Akrîza

I am not so sure how long it had been since I had last felt clean air against my nostrils, but I can¬ tell you that I had begun to get used the sting of brimstone against my bated breath. I inhaled sharply, my eyes wide and my chest straining, and directed my gaze beneath me with a yell. I stood upon a ruined building, gently balanced upon its sloppily remaining lower stories. The world around me burned. Roofs were caved in, stones were scattered, and fires raged across my vision. My breathing began to calm, and my growing awareness of myself welcomed my friend’s loving nuzzle and cry.

“I’m sorry, Kiâ’ma. I lost control of myself for a second there. I still have much to understand about wielding this energy.”

Kiâ’ma. A beautiful dragon. Her hide is dark purple and metallic gold, with a sheen like a waterfall, and her eyes are as bright as stardust. We are bound together, for we are of the same star. We are of different blood in this life, but we are of the same DNA, and of the same mind, and of the same Soul.

We were born on the same day, even, with a glowing brilliant white marking on our foreheads. It was an upward-facing triangle, missing the bottom edge, and below that an eye with 3 dots in a row beneath it. I remember to the date when it would glow on my face, growing up as a child. I later found out that on those days, Kiâ’ma had experienced danger, sadness, pain, and any other strong emotions. She experiences the same connection with me. Now that we had found each other in this life, we protected one another.

“Master Tûme does not mean offense when he advises that you learn to calm your nerves with meditation, young man,” whispered Kiâ’ma. For such a large and sometimes terrifying creature, she could be so tender. “Our power is a lot to channel. A little at a time is best.”

“But I couldn’t stop it from coming on,” I explained. “You felt me. It pulled me in. I was helpless. That was scary.”

“I did feel it. But there was something else.” Kiâ’ma eyed me with firmly. “You enjoyed it.”

I shifted my gaze from her to the flames. I felt the heat, almost like it was under my skin. “It didn’t feel like mine. It felt like when I saw Akrîza, the longer I opened my channel of power, the more I became of a mirror to him. His rage and mine mixed. I watched myself enjoy it. I didn’t want to, though. I don’t know why.”

“You are already that which you yield, Pup,” stated Kïa’ma.

I looked up at Kiâ’ma with confusion. “You and Tûme. What is it with you? What does that even mean?

“He’s told you, and I’ve told you. Open your mind, child.” Kiâ’ma circled around and took flight for a few moments to land on a building behind us, undestroyed and much taller. She took point at the top to survey the greater landscape. I jumped through the air with great speed, leaving a trail of purple light behind me, and landed holding onto a pillar next to her.

The broader view showed what it usually looks like around here. A lush forest canopy, sun-kissed flowers the size of elephants, insects and birds thriving amidst the tree tops. A perfect circle outlined the circumference of what had been my energy ball. It surrounded us for several thousand feet. I gulped in anxiety. Never in my life had I been so terrified of anything…and I was terrified of myself.

“You are perhaps the most powerful Vêtan that has existed in a century. I remember the teachings of your kind from my other lifetimes, but you perhaps do not have that sort of lucidity. Tûme would be displeased at me revealing to you what can be discovered within, but today I have seen that you need guidance.” Kiâ’ma turned to me, and her eyes deepened into crystalline oceans.

“You, like myself and everyone else, are made of that which makes everything else. That means you are all of those things. How else could you take fire into yourself to wield it, if there wasn’t already somewhere within you for it to go?”

I nodded at this, not fully comprehending it but allowing it. Perhaps it would continue to make more sense. “So, fire just erupted out of me faster than I could control because I am fire?”

“Yes, any element can flow through you because you are everything. But the attitude with which it is expressed depends on you. It depends on your inner world.”

I looked down at my boots covered in ash. “What could I have inside me that echoes out so violentally?”

Kiâ’ma exhaled coolly. “What indeed?”

We stood for a moment, meditating on the smoky horizon. My nostrils still burned with the smell of dragon fire. And I still liked it.

The men ran wildly through the trees, birds flying to safety before them, dirt kicking up and branches snapping. A chaos loomed over them, a fear infecting their breath and glazing over their eyes. They had been running for what felt like hours, but had probably only been half an hour.

They broke through the brush to come across a delved-out area, with a stream running through and the tree bows dipping just above the surface. Golden rays of sunlight melted with the water, and seemed to be taken along the current with it. The floral life was pink and white amidst the deep oaken tones. Life fluttered all about, drinking nectar and exploring the terrain. The group of three seemed to lean back on their heels, feeling the time to rest had finally arrived. They approached the stream, and settling beside it they began to wash their faces and drink from their hands.

