"We don't have the luxury of time I'm afraid, so we will have to use unorthodox training methods," my father says.
He leads us into a soundproofed room with only soft pads on the ground and meditation cushions. He sits down immediately and instructs me to sit in front of him. Gotrid lands right next to me and hugs me with his left wing. He's super nervous because he doesn't know what's expected of him.
"Normally, a Divementis trains their telepathy from a very early age," my father starts explaining. "You have the advantage of possessing the royal bloodline so your telepathy is naturally super strong, but that also comes with many tolls. You never learned how to properly shield your mind so you suffered from frequent headaches. Your mind was hopelessly unguarded and your only luck was that you never encountered another telepath."
"Yet, I withstood a telepathic attack from the Enemy," I point out proudly.
"That you have," he admits. "You haven't escaped unscathed, though. You could have also endangered your partner."
I chew my lip and look at Gotrid. The Enemy went after him the moment Gotrid touched me back there.
"You have great potential, son, you just lack formal training," my father says optimistically. "It usually takes many years to fully train one's telepathy to the proficient level, but we have only a few months at best. Therefore, we have to use unorthodox methods and harness the power of your unique empathy as well."
"How do I fit in?" Gotrid twitches anxiously.
"You will act as Aefener's anchor," my father reveals. "The Divementis don't bond until they come of age at forty so they can't train with their partners. You two can."
"Even if I'm not a telepath?" Gotrid doubts.
"You can help stabilise Aefener and be his safe harbour," he states. "The Royal bloodline carries great power, but those who inherit it tend to get easily overwhelmed. It helps us to rest in the minds of people we love."
"Father, whatever strict training method you plan to go for, I forbid you to mentally torture my partner in any way," I set the record straight. "I mean itâone slip and we're done."
My father's face darkens.
"I never wanted to hurt you, son," he whispers and there's guilt written all over his face. "It was the only way how to teach you to put up sturdy mental shields as fast as possible. Originally, I wanted you to be able to protect your mind when you meet our people for the first time, but it saved your life when facing the Enemy."
"You wanted to protect me against the Divementis?" I frown.
"Yes," he nods. "Your telepathy is possibly even stronger than mine, but your mind was hopelessly unguarded. I couldn't risk you meeting our people in that state."
I'm staring at him, still doubtful. The Divementis have been welcoming so far and nothing indicated that they would see me as an abomination. If anything, they are timid around me. Would that be different if I couldn't protect my mind?
"Aefener, don't you understand? The Divementis are afraid of you for a good reason," he sighs deeply. "You're not only the strongest telepath but also the embodiment of magic. Once you fully master your powers, you might become even more powerful than the Enemy."
Now I'm staring at him in shock.
"You can't be serious!" I shake my head violently.
"Moreover, you clearly prefer Celestials," he continues. "With your Celestial Emperor's wrath, there's no telling what you might do in future should the Divementis displease you. The fact that you go after every Divementis you meet so aggressively isn't helping."
"I would never harm...," I try to oppose, but he stops me.
"I know, son," he assures me. "I saw your mind and I know how kind you are. Still, you're the Celestial Emperorâthe leader of the most conquest-hungry and advanced Draconian race."
"I thought the Divementis were on par with Celestials and there was peace on Draconia before the Enemy invaded," I tilt my head.
"We were on par with them only thanks to our telepathy," he sets the record straight. "As for the rest of Draconian races, they were lucky that they inhabited environments unsuitable for Celestials so your people weren't interested in conquering those. The truth is that peace was fragile and possible only thanks to careful diplomacy."
"How close was the game to the original state of things?" Gotrid asks curiously.
"We altered the parts connected to collaboration," my father admits. "Draconian races were tolerant towards one another, but they rarely mingled. They happily traded their racial-specific resources, but that was about it. Forget about mixed battle units, those didn't exist beforeâit was unthinkable. Especially Celestials would never team up with races they considered to be lesser."
"Lesser?" I shudder.
"They acknowledged only the Divementis and the Earthborn," my father states. "The Dragonkin and Clawfangs were just intelligent beasts to them, not worthy of their interest."
"Did Celestials have a bad reputation?" I'm almost afraid to ask.
"I wouldn't say bad, more like mysterious," he shakes his head. "They inhabited flying cities outsiders weren't allowed to visit, they lived for hundreds of years and could do magic. It was difficult to understand them. My people were hesitant about whether we should revive them, but we knew that we wouldn't have a chance without them. Besides, my mother promised that to the late Celestial Emperor."
"Promised?" I narrow my eyes.
"We told Celestials about our plan a few weeks before Assiath fell," he says. "The Emperor knew that they were fighting a losing war so he entrusted my mother with a Celestial genome imprint which was the last piece we still missed."
"Your mother... my grandmother," I realise. "How did she die?"
"She died stealing the dimensional travel device from the Enemy," my father lowers his head. It seems to be a sore topic for him still. "She was able to confuse the Enemy for a few moments which gave our people a chance to seize the device and flee. I was only twenty-one at that time, still a child when it comes to the Divementis lifespan. I couldn't do anything."
He opens up to me and lets me feel his emotions. He lost his mother in the war and took the throne at an unprecedented young age for a Divementis. Now he rules what is left of once a glorious empire. He's simply scared that his people will perish.
"I'll show you everything if you let me," he whispers. "I loved your mother deeply and I regret that I wasn't stronger as a ruler to come up proudly in front of my subjects and announce that I bonded to her. I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
His confession seems genuine so I slowly nod. I decide that I shouldn't judge him by our first encounter, however unfortunate it might have been. The Divementis have a different idea of morality and there has never been a Divementis hybrid before.
"Let's start then," I say eagerly. "What kind of telepathic training have you prepared for me, father?"
"You should start building smarter defences," he states. "Your current mental shield is very strong for someone without formal training, but it limits you."
"Limits?" I don't quite understand.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that so far you've been doing everything you could think of to limit the input," he explains. "It's understandable, you were forced to live among non-telepaths so you had to develop coping mechanisms. These mechanisms limit the power of your telepathy, though, especially when it comes to long-distance perception."
"So, it's possible to keep my guard up while reaching out?" I get hopeful.
"Of course," he nods. "Long-distance telepathy is quite taxing on one's brain so we don't have it on at all times, but it's super important when it comes to coordinating battle units or sensing danger."
"Sensing danger," I realise that there's something that has been bugging me for weeks. "Father, when the missile attacked the Draconian embassy in Prague, I was somehow able to sense it coming. How is that possible when there was no living being steering it?"
"Oh, that," he recalls. "That was actually our doing. We were monitoring the air space above the skyscraper and learned about the incoming missile. The Divementis who were on the watch that day in the adjacent skyscraper warned you telepathically. We hoped that you could save yourself by jumping out of the window and maybe taking your partners with you. We would have never even dreamed of you trying to protect the whole embassy and succeeding."
"I would never abandon my people!" I get offended.
"We know that now," he assures me. "You amazed us, son. Your magical ability is truly on the level of the embodiment of magic. Nobody doubted your skills and motivations after that, you dispelled all our doubts and gave us new hope."
"Still, you knew about the missile and only warned me," I accuse him.
"We learned about it literally three minutes before the impact," he defends himself. "I know what you're trying to say, Aefener, but it was impossible to evacuate the entire building. Warning you was the best thing we could do in that situation. Now, grab your husband's hand and close your eyes. I'll teach you how to send your mind further than ever before."