were closed.
Behold me on the physical plane , she commanded.
His eyes opened, blue, fierce, and unrepentant.
I am your dominant , she told him, her thought cold and controlled. You will obey me .
Nothing, saving the fierce blue stare. She inclined her head.
I accept your submission , she stated, as if he had actually extended it. Stand .
He obeyed, though it cost him, for beyond the bruises, there were broken bones and injuries to soft organs which she did not choose just yet to repair. It was well, she judged, that he learned something of pain, and to value its absence. She waited, allowing him to feel the weight of her patience, as he staggered to his feet, the fingers of his unbroken hand clawing the smooth tile wall for support.
When he was erect, she opened the channel for the fourth time and drew his power.
The channel warmed slightly as a spark danced from him to her, touched the grate and flared into soft blue flame.
* * *
Explain your action .
Painfully, he raised his head and met her eyes. Did you not command me to light the grate? His thought was green ice. Lady.
Fortunately for Rool Tiazan her fury had departed, else she might have struck him again, to his sorrow. Instead, she merely smoothed her robe and questioned him more specifically.
You know that you are inescapably bound to the body. What did you seek to gain by your late escapade?
Freedom . Cold enough to freeze the aether between them, with a depth she could not identify, and yet still mistrusted.
I thought , she sent carefully, that you did not wish to be destroyed. Mark me, if your body dies unrevived, you will be destroyed.
His eyes closed against his will, and he sagged suddenly against the wall, shivering.
I thought to... survive —his sending was ragged, as the body's damage began to breach his defenses. To survive... diminished. His thought fragmented; she caught an impression of a free zaliata , quite small and very compact, dancing joyous between the stars—and then nothing but green and silver static.
So. He had been willing to abandon some amount of his essence—his power—in order to escape his binding. A desperate plan, indeed.
You would not have survived , she sent, more gently than she had intended. The body will not yield you.
Silver and green static was her only answer. Against the stained tile wall, he shivered the harder, lips blue, tears mixing with the blood on his face, as the body's distress overwhelmed his essence.
She went to him, and took his undamaged hand in hers.
Come, she said, easing him to the floor. I will repair your hurts and give you data to study while you sleep.
viii.
HEALED AND CLEANED and held peaceful by her will, Rool Tiazan slept, his curls tumbled in pleasing disarray across the blanket she had allowed him.
She—she did not sleep, but withdrew to her core, there to meditate upon her actions and her motivations.
Emotion motivated base creatures and was one of the myriad means by which such creatures were subject to manipulation. So taught the philosophy instructor, who had with the biology instructor early set her cohort to studying the effects of emotion upon base biologic systems. The point made, the philosophy tutor had then drilled them in the domination of the emotions which were the legacy of their biologic origin.
Ultimately, you aspire to dominate base creatures of a high order , she had told them. How will you accomplish this, if you cannot dominate that which is base within yourselves?
Indeed, the dominion of emotion was deemed so vital to performing the will of the Iloheen that the First Doom had been constructed to test that skill. Those of her cohort who had yielded—to terror, to joy, to despair—those had not emerged from the testing.
That she had emerged from not only the First, but from all Three Dooms proved that she was worthy to pursue the work of the Iloheen as the dominant of a full dramliza unit.
And, yet—a dominant who
Behold me on the physical plane , she commanded.
His eyes opened, blue, fierce, and unrepentant.
I am your dominant , she told him, her thought cold and controlled. You will obey me .
Nothing, saving the fierce blue stare. She inclined her head.
I accept your submission , she stated, as if he had actually extended it. Stand .
He obeyed, though it cost him, for beyond the bruises, there were broken bones and injuries to soft organs which she did not choose just yet to repair. It was well, she judged, that he learned something of pain, and to value its absence. She waited, allowing him to feel the weight of her patience, as he staggered to his feet, the fingers of his unbroken hand clawing the smooth tile wall for support.
When he was erect, she opened the channel for the fourth time and drew his power.
The channel warmed slightly as a spark danced from him to her, touched the grate and flared into soft blue flame.
* * *
Explain your action .
Painfully, he raised his head and met her eyes. Did you not command me to light the grate? His thought was green ice. Lady.
Fortunately for Rool Tiazan her fury had departed, else she might have struck him again, to his sorrow. Instead, she merely smoothed her robe and questioned him more specifically.
You know that you are inescapably bound to the body. What did you seek to gain by your late escapade?
Freedom . Cold enough to freeze the aether between them, with a depth she could not identify, and yet still mistrusted.
I thought , she sent carefully, that you did not wish to be destroyed. Mark me, if your body dies unrevived, you will be destroyed.
His eyes closed against his will, and he sagged suddenly against the wall, shivering.
I thought to... survive —his sending was ragged, as the body's damage began to breach his defenses. To survive... diminished. His thought fragmented; she caught an impression of a free zaliata , quite small and very compact, dancing joyous between the stars—and then nothing but green and silver static.
So. He had been willing to abandon some amount of his essence—his power—in order to escape his binding. A desperate plan, indeed.
You would not have survived , she sent, more gently than she had intended. The body will not yield you.
Silver and green static was her only answer. Against the stained tile wall, he shivered the harder, lips blue, tears mixing with the blood on his face, as the body's distress overwhelmed his essence.
She went to him, and took his undamaged hand in hers.
Come, she said, easing him to the floor. I will repair your hurts and give you data to study while you sleep.
viii.
HEALED AND CLEANED and held peaceful by her will, Rool Tiazan slept, his curls tumbled in pleasing disarray across the blanket she had allowed him.
She—she did not sleep, but withdrew to her core, there to meditate upon her actions and her motivations.
Emotion motivated base creatures and was one of the myriad means by which such creatures were subject to manipulation. So taught the philosophy instructor, who had with the biology instructor early set her cohort to studying the effects of emotion upon base biologic systems. The point made, the philosophy tutor had then drilled them in the domination of the emotions which were the legacy of their biologic origin.
Ultimately, you aspire to dominate base creatures of a high order , she had told them. How will you accomplish this, if you cannot dominate that which is base within yourselves?
Indeed, the dominion of emotion was deemed so vital to performing the will of the Iloheen that the First Doom had been constructed to test that skill. Those of her cohort who had yielded—to terror, to joy, to despair—those had not emerged from the testing.
That she had emerged from not only the First, but from all Three Dooms proved that she was worthy to pursue the work of the Iloheen as the dominant of a full dramliza unit.
And, yet—a dominant who
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