The largest of the group sat back in a heap, sighing dramatically and rubbing his face. He had blue streaks painted beneath his eyes, which was now smudging down his cheeks as he dragged his wet hands across them. His hair was back in a ponytail, which he now proceeded to put back in place after a messy sprint through the trees. Once he felt put-together enough, he addressed his companions.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me that kid was the bloody Hamazi?”

A man with golden hair, blue eyes, and a large scar on his face across his left eyes down to his right cheekbone, sat next to him cupping water to drink. He decided to be the first person to laugh about this. “How could any of us have known? It was believed that the Hamazi stopped reincarnating two centuries ago.”

The third man was bald and had wave tattoos along his brow. He shook his head slowly, almost trance-like, staring in front of him. “My father always told me stories of the line of humans who could destroy civilizations. They were held at a place of respect and were taken good care of, so that they would learn to protect their power from abuse, and to protect others with it.”

“So much that care did,” muttered the larger man, dropping his head to his knees. “Our brother just lit half the city on fire. Teacher is going to have a fit.”

“Do you think he knew that Tumo was the Hamazi?” asked the man with the scar.

Picking his head up, the man said “I’m not sure it matters now. He definitely knows now.” This time he allowed himself to chuckle.

"Akrîza.” The men stood up suddenly in defense to the new voice. It was a man in a white silk robe that bore green acrylic trim and feathery accents along its edges. He held a long wooden staff in his right hand, which glowed at the top where the wood bent abstractly. His skin was dark and smooth. He balded atop his head, and white hair grew long in braids on the sides.

“Master Tûme!” exclaimed the blonde man. “We were unable to find you in the devastation.”

A long beard shuddered as the old man spoke in response. “Why did you flee, Akrîza?”

The man interjected. “Wouldn’t you have? The whole place lit on bloody fire! Tumo is a wild raging –”

“Silence, Rai. I address Akrîza now, not you.” Tûme’s words were like blades.

Akrîza, the larger man, slowly forced his gaze from his feet to the eyes of his Master.

“Why did you flee?” He spoke a bit softer, but no less ghastly.

Akrîza shook a bit as he opened his mouth to speak. Tears welled up in his eyes. “I watched at least thirty of my men’s homes burn in front of me. I felt them crumble where they stood. I could do nothing.”

“You made him pretty angry,” said the teacher. “He may be the Hamazi, but it is not in his skill level yet to do something of that scale. You really pushed him past his breaking point young man.”

“What in the stars is he talking about?” asked Rai, crossing his arms.

The bald man stared at Akrîza in realization. “Oh no. You didn’t actually do it, did you?”

Akrîza looked to tattooed man in fear. “Salaz, please. I didn’t know he’d be that strong.”

Their teacher sarcastically cackled. “Oh, so you boasted about it too? You’re a different breed lad. This is dangerous”

Rai slapped Akrîza’s shoulder. “What is he talking about? What did you do?”

Salaz retold the earlier events. “We were in training earlier, and Akrîza was challenging Pup’s strength like the gloating ass he always is. But he said some stupid shit. He said he’d sneak into the scrolls and steal a spell if he lost. Pup naturally won, so he stole a scroll and did a random spell in it. The spell was for a gruesome death. He was joking about doing it on Pup’s little brother. I put the spell away for them and told him never to joke about such a thing. And then I left the room, caught up with this lad, Rai.”

Salaz turned to Master Tûme. “We were sparring outside for a few hours, we thought everyone had left. Akrîza came down suddenly all in a hurry, and grabbed us both and had us all running like mad men. We didn’t know why, of course. Then Pup showed up and nearly killed us all.”

Akrîza shook his head. Rai took his hand off of him and backed away. “So what? What kind of sick joke is this? You’re telling me this is all because you threatened Pup’s brother?”

“Rai. Salaz.” Master Tûme looked into their eyes. “Your fellow swordsman at Dragon’s Blood Academy has killed your brethren Pup’s younger brother in a shallow grasp for egoic power. He is no longer your kinsman. He is no longer my student.”

“Look, I didn’t know he would be that powerful, okay? I wouldn’t have done this if I knew he would be like this.” Akrîza shuddered.

Tûme bowed his head in disappointment. “Akrîza…if your consequence is your only reason to restrain an unjust act, then I am very concerned for you. You are no longer a student of my school. I offer you to attempt to escape this area with your life. If Pup finds you before you escape, I will not stop him from raining carnage upon you. Now go, outlaw.”

