barracks.”
14
Ciara
Darkness and Light. From both sprang all that we know. There was a time when I would have thought that nothing more than folktale, but with what I have seen, I begin to wonder.
—Rolan al’Sand, Enlightened of Hyaln
C iara remained hidden in the trees. Shadows stretched around her and the stream ran nearby. As had become her practice, she focused on the water flowing through the stream first, trying to gain an awareness of water, thinking if she managed to master the element, then she could understand what she needed to do with the summoning.
Her j’na rested on her knees. The end of the staff had blunted, but not as much as she would have expected with all the striking she’d done, sending it into the rock over and over. Each time she did, she wondered if the spear would crack and break, but it never did. It was possible that the patterns her father had placed upon the length of the spear protected it.
She thought of him often. Were she to return to Rens, would he offer to teach her what she needed so that she could understand how to summon the draasin, maybe help her master how to summon the other elementals? So far, she had managed to summon elementals, but there was still no consistency to it and no control. The lizard—and Cheneth—seemed to think she could learn that skill, but she wasn’t certain. It was as if each time she attempted to recreate a pattern she had done before, something shifted, preventing her from repeating it.
How long had she been at the barracks? More than a week. And then two weeks in K’ral before that. Over a month since she’d last been in Rens. And in that time, so much had changed for her. Not only her understanding of things, but the realization that she might really be more than simply a water seeker. She might not be able to call it like Fas or Eshan had managed so easily, or even like her father, but there was the hope that what she did might give her even more potential. If she could reach the elementals, creatures like the draasin, or earth, or wind, or even the lizard—maybe especially the lizard—then what else might she be able to do? Only, everything required that she remain in Ter, studying with Cheneth. But so far, he had not done much to teach.
With a sigh, Ciara stood and made her way over to the stream. She took a long drink before standing, not missing the constant thirst that had been her companion in Rens. She missed the heat of the sun, though, and the dry air. Here, everything was moist, including the air.
Returning to the clearing where she had attempted every summons, she paused to consider what she wanted to try. Attempting to call the draasin had been unsuccessful. It was as if the pattern she’d used to draw the draasin was different than the one she remembered in her mind. Maybe it wasn’t the pattern, though. Maybe it had more to do with the fact that she didn’t summon the draasin in Rens. It was possible the location mattered as much as her actions.
The first steps had proven to be the hardest. Ciara tried to fix an image of what she wanted to summon in her mind and used that image to strain for the memory of what she had summoned in the past. So far, she had summoned enough different elementals that she thought she should be done finding new ones, but that hadn’t proven to be the case. Even within something like wind, there were slight variations that told her there were differences. The temperature, or the force of the wind, or even the way it touched upon her skin. All told her she hadn’t managed to consistently reach the same elemental.
Earth. That would be what she summoned today.
She could think of five different earth elementals she had summoned so far. The first had been while in Cheneth’s home. The others had all come here. One had been so powerful that it had nearly split the ground beneath her feet. Had she not released the summons, she suspected she would have been thrown into a deep chasm. And
14
Ciara
Darkness and Light. From both sprang all that we know. There was a time when I would have thought that nothing more than folktale, but with what I have seen, I begin to wonder.
—Rolan al’Sand, Enlightened of Hyaln
C iara remained hidden in the trees. Shadows stretched around her and the stream ran nearby. As had become her practice, she focused on the water flowing through the stream first, trying to gain an awareness of water, thinking if she managed to master the element, then she could understand what she needed to do with the summoning.
Her j’na rested on her knees. The end of the staff had blunted, but not as much as she would have expected with all the striking she’d done, sending it into the rock over and over. Each time she did, she wondered if the spear would crack and break, but it never did. It was possible that the patterns her father had placed upon the length of the spear protected it.
She thought of him often. Were she to return to Rens, would he offer to teach her what she needed so that she could understand how to summon the draasin, maybe help her master how to summon the other elementals? So far, she had managed to summon elementals, but there was still no consistency to it and no control. The lizard—and Cheneth—seemed to think she could learn that skill, but she wasn’t certain. It was as if each time she attempted to recreate a pattern she had done before, something shifted, preventing her from repeating it.
How long had she been at the barracks? More than a week. And then two weeks in K’ral before that. Over a month since she’d last been in Rens. And in that time, so much had changed for her. Not only her understanding of things, but the realization that she might really be more than simply a water seeker. She might not be able to call it like Fas or Eshan had managed so easily, or even like her father, but there was the hope that what she did might give her even more potential. If she could reach the elementals, creatures like the draasin, or earth, or wind, or even the lizard—maybe especially the lizard—then what else might she be able to do? Only, everything required that she remain in Ter, studying with Cheneth. But so far, he had not done much to teach.
With a sigh, Ciara stood and made her way over to the stream. She took a long drink before standing, not missing the constant thirst that had been her companion in Rens. She missed the heat of the sun, though, and the dry air. Here, everything was moist, including the air.
Returning to the clearing where she had attempted every summons, she paused to consider what she wanted to try. Attempting to call the draasin had been unsuccessful. It was as if the pattern she’d used to draw the draasin was different than the one she remembered in her mind. Maybe it wasn’t the pattern, though. Maybe it had more to do with the fact that she didn’t summon the draasin in Rens. It was possible the location mattered as much as her actions.
The first steps had proven to be the hardest. Ciara tried to fix an image of what she wanted to summon in her mind and used that image to strain for the memory of what she had summoned in the past. So far, she had summoned enough different elementals that she thought she should be done finding new ones, but that hadn’t proven to be the case. Even within something like wind, there were slight variations that told her there were differences. The temperature, or the force of the wind, or even the way it touched upon her skin. All told her she hadn’t managed to consistently reach the same elemental.
Earth. That would be what she summoned today.
She could think of five different earth elementals she had summoned so far. The first had been while in Cheneth’s home. The others had all come here. One had been so powerful that it had nearly split the ground beneath her feet. Had she not released the summons, she suspected she would have been thrown into a deep chasm. And
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