You say it was similar to the power we used on you?” the man asked. “Be specific. In what way was it similar?”

  Hunter tried not to stutter as he thought back to the day he was taken from Skyhold. He tried to remember what it was like, just after the radar was activated and it pinged the ship.

  “We had no idea it was there. It had been hovering above us. It was a fluke—total chance that we detected it. Once they realized that something was there, they revealed themselves. It was like sky rippled when they deactivated their cloak. The air was waving, almost like an intense desert mirage.”

  He paused when a few of the Seedhans started to speak to eachother in harsh whispers. Rue held his hand up to them, and they quitened down.

  “What else?” he asked.

  Then came the activation of the formation which had frozen them.

  “The next formation they activated, I can’t even remember what it looked like. All I remember was a green glow, and then I couldn’t move. Nobody could, save for an Elemental Initiate. They killed him—the Peackeepers, I mean. They killed him, and then they killed over half of the rest of us. My friend, Sly, they killed him too.”

  It was odd watching the man’s intensity bleed away from him, Hunter thought. Rue’s shoulders sagged as he listened. His jaw unclenched. His eyebrows rose slightly.

  “I’m sorry, Hunter. Believe me when I say that I understand your pain. The Peacekeepers have taken a lot of us. Both of us. Is there anything else you can you tell us? What other similarities to our power did the formation hold? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t if it weren’t imporant.”

  “Well,” Hunter said, doing everything he could to forget how Sly had died, and the feeling of the tip of the Peacekeeper’s blade against his stomach. “I could still move my eyes. And I could still breathe. Small movements allowing me to swallow weren’t impossible, either. And my friend he was able to fire his weapon, which wounded one of the Peacekeepers. It wouldn’t have required more than a twitch of his finger.”

  Rue nodded. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes and he wiped them away.

  “It is too similar to our Restraint technique to be a coincidence. It has been perfected over generations, and is unique to our Vital lineage,” he said. “I’m sorry, Hunter. The technique was never meant to be used to slaughter defenseless innocents.”

  Hunter’s throat tightened. Rue’s tears were like a trigger, and he felt pressure welling up behind his own eyes. He blinked rapidly, and sniffed.

  It’s not time for grief just yet, Hunter thought. He wouldn’t let himself grieve until everyone was home safe, and the Peacekeepers were no longer a threat.

  A man from the group gasped. Rue glanced over.

  “We’ve made contact,” the man said, and Rue’s posture shifted once more. After hearing those words, his spirit was renewed. From the side, Hunter could see the man’s eyes light up, and his shoulder’s lifted. Rue rushed over to the group, and Hunter saw him grasp a small rod. Everyone around him held onto eachother’s shoulders and they closed their eyes, bowing their heads.

  Was it some sort of religious ceremony? Hunter wondered. Of the three men watching him, he saw them nod to eachother. Hunter braced for an attack, but then two of them jogged to join the rest of the group. The last man standing guard seemed amused by his reaction.

  “What are they doing?” Hunter asked, “It almost looks like they’re praying.”

  “It is a form of prayer,” the man said. Hunter took a closer look at him. The ridges along his head were more pronounced than Rue’s. They seemed to sharpen where they extruded, and sunk a bit deeper into his head. Hunter wondered if it was similar to well-defined cheekbones in human. Maybe Seedhan he was a hit with Seedhan women.

  “It’s much more intimate, though. I’m afraid I can’t share too much without Rue’s permission.”

  “Huh,” Hunter muttered. “Can you tell me why you need Rue’s permission? Its okay if you can’t.”

  He’d been watching their auras. Back when the priest was activating the spell, he’d felt the strength of all of their aura’s like a solid wall. And now, it was almost like they were a choir. Or like a group of tuning forks, all emitting the same pitch from being in proximity to eachother.

  “It’s a sensitive topic,” the man said, stiffening slightly as if he were offended by Hunter’s question. Hunter wondered if the man thought he was asking too many questions. He elected not to speak any further, and waited for the Seedhans to finish their prayer, or ‘contact’.

