Roughly three months had passed in this nameless realm that existed outside time. Balfrus had been rather reluctant to show us the way out until he’d made certain that Alden and I mastered something he called ‘soul sense’. He explained that soul sense would allow us to synchronize with our soul and utilize it as energy—to an extent anyways. Nicole however, spent the majority of her time studying with Zypher, learning about how to become an operator for the Guardian Defense Force.

“This is annoyingly complicated. Why is there so much politics involved?” Nicole whined, looking over some well written notes.

“Well, if you look here...” Zypher underlined a sentence. “You can see that the two factions, while having merged into one, still operate separately. Each allying with the Dratmana under different terms.”

“But what exactly are Dratmana? This is never explained,” Nicole continued complaining.

"Dratmana are beings made entirely of quanum that have achieved sentience. The stronger ones agree to become devices, or mediums, to help process quanum. Our relationship is rather symbiotic as the Dratmana require us to return the quanum that leaks into our world back to theirs so they can continue to survive," Zypher continued his explanation.

"Understanding the factions will help you understand the differences in devices you will come across in the future, as they will function quite differently from each other," he stated.

"This is…a lot,” Nicole said as she looked out the door of the hut to Alden and I who were training with Balfrus.

Alden and I were sitting on our own individual boulders, the tops cut to make them flat, and meditating silently in front of Balfrus. Balfrus explained that until we could utilize our soul energy we would be unable to sense him, or a wide variety of our surroundings—it was not going well…for me.

“Left,” Alden said, utilizing pure quanum to create a barrier between him and the branch that Balfrus swung at him.

“Well done, you may open your eyes and take a break,” Balfrus said, as he swung a branch to my right, clocking me square in the forehead.

“Ow!” I yelped, grabbing my now throbbing forehead.

“An entire month…and you still cannot sense soul energy. Take a break, we will continue this later,” Balfrus said simply, as he stood up and walked away.

“I don’t understand, why can’t I do it?” I asked, my soothing rub turning into one of frustration.

“Perhaps there is something limiting your ability. You did experience that odd transformation at your school not too long ago,” Cadeyrn offered.

“Or maybe you’re just bad,” Alden teased.

With a huff I stormed off—I wasn’t in the mood for Alden’s jokes. Everything had slowly begun to catch up to me, clouding my mind. With the strange dreams that kept occurring and that old man—I just couldn’t get his words out of my head. It all just seemed beyond me and ultimately I felt that it came down to not having enough information. I continued walking aimlessly through the large forest inside the cave. The forest life was odd here, the plants and trees were completely different from anything I’d experienced before. Usually when walking through a forest, I would sense the life in it—subtle and vibrant—but here it was like a dull hum of life instead.

“Perhaps my senses were more closed off than I’d realized…” I thought to myself.

“Cadeyrn, do you think that my parents would know anything about this stuff? Thinking back, it seemed like they were aware of something. Their reactions when you were given to me were too…unordinary,” I stated, continuing my stroll.

“It’s unlikely that they would remember anything. Like mine, their memory would be wiped once they retired as guardians,” Cadeyrn stated matter-of-factly.

“Yes but what if they escaped or something? What if they were just hiding? The island seems to have a lot of quanum activity as well. Is there something special about it?” I asked, urging for something more substantial.

“Unfortunately I will not be of much use. We Dratmana are instilled with the knowledge of guardians from the grand library which has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. My existence, thoughts, and emotions are linked directly to your quanum. If you stop feeding me quanum long enough, I will simply forget who I am. Just like one of your white boards from school, my personality and thoughts will be erased just as easily,” Cadeyrn said, with a hint of melancholy.

“In which case, if another guardian receives you, you’ll be a blank slate ready for their quanum to imprint on you,” I stated.

“Correct. I will not remember you, as I have not remembered any previous guardians,” Cadeyrn confirmed.

Taking a seat on a mossy log, I sat in silence for a time considering Cadeyrn’s words and tried to remember my mother’s face when she witnessed the pendant around my neck.

