Fulcrum of Light (Catalyst Book 2) by C.J. Aaron (ebook reader that looks like a book .TXT) 📕

The skin on his chest heated, a gentle warmth spread throughout his body bringing with it a wave of comfort. He looked from Caprien’s hand to his chest—the bands were slowing their rotation, gradually spinning to a stop. He watched in wonder as they came to a pause, starting from the inside, working their way outward. The random patterns interlocked, forming a cloistered path. A connected path to which there was neither a beginning nor an end.

Ryl glanced up at Caprien’s hand as the last of the rings ceased their rotation. The design etched into his hand was the inverse of what appeared on Ryl’s chest. He knew without question that the designs were a perfect fit.

“This process will be jarring, though not so much as the first,” Caprien stated. “I apologize for that. What needed to be done was done. You needed to see.”

“Wait,” Ryl spouted abruptly. “I have a question first.”

Caprien paused his hand hovered just off Ryl’s chest. There was a magnetism between the designs; he felt the pull growing stronger with every passing breath.

“You mentioned ‘they’ before,” Ryl quizzed. “The alexen. You speak of them as if they are living beings. Are they here with us now?”

“They are living, though not in the same sense that you are alive,” Caprien said cryptically. “The answer to your question, whether they are here now, will be simple, once you learn to understand.”

Ryl was confused by his answer. He opened his mouth to seek clarification, yet Caprien continued.

“Now, I’m afraid my part must come to a close, my friend,” Caprien sighed. “You have an insurmountable power inside you, Ryl, let me aid you in the trials that lay ahead. There will be no barriers preventing you from accessing the entirety of my skills. Do good in all you do. Though we may not meet again, I will always be with you.”

Caprien extended his hand, placing it directly atop the handprint on Ryl's chest. His head tilted back at an unnatural angle, his mouth fell open, and his face distorted as if screaming in agony. No sound escaped his lips.

The incoming flood of information was overwhelming. The sum of his own personal life experience was infinitesimal compared to the lifetimes of comprehension that flowed into him.

In a flash, he saw the fragmented images of Caprien’s most precious and cherished moments surge through his mind. He saw the visions of the phrenic who’d ceded his powers to Caprien. He watched as the cycle repeated back through the ages. The deluge of images was over in an instant; his mind struggled to stay afloat. He felt as if it were drowning in information, far too much for any mind to decipher and comprehend so rapidly.

Ryl relived the ages of training, the practice and the battles as if they'd just happened. His muscles remembered skills he'd never before practiced in the blink of an eye.

Above all else, the emotions lingered. Ryl felt love, hope, fear, jealousy, hatred, betrayal, compassion, remorse along with a host of others pour through him, saturating every inch of his body. He felt the uncontrollable urge to burst into tears, and the unexplainable urge to break into a fit of laughter.

As the emotions rolled through his body, his legs failed him; he fell to his knees, collapsing hard onto the smoothed stone. The body of Caprien faded from view, leaving only a hint of green vapor in his place. The green mist swirled for a moment before dissolving into the wind.

Caprien was gone.

Again.

Ryl's heart ached with the loss. He surveyed his surroundings once more.

He was alone.

Again.

Chapter 40

Ryl's legs trembled as he forced his body to stand. His simple movements felt foreign as his mind struggled to comprehend the deluge of new information. He attempted a step only to stumble forward, collapsing to the ground once more. Even the act of arresting his fall with his hands was abnormally difficult. He struck the ground with a dizzying force.

How long he lay motionless on the cold stone circle, he was unsure. He dared not move his body for fear that it would refuse to respond. How long would his mind take to catch up to the changes that had occurred in him?

Uncertainty spurred his action. Finally, daring the motion, Ryl worked himself onto his back. His eyes traveled the extent of the blue sky above him. He squeezed them shut, focusing on searching the surrounding area with his mindsight. Still there was no response; the unfamiliar emptiness resounded.

What had caused his alexen to disappear? Why couldn’t he assert even the slightest grain of control over his newfound skills?

Eventually, Ryl pulled himself up into a seated position. He had no concept of how long he had lingered on the stone. The two contrasting suns remained locked in place, as if suspended by unseen ropes in the sky.

The feeling started as no more than a tickle in his senses, but quickly blossomed. He had the profound awareness as if he was being watched. The sensation was remarkably different from that which he’d grown accustomed to within the confines of The Stocks. There, the hateful eyes of the guards bored into him. He had felt smothered by their animosity and unbridled scorn.

The sensation he experienced now contained no animosity. It flowed over him in a wave of welcome, akin to the telltale sensation he experienced when close to other phrenics. Its strength grew exponentially, overpowering his senses, washing his doubts and worries away with a surge of serenity.

There was movement again on the hill from whence Caprien had arrived. One by one, semi-translucent, green apparitions appeared over the crest. Their wavering figures were silhouetted against the horizon. They glided down the grassy decline, single armed cloaks billowing out mildly as they approached.

At first their entrance came as a slow trickle. Their staggered appearances increased steadily, and soon they flowed over the hill in numbers beyond counting. From the opposite peak of the rise behind, their silent advance