Yamara - Book 1 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

And so, after a night to sleep on it, I decided the very next day to let Keeden help me try to unlock my psychic potential. Having glimpsed the power I might have, I could not deny myself the opportunity to reach for them., whatever the cost.

I might have been better off had I not approached Keeden while he was with Sarya, but that would have stolen some of my fun. In a bleak world such as Acathia, I wanted as much enjoyment as I could get. "After our talk last night, I think I'm willing to enlist your help," was what I said.

It was not anything bad or misleading, but the look on Sarya's face showed that it did not need to be. She glared hard at me for a moment, then turned when Keeden responded. "Alright, let us try it tonight, when Yorinn sets. It will take me some time to prepare myself for it, and you would do well to relax and calm your mind beforehand as well, for it can be an exhaustive process."

Sarya's mouth opened and shut silently like a fish gasping for air. I fought down the chuckle and nodded, then turned and walked away. I could hear her start in on him as soon as I was out of earshot, and I could no longer resist the smile that found its way onto my face. Jealousy is such a foolish emotion.

For that day, Sarya and Keeden spent most of it by themselves, him preparing for the nights ordeal, and her waiting hand and foot on him. Kryl, Arktan, and Brina did some exploring of the ruins nearby. I waited and tried to spend the day resting and preparing myself, but that merely made the day lost longer. Sandala was nearby at all times, doing this or that, and always ready to talk whenever a question made its way through my thoughts. Even preoccupied as I was, I appreciated her kindness and wondered at the type of person that could show such a thing without any need or want for recompense. Somewhat bitterly I decided that I would owe her a favor later on, and that was surely why she was trying so hard to befriend me. More subtle then Brina, by far, but a similar bait to catch the Yamara fish.

So it was that when the time finally approached, I was more then ready to be done with it.

Keeden and I sat facing each other on the sandy ground, the campfire beside us casting flickering shadows across our faces. He threw some powder into the campfire which burned brightly and sent a pleasant smell into the air. I recognized it as simple incense, but suspected that he used it as a cheap parlor trick to try and increase the authenticity of his act. Then I had to admit, his act needed little convincing.

Taking his lead, I closed my eyes and let myself be lulled by the crackling fire and the smell of the incense into a meditative pose. Then I felt something brush up against the back of my head. It was like before, gently making contact with me so subtly that I barely knew it was there. Then the contact was fully established and our minds opened to each other.

I reveled in the sensation at first. It was so new and so wondrous, to be able to feel and see and read whatever thoughts were on the surface of his mind. Then I realized that he could do the same to me, and I took care to shield my thoughts by thinking about nothing. I felt his humor then, and heard him tell me to relax and to open myself up or else we would be unable to continue. Hesitantly, I relaxed my guard.

What came next stunned me. Our minds were already linked on the surface, but the convergence that took place left me feeling ... inadequate. It was as if our minds were working together, our memories were shared, our skills were shared, our ability to think and to reason was shared. To a limited extent, even our consciousness was shared. It was quite overwhelming for me, and so I sat there stunned and more then a little frightened.

Keeden spoke to me in my mind, trying to reassure me. Slowly I regained my composure, and he proceeded, sifting through my mind like a healer trying to remove an arrowhead from a wound and causing as little damage as possible with his knife. I was unaware of how long it was taking, for it seemed as though all of eternity could pass in a moment.

I reached out then myself, exploring his mind as stealthily as I could. I think he had not anticipated this, for he left no wards or guards up to protect himself. I discovered his memories and quickly plunged into them, experiencing his life as much as he had experienced it. That finished, I continued on, searching out his knowledge, trying to learn as much as I could both about Acathia and about him and what he could do. I was quite impressed by the time I had finished, for I realized that here was a man who's mental discipline was very powerful. Through his memories, I had witnessed him crushing creatures with the power of his mind alone. It was rather humbling for me.

Then I realized that he could do the same thing to me, and I quickly stopped searching through his mind and returned to my own. I sensed his consciousness and realized he had been so intent upon what he was doing that he had no idea what I had done. Slightly comforted, I wondered what could fascinate him so much to make him oblivious to my actions. I linked up with him and realized that in spite of his proclamations of good will, he was rifling through my own memory. Enraged, I demanded that he relent. He fought against me, striking out like a starving beast denied food. I refused to let him run rampant in my thoughts, however.

Our minds linked as they were, I drew upon not only what I had learned by sifting through his mind, but also his mental strength. Stealing it from him surprised him, for he suddenly found himself floundering and my own rage was magnified. I lashed out at him, a poorly harnessed blast of psionic energy that drove him from my mind and severed our link.

With the link severed, I suddenly felt weak. Gone was the power I had tapped into. Gone was the warmth of a shared mind. I still had what I took from him, in terms or his memories and knowledge, but I felt empty otherwise. Fighting back the depression that threatened to overwhelm me, I realized there was more. I could feel my own mind was somehow stronger. More powerful. I realized that the procedure had been a success then, and that while I had not the range of talent that Keeden had, I was a psionic threat. The extent of my powers had yet to be determined, for at the moment I knew that I might be in danger.

