Chapter 9: Leon and Kormal Have a Little Chat

The Werewolves finally reported back. They found the creature’s lair.

Leon sat quietly in the ship’s dull gray cabin making adjustments to his Psionic Weaponry at his metal desk. He used a small, electronic screwdriver that sparked with blue energy, reacting to the psions in his tools as he worked to increase their output. He wouldn’t get much more efficiency out of them, but the work always helped clear his head. He had all manner of Psionic Knives along with his swords and his armor. He also arranged his rations of pink glowing Sun Gems, sorting them by size and the amount of power they stored. His wrist communicator fashioned into his armored gauntlet was among the assortment of tools as well. He was already considering contacting Éclair before they got out of range. But he dismissed that idea immediately, realizing how pathetic it would seem. So he continued his tinkering and thought idly to himself about recent and not-so-recent events.

Leon already missed Éclair. And he found himself more than a little ashamed for what he said and did to Ryan. Even so, his anger towards the half-breed had not waned. He wasn’t entirely sure what brought on his impulse to bait Ryan like that. He’d always known that Ryan had feelings for Éclair as well. But ever since Leon started dating her, his relationship with his teammate had felt off. Leon would never have said that he and Ryan were good friends, but he had started to feel a certain amount of kinship to the boy. And then the next thing Leon knows, Ryan becomes so distant with him. Leon even got hints of aggression from him every now and then, and that awakened Leon’s own aggressive tendencies.

He’s such a child, Leon thought to himself. He treats me like an enemy because I’m with a girl he has a crush on. My relationship with Éclair has been building for years now while he is the newest and youngest member of our team. Who does he think he is?

But that wasn’t all. Leon couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of wariness towards Ryan lately. Ever since Ryan saw ... saw him use Shadow Elemency. Not many would understand such a thing. Most who even knew of Shadow Elemency considered it an evil and dark art. Leon supposed it was at that. In order to master it, he had to get in touch with his most carnal instincts. He had to become one with rage and hate.

It was painful learning how to use the power of darkness itself. He would’ve preferred not to, but his father had other designs for him. He had to morph Leon into the perfect warrior, the perfect Mystic. That meant learning a degree of Shadow Elemency that not even the Mages could master ... becoming one with the darkness within him at will. It was any wonder he had much sanity left from such a childhood, but Lurrannas had always prided themselves on their self-discipline. His father always said to Leon that they ruled the shadows, the shadows did not rule them. Controlling Shadow Elemency and not getting swallowed by the darkness was a rite of passage for Lurrannas, one that no other Mystic family possessed. Most Mystics had to go through a ceremony with Mages to enhance their Elemency with the Shadows and become the Mystic equivalent of a Wielder. Not Lurrannas. Lurrannas were unique. They didn’t have to learn how to control Shadow Elemency like Mystics and Mages. They were born with it ... born in darkness itself.

And now, Ryan knew that Leon could use that forbidden power. Since Ryan found out, Leon felt a part of himself had been exposed. He felt vulnerable. He didn’t like feeling vulnerable. And he didn’t like that Ryan was the source of that liability. So in a way, he’d been distant from Ryan too. He didn’t think Ryan would betray his secret, or that it would be too costly if he did. Saria and Eramar knew. So did Zand, the one who brought him to Éclair in the first place ... the one his family had despised as the Light Wielder. However, if Ryan told the wrong people, it could still ruin Leon. The Monks of the Light believed that the use of that power corrupted one’s very soul. Leon wasn’t sure they were wrong given how vile he felt whenever he used it ... and how powerful it made him feel. Intoxicating power. So intoxicating that he refused to use it since being separated from his family ... since leaving Chissler and joining the Fire Ministry. If Éclair knew, Leon felt like a piece of his past would be revealed to her that he wasn’t ready to share yet. That frightened him. And in his fear, he blamed Ryan.

And now, Ryan was away with Éclair on a mission of their own, and Leon was left to worry. Ryan probably wouldn’t tell her, even after the way Leon taunted him. The boy took after Grafael too much. He’d consider such a thing dishonorable. Leon did worry about a few other things sometimes. In the past, Éclair often laughed at Ryan’s stupid jokes. She didn’t laugh as loudly at Leon’s jokes. Although to be fair, Leon never really told jokes much anyway. Joking just wasn’t his style. Still, he might consider joking more to hear that laugh of hers. He’d tried telling jokes to her every now and then, and she giggled for him. He never really liked jokes, but he did enjoy the sound of Éclair’s girlie giggle. That seemed enough reason to learn the art of humor, at least in part. He’d never let himself become an outright idiot like Ryan. Though that same idiocy did seem to amuse Éclair at times.

