‘How long will we be here?’
‘As long as it takes for your body to accept the Kaeshan gold,’ said Adonis.
Jaden winced from the pain but said no more. Now he would have to wait as Adonis had said, and in the coming hours, the endobraces would be formed, and he would begin his life as one ruled by the Daijuarn code.
Chapter Sixteen
What inspires more than necessity?
January 22, 997 R.E.
‘Feel the energy flow through you and into your wrists, concentrate it there, and then release it. It will return to you in a circular motion; the energy is attracted to itself and its host, this is how the shields are formed. The endobraces will do the rest,’ Vennoss instructed, gesturing with his hands to show how it was done.
Jaden was concentrating as hard as he could. For the previous two days he had been training almost every minute of every hour he was awake. His arms and feet had healed completely with Daijuarn help, but he was exhausted, and had only been able to make the endobraces give off a little light.
Vennoss was standing anxiously at the other end of the shrine they used for these tests; a safe distance from Jaden’s target, as he had done for most of the training—shouting suggestions of posture, movement, breathing and attention whenever he saw an error, which seemed like every time Jaden tried to do anything.
‘It’s hard, Grandfather,’ said Jaden out of frustration. ‘If you had them you would understand.’
Vennoss shook his head. ‘I have seen many people trained. It should not take you this long to learn. Now, do it again.’
‘Maybe I’m not meant to be Daijuarn, then,’ Jaden shot back angrily.
‘Your clothing looks fine,’ Vennoss teased. ‘Come on, one more time!’
Jaden rolled his eyes. Daijuarn garments had been provided for him, white like those that Adonis and Blair wore, but ever since he had elected to wear only the open vest and trousers, Vennoss felt it was his duty to insult him, saying it looked ridiculous to begin with, before finally resorting to sarcasm later.
Jaden refused to wear the entire set, no matter what was said. He did not want to believe that he was of the Daijuar yet. He would wear only what was needed, and had only agreed to change at all because they assured him any other clothing would burn on contact with the energy. He consoled himself in knowing that looking as an Alliance soldier was far worse than a Daijuarn sentinel, and even though he would not admit it openly, he liked his new clothes this way. The vest he wore was pure white, with many folds of material between his shoulder and neck on each side, and connected with a thin but large hood on the back. His arms and part of his chest and stomach were exposed, giving him perfect freedom in his movement, while the trousers he wore were loose on his legs, but were weighed down by the many folds on the outer sides. A wide dark blue belt, veined with gold, held them in place. The pattern of the gold seemed the same as his forearms now looked, except in the centre there was the symbol of the Daijuar.
He had been marked by them, branded as one of their own. And now he had to learn to use what they had given him.
Jaden looked ahead at the large stones. They were piled up on top of one another to be just taller than he was. It was impossible to push them over, he thought, especially if all he could manage was light. The broken gray stones around him told another story though. This shrine had been the training ground for many before him. Unlike the others that were made of smooth dark tiles, this was of oddly shaped, jagged rocks, smashed and carved by the many different tests the Daijuarn sentinels were put through.
‘Trust yourself, young master!’ encouraged Tarsha, behind him. She had claimed the smoothest stone at the shrine as her own personal sitting place to watch Jaden’s progress. ‘Know you can do it!’
Adonis and Blair were standing on either side of the area between Jaden and the stones, erecting energy shields each time he made an attempt to push the column over.
‘When you are ready,’ said Adonis.
Jaden nodded, and two shields of transparent white were put in place. They hummed the low familiar tone of Daijuarn shields, allowing Jaden to relax to their steady rhythm as he imagined the energy rising up through his body and into his wrists another time. His hands moved from his waist to his chest, palms flat and always facing his target, and then with a deep breath, he sent a quick burst of energy to his hands to ignite the endobraces with a flash of white, and then pushed as much of the energy forward as he could. There was a high-pitched ringing as his energy came forth, and then a muffled sound as the light disappeared, and the energy fizzled out.
He heard Tarsha sigh. ‘You’ll get it!’ she said.