Chapter 9: Or Is It?

Darren and Sara sparred for hours, until the sweat ran down Sara’s face. She wiped her face with her sleeve and glanced over at Darren. “Not a drop on you. I take it you’re used to this.”

Darren grinned. “Would it be bragging if I said my reputation precedes me even more than Mirael’s does?”

Sara took several deep breaths, enjoying the cool breeze. “Yes…yes it would be. Not like you care, though.”

Darren’s answer was a quick slash towards her right arm. Sara brought her left knife up to block while thrusting the right one towards his throat. Ha! There’s no way he can block that!

Darren dropped his sword, bringing his hands together on both sides of the flat of Sara’s knife, stopping the thrust just before it touched his throat. He twisted the knife out of her hands and into his, flourishing it. “Oh, sorry. Was this yours?”

Sara stepped back, hand on her hip. “Now THAT’S just showing off.” Darren tossed the knife back to her and picked up his sword, sheathing it and chuckling.

His cloak falling into place to hide the sword, he walked to the front of the bow, standing on the very tip of the slowly moving ship. He sighed contentedly. “This…this is where I belong. No stress, no worries about paying the rent or what kind of career I need, just plain and simple day-to-day living.”

Sara glanced at his relaxed face, startled. I’ve never seen him this…open. It’s like he can let himself go here. I guess it IS pretty nice here…and it’s not like we have family to go back to. But he still hasn’t answered some of my questions.

She stepped up beside him. “Darren, how did we get here on Shirn?”

Darren stared off into the distance, a shadow passing over his face. “The cathedral…has a sick sense of humor, apparently.” He turned towards her and smiled without humor. “Wonder where it got that from, eh? Anyways, it decided to send us here, instead of obliterating us. Perhaps it thought to make me miserable by continuing to let me live.” Darren shrugged. “It didn’t know I’d been here before…before I actually built the cathedral.”

Sara looked up into his face. “You mentioned that before. Why were you here?”

Darren’s face was expressionless except for the shadow. “I…don’t know. Shirn was actually the first place I consciously knew. But somehow I don’t age. I built the cathedral, and then it must have transported me to Silver Lake for some reason.”

Sara moved closer to him. “And how did you find me?”

Darren looked down at her, the shadow gone. “Well, that was easy. You see…we have a bond of sorts. There’s no accounting for where it came from. Perhaps it was dormant, and the cathedral strengthened it with its destruction. You might call it a telepathic link, or something close to that. Anyways, it’s not like I can read your mind. It’s just talking without standing next to each other. It would also account for your dreams.” Sara shuddered with remembered pain.

Darren frowned. “Yes, the dreams helped me reach you. The pain you felt was so intense, it created a literal telepathic beacon. It was a simple matter to convince the Guild to let me go on the boat. Who that voice was in the dream…I don’t know. It wasn’t me. But should the pain keep increasing, I’ll help lessen that.”

Sara sighed in relief. “Thank you so much. I didn’t think I could take much more of it.”

Darren put an arm around her. “It’s what I’m here for.”

They stayed there for what seemed like forever, both of them perfectly content.

Sara closed her eyes, almost falling asleep. She mentally shook her head. Ugh…waking up in the middle of the night didn’t help me any. And then she felt, rather than heard: {If we stand here much longer, you just might fall asleep and then SPLASH! Into the water you go.}

She jerked her head up, looking for the speaker. There was no-one nearby but Darren, and he hadn’t moved. He was looking the other way, though…Sara’s eyes narrowed. Talking without standing next to each other, huh? How am I supposed to talk back? Here goes nothing…{Darren…look at me.}

Sure enough, he turned to face her. He spoke without speaking. {Yes?}

Sara pushed him hard, causing him to stumble backward, hitting his foot on a loose piece of wood and tumbling over the side of the boat. She gasped, kneeling at the edge of the boat, looking for him in the water. And she heard him.

He was laughing. Floating in the air just beneath the tip of the boat, laughing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. His cloak billowed out, hands behind his head, almost seeming to take a mid-air nap.