  He didn’t have to wait long. By his estimation, only 15 minutes passed before the group seemed to wake up from a collective trance. They broke out into a fervor, conversing rapidly with excited gestures, but Hunter had trouble picking up any particulars.

  Rue rushed over, a wide smile on his lips. The man watching Hunter watched Rue’s approach with something that looked like desperation. Rue whispered in the man’s ear, and the man seemed to forget that Hunter existed. He jogged to the group, who received him with excitement.

  Their prayer must be pretty damn effective. Hunter almost wished he could give it a try.

  “Contact went well, I take it?” Hunter asked.

  “Oh, yes. It went very well. Come, follow me,” Rue said, holding out a hand. Hunter was surprised by the gesture, but he grabbed the hand and Rue pulled him up without any trouble. Hunter was hesitant but Rue’s grip was firm and his stride was swift.

  “The relay,” Rue said, and the young woman who Hunter had first observed when he entered the chamber emerged from the group holding long, thin rod. It seemed to be crafted out a blue-green metal, like oxidized copper. Rue grabbed the rod and faced Hunter with a solemn look.

  “We are going to give you a choice, Hunter. We have a way to measure your deepest intentions, but it will be a risk on both of our parts. If you accept, and we judge you worthy, then we will be your allies against the Peacekeepers. If you decline, then we will be forced to hold you here indefinitely. You will remain in stasis, and the rest of us will move on to a safer location. Do you understand your choices?”

  Hunter wanted to say that he didn’t. Sure, it was clear on the surface. Submit to our test, or you’ll lose any hope of seeing the light of day until we decide you’re no longer a risk. The fact was that even if he wanted to fight his way out, he hand no confidence that he could. He remembered what Rue had told him when they first started talking.

  “Hold on, didn’t you say you had the ability to know if I was telling the truth or not?”

  Rue chuckled.

  “A bluff, I’m afraid.”

  Hunter didn’t think it was very funny.

  “How am I to know that this method of yours,—however you’re going to measure my deepest intentions—isn’t another bluff?”

  Rue just shrugged.

  “It’s your choice, Hunter.”

  Hunter didn’t like it.

  “Couldn’t you have just used this method from the very beginning?” Hunter asked, and Rue frowned slightly. It seemed that he was getting impatient.

  “No, Hunter. And if you accept, you’ll learn why. That’s enough questions, now you need to make your choice. Do you accept the offer, or not?”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  As far as Hunter was concerned, the Seedhans held his life in their hands. If they wanted him dead, he’d be dead. If they had any other nefarious or malevolent intentions, then they probably wouldn’t need to resort to trickery. All they would need to do was restrain him.

  Besides, he knew his own intentions. If this method of there’s was legitimate, then he had nothing to fear. Gaining some more allies for the budding resistance was a boon he wouldn’t turn away from if the price was nothing more than proving that he didn’t mean them any harm.

  “Alright, I accept,” Hunter said. “How do we do this?”

  “Hold the other end of the rod,” Rue said, holding the green-blue rod at one end and pointing the other end towards Hunter.

  After Hunter grabbed it, Rue told him to close his eyes and count down from 30.

  As his eyes closed, he saw the other Seedhans gathering behind Rue, all of them holding eachother’s shoulders in a chain that ultimately ended at Rue. He pushed away his curiosity and started to count down.

  30, 29, 28….

  The Seedhans began to chant. Hunter couldn’t understand the words, which he noted was odd, but the countdown had started to feel like a meditation and he brought his attention back to the counting.

  23, 22, 21…

  The chanting grew more intense, yet its volume seemed to decrease. The sound of the chants echoed around him, and the darkness behind his eyes started to feel a bit more real. As if the room itself had grown dark.

  17, 16, 15…

  The chanting began to morph into an ambient energy, and it felt suspiciously similar to etherium. Simultaneous to this change came a bright flash of light from his palm, where he held the rod. Hunter observed the feeling, and the light.

