Inside a small cottage that wasn't Rowan's, Raya sneezed a bit while sitting cross-legged opposite Lyrielle in a meditation pose. The small cottage was well kept and showed a hint of warmth and culture. There was tapestries lining the walls and even a small elven altar that had the smell of incense burning from it.
Raya looked into Lyrielle's eyes as if asking what they were doing. She shifted restlessly, her unease, impossible to hide.
"Have you ever meditated before?" Lyrielle finally asked as if knowing what she was thinking.
"I tried it once." Raya replied.
"And?"
"It didn't go so well."
"Hmm..."—Lyrielle grunted with a hint of displeasure—"well what we're going to attempt now is something that is a little bit spiritually demanding, a bit of a cheat and very dangerous at that."
"Why would it be dangerous?" Raya asked, anxiety creeping over her like a predator.
"I am going to be sending my aura into your body and open your pathways for your own aura to flow properly. In order to perform abilities, one has to maintain a steady flow of aura along their pathways. But if your pathways aren't properly honed or opened you could come to a standstill in power growth or just hurt yourself."— Lyrielle said looking at Raya carefully before continuing—"you have a healing ability and that is very vital for the process."
"I know aura is the energy that flows through me. But what are pathways?" Raya asked.
"They are networks through which aura flows along your body. Think of them as veins but instead of blood, they carry aura." Lyrielle explained.
"So why exactly would your method be dangerous?" Raya asked, uneasiness holding her tight like warm clothes in winter.
"Pathways have to be opened naturally, like growing overtime or training your body, which Rowan would be doing with the boys right now."—Lyrielle said as she stood up for a drink of water—"but that kind of training takes time to create stronger pathways and time is not what you have. Opening pathways in players runs a little different so I created an artificial method but it has a lot of conditions."
She paused. Taking in a deep breath.
"And?" Raya pressed on.
"Well, if done incorrectly, the method could lead to tearing of pathways."
"What happens when the pathways tear?" Raya asked quietly.
Lyrielle walked towards her altar and knelt down while proceeding to light another stick of incense and saying a bit of prayer in another language that Raya couldn't understand but guessed it to be Elven.
"If the pathways are torn, the individual would have difficulties in using their aura and depending on the severity of the tear, the person may use little to no aura."
Axle unwrapped a bell from the pole at the mountain's peak and after a few deep and steadying breaths started to head back down the slope.
"Where are you going?" Koby called after him from where he sat, breath still ragged from the climb.
"Down the mountain, obviously." Axle said, a hint of smile creeping up his face.
"Why not rest a bit with us?" Koby pressed.
"No can do. It's already dusk and in a few moments it'll be night time, the air on this mountain thins up quickly, so much that you barely have enough to breathe. And then we have the animals,Vharrows are mostly around here to howl at the moon." Axle explained and began running down.
"There are monsters here?" Kai said weaving his fingers through his blue hair in disbelief.
"You want to stay there and find out?" Axle's voice echoed upwards.
A quick glance between the rest and they scrambled for their bells and began their descent. They were horrified that Rowan would put them in danger like this.
Going down the mountain, seemed like the easiest part due to gravity but it was actually the hardest. The path down the mountain was now dark thanks to the trees and they stumbled way more than they did when climbing up the mountain. And then came the howls.
"The Vharrows are already here. Pick up the pace." Axle shouted as his legs flashed a faint golden and he started leaping over fallen branches and thick shrubs.
That statement gave a sense of urgency as everyone quickened their pace but it was already too late. They could see it. The silhouettes of the Vharrows running through the woods.
"Move! Move!!" Kai shouted, running with all his might and then in that sense of urgency, he felt it, a rush of energy and he willed it to his feet as he made his first jump— nine feet into the air — and then hit himself on a tree trunk.
The pain didn't register.
Not yet.
The adrenaline rush didn't let him feel the pain too much as he crawled up and continued running.
"I did it. I used aura on command." Kai shouted.
"Good for you."— Axle said in a dry, almost bored tone—"Keep shouting and reveal our location to the Vharrows, would you?"
"Tearing of pathways doesn't sound that bad." Raya said.
"It doesn't, but you're in Nyxoria where aura is like a person's identity. If you heal from pathways tears and are left unable to use aura, you are looked down on and discriminated against." Lyrielle said facing Raya.
"So why try such a risky technique with me?" Raya asked worry knitting her brows together. Her ebony light hair fluttering in the light wind with anticipation.
"Because you have healing abilities. I can use the technique on you while you use one of your healing skills on your self to maintain your body's stability."
"Have you done this before?"
"Twice. Failed once." Lyrielle said looking dead serious.
"The boys just get to workout and I'm here deciding on going through a dangerous technique." Raya said in despair...
"If it helps you feel any better, if the technique works on you. We'll try it with them." Lyrielle smirked, her first calm expression.