Wandering
Eastward - The Wyrm-Gift
"I think," said Soff,
breaking the silence that had lasted until mid-morning, "That if you
weren't my best chance of survival by a very, very large margin I'd quite like
to be as far away from you as possible."
"Understandable,"
replied Taoten.
"Do you... understand what
you've done to me? That it's not just 'oh, she's undead now!'" said Soff,
anger leaking into her voice.
"Yes. I have had my entire
life torn from me three times. The most recent was less sudden, and the first
was due to my own mistakes, but I do know what it is like to have one's
pleasant existence destroyed," replied Taoten. "And that is what I
have done to you, which is much more than making you undead."
"Then why? If you
understand so well, why?" asked Soff, becoming agitated.
"Because three hundred
years of scarcely being able to move drives you to desperation, and in that
moment I cared much more for becoming able-bodied than for the life of a
stranger. And the truth is, that just makes me human," responded Taoten.
"But it is still right to hate me for doing it."
Soff turned away, turning
towards the road. It stretched on ahead, through hills, copses, over rivers...
Soff spent a while like that, grinding her teeth. "You've been around too long,"
she said, kicking a rogue stone. Understanding made it hard to hate, yet what
he'd done was so- every time it drifted through her thoughts, she felt like
killing Taoten.
It was much like how every
thought of home made her sad. She placed her arms on the back of her neck and
groaned. An idea occurred to her. "I suppose the main difference between
us is I know exactly where the blame lies," she said.
Taoten tipped his head towards
her. It was a gesture of agreement, but also almost humble. As if he was
saying, "Yes, you are right" with humility. Soff half expected him to
say as much, but instead he said, "Perhaps a different topic. We appear to
be alone on the road; would you care to see a demonstration of the wyrm-gift? A
short demonstration will not leave me defenceless."
"Sure," said Soff. She
didn't feel like wallowing in anger all day. Figuring out what to do about her
death could wait until she was able to think about it clearly.
Taoten smiled. "Good,"
he said. He pointed to a half buried rock beside the road, almost completely
coverd in grass. "I believe that is one of the old ten kilometre markers.
Observe."
The pair of undead stopped
walking. Taoten lifted his arms in front of him, and made a gripping motion
with his hands. "Hrghh," he grunted. The earth rumbled as the stone
shook, then began to rise up. Chunks of grassy earth tumbled free, falling
softly onto the ground. Once fully removed from the earth, Taoten moved it to
the side and then with a swift shake of his hands sent the rest of the grassy
dirt flying free.
He lowered it to the ground
carefully and said, "Usually I wouldn't shift such a large weight, but it
makes a good demonstration. Smaller objects can be manipulated much
faster." Soff noticed that his eyes were glowing - he had been channelling
power.
Soff wandered over to the stone,
and put one of her hands against it. "This thing has to weigh a couple of
tons," she exclaimed. The stone towered above her - unearthed, it was
almost two and a half metres tall.
"Quite possibly," answered
Taoten, "I am not able to calculate weight based on the difficulty of
moving objects."
"Hmm," said Soff,
still looking at the marker, "So I might be able to do this much as
well?"
"If you are lucky, yes.
With practice. Focusing and channelling the wyrm-gift to its fullest extent
takes time. Twenty years, if you are a decent student," explained Taoten.
Twenty years with - back of
mind, back of mind, thought Soff. She pushed her anger away. Finding out
about the wyrm-gift was good - it would at least sate her curiosity. "How
do we find out if I have 'inherited' the wyrm-gift?" she asked.
"Quite easily," said
Taoten. "Focus on the movement of your body - your arms are a good choice.
Swing them back and forth, and feel how they swing."
Soff did so. She focused on the
movement of her muscles, the force she could feel in their motion.
"Okay."
"Now make a swing, as if
punching. Get a feel for your fist, and how it travels. Feel the force behind
it, think of the impact it could make."
It felt a little weird to Soff
to being swinging her arms about so much, but she continued following Taoten's
instructions. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, she thought.
"Now extend the force you
feel out from your fist, towards the rock. An open hand can sometimes work
better. If you have the gift you will feel the force continue - even if you are
not strong enough to strike the rock."
Soff gave punching at the rock a
try, but she couldn't seem to wrap her mind around a punch projecting force.
She opened her hand. This works better. I know I push the wind, and I can
feel it, she thought. She tried to project that push against the wind out
towards the rock, as hard as she could.
The first try she made, she was
pretty sure she felt something more than just the wind. Another try - and slap
rang out from the stone. Soff grinned.
"Nicely done," said
Taoten. "Gauging the extent of your power is more difficult, but try
pushing at the stone with both hands as hard as you can. If you can manage to
topple it at this distance, you have quite likely inherited the full measure of
power. If you cannot, move closer. Oh, yes. Push the top of the-"
Taoten was cut off by a massive
thud - the marker had toppled. Soff had been following his instructions as he
went, and with serious effort (she had made a sound similar to 'rrrrrr!') had
succeeded in pushing the stone over.
"Well," said Taoten.
"You seem to have inherited it fully, as one in ten do.
Congratulations."
"Thanks," said Soff.
She couldn't help smiling, despite her anger. "Are you going to right it
again?"
"No. The marker will remain
as a sign of strange travellers on the road," replied Taoten with a
chuckle.
Soff nodded slightly, and stared
at her handiwork thoughtfully.
"I think it is time to
return to the road," Taoten said, interrupting Soff's reverie. "I
will cover the basics of using the wyrm-gift as we walk. You felt the force you
projected, correct?"
"Yes," responded Soff
as she joined Taoten on the road. They started walking, Taoten wracking his
brain for half-forgotten tutelage.
"Excellent," he said.
"Now, the first step is to refine that focus. This can be accomplished in
several ways."
Soff nodded, and Taoten
continued to speak. Over the course of the day - stopping only when other
travellers passed them - he repeated what he had taught dozens of others during
the days of the empire. The basics of how one used the gift he had long ago
been given by the dread wyrm Garamjar.
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