Vir wanted nothing to do with those painful emotions, and was about to dismiss it, but stopped.
What was it Tia said back then?
Vir racked his brain to recall the memory in detail. Vason and Vir had faced off against Tia together. Neither had been able to land a hit. She moved deftly around them, teasing them at every turn.
“Sit still!” Vason had said. “You move too fast!”
Tia had poked her tongue out. “It’s not that I move fast. Just that you all move too slow!”
That’s it! I don’t need to think faster, I just need everything to slow down a bit…
It clicked like a key in a lock.
Going faster, slowing down—they’re just two sides of the same coin!
Vir returned to Haste, and this time, changed his intent. Instead of imagining himself speeding up, he willed the world to slow around him. And slow, it did. The reeds blowing in the wind stilled while the sound reaching his ears grew deeper. Vir hadn’t noticed any improvement in his own speed. It didn’t feel fast, very much unlike the rush of using Blink or Leap.
It wasn’t that the world slowed suddenly. He was just moving faster relative to everything else.
This is what she felt?
Vir could hardly believe it. Haste was powerful. But was it ever this strong? To Vir, the world moved less than half as fast as it normally did. Which meant he moved more than twice as quickly. Far faster than Tia had ever been.
Ash prana! It’s because I’m using Ash prana, not just Earth Affinity! Before Vir could jump for joy, he stumbled, feeling a sudden bout of weakness come over him. When he looked inside him with Prana Vision, it became obvious why. His body’s prana had nearly run dry.
Canceling the ability, Vir allowed ambient prana to flood in, replenishing himself. Clearly, Haste’s burn rate was far too much for the prana in his body alone to sustain. That was fine—there was plenty in the realm to go around—though he’d certainly have to ration the Talent outside the Ash. Either that or learn how to modulate its output.
Vir sat beside the pond, allowing his nausea to clear.
It makes sense, he thought. There was a difference between feeling faster and perceiving the world as having slowed down. Haste didn’t only accelerate his body. It sped up his mind, too. His heart pumped faster while under its effects, and even his blood circulated quicker. Blood that entered and exited his head every moment. When his mind operated at the same, faster rate as his body, it wouldn’t make any sense for him to feel like his body was quicker than normal. Vir had sped up relative to the world, and so from his perspective, it was the world that slowed down around him.
Vir reveled in his progress, only to realize there was still work to be done. Fixing Prana Vision was good, and learning Haste was even better. There was a vast chasm, though, between learning an ability and mastering it.
Against the Shredder, nothing less than complete mastery would let him keep up. Vir stood, preparing himself to invoke Haste a few hundred times, but a presence behind him stopped him dead in his tracks.
“Lad? It’s been six hours. What did you promise me when you left?”
Dread trickled down Vir’s back.
Grak it! I said I’d be back in an hour!
Cirayus scowled. “Come with me. Now.”
19FOUNDATIONAL STABILITY
Cirayus regarded the sleeping Ekavir with a concerned frown. He’d assumed many roles over the centuries. Of them all, he considered himself a capable teacher. More than capable—there was no end to the number of demons who sought apprenticeship with him. He’d even run his own school for a few decades, long ago.
These days, he turned down all but the most talented, though there was a time when he’d mentored dozens. He’d seen all types of students. The ones who slacked and needed to be pushed—those were the most common—and those who excelled naturally owing to their talent.
Then there were the precious few who had both the talent and the drive to do whatever it took to improve. Those were one in a million, and Cirayus now understood Ekavir was among their number.
He’d initially thought to pressure the boy, to test his limits. That style of teaching worked well for the masses; everyone benefited from a little push.
Unfortunately, it tended to have disastrous consequences on the self-driven. He’d pushed hard, and Vir pushed himself even further, working himself to the bone. If left unchecked, Cirayus had no doubt Vir would drive himself to the ground. Elsewhere, that might have resulted in a career change. Here, it was a death sentence. They had no such luxury in the Ash. There was no rest here. Only death offered that release.
S’pose I ought to lean off him a tad, Cirayus thought, stroking his beard. Rather, he might very well have to do the opposite—act as Vir’s brake rather than his prod. Though, can I really manage that, with what’s at stake?
The boy had a good head atop his shoulders, but everyone had their breaking point. Cirayus had seen too many good demons crack. Be it the pressure of military command, or the weight of a judge’s decision in royal court… Few seldom rebuilt themselves if pushed beyond their limit.
Facing the boy was what might’ve been the most monumental challenge one could undertake. The lives of an entire realm were at stake.
Vir had a good heart. He mourned for his late father. He bore the weight of his every sin, and he wanted to do right by everyone. That was precisely why Cirayus worried.
How will he react when he learns that thousands have died? Not for their clan, but for him? How will he endure when thousands more perish for his cause? Will he be able to order good demons to march to their deaths?
He wasn’t ready for that knowledge. Still, the boy would eventually have to be, and it was Cirayus’ role to prepare him for that burden. Even if it turned Vir into someone he didn’t want to be. The burden of royalty was heavier than most ever knew.
The giant moved across the humble abode he’d built for them, hoisting the chipped greatsword the Hiranyans had given him. The sword was never designed to cut through rock. Soft sandstone though it was, the blade neared the end of its life. To Cirayus, it was a toy. One that had nearly outlived its usefulness.
“Rest well, lad. We’ll see to your training when you wake.”
Cracking his neck, Cirayus got to work.
Vir dreamed of a grassy hill with a lone tree, ruffled by a peaceful breeze. The sun shone gently, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Under the cool shade of the tree, Neel and Maiya awaited.
His furry friend lay splayed on the grass, accepting belly rubs from the crimson-haired girl, who lounged atop a picnic mat in a flowery red dress.
Sensing Vir, Neel yelped, bounding up to lick his face furiously. Maiya waved, an angelic smile on her beautiful face.
“It’s been forever, my prince! Please, come join us!”
Maiya saying such an embarrassing line without bursting into laughter tipped him off that this was a dream. The surroundings were all wrong. For one, a hundred demons surrounded the hill in a ring, prostrating before him.
“The Akh Nara returns! He will help us!”
Vir shirked back, only to find thousands behind him, pointing their spears at him.
“The Akh Nara returns! Burn him to Ash!”
Lightning cracked. The scene transitioned, and now Vir stood in a vast, featureless expanse of ash, battered and beaten, fighting the sort of beasts that might appear in nightmares. No matter how many he killed, more came.