Hey guys! I hope you're all ready for my rendition of Fire and Ice! Please let me know what you think!
Also, I'm still struggling with making progress on this series, but please know that I've got enough chapters to get us through July!
-owl
Lucette stood side by side with Tarik as they watched the four children that had done the impossible and bonded with the Four Fallen. There was an empty place next to Tarik that should have been filled by Nicolai, Lucette's brother, but he had been taken by the Conquerors. Lost family seemed to be a common theme of this little group. As mentioned, Lucette had lost her brother, just as Meilin had — only two weeks ago — lost her father, and just as Conor's family's status was unknown since the refusal to hand over the Iron Boar.
The four children had finished lunch and were in the Greenhaven library. It seemed that Rollan had convinced Meilin to help him teach Conor and Abeke how to read and write. It was an understandable goal, as Conor nor Abeke had never learned how. Rollan had arrived at Greenhaven the year prior with a basic knowledge of lettering, and had since been taught.
Lucette was glad that Meilin was taking part, the girl had been very withdrawn since returning from Zhong. The Zhongese girl seemed content enough to spend her time with Lucette, and she hoped that her presence was a calming thing for the distraught girl.
"Oh!" Rollan said as he looked up from his page and saw Lucette and Tarik. "Hi Lucette, Tarik!"
With a smile on her face, Lucette left her hidden section of bookshelves and approached the kids. "How's this endeavor going?" she asked.
"We've made it through the alphabet and quite a few simple words by now," Conor answered, smiling up at them.
"I'm glad you are all working together," Tarik said, the ghost of a grin on his face. "Would you like to come try something new?"
Abeke perked up, a smile splitting the look of boredom that she had been presenting since before Lucette and Tarik had come in.
Twenty minutes later the six of them were in the training room, in comfortable workout clothes. Meilin was the only one to keep her animal in passive state. That was something she had been doing constantly, unless she was on her own or with Lucette. Abeke and Conor, meanwhile, had released Uraza and Briggan as soon as they were out of the library. Essix had been off flying around, not particularly liking the library or most any room indoors. The bird, though, came and perched on Rollan's shoulder when they entered the training room.
"So what are we going to do?" Abeke asked, running her fingers through Uraza's pelt.
"I'm glad you're excited, Abeke." Lucette smiled. "Tarik and I were thinking that you should all have a chance to practice with the talismans, and not just your animal's talismans."
Tarik pulled the three talismans that they had collected so far out of his pocket. They had been placed into the vault below the castle once they had returned from Zhong. The kids had been allowed to hold onto the talismans that correspond to their respective spirit animals.
Meilin, though, had given the Bamboo Panda to Rollan to hold onto. She refused to touch it as she blamed herself for not having it when her father was dying. Lucette had echoed the others, saying that even the talisman could only do so much, and General Teng was already too far gone that it wouldn't have made much of a difference. The Zhongese girl still wouldn't accept that, though.
"We will not be practicing with the Bamboo Panda or the Silver Wolf today, as those are not focused on attack as much as the others are," Tarik said.
"So, to review, what does each of them do?" Lucette asked.
Abeke was quick to answer. "The Amber Leopard grants the wearer increased attack speed and power. I used that to my advantage when Conor and I were getting the banana gourds."
"Abeke also used the Copper Falcon to find the banana gourds, as it grants the wearer strengthened eyesight." Conor added.
"The Bamboo Panda heals." Meilin spoke with a hollow voice. "And the Silver Wolf grants heightened smelling and hearing, sometimes even prophecy."
Tarik nodded, pleased. "Well done. What do the other three do?"
Abeke spoke again. "The Granite Ram gives the ability to leap further distances and to be more steady in situations such as that."
"The Iron Boar is yet unknown, as is the Slate Elephant." Conor sighed. "We should have asked Rumfuss and Dinesh what they did."
Lucette shrugged. "What is done, is done. We'll just have to figure it out ourselves. Conor, why don't you put on the Iron Boar, and Abeke, you try the Slate Elephant?"
Both kids nodded and accepted the talismans they were handed. Conor pulled the Iron Boar over his head, and nothing happened immediately. When Abeke put on the Slate Elephant, though, Uraza grew ten times her size. It was a very good thing the training room had vaulted ceilings.
Everyone was so focused on Uraza that they didn't see Briggan gnawing on Conor's arm. Or, rather, attempting to gnaw on his arm. His teeth seemed to meet an invisible barrier a quarter inch from his skin. Finally Conor noticed what the wolf was doing.
"That's it!" he exclaimed. "The Iron Boar makes the wearer's skin as tough and impervious as a boar!"
When Conor spoke, Briggan stopped what he had been doing and sat down, a wolfish grin on his face.
By the time they left the training room to attend dinner, Lucette was very proud of the kids. They had shown remarkable patience and teamwork as they took turns with each of the talismans and got used to using them.
They had each also shown preference to a different talisman. Abeke was fond of the Granite Ram, as she said that the Amber Leopard didn't give her too much more than Uraza already did. Conor seemed to favor the Iron Boar. Meilin liked the Amber Leopard, and Rollan was fond of the Slate Elephant.