6. Breathe In

six

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Adrian repeated the mantra, willing his exhalations to adopt the basic rhythm taught to all children when they first flexed their nascent aether.

Breathe in. Become one with the Great Aetheric Sea that binds existence together. Draw that aether into your spirit's core until you feel full to bursting.

Hold.

Hold.

Breathe out. Watch the aether wind its way from your core out to the furthest reaches of your mind and body through your aether channels, replenishing and strengthening all it touches.

At least, that's the way it was supposed to go.

His unsteady control wavered, and he gritted his teeth. He'd done these spirit-cursed exercises dozens of times now, yet still his aether occasionally turned to sludge in his veins. How was he supposed to overcome his flawed aether when he couldn't predict how it would act? Bad enough to lose control while meditating. If such a slip happened in battle…

Sighing, he forced himself to begin his breathing anew. He would not give up, no matter how much it made him want to claw his eyes out. Over and over, he repeated the cycle until, hours later, he slumped against a nearby tree trunk, his muscles trembling from exertion.

I think that's enough practice for one morning.

As usual, he found no sign of Seymour when he returned to camp. The watcher spent most days out hunting or patrolling. Adrian generally didn't mind—avoidance was a marked improvement over his previous harassment back in Hillvale. Still, it had been years since they'd spent so much time in close proximity to one another, and a part of him couldn't help but yearn for the lost friend of his youth.

Scrounging together a basic meal of berries and dried meat, he lay down in his makeshift lean-to shelter to rest. It wasn't much, but it offered protection from the worst of the elements. He sensed Heartrender nearby practicing her Mirror Image technique.

Like daemon masters, daemons required training to augment their aether. He'd feared his own difficulties would stymie her progress. Bonded daemons often struggled to rise beyond their master's limitations. With his flawed aether, he might hold her back simply by existing.

Shoving his gloom aside, he tried to remain positive. She'd already grown more adept at swiftly conjuring her illusions, and it wasn't like Adrian himself had seen no improvement. The last three weeks had been the most grueling of his life, and his mind, body, and spirit all felt stronger than ever. In retrospect, he'd clearly become lax in his training back in Hillvale.

Perhaps Seymour had been right to judge him so harshly—perhaps he had given up after his parents died. It was difficult not to lose faith in yourself when everyone else did.

Once Adrian had marshaled enough energy, he devoted the afternoon to studying Crastley's journal. There, too, progress had proved slower than he'd like. He'd quickly given up on reading the book from cover to cover, instead flipping through until a word or phrase caught his eye.

So far, that had mostly meant scouring for references to Heartrender or Project Paragon. It had taken a good deal of digging and a few leaps of logic, but he was pretty sure he'd cobbled together most of what had happened. By the time Seymour trudged into camp with Tremorfist, Adrian thought it time to finally broach the subject.

He waited until the watcher had a decent fire going, then cleared his throat. "I've been going through more of Crastley's journal, and there are some things we should discuss."

The flames crackled amid a ring of stones. Seymour had replaced Tremorfist with Willowrush, and every few seconds, the spindly daemon twitched its limbs to dissipate the rising smoke with a burst of wind. The watcher remained silent, staring at the fire…but he didn't leave.

Adrian took that as encouragement to continue. "Crastley met Heartrender as part of Project Paragon. At first, I couldn't figure out what that was, but eventually, I found a section that referenced it by name. I'm still piecing together all the details, but—"

Seymour interrupted him with an obnoxiously wide yawn. "Are you planning to get to the point before I fall asleep?"

Adrian flushed, stroking Heartrender's head while he organized his thoughts. "Essentially, Project Paragon brought together renowned scientists from the Seeker Division and gave each of them a different daemon to test. However, the daemons were unstable."

"Unstable?" A note of interest crept into the watcher's tone. "In what way?"

"Their aether wouldn't hold together. Most died within a few weeks, a month at most. Crastley suspected there was something odd about their origins, but he never found anything conclusive. At least, not that he bothered writing down."

Seymour glanced at Heartrender. The daemon lay splayed across Adrian's lap, her cerulean glow ethereal in the evening light. "Your daemon appears stable enough."

