The Shattered Construct (Essence Wielder Book 3), page 19
“So let me get this straight,” Cedrick said, the morning-after when he had called the others to Rochelle’s room, “you got caught up in the street by the man making the constructs in the arena to warn you off of going back to the arena?”
“I think he wanted to do more than just warn me away from the arena, but he realized he wasn’t going to do that very easily or openly in the streets while there were others there.”
“And he threatened us?” He looked over to Rochelle. “I don’t know if I should be insulted or happy?”
“Neither,” Dax said. “It’s too dangerous. It was their way of trying to threaten me, and through me, threaten my friends.”
“They were threatening me, as well,” Gia said, standing near the doorway, leaning with her back against said. “But they’re more concerned about them?”
“Actually, I’m assuming that they don’t think that they can stand up for themselves,” Dax said.
“But we can,” Cedrick said.
“I know you can,” he agreed. “No one is saying that you can’t do that. I’m just telling you what happened, and that we have to be careful.”
“It doesn’t really matter, does it?” Rochelle asked. “We’re leaving the city and will be gone for a little while. It only matters when we get back, and it depends on what the two of you decide that you are going to do.” She swept her gaze from Dax to Gia. “So what are you going to do?”
“Well,” Dax said, glancing over to Gia before turning his attention back to Rochelle, “I was thinking that while we were traveling, we could intensify our valor training with the two of you. That way, when we get back, we make sure that we give them a few surprises. We can also make sure that you are fully equipped with any sort of additional rune-marked items that might provide a benefit.”
Rochelle studied him for a moment. “That’s not really what’s troubled you.”
“You’re right,” Dax said. “I didn’t know what kind of essence he had. And I still don’t. He was able to command multiple types of essence at once, something that shouldn’t be possible, at least not easily. Now, it’s possible that he does have some sort of storage device like what we’ve seen Desmond use, but this was an incredible use of essence. He was drawing on more than I would’ve expected for somebody like that.”
“You think he was headmaster level?”
Dax frowned. He didn’t know, and it bothered him that he didn’t know. Theoretically, there were not that many people at headmaster level. Maybe one person out of a hundred essence wielders would ever reach that level. The essence that he had detected struck him as considerable—more than he would’ve anticipated.
“Then maybe it was more than just one person,” Gia suggested.
“While there were three of them,” Dax said. “At least, three that I saw. Maybe there were more that I couldn’t see, and if that were the case, then that would make much more sense.”
“You could warn Alaria,” Gia suggested.
Dax nodded for a moment. “I considered that, and to be honest, that was my first thought, anyway. I think that she needs to know the construct maker is targeting her fighters outside of the arena. I don’t know if she’s going to care, but I do think that the two of us have a certain appeal, and I think she would want to know. I don’t know what she might do, if anything. We’re leaving, anyway, it’s just something that I’m concerned that I’m going to have to deal with once we get back.”
“Shouldn’t we practice a little bit more before we go?” Cedrick asked.
“We will.” Desmond had agreed to meet with him later to train them some more, which Dax figured was probably a good time to mention something to him about the other man. “I’m going to stop by my room, then we can work together until we meet with Desmond.”
He left them, listening briefly to Gia saying something to Rochelle, though Dax couldn’t hear everything that she was saying, only that it sounded as if she were a little bit more concerned about what he had encountered than what he had expected that they would be. By the time he reached his own room, he was tired.
He felt essence the moment that he approached. This time, though, Dax was familiar with that essence. He pushed open the door and looked to see his sister seated on his bed.
“Megan,” he said, tipping his head in a bit of a nod. “Why do you always simply appear here?”
Was she just waiting on him?
The fact that she would’ve just been waiting for him made him think that she had either some way of knowing when he was coming, or she had some way of traveling. And given that she used wind essence, he thought that it was more likely that she had some way of traveling.
“It’s good to see you. I understand you’re going to be leaving the Academy during the term break.”
“I am,” he said carefully, glancing around to see whether she had placed any whispers around his room. He didn’t see anything obvious, but when it came to Megan, and what she might be able to place, it was entirely possible that whatever she might put here would be beyond his capability, anyway. “Am I not supposed to?”
She smiled, and it was a tight, almost dangerous grin. “Not going home, though.”
“No,” he said.
She leaned forward on the bed, watching him. “When I first came to the Academy, I debated what I was going to do on my first term break like this. Most of my classmates went home. Partly because they were expected to, but partly because they got a little homesick.”
“You didn’t get homesick?”
“There are aspects of our home I missed,” Megan said, shrugging ever so slightly, “but not all of it. I didn’t love what I came to see. I didn’t mind saying away, partly because I understood that there were certain things that I could do better away.”
“If you say so,” he said.
“Oh, I do.” She was quiet for a moment. “I watched you in the arena recently.”
