Chapter 23 – Two Powered
The gauntlets pushed magical power into and throughout Aadi’s frame. Unlike Ember’s magic, this power was forceful and exerted a pressure that bothered him slightly. It wasn’t oppressive and didn’t feel evil, but Aadi intuited that the magic wasn’t natural. Ember agreed with him, “It was born of the Unflinching’s desire for vengeance, after all. It is not part of the order of things.” Aadi nodded gently in agreement and flexed his limbs.
He felt lighter, as if he had a spring in his step. The gauntlets appeared to support his movements, but Aadi thought that something was off. The magic from Flint’s gauntlets seemed to lag a fraction of a second behind his actions. It felt like he had an extra set of hands and legs which copied his own almost perfectly. “Almost,” he mumbled and Ember said, “That is to be expected.” “Why?” asked Aadi and the stone replied, “The magic wasn’t conditioned by or for you. It originates from Flint.”
Aadi pondered Ember’s words and asked, “When Flint asked me to take the gauntlets, wouldn’t their power work for me too?” He felt the stone nod and it replied, “They do work for you. That’s why you can wield them right now. But…” He prodded Ember, “But?” The stone continued, “The power won’t fit you. It is similar to wearing someone else’s clothes. You may don them. You may like them. However, they weren’t tailored for you. They won’t be just right, ever.” It was Aadi’s turn to nod. He squeezed his fists and turned his gaze towards the place where the bodies lay.
He had a job to do. Flint had given him his gauntlets for precisely this. Steeling himself, he marched towards the part of the cave where his father and friend lay. He had a lot to figure out. How would he wrap the bodies? How would he move them? Lastly, but probably most importantly, how would he even leave the cave? Ember had already told him that it had no idea where the cave’s entrance lay. If he couldn’t find the exit, then where was he supposed to carry all the bodies? “One thing at a time,” muttered Aadi as he neared the corses.
Viraat Tell and Shan Kant lay where Aadi had last seen them. The scattering of bodies left by the Unflinching hadn’t been disturbed by Aadi and Flint’s confrontation. It was eerily quiet and Aadi shifted his weight uncomfortably. “What now?” asked Ember, breaking the silence in his mind. “First things first,” replied Aadi and inspected the bodies. Aside from his father and best friend, there were Pati and Quince’s bodies lying nearby. There were others, too. However, Aadi wasn’t about to try and carry everything out of the cave. He couldn’t. Four were about as many as he thought he could manage and that too, only with the help of Flint’s gauntlets.
“All right,” he muttered, “I need to cover them properly, first.” Aadi got to work quickly and gently. He undressed the bodies carefully and wrapped each of them with cloaks, which many of the dead had been wearing. Most of them had dark hues, but Aadi chose the ones that were brightly shaded for his best friend. When Ember enquired why, Aadi answered, “He was the more energetic of the two of us. Even on the darkest days, he was enthusiastic and raring to go.” Ember said, “He was good company.” Aadi nodded in agreement and kept working. He discarded all the tools and weapons that the dead had wielded in life. They had no need of them anymore and their bodies would be all the lighter to carry.
He discarded their backpacks and knapsacks, and set their boots aside. With some effort, he tightened the wrapped cloaks and sealed their knots with belt buckles. The belts themselves he used to bind the bodies’ arms and legs at rest positions. This way, the wrappings wouldn’t come off and he would have some stability while carrying the bodies. Besides Pati and Quince, few of the dead had brandished bows against their enemy, albeit in vain. Aadi unbraced their bows and extracted the bowstrings. They were tough enough to use as tethers of a sort and he thought he’d need them.
Having prepared the dead for transport as best as he could, Aadi slowly rose to his feet and stretched. He was buying himself some time, pondering how he would carry the bodies out. Of course, there was that other, probably more important question. Where was the exit? The cave didn’t offer any hints. “What now?” asked Aadi loudly and the only answer he received was the echo of his voice. “You could just settle down, here,” quipped Ember. Aadi raised an eyebrow and the stone added, “Build a cottage, farm the cave floor, and live a quiet life.” He snorted and asked, “And what should I do with the tomatoes?” “Tomatoes is it?” asked Ember innocently and Aadi nodded sharply, adding, “Yes, the ones that will surely grow out of the rock.” “Ah, well, those…” mumbled the stone nonchalantly. The next moment, it said aloud, “You could teleport those to a market!”
