The Fine Art of Energy Manipulation

I have not posted a follow up to Addric’s adventures for a while, but just to put you in the picture…

He and Dheago have crossed over from one dimension to another and are now in the hands of the Yumi Master, Lezula.

It is her task to transform them from a couple of average boys into Yumi warriors.

In this installment, Addric shows us just how she intends to do that.

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ADVANCED ENERGY MANIPULATION

Addric tossed and turned that night; practicing every martial arts move he had ever learned, lashing out at every gremlin which had the nerve to confront him on my own turf. As he was about to discover, advanced energy manipulation was nothing at all like his adolescent fantasies. The circle of his life had turned once again and, after a very hearty breakfast, he found out just what Lezula had in mind.

The balcony outside the room they were using as their headquarters was to be the setting for this as yet undiscovered mystery. Beyond that was the Khavala peppered with floating islands from one end of the horizon to another.

Before this much anticipated lesson, they had our first taste of the power of a Yumi Master. Lezula raised her hand and to their surprise, one of the smaller islands, one which was not much bigger than a floating rock started moving in their direction. Within minutes, it was stationed alongside the balcony.

Addric wondered why, of course and asked Lezula what this was all about.

‘This is to be a test, not of skills, but of belief,’ she said, ‘if you believe in yourself Addric, anything is possible.’

But Addric had not expected to be the guinea pig in this experiment.

‘Your first challenge will be to climb up onto the balcony and out onto that rock.’

‘Why me,’ he said, ‘why do I have to do this?’

‘Using a little personal magic Addric, you will discover a power that you never knew you had.’

‘Why here Lezula, can’t we do this inside,’ he suggested, ‘it will be so much safer in there.’

‘You are in very safe hands, Addric.’

‘Not from my perspective, I’m not,’ he grumbled.

‘A simple demonstration will be more than sufficient to stimulate your curiosity.’

Addric did eventually do as she asked and clambered up onto the balcony. Below was the ever-present and bottomless Abyss. It was a frightening prospect to even consider and he had trained himself not to look at it, under some circumstances.

The rock was as wide as it was broad and appeared to be capable of withstanding the weight of a scrawny teenage boy.

‘Are you sure about this?’ he asked.

‘Yes Addric, it is the only way,’ Lezula replied.

Addric didn’t understand. He was to stand on a rock with his eyes closed and await further instructions. Lezula was a woman of some power, but when she started to speak, he noticed a very different quality in her voice.

‘Just relax Addric, be at ease and look deep within.’

That as yet, unidentified tingling sensation had become even busier over the last few days and was currently rippling up his spine.

‘What would you do, Addric, if that rock suddenly disappeared from beneath your feet?’

‘Scream, of course,’ he said.

‘Your thoughts would serve you better in this case if you found the power within, and the thought form which best serves your end. That is the secret, my friend. Find that key and all will be revealed.’

‘In a few moments Addric, that rock will disappear, it will simply disintegrate beneath your feet.’

‘It will,’ he cried.

‘You have options Addric, many options, more than you might even know about.’

‘You believe that you are standing alone, on a lump of rock, in the middle of nowhere, don’t you?’

‘Well, I am Lezula, rain check.’

‘Are you aware that you, the Addric Sharano that we know is just one aspect of what you are; that the real Addric exists in more than one dimension?’

‘This one doesn’t,’ he said, ‘not at the moment.’

‘This is only one of your many faces, Addric. There are multiple Addrics, even as we speak.’

You are one, you exist in unison with them, but they are all dependent on your guidance and leadership.’

‘You Addric, have the power to change their future, here and now.’

‘If you fall, they fall with you. Do you want to be responsible for the extinction of the entire Sharano dynasty?’

‘Nope,’ he gulped.

‘They are all here, watching what you do next Addric. You know exactly what you are capable of and you know exactly what is required to overcome an obstacle like this.’

‘Addric,’ she said curiously, ‘what would you say is your best quality?’

‘I don’t really know, but everyone else says that my worst is an over-active imagination.’

‘Do you believe that Addric?’ she asked.

‘Not at all,’ he said defiantly.

‘Then use that power my friend, change your future here and now. The power of your imagination is a greater ally than you have any idea about.’

Addric was deep in thought, thinking about every crazy thing he had ever done, desperately trying to connect with that one elusive thing which would catapult him to freedom and safety.

‘Addric,’ Lezula said quietly, ‘the rock is beginning to disintegrate. Choose your course of action, my friend.’

Addric steeled himself, his eyes were sealed and he didn’t even want to think about the rock. This was not a time for thinking. This, he realised, required a higher order response. His senses told him instinctively that he was in the Khavala, and that in itself was important.

Even with his eyes closed, he could see it in all of its glory. There was more to it than the fact that it was a vast ocean of nothingness, a never-ending world of its own. It was a place to which he had become emotionally connected, but by some strange twist of fate, it had become the very heart centre of his world.

He had two options. He could plummet into an anonymous grave or make a decision. Giving up was not one of them.

‘I have to do this and I have to do it soon,’ he thought. ‘This requires absolute and supreme trust and something else as well.’

This was impossible, he realised, if he did not believe in himself. As Addric was also aware, it wasn’t just a case of getting off this rock, that problem was taking care of itself. He could hear it dissolving, chunk by little chunk.

‘To accomplish this task, I have to create a special connection,’ he thought, ‘but how.’

Without even having to look, he knew that the rock had almost disappeared. Addric just stood there, knowing that he could not hover in mid-air forever.

‘But,’ he sighed, ‘the secret, the key which will open the door to my inner power, what is it?’

Addric had been standing astride the rock with his feet parted and his hands by his side, like a statue of a victorious warrior cast from solid stone. At that very moment he just happened to notice the look on Dheago’s face.

One thing stood out and it was not what he had expected. Tears welled up in his eyes at the very thought of it. A lifetime of memories came flooding back, of how he had always been there for Dheago, supporting him through the worst and best of times, of how he had offered Dheago a shoulder to cry on when he just couldn’t take it anymore, of the thousand crazy things he had done, just to make him laugh.

It was then that Addric had a flash of typical Sharano brilliance.

‘Ah ha,’ he thought. ‘The one and only force in the entire universe which could possibly do such a thing, and it all lies within.’

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Sorry folks…for leaving you in mid-air…halfway through the chapter…but if you want to know what happened next…read the post called…

I am the Master of my Fate.

Many thanks to Jean-Luc Bozzoli for allowing me to share his beautiful paintings on this site.

This magical creation is called Star Matrix

Starmatrix

Jean Luc’s work can be found at www.eyewithin.com