He recalled what Adonis had told him of feeling and began to feel the energy cool. The water turned to ice with his energy and then melted again as he let them burn.
Suddenly the giant waterfalls were gone, replaced by an image of war below him. He was standing in the heart of Callibra as the approaching army unleashed its attack. It seemed as real as it had when he had been there, and the crushing feelings of helplessness were threatening to overcome him again. He fought back, using his anger to rid himself of them as he felt his rage burn throughout him. Each bullet sent at him was vaporised in the intense heat, and wave after wave of energy was sent flying at the oncoming soldiers. But they were endless. They seemed to just keep coming and coming; no matter how many died at his hands, more would rise. There was an infinite source of them. He began to feel weak as his power faltered and a stray bullet made its way into his chest. He fell backward with the impact and closed his eyes as death reached out with its cold embrace.
‘Emotion may leave one’s path in darkness,’ said Raquel, leaning over him. ‘The jewel allows you to see what may come of actions before they are acted.’
Meditation, he thought. That’s how the crystal allowed him to shorten his path. He was to use it to mediate, to see what the world would become before he acted on his emotions. It was his final thought he remembered before losing consciousness.
* * *
Jaden woke from the realm of the crystal. It was still night in the real world, but Raquel was nowhere to be seen. He felt his chest. There was no pain or wound where the bullet had hit him, but his head throbbed from being in the crystal’s realm for so long.
He stood up and dusted himself off, and as soon as the pain died away, he began to run to the edge of the meadow. He somehow held the memory of there being peach trees there, loaded with fruit. When he arrived, he quickly picked as many as he could and hurried back to the camp. More time had passed than he realised, as when he got back, everyone was asleep, including Alyssa. For a moment he felt he had failed her, knowing that she had fallen asleep without having anything to eat, but did not wish to wake her. He set the peaches down next to where she slept and then lay down on the other side of her, putting his arm across her to hold her hand. In her sleep, she took the offering and held him close, and with a last thought of feeling at peace, Jaden drifted off to a contented sleep.
Chapter Twenty
How far must we travel before all is right?
February 5, 997 R.E.
As Adonis had said, Jaden’s training started the very next day. They did exercises as they walked, creating light and fire to begin with, and then moving currents of air like the wind and pushing large boulders around later. They allowed him a chance to help them heal Alyssa’s wounds, including softening the hurt she felt over losing her father. The shock had begun to wear off, and now she had started to feel the full scope of grief for what had happened. It had made Jaden nervous to use the essence on her, as he did not want to harm her, so he allowed Adonis to do most of the work. Jaden was learning quickly with the help of the crystal given to him by Raquel, but he did not tell either of the Daijuar what it was. He now knew they conversed regularly about him, so he was careful what he told them and allowed them to come to their own conclusions on his successes and failures.
He had joined in conversations between Tarsha and Alyssa, and was surprised to hear what Tarsha had learned while eavesdropping on the Daijuar. He felt resentment for some of the things they had said about him. He questioned what had really happened with the flood, how it had happened at all, but decided as long as they were now helping him and no one was seriously injured, all could be forgiven.
When he wasn’t training or conversing with Tarsha, he and Alyssa would often walk up ahead so that they could be alone together. They were growing fonder of one another by the day, their embrace seeming to be the last piece of home they could find. Jaden tried not to think about it too much. He was simply happy that she was now with him and everything was going well.
Their travelling had been almost constant for the previous four days. The Daijuar were now stopping briefly at certain points, indicating they were getting closer to their destination. At each place, they would combine their abilities to make the land grow dark for a moment and the air to burn with light shooting high into the air. So close to Ceahlin, they no longer worried about Alliance scouts trailing them. The need to signal any Daijuar in the area was far more important than a potential confrontation with a few men.
As they progressed over the miles, the trees about them became fewer, and soon all that was around them was grassland. The grassland soon turned into fields of crops and fruit trees as a city came into sight. Jaden did not recognise it at first, but then remembered the stories he had heard about Ceahlin. Now before him were the white buildings two and three storeys in height, surrounded by gardens and with blue glass domes in the centre of each. Several grand buildings were scattered around the city, looking like factories rather than buildings used for religious or residential purposes, and in the centre of the city, there was nothing of significance that could be seen over the houses.