Water by Terra Harmony Read Free Book Online Page B

With one arm still around my waist, Micah led me away from the crowd and the disaster I had created, down the length of the house, and into his room.

Chapter 7
     
    Divergence
     
     
    "You ok, old man?"  Shawn asked, as he entered Cato's private room.
    Cato grimaced as the medics treated lacerations on his forehead, arms, and feet with antiseptic, then mud.  "I've had worse, though not in recent years."
    Shawn nodded, running his finger over the spines of books on Cato's shelf.  "I told you so."
    Cato narrowed his eyes at Shawn, "Don't start, young man ."
    Shawn turned abruptly, treating Cato's warning as bait.  "You shouldn't have brought her here."
    Cato sighed, watching Shawn warily as the medics finished with the last of the bandages, "Would you all give us some privacy?"  He removed the blood pressure cuff, "Please – I am fine.  I just need to rest."
    The medics nodded as they packed up and left, the last one closing the door to leave Cato and Shawn alone.
    Cato took a deep breath, preparing for a conversation they've had far too many times.  "The doctrine says –"
    "I know what the doctrine says," Shawn interrupted.  "I was raised on it.  But that thing was written a long time ago.  Much of what it says doesn't apply to the present."
    Cato stood, "The doctrine is not to be questioned!  It can and it will apply to us, and everyone that comes after us.  It has proven its worth."
    Shawn threw his hands up in the air, "Why can't you see how much simpler things would be?"
    Cato walked over to Shawn, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Why can't you see that this is the only way to maintain balance?"  His hand gripped Shawn tighter.  "Please, son.  The Seven can be miraculous.  A Gaia to bring peace, the Ardwyad her protector, and you, her Medwin, to regulate her powers."
    Cato stepped away and sat down in his armchair, slowly, "And of course the leader, yours truly, the Rais."  He hung his head, and rubbed at his eyes.  "My strength is waning, son.  I'll need someone to step up soon.  A Rais, one powerful enough to control her…" Cato took a deep breath, "…but as the doctrine intends.  Deviation leads to devastation."
    Shawn turned his back, blocking out the pleas by the man who raised him.  "If you just give me a chance to show you.  I've begun to acquire the same powers of a Gaia, like you have."
    "That takes years, even decades to absorb that kind of power.  It has taken me a lifetime, Shawn."
    "I've found a place that increases my strength.  It allows me to absorb the powers faster."
    Cato now looked at Shawn with sad eyes.  He had seen contempt for the organization in the boy even in his early days.  Cato was mistakenly under the impression he could force change into Shawn.  Years and years of working with the boy, educating him on the Seven's history, revealing to him secrets that would have otherwise been lost, and special training sessions he didn't give the other kids. After all of that, they were back at square one.  He would make that mistake no longer.
    "I'm sorry, son.  There is just no way you can recreate the strength and the affinity a Gaia has with the elements.  You alone could not bring the balance Earth needs."
    Shawn refused to listen to reason, "We can recruit more elementals.  Bring them here, train them to work in circles."
    Cato shook his head, "We've been over this.  To maintain control we must keep the group small.  Besides, how do you suppose we would fund all that?"
    Shawn paced with excitement, "The Seven for hire.  People will pay for rain, or to divert storms, whatever the case may be.  We can do that." 
    "No, no, no."  Cato stood up.  "Protect, conserve, balance."  He counted off on his fingers.  "This is what we do for Earth.  We are not a for profit agency.  This has been drilled into you from day one.  You live and breathe this stuff – I do not, for the life of me, understand how you can deviate."
    Shawn went silent.  He walked over