Imogen

* * *

Such a short time had passed since Kai and Rhona had healed her. Yet, here she was, summoning old amalgamations and playing host to a group of… friends. For surely, Bancroft and his party could be considered friends by now.

Even the horse seems to notice my presence when I deposit more grass or straw before him. Always nickers and bobs his head politely when I do so. No dull beast, that one.

And Imogen considered herself happy, even despite the impending change that would have them all scrambling soon enough.

Bancroft had been celebrating the digestive abilities of his champion, an act he seemed intent on performing as often as possible. The huge stone houndzard’s belly already bulged from excess, and still he continued to ask for a little more of this and a little more of that.

He’s lucky he isn’t trapped in that body forever, Imogen mused. Otherwise, he’d end up fat like the hogs he so enjoys consuming.

Having woken with a fractured mind, it had taken Imogen some time to realize she’d also lost a good portion of her previous power. She’d once been a high Viridian dungeon, level 2 or 3 for certain. Now, though, she could tell, by her reduced area of influence alone, that she’d been diminished.

Without other recourse, Imogen had sent out one of her two dungeon champions, a Frost Raven with an eight-foot wing span.

So, even now, she watched the soldiers as they finished assembling their camp.

They were preparing to enter the swamp proper, dive into its murky depths and seek out her core as they’d done so long ago.

Yes, I have an obligation to tell them, Imogen reminded herself. But there’s still some time remaining. Why would I interrupt them at such a time as this?

While she observed the few hundred Brintoshi soldiers mount up and form orderly columns, she kept her eye on the two companions that gave her the most joy.

Ducking beneath Rhona’s kick, Kai rushed forward, bashing into the woman with his shoulder.

Rhona gripped Kai around his waist, and, using his own momentum against him, threw the young dragon over her hip to the ground.

Kai grunted as her full weight bore down on him, driving the air from his lungs.

“Focus, Kai. I try to teach you the Path of the Bleeding Tiger and you tackle me like a Brintoshi street rat?” Rhona asked, the tip of her nose just a few inches from Kai’s.

He shoved her off and rolled to his belly to stand back up for the hundredth time. “I was just trying to use what small advantage I have, Rhona. If we were using weapons—”

“I’d cut out your throat in seconds flat,” Rhona said, cutting him off. “And I’d also lose access to my monk skills. I can’t touch a sword, Kai. Let’s just pretend they don’t exist.”

Kai nodded.

They’d been over this before.

For a dragon, he is awfully stubborn, Imogen thought. Then again, it hasn’t been long since he learned of his past. How long will it be until he comes to accept the full scope of his inheritance. After all, only a single Fundamental Dragon can call this world their home at a time. He’s our best hope in the times to come.

When Rhona first asked Kai if he would train under her, the young man had gladly accepted.

Yet despite his commitment to improve, and the lofty dreams Imogen could see floating about his head like clouds, his appetite for abuse was beginning to show its limitations.

Rhona dusted her clothes off and gestured with her hands for Kai to advance.

He moaned but fell into the stance she’d shown him anyhow. “Last time, Rhona. I’m getting hungry, and besides, I don’t think I’ll learn fast enough to become effective any time soon.”

“No, you won’t. But, Kai, w hat I am teaching you has a purpose, okay? Let’s go one more round, and I’ll show you what I mean.”

Showing trust yet again, Kai began in Tiger Hides its Claws.

It was a basic fighter’s stance, hands held before the face, fingers relaxed, palms facing down. To Imogen, the posture was humorous.

Rhona began the same sequence of attacks she’d used before. A series of low to medium kicks, Kai dodged a few before adopting the second stance: Tiger Slashing Snake.

Leaning forward, Kai let his upper body hang over his leading leg. His arms drooped as well, and when her next kick landed, Kai caught the limb and pulled it toward his body.

For the first time since attempting the technique, Kai had managed to trap Rhona’s leg!

For an instant, he froze. Eyes bulging, he stared at Rhona as she bounced on her rear foot, waiting for him to act.

“Too slow!” she barked. Then she snatched Kai’s forearm with both hands and fell to the ground, pulling Kai toward her.

