Tahku And The Master

I immediately remember yesterday when I told Drew to find an excuse to explain to Emily why I wouldn't be home early as usual. He told her he was training me so I could try out for football later? What kind of stupid excuse is that? Couldn't he have found something better to use to explain?

Careful not to let what I was thinking show in my expression, I reply smiling. "Oh, that! Calling it football practice is a bit of an understatement. It's more like torture than practice."

"Really? What did you guys do today then?"

"Exercise. The kind that no human should be made to do." I say, making my words half-truth, half-lies.

"Lazy bones. You can't even do a single push-up. Any kind of exercise would be like torture to you."

I shoot her a frosty look. "Is that a challenge?" I ask, wanting to get down on the floor and prove her wrong when I remember that I am meant to be weak after all the 'torturous' exercise I had just been through. "Once my arms recover, I am going to do twenty push-ups right in your face."

What, some hidden part of me shrieks. You can barely manage five, how do you plan on doing twenty. I push down the voice. By the time I am done with my Laen training, twenty, or even a hundred push-ups shouldn't be an issue.

Emily laughs, disbelieving. "Whatever."

I ignore her and focus on eating my snacks. Once I am done I tidy up and begin to leave the kitchen. At that moment Emily speaks up. "Ian wait. What did you mean by 'the elephant blew its head'?"

I turn towards her, completely confused for the second time today. "What on earth are you talking about?"

She sighs. "Yesterday, after you came back from your 'torture' I asked you how your day went and you said: 'I don't know. Why don't you ask Robin why the elephant blew its head'."

I said that. I remember that yesterday as I stumbled up to my room, Emily asked me a question and I replied. I had no idea that I sounded so retarded.

"Look Em. Yesterday, I was very tired and I had no idea what I was saying. What you just said right now is meaningless gibberish and I currently don't have the brain power to try and understand it. Anyway, I've got some homework to do. Later."

Without wasting any more time, I head to my room, shutting the door hard behind me. I badly want to begin practicing with my Uua, but I have assignments that have to be submitted tomorrow. I might have magic, but I can't allow it to make me lose focus of my education. With a sigh, I begin to work.

I lose track of time as I do my homework, and sometime in between my mom comes into the room to tell me that dinner is ready. After she leaves I look outside the window and am met with the darkness of night. With a shake of my head, I continue to do my homework.

Once I am done with it, I head downstairs to take my dinner, gulping it down without bothering to taste it. In less than five minutes I am back in my room, ready to begin practice.

I lock the door behind me and sit on the floor, legs crossed, as I contemplate what to begin with: controlling my Uua externally, or learning how to circulate the Uua. In the end, I decided to begin with circulating the Uua before moving on to how to control it externally.

I close my eyes, feeling the power brimming within me, and with a little thought, extract some of it before moving it around within my body.

* * * * * *

Tahku

I walk into the mostly deserted building, aware of the many invisible gazes that lock unto me at that moment. After sizing me up, the gazes turn away, and the feeling of being studied vanishes. I move quickly through the building, climbing up the rickety stairs to the last floor before turning right into a dark hallway.

It still amazes me how a man like The Master can live in such a dirty, decrepitated building like this. Even the Fasuru find the place disgusting, though they do not dare complain out loud.

At the end of the hallway, I see a door. It looks old and weakened, like a small breeze could cause it to fall apart anytime, but unlike the rest of the building, that is just an illusion. Even I couldn't break down that door even if I used all my strength.

I knock on the door and wait. A second or so later, the door swings inward of its own accord revealing a room that seems at odds with the building it is in. The room is brightly lit and painted a shade of blue which is strangely calming. There are three windows in the room, each providing a good view of the outside world. In front of me is an office table, with a small stack of books lying in one corner. On opposite sides of the table are black leather chairs, I settle into one of them and focus on the person sitting opposite me. The Master.

"Good evening, Master." I greet respectfully. Other than a small nod to acknowledge that he heard me, he doesn't say anything else. Unlike when I first got to know him, I am no longer anxious about the silence. He will speak when he is ready to.

He sits facing the window to my right, a faraway look in his eyes as he stares into the night. After a few minutes of this, he seems to return to himself and turns to look at me. He still does not say anything but I know what is required of me.

"The boy is now one of them," I report. "I confirmed it today. Frankly, I find it hard to understand why the Laen would just accept an outsider so easily. I know he has great potential but still, it makes no sense."

The first part of what I just said is my report, but the second part is just a thinly veiled way of asking The Master why he and the Laen have taken interest in the boy. I had asked before, but till now I still haven't received an answer.

He speaks softly. "If they hadn't, then I would have wondered if the Eldest had taken leave of his senses." Once again he doesn't answer my question, but the way he phrased his answer makes me suspect that the boy is important in some way I can't understand. But I had studied the boy closely the first time I met with him and found nothing unusual. What can The Master see that I can't?

"What do I do now?" I ask him.

He is quiet for a moment before answering. "Keep monitoring the boy, but be more careful, the Laen have undoubtedly begun to watch over him. If you are not careful they will discover you, and that might prove disastrous."

I nod. "I'll do my best to be careful."

Another period of silence passes before he speaks again. "What are the boy's thoughts of you?"

"I believe he is suspicious, most likely because of 'Taur."

"Good. Keep it that way for now. Do you have anything else you wish to say?"

I nod. "Lord Stilla wishes me to inform you that everything is ready. The preparations have weakened him further and he wishes to die. He says he has found a Familiar-kin and he has left the Safe-place. I did some investigations and found a couple of things that make me think he's planning something big. I assume he wants to go out with a bang. Either that or he has gone completely mad."

For the first time this month, The Master smiles. "Very good. Everything is proceeding according to the plan. Let's hope it continues this way." He says nothing about Lord Stilla, so I assume he knows what Lord Stilla is planning and doesn't find it threatening. Else, Lord Stilla would be killed before the week is over

"It will Master," I say with utmost confidence. "I have yet to find someone who can match you. Even the so-called Eldest is nothing compared to you."

His expression hardens at that moment. "My dear Tahku, it is thoughts like that that will get you killed. If you keep on underestimating the Eldest like that, you will likely die without knowing how you got killed. The Eldest is a demon in sheep's clothing. Be very wary of him."

I nod to show that I understand, but my inner thoughts remain the same. The Eldest is nothing compared to The Master. Still, I can sense the traces of resentment in his voice. I know the Eldest and The Master have a deep history together, but despite my investigations, I am unable to find the slightest clue as to what it is.

The Master dismisses me with a wave of his hand and I promptly leave. After many years of waiting, the wheels have finally been set in motion. I should be excited, but I can't help but think about the boy, wondering what is so special about him.

After some thought, I shake my head, smiling at my stupidity. I have been going about this the wrong way, I was so fixated on that fact that I allowed it to blind me to the fact that that may not be what The Master finds so special about the boy. But if it wasn't, then what was? And how will it help us deal with the Laen?

I sigh to myself. When The Master had said all those months ago that he had found the person who could help us end the Laen, I had thought it was some person as powerful as the Eldest himself, or someone who was extremely cunning. Instead, I am shown a naive boy who isn't that intelligent and can't light a match with magic if his life depended on it. I push these thoughts out of my head, storing them for when I finally have time to ruminate over them. For now, I have other things to do.