Still, Leon wasn’t too worried. His and Éclair’s relationship had been going well. In fact, it had been going exactly according to plan. When Leon first met Éclair, he started devising the best way to win her heart. He figured that he should hold off for the first few years. Give them a chance to get to know each other, become comfortable around one another. That also gave him the opportunity to judge for himself how Éclair felt for him. Luckily, her feelings for him had remained steadfast. He maintained her fascination with him by remaining a little distant. But all the while, there was no one he thought of more than her. There was no one who made him feel warm and welcomed the way she did. She really was extraordinary. Beautiful and courageous. Powerful and talented. The perfect mixture of womanly strength and feminine kindness. But of course, he couldn’t say that to her in the beginning. And he couldn’t let on even now how deeply he felt for her. He had to keep her wanting, keep her wondering. If he didn’t, he feared she might learn too much, and she wouldn’t be his anymore. If he learned anything from the way his father treated women, it was best never to let on how much of a hold they had on one’s heart.

Hold on the heart, Leon thought, almost unwillingly thinking of Lucille. She often said things like that. I wonder ... was she really killed with the others. Was there any way she might’ve survived? I never checked that body. It might not have been ... No, she’s gone. If she had survived, she would’ve found me. And even if she is somehow alive, I don’t know what that would mean. I left the life of the Mystic behind me ... the life of a Lurranna. She never shied from our family’s darkness ... no matter how much I begged her to. In the end, perhaps it’s for the best that I never saw her again. I can only imagine what she’d think of me, becoming an Elemental. Joining with the very organization that was partially responsible for our family’s downfall ... and all for an infatuation with a member of our clan’s ancient enemy. One day, I will tell Éclair of our shared family history ... and I’ll tell her of Lucille. I will reveal myself to her. I just need ... I need a little more time.

Leon heard the signal of someone at the door of his cabin. He wondered what took the Sage so long to come.

“Come in, Kormal,” Leon said without taking his attention from his work.

After the door slid open, Leon barely heard Kormal walk in slowly. Leon felt that familiar aura of wariness take the Sage as he entered. Leon didn’t really blame him for keeping his guard up. Those who knew of the Lurrannas would do well to stay a little wary. Though Éclair never did. That was, perhaps, one of the most important reasons Leon fell in love with her.

“Leon,” said the Sage curiously. “You asked to see me ... in private.”

Kormal, being a Telepathic Sage, and a longtime veteran as old as Eramar as Leon understood it, approached every matter with that measured and logical manner that had long been associated with his people. However, his aura did feel different than when Leon first met him. When Leon first saw Kormal, the Sage was using telepathy to hide his presence after a secret meeting with Saria. He felt so ... so sad. A Sage with telepathic abilities as potent as Kormal’s almost never revealed his emotional state under normal circumstances. The fact that Leon was able to sense him at all when he wanted to escape notice indicated a deeply troubled heart. But now, he felt more at peace ... more in control of himself. Leon thought he could detect small whiffs of sadness here and there, but he also found some source of happiness too.

Leon wasn’t quite sure what brought about the change, but it seemed to have something to do with Ryan. Kormal had agreed to start tutoring all of them in telepathy at Saria’s request, but he had invested special interest in Ryan’s development. Leon wasn’t quite sure why. Ryan was not a Mental Type. He’d only need the basic training to avoid influence from all but the most powerful of telepaths. Leon also suspected that it had something to do with that ... that strange apparition they met on the Fallen’s ship.

He didn’t have time to ask about her, but she was somehow ... somehow integrated into Ryan’s and Kormal’s psyches. Connected to them somehow. She seemed related to Kormal, but she also had an unexplained bond to Ryan it would seem. Leon didn’t have the chance to ask about her at the time given their situation. None of the others had as well. Leon suspected that Kormal had altered their memories of the girl so they wouldn’t ask questions. The only reason Leon could remember her at all was probably because of his own extensive training in telepathy from his family. But the Sage girl - he thought that Kormal called her Kevla - was not a threat to him and she did prove to be a valuable ally, so Leon didn’t give it much worry afterwards. He wondered ... he wondered if she was still around somehow. He wondered exactly what she was. It didn’t seem like she was alive in the conventional sense, but she certainly didn’t feel like a ghost. Most of all, he wondered how Ryan was involved. Questions for another time perhaps.