Luno spent most of dinner staring at his insects.
Kel noticed.
Everyone noticed.
Three beetles sat on Luno's shoulder while smaller insects crawled around the open jar beside his bowl. Every few seconds, Luno would stop eating and tilt his head like someone had whispered to him.
Finally, Kel reached across the table and snapped his fingers.
"You planning on eating?"
Luno blinked. "What?"
"Exactly."
"They're talking."
Kel looked at the beetles.
"They got anything interesting to say?"
"Mostly food."
One of the insects moved.
Luno frowned at it. "You just ate."
Kel shook his head. "You've lost it."
From beneath Luno's hat, Spark spoke clearly enough for Kel to hear.
"He lost it years ago."
"Thank you."
Luno pointed at his hat. "Nobody asked either of you."
Kel laughed.
After the livestock mission, Luno had spent hours testing how far his connection could reach. He still couldn't understand full sentences from most of the insects. What he got were little pieces—feelings, directions, simple needs.
Food.
Here.
Danger.
Come.
It wasn't much.
But yesterday he'd had none of it.
By the time Kel finished eating, Luno was still experimenting.
Kel stood. "Come on."
Luno looked toward the window. The sun had disappeared.
His excitement vanished.
"Harven."
"Harven."
---
They found the captain waiting beyond Durnfield's western wall.
Six children stood beside him.
Kel stopped.
"No."
Harven raised an eyebrow. "I haven't said anything."
"You brought kids."
The oldest looked around eleven. The youngest couldn't have been older than six.
Luno walked up beside Kel.
"Are we babysitting?"
"Training."
Kel stared at Harven. "With them?"
Harven tossed him a padded vest.
Kel caught it.
"Yes."
That answer somehow made things worse.
Harven pointed toward the children. "Tonight they're your responsibility."
Kel glanced at them.
"They're always our responsibility."
Something shifted in Harven's expression.
"Good."
Kel immediately wished he'd kept his mouth shut.
Harven sent the children to sit near the edge of the field.
"Before we start, cores."
Kel groaned.
Luno was already closing his eyes.
"Every day," Harven reminded them.
Kel shut his eyes and breathed.
Finding the current inside himself was getting easier. His Internal Core still wasn't something he could clearly see, but he could feel the Qi connected to it now.
A steady flow.
Harven waited until both boys opened their eyes.
"Tonight we're focusing on Internal."
He looked at Kel when he said it.
"Both of you need this, but especially you."
Kel frowned. "Why me?"
"Because you keep using Internal Qi without understanding what you're doing."
"It keeps working."
"Until it doesn't."
Harven raised one hand.
"Think of Qi like water. Depending on how much you possess, your reserves might be a river."
He paused.
"Or an ocean."
Luno immediately leaned forward.
Kel did too.
"The more Qi you possess, the more you can potentially keep flowing through your body. But having more doesn't automatically make you better."
Luno nodded. "Someone could have an ocean and waste most of it."
Harven glanced at him.
"Exactly."
Kel looked at his hands. "So someone with less could still win?"
"If their control is better. More Qi means more fuel. Skill determines what you do with it."
Harven raised his fist.
Internal Qi gathered inside his arm.
Kel felt it.
Pressure concentrated in Harven's fist without spilling into the environment.
"Internal Qi stays within the body. You can reinforce muscles for power, legs for speed, your body for durability. You can enhance balance, reflexes, coordination and reactions."
The Qi spread from Harven's fist.
Shoulder.
Chest.
Legs.
His whole body.
Then he moved.
Kel barely saw it.
One moment Harven stood several feet away.
The next he was directly in front of him.
Luno jumped.
Kel stepped back. "Damn."
Harven moved away.
"With enough Qi and control, you can keep feeding your body during a fight. Shift it into your legs when you need speed. Your arms when you strike. Reinforce yourself before impact. Push your reactions when something is moving faster than your normal body can handle."
Luno stared.
"So that's how Internal warriors do all that crazy stuff?"
"Partly. Qi doesn't replace training. It lets a trained body perform beyond its natural limits."
"How far?"
Harven smiled faintly.
"Eventually you'll stop using the word natural."
He held out his forearm.
"Kel. Hit me."
Kel shrugged and punched it.
Solid.
Normal.
"Again."
Kel pulled back.