As Kai’s balance was shattered, she tossed him to the ground, using the leg he’d trapped to throw him in the air. Kai rolled a few feet before breaking into a fit of laughter.

He’s certainly improved. Though, I do fear he is correct. At this rate, he won’t be able to match Rhona with her own arts for years to come, Imogen thought as she analyzed the two fighters.

“So close!” he managed between gasps.

“My arse! You trapped my shivving leg, Kai! But you didn’t take me down, sweep my standing leg, or strike me in any number of possible ways,” she chastised. “Don’t freeze up next time. Besides, what I really was hoping for was—”

“For me to use Pouncing in Tall Grass,” Kai finished.

It was Rhona’s turn to laugh. “Yes. Yes, that would have been the right move.”

The two sat on the cold stone floor of the special training room for a time, catching their breath.

Imogen had made the room upon request the day they’d arrived with Ban’s core in tow. Rhona had wanted a private space to train Kai, so Imogen had gone all out.

The room attached to the main chamber where Imogen’s core sat. It included a tiny water fountain in the corner, and sconces along all four walls where torches burned brightly. All that was missing, in Imogen’s estimation at least, was a bit more decoration and perhaps a few racks for weaponry.

Allowing a little of the frustration that clouded Kai’s core to enter his voice, he questioned his new trainer. “Why, Rhona? Please, you’ve shown me a total of five stances. You’ve shown me a handful of strikes, kicks, and throws. But why do you seem so intent on this sequence. I know there is something more you’re not telling me.”

Rhona blew a strand of hair from her face.

Her cheeks were flushed, her lips plump and bright as berries.

She wears her beauty as naturally as a meadow does bees and wildflowers , Imogen thought, admiring the young woman’s vitality.

Rhona’s expression was solemn when she answered Kai. “I’m not sure where our travels will take us, Kai. We’re about to cross the border. Where will you and Ban go? Where will I go? I need to teach you what I can or you might find yourself in real danger when you next ascend.”

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The monk’s logic seemed to disturb Kai. He shifted nervously when he replied. “What do you mean? I thought we’d formed a guild. Ban wants to explore the Sunken Keep. Won’t you come with us?”

“I’d like to, Kai. I really would. But that isn’t important now. What I’m trying to teach you is a foundation. Let me ask this of you. What do you know of the Emerald ascension?”

Kai’s face scrunched in concentration. “I could tell you how much Progression it takes to ascend to Emerald. I think there’s even a scroll that mentions how many Attribute Points I will gain. That’s about all though. Why?”

Rhona locked eyes with Kai. “Emerald is a pivotal advancement. It’s been called many names over the years. The Jade Gauntlet is the one I first learned. It is a dangerous ascension, Kai, and if you lack the proper techniques and knowledge, your core might collapse or rupture entirely during the process. The Brintoshi use mages to assist the soldiers ascending to Emerald. You don’t have that luxury, and if you fail, you will either be dead or crippled when it’s over.”

“Doesn’t sound very promising,” Kai responded dismally.

Smiling, Rhona patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Andag has seen it fit to provide you with your own monk. A few still remember the old ways. I was lucky enough to study with one.”

Kai spent a few moments letting this news settle in. Imogen reflected how sad it was that Bancroft hadn’t warned him of such a truth. Yet the Earth Core was as fractured as she was. How many of our memories are gone, never to return again? she wondered.

They all had their limitations.

“How does the Path of the Bleeding Tiger help me with Emerald ascension,” Kai asked pragmatically.

“Come, stand up once more, Kai. Don’t worry. No more fighting, okay? That was just for fun.”

Without complaint, Kai found his feet again and faced her.

Then she stood beside him, falling into the first stance. “Just watch, okay?”

Rhona moved between the five forms , slowly and fluidly. Tiger Hides its Claws, Tiger Slashing Snake, Pouncing in Tall Grass, Retreating on the Furious Wind, and finally Tiger’s Hide Bleeds. The postures were distinct, and each difficult to master. But when Rhona completed the five stances, Imogen saw clearly how she’d moved in a circuit, a pattern.

