Beneath the warmth, I awaken, embraced by a vast, brilliant sphere,
Its luminance, a beacon, piercing my core, a dance of flames and fear.
-Thoubose
THEO
Ascending the rugged expanse of terrain, the sprawling Montum mountain unveiled its grandeur as we ventured deeper into the heart of the range. With each step, the celestial radiance of Krom, a colossal gaseous planet Thoubose orbited, painted the landscape with its luminous touch, infusing life-giving warmth to everything in its wake.
A familiar companion, akin to a mythical playful wind spirit, danced alongside me, it’s ethereal presence a constant reminder of the harmonious bond between this world and the unseen currents that shaped it. It gathered a breeze around me like waves of an ocean breaking on a cliff before casting back out, in a different direction each time. Then, it would turn back to do it again, whipping my black, silver accented hair around. Only every now and then rapidly pulsing around me, as to advise me of a carrying scent or piece of information passing along its gust or crossing its path. Good old Breezy, the only thing I could think to name it when I was young enough to understand it was more than just wind, a name that stuck.
My eyes shifting from their normal pale hazel hue to a vibrant blue and back as I quickly accessed and activated my inner essence to better sense the disturbance Breezy seemed to dance from. A pack of forest lions were a kilometer or so up wind, basking in the rewards of their mid-day hunt. I could tell from analyzing the scent of elk blood and of the pride that were brought to me in Breezy’s wake. Breezy could mentally project images to me, surface thoughts, and scents, which was helpful in most situations like this one. The lions were just finishing a meal and a full predator was something to take caution of. But if we didn’t come up on them in surprise and gave them enough distance, they would leave us be.
“Didn't we learn anything back there, Theo?” Called the time-ravaged man ahead, his jet-black Valarian skin contrasting against his grey hair.
It had been most of the day and I still haven’t had the courage to look my grandfather in the eyes, disappointment seemed to flow from his sunken war-torn posture as he rode his horse a few dozen paces ahead of mine. Every so many kilometers throughout the ride were greeted with a shake of his head, no doubt in frustration. He was probably thinking of how many times we have had to do this. How many times we are going to have to keep doing this. Fleeing and starting over, to make up a new story and a new life.
“You know I can easily feel when you access your essence, the force is too large to hide from a gem barer.” His voice flat.
“I am working on it Grandfather.” I replied in a deflated tone, the pointed tips of my Valarian ears feeling hot with embarrassment.
“Do more than just working on it. You must work on revealing less, not opening the entire well just to taste a drop of it. If the sense of a raging ocean of power manifesting randomly out of nowhere is not a dead giveaway to some that you have a few gems, the eyes Theo.” he paused, then looked back at me, a serious expression on his bearded face. “You light up the darkest of nights with those things” His eyes closed for a long pause, before fully looking at me again sorrowfully. “There aren’t many people on Thoubose that don’t know what that means.”
“You know I can’t help it. It’s the only way I can draw power right now. This place is remote enough, us taking the scenic route and all.” I responded in protest, knowing full well the premise of his reply.
“Always be cognizant of the affect you can have on people when you access such raw essence. Even before that, you project your ocean of power to use your gifts, start there.” He paused before continuing. “Try to put off the vibe of a normal attuned person accessing a rune, they don’t have a font of endless power within them. Essence control is important.”
“Easy for you to say.” I grumbled.
“And,” he cut my interruption off. “A Gemini, where vastly more powerful than those without gems, only differ by the essence pool their gems hold and replenish naturally. It will take practice to draw down what you access or mask it completely, I am not saying it won’t.” He looked at me with the sincerity I was used to.
“I’ll do my best.” I locked onto his gaze and gave him my best forced smile.
“That’s all I can ask for. There aren’t many free places or even neutral positioned places we have left to go before we truly have to be nomads. We need to grow your strength, not present ourselves to everyone. We must be careful. I couldn’t handle if I were to lose you too.” He focused back on the path ahead, cutting the conversation off as I continued to follow.
The past seventeen years haven’t been the easiest on Roman Roth; the once fierce Commander of the Valerian First Legionnaire, reduced to caretaker and deserter in mere moments shortly after my mother upended his life. I have only heard the real story once, when I was old enough to understand, and never since. It was impactful enough to not forget a single word of the story.
