Chapter 6 - Part 1

The delicious aroma of roasted meat lazily filled Haiden's nose with countless blurred memories. He took a deep breath to savour the watering smell as he looked over the table at a wiry woman chopping a handful of vegetables while humming a broken but soothing melody. Heavy footsteps coming down the stairway to his left grabbed his attention, a round stout man descended and casually took a seat next him. The man's face was strangely unfamiliar, yet Haiden knew exactly who he was. All the blood from Haiden's face drained in an instant. With a warm smile the man greeted Haiden 'good morning' allowing a deep rumble to escape his joly face.

"You're in a good mood." the woman turned around, her face relaxed in a genuine smile as her eyes darted over Haiden. Just like the man, her face was that of a stranger's.

They didn't look like this, did they? Haiden asked himself.

"'Corse, big day today." the man replied. "Master .... is coming by today." Haiden saw the man's lips move but no sound came out when he spoke the name. Dismissing it, he turned his attention to the plate of roasted meat in front of him, unsure how it got there.

"For a big order, no doubt." the woman added.

"You know it!" the man laughed. "We could finally afford a new mron and retire poor old ..., he can't carrying as much as he used to." the man said then turned to Haiden. "What's soured your pants?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Look at you, sweety. You're all paled up like the dead. Not feeling well? Let me see." the woman hurried at Haiden's side, taking his head in both of her warm hands and placing her soft lips on his forehead. This made Haiden flinch in surprise.

"Tell it to me straight, ....Is he goina' live?" the stout man asked with his joly attitutide. The name of the woman faded out and Haiden could not hear it.

"Don't joke like that! I swear, creators are going to listen to your wisecracks one day." she chided. "How are you feeling, Haiden?" she asked. Amber eyes, identical to his, awaited Haiden's reply expectantly.

"Y-yea, I'm fine." he said pulling away from her. The woman gave him a worried glanced and went back to cutting vegetables.

"Good, good." she said resuming her humming. A sense of uneasy overcame Haiden, building in the pit of his stomach as the melody became more broken and gutural. He glanced at the man next to him, enjoying his meal, he focused only on the roast in front of him. He ate with such vehemence, he cared not for the slobber and bits of food sprayed on the table. The corner of Haiden's mouth curled in disgust.

"How!? How are you still alive?" he blurted out jumping out of the chair, toppling it over.

"Sweety, don't joke like that! I swear you got your pa's humor." the woman said, keeping her back to him. Her voice now coarse modulating haphazardly, she started to hum again, but this time any resemblance of a melody was gone.

"What's gotten into you, son?" the man asked, still shoveling meat in his mouth, swallowing without even chewing.

"I-I need to get out of here!" Haiden turned to the door and tried to run, but in his hast he completely forgot about the chair and fell over, sprawled on the floor.

"You can't go, Haid-. You haven't touched your your food." the woman said in her distorted voice. "You need to TO to eaT."

"Let him go, ... . He never was good for anything anyways. Done nothing for us, he did." the man lashed out as Haiden scrambled to push himself up and reach the door. With a final glance back he saw the woman's features were shifting slightly ajar, morphing into something else. He didn't wait to see what and pushed through the door.

"Free..."

Haiden opened his eyes to see the overly familiar white drapes of the infirmary surrounding him.

Might as well move here, he thought. With a grunt he tried to pull himself up only for a nasty headache and a sensation of vertigo to push him down again

"Ah! I see you're finally awake." Master Rwoy sighed with disappointment, his face was buried in a small book which after a few moments he snapped it closed and placed it in his robe.

"What happened?" Haiden asked, he couldn't focus his vision so he laid in bed with his eyes closed. Master Rwoy looked at the young man and shook his head.

"I warned you, didn't I? And what did you do, after I specifically told you to not draw attention to yourself? You went and made enemies with Brass fucking Emeral!" Master Rwoy yelled. "And that just in the first two damn weeks! Do you even understand how powerful his father is?" he exaggerated his hand gestures trying to make sure Haiden knew the gravity of the situation.

"I-I had to! Maree was- "

"No! You didn't! Maree's the grandson of a well established nobleman while you are a nobody to them." Master Rwoy interrupted. "Maree and Camila told me everything, how you saved Maree and then faced Bras and his two halfwits. It was stupid of you to do that, you signed your own death sentance. What if he tells his father? What then? I'll tell you," he continued without allowing Haiden a word in. "because of your low standing he'll claim you've humiliated his family honor and demand you pay with your life."