After she finished Tiger’s Hide Bleeds, she spun into Tiger Hides its Claws once more.

The circuit was complete.

“Did you see that? The five stances are one form in my path. It is the foundation on top of which all else stands. If you don’t master the five, you cannot master anything that follows.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Kai admitted. “What does it have to do with ascension though?”

Rhona smiled at him. Her eyes shone, patient and alive.

Taking Kai by the hand, she led him to the corner of their training room. A few handfuls of loose soil had fallen from the freshly carved ceiling, leaving a layer of dust over the dark stone.

Imogen nearly cleared up the debris until she realized the young woman intended to use it somehow.

Rhona stooped and drew a pattern in the dust. Pointing to the swooping lines, she explained. “If you could see the five stances from above, you would notice they form a pattern. It looks something like this, but of course, it is far from exact.”

Imogen looked at the scrawled image. It reminded her at once of a flower blooming, swirls and arcing lines that made up a five-pronged pattern.

Rhona pointed at the center of the image. “This represents your core, Kai. As you complete the five stances, your body moves in a similar pattern. There are many names for this pattern, but the translation into Brintoshi is Mandala. Do you remember what you had to do with your core for the first ascension?”

Kai nodded. “How could I forget the time Briga herself had instructed me how to bend my core into the figure of a snake consuming its own tail,” he said with a chuckle. “And when I ascended to Golden, I had to bend that back into a circle again, though it became smaller, denser, and deeper.”

“Exactly,” Rhona said, glancing back to the image in the dust. “And when you ascend to Emerald, you will need to establish a Mandala with your core. It is complex, painful and wildly challenging. The Brintoshi have a simplified Mandala they use for all soldiers, and their mages imprint their cores with the pattern. Fewer soldiers die that way, but their cores are also more limited because of that. The old monks teach that to ascend perfectly to Emerald, you must learn and master your own distinct pattern. No two are alike.”

Imogen’s mind spun as faded or broken memories threatened to overwhelm her. She could vaguely recall her own master telling her something like this. He’d called it the Jade Foundation, hadn’t he? The way in which one prepared the core for greater heights of ascension.

The Earth Core’s line of thought brought her around to considering the young woman before her. Rhona’s dedication to her purpose and cause were commendable, but Imogen had to wonder how much Rhona knew of her own past. Surely, she must feel the splinter still marring her core.

When the dragon and monk had healed her core, Imogen had been subjected to a flash of insight. She’d asked Bancroft if he too had experienced the same when Kai had healed him. When Bancroft had denied it, Imogen came to the belief that it was Rhona’s participation in the act that had made the difference.

In a fraction of a second, Imogen had seen the linear progression of both Kai’s and Rhona’s lives. Oddly, much of the vision took place in the past.

Imogen could describe the golden skin and proud eyes of Kai’s dragon father. She could recall the smooth motions of his mother practicing swordplay in the dragon’s vast dungeon. The two had stolen a few moments of time to call their own during the end of a bloody war.

Rhona’s past had been just as enlightening.

Imogen focused more on her father’s odd injury more than Rhona’s painful past. A sliver, just a fragment of an Earth Core jammed in his palm. And yet, it had changed Drystan’s destiny and that of his daughter as well.

The Accolade Core Sworn made more sense in the light of Imogen’s discovery.

And though Imogen knew her friends would be leaving soon, and her own life soon to be severed, she chose not to tell Rhona or Kai. I can leave meddling to the gods, she figured. They are always so willing to do so anyhow.

The implications of Rhona’s lesson seemed to slowly dawn on Kai. He studied the pattern, nodding to himself and muttering under his breath. At last, he came to a conclusion. “So the five forms you taught me are only an approximation. I will still need to discover my own Mandala?”

Rhona nodded. “Yes. Having a firm grasp on the five forms, however, is the best way to start. Now, ready to work on Crystal Mind?”

Rather than answer, he sat down and folded his legs as she’d instructed him. “I’m ready.”

Rhona took up position across from him, and the two began the second round of their training.

