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The Beorin Collective

Channelknight Fadran

By Channelknight Fadran
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Channelknight Fadran

Channelknight Fadran

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Hey guys!

It's me!

Fadran!

As a Brando Sando fando, it would go against my very nature to not create a connected universe for all my works of writing. Most of you folks have checked out my sort-of novel "The Iconar Collective," and so it might be cool for you to know that these short stories take place in the same universe!

The Beorin Collective is another series of planets and stuff in the Omniverse, and while at first I had no clue what to do with it, after designing a magic system and some other fun stuff, I decided that it'd be fun to make literally EVERY short story I write from here on out take place in it.

This decision was a recent one, so I only have one work to share with you guys. It's called "The Shadowcaster," and I submitted it to Scholastic Art and Writing and got myself an entire scudding participation award. The word limit was 3000, so if the plot seems kinda tight, then... well, now you know why!

Here it is. I personally don't like it very much, but it's jam-packed with lore:

Spoiler

    “Feel the shadows. Feed off of them.”

    Jayne’s eyes were squeezed tight as he tried to Attune himself to the Ethereum of Shadow. In his meditative concentration, he could feel the Ethereum of Storms—weak under the clear skies, but ever-present.

    That Ethereum was familiar; furious and beautiful. He had Attuned it long ago, during nights spent in the rain. He could never remember a time without it.

    “Do you feel them yet?”

    “No, master… I’m sorry. I’ve never intentionally Attuned before.”

    “Don’t apologize. I would be surprised if you Attuned it today, even after a week of trying. It took me two months to find and understand the shadows.”

    “What does the Attunement… feel like? What’s the understanding… like?” Jayne winced at how awkward it sounded.

    “Attunements are different for every person. How you use your connection to an Ethereum is a manifestation of your Attunement. For myself, the shadows are a place to hide things out of sight… things that can’t be seen, but are still there.” Asoin unsheathed his sword; it was curved, and wicked-sharp. “Like a plan within a plan.”

    “So your military background. That influenced your Attunement?”

    “Or perhaps my Attunement influenced my background. I believe that both influenced the other.”

    “One has to come first.”

    “Do they? The shadows have been here ever since light was first created, and light has been here ever since the shadow was first created. Even if one came first, they both influenced each other. The Etherea transcend time. They are Beyond it.”

    “If that’s the case, then why can’t I Attune the Shadows now, instead of three weeks from now? Or a year from now?”

    “Perhaps you are Attuned, but do not understand it… or perhaps your Attunement in the future is affecting your here, in the past. There is something you have to learn, that you will learn, but will not for awhile—but that thing you will learn knows that you have to first be without it, or you will never truly know it.”

    Jayne’s hand went to his forehead. “You’re hurting my brain.”

    “Clear your mind, Jayne. Give the Ethereum emptiness to fill.”

    Jayne took a breath, placing his hands back down on his knees. He knelt on a cold stone, the sun shining upon his face, golden as it approached the horizon.

    “Think about who you are, Jayne.” Asoin’s voice came from another side of him this time; his master had an uncanny ability to move without detection. “Who you are, who you were, and who you will be. Think of what you’ve learned, and what you have yet to learn.”

    “I… I chose to leave home and join the Shrine of Clouded Sky to learn how to harness my Attunement to the Ethereum of Storms. And then I left them to come join the Shadowcasters.”

    “You’ve chosen a path to tread. You knew it would be difficult, but you chose it anyways. In a way, you’ve already completed the most difficult stretch of the journey.”

    “But… how am I to know what I’m going to learn?”

    Jayne’s eyes were closed, but he knew his master had smiled. “Feel the shadows, Jayne. They will teach you.”

    “Master Asoin!” A voice called.

    Jayne started from his meditation, eyes shooting open. His head whipped to turn to the sound of the voice; he hadn’t heard any voices other than Asoin’s and his own for days.

    Beneath the crest of the mountain, a man in gray robes stood, leaning upon a staff; a Stonecaster. A single youth dressed in similar attire stood to his left.

    “Greetings, Master Yain and… Kwer, was it?”

    The youth nodded, pushing a pair of glasses up his nose. “Greetings, Master Asoin.”

    “Why have you come?” Asoin asked.

    “As an assignment for my more experienced students, we’ve been tracking a monster of significant threat to a nearby village.” Yain said. “We were wondering if you could perhaps assist us?”

    “For a chance to help pass along knowledge, Yain? I’d lead an expedition into an active volcano. I hope you don’t mind if my apprentice joins us?” He gestured to Jayne.

