The Golden Globes of Light: Part Four

     “On the contrary,” boomed a deeper voice. “I am actually jealous that you are so young and possess such great power.” I whirled around to see yet another stranger. This one was an Eyrie. He was red, like me, but even larger. He carried a vaguely familiar staff and wore an emerald colored robe. He glanced at the mysterious Shoyru. “Well, Zan, these little ones seem to be very confused,” he said with an amused voice.

     “Indeed, Jantal, they look very confused,” the starry Shoyru replied with a sigh. “I must admit, I was expecting something different when Eleus told us we would be having company for the journey.”

     “Would you please explain what is going on here?” Alex snapped. I could tell she was upset, and I could understand her position. Ky was probably the only one who could return us to our own time period, and Alex had a duty as a Meridell knight that couldn’t be neglected.

     Zan turned and gave her a bow. The stars on his wings glittered in the light of the forge. “But of course. Within each pet there is a certain amount of power. Some have more than others, but the main problem is harnessing, and then controlling, this power. Jantal and I have mastered both arts, and it seems that your friend over there has also mastered her abilities. I must say,” he said shyly, “I am astonished to see so much power within you!”

     “But this is all impossible,” Ashiel snorted. “Where we come from, we are weaklings. We certainly can’t use that kind of magic, even if we had it at our disposal.”

     For some reason, this comment troubled Zan and Jantal. “Are you saying,” the looming red Eyrie asked slowly, “that you have NEVER experienced all that we have just told you?” We all nodded, and Zan sighed. Jantal shook his head. “I wonder,” he said, turning to his Shoyru friend, “could this be because of the environment they live in?”

     “What do you mean by that?” Lilly asked curiously. “What does where we live have anything to do with it?”

     Zan smiled. “The presence of strong magic in the environment gives forth to pets with strong magic within themselves. However, the magic on the outside works as a shield on the magic within; many pets in such an environment are unable to access their enormous reservoirs of magic. That would explain why you have such power, your lack of knowledge of the fact, and why you are not able to use it. Still,” he said, his smile fading, “This must have happened to her before.”

     “Well,” I admitted, “she did display an unusual amount of strength for her size when she was fighting underwater.” Zan seemed satisfied, so I didn’t add that Ky’s strength obviously had nothing to do with what was going on at the moment.

     The noise at the forge abruptly ceased. We all turned in Ky’s direction. She was glowing with some sort of light that slowly began to center around her ring. She shimmered, and returned to her natural form. She stared blankly into the distance, and then fell over. I rushed to her side, and everyone else was close behind me. Zan felt her forehead and sighed. “I thought this might happen when you told me about your lack of experience in these matters,” he said grimly. “She has overworked herself. I believe she is ill.” He turned to me. “For now, we need to stay here until she recovers.”

     We stayed in the cave for several days as Ky recovered from her work at the forge. During that time, we learned a bit more about Zan the starry Shoyru and Jantal the red Eyrie. Zan and Jantal were friends that had known each other for many years. They lived in Neopia City and worked closely with Eleus Batrin. They had returned from an excursion to some ruins when Eleus told them about the six of us. He had been so surprised by our arrival that he wanted Zan and Jantal to look in on us to make sure we were authentic.

     It wasn’t long before Ky was back at the forge. Zan spent quite some time talking with Jantal. They argued for hours on end, and Zan kept glancing in my direction. I began to feel uncomfortable. Finally, Zan approached me and motioned for me to sit. I remained standing, and he sighed. “It seems that you will need some training before we travel to the Desert of Roo. Even if there is no danger there, the fact that none of you can control your powers except your sister, and even she gets sick after such an experience, means that you are far more dangerous than anything we could meet.”

     “I still find it hard to believe that we have any sort of power at all,” I said stiffly. “This comes as a very unlikely surprise.”

     Zan shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately, this happens more often than most pets think. And you really do have the power, just not the ability to harness it. That takes patience, training, and something to channel your energy through, like this,” he explained, holding up his ring.

     In response, I showed him my ring.

     “Curious. I suppose your sister made this as well?”

     I nodded.

     “Interesting. Did you see her make it?”

     “No, I did not see the actual process. She prefers to be alone when she is working on something. Alone can be in another room with the door closed for all she cares, but I try to be out of her way entirely when she gets in that mood of hers,” I said miserably. If I had actually watched her, I might have known this could happen.

     As if reading my mind, Zan shook his head. “No, I seriously doubt that you would have been able to see her in this state. If you live in an area of intense magic, and she prefers to work alone, then your presence would automatically cause the transformation to cease. And what do you mean by ‘that mood of hers’?”

     “When she is inspired for something, she starts to act very odd. She seems to be somewhere else, she is so focused on what she is doing. She doesn’t want to stop, not even to eat or sleep. When she is bothered, she gets very angry and very impatient, almost like a hunter that has lost the scent,” I explained.

     To my surprise, Zan nodded. “I see... It makes sense now.” Noting the look of confusion on my face, Zan snorted as he tried to explain. “She is not a warrior, you understand. Magical powers come in many forms. Your sister possesses a very rare one that overtakes craftmasters. I think you will find that her type of magic is very potent, but highly irritating to those around them,” he said with a wry smile.

     “What about me?” I asked eagerly.

     Zan sighed. “I don’t think you will like the answer,” he stated flatly. His tone of voice was not very encouraging. “You will never be able to use your power when you want to, only when you need to.”