Crystal Mind was but one of many mental forms Rhona had discussed. No matter how much Kai begged, though, she’d insisted the others weren’t important for now.

Imogen imagined herself sitting alongside Kai and Rhona. She couldn’t close her eyes, but she did follow along as Rhona spoke in a soft voice.

“First empty your mind of all clutter,” the monk said, and Imogen did just that.

Imogen’s concerns about the Vermillion Guard, the defenses of her dungeon, and the rapidly approaching end to her life drifted away one at a time.

Her mind was so vast, she could feel the others doing the same. The tension in Kai’s and Rhona’s muscles faded as they dropped deeper and deeper into the mental technique.

When at last Imogen’s mind had become an empty space, she began to construct the walls of Crystal Mind.

Five sheets of crystal formed a five-sided pillar around her inner mind.

Imogen sat in the center, and when the fifth sheet of crystal fell into place, her perspective shifted.

Suddenly, it was as if she was staring down on the pillar. She could make out the five-sided shape, could see her burning core beneath it all. Though Imogen stared down on the vast entirety of her dungeon, she knew Kai was observing the same in his own mind, and Rhona in hers as well.

Rhona’s voice broke the stillness around them. “The Crystal Mind allows you to focus your thoughts, clear the ether in your core of confusion, and tap into your courage and determination. Concerning the Emerald ascension, though, this technique lets you focus in so you can see the fiery depths of your core. Pull away, Kai. Look at your core from far above. Tell me what you see?”

Imogen followed along, pulling further away until she could see the five-sided pillar standing amid the burning circle of her core. Further and further, Imogen removed her perspective until she saw a crackling field around her core.

Nodes of power and tiny sparks of ether shimmered across the empty expanse.

Then Rhona spoke again. “Can you see a pattern? I discovered my own Mandala last spring. I can see the pattern my core needs to adopt when I next ascend. Can you?”

Imogen had already given up the exercise. She would never ascend again, not in this lifetime. To that extent, she’d taken liberties to preserve what aspects of her core and memories she could. Bancroft might very well argue, but her mind had been fixed. She only hoped her plan might succeed.

Shifting her observations to Kai, Imogen watched him as he struggled to master Crystal Mind.

“No,” Kai admitted at last. “I’m sorry. I don’t see anything.”

Rhona’s huge green eyes were staring into his. “It took me six months, Kai. Six months, and I practiced over an hour each day. Don’t expect to get it right away. Be patient.”

He nodded, then held out his hands to her.

Gripping her palms, Kai pulled himself up to his feet, and she rose along with him. “What about dinner, my lady? Have you any plans? I hear the local cook is famous.”

She held out her elbow toward him. “Only if you accompany me,” she said in a mock noble accent. “I would be so frightened to find myself alone in such a place. How often do you think this dungeon is cleaned?”

Then it was Kai’s raucous laugh that echoed through the hall as they walked toward the core room.

Imogen wanted to scoff at such a remark, but she sensed the humor in Rhona’s voice.

Besides, Imogen felt confident her dungeon was as accommodating as it could be.

The smell of roast boar hung in the air, testament to the many meals Bancroft had demanded.

The houndzard champion eyed the cooking meat with what looked like a mixture of greed and discomfort. It would do him well to learn the limitations of his new body, Imogen wanted to tell him. Though in the days to come, I am sure he will do just that.

As Kai and Rhona returned to the core room, they casually greeted Honor and Ban . They sat and began to enjoy the vittles Imogen had provided, all the while unaware of how she wrapped them all in the embrace of her presence.

She marked the passage of too many soldiers from the unerring eyes of a Frost Raven. The bird sat in a tree some miles off, observing every move the Brintoshi made.

Imogen returned to flitting about her dungeon’s core room, enjoying the emotions rising up from her fleshy companions like colored smoke. And she guided the hand of the massive golem tending the fire, doing her best to ensure everyone had a satisfying meal.

Despite the rapidly approaching changes Imogen anticipated, she knew this moment was as precious and rare as an Earth Core.

With this in mind, she settled down to enjoy what little life remained to her.