Karelly, on the other hand, wore a look of irritation. “We can’t attack them? These are creatures. They are⁠—”

  “They are not to be disturbed,” Desmond said.

  She blinked, looked over at Hezan, but he was quiet.

  Dax breathed out heavily.

  “Rochelle, can you heal him?”

  Rochelle looked at Hezan. “Only if he lets me.”

  The Essendar commander sighed. “I suppose that might be for the best.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Rochelle worked quickly. Dax had seen Rochelle using the healing aspect of her water essence plenty of times, but he could tell that Hezan was surprised by how she was able to work.

  As she finished, Dax noticed the movement of essence not far from them, and he looked over, studying it as he tried to make sense of what was out there.

  “I need to check this out,” Dax said, looking over at Desmond, keeping his voice low. He didn’t want the commander to know what he was saying here. Not yet. “I’m not sure whether this is going to be dangerous. If these are sentient creatures, we need to talk with them before we fight with them.”

  “Dax,” Desmond said, “I’m not entirely sure this is sensible. Not with what you are doing. I do not know that you want to go racing into something like this. I would caution you⁠—”

  “I grew up along the boundary of the unclaimed lands, and I know what is out there, and I know there is no reason for us to fear most of these creatures. I have spent more time with them than anyone.” He looked around. “Keep him distracted. Give me some time.”

  “You shouldn’t go alone.”

  “Fine. Let me bring Cedrick.”

  Desmond nodded. “Do it quickly.”

  After talking for a moment with Cedrick, he snuck away from Karelly, and the two of them headed away from the others.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cedrick asked when they were finally out of earshot of the others.

  “I’m quite sure it’s a terrible idea,” Dax said to Cedrick. “But the problem is that it is something that needs to happen. If we had any other choice, I would’ve taken it. With what happened to Hezan, I don’t know that we can linger here too much longer. I don’t know if it’s safe to do that.”

  Cedrick was quiet for a moment, but he did still make some of his pink bubbles drift around him. They were much finer than they had been before, and he caused them to swirl around him in a way that was quite unique. Dax couldn’t help but feel as if it was Cedrick’s way of creating some sort of a boundary around him, some sort of a barricade.

  “He’s going to make you work with him in some way,” Cedrick said, looking over. “I’m not exactly sure what he intends, but I know that he intends to try to pull you in somehow.”

  “I’m aware,” Dax said.

  “And it doesn’t bother you?”

  “I’m not so sure that I have much choice in the matter, as I don’t know whether anything I do, or say, is going to make a difference when it comes to Hezan. The only hope that I have is that Desmond has enough pull to try to keep me away from the Essendar.”

  “Why does it have to be him?” Cedrick asked.

  “Because he’s higher ranking within the Empire, I suppose.”

  “Can’t you just ask your parents?”

  Essence continued to move, but Dax couldn’t quite tell what was happening within that essence. There seemed to be a swirling power that was more than what he would’ve expected, so as he attempted to focus on what was out there, he could not make out the details as clearly as he wanted. There did seem to be some connection, but what he felt, and was aware of, was different.

  He raised a hand, and Cedrick moved closer to him. His bubbles had become more compact, swirling around him and creating something of a shell.

  “There are creatures moving out here,” Dax said, his voice soft. “I’m not exactly sure how many, or what they are doing.”

  “Are they going to harm us?” Cedrick asked.

  “Not that I can tell,” Dax said.

  But there was the possibility, however remote, that they might’ve been sent to a place where the creatures would work against them.

  Some creatures were dangerous, but out in the unclaimed lands, Dax didn’t think they were.

  Assuming that he could communicate with them.

  Unfortunately, that was not an easy assumption to make, especially these days and with some of the dangers they had encountered. It was quite possible that these creatures could be more than what he could withstand.

  “I doubt my parents would have had a hand in much. They wouldn’t have influenced anything.”

  “But your father⁠—”

  “I am fully aware of who my father is, but there are certain things that even he can’t influence.”

  Cedrick nodded, and he kept quiet.

  The grasses rustled even more.

  Dax turned toward it, testing whether he could identify the source of. He felt power, and it seemed to be moving together. Clustered, in some way. But now it seemed to be moving away.

  “This is ridiculous,” Dax said, shaking his head and squeezing his blade in his hand. “I feel like they’re just playing with us.”

  Which might’ve meant the purpose of these creatures, whatever they were, being here was to draw him away. He swore softly under his breath, and then he spun, heading back toward the others.

  “Weren’t you concerned about what was out here?” Cedrick said.

  “I think this was meant to draw me away.”

  “Oh. So what’s happening with the others?”

  “I don’t know, but I can take a look. Just watch over me for a moment.”

  “What are you going to…? Oh. All right.”

  Dax separated from his body. He did so quickly, and it felt as if there was a strange surge of power the moment he did, like some part of him ripped free. He transformed into a nebulous cloud of essence as he drifted upward, floating, not wanting to remain in this manifested form for too long and also not wanting anything, or anyone, to notice that he was there.

