“Because you’re too comfortable living here, or because he’s been making all the decisions for hundreds of years?” She put the broom aside and sat in the other chair beside him, which allowed him the time to gather his thoughts. Two of their dozen grandchildren played in the grass beside the house under the watchful eyes of Sara, Little Tad and his cousin, Micah.
In a foul mood, Gareth watched the waves rolling onto the tropical shore of his beach, curling and crashing onto the black rocks standing in the surf and looking like teeth that had fallen from a giant’s mouth. One wave after another would eventually grind down the rocks into sand. Gareth would live to watch it happen over a dozen lifetimes. His eyes remained vacant as Gareth watched the waves and shoreline while his mind drifted elsewhere.
“It’s not your fault.” The words sounded soft and feminine, and Sara’s caress on his thigh even more so. The surroundings were so peaceful he should be lulled into a pleasant dreamlike existence. Yet, he couldn’t escape the feeling that he’d missed something important in the events of the day before.
Gareth sighed, “We’ve been happy here for a long time. It’s been good.”
Sara poured a mug of cold water before offering it to Gareth. Thinking first before speaking had always been her way. When she chose to talk again, she said, “Which really means you’re concerned about our future and trying not to say so.”
Gareth looked at the two grandchildren playing together on the grass. He saw the resemblance of Sara in both. The girl, although less than five, already imitated Sara’s movements and soft manners. She often cocked her head to listen to her young cousin in the same way that Sara sometimes looked at Gareth.
The boy also had her soft features, but he was the daring one of the pair. He scooped some damp beach sand, tossed it high into the air and watched it break apart and fall. Much of it struck him in the face. A wail of protest followed.
“Oh, now look at what you’ve done,” Sara cooed, as she raced to his side and quickly hugged him until the crying stopped.
The episode gave Gareth the time to reach out and briefly join the mind of Blackie, a familiar action performed several times a day. Gareth found him in flight and looked through the eyes of the dragon. He soared high above the water, his mind agitated and wary, what there was of it. For a beast so large, the mind was small.
Today Blackie’s limited intelligence relayed cold and empty responses--and confused anger. The welcoming warmth that normally greeted Gareth was also missing. It felt as if Gareth had entered the mind of a frightened stranger.
Gareth looked down to the ocean far below and noticed a seal break the surface, then several more as they hunted their fish breakfasts. They were the usual snacks for the dragon, but instead of swooping lower in his normal attack mode and grabbing a few, Blackie raised his head and looked off into the distance, into the direction where he had been hatched.
Glancing around to ensure none of the family were nearby, Gareth watched Sara take her seat again, and he leaned closer and said, “I have to tell you something else.”
“This sounds serious,” her shoulders slumped as she faced him, waiting for more bad news.
“Since my father has died, I’ve ‘listened’ all morning trying to find some trace of him, something that might indicate he is alive. I keep thinking he might be injured and that I can help. My mind has been seeking for his mind-touch. Damn, this is so hard to explain because there are no words.”
“Go on,” Sara prompted, now sitting erect.
“I cannot reach him, but I have touched another. Our grandson is beginning to broadcast his feelings.”
“Tad? He’s like you?”
She sounded alarmed, and Gareth knew that Sara never had liked Amy, Tad’s mother, who often distanced herself from them. Amy came from the coastal city of Anther, a place rumored to have three girls born for every boy, and finding a suitable mate was the goal of every one of them, at any cost. Sara had always believed Amy trapped their son, Paul into a marriage, and she never really loved him, despite their seemingly happy marriage. He allowed Sara time to digest the information and partially sort it out.
“Yes, he’s like me,” he finally said.
Sara spoke in a reserved tone, but still sounding scared. “Tad’s only six. Were you aware of your abilities at six?”
“Not me, but others knew. Remember, the Brotherhood kidnapped me and hid me in the mountains at Dun Mare where they schooled me, and incidentally, where I met you.”
“Of course, I know all that. Do Tad’s abilities worry you? I mean, will others hear him with their minds?”
Gareth drew in a deep breath before speaking. “Yes. I’m very worried. But, don’t tell anyone, yet.”
“Why not?”
“As near as I can tell, his abilities are just like mine, and maybe stronger. For now, I can protect him by shielding his thoughts so we’re safe and have time to figure out what to do.”
Sara waited before whispering, “Tad can do both things with his mind? Listen and send?”
“There're only hints of his full powers, but I sense them developing, and I guess they have for a while. I have a soft blanket spread over him muting his thoughts, but when he is in pain or excited I have to concentrate fully to keep them to himself or others will certainly hear. Once they know he exists, they’ll do anything to figure out where he is, and there’s no way to protect him. Meanwhile, I also have to keep up my own broadcasting of dangers around our island to keep ships away. I’m running out of parts of my mind to spare.”
“Again I don’t understand.”
“Have you ever concentrated on doing two things at once?”
“I’m a mother. I do it all the time.”
“This is doing three things all at the same time,” he tried to keep from smiling at her answer.
“The only problem that I see is that you are a man so you are used to only thinking about one thing at a time.”
Trying to put the conversation back on track he continued as if he missed the insult, “I can keep my mind on those two things, as well as what is happening to me, but not if I get sick or fall again like yesterday. Once those forces know of Tad, there’s no turning back.”
“Then what will you do?”
“I’m not sure what to do with Tad, but keeping him calm so his thoughts don’t go out of control will help. He needs to be close to me so I can blanket his thoughts from going out to everyone sensitive. I can teach him how to control his loose thinking, but it will take time.”
“So now we have to keep a six-year-old calm, and you must stay close to him to educate him on how to protect his mind. At the same time, you’re going away. Plus, how can you do this with his mind without telling his mother and father of his abilities?”
“Remember what the Brotherhood did with me? Put me in a remote valley with only one road in. Then they shielded my thoughts even though I lived that part of my life without knowing of my abilities.”
“Until a dragon grabbed you in its claws and flew away with you like some prince in a fairytale,” she chuckled.”
“Well, yes, there was that,” he smiled, trying to remove the sting of the news about Tad.
“You have to tell his parents.”
Even while speaking with Sara, Gareth took a quick mental watch through Blackie’s eyes every few minutes. He reached out for a hint of a touch of the mind of his mentor and felt nothing. Thankfully, he didn’t feel the evilness that had attacked him in the garden.
Then, thin as a wisp of smoke on a calm evening he touched the warped mind of a stranger who was emitting his thoughts without the benefit of any shielding or protection. It was powerful, although untrained. Carefully, Gareth entered a tendril of the strange mind and felt hate, fear, self-loathing, and ill-humor. All were tangled and twisted. He withdrew before being detected and locked his mind down as firmly as possible.