Fire Eyes Awakened: The Senturians of Terraunum Series (Book 1) Read online

  Two men removed the top from the wooden crate, revealing a clear square stone, about the size of a watermelon, halfway embedded in the black stone of the stage, but raised about three feet so it would be waist level on most people. This brought oohs and aahs from the crowd.

  I asked Gilmer, “Have you ever seen anyone break level ten at an Awakening?”

  He shook his head. “No, that’s very rare. The last one to do it was Royn Crowell.”

  I nodded. Royn Crowell was the commander at the West Gate. He single-handedly defended the gate against a horde of werewolves. He destroyed so many monsters they quit keeping track. Basically, he was the baddest dude ever.

  “And now, candidates,” the emcee said, “before your powers are Awakened, do a final check of yourself. Are you ready? Do you really want to Awaken these powers? Awesome as they are, that power comes with accountability – you will be held accountable for every energy burst, every fire blast, every thrown stone. Also know this: your training will be hard. Harder than anything you’ve ever done before, and some don’t survive it. Are you ready to join the prestigious ranks of Senturians who serve as our police force all across the East Side of the Breaks? Are you ready to join the soldiers who protect us from the horrors sealed on the West Side?” He paused. Had to be for dramatic effect. “All right, if you insist. Let’s get started! Number one, if you please!” he shouted, and the crowd erupted, as some guy in the far back made his way to the stage.

  He was shorter than me, skinny with a plain shirt and pants. When he reached the stage, the emcee said, “State your name, and place both your hands on the stone. Then wait.”

  The man took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and said, “John Smith.” His name appeared on the scorecard behind him as he spoke. Seriously? John Smith? How original. Originally boring. He stepped forward, placing his hands on the stone, which erupted into a bright white light. John closed his eyes, and all his muscles tensed, like he was straining to lift the stone. About ten seconds later, the brown earth bar crept to level three and stopped. Instantly, the light faded from the stone, and John let out a grunt and almost collapsed, but caught himself at the last second, shaking his head. The crowd clapped politely. The two Dwarves deliberated a bit as John recovered, looked at the emcee, and nodded. They stepped forward, raising the guy’s hands. “The Dwarves chose John Smith!” The crowd cheered as they walked John to one of their retainers, who then ushered him off stage.

  He hadn’t even stepped down yet before the emcee shouted, “Number Two!” and the whole process started over again. Each time was the same: state the name, place the hands, the numbers would move, and the person would be ushered to their respective group, a bit worse for the wear.

  If they were chosen. Number five, a weasely-looking guy, was the first to get no powers. After taking his hands off the Awakening stone, the crowd was silent. He gulped, and turned to the scoreboard to see the results. Face turning white, he looked lost as he slowly made his way offstage. Alone. People avoided him like the plague. I gulped. Did that fate await me?

  Number fifty-seven, a smaller girl, came up and got a one in water. None of the water Senturians moved. The corpsman talked briefly with the Army rep, but then both shook their head. Tears started forming in her eyes, but she held her chin up as she was at last escorted offstage.

  The procession of perspective practitioners kept moving; it seemed endless. Each one held the tension in the arena – would they get a high enough level? Would they be shunned? It was a little disheartening, actually, to see those who got no powers treated like they stepped in something. I didn’t really understand it – did they suddenly stop becoming a person?

  The crowd was game enough, celebrating after someone was chosen. Number seven ninety-nine became the first to break the level seven barrier, coming in with an eight on the red fire bar. It took a good five minutes for the cheering to die down and the Awakening to continue. It also took him a whole five minutes to recover. It seemed the higher the number, or the more powers you had, the more the stone took out of you, the longer it kept your fingers glued to it, and the more time you needed to recover.

  “Number fifteen-hundred!” the emcee said, all attention focused on a robed, hooded figure making its way to the stage flanked by two Reka soldiers, their armor glinting in the sun with a waterfall on the shoulder guard. Not only was the figure hooded, but covered head to toe. OK.

  “Gilmer, what’s going on?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth.

  “Not sure. Never seen this before.”

