Chapter 18

I sit in the library, pouring over the book from yesterday while I wait for Benjamin to arrive. I woke up early for a morning run before I made my way to the arena. Once there, I didn’t find Erik waiting for me like we agreed upon. Instead, a woman training in the arena had passed on a message that I’m to work with Benjamin first thing this morning instead. Apparently, Erik had urgent business outside Craforian today but is expected back this afternoon.

On the way to the library, I opt to skip breakfast again to avoid running into more talnarins. The woman from the arena was more than enough. And somehow, every time I head to the kitchen, Elaine is there waiting.

It’s not that I don’t like her…I can’t stand to be around any of these talnarins yet. I’m sure I’ll adjust, but for now, I’m steering clear.

I’ll eventually need to scavenge up some lunch or dinner. I can worry about that later.

Soon enough, Benjamin makes his way to the table in the library. He glances down at my book choice and smiles. “Ah, Energy Fundamentals. Not the best book for the details but it does lay out the foundations well. Find anything in particular interesting?”

I leaf through the pages as I talk. “It reiterates what you said yesterday, about the energy manifesting at an early age. The book claims the affinity you end up with is not hereditary, it’s merely a result of a child’s core. How does that work, though?” I glance up at Benjamin as he takes a seat across from me.

“Let’s start at the beginning. All children are born with white eyes. It can be a little unnerving for those seeing it for the first time, but it’s normal.” He smiles sheepishly. “I won’t bore you with the scientific explanation of why this happens but I know that around seven, the color surfaces.

“Once your affinity is identified, the pigment represents that particular ability. Let’s say a child has the Firvo affinity.” Benjamin points to himself. “Those children end up with red or orange eyes, and so on. Are you following so far?”

“I think so. What you’re saying is talnarins under the age of seven don’t know what their affinity will be. Is there any way to determine that?”

Benjamin seems to ponder for a moment, his hand rubbing his chin. “Not exactly, but most of the time it’s obvious. Without going into too much detail, the child’s core is the key determining factor for the affinity you end up with. The core influences the personality of that child, allowing us to, at times, accurately predetermine what affinity they will sync with.” Benjamin pauses for a moment, thoughtful. I stare at him. “This is based off of certain… personality characteristics that show in childhood. The personality will still develop well past childhood, but the core foundation of who you are never changes. That’s why the affinity is chosen by the core that ties itself to you. This core, as you know, is the very essence that allows us access to our abilities.”

I mull over his words. I suppose, to a certain extent, I believe what he says about the core personality trait. It sounds like a soul. The soul remains as it is no matter what trials a person faces, and it’s the foundation of who you are as an individual. It’s what makes you, you.

I say, “I suppose it does make sense. Is core another word for soul, or are they two different things? Could you say that your affinity is determined by your soul?”

“They are essentially the same thing, yes. That’s just another way of looking at it.” He looks so exited talking about this stuff, I could swear his face is glowing with it as he bounces in his seat like a child.

“So then why wouldn’t the pigment be determined at birth? The soul is what it is. Seven years doesn’t change it. Why does it take so long for the affinity to surface when the soul has been in your body since the beginning?”

My question makes Benjamin pause his bouncing.  “You’re correct in that the core doesn’t alter in seven years, but it takes that long to mature and acclimate to the body. The core matures at a different pace then our mental and physical selves. It’s many years ahead of the rest of our body. At the age of seven, the core is able to handle the burden the energy brings on both the body and user.”

“But how do you know that? And what do you mean when you say the soul, the core, is finally tied to the body?” I shake my head, confused. “How is the core not tied to the body before the age of seven? How is that even possible?”

This is all so confusing and hard to wrap my head around. You are born with a soul, so how can it not be attached properly?

Benjamin smiles slightly. At least he’s patient. “The core is continually reincarnated, cycle after cycle, making the core thousands of years older than our bodies. The core is the only part of us that remains from another time and life. Any knowledge the core gains throughout the years, it keeps. This is why the core requires time to acclimate to the body hosting it. It’s an ancient and knowledgeable, living being. It requires time and patience to adjust to a new body after it’s been wandering in Naviha for many long years.”