“Could it really be possible for them to know nothing? I’d have to confront my parents eventually, if I ever escape this place,” I thought to myself.

As I continued to sit, one of the strange birds rested on my shoulder. It squawked loudly and pointed its beak towards my left. There was a little girl sitting in a clearing, sunlight bathing her in its golden majesty.

“Wait…How is there sunlight down here…I hadn’t even stopped to consider that at all. For months we’ve been sitting under this ‘sunlight’, but what is it?” I thought aloud, my previous woes quickly forgotten.

“It’s his light!” The girl shouted, having overheard me.

“She can hear me from there?” I thought to myself, before quickly deciding to make my way over to her.

“Who’s light?” I asked, taking a seat next to her on the ground.

“Balfrus’. It’s his domain, all gods and demons have a domain,” she said smugly.

“He’s a god?!” I asked, aghast at the revelation.

“How could you not know?” The girl asked, genuinely curious.

“It’s not like he told me that,” I said, rather annoyed by her attitude.

“You’re rather closed off aren’t you? You should be able to sense something like that easily,” the girl said, with a shrug.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Well, how about you? Do you have a domain?'' I asked incredulously.

“No silly. I’m not a god. It doesn’t work like that,” she answered with a chuckle.

“Isn’t he like your tribe leader or something? Aren’t you all related?” I asked, confused.

She brushed back her white hair which contrasted with her tan skin, the sunlight catching her purple eyes making them glisten like amethyst—her entire tribe seemed to share those features exclusively. She dipped one finger in the pond, water pooling around it, and as she removed it, spherical forms of light, that I could only assume were spirits, floated upwards.

“Balfrus is ancient…maybe at some point we were gods but now we only hold a tithe of his powers,” she said and as she tapped the water again, the water spirits swarming upwards briefly once more, before dropping back into the water.

“What about you? Where’s your domain?” She asked.

“Me? I’m no god,” I said, scandalized.

“Hmm, your soul gives off a familiar feeling so I just kind of thought…but I guess if you can’t sense soul energy…” she said, disappointed.

“Yeah, I can’t even sense him or most anything here,” I said, laughing.

“Are you sure?” She said thoughtfully, tilting her head slightly as if trying to gain a new perspective. “It seems like you can sense it just fine. It looks to me like you’re hiding from him,” she stated, staring into my eyes, her violet gaze piercing through me.

“Who’s in there?” She asked, gently placing her hand to my forehead and then tears suddenly started flowing down her cheeks.

“What? What is it? What’s wrong?!” I asked, worried I had somehow insulted her.

“It’s not you,” she said, wiping her eyes with one hand, keeping the other on my forehead.

“I will lend you my body—go speak with him,” she said as she began to glow brightly, her form quickly changing into that of an adult.

The form she now held was similar to one I had seen before in one of my odd dreams, but much older. Long flowing white hair, soft violet eyes and a strange golden bracelet hung from her wrist.

“Father…” she called out, her voice distinctly different from earlier.

It didn’t take me long to place it. It was the voice of Yasvei, the girl from the dreams I’d been having.

“Yasvei...” I heard Balfrus say, as he walked out in front of us, as if appearing from mist.

I decided to remain quiet and observe the confusing exchange. The little girl had very clearly taken on the form of Yasvei, and I wasn’t about to interrupt this odd reunion.

“Father…I-I’m so sorry. I tried so hard to stop it all,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

Balfrus said nothing and moved quickly to snap Yasvei into a warm embrace. Rain started to fall, first a trickle but then gradually transitioned into a downpour, still I remained seated.

“I’m so very proud of you. You took a step I was too blind to take, even after I banished you, you continued fighting, even after death you are here. You have nothing to apologize for, my daughter,” Balfrus said, his voice shaking as Yasvei cried aloud. “Your path is just. You must guide this one, save Talis, save Jiyei,” he continued.

“B-but, Shamla...he’s so strong now. I-I can’t…” she spoke softly as Balfrus held her tighter.

“Shamla is my responsibility. He is a result of my failure as a father and as leader of the Veytru,” Balfrus' gruff voice spoke coarsely.