“Did you, now?”
“You did well. I think you did better than Hathor anticipated.”
“And who is Hathor?”
“Why Hathor Wanis, of course. It was a construct maker who was responsible for the various different constructs you were battling.” She waved a hand. “He’s quite skilled. He’s been trying to make a name for himself all throughout the Empire over the last few years and has been appearing any time there’s been a credible threat at any of the arenas. He doesn’t like to lose.”
Dax didn’t say anything. He wondered if his sister knew about the fact that this Hathor had attacked him recently. It was possible that she did. Then again, if she had known that he had been attacked, why wouldn’t she have intervened?
“He’s quite powerful.”
She shrugged. “Technically skilled might be a better way of describing it, though he chases power.” She frowned at him. “Why?”
“It doesn’t matter. But I don’t think he necessarily negotiated in fair faith.”
“Oh?”
“But you were there, so you would’ve seen it.”
“What was the contract?”
“I don’t need to go into all of that, Megan,” he said.
“Just humor me, Dax. What was the contract?”
“Nine constructs,” he said.
“I see. And so the silk shatter… Clever. They weren’t constructs.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head.
“But you didn’t destroy them.”
“No.”
“Because you knew.”
“As you are well aware, I’ve had my own experiences with the silk shatter, and I’m not about to go and destroy several of them just because somebody decided to try to use them in the arena. I don’t know what might happen if I were to do so.” Dax had no idea how the queen might react if she were to learn that he had targeted three of her kind just because somebody had tried to use them in the arena. He didn’t think that she would blame him, but he wasn’t entirely sure, and it wasn’t worth the risk.
“Can you speak with them?”
“Some of them,” he admitted.
“What does it take? Is it essence? I’ve been trying to use wind, but that doesn’t seem to be the key.”
“I think you just actually talk to them,” Dax said. “I don’t know if there is a particular type of essence that’s required. Some of the silk shatter can speak to us, but not all of them can. If you try to talk to them, and if they answer, then…” Dax shrugged. “You have to be careful with them.”
“I understand the danger.” She watched him for a moment. “Anyway. Impressive fighting. And your friend. She’s a Stonewall, I’m presuming.”
“You know that she is,” Dax said.
Megan smiled tightly. “I didn’t know that about her when you came for me. You know how Father feels about the Stonewall family?”
“I know that he should value anybody who supports and defends the border of the unclaimed lands.”
“You would think so,” she said, shaking her head slowly, “but unfortunately, as you know, Father can be a bit particular about certain things, and in the case of the Stonewall family, he tends to be a bit arrogant, claiming he can do a better job defending the border, and that they have been less than effective.”
That was news to Dax. He took a chair, pulling away from his desk, he took a seat so that he could look over to his sister. “I’ve not heard that.”
“It’s been a while,” she said, “and it probably wouldn’t even matter, other than the fact that you are such close friends with the Stonewall girl. I don’t know if Father knows about it, but if he does, I just want you to be aware of that little piece of history between the two of them. Father had to send men to help Mr. Stonewall.”
“How long ago?”
“Oh, it’s been a handful of years. Before I came to the Academy. So you were young.”
“What about Thomlin?”
“He wouldn’t have sent Thomlin.”
“But would he have gone with them?”
“Why?”
“Just a question,” Dax said.
He thought about some of the questions that Gia had asked him in the time that he had known her. It had taken her a little while to open up to him, and she rarely spoke much about anything when it came to some of the dealings that she had with her family. Could it be because of something that happened between Dax’s family and hers?
“I don’t know,” she said, and she shrugged again. “As I said, it was a long time ago, and the issues that were there stem partly, I suspect, from the fact that Stonewall needed help. And because when Father went in, bringing his men, well… You’ve known our father, Dax, so you obviously will have some idea about what kind of things that he might’ve done, and how he might react, to a request for help.”
Dax laughed softly, shaking his head. “Oh, I have a pretty good idea about what Father would have done.” Given everything that Dax knew about his father, he probably wanted to claim some of those holdings for his own.
Megan smirked. “So just be careful with her.”
“We are friends.”
“I’m not saying that you can’t be friends or that you shouldn’t be friends, I’m just saying to be careful.”
He looked over, before turning his attention back to her. “What are you doing here? Was this just about coming to talk to me about my time in the arena, or warning me about Gia, or…”
“Or. As I said, I know that you’re not staying. Can you tell me what you are doing? You’re not going back home. If you were, Mother would have sent word.”
Dax took a deep breath, and he debated how much he wanted to share with his sister. This was Megan, after all, which meant that any answer that he told her meant that he had to be careful, and that anything that he might share would be potentially shared with others.
“We are just traveling.”
“Is it something that our new headmaster has you doing?”