A reincarnated soul? That’s what humans believe too, so it’s not that farfetched of a view. How can such different species hold such a similar world view? For someone like me, someone who doesn’t believe in the Gods anymore, reincarnation makes the theory seem a bit too mythical. Though I still find myself thanking the Gods out of habit so maybe I can’t completely discount my faith after all. Benjamin sounds so sure about it though, that it makes it hard to dispute it.

Another living being inside the talnarins? I lean back in my chair. Perhaps it’s the soul I feel lurking beneath the surface of all the talnarins. If I look at it this way, things in Craforian make a bit more sense, even if his explanation leaves me with more questions than answers.

I don’t know what to ask first so I say whatever comes to mind. “What’s Naviha?”

His lips curve up gently with a soft look in his eyes. “It’s a limbo for the cores. I know you have a lot of question regarding reincarnation, but let’s hold that discussion off for another time. It’s a lot to dive into, and I really want you to get a better understanding on how to manipulate the core so training progresses a little bit easier for you. Does that sound fair?”

Disappointment floods through me at the abrupt close on this conversation, but I remind myself that my primary goal is training. If he wants to help speed that along, I need to roll with it. I start to ramble through everything I’ve learned. “So, training starts at seven and not before. Even though the energy is always there, it isn’t able to develop into physical manifestations until the core settles properly. There’s no way to pull from the energy any sooner than that because the soul hasn’t adjusted yet. Unless of course, the child is stronger like you mentioned yesterday. The stronger the child, the stronger the soul, right?”

Benjamin smiles proudly at me. “That’s correct. Ideally, we would like to start the practice before the age of seven but the energy is locked down inside the core. It’s waiting to be released. When it is released, it releases slowly to ensure there isn’t any danger to the child or those around them.”

I point to a spot in the book and push it in his direction. “Why are the talnarins only able to harness the abilities from one affinity? What’s stopping them?” He leans forward and flips to a new page in the book. He pushes it back and I take a moment to absorb the words I’m reading. Looking up, I find Benjamin looking at me expectantly before gesturing to the book once more. I go out on a limb and say, “So more than one ability makes them too strong?”

“Close. Think about nature and how everything in nature has a balance. A creature dies, but another is born to replace it. A flower falls, but another blooms. Do you see?” I nod, unsure where he’s going with this. “Good. Our power is generated by nature. The energy we store in our core is absorbed from nature itself. That means we have to have a balance as well. We are a part of nature as it is a part of us.

“If we were to have two different affinities, the amount of energy we would need to store and consume would be much higher. When you think about it in the terms of only a handful of people having more than one affinity, it won’t have a crucial impact.” Benjamin leans back. “But when you have an entire species of people who consume that amount of energy on a daily basis, the impact would be disastrous. As it is, even with one affinity, there are multiple abilities to tie to one affinity. This requires more draining of energy as well. There are some who abuse the natural order and consume more energy than nature is able to replenish. Imagine if these talnarins were able to exceed their energy level within their cores. This could result in an even greater loss of plant and animal life. Add more than one affinity on top of it all, and it would cripple our energy source: nature.

“That’s why only the royal line is able to manipulate all the affinities. They remain as the last check of power for our species. Those who abuse their energy and affinities are dealt with by the King. The royal line is charged with keeping control and managing the consumption levels of energy. This ensures nature remains throughout the generations, allowing us to continue thriving.”

Put like that, and it makes complete sense. Too much power for an entire species puts the entire source of energy at risk. A risk to nature is a risk to food and water as well. After all, nature is the foundation for all life, without it there would be no life at all. Next thing you know, the entire species dies out from a lack of resources.

I tap my foot on the hard wood floors of the library. “Are we able to pull energy from sources other than nature?”

He shakes his head.

“Do we need the energy to survive? What happens if we are in a place that doesn’t have energy?”

He looks surprised, as if he hadn’t thought of it before now. “Nothing happens, we just grow weak and are unable to harness the energy. We don’t necessarily need the energy to survive, but it does strengthen us.”