    Yain glanced between Jayne and Asoin. “He seems capable. I’d be delighted to have him.”

    Jayne nodded. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll come.”

    “Great.” Asoin said. “No time to lose. Only a few hours until night falls.”

    “Yes, master.” Jayne got to his feet, then followed Asoin down the crest and into the shadow.

    “We’ve tracked it all along the eastern crest to no avail,” Kwer explained, "but we believe we found its den near a small spring to the west.”

    “Then let’s go,” Asoin said. “It would be rather embarrassing if your students finished the beast before we even got back.”

    With the sun still descending, they departed.

 

    Jayne had forgotten what it was like to be around people.

 

    Left and right, the Stonecasters chatted and laughed, caring for weapons or preparing traps. They seemed a jolly bunch of teenagers. He probably wasn’t much older than them, of course; in fact, he was probably younger than some. Training began early for those Attuned to the Etherea—Jayne knew that as well as any.

    “What’re you thinking about?”

    Jayne turned around, a little surprised to see Kwer sitting down beside him. “Uhh… just… y’know. Stuff.”

    “You’re from the Shrine of Clouded Sky? A Stormcaster?”

    “Yeah. I came from down south, and it was a lot rainier there. The masters thought I was Attuned before I could even walk.”

    “Really? And you came to the Shadowcasters to hone your skill, I guess?”

    “Basically.”

    “Cool.”

    They sat in silence for a few awkward moments.

    “So… you do… rocks?” Jayne asked.

    Kwer chuckled. “Not exactly. Some Stonecasters directly control the earth, but others use the mountains’ memory in the same way you use the Ethereum of Shadow: to enhance another Attunement. In my case, that Attunement is to the caves.”

    “The… caves?”

    “Yeah. It’s one of the Minor Etherea. My dad was a coal miner, and he liked to take me to explore the caves sometimes. I was also pretty young when I Attuned the Ethereum of Caverns. There aren’t really any Shrines or anything for an Ethereum that obscure, though, so they brought me to the Shrine of the Mountains to hone my ability.”

    “Huh. That’s cool. Has it worked? The Ethereum of Peaks?”

    “Yep. If you put me underground, I can just kinda… feel where the rock goes. I haven’t managed to get lost in a cave for years.” He looked at Jayne. “And what about you? Has the Ethereum of Shadow helped your Attunement to the storms?”

    “He hasn’t Attuned it yet,” a voice said. Master Asoin sat down between the two of them. “Though I think he isn’t far from it.”

    Kwer bowed lightly. “Master Asoin.”

    “Young apprentice. Your discussion is going well?”

    “We’re just talking about… y’know…” Jayne waved his hand vaguely. “Magic.”

    “Then I hope I can provide some insight. I’ve found that trying to impart wisdom to a laughing herd of Stonecasters is like trying to impart wisdom to an actual stone, and now I’m bored.”

    Kwer nodded. “They don’t listen to anybody.” He looked at Jayne. “You’re not Attuned?”

    “Not yet. The shadows… I can’t feel where their power is coming from.”

    Asoin thought for a moment. “You haven’t realized its Wellspring, then?”

    “Its… what?”

Asoin nodded, then gestured to the area around them. “The Etherea are like rivers, and their sources like this spring. Every Ethereum has its own Wellspring. For the Ethereum of Peaks, it’s the mountains and, by extension, the Ethereum of Memory. For the Ethereum of Shadow, it’s another realm.”

    “Forgotten and Shadow.” Jayne replied.

    “Precisely. That realm is closest during the sunset, when shadows are longest and days are forgotten to sleep.” Asoin nodded to himself. “I think it’s no mistake that two Etherea, so opposite in nature, were brought together today.”

    “Everyone, quiet!” Master Yain called from afar.

    The camp went silent.

    Then, a growling could be heard on the wind.

    “It knows we’re here.” Asoin said, then turned to the Stonecasters. “You five, get on top of that den. You three, behind that line of bushes. The rest of you take scattered positions to confuse it.”

    Yain’s eyes narrowed, obviously a little annoyed that Asoin had taken command of his students, but then just shrugged.

    “Is he usually like this?” Kwer asked.

    “Uhh… yeah. Pretty much. Comes from his time in the military.”

    “You two: stay back here. Only jump in if things turn south.” Asoin nodded to Kwer and Jayne. “Shadow speed you.” He ran over to where Yain was standing.

    Kwer let out a breath. “Phew. I was worried that I’d have to get in the thick of things. I’m not a great combatant.”

