EMPIRE OF THE CASTAWAYS

Chapter 11: Eyes of Heaven

Ravindra 

Gregor spent three days in the cave with status somewhere between guest and prisoner, not bound or confined but also with clear understanding that attempting escape before Ravindra was satisfied with information given would be the last decision he'd make in a life already long enough and full of bad decisions that somehow hadn't killed him until now though some came very close. The old man spent most time sitting near the small fire always burning in cave corner, recovering strength from days of torture and forced march through mountains with bandits who didn't care whether their prisoner could keep pace or not, and while recovering he told about the world beyond Frostreach with details making Ravindra realize how little he actually knew about places he must one day enter if wanting to achieve goals still vague but already beginning to crystallize into something more concrete than just desire for revenge or proving worth.

Auratigris observed these interactions with eyes missing no detail, never speaking directly to Gregor because the guardian had long decided speaking with humans besides Ravindra was waste of breath and energy that could be used for more important things, but her presence itself was factor making the old trader very careful choosing words because speaking before creature that could kill you with one claw swipe created level of awareness about consequences different from just speaking with eleven-year-old child no matter how dangerous that child had already proven himself. In those three days Ravindra learned about how twelve nations organized themselves with complex power hierarchies where kings and emperors and sultans and leaders with various other titles sat atop pyramids built on backs of millions who worked and suffered and died without ever seeing reward from hard work except chance not to die today and maybe also tomorrow if lucky and not making mistakes attracting attention from the powerful.

He learned about trade systems binding nations together in networks of economic interdependence making full-scale war expensive to point where more profitable to war with other methods like tariffs and embargoes and sabotage than with armies requiring feeding and equipping and payment draining treasuries faster than taxes could refill them, though of course small wars still happened at borders and in remote areas where costs were low and potential gains high enough to make risks worthwhile in cold calculations of those making decisions without facing direct consequences because they were never on battlefields themselves only sending others to die for ambitions they didn't share. Gregor told about guardians and how they were used as ultimate weapons in conflicts that couldn't be resolved other ways, how calling guardians to battlefields was escalation usually avoided because destruction they created didn't distinguish between enemies and allies and sometimes even between soldiers and civilians, and how after Last Guardian War that occurred three generations ago and destroyed entire region until nothing remained except dead land that couldn't be farmed or inhabited, there was unwritten treaty among twelve nations not to use guardians except in truly desperate situations that hadn't occurred since that war ended with no winners only losers and bigger losers.

Most interesting to Ravindra was information about how individual power was measured and valued in societies beyond mountains, about Aether ranking systems dividing users into categories from weakest to strongest, and about how those with significant abilities could rise in social hierarchy no matter where they came from because power was currency more valuable than gold or blood relations or inherited titles when it came to survival in world where threats could come from any direction in any form. Gregor explained most people never passed what was called Order II, level where someone could sense Aether and perform small manipulations useful for daily life but not enough for serious combat, and that those reaching Order III were considered talented and often recruited into armies or other organizations requiring fighters with above-average abilities, while Order IV was rare and usually held positions of significant power like generals or court advisors or guild leaders regulating trade and crafts in large cities, and Order V was more myth than reality because in recent generations only handful claimed reaching that level and most claims couldn't be verified because those truly powerful didn't need proving strength with public demonstrations and preferred keeping actual abilities as secrets giving tactical advantage.

Ravindra listened to all this with attention never wavering, asking sharp specific questions making Gregor repeatedly say this child thought like spymaster not like child who should still be playing with wooden toys and learning to read storybooks, and he absorbed information in ways making clear every detail was stored in memory for analysis and later use when situations required knowledge about how systems worked and where weak points could be exploited. On the third night, after Gregor finished explaining how tax systems worked and how corruption at every government level meant only small fraction of what was collected from people actually reached central treasuries while rest disappeared into pockets of bureaucrats and local officials using positions to enrich themselves in ways so common it was considered normal rather than scandal, Ravindra finally asked question he'd held for three days because wanting to ensure Gregor was comfortable enough to give honest answer rather than answer he thought Ravindra wanted to hear.