"I-I didn't know how-"

"You did, because I warned you!" Haiden bit his lip and turned away from Master Rwoy. He was right. He knew it was a bad idea, he knew he should have turned a blind eye, but how could he?

"I'm sorry, Master Rwoy. I just wanted to help." he said, then furrowing his brows in sudden realisation. "You're saying that Bras did this to me?" he looked up at Master Rwoy.

"No! Yes, well, maybe. I don't know, but he's the one I suspect from what Maree and Camila said. No one has claimed the blame and no one will point a finger toward him or his goons. He's simply untouchable with no proof, if he was to blame, that is. There was no evidence and we cannot throw unfounded accusations, especially at someone whose father is so powerful."

"I see." he said between clenched teeth, rage bubbling inside, there was no option but to let this go, but could he?

"Listen, kid. I like you, you're a tough brat I got to hand this to you, and from what Danil had told us, you went through a lot, but I just don't get why you're so impulsive to jump to someone's aid, and the healing. It's not that you're not good enough, you've caught that shit faster than a third year, but I don't think that's you. You have this fire in you, it burns bright, don't let others dim you down. This is the type of world where you need to think of yourself first and second. You can't save everyone."

"I don't get this myself, Master Rwoy." he admitted, he gave some thought to Master Rwoy's words but Regor's face in the back of his head was not going to let him back down. "I'm still going to pursue healing, I've seen first hand what being useless means, powerless to help others. Back in the forest I -" Haiden caught himself and quickly changed the subject. "but, with Maree,I just...when I see - no - when I just think of anyone being treated as if they weren't a human being, I get this burning rage inside me. I just don't know where this is coming from, I can't remember jack squat from my past except for a few random memories, so I can't say for sure what drives me. All I know is that If I back down, and turn a blind eye, I won't be able to live with myself. I will be just as bad as Bras." Haiden plopped back on the bed, wincing in pain.

"I see..." Master Rwoy sighed. "In the world of Wielding and status that's a major flaw that many will try to exploit, kid. It will bring you a lot of unwanted attention." he warned then paused for a while his brows furrowed in contemplation. "You mentioned a forest. What happened?"

Shit! he mentally slapped himself.

"We're both empaths, remember? I felt something from you when you said the word forest. From your face I gather that this has something to do with your blockage." Master Rwoy shot in the dark, Haiden's face gave away everything. "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready. Have you been compartmentalizing as I told you?" he asked. Haiden wasn't sure what to tell Master Rwoy. These past weeks since he has arrived at the Academy he was able to find not only a teacher but a friend in him. His concern and care didn't feel fake to Haiden, so he decided that maybe it was for the best to share his pain. After what seemed like an eternity of consideration Haiden opened his mouth to speak.

"Yes, I've been doing it without even having to think. It just happens." he said.

"Good, keep it up. Remember, this is only a temporary fix, a gauze over a bleeding wound."

"I-I know and I think I'm ready to ask for your help," he said fidgeting with his thumbs. Master Rwoy gave him a nod and sat back in the corner chair gesturing Haiden to begin when he's ready. "After Master Danil sent me off at the border of Yn'lan I met a young man, Regor. I had been traveling on foot, and I was planning on renting a mron in Unsek. Regor had been kind enough to give me a lift since it was in his way. We got along and found out that we were headed in the same destination, Elo'yn. You see, he was planning on joining the Ashen. He insisted on traveling with him, since he had a wagon, and we just stopped on Unsek for supplies. Everything went smoothly for a few months and we were getting along well." Haiden said, his amber eyes glistened with the memories he shared with Regor. He swallowed his sorrow and continued. "That was until we got to the forest of Avlan after sundown... that's..." Haiden choked on a sob. "that's when it attacked the first time. It came so fast. Only D-dusty, Regor's mron, felt it coming. He struggled out of his reins and left us stranded. The creature attacked and slammed into our waggon with great force, destroying it." Haiden held his tears, but his expressive face and body told Master Rwoy everything he was feeling. He trembled under the white covers. After a long pause Master Rwoy decided to probe.

"What creature did this, Haiden?" he asked in a warm voice. His demeanor changed from that of a protective scolding figure to a kind and understanding one. Haiden felt small prickles on his skin, the air around him warmed slightly to a comfortable temperature and the air smelled of fresh flowers. His body relaxed and he stopped trembling.

"I-I don't know, it looked like a human but not." he said, closing his eyes, picturing the creature in his mind. He was transported back to the forest. He saw the creature standing over Dusty's body. "It was white, its skin was almost transparent. It had very long and twisted arms and smelled like the dead. His body seemed stretched and distorted. Its howl was so awful. Oh god, that howl." he grabbed his head, covering his ears as if he was hearing it. "When I got to it, Regor was gone. I searched for him in the forest, but the creature found me. I had to run, but it quickly caught up, so I used Wielding to hide myself in darkness." Master Rwoy furrowed his brows.