    “Everyone quiet!” Yain called, holding up his hand. The hushed conversations between the Stonecasters were silenced.

    There was a growl.

    A roar.

    And then it charged.

 

    Jayne had seen manticores before. You often found them in private menageries as a centerpiece due to their bright red fur and spiked tails.

 

    He hadn’t, however, seen a wild, angry manticore charge right at him, roaring at the top of its lungs.

    Fortunately, instinct kicked in. He called upon his Attunement to the storms, then whipped out his staff and swung it at the manticore. A blade of water appeared at the end of his staff, slamming the manticore off its feet.

    “How’d you do that?” Kwer asked. “There isn’t a storm for miles!”

    Jayne shrugged, then watched the manticore getting back to its feet, growling and raising its tail spikes. Right. It could shoot those.

    Another burst of power knocked it back off its feet, this one summoned by Yain. The manticore turned to him and Asoin, growling and shooting its tail spikes. The two dodged easily, though, Yain jumping out of the way, and Asoin vanishing from sight. Yain ran towards the manticore, shouting at some of his Stonecasters to attack the monster. Asoin, on the other hand, somehow reappeared behind the manticore, raising his sword over his head and bringing it down to slice off several of its tail spikes.

    The Stonecasters hit the beast with a variety of attacks, ranging from magically-thrown rocks to wielding magically-enhanced stone clubs. Soon, the manticore realized it was sorely outnumbered and began to retreat into its den: a cave stowed beneath an ominous outcropping in the mountainside. With sunset nearly upon them, the cave opening looked pitch black, like a pit with no bottom.

    “After it! Don’t let it get away!” Asoin called. He was first to delve into the cave.

    Yain entered moments afterwards, followed by the Stoncasters. Kwer and Jayne shared a glance, then ran in after them. Mere moments after entering, however, it was clear that the waning light of day was nowhere near bright enough for them to see… and by the time Yain had gotten some torches lit, the manticore was already gone.

    “Where’d it go?” Someone asked.

    “There are three passageways back there,” Asoin said. “It took one of those, so we’re gonna have to check all three. Yain, you take a few students and go down the middle. The rest of your kids go down the left. I’ll take Kwer and Jayne down the right.”

    Yain nodded. “Hate to split up, but I admit that that’s probably our best option.”

    “Hopefully we won’t have to explore too far; this cave could go for miles.” Asoin gestured to Kwer and Jayne. “Come on, you two. No time to lose.” He started down the rightmost passageway.

    As Yain split up the other students, the two shared another unsure glance, but followed Asoin without a word into the darkness.

    The only sound of their journey was that of breathing, footsteps, and the crackle of torch fire. The passageway went on and on, it seemed, with always another step to take in front of them.

    “It doesn’t actually go on that far.” Kwer said. “In fact, we’re about to come across—”

    They reached a crossroads; the tunnel split in two, one passageway leading deeper into the darkness, the other reaching upwards into a similar gloom.

    “A fork in the road.” Kwer finished. “Which one do we take?”

    “We split up,” Asoin replied. “You two take the right; I’ll take the left.

    “Wait. What?” Jayne tapped his hands together in a time-out signal. “Split up?”

    “I doubt the manticore is down either of these passageways; you should be safe. Take the torch, check the right. If it isn’t down that way, then just come back out.”

    “Are you sure about this?” Jayne asked.

    Asoin looked at him, and the half-mischievous, half-wisened glint in his eye told Jayne everything: his master had something planned. “Positive.”

    Kwer frowned. “Well… alright then.”

    “Shadow speed you.”

    With that, Asoin disappeared down the leftmost passageway.

    Jayne looked at Kwer. “Lead the way, then.”

    “Why me?”

    “You’re the cave guy.”

    “Oh. Right.” Kwer handed Jayne the torch, then placed his hand on the stone. “Let’s go.”

    Kwer lead them down the passageway, periodically stopping to close his eyes and ‘feel’ the stone. More than once, he guided them around unseen holes and jagged sections of rock.

    “Your Attunement is quite handy.” Jayne decided.

    “Yeah, it’s really useful to tell when—duck.”

    “What?”

    Kwer tackled Jayne to the ground, pushing him into a small clearing; or the equivalent for a cave, anyways. Moments later, a loud crash sounded, and the roof of the passageway behind them collapsed inwards.

    Dust blew outwards, covering them both in a thin layer. Fortunately, the cave-in didn’t continue, and the crashing stopped soon afterwards.

    Kwer looked up. “We’re good now.”

    “Yeah. Thank goodness.” Jayne stood up. “But how do we get out?”