Akrîza’s tears dried up in horror, and he backed away, slowly at first, and then he burst into a run. His hair fell out of his ponytail, and his arms flailed about in a mad wind. He pressed his fingers against his head and sent a beam of light up into the sky, calling to his wings. She answered him, roaring from not too far off. He ran faster, and kicked off the trees around him to the canopy of the forest. As he broke through the leaves to see the sky now turning orange and pink in the coming sunset, a red and green dragon dipped by him. He leapt up to grab hold of its horns, and they departed together into the clouds.

Master Tûme watched the wind change as they departed. He was sad that his student had acted so darkly. He was, however, not surprised.

“I can’t believe he would’ve done something like this,” said Rai.

“Why not?” exclaimed Salaz. “The man has been in love with Edêa since he was just a child, and she chose Pup’s little brother, Tarius. Of course, he would want to kill him. If there was one thing he would kill over, it’s love.”

“He is right,” said Tûme. “I have watched that boy grow up here. Ever since he was left here by his cousins, I have seen an absence of understanding in him. His enlightenment is much different from ours. He does not grasp our notion of moral correction. I shall hold space for everyone’s path of growth…but I cannot enable one’s own destruction. Equally, I cannot interfere with the battle of those two men. They are fulfilling their destiny right now. It is almost as if this valley has blossomed all these years just to prepare for this moment.

I whirled around at the sound of a roar in the distance behind me. It was just a silhouette against the setting sun, but it was distinct.

“Akrîza.” I glared ahead of me into the fire on the horizon, matching the fire around me. “Yes, I see. Nature reflects itself. So, if I bring a frequency to nature, it can reflect me just as much as I can reflect it.”

I breathed longer, deeper. I brought my hands up slowly beside me, and then turned over my palms and pushed them down. I felt an invisible resistance, and with my thoughts I suggested calm by imagining everything stilling. I did this a few times, and with the last breath I put my hands to my heart, places my right over my left, and pushed straight down with a strong breath out. The fire ceased at that moment. Every ember around me extinguished.

I stood there with my eyes closed. This was the first time since I’d started at the Academy that I had held no fear or doubt. I trusted myself. It was a new experience, but I could get used to it.

“Shall we go after him?” suggested Kiâ’ma. I nodded. “I trust you to remain lucid of your energy for the rest of the day?”

“Yes. I am quite tired after that anyway,” I replied. “We should finish this before I have to deal with the causes of my actions here.”

Without another word, I began running along the rooftops, steam pluming underneath my boots as it rose off the charred stone. Kiâ’ma flew beside me and I leapt onto her back. She rose high into the sky, brought her wings back as she sailed forward, caught the wind and dove like a bullet toward Akrîza. When we were at a certain distance from them, slightly to their right and behind them, I lifted myself up on my feet, ran forward and kicked off of Kiâ’ma’s snout. I let the wind carry my body, until my eyesight aligned with the flying shapes beneath me, and I straightened my body like a staff and shot toward them. I reached out my hands and made impact with Akrîza, and we fell through the clouds.

I heard his dragon start to make a dive for us, but Kiâ’ma suddenly caught her in enormous claws, whirling her in a spiral through the air and sinking her teeth into her neck. The beast let out a scream and shook the jaw off of her, but Kiâ’ma still had the momentum of the swing, and she threw the dragon into a mountainside with a thunderous crack.

I still plummeted with Akrîza. I remembered my awareness, and allowed my mental state to drift into allowance. I thought to myself, this weight is not mine. I let go of Akrîza and let him sail a bit past me. I grabbed onto his ankle, tucked my torso forward to flip over in the air. My body started glowing this purple light, and I stopped falling, whipping Akrîza to the planet surface as I stayed floating. His landing created a crater, uprooting several trees around him.

I looked down at him, and he wasn’t moving. From far off to my left, I heard the dragons getting ready for another encounter. I looked over at Kiâ’ma. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Take care of him. I’ll handle this one.”

I lowered myself gracefully to the ground to stand over Akrîza. He was starting to move, and I slammed my forearm down upon his chest, cracking his ribs. His eyes crossed and he wheezed a pinch of air out from the back of his throat. He managed to ask, “Are you going to kill me?”

“No. I’m sorry for you. You don’t understand love.” His eyes widened, and he stared with disbelief into mine. “I’m turning you into the Council, and they will sentence you to death.” He squeezed his eyes shut and he started choking on his breath.

