Awakening by Raymond Bolton

Author:Raymond Bolton [Bolton, Raymond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FANTASY
Publisher: WordFire Press
Published: 2017-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

Reg had been striving to master his thoughts since his arrival at Losan. His progress was slow and he was frustrated. He knew it would be years, if ever, before he acquired the concentration the monks had attained. Their practice required him to spend nearly all his waking hours either meditating or under the high priest, Hazis’s, instruction. Patience was a virtue he thought he possessed until he tried to meditate the twelve hours daily the Katan required. Still, he had learned a little and was eager to test his skills.

The bell indicating the end of morning meditation sounded and the monks rose from their cushions, filling the halls and courtyards with the susurrus of flowing robes and the tapping of sandaled feet. This morning, Reg forewent breakfast in the community dining hall for the chance to gather news from the outside world. He stopped by the kitchen for a cup of tea and a slice of bread to take to the garden, then made his way to a bench under an eshed tree and sat. As he sipped the fragrant beverage and munched the rich grainy bread, absorbed in the taste, aroma, and texture, he made eating a meditation. When he finished, he closed his eyes and extended his mind outward.

At first, he simply listened. Nearby, of course, were the monastery’s residents. Then, some distance removed, the inhabitants of … Ah! Yes. Limast. The direction was correct. Although he was worried about reaching as far as Ydron, there was more to gain by attempting it than there was to lose. Over the past several weeks he had learned to skim the tops of thoughts, acquiring the thinker’s identity without disturbing the one generating them. Now, as he reached out toward home, he hoped to locate a specific kind of mind without revealing his presence.

Thus he sat for nearly an hour, looking for clues he was on the right track. Eventually, he located the outer city, moving from there to the citadel, suppressing his excitement. Here was real danger, were he discovered. Here also was much needed information.

After what may have been another hour, he located the object of his quest—an alien mind, yet not unfamiliar—a Dalthin’s mind. He settled in among those thoughts, listening, refraining from thinking his own. He quieted his breathing and stilled his mind, exactly as Hazis had taught.

* * *

Unlike many who were stationed in pairs, Husted Yar was alone within the palace. Actually, alone is not a word one can apply to a Dalthin in other than a purely physical sense. Each individual is joined to every other by a network of thought so interconnected each is immediately aware of the experiences and thoughts of the others. They are very nearly a single organism. Were Ai’Lorc asked to provide an example of similar intertwinement, he would have offered a forest of damass trees far to the north as the largest single organism inhabiting this planet. Occupying dozens of square miles, the trees are

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