  10, 9, 8…

  What felt similar to etherium turned to be the very same thing. It was unmistakable to in his sixth sense, as the light grew brighter, and the etherium swirled around him, he started to feel that there was a novel charge being generated. A desire which he’d never felt before, yet seemed to beckon him forth.

  5, 4, 3…

  The etheric swirl became a vortex, and the more intense it became, the stronger he felt that strange beckoning call, as if it came from within him and beyond him. It was as if his sensitivity itself was starting to sing, matching the charge of the etherium around him, singing in tandem with its song.

  2, 1, 0.

  The vortex disappeared. The light in his hand had stretched out to assume the shame of the rod. He saw glowing figures appear before him, unmistakble as the Seedhans.

  But there were more, too. In the distance. Watching.

  “Fascinating,” he heard Rue say, but it did not come from the man’s mouth. It came from him. It came from the Seedhans. It came from the dark space Hunter saw them in. He noticed the he was glowing as well.

  Something above him caught his attention. He looked up.

  Miles upon miles of what looked like a strange golden circuitry. Swirls and lines, pulsing and flashing. The sight was dazzling. The more he looked, the more there was to see.

  And feel.

  “How?” Hunter whispered. His senses explored every inch of circuitry he could see, and his soul felt as if it were enraptured. Every line he saw was another glimpse of unspeakable glories. Every pulse of etherium was the whispered secret of heaven’s deepest vaults. Every etheric desire he’d ever felt was up there, and there was so much more.

  “Hunter!”

  Hunter’s attention felt like it was torn away from the display.

  “You see it? The Pattern?” Rue asked, his tone incredulous.

  “How could I not?” Hunter asked.

  The congregation behind Rue whispered.

  “It shouldn’t be possible,” Rue said, “nonetheless, we must proceed.”

  “Right,” Hunter said, trying to steal one last glance of The Pattern before they did whatever they’d come here to do. But Rue held up a hand.

  “Do not look at it. It’s complexities are based on principle far beyond what we can handle. It will tear you away from yourself. It will consume you if you are not careful.”

  “If it’s so dangerous, why are all of you so comfortable here?”

  “They cannot see it,” Rue said. “Only priests and watchers are meant to see it, and we require special training to discipline our minds in the The Pattern’s presence. We must also undergo a very gruelling initiation in order to so much as gain the first hints of The Pattern’s presence. I’m curious, how much of it did you see?”

  Hunter was about to glance at it again, just so that he could answer the question with accuracy, but priest sighed and Hunter found himself frozen.

  “It’s my fault for asking. I’m going to limit your movement so that you cannot gaze at The Pattern directly. I do not do this lightly, but the power within The Pattern can destroy your mind, body, and soul. I will not take that risk. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  Never had hunter felt simultaneously touched and horrified. Before he could respond, Rue continued.

  “We will now complete your initiation.”

  Rue dipped his head, and the Seedhans behind him began to chant once more. Rue lifted his head Hunter felt a threat to his very existence.

  “Fear not, Hunter. Your mind is open to us. Your heart will temporarily resonate in tune with our own. Your sense of identity is encountering something it has not been exposed to before, but I assure you that you are safe. The resonance will only last for a moment, and then we will return to the chamber.”

  Rue began to chant, and Hunter felt everything change.

  He was no longer Hunter. He was the hope that her family survived the release of the weapon. He was the relief at hearing from the remaining lodges. He was euphoria, for the Temple still remained! He was Joy, for many of their people had found refuge within it’s secret, and sacred space. The watchers had guided them all safely. He was the hope that she would find her husand alive and well, that he would find his wife, that she would hold her daughter, and he his son. He was the solemn duty to guide, protect, and discipline himself for the power he held was ancient and immense. He was the fear that the stranger he was exposing to his flock may be a ravenous wolf. He was the wish that this stranger who had somehow managed to see something that he shouldn’t be able to see would somehow help them all reclaim their home. He was the fear that their home was beyond reclaiming. He was the hope that Jaspen and the others weren’t worried that he was gone too long. He hoped that Os wasn’t expecting him to return today. He hoped that the Peacekeepers didn’t find the Seedhan survivors.