I chuckled. “I will also most likely be sentenced to death, for I have done almost as much damage as you today. So, we shall die together.” He opened his eyes again and looked at me again, perhaps searching to understand why I was taking the time to relate to him. I got closer to his face. “Do not misunderstand me, dog. I die with you, so I shall find you faster in Hell.”

I dropped Akrîza there again, leaving him for when the guard arrived to collect the prisoners. Kiâ’ma slammed his dragon to the ground beside us. “My Vêtan may be forgiving, but I am not.”

I stood breathing in the air, and it smelled the same as it did earlier. Brimstone. This time there was no fire, and I smelled it anyway. I connected it that I smell brimstone when I activate my power. I thought it was because I was creating a lot of smoke.

I thought to myself if my power was thunderous and destructive by nature or by my fuel.

I turned around and walked back over to Akrîza. I looked at my hands, turning them over in front of me. I brought the purple light out, but gentler this time. It covered my hands, like holographic, glowing gloves. It flickered with currents of energy, in time with my breath. I knelt beside Akrîza.

“Wha-what are you doing?” he said frightened.

I lowered my hands over his body, and moved them over him, from top to bottom. A purple disk of runic glyphs appeared spinning over him where my hands moved, scanning through his organs and energy centers. His breathing sharpened when I went over his legs, chest and head.

I recalled what I learned in the Academy, and stood up over Akrîza with determination. I faced the North and put my fist in my palm to bow. “Eagle.” I bowed to the East. “Hummingbird.” I bowed to the South. “Serpent.” I bowed to the West. “Jaguar.” I rolled my eyes back and raised my hands to the sky. “Atum Ra.” I collapsed onto the ground with my forehead in the dirt. “Gaia.” I knelt again and put my hands over my heart. A bubble started to appear around us, anchored at the points where I acknowledged. The field got brighter, swirling with all colors, spinning faster and picking up the wind.

I stretched out my arms, and clapped them in front of me, centering an electricity in my palms. I opened them over Akrîza and placed them on his chest, allowing the energy to course through him. He writhed in pain, and his whole body twitched. I felt his ribs shift under my hands, and they began to mend where I had cracked them. His breath became less labored, and life returned to his eyes.

I moved my hands to his legs, and after a minute there was a snap as his broken leg was mended. I moved to his head. There was a highlighted geometry showing me where to touch on his skull to heal. I placed my thumb on his cranial nerve, and arranged my other fingers at 45 and 90 degrees from that point. The energy stirred through and I felt his fractured skull realign and heal itself. Akrîza blinked and cracked a gentle smile, mostly in puzzlement but partly in gratitude.

I brought my hands up in front of me and pushed them down again, clearing the energy field. The light calmed down with a flash and dissipated into the wind. I grabbed Akrîza’s arm and helped him sit up.

“Why did you heal me?” asked Akrîza.

I looked at him. I had to think about it, because at first, I didn’t know. But then I said, “I learned today that the quality of our energy depends on our actions. And I can’t stand you, so if I did something you’d do, I’d be like you, right?”

Akrîza looked dully ahead of him. I slapped him on the back and said “Can’t have you dead before the gallows, can I?”

“You did good Pup.”

I turned around. “Teacher!”

“The guards shall be here soon for Akrîza, I have called them here,” said Master Tûme.

“And not for me?”

“I will speak with the Council. You have just channeled celestial powers to heal a man. That is something that most Masters still have yet to accomplish. If you have done that for the same man you once sought to destroy, I’m sure that the Council will see light in you, and will allow you to remain a Vêtan.”

“But Teacher, I–"

“I’ll have you serve a short sentence, but not in prison. Instead, you shall spend an extensive time in brutal training with Master Kû’li.”

“…Oh, shit. I mean, yes, Teacher.”

“Mm.” The old man turned to walk away. He stopped and said, “I’m sorry about your brother. He was a good student. He will be pleased to see you’ve awakened your power.” He continued on his way.

I walked over to Kiâ’ma and patted her scales. “I think it’s time to get out of here for a little while.”

I looked at her. “I’m not in trouble though.”

She hissed. “It’s been an abruptly turbulent day, it’s almost comical. I just want to see the sunset.”

I smiled and hopped on her back. We took off into the air and melted away into the burning sun, letting the colors take us in the undertow of the atmospheric ocean. I smelled brimstone stinging my nostrils. The smell of my dragon heart beating in contentment. I laughed to myself, to think how we can lose ourselves to an emotion and let it drive us. Truly surrendering, and melting into the sunset of it all, allows the best to unfold in the end.