Chapter 18: Chapter 18 – Hope

After returning to the compound, Grayson found himself brooding long into the night. With nothing to do but think, he couldn’t help but overanalyze everything he had done wrong, and the next day was more of the same. He spent most of his time just sitting on his bedroll, staring off into the distance, unable to bring himself to do anything else. Eventually, Capso came looking for him, sitting himself opposite to Grayson with concern written all over his face.

“Would you like to talk about it?” He asked, looking at Grayson expectantly.

“No, I don’t want to talk about it.” Grayson said, hating how much he sounded like a petulant child as it came out.

“It’s fine to feel sadness- it's natural even, but do not spend what may remain of your life in misery.”

“And why shouldn’t I be miserable?” Grayson asked venomously. “This entire world is out to get me. I’m stuck here in this living hell, and…” He cut himself off as he was about to tread on what was truly bothering him.

“And?” Capso asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“And I’m the reason Trest is dead. I made an idiotic mistake, and he would have never been put in the situation where he died if it weren’t for me.” Grayson had tried to convince himself that it was all the fault of Velos, of Archbishop Sandoval, or even Lady Altera. That had worked at first, but there was still a large part of him that couldn’t help but believe that he was the reason General Trest was dead.

“You did what you thought was best in each situation, did you not? Capso asked, giving him a quizzical look until Grayson grudgingly nodded his assent. “Then you shouldn’t blame yourself for making what you thought to be the best decisions you could. The good general understood this well.”

“What do you know about it?”

“I did not know Trest very well, but I do know he was a good man, and that is enough to know he would not blame you. Furthermore, Trest was a battlefield commander. He was no stranger to holding other's lives in his hands. He was an excellent general to be sure, but he still made plenty of decisions that led to the deaths of thousands. The only thing he would be angry with you for is not learning from your mistakes, or growing from the experience.”

Grayson wanted to be angry with Brother Capso, he wanted to hate him for his calm voice and tranquil demeanor after Trest’s death, but he couldn’t do it. The priest had been nothing but kind to him, and even now he was doing his best to help.

Grayson sighed, and Brother Capso gave him a smile, obviously pleased with the way the conversation had gone. He clapped Grayson on the shoulder before leaving the building.

***

Soon the days began blending together. Grayson had started doing the exercises and training that Trest had taught him again, and he found it was a good way to find his focus. At first, he struggled to do all the exercises because of the wounds the darters had given him, especially the bite to his calf. None of them had been too serious, but they were enough to cause significant pain when moving strenuously. After a few days, he was back to moving and walking normally.

He entered the aquadome twice more, and searched for the pearl each time, but wasn’t able to find the thing. He had his fair share of close encounters with death, surviving by the skin of his teeth on more than one occasion, but he was crushed when Brother Capso failed to return after the second entry after Trest’s death. After so long on the island, it appeared that he had finally fallen to the dangers of the Proving Grounds. Grayson had cried himself to sleep that night, because regardless of his grudge against Velos and Archbishop Sandoval, Brother Capso had been nothing but kind and considerate, despite being in the same situation himself.

Unfortunately, the world didn’t seem to care for the loss, because time kept on moving as if nothing had happened. The sun still rose, and the prisoners were still sent into the aquadome every two days. It was on his sixth entry into the Proving Grounds when he finally found the pearl.

***

Grayson was in the center of the proving grounds, grumbling to himself about his new shirt when he first felt the pulses. His t-shirt from Earth had been lost when Trest died, and he had asked the guards for a replacement, and surprisingly, they had gotten him one. The only problem was that this new shirt was a size too small, and it was made of material far rougher than he was used to. The combination left his skin rubbed raw in some areas, and it was extremely uncomfortable to say the least. Despite the discomfort, he immediately picked up on the pulses.

They were unlike anything he had felt before, giving off a soothing feeling that seemed to go deeper than the normal senses. Every second or so, a new wave would flow over him, and he knew that this must be the pearl.

He tried to tamp down his excitement at finally finding the thing, but he couldn’t help an almost giddy feeling from rising in his chest.

As he moved forward, he felt the pulses grow stronger, but after a certain point they grew weaker again. Slowly, Grayson honed in on where the pulses were the strongest before kneeling and digging in the sand.

It only took a few large scoops before his hand ran into something solid. Grayson grabbed the pearl, and lifted it up to inspect it almost reverently. It was surprisingly small, only about the size of a marble, and it was far heavier than he would have expected from something that size. It was a beautiful black pearl, with perhaps a tinge of blue to it.

He simply stared at it in amazement before licking his lips nervously. He had no idea how to create the bond with the thing. Grayson had asked Capso about it before the man had died, but he hadn’t known.

Grayson gripped the thing tightly in his hand, to see if that would do anything, but nothing happened. Instead, he placed it up to his heart to see if that would work. When it came close to his chest, he felt something as the pulses grew stronger. The best way he could describe it was some kind of instinctive connection to the pearl, as if they were meant for each other.