Sara sighed. I’ve never heard him laugh so freely. But there’s still so much unanswered. For one, how the heck does he DO that?

Darren floated up from the side of the boat, righting himself and landing smartly on his feet, arms length away from Sara. He took a step closer, his tone light and teasing. “I should repay the favor, don’t you think?”

Sara backed away a step. “Don’t even try it. I have no idea how you did that, so I couldn’t.”

Darren grinned and stepped closer. Sara was now an inch away from the edge of the boat, about a dozen feet above the water. “Darren…watch yourself.”

Darren pretended to think, holding his chin as if in deep thought. “Hmm…to push or not to push…that is an easily remedied question. What do you think, Sara?” He extended a hand, palm facing her.

Sara looked at him, down at the water, and then back at him. “Well…I think it’s a very gripping question.” She yanked on his arm, pulling him forward and wrapping her arms around him as they both fell off the side of the boat.

She felt his surprise through the link. She smiled inwardly. If he expected it, what good would that have been? Her thoughts were interrupted. {Were you hoping to stay in the air, Sara? Because we can do that for a while…}

Sara’s thoughts ran for a split second. {Yes!}

She felt him smile. {Then hold on.}

Darren slowed their fall until they hovered just above the water. Then they slowly began to rise until they were level with the boat.

Sara noticed the boat moving away. “Darren…”

Darren didn’t move. “I know. Just wait, you’ll see.”

Sara watched the ship sail out of sight, and still they hovered in the same spot. She wondered if they even knew that she and Darren were gone.

Darren spoke. “No. They don’t know.”

Sara looked at him. “I thought you couldn’t read minds?”

Darren smiled at Sara. “Minds…no. Faces and body language…yes. Alright, I think we have enough distance.”

He floated a small distance away from her, until she realized that she was staying in the air on her own. {Darren…what’s going on?}

Darren laughed, the sound rolling across the waters. {The link we have isn’t just limited to our minds. You have the same abilities I have. Some to a lesser extent, some to a fuller extent, naturally. But you can fly wherever you wish, as long as you’re careful about becoming exhausted. You might want to get used to maneuvering a bit before we head after the ship.}

Sara practiced basic flight for a few minutes. Never in my life did I think I’d be doing something like this…

Finally, she was ready to go. Darren turned away. “Then follow me, and try to keep up.”

And they were off. Darren flew fast, slow, performing loops and rolls and all kinds of crazy stunts that Sara trembled at the thought of attempting. But she followed his path nonetheless, until with a final burst of speed they landed on the ship’s stern.

Sara laughed with delight. “That…was unbelievable.”

Darren was surprisingly serious. “Now, remember this. The power you just experienced is no different than...than any candy or good thing back in Silver Lake. Too much of any good thing is a bad thing. Not only can you exhaust your physical body, but your mind can receive quite a pounding from overexertion of power.”

Sara nodded, storing it all away for future reference. “I understand.”

Darren turned to go down to the cabin, and then looked back. “Oh, one more thing. You might want to keep our link and power quiet from other people…the last thing we need is aroused suspicion. People distrust those with power, and a good reputation is something you must have in Shirn.”

Sara looked confused and lowered her voice. “But what about this boat? Didn’t they all just see us flying?”

Darren said nothing, but his eyes bored into Sara’s. {Remember, keep it quiet.} Sara blushed.

Darren smiled reassuringly. {The crew saw an illusion of us standing on the bow the entire time we were off of the ship, courtesy of...} He pointed to himself. {In addition to weapons training, we also will have…I guess you could call it magic training, for lack of a better word.} He noticed her features drooping. {Let’s get some rest, and we’ll meet up here when darkness falls. It’ll be easier to practice when they’re asleep.}

(Author’s Note: I came up with the telepathic link thing on my own, about…five or so years ago. Just letting the Jedi know I wasn’t blatantly plagiarizing her work. ;-)

- posted by Nick @ 4/08/2004 05:47:00 PM