Page 25 of Daemon Master

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 wassupposedto 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’tpredict 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 wouldnotgive 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 herMirror Imagetechnique.

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 seennoimprovement. 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 hehadgiven 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 gaveeach 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 butthrivedin 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 Heartrenderdefinitelydid 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-calledtrue bond.”