  Once the girl – I was sure it was a girl, judging by how the robe fit – reached the stone on the stage, she waited with her head down, cowl covering her features. Reaching up, her blue hands drew back the hood, and I about hit the floor. This was the prettiest girl I had ever seen – she looked around my age, with an oval face, full lips, deep blue eyes, curves in the right places, white hair streaked with light blue, and light blue skin. She squared her shoulders and proudly stepped forward. “Princess Aurora Helotes of the River,” she said before placing her hands on the stone. Everyone else looked at the scoreboard, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

  Gilmer elbowed me and pointed up, where I saw the water bar had already shot to a ten, but she was still glued to the stone. And the princess wasn’t doing so well. Her whole body was taught and sweaty. The Elves were out of their seats, clearly waiting to catch her. Was it draining more from her because she was a Reka? And why did she need powers Awakened anyway? I’ve never heard of one of the Races needing to.

  Two more minutes went by, everyone’s eyes trained on the girl, who progressively got worse. Everyone was on their feet when across the scoreboard in the Quantum section, the word “Shimmer” appeared, the black bar moving to six. The light of the stone died and the girl fell into the waiting arms of the Elves.

  The other masters quickly surrounded them, blocking the view for the murmuring crowd. Another few minutes went by before a much paler princess stood. The Reka representatives on stage burst into an animated shouting match with the Rangers, Dwarves, Elves, and anyone else who would listen. After a couple of minutes, the emcee stepped over and acted as mediator, finally calming everyone down enough to chat. An agreement was finally reached, and with a slight look from the Rekas on stage, Princess Aurora turned and exited behind the Rangers. To which the crowd erupted. Interesting…

  I was clapping right along with them, Gilmer clapping and whooping too. He turned and said, “That’s the craziest Awakening I’ve seen yet! You could tell the Rekas didn’t want to let her go, but the rules are pretty clear: the Rangers have the first choice on the Quantum powers! Dude, you OK?”

  “What?” I was still watching the back of the girl as she descended out of sight.

  “You’re practically drooling. She’s out of your league, man. Get over it,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You never paid much attention to girls back home, what’s the deal now?”

  Still fuzzy, I said, “I was working to pay for this. Didn’t have time to date properly. Plus, they don’t make ‘em like that at home….”

  Close by, someone coughed.

  Gilmer just laughed and shook his head as the Awakening continued.

  Number sixteen eighty-four, Anton Bowie, a tall man built like a tank, got an eight on the Earth bar, a three on Air, and a four on Fire. The corpsmen were about to stand, when suddenly the Ranger stood up. “We’ll take Mr. Bowie.” The corpsmen sat down quickly, and Anton was escorted off by the Ranger.

  “Interesting,” Gilmer said, “I wonder what’s special about him? The Rangers hardly ever pick anyone without a Quantum power. You think he’s that good, or is he from an important family?”

  I just shrugged and pointed. “Look, it’s Gordon’s turn! Good luck, buddy!” I yelled.

  Gordon Moody stepped up, and we watched the Water bar rise to a two. And nothing else. Oh no. My eyes snapped to the corpsman and the Army representative. They both shook their heads, and my heart sank.
Already drained from the stone, Gordon made the long silent walk offstage. I wanted to call out, to tell him it would be OK, but I couldn’t find my voice in the silence of the arena. Damnit, your friend needs you and you’re sitting here silent. That’s not right, Jayton.

  The Awakening went on while I beat myself up, with just as many people selected as not.

  Then came Joshua Omaha’s turn. He grabbed the stone, and instantly healing and energy went to one. Five seconds later, the light from the stone died. Oh no, not again.

  Joshua looked stunned. He’d expected much more. Jerking his head to the selection committee, he saw them shaking their heads. “Come on!” he bellowed. They sat in silence while he glared their way. When no one moved, he straightened himself up and walked off stage. “You’ll regret this.” He jumped off the stage to the floor and kept walking, never stopping, never looking back. We heard a door open and slam closed.

  Right after him was a pretty girl who looked about my age – Katy Lavernia. With a seven in Energy, a three in Healing, and a level five in Speed – a Quantum power – she brought a big cheer and earned a ticket to the Rangers.

