Aadi drew a deep breath and put his thoughts in order. He spoke slowly but surely, “I want to enter this thing’s memories.” “To what end?” asked Ember. He replied, “You said that Flint’s desire for revenge became this blood facet’s purpose. It fuels its existence. It gives it purpose. Am I right?” “Yes,” said Ember slowly. “Then,” continued Aadi, “If I can change its purpose, change the memory that empowers it, it should weaken.” Ember didn’t reply and he added, “If this blood part of his soul loses its purpose, you should be able to destroy it.” Seeing the stone remain silent, Aadi enquired, “Do you think it can work?”
Ember said, “Your plan is risky. Very risky.” “Why?” he asked and the stone answered, “Overcoming conditioning is an uphill task. In this case, where Flint’s dark facet has purposed his thirst for revenge for its own existence, it will be tougher. Existence fights to exist. This blood aspect will not allow you to change what is its foundation without a struggle.” He pressed, “If I succeed?” The stone replied after a moment, “Then, I can destroy it. Yes.” “It’s a plan, then,” said Aadi vigorously. He felt Ember nod after a moment, “Yes, it is a plan. Executing it is a different matter though.”
“Why?” asked Aadi and the stone said in reply, “You will have to connect with the blood facet to enter its consciousness. The only way to achieve that is to allow one of its strands to strike you.” He looked around him, trying to track the individual darts of blood that were striking Ember’s shield. It was difficult. Each strand struck and withdrew swiftly. With effort, Aadi was able to track a single strand and that too, only for a moment. “That in and of itself is doable with little risk,” Ember added, “After being struck by a strand, you will be attacked by the blood facet. It will attempt to overcome your conditioning. I can help you resist that a little.” “Okay,” he said, “I can do it with your help.” He felt the stone smile. Ember said, “After you resist its attack, you will be able to enter Flint’s memories. Those will be the ones that the blood facet has made its own. Needless to say, they will be dark and violent. You will have to endure them to reach the core of its conditioning.”
Aadi listened to Ember carefully and nodded, “All right. I understand. It will be tough going, but once I get to Flint’s memory of his family being killed, I can change what happened there. I can save his family and alter the memory.” “Right,” agreed Ember, adding, “I can’t help you with that though. You will be on your own in there.” Momentarily shocked, he asked, “What do you mean?” The stone said, “I won’t be able to help you, when you attempt to alter the blood facet’s memory. You will have to do it with your own willpower.” He asked again, “Why? I mean, why can’t you help?” “I have my own memory of the event. You have seen it,” Ember replied and Aadi agreed, remembering the stone’s memory that he had shared through his dream. The stone said, “That would be a problem.”
“Why?” he asked and the stone replied, “Conditioning. I have already told you that conditioning is created by memories, strengthened through the experience of them. Do you remember?” He nodded and the stone continued, “My memory of Flint’s family’s murder will only serve as fuel to the blood facet. The darkness of his soul will use it to further strengthen its conditioning, thereby making it that much tougher for you.” “But,” protested Aadi weakly, still absorbing Ember’s words. “There are no buts about it. I will hinder your task. The enemy will use me against you. Your journey will be hard enough as it is.” “Can I win on my own?” he asked, his mind running through his battles with Ember, recalling how much the magic stone had helped him. “Tame the monkey mind,” said Ember firmly, “If you are focused with single-minded purpose, you will succeed. This the wise know.”
“Tame the monkey mind,” Aadi repeated the stone’s words, “My father used that phrase. He used to say we have monkey minds.” He felt Ember nod, “Yes. The monkey mind is a person’s biggest obstacle. It jumps from one branch to another, orienting and reorienting its focus towards different objects. A monkey mind prevents a person from attaining his goal.” “Is it easy to tame it?” asked Aadi, gathering his wits and preparing for the task ahead. Ember was silent for a moment and then said, “With single-minded focus, it is possible. When such focus is practised, it becomes your condition. When it becomes your condition, the monkey mind is calmed and your thoughts remain focused. As your thoughts fritter from one thing to the next, the monkey mind becomes agitated.” Aadi looked at Ember, which he clutched in his hands, pondered its words, and asked, “Even if I am conditioned to have a single focus, is it possible to lose it? Would my mind become distracted again, like a monkey?”