“Rest now my daughter, leave this to me, your turn will begin again after this. If nothing else, please…let me do this for you. Olu qulme drastil Yasvei,” he chanted as Yasvei’s figure faded away leaving behind the little girl who had reverted back to her original form, unconscious.

And in that moment, my senses sharpened tenfold as if I had awoken once again. The low hum of the forest transformed into a vibrant orchestra of animals, insects and the rustling of leaves in the rain and wind.

“You can feel it now…the energy?” Balfrus asked, picking up the now sleeping girl, the rain slowly subsiding.

“Yes, I can,” I acknowledged, rising to my feet, resolve plastered across my face.

I felt a strong desire to protect once again, like the first time with Cadeyrn, and at that moment I decided it was time to leave.

“Good, rest today. Tomorrow, I will show you home,” he said in understanding, walking back through the forest towards the village.

I followed Balfrus back to the village, and as we walked I honed in on my surroundings and I could feel the life energy of everything. I had just truly realized how massive Balfrus really was. It felt as if his existence was endless, like an ocean, spanning infinitely with unfathomable depth—and where had that bird gone? I continued to stretch out my awareness, and found the bird soaring through the sky as it met up with some others of its kind, joining them in formation—how was there a sky?

As we entered the village, Alden was sitting waiting for me. He stared at me oddly, focused intently on my eyes.

“They’re yellow. Why are they yellow now?” Alden asked quizzically.

“What’s yellow, what are you on about?” I asked, looking around me.

“Your eyes, they’re yellow. They were green, and now they’re not. They’re yellow, although they seem to be fading back…” Alden continued.

“I don’t know what to tell you, but I’m not sure why you’re so focused on the fact that my eyes are now yellow…That’s weird man,” I replied, annoyed.

Alden simply shrugged, walking off nonchalantly. The question did weigh on me a bit—how much of me is becoming something else?

I decided it was a problem for another day and instead took the opportunity to practice my new senses on Alden as he walked away. I stretched out my awareness again, probing his quanum but was met with a force like a stone wall.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Balfrus said quietly. “That’s something you could easily get lost in if you could break through it,” he continued.

“I don’t understand, Cadeyrn said something similar about Alden’s quanum. What is he?” I demanded, still staring at Alden’s back as he walked further away.

“He’s…Different. Keep an eye on him, he’ll get himself into trouble if he’s not careful with his energies,” Balfrus answered, some concern leaking into his tone.

“Yeah…Cadeyrn had said something similar—about him being different I mean,” I replied before walking off on my own to ponder.

As the next day rolled around we were all itching to finally leave. It had been a pleasant few months in the tropical cave, but it was time to get back to our island—hopefully not too much time had passed there since we were spirited away. Balfrus had woken us up fairly early and led us to a strange pool of water.

“Come on, get moving,” I said, pushing Alden’s sleepy form forwards.

“Couldn't we have waited a couple more hours?” He whined.

“Isn’t it like 9am?” Zypher said, staring at Alden in confusion.

“Yeah, he just doesn’t do mornings. If it’s before 10 he’s useless. I’m honestly not even sure how he somehow makes it to school before me,” I complained.

“Time management,” Alden chimed in.

“Uhuh…” I muttered.

“Could you guys just be quiet already, it's too early for your marital spat,” Nicole complained.

She also, apparently, was not a morning person either.

“Ahem…This pool will take you back to your world once you enter it. It won't remain open for long so don’t dally,” Balfrus stated awkwardly.

“Will we be able to come back?” Nicole asked, a glint of sadness in her eyes.

“Eventually, the way will open once again when it has gathered enough energy,” Balfrus confirmed.

Nicole nodded her head solemnly and then jumped into the pool, vanishing. Zypher and Alden followed after paying their respects.

“Cian, slowly you will come to sense it, the connection to the souls that reside within you. Remember to trust yourself, and trust Yasvei. The answers you seek will come slowly, but they will come,” Balfrus said as he pushed me into the pool, smiling.