Dax shrugged. “I think quite a few students travel at the end of the term.”
Megan leaned forward, resting her arms on her legs as she did. He felt a bit of the essence flowing from her, and a bit of wind swirled, but there was something else. He thought that maybe she was trying to place certain whispers upon him. He began to transfer that essence, immediately draining it, and she withdrew.
She leaned back, her gaze darkening briefly.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
“That little trick of yours is going to be a bit of a challenge,” she muttered.
“Because you can’t use your essence on me?”
“Because I can’t keep you safe, Dax,” she said.
“You don’t need to keep me safe.”
“Oh, I think I do. You may decide that you are going to go off with your friends and travel. And you mentioned that it is something that students do, which it is, but you aren’t like any other students. We’ve seen that from the very first time that you came to the Academy, and everything that you and your friends have been willing to do on behalf of the Academy. If you were like any other student, you wouldn’t have gotten involved with the Cult, and you would not have gotten involved with the attacks.”
“Well, the Cult was my fault,” he said, shrugging, “and the attacks… Well, that sort of stems from the same thing. You can’t do one and not the other.”
Megan just watched him, and finally, she shook her head. “That’s what I’m getting at, though. You get involved in things that others wouldn’t. I just want you to be careful. You are still a first-year student at the Academy, Dax. You are dealing with incredible powers. And without having somebody else who can help keep you safe…”
“Do you think I should bring somebody else with me?”
“Not me,” she said.
“Well, then,” he said.
“I don’t mean it like that,” Megan said, and she sat up straighter. “It’s just that I have other things I need to do.”
“Including with the silk shatter.”
“Something along those lines. The Empire is restless, Dax. That’s what I’m concerned about. First the Cult, now the Order, and it’s times like these when the Emperor needs to take a different sort of action. That says nothing about the changes to the essence flows around the Empire.”
He watched her, wondering how much she was going to tell him, and if there was anything that he could glean from it. Different essence flows sounded an awful lot like what Agatasha had been talking about.
“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Well, thanks. I don’t want anything bad to happen to me, either.”
Megan snorted. “I realize that you have had your role to play in the Empire. Unfortunately.”
“It’s not that unfortunate,” Dax said. “I’ve enjoyed being a part of things.”
“Yes, well I worry about the kind of attention you’re drawing. The danger it brings. It would be one thing if you are fully trained, but you are drawing attention as a second-tier acolyte at best.”
He was tempted to tell her that he was at least third-tier, and might be even higher, though he had not tested himself. He decided against it.
“Anyway, be careful, Daxion. I care about you, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Stay out of trouble.”
“Actually, where I’m traveling I think I will be out of trouble.”
“Good. That’s probably for the best.” She got to her feet, watching him. “Be safe. Take precautions, regardless of where you are traveling. I know you’re confident, and fully capable, but there are some within the Empire who don’t care for Nelsons, and don’t care for Stonewalls. Let alone the other two.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means what it means.”
Considering what he had faced in the streets, he wondered if it had anything to do with that. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to try to talk to the silk shatter queen. That is, if she will see me.”
“You have to go through others to get to her,” he said. “Just don’t attack. Keep her mind open. And if they lean back on all legs, it’s not usually an attack.”
She arched a brow at him. “It’s not usually?”
“Well, I’m still trying to learn the silk shatter language, and the different postures that they take, so to be honest, I don’t think that’s usually an attack when they go up like that, though occasionally it might be.” He shrugged. “So it’s just a warning. Don’t use your essence. Besides, they have access to most of the types of essence that you do, and many of them are even more powerful than you are.”
“That is the reason I want to go.”
“You want to see if she would give you essence?” Megan was quiet. “I don’t know if it works like that, Megan. Even if she can, I don’t know if the essence would work for us.” He left unsaid his question about why she thought that she needed to do this. She was a Whisper, serving the Emperor, wasn’t she?
“She’s an ancient entity of incredible power, Dax. No different than the Great Serpent. Well, different, but no different in the fact that she can bequeath essence. Anyway, when you get back, we can talk about this a little bit more.”
“Just be careful. They are intelligent creatures. I know most people don’t believe it, but they are.”
“I know they are,” she said.
From the way that she said it, Dax believed she did know. Which left him wondering something else. What exactly had her experience with the silk shatter been?
“What happened with them?”
“It’s a long story. Maybe you’ll deserve that one when you return, as well.”
“Not now?”
“Not now,” Megan said with a smile. “Besides, I believe you and your friends are making preparations for your departure. Far be it for me to be the one to hold up any sort of readiness.”
She tipped her head to the side, almost as if she were listening to something. And, Dax realized, that was probably exactly what it was that she was doing. As a Whisper, Megan was likely using her connections that she had placed throughout the Academy to detect what his friends were doing.
