Veeyel hauled himself over to the desk where Kayel was working. The rest of the class were on break, having been taking lessons from one of the more powerful Thraki, and were now lounging around in the sunshine above them. Veeyel had left his mechanical leg braces with them, connected to a solar energy charger and was using his weakened telekinesis to move around. He’d intended to land gently next to Kayel and lean on his desk, but he fell with a thud, rudely interrupting whatever it was Kayel was doing.
“You alright?” Kayel asked, his eyes not moving from the text book he was reading.
Veeyel straightened himself out. He could stand briefly, as long as he leaned on something. Kayel though had other plans, pulling a chair over with his mind so that Veeyel could sit down.
“Thanks, brother…” Veeyel sighed. “I’m alright. Just coping. Harder than I thought all this would be. Really, I thought it’d just be you teaching us, but while we were floating in the pool the other day, you just kinda… buggered off…”
Kayel tutted. “I have a lot of things on my plate.”
“Yeah, obviously…” Veeyel leaned back in his chair. His hips were aching. He felt old, even though he was middle-aged. “Still, some of the others… they might think you’re ditching us or something. You said you’d be dealing with this and you’re here on your own.”
Veeyel’s words finally got Kayel to react. He sighed and stood up straight, staring at Veeyel. “You all have to learn the basics first. I can’t teach that.”
“Why not?”
Kayel grunted and returned to his work. Veeyel struggled over and put his arm on Kayel’s shoulder.
“You need to learn from them first!” Kayel snapped. “The proper way! The way I learned all my magia, it was dangerous. So many times I nearly killed myself and hurt others. You learn from the Thraki, you learn the proper methods and the basics so you don’t harm yourself. Once you’ve learned all that, then I can start teaching you restoration and nekromagia.”
“Yeah, but there’s clearly something else going on. Is that Psivee-En fucker bothering you again?”
Kayel paused and stared at Veeyel.
“That… That’s… complicated…”
“You went back to him, didn’t you?”
“No!” Kayel stuttered, nearly falling backwards in shock. “No, no! It’s not like that! I told him I needed time away. Time spent with you. But I… I have other obligations too…”
“Obligations to the one who ruined your life.”
“Its not like that any more…”
Veeyel growled. “So he saves your life once and all is forgiven? You have Stokelmia. Falling in love with those who hurt you. He hurt you. I bet you feel awkward emotions towards that sun-baked monster who stole you from your grave as well, don’t you? Same with the Thraki. What they did to us to consider us loyal, they did far worse to you, didn’t they? You feel beholden to them all for some insane reason.”
Kayel didn’t say anything. He looked away, then returned to whatever it was he was studying. Veeyel couldn’t explain why, but he felt angry. Not angry about Kayel not teaching him, but about something else. Was he… hiding something?
“You’ve got… some sort of motive here, haven’t you?” Veeyel finally muttered.
“Not a motive,” Kayel admitted. “Just a plan. Well, more of an idea…”
“One that doesn’t involve us?”
“No, one that completely involves you…” Kayel leaned back, hinting at Veeyel to have a look at his work. Scraps of paper everywhere. Weird scripture he couldn’t read. What little that was in a language he knew, he had no idea what any of it meant. The only thing he really recognised was a drawing of six silhouettes, with lines pointing to a seventh. The species that were alive before the Rethans became what they were today.
“What is all this?” Veeyel couldn’t help but mutter.
“A secret,” Kayel hissed. “A way I can fix us. A way to fix you. Using bits of what makes us… us. An amalgamation. A mixture. A cure to… everything maybe. I am still working it all out though, and I have to do this on my own. If… if the Thraki had any idea what I was… I can’t say any more…”
Veeyel nodded. “I understand. And here I was, thinking you were working for that scumbag Trehan.”
“Oh no. This is far more important than him…” Kayel glanced over his shoulder. Ksiel was heading their way. He quickly started folding things up, moving on to simpler things.
“Brothers first, Veeyel. But not yet. Alright? No one can know. For now.”
“Alright, fine… I’ll stay quiet…” Veeyel sighed. He hated keeping secrets.