fast,” he supplied, moving around the bag as I moved opposite
him, keeping the bag centered between us.
“My people are built lighter than yours, by
and large. Our fighting techniques favor speed, agility and
flexibility,” he lectured. “Many of my people would tell you it’s a
superior method of fighting, but the better fighters know that
there is no best way. My partner, who is without a doubt the best
fighter of our generation, feels that warriors need to train in a
way that maximizes their strengths and strengthens their
weaknesses.
“Partner?” I asked.
“Guardians generally work in pairs, each pair
assigned to a portal. Summer’s Hunters work in triads,” he
explained.
“So there is a portal nearby?” I asked.
He nodded, pointing up and behind the
house.
“On top of Bear Mountain?” I guessed.
“It is a smaller node, off the path of the
larger, more established portals. Which was why my partner
questioned our placement here,” he explained.
“So you are saying there’s a backwater portal
atop the hill behind my house? And you and your partner feel
slighted?” I asked trying to grasp the situation.
“Slighted? Maybe not slighted. Puzzled might
be a better term. Neeve and I are considered the first team among
Guardians. We are usually sent to the biggest, most important
nodes,” he said. “We wondered what was different about this
one.”
“You said ‘wonder ed ? Like you’ve now
figured it out,” I said, raising my eyebrows.
He nodded. “Hunters seek children of Talent.
These children are interspersed between the two courts and bred
back into the blood lines. Guardians protect the portals, but
mostly we seek to maintain the balance between the courts.
Occasionally a child is found who is gifted to such an extent that
it would throw off the balance between the courts. As Summer’s
hunters invariably find these children, Summer would most likely
benefit.”
I held up my hand to stop the flow of
words.
“What are these Talents you refer to? Just so
I’m clear,”
“Millennia ago, your species hunted to
survive and were in turn, hunted. As an animal, you were
handicapped by using two feet instead of four. Your natural
weaponry was pathetic, and your senses weak. Yet you thrived. Why?”
he asked.
“Our brains?” I answered.
He nodded. “Your intelligence allowed you to
modify your environment to better your odds. My people did the
same. However, while we chose to modify the living forms of our
environment, you chose the nonliving avenue, fashioning weapons and
tools from wood, stone and hide. You still faced the problem of
senses, one that we overcame by improving our night vision,
olfactory and auditory abilities through our ability to manipulate
the code of life. But your people didn’t. Yet they were able to
detect and avoid predators, find or lure game, coordinate hunts to
take down large prey. How?”
I shrugged, figuring he would answer quicker
if I kept quiet.
“Your ancestors developed and used abilities
that have gone latent in most of your population.”
“Like what? Psychic powers? ESP?
Telepathy?”
“I think you refer to powers of the mind that
are beyond the normal senses?” he asked. I nodded and he continued.
“These mental abilities gave your people the edge they needed to
outwit predators and find prey.”
“And you and your partner think there is such
a child here? In Groton Falls?”
“There is,” he said with a grimace.
“And?” I asked, waiting for the other shoe to
fall.
“She is your daughter,” he said.
Shoe? More like a giant’s boot.
“What?
“I don’t know what her abilities are, but
even I can recognize the signs of raw talent. Plus there is the
mystery of the pucks.”
“Pucks? What the fuck is a puck?”
“You may have noticed them, small very fast
fliers with big teeth. They are part of the White Court, just as
the Green Court has what you might call ‘pixies’ or maybe ‘bug’,”
he said with a slight
him, keeping the bag centered between us.
“My people are built lighter than yours, by
and large. Our fighting techniques favor speed, agility and
flexibility,” he lectured. “Many of my people would tell you it’s a
superior method of fighting, but the better fighters know that
there is no best way. My partner, who is without a doubt the best
fighter of our generation, feels that warriors need to train in a
way that maximizes their strengths and strengthens their
weaknesses.
“Partner?” I asked.
“Guardians generally work in pairs, each pair
assigned to a portal. Summer’s Hunters work in triads,” he
explained.
“So there is a portal nearby?” I asked.
He nodded, pointing up and behind the
house.
“On top of Bear Mountain?” I guessed.
“It is a smaller node, off the path of the
larger, more established portals. Which was why my partner
questioned our placement here,” he explained.
“So you are saying there’s a backwater portal
atop the hill behind my house? And you and your partner feel
slighted?” I asked trying to grasp the situation.
“Slighted? Maybe not slighted. Puzzled might
be a better term. Neeve and I are considered the first team among
Guardians. We are usually sent to the biggest, most important
nodes,” he said. “We wondered what was different about this
one.”
“You said ‘wonder ed ? Like you’ve now
figured it out,” I said, raising my eyebrows.
He nodded. “Hunters seek children of Talent.
These children are interspersed between the two courts and bred
back into the blood lines. Guardians protect the portals, but
mostly we seek to maintain the balance between the courts.
Occasionally a child is found who is gifted to such an extent that
it would throw off the balance between the courts. As Summer’s
hunters invariably find these children, Summer would most likely
benefit.”
I held up my hand to stop the flow of
words.
“What are these Talents you refer to? Just so
I’m clear,”
“Millennia ago, your species hunted to
survive and were in turn, hunted. As an animal, you were
handicapped by using two feet instead of four. Your natural
weaponry was pathetic, and your senses weak. Yet you thrived. Why?”
he asked.
“Our brains?” I answered.
He nodded. “Your intelligence allowed you to
modify your environment to better your odds. My people did the
same. However, while we chose to modify the living forms of our
environment, you chose the nonliving avenue, fashioning weapons and
tools from wood, stone and hide. You still faced the problem of
senses, one that we overcame by improving our night vision,
olfactory and auditory abilities through our ability to manipulate
the code of life. But your people didn’t. Yet they were able to
detect and avoid predators, find or lure game, coordinate hunts to
take down large prey. How?”
I shrugged, figuring he would answer quicker
if I kept quiet.
“Your ancestors developed and used abilities
that have gone latent in most of your population.”
“Like what? Psychic powers? ESP?
Telepathy?”
“I think you refer to powers of the mind that
are beyond the normal senses?” he asked. I nodded and he continued.
“These mental abilities gave your people the edge they needed to
outwit predators and find prey.”
“And you and your partner think there is such
a child here? In Groton Falls?”
“There is,” he said with a grimace.
“And?” I asked, waiting for the other shoe to
fall.
“She is your daughter,” he said.
Shoe? More like a giant’s boot.
“What?
“I don’t know what her abilities are, but
even I can recognize the signs of raw talent. Plus there is the
mystery of the pucks.”
“Pucks? What the fuck is a puck?”
“You may have noticed them, small very fast
fliers with big teeth. They are part of the White Court, just as
the Green Court has what you might call ‘pixies’ or maybe ‘bug’,”
he said with a slight
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