     “What do you mean?” I asked hotly, clacking my beak in annoyance. “Why would I be unable to use my power if I learned how to control it?”

     “The best way I can describe your power is the role of a bodyguard. It comes out to protect and to defend, but never to strike first.” Zan looked off into the distance. “It will be very hard to train you.”

     “But why would I need to be trained in the first place, if it is a defensive magic?” I asked, slightly disappointed.

     “I’ll get to that. I think it is best to describe the rest of your group before I address your questions,” Zan said, holding up a hand.

     I silenced the many questions that had sprung to my beak and waited for him to continue.

     “Good, you know patience. That is good. Well, let me see... Let’s start with the electric Shoyru,” he mused as he looked over at Lilly.

     I nodded impatiently and waited for him to get to the point.

     “Her power is fairly common among leaders; she is able to calm down others, see the problem clearly, and always control her temper. Most pets don’t recognize this as a magical power, but the fact of the matter is that their influence is tempered and their patience bolstered by their inner magic. Thankfully, she is already able to control her temper. I do not think she will have to be trained.”

     I brightened up when he said this. “At least one of us can learn to control their powers.”

     Zan moved on to Alex. “I am not so sure about her power. It is similar to yours, but it is not defensive. Rather, it is an aggressive defense. She may strike first and think later if she isn’t trained properly.”

     I fumed inwardly at that comment, but Zan didn’t seem to notice.

     “That troubles me. I think that she will require the most training out of all of you, for she is by far the deadliest among you.”

     My heart sank. “So much for a speedy process...” I muttered. Zan rolled his eyes. “What?” I protested. “You are making it sound like the training will take forever.”

     Zan ignored my comment and moved on to describe Kassiel. “The large, dark purple Eyrie,” he began slowly, “is more of a mystery. I would say that he has the power of both you and the red Shoyru. He will require no training at all. Somehow, he has already received it.” This made sense, for Kassiel had completed his training and was a full fledged Eyrie Guard.

     “That makes two that don’t need training, and two that do need training,” I said softly.

      Zan squinted as he looked at Ashiel, and then shrugged. “The other purple one, the lighter purple Eyrie, has the ability of navigation.”

     “That doesn’t make any sense,” I snorted. “It is my sister that knows where we are, not him.”

     “That is because his power usually requires a general knowledge beforehand of where something is. Once that is acquired, such a pet can never get lost,” Zan explained patiently. “And now for your questions. No, I am not a mind reader, but I have experience with pets who do not understand their powers.” The Shoyru took a deep breath. “While the little red Shoyru is very dangerous, you have the potential to be more dangerous still. An attacker attacks her enemies, but a defender...” he sighed, and I felt a shiver run up my spine, “a defender that is not trained will not be able to control the blinding rage and surge of power that comes together. Such a pet will not be able to tell friend from foe.”

     I was stunned and speechless. The way he described my powers reminded me of the tales that were told about a cruel Eyrie ruler. I tried to remember the name of this ruler, but for some reason, the memories were very vague. I grew irritated as I tried to recall related memories, only to find that my experiences before we arrived in Neopia City were eluding me.

     ---

     We spent the rest of the day in relative silence. That night, she prevented me from sleeping with her tossing and turning. The next morning, she was back at the forge. I was exhausted, and apparently, I wasn’t the only one miffed at Ky. “She’s going to hurt herself if she keeps doing this,” Ashiel said flatly. “Aren’t you guys supposed to do something to help her with this?”

     Jantal shook his head. “No, this is part of her training. The more she does this, the less of an effect it will have on her physically. Other than that, she is perfectly trained. I suspect it is from learning to control her temper.” He turned to me. “Zan suggested that you take on training names. All wielders of magic have another name that they use to be addressed by; their real name they try and keep secret.”

     “We already have training names.” Lilly piped up. I looked at her in surprise. “They are shortened versions of our real names.”

     Zan seemed impressed. “That is very good. May I ask what these names are?”

     We each gave our nicknames to the two of them, and they nodded. Zan seemed pleased. “Well then... Lilly, you stay here. Ky will need some supervision after she completes today’s work. I suggest you don’t try to find her finished projects; she has probably hidden them. Kassiel, you will also stay here and stand guard.” Kassiel nodded his head in assent.

      Jantal cleared his throat and looked into Ashiel’s eyes. “Ashiel, I would like you to go back to Neopia City and talk with Eleus Batrin. Ky is currently working on armor, but she will eventually finish and desire to work on staffs and wands. That will require some new materials; materials that we did not bring.”

      Ashiel began to protest, but Zan cut him off. “I believe that you will find that you remember exactly how to get there and back.” By the look on my friend’s face, Zan was right. Zan turned to Alex and me. “As for you two,” he said slowly, “you both need extensive training. You need to come with me to some hills on the other side of Neopia City; it is a well known training ground, so we will not be bothered.”

     “But my sister!” I protested. “I can’t just leave her!” To tell the truth, I wasn’t too thrilled about having to train against Alex, for that was most certainly what Zan had in mind.

     “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Lilly said calmly. “Besides, you really should learn what Zan has to tell you. I’m sure Ky would feel the same way.”

     I sighed and nodded my head. Zan got up and began to leave the cave. Grumbling to myself, I tailed behind Alex as we embraced the sky and turned to the east.

To be continued...