Chapter 104
“That’s it, Dorin,” said Pan Phineas as Dorin closed his eyes once more.
It took him less time to concentrate and keep the thunder and lightning at bay.
“Remember that feeling, Dorin, feel it with your heart and with your soul and you will never lose to the lightning’s destructive power.”
“I think I’ve got it now, Sir Pan Phineas,” replied Dorin with a peaceful smile on his face. “I am one with the wind... one with the universe...”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” replied the oracle with a soft cackle. “All you need is to be one with yourself. Remember that feeling and you will be able to tame your power, even if your emotions get the better of you. All you need to do, is keep the power within you in a state of peace.”
“A state of peace...” Dorin repeated.
“Think of a hollow within your center, Dorin, imagine a cradle to rest in, and let the power flow inside this cradle in an eternal, never ending cycle. There, it shall stay, until you call upon it again.”
“A hollow... inside me... a cradle...”
Dorin imagined a hollow inside him.
A space within his solar plexus where his lightning can flow freely in a never ending cycle. He felt the power moving from his entire body, a living light, a second person, gathering and turning into a tight ball as it settled in his cradle in a fetal position.
“Do you feel it, Dorin?” Pan Phineas asked him.
“Yes... I feel him...”
“That is your other self,” he told him, “your lightning phasma. It is what others call your id or primal instinct. Let him rest for now. Keep him at peace and let him sleep.”
“Sleep...”
“Now, open your eyes once more.”
The whole room was silent when Dorin opened his eyes.
The sun had gone down, the room, illuminated by several electric lights on the high ceiling.
“It’s gone...” Dorin said as he stared at his open hands. “I can still feel his power, but he’s quiet now...”
“So it seems.” Pan Phineas held out a bony hand for Dorin to shake. “I congratulate you for taming your phasma. You are now on your way to be a true thunder god.”
“Thank you... But, is it really okay to not have aunt Agate seal my lightning again?” Dorin asked as he shook his mentor’s hand.
“That would be all up to you,” replied the oracle, “just remember to keep him at peace, and he will stay quietly in your cradle.”
“So, are you done now?”
The two looked at Eirian who stood impatiently with her arms across her chest.
“Eirian!” Dorin looked around the tower room. “Where are the others?” he asked, noting that the three of them were the only people there.
“It’s way past curfew, your friends have left for the dorms hours ago.”
“Oh? What time is it then?”
“It’s 4 in the morning,” said Eirian with a yawn.
“Already?!” Dorin asked, surprised.
“Well, at least you finally got your phasma core.”
“A phasma core?” Dorin asked again.
“A thunder god’s phasma core,” Pan Phineas explained. “Since our element has such destructive power, it has been a Heilig tradition to keep our phasma in a cradle or core where it can sleep until we need its power.”
“Hmph. It’s how these bastards trap their id in their core. That’s why powerful lightning mages are known to be lazy bums with no ambition,” said Eirian. “They keep out of politics and stay in their kingdom in the east to continue their research in things that never see the light of day, since they keep everything to themselves anyway.”
She pouted and looked at the oracle.
“So, what has that brought you so far, Phineas?” she asked him. “Now, your bloodline is almost depleted, your kingdom is no more, and what’s left of your family’s research is in the hands of these who wished to eradicate you,” she mocked him. “Tell me, is it still worth it being so indifferent?”
“We prefer the term ‘neutral’, Eirian,” said Pan Phenias. “Or should I call you ******?”
“What?”
Dorin’s brows wrinkled.
He heard the words Pan Phenias called Eirian, but the words would not settle in his head.
And now, Eirian is laughing mirthlessly.
“I guess they don’t call you an oracle for no reason,” she told Pan Phineas with a dark look on her face. “too bad, an oracle can do nothing but watch as the world burns around them.”
“That, and give warnings,” replied the oracle. “What you desire will never be, ******. All you will bring is more sorrow to those around you, as well as to yourself.”
“I don’t need your warning, oracle,” Eirian told him. “I do what I want and what I must.”
“Even at the expense of the one you cherish most?”
Eirian laughed.
A loud hollow laugh full of mockery.
“How could I lose something I never possessed?” she asked as she walked closer to the floating oracle.
“Um, Eirian, can you tell me what you’re talking about?”
Eirian looked at Dorin, looking puzzled behind her.
She almost forgot that her little pet was still there.
“Sleep,” she commanded Dorin, catching him as he fell. She then faced the oracle once more.
“Thank you for helping Dorin with his core,” she told him. “His mother could never harness his true potential since she sealed his phasma instead of taming it. Frankly, she had no way to do so, since only a thunder god could teach another thunder god. She simply lost interest and left him with me when she thought he was useless.”
“And now that he has tamed his phasma?”
Eirian gave him a big smile.
“Again I say thank you,” she continued. “We shall be taking it from here, old man. Just watch in the sidelines like you always do,” she told him, “be content with the show as you watch in your high seat, for the climax is coming soon, and I promise, you won’t be bored `till the very end.”