Because of that and its distance from anything worthwhile, it was a place that few people bothered to spend much time in. Malcolm looked up at the cliffs, remembering how he used to think about climbing them as a kid on the few times he’d ridden his bike out in their direction.
“Why bring me here?” asked Malcolm. “You’re taking a risk, aren’t you? If I wanted to get away badly enough, I could just take off running, you know.”
Shield Maiden smiled at him. She was wearing a loose, long sleeve t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Her skin made the outfit look more impressive than it really was, the simplicity contrasting against the complicated mixture of purples and pinks underneath.
“Could you really?” she asked. “Why don’t you try it and see what happens?”
It would not be fun to have her bubble me while in mid sprint. But still… she’s taking a risk, whether she’ll admit it or not.
“The reason I brought you out here, Wind Runner, is because of the wind,” said Shield Maiden. “I want to teach you some of what Rain Dancer and I have figured out in our time using our powers.”
“Why, though?” asked Malcolm. “Why go through the trouble of teaching a prisoner anything?”
“Because you aren’t a prisoner, Malcolm,” said Shield Maiden. “You’re a new recruit.”
CHAPTER 19
The weight of Shield Maiden’s admission was more than enough to knock Malcolm off balance. He stared at her, trying to discern whether she was being serious, or whether it was a trick.
If she is serious, all I have to do is play along, and I’ll have the freedom to escape soon enough.
“Have you tried flying before?” asked Shield Maiden. “I’ve seen other gifted individuals manage it, but only ones with a… slightly higher power level than you.”
“I’ve flown before,” said Malcolm. “It… didn’t really end well. I came close to losing myself to my powers, and crossing over the line. I think… if I had kept doing it, I would have turned into a spryte, or a demon.”
Shield Maiden nodded.
“I’m assuming that the approach you took was a less efficient one,” said Shield Maiden. “One of the critical things that both Rain and I have learned from experimenting with our own powers is that it’s often more practical to use them in limited bursts.”
Malcolm shrugged his shoulders, thinking about what she was saying.
“What do you mean by that, exactly?” he asked.
“Follow me,” said Shield Maiden.
She walked along the sand cliffs until they reached an easily accessible ridge to climb. Malcolm followed her as she made her way up, finally reaching the summit at a hundred feet above the silty bottom.
“I want you to jump,” said Shield Maiden. “And I want you to try to think about using the wind, not to fly wherever you want, but just to keep yourself from touching the ground.”
“Uh…” Malcolm scratched his head. “Is there a difference, really? That sounds like the same thing to me.”
Shield Maiden shook her head.
“What I’m talking about is using your wind powers to give yourself a quick burst of lift and then letting yourself move through the air naturally,” she said.
“I get it,” said Malcolm. “The Buzz Lightyear approach.”
Shield Maiden frowned.
“Falling with style,” he said. “Toy Story? Oh, come on, everyone has seen that movie.”
“Why don’t we continue things here?” asked Shield Maiden. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Malcolm stood at the edge of the cliff. The sand was loose and soft down below him. The sand cliffs were, in fact, one of the best locations he could have asked for to experiment with his powers.
I’ll just keep telling myself that, while I’m in the middle of an uncontrolled freefall.
“Wait until the last second,” said Shield Maiden. “And then trigger your powers with all the force you can, and then throw yourself back up into the air.”
Malcolm nodded.
“Alright,” he said. “Sure… Let’s give it a try.”
He jumped. His breath caught in his throat as he kicked his legs through open air, and then the ground was coming up toward him, fast. It took a tremendous amount of willpower for Malcolm to bide his time and wait for the right moment, but he forced himself to do it.
When he was no more than fifteen feet from hitting the ground, he pushed downward with his wind manipulation with all the strength his abilities would allow. Instantly, he understood what Shield Maiden had meant.
When used in a quick, sudden burst, Malcolm could ratchet his powers up to a higher level than he’d normally be able to reach. When he’d first joined the Champion Authority, Tapestry had told him that his powers were about a three out of ten, on their strength scale.
Malcolm now saw that it was true when considering using his wind manipulation for longer that a couple of seconds at a time, but if he only needed a quick, split second burst, he could use the wind at twice that intensity or more.
He pushed up off the ground, bouncing as though he’d landed on the tarp of a trampoline. Malcolm let out a whoop, and totally forgot what he was supposed to be doing. Instead of turning his wind manipulation off, he kept pushing himself up, taking proper flight for a couple of seconds.
This feels fucking amazing. Why don’t I do this all the time?
A bubble burst into existence around him. Malcolm growled, anger mixing with the remnants of the power euphoria he’d just gotten a taste of. He felt Shield Maiden slowly lowering him back down toward where she was on the ridge.
He took a few deep breaths and slowly came back to reality. Shield Maiden dropped her bubble shield, waiting for him to stand to his feet before frowning and shaking her head in disapproval.
“Don’t get carried away,” said Shield Maiden. “Using your powers like that will only lead to you turning into a spryte, or a demon.”
Malcolm tried to think clearly. He was just lucid enough to question why Shield Maiden, a spryte herself, and a member of a cult that worshipped monsters, would give him that advice.
There is something going on here that hasn’t been explained to me, yet. I need to tread carefully.
“Let’s take a break,” said Shield Maiden. “I brought some sandwiches.”
Malcolm sat with her on the edge of the sand cliffs. Shield Maiden passed him some food, and as he accepted it from her his fingers brushed against hers. He felt the sudden, familiar tingle of absorbing the power of another gifted and froze in his tracks.
Shield Maiden looked at him strangely. Malcolm tried to play it off, smiling and trying not to consider whether her bubble shields would ever prove to be of use to him. He shifted his focus, eating lunch and wondering what the future held.
“Where do you see this heading?” he found himself asking. “What’s your end goal, Shield Maiden?”
She didn’t react to the question right away, slowly finishing the bit of sandwich she was working on before turning to look at him.
“That’s a good question,” she said. “I’m surprised that you didn’t ask me earlier.”
“It’s not that it only occurred to me now,” said Malcolm. “There just never seemed to be… an opportune time to ask.”
Shield Maiden nodded.
“What I want is peace,” she said. “It’s a rather boring end goal, but beautiful in its own right. Take your friend Rose, and her sister Leah, for example…”
Malcolm nodded slowly.
“They’ve been given a chance to reconnect,” continued Shield Maiden. “Do you think it would have gone the same way if Leah had been living outside the church, constantly inundated with propaganda designed to paint sprytes and demons as hell spawn?”