13 Enough Part 3
Beyond the meadow is a forest. Within it, many traps and monsters reside. Two people await in the heart of mystery. Fadziso and Noe hover over the trees as they stand atop red Davy.
"Let's dive!" Fadziso leaps into the air before nosediving toward the high topped leafy greens. She finds her two feet on the forest floor and domineers over the two young ladies that had been waiting for them.
Calmly, Noe steps off of Davy and floats to the ground, taking the spark of inspiration that comes to him and meandering a pattern around the tree line before locking his feet gently on the soil. It smells like earth between the trees. Sunlight still floods the environment as if the trees are panels of glass.
Noe's eyes finally catch a glimpse of the two people that had been waiting. They are both beautiful maidens dressed in black robes. One's delicate face is contorted in disdain as she glares at nature while another, bright and mild-tempered, comfortably stares into Noe's direction with a look of bright-eyed wonder.
"Sister Fadziso, who is this?" the bright-eyed dame asks.
"This is Brother Noeremous. He will be joining us for our training over the next few years," Fadziso explains.
"Years?" the other dame derides, venom in every syllable, scoffing at Noe's flabbergasted expression.
"Years?" Noe mouths.
Fadziso concludes, "Years."
"I shall give you three a moment to get acquainted while I inform the woodland creatures of our activities today. I do not want them to be shocked like last time," a ripple of unease passes through them and the two dames shift their feet as Fadziso takes her leave.
"Hi! I'm Feng Mian and this is Rosalind. I hope it's okay if we stick to our Earthly names," Feng Mian bounces on her feet and clasps her hands. "We're not quite used to our Ephrene names yet."
"It's okay, you can just call me Noe. Did you guys know each other before?"
Feng Mian and Rosalind exchange a glance.
"Yeah..."
"No."
For the remainder of their time, the three students wait in silence.
"I have returned," Fadziso comes blundering out of the forest to tower above them all. "Brother Noeremous," she stuffs a handful of robes into his arms. "As I stated before, I will be in charge of your studies for the next five years until you reach twenty years of age. The first lesson Sister Matka and Sister Azrael completed before I went to collect you; the lesson of Invisibility.
"The first ability that must be mastered by all Ephrenes is the ability to not be seen. Most of your work shall be carried out during the most fragile moments; at funerals, beside hospital beds, around fast food chains. It is vital that you remain unnoticed.
"To make yourself invisible, you must channel your spirit into the space surrounding you and sew your soul into living or undead objects. Only you can see yourself in this state. Though there is life in all things, it is difficult to trust your soul to brick or cement. That is why we are in the woods. Brother Noeremous, your first mission is to change into your Ephrene robes."
Three pairs of eyes concurrently dig into Noe's body. Intent on maintaining his dignity by not messing up, Noe inhales deeply. Focusing on the brush of air against his nostrils, his windpipe greedily accepts the oxygen before it inflates his lungs. As he exhales, his eyes fall into a close and he lets his mind tumble out of his body in waves. Only images of Mr. Henderson continue to float and bubble in his head.
Opening his eyes once more, he slowly rises off the ground and drifts a meter away from them. Two pairs of eyes remain rooted on the spot he had been in previously. Only Fadziso's keen ears have her curiously follow the direction he moves.
At peace, Noe languidly changes into the fitting black garments. Resuming his original position, his robes swim around him like streams coursing towards an ocean of splendor. His skin tingles as the three faces in front of him look around in surprise.
Inhaling, his mind returns to him.
"Well done," Fadziso praises him. "Not even Brother Adelaide succeeded on his first attempt, I hear."
Rosalind sneers and continues to glare at the trees around them. Feng Mian sways in her spot. A butterfly lands on her head and nests itself into her hair.
"Listen carefully," Fadziso commands. "From today onward, you shall all partake in a series of trials and tribulations to build your tolerance for the Earthly realm. Just as the sun does not set in Ziraeth, your body remains forever replenished. You do not need to eat or sleep as the Heavenly Oasis feeds you all the energy you need.