There were divine circumstances surrounding my birth. It was said that a stream of air essence that traveled from the farthest spot on the horizon was seen forcing itself into my mother during my birth. Essence being the rawest varying cosmic forms of the five energies that flow through all living and natural things here on Thoubose.
The surge of raw air essence during my divine reincarnation, although I have no memory of my past life, was felt as a ‘pins and needles’ kind of body engulfing sensation to even those not gifted with essence attunement a few kilometers from the core of the stream. It is also said that the air pressure closer to the essence stream that forced its way into my mother during my birth rapidly fluctuated, giving people the feeling of extreme altitude gains and losses in violent pulses. It was as if they climbed the highest mountain, and a moment later were in the deepest depths of the sea. After the essence completely absorbed into me and the air pressure normalized, everyone gathered and worshiped the phenomenon once their sicknesses subsided. The worshipping never ceased and was relentless night and day once people realized I caused all of that.
At first, I was the baby who floated in on a cloud of essence, then the baby who never hungered, thirsted, or even slept. The people of Thoubose did not know at the time, the fate of the acolytes. People thought I must be the son of the promiscuous Ventum because of the blowing wind sprite that favored my every breath and surrounded me and my mother, along with the other circumstances. Though a child of an Acolyte had not been sired to date, nevertheless it was the rumor that caused some problems. Rumor adds to other rumors until they get spun out of control.
My grandfather was a young widower, it was no secret his daughter was amongst one of the most beautiful women in all the Valerian empire. When his big break came, at the time he was a struggling middle tier officer in the military. He was offered a deal by Vlad the Valiant – the king of the Valarian Kingdom. One of his prized support gems and the highest military ranking he could obtain, for promise of his daughters’ hand to the heir prince. The deal wasn’t one of any type of nepotism, the gem was earned by grandfather. The marriage was an insurance plan for the King loaning the piece of the kingdom’s arsenal, as was customary. Her beauty was a bonus and might have pushed the favor if the opponents were more or less on even footing, so maybe nepotism can’t be totally ruled out.
The marriage was going successfully. She was to bare an heir for the prince as her first child, the only issue was I came out in the divine way I did, and my father rashly thought my mother was unfaithful. He banished my mother from the castle grounds and fortunately enough for her, she was not executed for fear killing an Acolyte child’s mother would cause devastating backlash for the kingdom. She was sent to live with my grandfather outside of the inner fortifications of the capital city Caesar, till the royal court could confirm with their Acolyte Ignis the legitimacy of my bloodline. Ignis had been unusually absent from commune, delaying the confirmation for months at that point.
Shortly after the two murders, a dark ambiance engulfed all Thoubose, nature was mourning, for now we know to be the loss of the Acolytes. On top of the air of despair, the Skulls arrived at port in Caesar. The Skulls were a group of highly skilled mercenaries and underhand dealers with low morals, willing to do anything for coin and the unnatural lust they had for power. The Skulls were contracted with the task to find me, and it did not take them very long after following what they could of the trail and heading in that direct direction. After that, people talk and spies’ network.
When Grandfather told me this story, he said that the day started out like any other morning, the only difference to him were the two new people crammed into his small one-bedroom flat that the military provided him. His station could have provided him better accommodations, but he wanted to live with the men to not cause any open hostility or inequality.
…
ROMAN
Roman arose from the couch and scrambled to make himself some breakfast while simultaneously shaving in the kitchen sink. After which, quickly placing his finished plate in a sink before donning his armor and finalizing his daily preparations for the recruits his team of officers were molding into ‘one unit, one shield, one force!’ – better known as the Valarian way. The pressure was building amongst the units due to a looming military display that was meant to demonstrate the strength of the Valarian Army to all the citizens and some influential guests. It was all meaningless showmanship that added nothing to him, but it helped the overall military funding.
On that crisp and pure morning, Roman took a deep breath as he opened the door. The clear air held the sharp tang of salty seawater. Roman stepped out of the townhouse, he was one among a row of closely-knit neighbors, and those who were out and about focused on their daily morning rituals. With a bit more haste than usual, Roman headed towards the training grounds, it still early enough that his footsteps echoed on the cobblestone streets. However, as he walked halfway down the street, his automatic commute was suddenly disrupted by the voice of a gaunt man, clad in tattered attire. “Excuse me maim, I am looking for Jenny Roth, you wouldn’t happen to know of her, would you?” The man was asking a neighbor about something, and the mention of his daughter’s name caught Roman's attention.
