Zeph Kaizen's Arc

Chapter 25 of 51

Outside the ancient hall, the night air was cold on Zeph's face. The new weight behind his sternum shifted with every step. It felt like a coal that had not yet caught fire. Kaine walked ahead, one hand on the strap of his robe, his yellow eyes cutting from tree to tree. Zeph followed his brother down the cracked stone steps and stopped at the bottom. The gold form was inside him, but it was not his to use. Not yet. "It's slipping," Zeph said. He pressed a palm to his chest. "I can feel it going loose." Kaine turned. He looked at Zeph's chest, not his face. "You brought a shape home without a spine. If a fight starts now, you'll reach for it and it will scatter." "Then teach me how to hold it." "I can't. Zento can. Sit." Zeph sat on the bottom step. He crossed his legs and set the bracelet on his wrist against his knee. He opened Refusal and Stillness together the way he had learned, in short bursts, one after the other. The coal behind his sternum flared and then dimmed. He held on. On the fourth burst, his ancestor stood in front of him. The old man was small and bare-chested, white hair up in a stiff crown, feet planted on nothing. He looked tired. He looked pleased. He walked a slow circle around Zeph without touching the ground. "You carried it out," Zento said. "Now anchor it. Name what it is for." Zeph opened his mouth to say power. He stopped. Power would scatter. He thought of Keji in the shelter, breathing shallow. He thought of the tiger he had refused. He thought of the young Saiyan he had let die at the door. "To stand," Zeph said. "When there is no one else left to stand." Zento nodded once. He set two fingers on the center of Zeph's chest. The coal in Zeph pulled tight. It did not grow. It set. Zeph felt it lock into his ribs the way a bolt drops into its slot. "Partial," Zento said. "But yours. You can call it now. Short. Never long." "How short?" "Three breaths at first. Four if you are honest." The old man stepped back. "Do not spend it on small men." Zeph opened his eyes. Kaine was standing over him with a hand out. Zeph took it and stood. He drew one breath and reached for the coal. Gold ran down his arms in a thin, steady line and stopped at his wrists. His shadow on the step edged bright. He counted three and let it go. His knees held. "Good," Kaine said. He was already looking east. Torches moved between the trees, low and fast. "They're closer than I thought. Walk. Now." Zeph stepped off the stair. The coal sat quiet in his chest, waiting for his call.