The Ancient's Vendetta

Chapter 7: Priya's Trip

This was the first day of the year the temperatures were warm enough that no one instinctively reached for a jacket on their way out the door. They finished their reading a month ago, and immediately after that started more hands-on training. Though learning about their powers in such detail had been enlightening, they were all quite pleased to be done with the more cerebral and academic portion of their training.

As promised, Monty divulged just about everything once the books were completed.

“Is everyone ready?!” Mounty shouted into the house from the front door. He glanced at Nedra as she tucked a sandwich and water bottle into his rucksack.

Joaquim emerged from the hallway, “how much longer are we going to do this hike Monty?” he asked, not really interested in an answer.

“Until you’re ready.”

Remy and Pytor approached from the kitchen after placing their empty coffee mugs on the counter and they all gathered by the front door, then they donned and synched their rucksacks. “Look everyone, remember it’s about a 4km hike, pace yourselves. You don’t have to wait for me, but this isn’t a race.”

Priya, who sat next to the fireplace silently reading, glanced up during Monty’s announcement, “I’m staying here with Nedra this time”, she said, giving Nedra a warm smile.

Nedra remained stoic and only her eyes shifted to meet Priya’s. Priya’s smile was quickly replaced by an expression of quizzical annoyance.

Monty looked at Nedra, “maybe next time”, he said, giving her a sheepish grin as he turned to leave.

Pyotr grabbed his sack, “nope not happening”, he said as he walked out the door.

“Alright, we’re staying one night, I trust you all packed accordingly. Pyotr, why don’t you set the pace you’re going to be moving a lot faster than we are, so give us one comm click at 1km and two comm clicks at 2km. Take the usual route”, Monty said.

Pyotr took off, his strength had really responded to this engaged training. Pyotr’s power manifested in many ways, and running was one. His speed just kept increasing on each training trip they took.

As Pyotr sprinted ahead the other three started at a more pedestrian pace through the forest. Monty turned to his nephews, “Joaquim, when we hear the comm click I want you to try and persuade Pyotr to slow down.”

“From here? I can’t even see him, how will I even know if he can hear me?”

“Just think of this as a test, we’ll find out if it works, just try it.”

Suddenly, their comms clicked, they all looked around and then at their watches. Monty motioned to Joaquim to go ahead. Joaquim smirked, “okay…hey Pyotr, why don’t you slow down a bit, you’re making us all look bad.” Joaquim glanced at Monty and shrugged, “did it work”, he asked.

“I guess we’ll find out”, Monty said.

Joaquim stopped to retrieve his water bottle out of his rucksack’s side pocket, but Remy and Monty continued on, creating some space. “You’re up next Remy, when Pyotr clicks twice at the 2km mark, I want you to project yourself to the 3rd km mark and wait for him. When he arrives try to get him to wait for us. Now, this is going to be challenging Remy because I want you to also maintain control of your body while you’re projected.”

Remy started to close his eyes and Monty slapped his shoulder, “No! Stay here and go there.”

Remy stared at him quizzically, “what?”

Monty took a deep breath, “you don’t need to close your eyes to see the 3km marker. See it in your mind and then do what we practiced and let the part of you that can move through space and time go there, while the rest of you stays here.”

Subtly, a vision of the 3km post appeared in Remy’s mind’s eye, and not seconds after he envisioned his destination, he was there. He could faintly hear Monty speaking to him, “Remy are you there? You left too early, Pyotr never double clicked the comms, it may feel like you’re waiting a while.”

Remy floated at the marker and he could see down the forest path. When Pyotr crested he tried waving, forgetting that his body didn’t make this trip. He’d have to communicate with Pyotr telepathically, which he didn’t quite know how to do yet. He tried using his mind to move some blades of grass, shift some rock pebbles, and knock on a tree. None of it worked. In the midst of his concentration he didn’t notice Pyotr’s arrival at the marker until he heard Monty whisper, “two clicks”. Remy turned and found himself face to face with his brother, floating directly in front of Pyotr.

Remy tried speaking, but he couldn’t, so he tried something crazy. In a last ditch effort Remy floated his consciousness right into Pyotr’s mind. Pytor jerked and then swung ferociously making contact with the same tree Remy tried to knock on earlier, and it absolutely exploded. As the tree careened down Pyotr waited until he was sure of where it would fall then he rolled to safety. Pytor, still agitated by Remy’s presence in his mind, began to incessantly tap on his head.

“Pyotr stop that, it’s me!”

“Me who?!” Pyotr snapped.

“Me Remy.”

“Why..how..?”

“Monty told me to tell you to wait for us at the 3km marker. I didn’t have a way of communicating that with you, so I thought I’d try to -”

“You thought you’d try to possess me?” Pyotr finished, very much unamused.

Monty noticed the thunderous eruption and the billowing smoke from the trees fall and called in, “Pyotr, are you okay?” he said as he gave Joaquim a reassuring smile.

Just then Monty noticed Remy’s body flinching, “I got Pyotr to wait, we’ll see him when we get to the 3km.”

“How did you do it?” Monty asked.

“We’ll tell you all about it when we get to the training site”, Remy said with a smirk.

Joaquim, Remy, and Monty met up with Pyotr at the 3km mark and they all hiked the rest of the way to the training site. They were able to get in a few more hours of extensive training before sunset. Monty was really pleased with his nephews’ development. Each of the brothers exhibited an extensive amount of control over their abilities, and with each passing day their power also grew. The way Remy made contact with Pyotr and the fact that Pyotr’s trek to the 2km mark slowed at Joaquim’s influence left Monty cautiously optimistic that in another 3 months they’d be ready for anything. He rolled over in his sleeping bag, his face wearing a content little grin, and he dozed off to sleep.

The cabin was quiet. For the past several hours Priya hadn’t seen Nedra at all, except for during dinner. Even though the meal was appetizing, the lack of conversation made the food dull. However, it was Nedra’s manners that left a bad taste in Priya’s mouth. Nedra couldn’t or wouldn’t say thank you, and she also decided not to show any gratitude in any way whatsoever. As soon as she was done eating she rushed out of the kitchen not helping Priya clean up after the food was finished.

By the time Priya finished tidying up the kitchen she was tired and looking forward to winding down in bed with a good book. She filled herself a glass of water and carried it with her. On the way back to her room Priya heard some faint murmuring, she paused in the hall and cocked her head in the direction of the noise and slowly walked toward Nedra’s room. Nedra’s room door was ajar, and Priya peaked through the opening. Nedra sat on the floor facing the other direction speaking incoherently. Priya inched closer and as she stared a breeze brushed the hair by her left ear, she turned the direction of the breeze but only saw an empty hall. But there before her, invisible to the human eye stood Delusion.

As Delusion moved its hands the floor beneath Priya opened and she disappeared through a portal. The glass she was carrying shattered on the hallway floor and Nedra continued her incantation. Priya’s scream ended when her feet landed firmly on the floor of a room made entirely of purple sapphire. Delusion sat on its throne eyeing her curiously.