Adrian grinned. "Yep. Heartrender not only survived but thrived in the testing environment. She showed a ‘remarkable intelligence and boundless curiosity.' Crastley's words, not mine."

Heartrender preened at the compliment.

Seymour only grunted. "What kinds of tests?"

Adrian's smile dimmed. "I'm not sure. At least some concerned alternate bondstone designs and the effects of repeated bondstone exposure on daemons. I think Serenity Corp was trying to discover a way to siphon a daemon's aether directly into the controlling daemon master."

"Like what you claim happened when you fought that Serenity Corp agent?"

"Like what Heartrender definitely did against Kali, yes. Although I doubt their methods would've been quite so voluntary. Anyway, while working with the prototype bondstones, Crastley discovered aetheric runes hidden within their cores. He studied the symbols and deduced that many of them had been inverted from their natural states. So, he did what any man of learning would do—he ‘corrected' the errors to enhance the magic."

"Your so-called true bond."

"Exactly!" Adrian found it more cathartic than he'd expected to talk through all this with someone, even if it was Seymour. "Crastley reported his findings to his superiors, thinking it exactly the sort of breakthrough they wanted. Instead of commending him, however, they reassigned him to a new project and ordered him to hand over Heartrender and his records."

Seymour snorted. "I'd have been furious. Do you think Serenity Corp already knew about the flaws in their bondstone design before he told them?"

Adrian had spent a handful of sleepless nights wondering the same thing. "It's possible they realized the implications of Crastley's research and panicked."

"You don't sound very convinced."

"Yeah, well, my faith in Serenity Corp's not exactly high at the moment. Crastley also found their reaction suspicious. He reasoned the Serenity Corp founders couldn't have devised the corrupted symbols to power their bondstones without the originals to use as a blueprint."

Seymour sucked in a breath. "But that would mean…"

"It would mean I was right about Serenity Corp being based on a lie," Adrian said, his voice grim. "I think this is what Crastley meant when he spoke of a grand betrayal. It's bad enough Serenity Corp covered up his research. But to have known about the true bond and deceived the League for generations…" He shook his head, suddenly weary. "Think of how different the world would be if the Watcher Division commanded daemons capable of free will and superior tactics. Spirits above, for all we know, our enslavement of daemons is why they keep attacking us in the first place!"

Seymour waved a dismissive hand. "Idealistic rubbish. The daemons attack us because they're savage beasts that hunger for aether." He paused, considering. "Still, you're right about the potential cost of our ignorance. The lives we might've saved…"

Adrian thought of his parents, slain beyond the Bulwark in the line of duty. Would they still be alive today if not for Serenity Corp's lies? It was a selfish thought—their deaths were mere drops in the bucket compared to all those that daemons had claimed over the centuries. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder.

Silence descended save the crackle of burning logs and the slight whoosh of Willowrush's wind technique. After a long pause, Adrian cleared his throat and continued. "In the end, Crastley couldn't keep quiet, not with what he suspected. He documented what he could and smuggled Heartrender out."

Seymour raised an eyebrow. "No one tried to stop him from leaving with a daemon?"

Adrian smirked. "Apparently, their security measures relied on detecting bondstones. Using the true bond, Crastley had Heartrender meld with him and walked right out the front door. By the time anyone realized what had happened, he was long gone. That was almost six years ago."

"He ran," Seymour said softly. "Like we're doing now. He exiled himself to the small border town of Hillvale and evaded capture for six long years. Until…"

Until Serenity Corp finally caught up with him.

Adrian swallowed hard. "He proved it's possible to hide. Serenity Corp's not omniscient."

"No, just filthy rich and with most of the League in their back pocket." Seymour glared at the burning logs. "Did Crastley say how they found him?"

Adrian slowly shook his head. "The journal ends a few days before he died, except for that last entry. He might've written more in the passages I haven't read yet. I'll keep digging."

Seymour nodded and stood, walking away without another word and vanishing within his shelter. Willowrush blew out the flames a few seconds later and trundled after its master.

Apparently, the conversation was over.

Adrian's eyes flicked to Heartrender. The small daemon remained curled in his lap, basking in the fading warmth of the fire. He hadn't spoken to her much about her past. From what he'd gleaned, she remembered little from before her bond with Crastley. That seemed for the best. He couldn't imagine she had many happy memories from her days as a glorified lab rat. But after that, living on the run with the seeker for six years…

"Do you miss him?" His words came out a whisper, though he echoed his query through their bond.