She looked over in his direction before Roman interrupted and changed direction to walk up to the two, “Jenny is my daughter. What business do you have with her?” his tone calm and sincere.
The man looked about nervously, almost as if he was caught off guard as he quickly scanned Roman up and down. “I eh.” stopping to pause and take notice of Roman’s Valerian Commander greaves and the peridot pear shaped gem dangling around his neck adorned by a golden chain, which made his eyes bulge. The gem granted him access to the position he held, amongst the other obvious benefits. “Guess I found who I was looking for in a roundabout way. I heard from the shop owner down the street that her father was a high ranking officer of the Valerian army, and one that might be able to help me with some...” he paused again before continuing “..thugs I have an issue with, they robbed me pretty good in the mercantile district early this morning.” confidence returning to the man as he finished his sentence, while the bruising seen on the man’s face seemed to fit his issue.
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“Well sir, that would be a matter for the city guard, not the military.” Roman replied, suspicion growing in his tone. With the added baby routine the morning now brought him, wasting time on his commute would easily cause him to be late. Being late was something he could not have happen, punctuality defined Roman’s station.
“Oh, they wasn’t helpful, I guess they might be looking the other way for some buddies. I can try another outpost. I apologize for taking your time sir.” The man’s gaze shifting towards Roman’s apartment as he spoke.
“Well, if you still find yourself in need, and the city guard doesn’t help when you go to the next precinct, please come by and we can work something out. Preferably not near daybreak and when I am off the Legions clock.” Roman said as he moved past the man and walked down the street.
“Apologies again, my good sir. And I thank you!” the man replied.
“No worries! Here are some coins for your trouble. I wish I could help more.” Roman passed the man three silver coins which made the man’s eyes gleam.
Roman pressed on, down the street towards his post, giving the neighbor a friendly nod as he passed. He was about to turn the corner onto the next street when he looked back, the vagrant man was chatting half a block from his door with a man who was dressed in all black head to toe, his back turned towards Roman. The sight of a skull logo on the man’s cloak sent an unsettling feeling coursing through Roman as he observed the man’s imposing size. He hadn’t seen men that size since he was young and Norrænn’s were passing through his village, a treatied gateway to the free nations. Roman shook off the foreboding feeling, on the cusp of being late already. The military housing always looked after one another, he thought as he pressed on.
Halfway up the next block, another man with similar attire and stature leaned against a building adjacent to an alleyway, his skin was pail compared to the jet-black Valarian skin typical amongst most the crowds in Caesar. He had an unsettling gaze cast towards Roman’s direction. As Roman carried on to the next block, he could sense that the alley man had started to walk in his direction. His gem’s connection to the ground allowing him to sense the movements in the ground’s vibrations as it picked up on the situation, as well as Roman’s concern. Roman then noticed while trying to subtly glance towards the direction of the following man, another similarly cloaked and sized man cascade across his vision through another adjacent side street. Similar posture, gaze seemingly baring into Roman.
Roman paused, the feeling of panic quickly washing over his mind again as he thought to the worst-case scenario. “It might be nothing” he thought to himself. “Maybe I should just go back for a minute to check on Jenny.” His early morning slow to react cognition clearing from his mind, allowing him to better focus as he started to question pieces of the morning.
He turned to rush back home. As Roman turned to flee, the man in the closest alleyway seemed to understand the thought process currently forming on his enemy’s mind. Roman paused as he could feel a small glint of runic essence being activated. He looked over at the direction of the essence. The second man was pointing a rune filled wand that pulsed with red fire energy at him. As a red orb grew in size, the man’s eyes narrowed with a mixed determination of rage and joy.
Roman had only moments to pull together his defense before the man released the ball of flame directly at his head, dispelling the stored fire essence into a runic blast. Luckily, the two lost the sense of surprise when his mind cleared, something an army of non-gem barers desperately needed as an advantage due to being vastly outmatched against a single gem Gemini, the gem-bound warrior class Thoubose cultivated over generations in various forms.
Tapping into his peridot, earthen essence surged from within; his inner connection to the ground and nature amplified around him. Roman reacted, a quick circular disk of stone being pulled from the ground in front of him, settling on his left forearm just in time to block the oncoming missile in an explosion of earth and fire. In the same fluid motion, his right hand materialized and threw a granite spear underhanded, the granite spear molding true from the bracer that coiled along his forearm. The spear buried itself through the eye socket of the alley man rapidly following from the street before; the electric runic ring the man was charging at Roman blasted into the air as the man’s face caught the spear blow and his body contorted backwards.