Interesting. So, I could have had the energy from the start of the experiments. Perhaps I was just unable to harness the energy because I was removed from the energy source.

I’m drawn from my musing by Benjamin asking, “Did you have any other questions?”

I shake my head.

“Then we’ll finish up the energy lesson from yesterday before we talk about the other species and their qualities.”

I sputter, “Other species? What other species?” No. There’s only humans and talnarins. There can’t be any more. I abruptly stop tapping my foot.

His eyes widen marginally and he freezes  “Do you want to start with that, then? I assumed you knew about the other species beside ours.”

“I had no idea. How many are there?”

“There are currently five known species on Bylir. The dratonians, sugavans, nifarions, humans, and talnarins.”

“Five? Not two?”

He merely looks amused, a faint smile gracing his lips.

I scowl. “Since when?” Five? How do I not know about these species? How come the village or my books never mentioned these other species? Are they secluded like the humans?

Benjamin laughs and my head snaps up to watch him. “Since when? Since the beginning. There’s always been five.”

Unbelievable, all this time and I never knew there were others. Even the talnarins were a recent discovery.

“All of the kingdoms, except the humans, have a ruling court. They are governed by royal families, overseen by a King or Queen. All the species have abilities of their own that distinguish them from the other. Not to mention, their appearances greatly vary. Our features are a result of the environment we live in, just as our abilities are dependent on our environment as well.”

This is all so surreal–out of this world actually.

“Take the talnarins, for example. We have two distinct features that separate us from the humans: our ears and eyes. As we discussed, the color is a direct indicator of what affinity we can manipulate. The human’s appearance is much like ours. They have the same body shape and structure, but they have rounded ears instead of our pointed ones as well. Their eyes are either brown, green, or blue, unlike ours. Even their green eyes are dull. We don’t know why any of these differences exist either, there haven’t been enough studies done on the human’s species to know. As for their abilities, as far as we know, humans don’t have any.” Benjamin shrugs nonchalantly. “Most humans stay away from us, with the exception of the ones housed here in Craforian.”

What he said makes me freeze, but I manage to ask another question. “What, so the humans could have powers too? Is there any way to find that out?” There’s just no way. I would have known, I lived with them for twenty-two years. But, I didn’t know the other kingdoms existed. Maybe I really don’t know anything after all.

“Theoretically they could, but no one knows.” His lips turn down in a frown. “There isn’t a concrete way to determine that, either. We could probably run some tests, but contact with the humans is prohibited.”

What? “Prohibited? But there’s humans here.”

Benjamin looks like he’s hiding something. Guilt and panic creep against his face. “The King forbids contact with them. You would need express permission before encountering any.”

That doesn’t make any sense. How will the King even know if any talnarins have contact with humans? The King can’t be everywhere at once. “Why would you need permission from the King?  You just said there are humans here. Why is contact with them fine, but not with other humans?”

He looks even more uncomfortable than before as he shifts in his chair. “Contact with the humans is prohibited, even here. The humans in Craforian are isolated on the other side of the compound. There are only a select few talnarins allowed to interact with the humans, and they’re hand chosen by the King himself. No one knows why we have humans here, or why they want to be here. The entire thing is top secret, I don’t know anything more.”

I eye him suspiciously. Benjamin looks as if he does in fact know more than he’s telling. I let it go… after one more question. “Are they hurting the humans? Are they safe here?”

Now he just looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “Oh, they’re fine. Abel assures us that they are content and comfortable where they are. The humans staying at Craforian are here completely by choice.” He looks at me curiously as he asks, “Why so many questions about it though? Do you want to study the humans too?”

He wants to study humans? “I’m just curious, everything is so unknown about them. And no I don’t, I’m done with humans now.”

“Done with humans? Have you had contact with them before?” His eyes light up with excitement at the possibility.

Shit. Me and my big mouth. I always say more than I intended. “Uh… once. It was an accident. I didn’t know about the rule, either.” I gulp. “It was a long time ago, I hardly remember it now. I won’t get in trouble or anything, right?” Please say no, please say no.

