Night had fallen. Koa sat alone at the creek's edge, his mind in a haze as he recalled the day's events. He wiped his still-teary eyes, surprised by the rush of emotion.
The journey back to his family had been a blur. He had been terrified, more so than Lyra or Proclus. The closer they got to his new home, the harder the pressure in his chest.
Would I be in trouble? What would my cousins think?
Once they had arrived, Hota and Isa were stunned to see him walking with the woman. His family had referred to her as the Magus, and gave her deference. His uncles and aunts began preparing a feast while the Magus and Elder La'Lo went aside to talk. Isa fretted over him and his injuries, but she was assuaged at Koa's fast recovery, and told him to go see his grandfather. He went looking for the two, and found them inside the meeting hall. He stopped just outside and announced himself by tapping the wooden walls.
"Come, Koakiran." The Magus beckoned him from inside the doorway. As he walked in, he saw both had sat on opposite ends of the table.
The interior was warm, and the dirt floor crunched underneath Koa's feet. Moonlight poured in through the windows, and Koa smelled the meats and herbs cooking back outside.
"How are your injuries?" Elder La'Lo's eyes were searching.
"They seem to be recovering nicely. I don't think any will scar." The Magus observed. They both had cups of tea. They all turned when they heard children trying to peek through the window.
"I'm fine, Elder."
"More than fine, I see. You kept quite a secret." His Elder said, voice devoid of scorn.
"I'm sorry. I thought that if you knew-" Koa's voice caught in his throat. The hunting trips that usually ended with him injured, the hunt for the Gigavix. His search for the statue put not only him, but his companions, in danger.
I'm already a danger to myself. I didn't want to be a danger to others.
"You thought you would be ostracized. Pushed further away."
He nodded. The Magus looked to the Elder. He had seen the expression before.
"Are you familiar with Skywriting?" The Magus asked, and Koa hesitated.
"It's your magic." Koa looked to his grandfather. "Passed down through our storytellers."
"He has yet to see it, but he's heard plenty about it." Elder La'Lo took a drink of his tea.
"Slowed down in your age?"
The unexpected rebuttal startled the boy, but his grandfather's steady chuckle did even more so.
"My responsibility to my people is more important than any silly lights."
The Magus nodded. "Then may I?"
Elder La'Lo nodded, and the Magus stood. She flexed her hands, and Koa felt a chill draft of wind waft through the open windows. As if the moonlight began to bend, pale blue light wrapped around the sticks holding up the shutters to the window, dropping it. The kids outside gasped and shrieked in excitement.
"Magic," he began, waving her hands as blue traces began encircling her, "dangerous and alluring. Enchanting and terrifying. Your Elder had worked on refining his magic, developing it as his ancestors have done, their tradition of Skywriting."
"Your abilities," she said, "are different. Potent and dangerous. If you aren't careful, it can harm you, or others."
As she spoke, the faint blue light began to take shape, growing four thin limbs and dancing around the room. As small shapes, rocks, Koa realized, appeared and stuck to the figure.
"The danger in it is its temptation." As the rocks clung to the figure, it began to slow, until it completely froze and crumbled apart.
Koakiran was transfixed at the lights. He had only heard of them through his family's stories. No one had ever been sure of why Elder La'Lo had stopped using his magic. As he watched, the realization hit him. The Magus had seen him turn to stone, and she was telling Koakiran that doing so was dangerous.
"I am sorry," He blurted out. "I promise, I won't do it again, so you don't have to worry about-"
"You misunderstand." The Magus said, the light fading as she lowered her hands. "You don't need to hide your abilities. You need to hone them."
Koakiran froze. What? "What?"
"At nightfall tomorrow," She pointed to the west, "Come find me at the Eobe that stands atop the knoll. Follow the lights. I will instruct you on the arcane arts."
Despite the conversation happening hours ago, Koakiran stuck to it. His Elder hadn't shunned him, and the Magus wasn't chiding him.
They had wanted him to learn how to use his abilities more.
The flood of relief flowing through him threatened to leak out through his eyes once more. Instead, he shook his head and inhaled deeply. He meditated, clearing his thoughts. A level head would help process his emotions.
As he sank into tranquility, he felt his breathing slow down. Everything felt still, and for a moment Koa was taken back to the strange room. The same emptiness inside his mind reminded him of how that room felt.
…???...
The boy startled back to reality, frantically glancing around. It was as if the wounds he had suffered the day before returned, bringing a fierce sting.
The night was quiet, and after a few breaths, Koa thought he had imagined it.
Familiar…
There it was again!
Who are you? He reached out with his thoughts.
Same… Intruder. It felt as if sensations, not words, were being given to him. First came curiosity, then a spike of hostility.
Your cell? Koa understood now. You're trapped there.
Aware. Koa perceived no more words, but he did feel new sensations, as if he had breathed them in. Hostility and curiosity.
They said no more, but Koa knew the presence was still there.
"You hid it well." Koa stiffened, yelping in surprise as Hota suddenly appeared beside him. "Your abilities. Is that how you survived the Gigavix?" Koakiran nodded.
"I see. And you will seek the Magi's instruction?"
"...I will."
"Good." Hota sat down next to him.
"I… am sorry. If I made you feel like your talents were a burden to hide." Koa looked to the man. His ever stoic gaze was locked on the far horizon. "I know what it is to feel shame at being different. Like you do not belong, to see others stare at you as if they think the same."
Koa looked to the man. "You?"
Hota nodded, but did not elaborate further. The boy was about to ask for more details when Hota suddenly stood.
"What is it?" He said nothing, only jogging away. Koa followed him down the hill where their village was nestled, toward a cliff edge. There he pointed. Koa followed it, down the mountain, off in the distance. He saw large shapes moving. He squinted, spotting more and more debris around the objects.
"Trees!" He exclaimed, noticing the large trunks. There was a slight circular sheen, like a bubble on the surface of a pond.
"Stones." Hota added, watching as these massive objects floated about, bumping into each other and spinning as if weightless.
The pair went silent when they saw the panicking legs of an animal. Then another. Koa counted three living shapes within the strange sphere. Before he could ponder what he was seeing, they stilled for the briefest of moments.
Then they fell. The boy heard the thundering crash, even from so far away.
"We should go; we need to see!" Koa said, turning to Hota, who was already making his way back to the village.
"I will." Hota turned and held out a hand to stop the boy. "You will not. You will meet with the Magus."