Roman turned to see the man who threw the fire blast quickly channeling another red lit up rune from the pointed wand, the previous one completely spent on the longer channeled blast; now no longer glowing. With a flick of his essence enhanced forearm, Roman discarded the remainder of the earthen shield in a swift motion that decapitated the man and sent the uncontrolled and unfinished channeled fire blast through an unfortunate shop’s front. A thick smell of ozone blanketed the air around the essence discharge.
Before Roman had time to think he ran to dislodge the implanted spear and bound off, down the street towards his flat. Begging fate that the man was not already inside, the pain of fear growing by the step. ‘What could they want? Who were those men? Was the prince ordering her to be snuffed out? Were they trying to kidnap the prince’s heir?’ So many questions swirling in his head as he rushed on.
Roman turned the corner, the vagabond from earlier was laying in the sidewalk closest to the entrance of the house, a river of blood making its way towards one of the storm gutters that frequented the main road. Distress visible in the street, the lively place from moments ago was now vacant of all life. People peering out of gaps in curtains or window shades from inside their gothic style townhomes was the only visible sign that life still existed on the block. By this time, most the men on the block would have reported for duty or actively been on route to their posts. Some of the men who were sleeping off night patrols seemed to tried to assist in the commotion, evident from the Valarian outfitted bodies that were staggered outside the front door to Roman’s apartment in a mangled mess.
Roman made his way past the bodies and through his wide-open townhouse door, all caution quickly aside as the subsonic screams of Theo began to fill the street; the only thing that could ever ignite such a stoic man’s blind rage. Pure willpower pushing his mind forward, as the screech emitting from Theo made him want to curl over. Without his gem enhancing his resolve, he doubted he could even move his feet under such duress. Tunnel vision slowly blackening around him as he got deeper into the ground floor of the dwelling.
Theo laid on the floor covered in blood, his eyes as bright blue as a focused flame of immense heat, something Roman had never seen before from a being, only read about. There was a number of smooth pebbles covered with hazy blue runes that lightly glowed, bound to the small baby’s skin. Around Theo, dark runic pebbles were scattered around glowing more faintly with the milky blue color. Not far away was Jenny faced down and motionless, her blood upon further inspection was what covered Theo, her pulse nonexistent in what he could feel from his connection to the earth. The realization of that made his heart drop out of his stomach. Flashes of every moment he had with his daughter began intruding upon his mind, forcing him to grimace as he tried to push the memories aside, overwhelmed by sudden heartache.
The Norrænn man was crouched over clutching his head, Theo’s shriek directly facing him. Not focused on anything else at the moment, the man was frantically trying to throw more of the rune covered pebbles towards Theo, many missing the mark, the few that connected latched on and starting to glow even more vibrantly. Each of the runic stones that connected seemed to lessen the supersonic effect of the scream.
Roman’s quick military training cast no doubt on the split-second reaction needed as his mind finished comprehending what came into his focus before him. Roman threw the spear he was carrying with all his own essence imbued and peridot gem aided strength, impaling the man to the ground through his back. The man slumped, gasping for air as the force of impact jarred him and stole his ability to fully pull air into his lungs.
Theo, upon seeing a familiar face in the terrifying moments, relented on his debilitating scream, his eyes returning to their normal shade; allowing Roman to gain full composure. Not letting the man have a chance to regain composure as well, Roman tapped into his peridot gem and used its affinity to weave the ground and materials from the floor below. The earthen tentacles wrapped around the man, entrapping him in a hard stone casing once the shifting earth set.
“Why have you come here and what do you want?” Roman stared at the man, his cold tone calculating, his questions stern and direct. There was no knowing how many of the men dressed in black were involved, some if not all obviously being Norrænn. There was not much time to interrogate the man in front of him. He constricted the bindings around the man to speed up the process. The man didn’t respond, his eyes fixed on Roman. Hate, the only thing visible within the darkness of his gaze.
“What do you want from him!” Roman demanded walking up to grab a rune filled pebble from the ground. The way Theo’s eyes glowed was troubling and he was slowly piecing some things together.
An instant after Roman grabbed a runic pebble from the ground, it bound to his palm, the rune activating and drawing essence from within his body and into the pebble, making him feel sluggish and heavy. Quickly reacting, Roman slammed his open palm against the barrier that held the man, shattering the runic pebble; its light fading to complete darkness as the power within lost its composition. As he shattered the pebble, his internal essence felt the weighty sensation lift.