"Your days shall be spent training your physical and mental actualities as well as learning the Zirathean way of life. Time is counted using the cycle of the dragon; ten days on Earth is a pass in Ziraeth. Every pass is seen when the dragons come down from the sky and rest in the caves beneath the waterfall. Do not be afraid to ask me any questions you may have."
"Yes!" Feng Mian shoots her hand into the air.
"Sister Mitka, go ahead."
"Will we have any breaks during our training?"
"Only if I wish to give you breaks."
Noe immediately raises a question, "So when can we go back to Earth?"
"Exactly. I have a soulmate waiting for me there," Rosalind adds to the fire.
"You can return to Earth after you have mastered your abilities."
"When will that be?" Rosalind grills.
"In five years."
"What?!" the three exclaim.
"Until then, you can target your frustration into your training."
Just as quickly as they were thrust into Ziraeth, they commence their training with heavy hearts. Taking Fadziso's words as law, all of their agitation and longing is injected into their training. Every push up is met with Rosalind's fury, each flight class knows of Feng Mian's growing sorrow, and the forest hears Noe's obsession - constantly tapping a foot or fingers against the soil to express his frantic emotions.
Three Earthly years pass by as slowly as a century crawls along the horizon. Three Earthly years they have refused to stop their training in hopes that they can sooner master themselves and return to their soulmates. Three Earthly years they have been denied permission to leave the forest; drilling away at their minds, muscles, and individual talents - Noe's of fire, Rosalind's of the clouds, and Feng Mian's of emotion.
Without a single pass to contemplate their overbearing longing, the three young Ephrenes have grown almost beyond recognition.
Noe springs across the forest, body rebounding on the ground and landing yards away from launching point. Rosalind, as beautiful as a rose but whose thorns are deep and piercing, catches him in his swiftness. As Rosalind goes to tap his neck, where Noe's soul culminates, Feng Mian drops her invisibility and appears beside both of them. Resting her palms on their foreheads, Noe and Rosalind instantly deflate and gravitate onto the ground as feathers from a bird, overwhelming comfort encroaching them.
"If Feng Mian were a Borne, both of you would now cease to exist," Fadziso comments from the branches as Noe and Rosalind shake off Feng Mian's effect on them. "You must remember to engage all your senses during combat: see the shadows, listen to energy shifts, taste the air, feel the atmosphere, smell the emotions of your combatant."
Jumping onto the ground, Noe, Rosalind, and Feng Mian's eyes are now level with Fadziso's. Her students have accumulated significant muscle and their centres have stabilised. Although they are being scolded, they remain calm and collected.
"Now that you all have ample control over your temperaments, the last thing I'm going to teach you is voycing. Spirit exists in everything. To spread your message into another creature's mind does not require you to know their language but to speak to their spirit. This can only be done when you are in a stable state of mind. Otherwise, you could affect their mental cognition. Of course, your effect on them will not last forever but it is not a sight you wish to behold," Fadziso scrunches her nose in remembrance of a memory long past.
"Um, that didn't tell us much. How exactly do we voyce?" Rosalind crosses her arms and gnaws at her bottom lip.
"Let me demonstrate," Fadziso's voyce takes over their thoughts. "The first thing you must do is imagine what you wish to convey. Secondly, see the eyes of the one you wish to voyce, and, thirdly, send a wave of your spirit into the image you hold of them."
"Can this be used to contact humans as well?" Rosalind asks the question they are each thinking.
"You will have to find that out for yourselves."
From above, streaks of light stream onto the grass. The dragons are returning to their homes.
Fadziso, Noe, Feng Mian, and Rosalind all sit upon the forest floor, feet stacked one atop another, hands cupped across their laps, thumbs meeting, eyes closed. Their meditation has begun. For as long as the dragons rest, their meditation continues.
"Feng Mian, Noe," Rosalind's voyce prods her peers' minds. "I don't know about you guys but I've had enough of the same repetitive cycle of training and meditation for the past how many years. They can't imprison us in this place. We have to get out of here," she says.
"Agreed," the two respond in unison.
--
A pass:
The unit for measuring time in the Fields of Ziraeth. Ten days on Earth equal a single pass in the Fields Ziraeth; seen when the dragons descend into their caves.