"If I descend from this mountain intending to build something new, something not following old rules from twelve nations but creating different way for people to live together without cruel hierarchy and without system benefiting few over many, do you think there are people who would join or are all already too broken by system to imagine alternatives?" Question emerged with casual tone but gray eyes staring at Gregor carried intensity saying answer mattered not just as abstract information but as something that would influence concrete decisions about future. Gregor didn't answer immediately, using time to stare at fire and gather thoughts clearly not simple because question touched something deep about human nature and about whether real change was possible or whether people could only replace one master with another without ever truly achieving freedom promised by every revolution that ever failed in long history of revolutionary failures.

"I think," he finally said with voice quiet but clear, "there are two kinds of people in this world, those who've already surrendered and only try surviving one day at a time without thinking about tomorrow because tomorrow might not come, and those who still have small fire inside making them angry about injustice and making them want something better even if they don't know what better looks like or how to achieve it, and first group is vast majority because life has already extinguished their fire with years of suffering and disappointment and loss, but second group still exists and if someone could find them and give them something to believe in, something feeling more real than empty promises they've heard from every leader claiming to be different but turning out the same, then perhaps there's chance to build something new." He stopped, staring at Ravindra with eyes that had seen too much to still have illusions but still carried stubborn hope that wouldn't die despite all evidence saying it should. "But I must also say building something new will make you enemy of all powerful in old system, and they'll use all resources they have to destroy you because your existence is threat to their power, and twelve nations with their guardians and armies and wealth accumulated over generations are enemies that can't be underestimated even by someone trained by guardian and who's already killed with efficiency I saw on that battlefield."

Ravindra nodded, acknowledging valid point without arguing or trying to minimize risks because he'd learned from Auratigris that underestimating enemies was fastest way to die and that only by fully understanding faced dangers could someone make plans having chance to succeed rather than just hoping for luck or divine intervention that wouldn't come. "I don't expect it will be easy," he said with voice carrying certainty from already deciding path even before knowing all details about what waited on that path, "and I'm not fooling myself thinking one person or even hundred could change world overnight or even in one generation, but I also know doing nothing is choosing to accept status quo and I've decided I won't accept world where children are cast into snow to die because they were born from wrong parents or with blood not pure according to standards made by people already dead who had no right determining who deserved life and who didn't."

Silence filled cave after that statement, not awkward but full of weight from spoken words and implications of what they meant for future still distant but already beginning to cast shadows on present. Auratigris moved for first time in last hour, great head raising from resting position and blue and gold eyes opening to stare at Ravindra with something that might be pride or might just be acknowledgment that child she'd found in snow eleven years ago had grown into something more than she expected when making impulsive decision to save infant who should have died. Guardian said nothing because nothing needed saying, and in that silence was approval stronger than thousand words of support.

On fourth morning Gregor prepared to leave, body recovered enough to make journey down mountain though still bruised and wounded in ways that would take weeks to heal completely, and Ravindra gave him supplies enough to reach nearest village where he could get more and continue journey to whatever next destination this wandering trader had in loose plans that were only way to live in unpredictable world where making too specific plans only gave fate chance to laugh at presumption that future could be controlled. Before leaving, Gregor turned back at cave mouth with serious expression. "I'll spread word among people I trust, word about someone in mountains who's different from others, someone who might one day make a difference, and if you need something or someone in future, send message to Iron Valley and ask for Gregor who was once corporal and now trader who knows too much for his own good, and I'll come or send someone who can be trusted because I owe life and debt like that can't be repaid with just three days of stories about world you might already know most of from other sources."