The magic stone replied, “Only through a wilful submission to a distraction; yes, it is possible. Only a fool would undertake such an action, moving to weakness. The wise move from strength to strength.” “So,” Aadi said, drawing a deep breath, “All I need to do is ‘be wise’. Easy?” He felt Ember snort in reply. The stone said, “Be focused. As long as you remember why you are doing this, you will succeed.” He nodded firmly and asked, “If you won’t be there to help me, how will I fight the blood facet’s magic?” and added, “Can it even use magic in there?” “It can use thoughts,” came Ember’s reply. The stone ignored his confusion and continued, “Memories are concretised thoughts. You call them experiences. A thought carries considerable influence and affects what’s around it. Flint’s darkness can use thoughts. So can you.”
“Thoughts are my tools in there, then?” asked Aadi, trying to grasp the stone’s advice. “Tools, weapons, power; by whatever name you call it, a thought is your instrument. As long as you remain single-minded, you will prevail,” the stone said and before Aadi could say anything else, added, “It’s time.” “What do I do?” asked Aadi and the stone answered with a question of its own, “Are you ready?” “Yes,” he replied and tensed his limbs, ready to spring into action. He felt Ember smile. The stone said, “Relax.” “What?” asked Aadi, startled by the instruction. It had the effect of loosening his limbs though. Simultaneously, he saw the blue-and-pink hued shield, cast and maintained by Ember, soften ever so slightly. It was just for a fraction of a moment; the shield hardened thereafter.
That fraction had been enough. Enough for a strand to shoot from the blood veins on the cave walls. Enough for that strand to strike and pierce the weakened shield. Enough for it to hit Aadi’s waist! Still startled by Ember’s instruction, he had barely begun to feel the sting of the blood dart when his vision went dark. He lost all awareness of his body. It was as if he had been suddenly thrust into a dream. The darkness in his vision began to contract, oppressed by a deep red haze that rapidly set in. Aadi felt as if he was floating. He couldn’t see any limbs, but he had the distinct feeling that he could move if he wanted. Slowly, he tried to ‘push’ forward, but nothing in this haze indicated any motion. He tried to ‘turn’, but he couldn’t sense any rotation. Something in the back of his mind told him that he was moving, however. That something seemed distant, but Aadi tried to reach out to it.
“I am here,” he heard Ember speak. The stone warned the next instant, “Be careful.” Before Aadi could try to respond, Flint’s voice roared somewhere in the haze, “Kill!” That single word echoed repeatedly and pressed in on him. He couldn’t ‘cover his ears’, for he had neither those nor arms to cover them with. “Kill!” that angry voice roared again and this time, Aadi saw something in the red haze. Silhouettes began to form in front of him and slowly, they solidified into human shapes. Those shapes lacked eyes and hair, but possessed other human features. “Kill!” shouted Flint’s voice once more and one of the shapes lunged at the other. As Aadi watched, they fought and killed one another. Their movements were rapid and this environment made it difficult for him to keep track of them. As they ‘died’, the shapes fell to the ground and dissolved into silhouettes again. Shortly thereafter, they vanished.
Immediately, Aadi spotted another pair of silhouettes forming in the haze nearby. This time, he recognised the one on the right instantly. It was Flint! His features were unmistakable and his body exuded a deep red aura. Aadi’s eyes wandered over to the silhouette on the left. This shape took longer to form and as its face solidified, Aadi froze in shock. It was Shan! Soon, Flint’s voice roared once more, “Kill!” and he lunged at Aadi’s best friend.