Page 27 of Daemon Master

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 aetherchannels 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 becommanded 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 herMirror 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 enoughof 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, withBolster Bodyenhancing its senses, padded into the woods. Adrian hastened to follow, keeping close to the faint glow given off by the daemon’s azure skin.