"You made yourself invisible?" he asked.

"I don't know. I just pictured myself disappearing and it happened."

"I see. What happened next?" Master Rwoy leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

"I got away, somehow the next day I managed to find Dusty and Regor. We moved fast, the creature only attacked after sundown, it seemed, but we weren't fast enough. Regor found out that it couldn't climb trees so that's what we planned to do when it found us again. Master Danil didn't teach me a lot, so I couldn't defend myself that well." Haiden explained. "Then sundown came along with it..." a tear escaped and dripped down his quivering chin and his breath became hardened.

"You don't have to continue, Haiden." Master Rwoy told him, seeing how distressed he was.

"No, I-I want to." he said and Master Rwoy nodded. "We got up in the trees but Dusty was still on the ground. It got to him and ripped him apart in the blink of an eye. I threw my lighter fluid at it and sparked it alight. It didn't work, it only made it angrier. It tried to go for Regor and then it happened again. I lost control, just like I did with my parents, just like I did in the Headmistress' office. Fire just engulfed the creature burning it and everything near it to ash." Haiden paused to take a deep breath and continued. "Regor snapped me out of it and we made a run for it." Master Rwoy opened his mouth to tell him that he's glad they survived, but realised that when Haiden came to the Academy, Master Uligarth said it was just him and Tasgal, so he decided it was best to shut up and listen. "We made it to the edge, we could see the lights of a town. I was so relieved, but then Regor... Regor disappeared. The smell of rotten meat in the air only meant that there was another creature in the forest. I ran back to search for him. When I found him he had a big wound on his chest. I tried everything I could, I prayed again and again and I tried to use my Wielding and it just didn't work. It probably made it worse." he added in a small voice. "I was there, all that power, all that energy that burned that other fucker to a crisp, that killed m-my parents and I couldn't help one fucking single person. I was useless. Truly useless." Haiden went silent, his face now wet with a stream of tears. He placed his face in his palms and sobbed silently. Master Rwoy waited for him to calm down in silence before he said anything else. After the sob became just mere snifles he looked straight at Haiden.

"It's not your fault, Haiden." and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm really sorry you had to experience so much loss in your young life. You did what you could at that time with what you had at hand, the fault of Regor's death and even your parent's isn't on your shoulders to bear." he said in a soft voice.

"Then why does it feel like it's crushing me?" he said between sobs.

"It's the grief of having lost someone that weighs your shoulder. We each have a way of coping with loss, you just have to find your own, even if that means learning to heal, so be it."

"I need to know that if something like this happens again I will be able to do something." he said, his face now bore a determined frown. Silence fell over them and Master Rwoy mulled over what he had heard. He now understood some of the motivation behind his actions, but something was still on his mind.

"The creatures you've encountered, they sound like Voy'jir." he told Haiden.

"Voy'jir? I've never heard of them." he said, then realising he actually doesn't know anything. The memory loss had cripled him in a frustrating way, leaving him clueless about certain aspects of the world that he has yet to experience or heard of. His only hope was absorbing as much information as he could either from books or people. Haiden had been at the academy for just over three weeks now, and he felt like his understanding of the world was even worse than when he first left Yn'lan.

"They say that the Creator's had many failures when they attempted to create humans. I know, shocking, isn't it? Even seemingly perfect entities that created everything we see can make mistakes too, some debate that they were intentional that everything is within their plan. Well, among those failures there were the Voy'jir, however, no one has seen one in a few decades. I thought the Empire had pushed them out of populated areas, I've never actually heard of any Neva - ah, that's the terms used for any of the Creator's failures, around Avlan or Kalan. It's quite peculiar." he explained.

"Unlike me, you know so much, Master Rwoy." Haiden said at which Master Rwoy scoffed.

"I had a lot of time to study and learn. I wasn't born with all this knowledge, you know. You too, in time, will know a great deal of things, but keep in mind that knowledge is half the battle. How you use it determines the kind of person you are."

"I see..." Haiden sighed. His eyelids were getting heavy, he was exhausted. Recalling that awful night drained all of his energy.

"Now, get some rest. You're lucky your injuries were minor and you can get back to class tomorrow. And remember, you can always come to me if you need to talk about what happened." With that Master Rwoy left through the white drapes and Haiden dozed off thinking of fresh flowers on a sunny open field.