  He felt rage towards the Peacekeepers. Rage towards the Ravagers. Rage towards the killer of Seedha, so much like home, yet so alien. He was the fear that the slaves he had to kill weren’t connected to anyone that would come looking for them. He was the worry that the Seedhans he’d found would be a responsibility that was too big for him to hold. He was the terror that he and everyone that had came here with him would die before he had a chance to save them. He was the despair that the Peacekeepers would go unpunished for killing Sly. He was the resolute will to render unto the Peacekeepers everything they had done to him, and more.

  And then, there was something deeper. Something he’d always known, yet never realized. He was—

  Back.

  He was back in the chamber. He blinked away the soft light of the small space, which seemed to intense for a moment. It felt like he’d just woken up from a drunken coma. He stumbled backwards, gripping his head, which felt like it was being pried apart and stabbed with a red-hot knife.

  “The Pattern, it does that to a man. I sense no lasting damage, you should be fine after a full night of sleep,” Rue said.

  “Why does it hurt so much?” Hunter muttered, trying to recall what just happened. There was so much, as if he had lived a few dozen lifetimes.

  But it wasn’t really that many. In fact, it might have only been 8.

  “The Pattern,” Rue sighed, “It was not built by Seedhan hands. We inherited it from the ones who brought our ancestors here. We were…”

  Rue paused and Hunter got the impression that he was trying to find the right word.

  “Entrusted is not quite right, but for the sake of conversation, it will do. We were entrusted with it, but in a way it was entrusted with us. We learn from it, and in exchange, well. That’s a topic for another time. It suffices to say that it is built of a power that is beyond anything that we can understand. It is built out of something deep. A deep etheric principle that we have no comprehension of. All we know of it is that it is not for a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator to encounter. It is too powerful, too, how do I say it?”

  “Highly charged?”

  Rue nodded.

  “Yes, its very highly charged. To liken the human body to a formation, you would need to be made of much sturdier materials before you can handle even a shadow of The Pattern’s power.”

  Hunter nodded, he was in far too much pain to think too deeply about the man’s words.

  “I see, sort of,” he said, straightening himself out, wincing at the throbbing pain in his head. He reminded himself that he’d survived worse. “Did you see what you needed to? Can you tell me what I just went through?”

  “Before I do that, are you comfortable with speaking of your experience of it?”

  Hunter told him about his feeling of dissolving into a cloud of thoughts and emotions. He decribed how it felt like he’d lost his sense of identity, as if they were all one, jumbled up mind.

  “Fascinating. It is as if you were a novice priest, having just undertaken an initiation ceremony and trying to make sense of the choir. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was all so chaotic at first. I despaired that I would never be able to mould all of that Vital Intention into something useable. Nevertheless, I persisted. I learned. And now I lead my own flock. Or, I suppose that’s not quite true anymore,” Rue said, a sad smile on his face. A friendly gaze met Hunter’s eyes, and Hunter felt warmth spread through his chest.

  “In a way, we are brothers now. What you experienced was only a basic initiation, what any Seedhan would undergo in their early childhood. That you glimpsed The Pattern, and could sense the flock, I can only guess towards its meaning. There are reports of some who had a natural affinity, or sensitivity, but nothing quite like what you have described. There is something very strange about you, Hunter. Before, I would have been suspicious. But now, I have seen what your heart is made of.”

  Rue held out his hand, and Hunter grasped it. The rest of the Seedhans gathered around, patting Hunter on the shoulder.

  “Welcome,” they said. All suspicions they’d held towards him were gone. They knew him, and he knew them. He couldn’t remember specifics, and he didn’t even know their names. But he’d seen them. He’d felt them.

  “So I guess we’re allies now,” Hunter said.

  Rue laughed.

  “Yes, Hunter. Let’s discuss what that might entail.”