Loken hopped to his feet. “Pair up.”
I caught Krin’s attention as we stood. She and I moved in the same direction to partner.
“I’m with Ashara,” Loken added.
I stifled a groan.
Mauryn and Jin stepped to the side and faced each other. Krin and Elis eyed each other. She dragged her feet over to his direction, flashing me a wide-eyed look of mock horror.
As soon as we were separated into twos, Elis shot a ball-shaped pulse of light toward Krin. It sparkled in the sunlight, like a cross between a liquid and a gas. The white-blue shape zipped across the space between them. Krin shrieked and threw her arms up to block her face. The ether ball sizzled as it struck her forearm, leaving a dark ash mark.
Krin peeked out from behind her hands and slowly lowered them to her sides. Her face reddened.
Elis cocked his head back and laughed. He laughed so hard that he had to suck in deep, steadying breaths. Just as his laughter began to subside, he glanced at Krin, whose fists were balled. He clutched his side, and the laughter started anew.
“You okay?” I asked her.
Krin shot forward and reached Elis before he could straighten from his fit of laughter. She swung her hand back and then rammed her fist into his face. The laughter stopped abruptly.
“My eye!” He clutched the left side of his face. “My eye! Loken, she hit me.”
Krin flipped her hair off her forehead and sneered. “He deserved it.”
“This is defensive training.” Loken grabbed Elis’s face, pushed Elis’s hands away, and stared at the eye. “Where was your defense?” I might have imagined it, but I thought the right side of Loken’s mouth twitched upward, almost into a smile. The expression was gone before I could be sure.
“She hit me with her fist.” Elis pointed to his eye, now surrounded by reddened skin. His dark-blond eyebrow was split open with a fresh cut. Blood dripped down his face. That would be an awful bruise tomorrow.
“That’s what happens when you don’t defend yourself. You think the Mages will fight fair?” Loken tilted Elis’s face upward, so he could examine the eye more closely. “You’re fine. Krin, take him inside to get cleaned up. We need him to be able to see.”
Krin yanked Elis toward the door. “Come on. And don’t bleed on my clothes. I like this shirt.”
With a last pleading look at Loken, Elis followed Krin inside.
“Back to work, everyone. Any form of attack is acceptable, but defense must be ether-based.” Loken gestured to Mauryn and Jin to pay attention to each other.
A shimmering blue sphere appeared around Mauryn. It pulsed, flashing from white to blue and back again each second. A low thrumming sound emanated from it and vibrated around it. Light winked off its exterior, like it was thousands of white-and-blue gems.
My mouth dropped open.
Jin circled Mauryn’s ether shield and raised his hands in front of him. That same white-blue light floated around Jin’s hands as he stalked Mauryn from outside the shield.
“Hey.” Loken snapped his fingers in front of my face.
I dragged my attention away from Jin and Mauryn and back to Loken.
“How much do you know about what you are?” he asked.
“I’m the same person I was yesterday.” I knew my answer would irritate him. It was small of me, but I was still a little bitter about the way we’d left things. I was prepared to learn my lessons and kick some Mage butt. But I wasn’t in the mood to make this easy for him.
He narrowed his eyes. “How much do you know about being an Ethereal? You know what I meant.”
“I’m not convinced I am one.”
“You think the records are inaccurate? We’ve spent the last nine months setting up a system of preserving data through the timelines, but we got it wrong? Is that it?” His volume increased with each word. I fought the urge to smile.
I didn’t answer and painted a blank mask on my face.
“Are you saying we actually didn’t catch you on video frying a Mage with an ether bolt? And that the elders didn’t watch this video in the previous timeline?”
“I did what?” I tried to imagine myself with streams of light shooting from my hands like miniature lightning, the way I’d seen an Ethereal do once during a festival exhibition. Tingles of excitement raced across my skin. I was an Ethereal. An Ethereal! Maybe being assigned to this task force wouldn’t be so bad. I had some vengeance to exact, after all.
“I don’t really know anything about what I am. I mean, I know I can manipulate ether. But I’m not entirely sure what that is or how I’m supposed to control it.”
“Then we’ll start at the beginning, with an element that’s easier to understand.” Loken unsheathed his sword and held it up between us. As per custom in Vallara, its blade was a foot and half long. He gripped the naked hilt—Bender swords had no leather grips—and held it up for me to examine.
“It’s metal,” I said. “I know you can manipulate it. I’ve seen you do this before, Loken.”
“But you’ve never heard me explain it from one practitioner to another, so just listen.” I opened my mouth to speak again but thought better of it. I snapped it shut. He continued, “I command metal in direct or indirect contact with my body. More accurately, I share a consciousness with metal. I am stronger when more of it is nearby. It is stronger when I am nearby. Do you understand?”
No. But I nodded.
The sword thinned and lengthened in his hand. The blade became longer and narrower. I’d seen him perform this little trick before, so I wasn’t impressed. The sword then grew thicker, staying at the longer length. That part I hadn’t seen before.
“What’s the difference between this sword and the one I held a minute ago?” he asked.
“It’s longer.”
“What else?”