It took Heartrender a moment to interpret the question. Once she had, sharp sorrow pierced Adrian's chest and hitched his breath. The ache of loss reminded him of what he felt whenever he thought of his parents. She had loved the old man, even if she couldn't express so in words.

He stared into the dying embers of the fire long after the feeling faded, absently stroking Heartrender's head. For all that Crastley had been a genius when it came to daemons, he'd failed at surviving as a fugitive. They had to find a way to do better before they suffered the same fate.

"You're doing it wrong."

Adrian's concentration on his aether snapped, his heart practically leaping out of his throat at the sudden interruption. Spinning, he found Seymour standing there. The spirit-cursed man somehow looked as immaculate as ever out here, his golden armor polished to a shine and his striking face quick to draw the eye. Not that Adrian was looking.

"What do you want?" After another frustrating morning with little progress, Adrian was beyond caring about politeness.

"I sensed an aetheric ripple east of here while I was out hunting. If you value your hide, I suggest you give the area a wide berth."

Adrian nodded, but the watcher was already striding back through the trees. "Wait!" Seymour paused, turning to face him as he stumbled to his feet. "What do you mean I'm doing it wrong?"

The watcher crossed his arms. "Most daemon masters actually train with their daemons. Simple breathing exercises are fine for children first coming into their power. But how can you expect to ever command a daemon effectively without practicing in tandem?"

Adrian mulled over Seymour's words as the watcher vanished into the forest. He'd always assumed he needed to master his own aether before training alongside a daemon. Yet, so far, the only time he'd overcome his stunted aether had been when Heartrender infused him with her power to fight Kali.

The seed of an idea took root in his mind.

It was easy to pick out Heartrender practicing nearby. He sent a silent request, and a minute later, she pranced into the clearing. Her cerulean skin glowed even brighter than normal thanks to the power she'd been channeling. She settled into the leaves near his feet and nestled her head in his lap. Scratching behind her ears, he closed his eyes and focused on his breath.

The Great Aetheric Sea enveloped him, and he drew in aether for his usual exercise. Instead of stopping once he'd cycled it through his body, however, he directed the flow through his bond into Heartrender. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to understand his intent. His body weakened as she claimed more and more of his aether.

Come on, girl. I need you to work with me here.

Just as his reserve ran dry, she finally seemed to realize what he wanted. Aether surged through their bond, a mix of what he'd sent and Heartrender's own. He struggled to direct the influx of power. It was one thing to release it in a single blow like when he'd stabbed Kali. Circulating the extra energy through his body demanded far more control.

Sweat dotted his forehead while excess aether leaked from him in tiny blue spurts. Holding so much power felt a bit like strapping on weights before working out to tax his muscles beyond their normal limits. Hopefully, the benefit here would be similarly worth the effort.

After a few minutes, he forced the flow back to Heartrender through their bond. The pressure of holding so much aether waned, and he sighed in relief. They repeated the exercise several more times until exhaustion compelled him to call a break.

All in all, he was pleased with the results of his experiment. The sheer volume of Heartrender's extra aether had compensated for his own intrinsic weakness, and maintaining a continuous link for so long had stretched mental muscles he hadn't even known he possessed.

It had almost certainly not been what Seymour intended—other daemon masters didn't have a daemon capable of returning their gifted aether. But it had definitely been an improvement over cycling on his own. He returned to camp for lunch, reveling in a renewed sense of hope.

Over the next couple weeks, he continued his training, this time alongside Heartrender rather than on his own. Seymour still insisted he felt something off to the east, so Adrian stuck close to camp. He could feel his mind, body, and spirit strengthening in tandem, and the moments where he lost control grew fewer and farther between. The flaw in his aether channels remained, but like healing scar tissue, he hoped the more he taxed it, the less it would hold him back.

On one excursion, Adrian directed Heartrender to ping him at random via their bond. When she did, he tried to catch a snapshot through her eyes with a partial meld. The exercise gradually morphed into a game of hide-and-seek, Heartrender evading him while he used stolen glimpses of her surroundings to hunt her down. By the end, she became annoyingly good at confounding him with misleading images, smugness at her victory resonating through their link.