Roman further constricted the bindings which caused the man to cough up blood. The man’s eyes widening at Roman’s quick discovery. “You are too late. The rest will be here soon.” The man coughed again, his voice wavering under the pressure of the constriction. “Once we have him subdued, the city will fall. We have but a few minutes before the tsunami triggered makes land, either way. I’d like to let you know of our contingency regardless of the outcome just so you know there is no hope. We can just pick him up from the bottom of the ocean at the end of it all and still have what we came for.” A wicked smile gleaming from his face. “You won’t have enough time to have it be of any concern to you anyways.” A clatter came from down the hall as a faint group of shouting came from the doorway. “Your end is near.” The man started to chuckle, his blood-stained teeth fully exposed.
Roman’s temper boiled over. He snapped the bindings together, crushing the man into a splattered jelly that instantly covered the room, earthen essence raging from all around Roman. He then collapsed the entrance half of the house onto itself and opened a path outside from the adjacent wall, grabbing Theo as he bound through the opening that came to an alleyway, which he sprinted down, not daring to look back as he felt his entire apartment and those around it crumbled into rubble.
Roman ran to the closest stable he could find before stopping the full sprint, rushing into the open doors of the stable and crouching against the inner wall heaving to catch his breath.
“Som’tin a matter Sir Roth?” Tad the local stable boy asked in alarm, the look of fear and determination ever present on Roman’s face. Tad seemingly focusing on the fact that he and the baby were soaked in blood.
“I need a horse! The fastest one you have! Post haste! No need for a saddle!” Roman demanded as he threw a handful of gold coins from within his purse towards the boy, more than a years’ wages for the master and apprentice along with the price of the most expensive pair of horses in their stable.
The boy’s eyes widened at the money before he rushed off to grab the best horse they had. Roman then began to break the runes that were still imbedded on Theo, the baby relaxing as he returned to normal form. Tad came back with a muscular black horse, handing the reigns to Roman.
“Thank you, Tad. We are all in peril, you need to flee to high ground because a wave of water the likes no one has ever seen is about to crest the street over there.” He paused, the tone in his voice turning more serious. “The blood you are seeing should be alarm enough.” Without hesitation, Roman climbed on the horse, Theo cradled in one arm and dashed towards the westward city limit.
“Tsunami!” The alarming chant being the only thing to leave his lips as he road to the horse’s breaking point. What else was there to say to help people as a blood-soaked mad man sprinting away?
When Roman finally had the vantage point and looked back from the road, a handful of minutes later, the truth in the man’s words was evident. The place where the city’s heart used to be, was now surrounded by a receding ocean tide. Swell after swell of blue wall stacked behind each barrier of ocean water as far as the eye could see. When each column made land, they would barrage the fortifications and structures. With each devastating ripple, the destruction moved deeper into the city. The city alarm bell system ringing from the structures that still stood, too late from the start to make any bit of evacuation difference. The normal water essence tsunami defense, nowhere to be seen. Flo herself powered the enchantments for the city’s natural ocean defense, but they failed today.
The scene before him was a painful sight of devastation. People he had known his whole life were now buried under an ocean of water. Not wanting to watch the destruction continue, Roman spurred his horse forward until he reached the first crossroads, the main thoroughfare leading out of the city limits. He was so downtrodden that tears flowed freely, and he paid no heed to anything but the thoughts racing through his head. It was his gem that alerted him to the group of men looming at the crossroads, and it was also his gem that ultimately resolved the situation.
“Hey you there!” a man called as a group of hooded figures descended upon Roman.
“Aye he’s got a baby!” one of the men called as he unsheathed his sword.
“Soaked to the bones in blood is he! I am betting he got past the extraction squad.” Another remarked.
“Grab him quick!” The leader said as the group rushed from their various hidden positions towards Roman.
Before there was time for any further reaction, eight small pebbles lifted from various pockets in Roman’s uniform. They scattered at a supersonic speed, small holes appearing on all eight men in front of him as they dropped lifelessly to the floor. Roman dazedly looked up before realization of the attacked donned on him as he clutched Theo ever tighter, galloping on again in full haste as if demons were meters behind him in pursuit.
“Thank you as always Käl” he whispered to his gem as a pulse of energy warmed him in retort.