  The crowd was louder now, not because of any particular candidate, but because they were talking and laughing amongst themselves. It was a long ceremony and they were starting to get restless from sitting so long. Plus, the wine and beer that flowed freely was clearly getting to a lot of them. Before I realized it, they were calling Gilmer up.

  “Go get ‘em, Gilmer!” I hollered, clapping him on the back as he walked past me with a wide grin. He said his name, placed his hands, and the scoreboard lit up – four for Fire, four for Air, and a four for Healing. His hands stayed glued to the stone for a little longer, everyone watching the scoreboard. For half a second, a Quantum bar lit up to an eight, but then disappeared. But it was enough to get the Ranger’s attention, and they claimed my friend as he dropped his hands from the stone.

  He shot me a wink as he was escorted off, and my nerves jumped up about a thousand notches – I could hear my heart in my head, going ninety to nothing, my arms and legs got numb, and I started breathing heavy.

  “Second to last, you’re up!” the emcee shouted, pointing my way.

  I gulped, and made my way to the stairs. “Excuse me,” I said to the girl behind me, the only one left on the arena floor, who gave me a quick smile.

  Seven quick steps and I was on the stage. Seven more and I was at the stone, almost shaking – I had waited for this moment for so long; I couldn’t believe it was here!

  “Jayton Baird,” echoed all over the stadium as I said my name. Just in front of the stone was a miniature scoreboard that only I could see. I took one more deep breath and grabbed the stone with both hands.

  Fire shot through my veins – I couldn’t believe anything could hurt so much. Every muscle in my body clenched tight as a snare drum. My brain felt like a horse was sitting on it, skin started to boil, toes curled up inside my boots, my mouth and lungs trying desperately to scream, but nothing was coming out.

  Despite the pain, I could still see and was intently aware of everything happening around me. The lights in the entire place dimmed slightly – that got the crowd’s attention. All eyes shifted my way. On my little scoreboard, the red Fire bar jumped to four. Then Water to six, Earth to seven, Air to five, Healing to three, Energy to ten. Yes! I’ll be picked for sure!

  A flashing timer came up in the right-hand corner of the scoreboard. It said one minute. Holy cow, it felt like an hour, muscles all still tight and my hands gripping the stone like it was the last food on Terraunum.

  The Quantum section came to life. “Strength” flashed up and went to five, “Transition” to six, and “Telekinesis” went to seven. Now the clock read two minutes. I had to force myself to breathe, each lungful a huge effort.

  The clock was now at five minutes, and turned yellow. That can’t be good.

  Why wasn’t this thing letting me go? What did this mean? The stone strobed brighter several times, each time bringing the lights in the stadium down, and each time the faces of the crowd grew more concerned. At seven minutes, the clock started flashing.

  At eight, it turned red.

  “Ignis Oculus” appeared and shot to ten. The crowd went nuts when it popped up on the main scoreboard.

  Oh. My. God. Fire Eyes. This was a momentous event. Huge.

  So why wasn’t the stone letting me go?

  At nine minutes, the clock started flashing, and switched to one minute, counting down.

  I knew if you were on this thing for more than ten minutes, you’d die. It had happened before. But it wasn’t like I had any control over what was happening. I jerked my arms, trying break free, but I might have well been trying to pick up an elephant for all the good it did.

  Thirty seconds.

  Twenty.

  The Quantum section lit up again. Morsenube: fifteen.

  That was bad. That was very, very bad. Morsenube: the Death Cloud.

  Ten…my skin was red, my whole body convulsing.

  Nine. My brain went fuzzy.

  Eight. Thoughts erupted everywhere, sounds that weren't – couldn’t – be there, visions of all sort of crazy things, smells of smoke and ash and flowers, dirt, and the taste of hamburgers crossed my tongue.

  Seven. I didn’t know how long I could take this.

  Six. It was starting to go black.

  Five. Beside me, somewhere, there was a bright flash of blue light.

  Four. This was it.

  Three. I couldn’t see.

