Guardian of Elements

Chapter 22 - Power of a Guardian

Andúril left the two Guardians to not disturb them, while Lerinth was taking Kate south, to another part of his forest. She was eager to find out what she would learn from him. In the afternoon, they arrived at a small hill with four high, pillar-like stones at the top. They climbed up between two of them to reach the peak above the forest's canopy and Kate found herself in a chamber surrounded by the four high stones and narrow spaces in between. It was a nice change to feel rocks under her feet, instead of constantly rustling leaves, which was driving her crazy.

She went through one of the passages to look around. She could see the mountains to the north and the sea to the south. They were only a bit above trees, but wind blowing on her face, the Sun shining on her fur, that tension she felt all the time in the haunted woods gone, she was feeling like a sun rose in her after a cold, endless night. She was enjoying it for a while, and then returned to the top of the hill between the stones.

"Why have you brought me to this strange place?" she wondered.

"Because the last night got me thinking and I remembered your mother helping you to stop the maze from collapsing. She lent her skills to you for a brief moment, but I think I can teach you how to do it willingly. And this is a perfect place to practise."

"So, you will teach me how to... move mountains?"

"You see why we are here," Lerinth smiled.

"Wait, you actually are? But how? Those stones are too heavy, I can never do that!"

"For you, raising a mountain is no more difficult than raising a small rock. The only difference is in the amount of power required to do so. Normally I'd never encourage you to spend so much of it so recklessly, but Andúril said your domain is overflowing with power, and besides, it would be no use to you if you won't know how to use it."

"Fine, so what should I do?"

"Wait, it's not that easy. You see, your Shard can give you only limited amounts of power at a time. It serves as a gateway between your domain and this place for the power, so to get so much of it at once, you'll need a bigger gateway: your body."

"I can do that?" she asked in surprise. "I thought that only my gem can lend me those capabilities."

"You can," Lerinth continued, "but you should only do it when it's inevitably necessary. Unlike your Shard, your body is not made to withstand such pressure for long. Did you ever wondered why we Guardians have our markings? They can vent the excess power from our body when we call upon it. That's why they're ablaze with pure power when we do that, otherwise, it would tear us apart. But even with them, never attempt to exceed your limits. It could kill you. Now stand in the middle and concentrate."

Kate got used to being told to concentrate, but that wasn't the guide she needed. She attempted to move at least one of those four, twenty meters tall stones, but no matter how hard she was trying, it wasn't enough, she felt like she was trying to squeeze water out of a pond through a small gap, which was her gem. She let go of that and remembered the feeling she had in the maze, and then what she experienced through her mother's memories when she raised the cliff. She tried to recreate that feeling.

Suddenly, she felt as if gates opened in her, flooding her body with energy, which was leaking out from her markings, eyes and mouth in form of white plasmatic flames. But it was too much. She was feeling like her body was being ripped apart. Like from far away, she could hear Lerinth's voice, shouting: "Don't store it, use it! Use it now!!"

Kate remembered what she was supposed to do. She had to direct it before it would overwhelm her. She let the energy out and into the pillars. Then, she grasped them and tried to move them up. All four of them were torn out of the ground, rising slowly. They weren't exactly heavy, it was just difficult for her to maintain a steady flow of energy into them. But one couldn't bear the pressure of it any longer and cracked in half, slipping out of Kate's grasp, and both halves crashed loudly into the ground. She couldn't hold them any longer and one by one, the remaining massive levitating pillars fell back and rolled down the hill, leaving just gigantic holes in the ground.

Kate's glow disappeared as she let go of the power. She was exhausted and felt like her body was on fire. Without the stones blocking it, the golden Sun was shining on her fur. Lerinth came to her.

"Now you know why you shouldn't use it recklessly. But you also know how to call upon it if necessary."

Kate was determined to not collapse. She looked around the new open hill top.

"I'm... sorry, I've broken your landscape."

"That doesn't matter, in fact, I wanted an overseeing place like this. I... oh no." He was looking to the distance, his view not obscured by the stones now.

"Kate, I'm afraid that rest is a luxury we don't have right now. We have to go, and fast."

Kate looked to the east, and she could see a line of green beyond the autumn forest. And above that, there was a cloud of smoke, so big that they could see it all the way here.