Ravindra watched the old trader disappear around path turn with mixed feelings, partly relieved that now he could return to normal routine of training and hunting and learning without having to watch another person in space already feeling cramped with just him and Auratigris, but also partly aware something had changed in last three days, that door had opened to world previously only abstract and theoretical but now beginning to feel more concrete and more urgent as something needing facing not in vague future but in time that could be counted in years not decades. He returned inside cave where Auratigris still lay on warm stone with posture looking relaxed but eyes missing nothing, and for moments neither spoke because sometimes silence was sufficient communication between those who'd spent eleven years learning to read each other in ways transcending words.

"Are you ready for what you started by letting him live and giving information?" Auratigris finally asked with voice not judging only curious about whether Ravindra had thought through consequences of actions that couldn't be undone once people started talking about you in world beyond direct control. Ravindra sat on stone that had been his place for years, position close enough to fire to feel warmth but far enough not to overheat, and he stared at flames with eyes seeing something beyond physical fire, perhaps future or perhaps just reflection of different fire he felt beginning to grow inside himself. "I don't know if I'm ready," he answered with honesty he rarely showed anyone except this guardian who'd become only family and teacher and friend he had, "but I know waiting until fully ready means waiting forever because no one is ever truly ready for big things, they just do and learn while doing and hope they learn fast enough not to die in process."

The great guardian made sound that might be laughter or might just be long breath that happened to sound like amusement. "You're starting to talk like me, which is sign I've either taught you too well or not well enough, I'm not sure which," and in those words was warmth this guardian rarely expressed directly but always present beneath surface in ways she taught and protected and sometimes punished when lessons needed teaching in painful ways because that was only way lessons would be remembered well enough to make difference in critical situations.

That afternoon Ravindra went to open area outside cave where he usually practiced alone when wanting distance from Auratigris's presence that sometimes felt too large and too overwhelming even after eleven years getting used to it, and he closed eyes and focused on something he'd felt since peak test but didn't fully understand or could control consistently. It was sensation inside chest, like something spinning or perhaps vibrating at frequency not detected by ears but felt in bones and at fingertips and in place behind eyes where vision met something deeper than just seeing. Auratigris once said this was Aether beginning to move more strongly within him, sign he was passing from Order II to Order III which was threshold where abilities became useful for more than just small tricks or vague sensations, and that with practice he might learn controlling this flow in ways making it weapon or defense or tool for other purposes depending on what situations required.

He opened eyes and raised left hand, staring at mark that had been on palm for three years but now beginning to feel different, not just as decoration or symbol but as something living and active, door opening to something larger than physical self. Focusing on mark, he tried doing what Auratigris had instructed many times but always failed or only partially succeeded, which was channeling Aether through mark with specific intent rather than just letting it flow uncontrolled like water from unpredictable spring. He imagined Aether as river in body, flowing from center in chest to branches in every limb, and he tried directing flow from main branch to left hand with concentration making sweat begin emerging on forehead despite cold air.

For moment nothing happened except familiar frustration from trying to do something that felt like should be natural but turned out requiring effort disproportionate to minimal results, but then suddenly there was change, sensation like something clicking into place like puzzle finally finding fitting piece, and mark on his hand began glowing with pale blue light same as bioluminescence on Auratigris's back, not bright but visible enough in dimming evening light. Ravindra stared with mixture of surprise and satisfaction, and for first time since receiving mark three years ago he felt like finally beginning to understand what it meant having connection with Aether that wasn't just theoretical but practical and useful and might one day be difference between life and death in battles that couldn't be won with only physical strength or tactical strategy.

He practiced that control until sun set and stars began appearing in sky so clear at this altitude they looked closer than they should, like could be reached by just extending hand far enough, and each time he succeeded making mark glow he felt slightly more confident that perhaps he had chance achieving goals feeling impossible but already becoming center of everything he did and thought and planned for future still years away but already beginning to feel closer with each passing day and each learned lesson and each defeated enemy in long journey from cast-out child to something that would make twelve nations tremble when they heard name he carried, name given by guardian in snow eleven years ago and that would become legend or curse depending on perspective of those who heard.

Ravindra Kael Maharka. The thirteenth. The rejected who would return with fire