  Two. Goodbye. Strange – there was no tunnel, no bright light.

  One.

  The stone blackened suddenly, the lights in the stadium flared back to life, and I fell backwards into oblivion.

  Chapter 4

  At least I thought it was oblivion.

  I woke up on a cot in a plain room, with what felt like an ax between my eyes, needles in all my fingers and toes, and pounding hammers everywhere in between. Opening my eyes – ouch again – I checked to make sure the aches and pains were not currently being implemented, and were, in fact, already acquired. Grunting, I sat up. And then almost immediately fell on the floor. I would have too, except someone caught me. Someone with a feminine voice.

  “Whoa there, champ, they told me to make you rest. That was a heck of a display you gave us. Are you OK?” she said.

  The room spun so I closed my eyes as she leaned me back against the wall. Once it stopped and I opened them, an odd noise escaped my lips and the girl smiled shyly and blushed. She looked almost exactly like the River Princess I’d seen, except she wasn’t blue, her nose was slightly smaller, her hair was light brown streaked with blond, and she had the brightest green eyes. Actually, she was prettier. I think. My judgment could have been suspect given the current situation.

  “Um, hi.” That’s me, Master Charmer. Watch out, ladies. “Thank you, um…”

  “Leona Orchard,” she said. “And you, Jayton Baird, caused quite a stir.”

  “How did you…”

  She rolled her eyes. “I was after you in line, genius.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Voices came drifting down the hall. Not very happy ones. My head still throbbed. “Thanks for helping me out, but if you were just Awakened too, why are you here? Where is here? How did we get here? What happened?”

  She kept pressing some purple rock on different parts of my body, and each time she lifted it off my skin, some of my pain went with it. “Like I said, you caused quite a stir – after you passed out, a huge argument broke out between pretty much everyone. The crowd went crazy too, so the emcee told me just to run up and complete my Awakening fast, since I was the last one, before anything else happened. One of the Rangers gave me this Healing Stone, and told me to grab one of your arms. We carried you here, and he told me to take care of you until someone came to get you.” Despite her calm words, her eyes drooped slightly.

  Nice, Jay. She’d probably been waiting for this her whole life, and then stupi
d me shows up and ruins it for her. Shaking my head – dumb idea – I noticed a piece of paper sitting next to her. “What’s that?”

  She glanced down. “That’s my scorecard.”

  Maybe I can fix this. “Can I see it?”

  She cocked her head, but obliged.

  “Leona Orchard” was across the top, with her scores below. Wow, this was impressive – fours across the six powers, plus Amplify and Guide Quantum powers at level six.

  She was still looking at me funny.

  “Can I see that stone?”

  She passed it to me and I held it in front of me. “Close your eyes and put both hands on the stone,” I said. She cocked her head again, but took a breath and put her hands on it. I waited ten seconds, propped the card up on the wall, and said, “OK open.” I started clapping and making crowd noises. Well, quietly, and as best I could in my deteriorated condition.

  She smiled and giggled. “Thanks, that really makes up for it! I think I’ll marry you now.” I couldn’t do anything but grin like an idiot. “Oh, here’s your card,” she said, snatching back the stone to resume healing, then froze. “How much do you remember?”

  “Mostly just pain. I can’t remember my levels, but I do know I got some Quantum – hey, does that mean we’re both Rangers?”

  “Yes, but read your card,” she said, looking down and healing again, making me feel almost passable as a human.

  I looked at it. “Holy crap…ow,” I said, as I tried to sit up, and failed. “Look at all these powers! This can’t happen very often…”

  “It doesn’t,” she said, her expression somewhere between worry, pity, and fear.

  “Then what’s with the face?”

  “Well, first thing: no one has ever had so many powers. Period. I’m lucky I got two Quantums, and you got five! The most before that was four with Ames Talco.”

  “Who?”

  She sighed, giving me a quizzical look. “Where are you from?”

  “Portland.”

  “Well, Portlandian, maybe you should have learned a little more or maybe that stone sucked out a little of your brain. Councilman Ames Talco, arguably one of the most powerful Senturians alive? Ring any bells?”