“It’s just as wide. So it has more metal in it than it did before. Right?”
“Exactly. And where did that metal come from?”
“You created it?”
The edges of his lips tugged downward. “You know better than that. Elementary physics, Ashara. I can’t create matter.”
“You pulled it from the air?”
“That’s a good thought. An elder Bender could do that, and there was a time when I could do it with serious concentration.”
“But you can’t anymore?” I asked.
He shook his head. “We’re all weaker in these new timelines. We were strongest in the before, when we were our original selves. Elder Kohler likes to say that, in these new timelines, we’re just echoes of ourselves. Our abilities are weakened. We have to adapt.”
“So how did you add metal to the sword?”
He inclined his head toward his arms. The metal tattoos that had traced his right forearm had disappeared, leaving tanned, metal-less skin. The sword shrank back to its normal size. As it did, the excess metal bled from the handle up Loken’s arm, writhing into the shape of the tattoos I’d seen there earlier.
“You cheated!” I said.
“No. I adapted.”
“Can I tattoo ether into my skin like that?”
“You don’t need to. You’re more like a Breather than a Bender, except you’re even better. Ether is everywhere. It’s the stuff that connects all the other stuff together. There is no place you will ever be that is without ether.”
At a flash in the corner of my eye, I spun toward Mauryn and Jin. The bubble of light still encircled Mauryn. Jin threw progressively larger ether balls at the shield. Brilliant blue balls of light, growing in size. As each one hit, it generated a new flash of vivid blue.
A sharp pain stung my backside. I squealed and whipped back around to Loken. He was swinging the flat side of his sword toward me again. I jumped out of the way.
“Ra’s teeth, Loken! What was that for?”
“You’re not paying attention,” he said in a flat voice.
He was right, of course. I hadn’t been paying attention. But he’d just hit me with a sword. Not exactly gentleman-like. “The next time you hit me, I will hit you back.”
“Or you could practice some actual defense. I find that the best way to tap into your potential is instinct.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “So . . . you’re going to attack me until I defend myself with ether?”
“That’s the general idea, yes.”
He spaced his legs into a ready stance. I stared at his chest, where I had a view of his limbs in my peripheral vision. I was ready—well, as ready as I could hope to be seeing as how I had no idea what I was doing.
Loken raised his hands, palms facing outward. He touched his right thumb and middle finger together. The tension in my muscles relaxed against my will as I waited for him to do something. I willed myself to stay alert.
A small, metal bead formed where his fingers met. “Ready?” Loken asked.
Doubting my readiness but seeing no other option, I waved him forward. He brushed his finger outward from his thumb in a flicking motion. Before I had time to react, the metal bead struck my collarbone.
I squealed and slapped a hand over where it hit, like I’d just received a tiny, painful bug bite. I rubbed the spot and scowled at him. “Ra’s crooked teeth!”
A gasp sounded from my right. Jin stood there, frozen and open-mouthed. Mauryn’s shield dropped and a frown creased his forehead.
“What?” I whipped my head around, right to left, searching for whatever had prompted that reaction from Jin, and that disapproving look I was getting from Mauryn. “What?” I asked again.
“Could you please not use the gods’ names as curses?” Jin asked. His body remained stiff and unmoving.
“Why?”
Loken whispered in my ear, “Jin is a Believer.”
“Really? Then why is he helping us?” I turned back to Jin. “Why are you helping the Council? Aren’t you guys opposed to stopping the end, and to using all the high technology the Council loves so much? Let the gods decide? Nature first, or something?”
Jin’s face reddened. “Gods or no, I’m just as nervous as you guys about what comes next. About what comes when everything ends. I’d rather stick with the world I know.”
I could relate to his mixed feelings. Before Pace died, I’d never given the alleged gods a second thought. Now I wondered. I liked to think Pace had moved on to a better place. It helped me sleep at night to imagine him up in the sky with the gods, playing and laughing and watching over me.
But that was all just fantasy. If there were gods, they wouldn’t have taken my brother from me in the first place.
I’d have to be more careful about cursing with Jin in the group. After centuries on this planet, our cultures still hadn’t learned to accept each other. At least I could try to coexist peacefully with my other task force members.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll work on the cursing thing.”
“That’s fine,” he said, but his expression remained tense.
He shifted back toward Mauryn, angling his back toward me. I’d have to make amends for that slip of the tongue later. For now though, back to work.
I braced myself toward Loken, holding both arms up in front of me and bouncing on flexed legs. I could protect myself from a little bead. It was just a scrap of metal. A tiny thing.
Loken flicked another speck of metal, and I jumped to the side. He aimed the next one at my stomach. I flung myself at the ground to avoid it. The next piece was bigger, probably half an inch in diameter and moving fast toward my prone form. I threw my arms up to protect my head. Pain shot through my forearm as I took the hit.
I picked myself up and rubbed a welt that was forming on my arm. My lip stuck out in an unattractive pout. That hurt.
Loken raised his hand again. I narrowed my eyes and bounced from side to side, this time hiding my throbbing and soon-to-be-bruised left arm behind me. Instead of attacking again, Loken frowned.
“What?” I said, still bouncing.