This time he felt Internal Qi gathering inside Harven's forearm.
More.
Then more.
"Go ahead."
Kel hesitated.
Luno smiled. "Scared?"
"You hit him."
"This is your lesson."
Kel rolled his eyes and punched.
Pain exploded through his hand.
"Damn!"
He stumbled backward, grabbing his wrist.
Luno started laughing before noticing Kel's expression.
"Oh. That actually hurt."
Harven lowered his arm.
"What happened?"
"You turned your arm into a wall."
"Close."
Harven tapped his forearm.
"I concentrated Internal Qi where you struck."
Kel flexed his fingers.
"Put enough Qi into one spot and someone attacking it can hurt themselves more than they hurt you."
Luno looked at Harven's arm.
"How much?"
"At higher levels? A badly reinforced fist could break against it. With a big enough difference in power, someone could shatter their wrist, forearm, maybe ruin the entire arm."
Luno's eyes widened.
"So you make armor wherever you need it."
"For a moment."
Harven pointed at him.
"That's important. Every reinforcement costs Qi. Every burst of speed. Every enhanced reaction. Every harder punch."
He looked between them.
"The river isn't endless."
"Unless it's an ocean," Luno said.
"Still not endless."
Harven stepped closer.
"A beginner gets scared and floods their entire body with Qi. They'll become stronger and tougher, but they'll waste enormous amounts."
He tapped Kel's shoulder.
"Block."
Then his leg.
"Move."
His fist.
"Strike."
His chest.
"Take the hit."
"Your Qi should flow to where it's needed."
Kel looked down.
A river.
That made more sense than trying to grab something inside himself.
Harven picked up a wooden staff.
"Let's see if you understood."
Luno sighed.
"Here comes the painful part."
---
The next hour proved him right.
Harven attacked from every direction.
Kel tried moving Qi into whichever part of his body needed it.
At first, he was terrible.
He reinforced his shoulder when Harven hit his ribs. Sent Qi into the wrong leg. Once he flooded his entire body and felt his core drain so quickly Harven stopped the exercise just to call him an idiot.
Luno wasn't much better.
But slowly, Kel improved.
Staff coming toward his arm.
Qi there.
Impact.
Still hurt.
Less.
Low strike.
Qi into his legs.
Move.
Kel dodged.
A grin spread across his face.
Harven swept his other leg.
Kel hit the dirt.
"Never celebrate during a fight."
"I wasn't."
"You were smiling."
"That's illegal?"
"When I'm holding a stick, apparently."
Even Luno laughed.
Then Harven called the children over.
Kel's smile disappeared.
He'd almost forgotten about them.
Harven handed each child a strip of cloth.
"Get all six to that marker."
He pointed across the field.
Kel looked at the distance.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Harven raised the staff.
Luno sighed.
"There's always another part."
"If I touch one of them, that child returns to the start."
The youngest girl looked worried.
Kel stepped closer to her.
"You're actually going after them?"
Harven met his eyes.
"Begin."
---
The first attempt lasted twenty seconds.
Kel tried blocking Harven.
Luno tried moving the children around him.
Harven slipped through and tapped two.
Reset.
Second attempt, Kel used more Internal Qi.
He became faster.
Harven still got through.
Reset.
Third attempt, Kel got annoyed and attacked him directly.
For several seconds, Kel actually kept Harven busy.
Then Harven stepped around him and tapped the youngest girl.
"Back."
Kel's jaw tightened.
"You keep targeting her."
"Yes."
"She can't move as fast."
"I noticed."
"Then why?"
Harven looked at him.
"Because she's the weakest."
The field went quiet.
Kel didn't like the answer.
Harven stepped closer.
"You think an enemy is going to leave her alone because she can't fight?"
Kel said nothing.
"You think a beast attacks whoever gives it the fairest challenge?"
Harven pointed toward the children.
"Strength isn't only what you can do to somebody."
Then he tapped Kel's chest.
"It's what you can stop them from doing to someone else."
Kel looked at the girl.
She was tired already.
Still trying.
Something inside his chest tightened.
Harven noticed.
"Again."
---
The fourth attempt was different.
Kel stopped trying to beat Harven.
"Luno."
"I know."
Luno spread the children out just enough that Harven couldn't reach all of them at once. His insects moved above the field, giving him little flashes of direction.