Another time, he fully melded with Heartrender for almost three continuous hours, drawing on her reserve to keep his body nested within hers long after he would've normally had to stop. Fusing with his daemon for such an extended stretch of time made him feel closer to her—more in sync with the unique way she viewed the world. The experience also left him oddly disoriented when he returned to his own body. At least, he didn't have an urge to lick himself.

Perhaps his favorite exercise, however, utilized Heartrender as his personal aether battery for a day of strenuous workouts. He felt like a god sprinting for hours without losing his breath or leaping straight up to snag a branch. Kali probably felt this way all the time. The thought sobered him—a stark reminder of why he had to cram in all the training he could.

As the days passed, Adrian found more than his aetheric manipulation improving. He might have tried his best to be considerate of Trailseeker during his days as a daemon catcher, but he'd never been comfortable in their relationship as master and slave. While that hesitancy hadn't caused his weak aether, it hadn't motivated him to improve much either.

With Heartrender, things were different. It astonished him how natural their bond felt after so little time together—like they were a true team. She wasn't a soldier eager to be commanded but an equal partner with her own ideas. Had he relied on his original plan against Kali, no doubt she'd have seen right through the illusion. Yet, Heartrender had intuited the assassin's mask of calm as a weakness to exploit. Kali's anger had made her sloppy…and she'd paid the price.

Just over two months after entering Overlin Forest, Adrian trudged into camp with Heartrender at his side. They'd spent an exhausting but productive morning testing the limits of her Mirror Image. While she could still only mimic objects around her, she'd grown more adept at sustaining multiple illusions and holding the images together after they'd been disrupted.

Adrian treated himself to an extra-large portion of lunch from their supplies, feeling only a little guilty at the indulgence. Perhaps now that he had a better grasp on his uncooperative aether, he could assume more of the hunting duties from Seymour. The watcher hadn't complained, but it was past time Adrian started pulling more of his weight.

As he settled down before the fire to eat, his mind turned to his parents. His progress thus far was a minor victory in the grand scheme of things. Most people reached his current mastery of aether without even trying, and he remained a far cry from Seymour's strength, let alone Kali's.

Still, after all these years, he finally felt like more than the colossal disappointment Seymour had once accused him of being. Tears blurred his vision. His parents had dedicated themselves to protecting others. They deserved a son capable of living up to their sacrifice.

I'll never stop fighting, he swore to them. No matter what it takes, I'll become a true daemon master and stand up to Kali, Serenity Corp, and anyone else who threatens the League!

Heartrender nuzzled into his side and mewled her agreement.

For once, Adrian actually longed for Seymour's company. The watcher might feign indifference, but he'd believed enough of Adrian's story to stick around. Yet, as afternoon faded to evening, he still hadn't returned.

Unease wriggled in Adrian's gut. Seymour had never been gone so long before. Most likely, he'd simply ranged further from camp than he'd intended. The man was a trained fighter. If anyone could take care of himself out here, it was him.

Adrian ate dinner alone, lighting a proper fire. The smoke would rise without Willowrush there to dissipate it, but he didn't care. He craved the comfort of the warmth and light.

His thoughts grew increasingly troubled as the night deepened. Countless things might've gone wrong, even for an experienced watcher. Dangerous daemons hid in these woods, along with whatever Seymour had sensed to the east. Not to mention Serenity Corp. A band of watchers stumbling on them would be bad enough. If Kali tracked them down, she wouldn't be content merely arresting them. Not after the dagger Adrian had jammed in her eye.

He sighed. "We can't just sit here, can we?"

Heartrender whined, her three eyes imploring.

She was right. Seymour might be fine…but he also might not.

Adrian smothered the fire and moved to the edge of camp before reluctantly replacing Heartrender with Trailseeker. Shoving aside his guilt over his continued failure to free the daemon, he crouched beside Trailseeker and tentatively patted its head. "All right, boy. Let's see if that nose of yours can find our wayward watcher."

Trailseeker flared its aura and, with Bolster Body enhancing its senses, padded into the woods. Adrian hastened to follow, keeping close to the faint glow given off by the daemon's azure skin.

Time to put all his recent training to the test.