Zeph Kaizen's Arc

Chapter 6 of 51

Zeph practiced in the clearing through the morning. He named a thing he would not accept, and the fist closed in his chest, and his body moved. He did it four times. On the fifth try, Keji held up a hand and cocked his head toward the pines. "They're close," Keji said. "Faster than I planned. Two ridges out. Maybe less." Zeph looked around the clearing. Black rock. Open sky. Snow in patches. Nothing to put his back against. "I need more time." "You don't have it here. This ground will kill you. They'll come from three sides and you'll be naming refusal at arrows." "Then where?" Keji was already moving. He walked to the far edge of the clearing and pushed through a wall of brush Zeph had not noticed. Zeph followed. On the other side, the pines thinned into a shallow bowl of moss. In the center grew a cluster of plants Zeph had no word for. Vines twisted around a wide central flower that gave off its own light. Smaller blooms opened along the vines. The air over the patch was warmer. The snow stopped at its edge. "What is it?" "A shelter. Old. It hides what sits inside it from things that hunt with more than eyes." Keji stepped around the bloom without touching it. "Saiyan hunters track ki. In this circle, yours goes quiet. Sit at the center. Practice. I'll draw them off the ridge." "You're leaving me." "I'm buying you an hour. Use it. When you can call refusal three times in a row without stopping, you're ready. Not before." Zeph stepped into the ring. The warmth touched his face. His hand, which had been cold, went loose. Keji turned toward the trees. "Keji." "Name it and move," Keji said, and was gone into the pines. Zeph sat beside the central bloom. He closed his eyes. He said, under his breath, I will not be found here. The fist closed. He opened his eyes and stood and stepped sideways, and the moss under his old footprint was still settling when he landed. He did it again. I will not lose him for me. The fist closed. He moved. He did it a third time. I will not die kneeling. The fist closed, and the warmth in his chest did not leave when the motion stopped. It stayed, like a hand resting there. A shout carried down from the ridge. Not Keji's voice. Then Keji's, answering, farther off than it should have been. Zeph stood at the edge of the glowing ring. The bloom's light held his shape inside it. Outside, the pines were already darker than they had been a minute ago. He stepped out of the circle and started up toward the shout.