A grin grew on Grayson’s lips as he tried to pull on the connection inside of him. The air seemed to grow thick around him for a moment as if building toward something, and then, nothing happened. The air thinned once again, and Grayson could still feel the connection to the pearl, but what he thought was the bond failed to solidify inside of him.

Furrowing his brow, Grayson tried again, trying his hardest to pull on the connection this time, but that just seemed to make it fall apart faster.

Feeling panicked, Grayson tried again and again to create the bond. An instinctive part of him knew that this was the way to do it, but it simply wouldn’t form.

After more than ten minutes of trying, Grayson threw the pearl back into the sand and screamed his frustrations out. Against his own better judgment, he had started to hope once again, and it looked like those hopes were going to be dashed.

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He was about to start screaming obscenities at Velos, but stopped short when something occurred to him. During one of his conversations with Trest, the man had said wavelords weren’t able to enter the Proving Grounds.

Grayson could feel the connection with the pearl, and even felt like he was starting to create a bond, but it would fall apart before completion. Could it be that it wasn’t possible to create the bond while in the aquadome?

Looking down at the pearl, Grayson gave it a considering expression, before picking it up once more, brushing the away the sand clinging to its surface.

“This had better work!” Grayson shouted at the sky, doubting Velos could hear him, but feeling like it needed to be said either way.

As he made his way back to the exit of the Proving Grounds, Grayson had never been more careful in his entire life. He spent far more time moving through the area than ever before, but now that he finally had a pearl, he wasn’t going to jeopardize his life in any way.

When Grayson finally reached the exit, the guards knew he had the pearl immediately. They could feel the pulses it was giving off.

“Congratulations,” The lead guard said, holding out a hand for the pearl as the horns began to sound, “Looks like you’ll be safe for a few days.”

Grayson hardly heard the words, because as soon as he felt the weight of the aquadome leave his shoulders, he was pulling on the connection between himself and the pearl. His heart was beating quickly as he placed the pearl next to his chest. He didn’t even want to consider what he would do if this didn’t work, he simply put his all into forming the bond.

As he pulled on the connection, the air seemed to thicken around him once again, and Grayson held his breath, afraid it would fall apart once again.

The guards backed away at the feeling, looking confused, but when their leader tried to move closer, he was forced back by the pressure.

None of that registered to Grayson, all he felt was relief when the pearl phased through his shirt, and melted into him, suffusing him with warmth. The bond solidified, becoming real to him, and now that it had formed, it felt almost like an extra arm that he always had, but had never noticed before.

Grayson mentally flexed his metaphorical arm, and was surprised when light appeared above his head. He looked up to see what appeared to be a disk of blue light hanging vertically in the air above him.

When he looked back down, he saw the guards staring at him in horror. Their leader wasn’t stunned for long though, because he drew his sword and leveled it at Grayson.

“If you move from your position, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

Turning back to his men, he shouted, “Someone send for Lord Thran. Tell him that one of the prisoners managed to become a wavelord.”

Grayson didn’t move, instead he spent his time trying to figure out how his new powers worked, because while the blue disk had appeared above his head, he had no idea what it was supposed to do. Going over what he had learned of wavelords in his mind, he remembered Trest had mentioned two different powers. The first was something about water shields which sounded promising. The second was shooting pressurized water, but he was sure that the disk above him wasn’t either of those things.

He once again pushed at the bond, but other than the disk becoming marginally brighter, nothing changed.

A look of fear crossed the guard’s face when he saw the disk brighten, and he shouted out at Grayson once more, “Dissipate the halo immediately!”

“How?” Grayson asked, curious to see if the man knew. Apparently, he didn’t because he just shuffled his feet awkwardly without responding. Grayson was also confused as to why the man had called it a halo. The thing was vertical, not horizontal, and there was no hole in the center.

Furrowing his brow, Grayson pushed away the thoughts and felt at the bond inside him, pushing it one way, then the other, trying to get it to do something more, but nothing happened.

Grayson shook his head in frustration. He couldn’t afford to wait for the warden to arrive with more guards. He was pleased that they weren’t trying to escort him to the fort already, but he figured their leader didn’t want to leave too few guards at the exit of the aquadome in fear that the prisoners would take the opportunity to overwhelm the guards left behind.

The next few minutes were an awkward staring contest as Grayson worked on the bond, and the guards looked on nervously. After getting nowhere with his investigation, Grayson turned his attention to the disk above his head.

During his examination of the bond, he realized he could feel this disk was an extension of the bond, but it didn’t seem to be under his control in the same way. There was no instinctual feel he had for the disk. Focusing, he mentally commanded the disk to shield him, and was surprised when the center of the disk hollowed out, becoming a ring in the air.

A look back at the lead guard told him everything he needed to know. The man’s face had gone ashen, and he looked terrified.

“Don’t move!” He called out, sounding far more confident than he looked.

Grayson just grinned and began to run.

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