“Teleport you said,” remarked Aadi, an expression of curiosity blossoming on his face. “Yes,” the stone replied, “Teleport the tomatoes out and whatever money you get for them in. That would be convenient, right? You wouldn’t have to leave your cottage…” Aadi ignored Ember’s bubbly musings and concentrated on the one word that had caught his attention. “Teleport,” he muttered repeatedly. Ember stopped speaking. The stone focused on his mumbling and asked, “What are you thinking?” “That there might be a way out,” replied Aadi, still deep in thought. He brought his hands close and formed a ball with his fingers. “What if…” said he to no one in particular, a notion stewing in his mind.
As the idea took shape and began to attain a concrete form, Ember followed Aadi’s train of thought and chimed in, “It’s an interesting idea. It will take a lot of magic power, though. You will feel the effects.” “How bad can it be?” he asked and the stone replied, “Exhausting! You will be channelling a lot of power and at nothing in particular.” Aadi tried to interject, but Ember spoke over him, “I know. I know you have a specific aim, but since you haven’t seen the entrance to the cave, you can’t visualise it as an object. You aren’t conditioned to its existence. So, you don’t have a concrete target. That makes it tougher. Much tougher.” He nodded his head, acknowledging the stone’s words and said, “It’s better than doing nothing. Besides, if I pass out, I’ll just sleep it off.” In his mind, Aadi distinctly heard a magic stone snort.
The idea was a simple one, although ambitious in its execution. He had recalled that during his fight with Aaron Flint, Ember and he had launched an attack with an incredible amount of magic infused in it. As Ember had flown towards the Unflinching, Aadi remembered watching the very air before him split open. It had been a moment that had lasted all too briefly, but it gave him an idea that he thought he could use in his present situation. The ambition lay in the amount of power that he would project at his target, which, as Ember had just said, he had never seen. In addition to that, Aadi was going to utilise Flint’s gauntlets too.
“No point in dilly-dallying,” said Aadi resolutely and adopted a wide stance. He brought his gauntleted arms together and formed a sphere with his fingers to the best of his ability. Trying to remember how he had channelled Ember’s power in his fight with the Unflinching, Aadi concentrated on the sphere. Ember didn’t need any prodding either. The stone meshed with his intent and he felt its magical power flowing swiftly. As that magic reached the gauntlets, Aadi purposefully attempted to activate their power. He had never used it before, but he trusted Flint’s words unreservedly. There hadn’t been any malicious intent in the woodcutter’s benediction and Aadi had observed none in the gauntlets.
“I think it’s working,” he mumbled as a gentle, red glow emanated from the gauntlets. Two powers melded; blue and purple hues combined with the red aura, producing a brighter, pink light that began to expand outwards. “If I focus on an exit and channel this magic into a central point…” muttered Aadi, his brows furrowing as he concentrated as hard as he could. The expanding magic enveloped the area around him, including the bodies on the ground. It formed a hemisphere and solidified for an instant, only to begin glowing brighter the next! Purple fire erupted and its tendrils reached out, trying to grasp pockets of air and vaporise them.
“Bring it to the centre now,” said Ember, scrutinising the still-expanding magic. “I am trying,” replied Aadi, sweat glistening on his brow. As best as he could, he tried to focus the hemisphere of power, attempting to reduce its size and increase its concentrated magical effect. Unfortunately for Aadi, his inexperience showed. The hemisphere expanded and contracted repeatedly, clearly refusing to abide by his will. Ember said, “There isn’t much time. Send it when it has contracted the most, next.” “I can do it,” said Aadi, his voice clearly strained by the effort he was putting in. Ember raised its voice, “Now is not the time to force it! Wait for the next contraction and…” The stone paused for just a second and as the hemisphere reduced in size again, it exclaimed, “Send it now!”
This time, Aadi complied and there was a bright flash as he forced the magic outwards, at a target that he couldn’t see. He was momentarily blinded and before he could open his eyes, all his senses became numb. He felt like he was drifting in a void, with no awareness of anything around him. With every passing second, he felt his eyes become increasingly heavy. Eventually, he drifted off into unconsciousness, but not before hearing Ember’s words faintly, “It worked.”