"Right!"
Kel pushed Internal Qi into his legs.
The river moved.
He crossed the ground faster.
Harven's staff came down.
Kel shifted Qi into his forearm.
Block.
"Move!"
The children ran.
Harven changed direction.
Kel felt his intent.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The youngest girl.
Again.
Kel moved.
Harven changed angles.
The staff struck Kel's ribs.
Internal Qi rushed into his torso just before impact.
Kel stayed standing.
Harven attacked again.
Kel blocked.
Again.
Move.
Again.
Reinforce.
His breathing became heavy.
His Internal Core was draining.
Harven could sense it.
He increased the pressure.
Kel needed to learn what happened when the river started running low.
Harven slipped past him.
The youngest girl was exposed.
Kel saw it immediately.
Too far.
Harven swung the padded staff.
Something inside Kel snapped awake.
Not anger.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Suddenly Kel could feel it.
The girl's fear.
Luno's alarm.
Harven's intent.
And beneath all of it, his own absolute refusal to let that staff touch her.
Heat bloomed inside his chest.
Harven felt it.
His eyes widened slightly.
Kel's Soul Qi.
There.
Finally.
The heat spread.
Kel moved.
Internal Qi flooded through his body.
Not wild this time.
Together.
Legs.
Back.
Core.
Shoulders.
His foot tore into the dirt as he launched forward.
Harven's staff dropped.
Kel caught it with his bare hand.
Everything stopped.
Heat crawled beneath Kel's skin.
Harven felt something else mixed into the Internal Qi.
Something old.
Familiar.
For less than a heartbeat, Kel's skin felt too warm, as if embers were buried underneath it.
Harven stared.
Ember State.
No.
Not yet.
Not even close.
But the foundation was there.
Kel shoved the staff away.
"Don't."
Harven looked into his eyes.
Kel wasn't angry because Harven had attacked him.
He was angry because Harven had threatened someone weaker.
Then the heat disappeared.
Kel stumbled.
Luno caught him.
"Easy."
Kel blinked.
"What happened?"
"Your Internal Core is almost empty," Harven said.
"That doesn't answer me."
"No."
Kel glared at him.
A small voice interrupted.
"We made it!"
Kel turned.
All six children stood beside the marker.
The youngest girl was smiling harder than anyone.
Kel dropped into the dirt.
A laugh escaped him.
"Good."
---
After the children went home, Harven made both boys sit.
"Cores."
Kel groaned.
"You really don't quit."
"Neither should you."
Kel closed his eyes.
His Internal Core felt exhausted.
The river Harven described earlier felt more like a shallow stream now.
But there was something else.
Faint.
Warm.
Kel reached toward it.
For one second, he felt a second presence somewhere deeper inside himself.
Then it disappeared.
He opened his eyes.
Harven was staring at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Kel frowned.
Luno sat nearby with several insects resting on his shoulders. His own growth was continuing, but tonight Harven barely looked away from Kel.
He'd spent years refusing to teach his nephew this.
Years believing the best way to honor his promise was to keep Kel away from everything his parents had died fighting.
But Harven couldn't protect him forever.
Tonight had proven something.
Kel's Soul Qi was beginning to answer.
His Internal Qi was growing.
And buried beneath both was the first tiny hint of something Harven recognized far too well.
If Kel could learn to control those things, maybe Harven could eventually watch him leave Durnfield without wondering if he'd sent his nephew out to die.
Kel rubbed his sore hand.
"So what's tomorrow?"
Harven stood.
"Tomorrow?"
"The mission."
Luno opened his eyes.
"Yeah. What horrible thing did you secretly train us for this time?"
Harven picked up his staff.
"You'll find out in the morning."
Both boys groaned.
Harven started toward Durnfield.
Tonight's lesson wasn't only about tomorrow, though.
Some lessons were meant for years from now.
For the day Harven wouldn't be there.
For the day Kel stood between something terrible and someone who couldn't protect themselves.
Harven glanced back.
Kel was helping the youngest remaining insect onto Luno's shoulder before the two started home.
When that day came, Harven knew Kel wouldn't run.
That had never been the problem.
The problem was how much of himself Kel would be willing to burn to save everyone else.
End of Chapter 15 — Protect the Weakest