  For a moment, Dax didn’t pick up on anything.

  Then he began to make out the creatures, five of them, hidden within the grasses. He couldn’t see their physical form, but their essence was primarily earth mixed with a little bit of life and an undercurrent of water. All of the creatures seemed powerful.

  There was something unique about them as well, but he couldn’t quite tell what they were doing, nor did he know what kind of creatures that they were.

  He drifted, floating closer to the others. He found Rochelle still working with Hezan, and Desmond standing guard, reflecting a bit of essence. He didn’t seem to be aware of Dax, which was disappointing. Dax wished Desmond had more of an awareness of the power that Dax was wielding, mostly so that it would offer them a measure of safety. The others, including Karelly, just crouched, though they were looking in the wrong direction.

  He turned, floating higher.

  Floating this way gave him a different vantage, and he swept his awareness out in front of him. The unclaimed lands were so different from the rest of the Empire. At least, they always had been before. They created a small rim, at least relatively, of essence that surrounded the Empire. Now Dax noticed that it seemed to have been growing thicker. He floated along it, aware of his body where Cedrick was also aware of something that was pulling on his manifestation.

  Then he saw a holding not too far from him. There were several different buildings, and none of them were familiar to him. It wasn’t his family’s, but Dax had known that already. If it had been his family’s, he would have known, and he would have felt drawn in a different way.

  He drifted, hovering just above the holding. The power was considerable.

  Earth. Almost all earth.

  This was Gia’s family. These were her unclaimed lands.

  Once more, he felt a pull.

  For a moment, he thought maybe it was his body. Maybe it was something Cedrick was doing. Cedrick didn’t know the same technique that Rochelle did in order to draw him back, but that didn’t mean Cedrick didn’t know things. Given everything that Dax had been a part of, he thought maybe Cedrick would know how to alert him to come back.

  Power began to build. He could feel it. He didn’t know what was happening, but some part of it felt dangerous.

  As he floated, he felt influence.

  Something pushed on his essence.

  And it did so with more force than he would’ve expected. It slammed him back, forcing him back into his body.

  “Are you back?” Cedrick asked.

  Dax didn’t answer. Instead, he focused on the pure essence, the nodal power around him. In the unclaimed lands, Dax was closer to some of that nodal energy than he was in other places. He could feel it all around him, the way that it was swelling, building and rising around him, and he could feel the way that it was trying to work through him. But he also was aware of something else about it that was not quite right.

  “We have to get back to the others,” Dax said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I think I know why the creatures are moving around us.”

  “Are they going to attack? Dax, I know that you have a soft spot for them, but if they are going to attack⁠—”

  “They are not going to attack.”

  At least, these creatures weren’t.

  But that didn’t mean others were not. And that was what they had to fear.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  He raced ahead.

  Cedrick raced alongside him until they reached Desmond and the others. Hezan was up, looking around, but the moment that he and Cedrick plunged into the clearing, Hezan locked eyes with him.

  What did he recognize?

  Dax still didn’t know the extent of the Essendar abilities. They had a potency to them, he knew, but Dax wasn’t clear about all of what they were able to do—just that they were capable.

  “We have to be ready,” Dax said, turning to Desmond. “I’m not exactly sure what’s coming, but it’s not traditional creatures.”

  “We are in the unclaimed lands,” Hezan said, ignoring Desmond’s sharp look and getting to his feet. “And because we are in the unclaimed lands, anything that happens here is likely going to be tied to the creatures. Unless you would tell me otherwise?” He arched a brow.

  “We have already established that I have a skill with transference,” Dax said, locking eyes with the commander. At this point, he wasn’t exactly sure that he wanted to get into an argument with him, but there was a part of Dax that felt like he had to convince him. “And you know that I have contact with some of them.” There was no point in denying it. If he had to admit what he was, and what he was able to do, he might as well be willing to admit to all of it.

  “Yes,” he said. “I believe that there are rumors of such things.”

  “Not a rumor,” Dax said.

  “At this point, I have a hard time thinking you are going to acknowledge the truth.”

  More elements became distinct around him. Power seemed as if it were starting to consolidate. This time, however, what he saw was different than what he had detected previously. That power that he felt was changing. More important than that, it seemed as if some aspect of it came from the essence node.

  “Desmond, I might need to borrow your ability,” Dax said.

  “Borrow his ability?” Hezan asked.

  Dax ignored him. Desmond locked eyes with him. “What is it?”

  “I’m thinking something is going to manifest here. If it reaches us, I don’t know if we’re going to be able to withstand it. The unclaimed lands are powerful with nodal energy.”

  When he mentioned nodal energy, Hezan’s entire demeanor shifted.

  He straightened, and he looked around before he turned. Then he went stiff.

