And?" Alex demanded.
Tom looked at Alex for a moment, "And they were afraid of being seen."