Rousing myself from my trance, I saw Keeden laying on his back with Sarya crouched over him chanting healing mumbo-jumbo. Sandala and Brina were near me, one to either side. Everyone was uncertain of what had happened, except for Keeden and myself, and neither of us was talking about it. Keeden was unconscious and I was not going to share until I had to.

Finished with her chant, Sarya turned and glared at me. "What did you do to him?" She snapped angrily at me, her tone conveying a threat.

Before I could answer, Keeden groaned and tried to sit up. He shook his head lightly, then winced at the mistake of doing so. He looked around blankly for a moment, then his eyes settled on me and understanding rushed into them.

"I'm sorry," He muttered after taking a deep breath and pondering a course of action. "I was stunned by what I saw is all. This woman came from another world! A world with more water in a desert then we will ever see in our lifetimes!"

Sarya gasped, turning to glare at me again as though I was personally responsible for denying her access to a place that had so much water. Brina and Sandala seemed surprised as well, more so then they were at my explanation of how common steel was on my home world.

"He rifled through my thoughts and would not relent when I asked him to do so," I said through grated teeth. "The agreement was that he would do no such thing, yet he did it in spite of that."

"Don't feign such innocence," he angrily retorted. From apologetic, his expression had turned. He had seen to much in my mind, and I knew that the next few moments would be dangerous.

Before he could continue, I crudely thrust out with my mind at him. Still greatly weakened from the link we had, I established full contact with his mind easily and instantly, in spite of my fumbling about. Taking what I had experienced - through his memories - and changing it about, I then dominated him.

"She knows how to get water!" Keeden growled. In spite of his weakness, he thrust himself up from the ground then and came at me. Easily escaping Sarya's protective grasp, he rushed towards me before anyone could react. In less then a moment, he was on me, growling like an animal and muttering, "Water!" over and over.

His thoughts did not appear to be on water, however, for he thrust me back to the ground and ripped at my clothes. My latest halter top was gone quickly, the flimsy material easily shredding under his strong fingers. The loin cloth tore off next, and I have to admit, that stung a bit as the fabric dug into the flesh of my more sensitive areas. Before he could go any further he was stopped. Kryl's gauntlet crashed into the side of his head, knocking him off of me and shredding any traces of consciousness from him.

Sarya howled then, and leapt at Kryl's back. She sounded like a wounded animal herself, trying to bite and claw at Kryl from where she clung to his back. I shook my head, now that my thoughts were free to control my own body and not the unconscious Keeden. Just in time, for Kryl had managed to throw her free from his back and she landed in front of me, still facing the Acathian.

Kryl spun about to face her, ready with a cocked fist to send her to dreamland as well. He was to late thought, for her coiled up body slumped to the ground then, and I pulled my shortsword out from between her ribs. I wiped her blood off of it and sheathed it quietly.

Forgotten until now, the lion that had been Sarya's pet jumped towards us. I stumbled back barely dodging its pounce. It landed and turned to face me, intent upon protecting its master. An arrow slammed into its flank though, making it take a step sideways in surprise. Another thudded home before it could assess its new threat, which happened to be Sandala. It prepared to jump at her then, but the arrow in its thigh prevented it from doing more then limping along on three legs. It roared angrily and still tried for her, but the next arrow she sent into its chest silenced it.

I rose up from where I had fallen on my now naked butt. I stalked over to where Keeden lay comatose and before anyone could stop me, I dropped to one knee beside him and slit his throat with a dagger. Rising back up, I spit on his corpse and cleaned the blood off my blade before sheathing it.

I glanced at my companions to see their reactions. All of them had drawn weapons and adopted a ready pose, and only know were they relaxing. Brina and Arktan showed the most surprise, having been taken completely off guard by the events. Kryl looked at where Keeden lay and then looked at me. He nodded once, briefly, and began the grisly task of going through his belongings for anything of use.

"Did you have to kill him?" Brina asked, a little surprised at my ruthlessness.

I knew then that the moment of danger for me was not over, it had merely changed forms. I looked back at Keeden's body and then to my own. I had red scratches on my thigh and chest where his fingernails had scraped while tearing off my clothing. It had been under my control of his body, and carefully orchestrated as well, but I did not want them learning what he had discovered about me.

I let myself shudder then briefly, and adopted the look of trying to fight back tears. Brina saw the anguish in my face and came to me, hugging me tightly. "Of course you did," She justified. "He was a psionicist, and clearly an evil man. Even unarmed he would be dangerous, and more so if he had it in for you."

I nodded and hugged her back thankfully, pressing my nude body up against hers in a way that communicated my need to be close to her. Inside I was congratulating myself on another job well done. It would not be until later that night, after Brina had fallen asleep from the powerful lovemaking that I had showed her that I wondered if I really needed to go to the extreme measures to protect myself. Later I would wonder if perhaps these new companions I had made would actually have accepted me into their midst anyhow, regardless of the spying, whoring, thieving, and even murdering I had done in the past. Then, a few moments later I decided to stop second guessing myself. What was done was done.

Continued in Chapter 6