Chapter 2- The Morrow

  "You've blown up the house son. "

  "I did pops. "

  "How'd it feel?"

  "Heavy. "

  "That's the weight of Magyk. Carry it well. "

  Beast had taken the incident in stride for the most part. He had camped in the woods with his father in the aftermath of the incident. The dreams of crashing walls and falling earth that would occur in the night bothered him though and when he woke in the morning he only had one question for his father.

  "Will it happen again? "

  Titan stayed silent and gave it some thought.

  "No."

  "It won't? "

  "When the young are Haze Blessed three things happen. "

  He raised three fingers.

  "The first." He said dropping one finger.

  " Is awakening."

  "Often a burst of Magyk. Loud and explosive, or small and intricate. It is a reflection of potential and usually a forbearer of what is to come. You have already finished the hardest part of awakening, your mother will walk you through the rest. "

  "The second. " Another finger dropped.

  "Is the sight of the Haze. "

  I could see my father's head wrinkle as he thought of the words to use .

  "You will discover it soon enough."

  Ahh, he gave up.

  "The third. " This time he kept his finger up.

  "Is the trial of Ten . The final step for the blessed to come into their Magyk. It is difficult and one must prepare for it their hardest if they have hopes of success. "

  Titan patted his head.

  "You are five. You have five years to train your hardest and prepare in every way possible for this trial. If you do, you will be fine. "

  Beast took a second to wrap his head around it before he decided to take it in stride.

  "What happens If I fail? "

  Titan looked to the sun. "You will die. "

  I looked at the clouds as they drifted by.

  "Then I guess I'll have to pass. "

  A head patted my head.

  "I guess you shall."

  (-----+)

  "What was the your trial of ten? " I said on our walk back home.

  "I was not quite blessed enough to receive a trial of ten but instead did a ritual of battle to gain strength.

  He reached within his shirt and his hand came out with a horn. Its body had a slight curve that gave way to a sharp strait point. When he shook it the tip began to turn from a brown oak to a dark red, then slowly released a puff of smoke.

  "I fought a fire giant. A small one. But a giant. "

  "You fought a giant when you were ten? "

  "I did. As did my brothers. "

  "I have an uncle? "

  "You have two uncles.

  One of which has a boy a little younger than yourself. If you run into him on the world below, take care of him. "

  "How will I know when I see him? "

  My father smiled, a smile that was up to no good.    "A Slayer can always spot his own."

  I nodded sagely along.

  "So is this Magyk stuff the reason we live up here and not down there. "

  With a face full of remembrance he nodded along.

  "That's...... a story I shall in tell you in full with your mother. In fact she should be finishing the preparations for the second part of your awakening when you return. "

  "Ask her after that. "

  "When will be home."

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  " On the morrow. "

  <[-=-]> The Morrow

  Anna spent all morning painting the garden, her brushwork filling in the grass with large swirls and lines that overlapped and confused the eye.

  With brush in hand she looked over at her son who stood whose eyes fixated on her work. Her eyebrows perked.

  'Chance' she thought .

  "Here beast. Look here just at the edge. Do you see how the lines link and make a grid. If you draw within them just righhht, " she stretched out the word as she gave a line a finishing touch. "See, it becomes a cube. "

  She gave the cube a few flourishes and more lines and then made a grid between, then she narrowed her eyes and linked them within themselves again, lines and shapes repeating and repeating until beast brow drooped in boredom.

  He chose a silent retreat walking away quietly. Opting to spend his time running around the large valley in the back of their home, catching glow flies and rolling down hills until he was called.

  When he did give the field another look it had changed dramatically. From a large canvas that had spanned the yard , it was now as big as the shadow a cloud cast when passing overhead.

  Beast waltzed around the dark still wet paint with care, pausing only when he arrived in front of his mother. She looked over him and her eyes began to morph, an iris of gold and black filling her and slowly rotating into a smooth ticking clockwise spin.

  Beast sat on a purple pillow she had placed for him and watched the Magyk begin.

  Like a light clicking off his vision was gone. His body fell and crashed into the paint and with a soft thud fell through.

  He could see from the inside of the drawing the world above, a reverse world drifting further and further away. Within it his mother looked at him with seriousness. "Find the name Beast. You'll be free when you find the name. "

  Beast drifted away.

  "--"

  I opened my eyes to a warm face sitting atop the clouds.

  An old face with eyes friendly and heavy with age.

  "You are a peculiar boy I hear.. just like your old grandpa. Hahaha. Nothing to worry about if you ask me. In fact it's meant for a youngin to be a little precocious, course I wasnt walking on water but.. it's the thought that counts. "

  The man took deep puffs from a pipe that layed on his lips.

  "You have a good chance at being-."

  The man disappeared.

  An orb floated.

  Hovering in a new strange nothing that stretched as far as my eye could follow. I couldn't see the end of it, this nothing.

  So I looked back at the orb.

  I stared deep. Very deeply. But nothing happened, it sat there just floating, but in the back of my mind I could kind of feel..... that it was staring back.

  And if it could stare, it was. If it was it probably had a name.

  "What's your name orb? "

  And then it did something. It jumped up a little, with a small bounce. Then it tilted , just a little, like it was looking up at me.

  I knew this game from when father would take me to the Merchant banners down south. Their they did business in sign to avoid any slight of hand. Father says they enjoy the play on words. Either way though.

  "I'm sorry I don't speak sign language."

  The orb seemed to huff at that. Like a little shake where it's shoulders would be if it wasn't a orb.

  Then it was gone.

  Or wait , I was gone.

  The nothing changed from white to black, and this time there was an end.

  The end curved back and upward then round and up.

  Like an orb.

  Did that orb eat me, I wondered. I might kick it.

  The orb appeared in front of me again.

  I sighed deeply. "Listen orb," I began. "You better stop with this disappearing nonsense. It's bad manners. Your gonna get kicked. Besides I'm here for a purpose I can't get stuck here with you all day. I'll have to be leaving now. Return me to the other nothing. "

  The white nothing returned.

  The orb huffed.

  I sighed.

  "Your impatient aren't you." A voice echoed in the distance.

  The orb opened.

  Inside the orb we're curves, looping and flipping, pushing and coiling, bouncing and rotating, folding into and unfolding out.

  Pushing at everything and descending into itself.

  Dancing for all it was worth.

  When the inside of the orb finally stopped it's memorizing dance it closed, the inside falling outside until it was a orb once more.

  The dance was done, but in my head it replayed. Over and over, looping into my brain the way it looped into itself. It felt like it could keep going forever.

  My brain tingled. Like a warm blanket. "I get it. Your my pow"

  A word built up for what it was at the tip of my tongue. Jumping up and demanding attention.

  "Your space aren't you."

  Space shook it's orb shoulders , pleased.

  "Well space, I need your help, I need to make my way out of this." I said looking around at the looming nothing. "Can you help?"

  It nodded.

  As he zipped upward and back to his body on the head of the orb he replayed the loops in his mind. He had no clue what they meant, and was going to need some explanation on them other than space danced.

  And yet that's all it had did. It danced and now he knew it was space. When he tried to think of why it was, the looping crashing dance began again in his head, this time bigger and more pronounced.

  It felt like it was yelling the answer I couldn't understand. . I crossed my shoulders.

  I give up.

  I've got a name and that’ll do. With that and the world above in view i braced reaching out my hand and closing my eyes.

  Then an echo approached my ears.

  “The trial of ten awaits.”

  My eyes opened.