    “Umm…” Kwer got to his feet, then grabbed the torch off the ground and held it up, revealing two passageways. “One of those two, I guess.”

    “Well, which is it?”

    “How should I know?”

    “You’re the cave guy!”

    “Yeah, and my cavey-ness is telling us to just go back the way we came. I haven’t a clue where either of these places lead.” He ran his hand into his hair. “I can’t tell anything about them. Oh, geeze, this is weird. It… must be because of the cave-in. I can tell where caves go because they’re almost always the same cave, but because it just changed…” Kwer looked to Jayne. “Is there anything you can do?”

    “I don’t… I don’t know. So you can’t tell what the cave is like because it changed?”

    “Yeah. Like… it forgot what it looked like.”

    Forgotten.

    “Forgotten and Shadow!” Jayne exclaimed.

    “That’s a swear I haven’t heard in awhile.”

    “No, I mean… that realm is closest during sunset… and it’s probably about sunset right now.”

    “Yeah. So?”

    “So, the cave just forgot what it was. It needs to remember. It needs to remember what it’s forgotten.”

    “Okay. How do we make it remember?”

    “I…”

    There were connections to be made. The cave needed to remember something it had forgotten. Forgotten and Shadow was close… so the cave’s forgotten memories were near. To draw them out, they needed memory, but to reach in, they needed…

“I have an idea. It’s a long shot, but it might work.”

“Uhh… okay. What’re your thoughts?”

“Master Asoin said it was no mistake that Shadow and Stone were brought together today. I’m thinking if… maybe if we brought together the two Etherea, then we could find the cave’s memories from the Forgotten and Shadow.”

“But you said that you weren’t Attuned to the Ethereum of Shadows.”

Jayne took a breath. “I’m not… but we have to try anyways.”

“Alright.” Kwer situated himself, then closed his eyes.

Jayne followed his example, taking steady breaths. In the cold darkness of the cave, he emptied his mind, leaving room for the Ethereum of Shadow to fill. Soon, only the sound of breathing could be heard; nothing else.

Then, off in the distance, there was shouting. A growl. So the others had found the manticore; they’d probably be fine. How was it that he and Kwer were so far away from their goal?

Far away… like the storms. How had he summoned such a powerful blade of water earlier without the storms nearby? Could it be… could he already be Attuned to the Shadow?

Or… not Attuned. Not yet. But he would be. Right now, he had just forgotten the Attunement that he would have, just as the cave had forgotten what it was meant to be. He and the cave both… they had to remember what they were going to learn and grow into.

He called upon the Ethereum, and reached into Shadow and Forgotten.

“That way!” Kwer exclaimed, pointing down the left passageway. “The others are through there! I can feel them now!”

“Then let’s go!” Jayne wasted no time, heading down the passageway immediately. Kwer followed him closely.

They dashed through the tunnel, occasionally with nothing but a brief ‘jump’ or ‘to the right’ from Kwer to make sure they didn’t crash into anything.

“We’re close! They’re just around—”

They turned a corner, nearly slamming head-on into the others. Asoin was already there, and it looked like they had successfully taken out the manticore. The others all turned to look at them, and Yain flashed them a thumbs-up. “Great! Everyone’s alive. Let’s head on home, boys and girls!”

“Phew.” Kwer turned to Jayne. “Nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too. Shadow speed you.”

“Stone speed you.” Kwer frowned. “Mine doesn’t sound as cool. Seeya!” He ran off to follow the others out of the cave, leaving Jayne and Asoin alone in the cave together.

“You’ve become Attuned.” Asoin noted. Then, after hearing a brief explanation of what happened, raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything quite like that.”

There was that wise and mischievous twinkle in his eye again, though.

“Then again, of course… I might’ve just forgotten about it.”

 

@Chasmgoat @Vapor

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Channelknight Fadran

Channelknight Fadran

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Just now, Chasmgoat said:

I guess so. I think I didn't want to read it before because I don't want to see what my own works could be and compare it and be disappointed in myself... 

Comparing fantasy works is a different process than comparing regular fiction, my friend. You can't pit Harry Potter against Stormlight Archive without a great deal of ambiguity.

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  • 2 months later...
danex

danex

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14 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Kay, so here's Wishing Away as mentioned in that one SU I made. I decided that I didn't want to screw around with formatting, so here's a link to the doc:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18JfRt9otI5IxH5zqQr6pdz1dB82vrg1aTcabe6JDVz0/edit?usp=sharing

Aight, just finished it.

Pretty good! Take my upvote good sir. 

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