  Dax noticed that there was a strange draw on the essence node. It was subtle, soft, and not all that significant. But he could still feel it. And the fact that he was able to identify anything of it suggested to him that there was a contour of power that Hezan was able to draw upon, and an element of the essence node that he was able to access. He had known there were others who were able to do that, but he had not known that Hezan, in particular, could.

  “Where is it?” Hezan asked, though he didn’t look at Dax.

  “I don’t know,” Dax said, moving to stand next to him. He was already using transference, already drawing upon Desmond’s essence. And he was still connected to the essence node. Dax thought that by linking the two, he could use some of the mirror essence and maybe reflect that back.

  At this point, that was the only thing Dax thought might be effective enough to deflect the type of attack that was likely coming toward them. He didn’t know if it would be effective, but it seemed as if it should be. “I can just feel it starting to press upon the node here.”

  The commander continued to draw upon the essence node, and to Dax’s surprise, there was an aspect of what he was doing, and how he was drawing it, that was weaker than what Dax could do. Then again, Dax had transference, which offered a unique way of reaching that power.

  “I feel a faint stirring,” Hezan admitted. “But there is nothing potent. What do you detect?”

  “What can we do?” Karelly asked the commander.

  “Be ready for me to use,” the commander snapped.

  “That’s quite the dismissal,” Cedrick muttered.

  There was a persistent, steady trembling.

  The essence node had begun to react. Dax had felt something like that a few times before, but only when he had been drawing upon it. This time, however, he had no idea how something else was drawing on the essence. It began to ripple through the node.

  “It’s something indistinct,” Hezan said.

  “Something is manifesting in the node,” Dax said, realization sweeping through him.

  “Don’t,” Desmond warned. “If something has manifested in there, it is going to be too powerful.”

  “What is this manifestation?” Hezan asked.

  “It’s essence control,” Dax said.

  It was a simple description, but it was the only way that he could really describe it.

  “So essence manipulation then,” he said.

  “Something like that, but it is an advanced form of it.”

  Hezan regarded Dax, and this time there was a look to his eyes that was almost as if Dax were some sort of puzzle he needed to solve. “And you can do this?”

  “I taught myself,” Dax said.

  “Where did you see this?”

  “From the creatures you are so dismissive of,” Dax said.

  He might as well acknowledge that some of these creatures, including the Silkshatter Queen, were capable of manifestation, because at this point, he was no longer sure that it was going to make much of a difference. Increasingly, he couldn’t help but feel as if he were going to have to try to do something here. As he could feel movement inside of the essence node, Dax started to question whether he was going to need to go into the node to counter whatever it was that was there.

  “Do not do this,” Desmond said. “You do not know what you will find, and you do not know what else might be there.”

  Even as Dax focused on what he felt from inside of the essence node, he knew that he could not ignore it. If he were to do so, it was far too likely that whatever was there would continue to squeeze through the essence node, and worse, it might escape.

  At this point, Dax had to find some way to prevent that power from escaping.

  The only way to do it, and to know what was there, was to access the essence node directly.

  He had never done that before, not like what he thought would be necessary this time. It would involve manifesting directly into the node itself. And if he were to do that, Dax could easily imagine the dangers that might befall him. Some of that would come from the likelihood that he might get trapped inside of the essence node. Depending upon what power was there, it might be able to hold him.

  Would he be able to escape if it came down to it?

  But he didn’t have any other choice, did he?

  In order for him to know what was there, and to be able to protect not only himself but his friends, Dax believed that this was the only way to do it.

  He focused, then manifested downward.

  At least, that was the sense that he had. When he normally manifested, he felt as if he separated from his body, drifting up and up beyond. In this case, when he went into the essence node, he felt as if there was some element of him that went downward, flowing toward that power. Even as he was separated, it wasn’t as if he were separated from himself. He was part of the node here.

  It was distinct; it was unique.

  It was amazing.

  Everything around him felt as if it had a vague white light.

  There was some part of the essence node that felt warm to him, but that warmth felt a little unusual, and more than that, there was some part of that warmth that felt a little unnatural. Dax had come to feel that the essence nodes were particular, and useful, but now he started to question if perhaps there was something else about it, some other part of it, that he needed to better understand. Because in his mind, it seemed as if there was a power here that was a little bit different.

  He began to probe into the essence node, testing, and he felt some part of it that lingered.

  There was something in it. Something different than what he had felt before. It was almost as if there was a current of power inside of the essence node. Dax had never noticed that before. It had always seemed as if that was just pure power. But now it felt as if there was a pure power, but that power was moving, and…

  And he realized something.

  It wasn’t that the power was moving so much as there was another answer. A much more dangerous one.

  He was not alone.

  Then again, Dax knew that he wasn’t alone. There was something here. Or someone here.

  He had to be careful. Especially with the power that was here.

  Something else had managed to reach the essence node. And it was doing something to this power. Dax couldn’t quite place what was happening here, only that he felt the energy mixing with the essence in a way that he had not anticipated. That power seemed as if it had lingered far longer than he would’ve expected. Some of that power was considerable.

 

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