“You can’t fight me like that.”
“But I can get out of the way. Run.”
“Yes, you could run.” He grunted and held up one hand in a stop sign. “Would you please stop that?”
I stopped moving but kept my knees flexed just in case he decided to play dirty. He’d already warned us that Mages wouldn’t play fair.
“You should run,” he said. “But right now, I’m trying to teach you what to do when running is not an option.” He paused for effect. “I’m sure this is something you understand.”
My legs locked beneath me as I abandoned my concentration. That was a low blow. I understood better than anyone that there were situations when I couldn’t run. I couldn’t run away when that Mage had attacked Pace. That would have meant leaving my brother there unprotected. Not that I’d been able to do much to protect him anyway. I locked my jaw and willed away the tears that threatened to spill.
“You have no right,” I said in a low voice.
Loken’s stern expression relaxed. He stepped toward me and reached for my shoulder. I ducked away from his touch. My gaze dropped to my open-toed sandals and stayed there.
“Hey, Asha.” He reached for my shoulder again. This time, I let him fold me into a hug. My muscles relaxed as soon as my face pressed into his chest. With his arms wrapped around me, my world couldn’t collapse. “I’m sorry. That was too far.”
He stepped back from me, tilting my face up to look at him. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I know how much you loved Pace. We all did.” His fingertips crept around to the back of my neck and massaged. “I miss him most when it rains.”
I managed a wistful smile. “He loved to jump in the puddles. He always came back inside soaked to the bone and squeezed me until he’d soaked my clothes too.”
Loken nodded. His fingers stopped massaging but rested gently on my skin.
My insides felt ripped to shreds, yanked into despair at being reminded repeatedly of exactly how Pace had died, and at the same time, elated at the betraying tingles that ripped up and down my spine from Loken’s touch.
I shrugged his hand off. “I don’t need the reminder.”
“I’m just trying to keep you alive.”
“I know,” I said, more forcefully than necessary. There were way too many emotions skittering around inside me, colliding with one another, tearing up my insides. I had to stay focused on this job. There was no time to shatter to pieces. “Let’s get back to work.” I shooed him away, back to his spot across from me.
“Right.” His face returned to its usual implacable expression. “Close your eyes.”
Reluctantly, I allowed my eyelids to drift shut. Loken stayed silent, and the seconds stretched into minutes. Sweat trickled down my brow. My eyelids fluttered to keep it from seeping into my eyes. I imagined the other team members staring at me as I stood there sweating. My discomfort grew as each moment passed.
Finally, Loken spoke again. His voice surrounded me as if echoing from far away. “Like all power, your elemental ability comes from the suns. Try to imagine suns powering your inner energy. They are allowing you to transform the ether around you. Think about the ether in the wind. Feel it against your skin. Know that it is connected to you.”
The softness of his rich tenor lulled me into relaxation. My knees weakened, but my weightless body didn’t fall. I scrunched my eyelids tighter together and concentrated on the wind sliding across my skin.
Loken’s voice floated around me. “Think about what would protect you. An ether shield perhaps. Or a bolt directed at my metal attack. Do you feel it?”
“I feel the wind.” The breeze brushed against me.
“Good,” he said. “Now push on the space around you. Transform it into something that will protect you.”
I imagined the wind rushing outward from me, shoving Loken’s annoying metal beads away. But even as I tensed all my muscles, willing it into existence, I felt only air and frustration. My eyes snapped open.
“Why would I just stand here and let you attack me?” The whole situation was illogical, unrealistic. “Let’s say I’m not in a position to run. Then I would attack you. I won’t stand here waiting for you to kill me. And if I’m lucky, I’ll have a weapon.”
“Would you like a weapon?” he asked, his voice suspiciously emotionless.
I searched his face for a sign of his meaning. “Yes . . . please.”
He withdrew the dagger from his belt, flipped it around in his hand so he held the blade, and offered me its handle. Like the sword, the knife had no leather grip, so Loken could manipulate it without having to work around a nonmetal material.
I wrapped my fingers around the naked handle. I hadn’t expected him to agree so easily. Of course, I would have preferred the sword, but I could work with this.
“Try not to hurt yourself.” Loken released the blade into my hand.
Three metal beads hit my forearm in quick succession, the same arm he’d already injured. He inclined his head toward the dagger. “Are you planning to do something with that?”
I lunged, knife pointed forward. I aimed for his stomach, expecting him to move out of the way. Best-case scenario, I would graze his arm or the side of his waist as he moved, and he would be too distracted to shoot at me.
As I leapt forward, he sidestepped. The next bit of metal hit me square in the forehead. I barreled past Loken, off-balance. He shoved me to the ground with a palm in the small of my back.
The dagger slipped from my hand and clattered to the earth. Loken swept it up, leaned over me and pressed the blade to my neck. “Now what have you learned?”
That you’re a creep. “I don’t know.”
He held the knife up. “This is not your weapon. You don’t know how to use it. You don’t know how to manipulate it. Ether is your weapon. It’s the only weapon you need.” He slipped the dagger back into its sheath at his waist. “And no one can steal it from you.”