Benjamin’s leans forward and starts talking with his hands, his excitement evident. “Amazing. You’ve seen actual humans? What were they really like? Were they strange? Anything unusual happen? What was their behavior like? Did they speak our language? Did you go to their village? How many did you meet? What happened? Who was it? Where was it?”

I cut him off harshly. “Nothing happened, it was a misunderstanding. It’s how I found my way here. One of the humans from their village sent me here.” I choose to omit Lori’s name for fear of Abel’s reaction if he found out I was talking about her again. He didn’t handle my mention of her well the first time, and I rather not go down that road again.

Benjamin looks hurt at my brash tone.  I didn’t mean to sound nasty. He slowly says, “How did the human know to send you here? That’s doesn’t make any sense. How did the human know about Craforian?”

Well, she used to live here, not that you’d know and that I’d tell you. She left though and I can’t say it was a pleasant departure either. “Oh, I don’t know, she didn’t say much. We were both a bit preoccupied. It doesn’t matter though, Abel knows. He can handle it, I’m sure.” In a rush I say, “What do the other three species look like?”

He looks thoughtful for a minute before reluctantly conceding to my poor subject change. “Besides the talnarins and humans, the other three have greater differences in appearance than us. The dratonians have some features that allow them to live comfortably under water. They have gills on their necks, fins where our ears are, and webbing between their fingers.” He points to the side of his face, along his neck. “All the dratonians have patches of scales across their bodies and large fish tails where our legs are. They have variations in the colors of these scales and tail fins. The variations in color have no direct relation to their abilities like ours.

“They have the ability to manipulate water. As you can probably guess, they also have an affinity with sea creatures. While all the dratonians are able to access these powers, only a select few are able to walk on land. Those special dratonians are able to morph their tails into legs like ours and walk across the land like we do. Though, they do ultimately prefer the water.”

 I stare open mouthed for a few seconds before common sense climbs back in. Sea creatures? They look like sea creatures? That’s… terrifying and amazing.

“The sugavans all have light-colored fur all along their bodies to help them acclimate to the desert climate. They have variations in the colors and patterns of their fur. They have long, furry ears, similar to a venhirs. Unlike ours, which extend out, theirs extend up.” Benjamin illustrates by putting his hands on his head pointing straight up. “All male sugavans have feathered wings on their backs as well, and they vary in color. The sugavans are able to manipulate the air and have an affinity with avian creatures. Again, these two abilities are common for all of the sugavans.

“The nifarions’ appearance is relatively unknown since they live so far underground and hardly venture to the surface. We do know that they have long tails with sensory hairs in order to aid them with underground life. We also know that their eyes are nearly white, since they are a nearly blind species. When they do surface, though, they only remain aboveground for small increments of time since the sunlight bothers them. They travel during the night much easier but still prefer the relative safety of their underground caverns. Their primary abilities are shadow—”

This time I can’t hold my tongue as I point to him. “If you don’t know what they look like, then how do you know what their abilities are?”

He looks baffled before he stutters out a reply. “That’s ... I don’t know. I’ve honestly never thought of that before. I’ll ask around and see what I can find. Perhaps it’s knowledge gained through communications with the King during the council meetings.”

Before I can ask him what he means by council meetings, Benjamin hurries on, looking uncomfortable. “The nifarions are able to manipulate the shadows of this world. They choose the underground caverns due to the number of shadows available for manipulation. It’s similar to how we stay in the forested region for the life sources. We also know that the nifarions have an affinity with all nocturnal creatures.”

After Benjamin trails off, I ask, “Do the kingdoms get along well with each other?”

“To a degree, yes.”

I stare at him in the growing silence, waiting for more. I awkwardly clear my throat.

He startles. “We’ll go over more about the neighboring kingdoms in the next few days. For now, I really want to move onto the energy manipulation.”

I can’t fault that logic, even though it feels like my brain is going to self-combust. Five species?

I’m learning way more than I bargained for in Craforian.