Centhin: The Opening - Erin Riordan (free e books to read online txt) 📗

Chapter 1

Joey had a feeling that he was going to die very, very soon. His entire body was practically frozen solid from the ice-cold air and he was slowly losing his sanity. He trudged through the never-ending snow with barely a sliver of hope to push him on. He heard a low, threatening howl in the distance. Well, he thought. If the cold doesn’t kill me whatever that is certainly will.
A numb feeling formed in the back of Joey’s head. It soon took over his entire body so that he was standing stock-still with only his face and racing heart within his senses. As he collapsed face-first into the snow, he thought, where’s my arm? Unconsciousness replaced numbness and Joey fell into a deep sleep.
And while he slept, he dreamed. In his dream he saw an enormous black and silver figure landing on a dark beach. He howled up at the moon, but when Joey looked up, the only part of the moon he could see was a last sliver of silver. A memory was triggered from the deep howling on the sand.
What is it? He stared at the dark form with his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. That’s it! he thought. He had heard that same sound in the blizzard. Joey shivered in fear. It was definitely a dangerous sound.
The creature was still howling when finally there was nothing left of the moon in the sky. The figure howled in a victorious tone that somehow seemed stronger and louder than before. Once again, Joey shook in apprehension.
Still howling triumphantly, the dark creature raced along the beach, until it was lost in the shadows. Joey gazed back at the spot where the moon had once been.
Please come out soon, he thought hopefully. The creature had spooked him, and the moon seemed to weaken it. And then, a black mist danced at the edges of his vision and soon it filled his eyes. Unconsciousness took over his dream-self as well.

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Joey was awoken by a strange feeling. It was almost warmth. He was awoken by a strange sound. It was silence. His back may have been close to warmth but the rest of his body felt frozen in the ground. He rolled over groggily and basked in the weak ray of what was almost certainly sunlight. He lay there for what felt like hours, but was only minutes and watched a single white cloud make its way across the sky.
There was a flash of gold to the west of Joey and he sat up and turned his head. But all he perceived was more white. At the corner of his vision, he saw the gold color once again. This time, he didn’t turn his head but instead, watched from the corner of his left eye.
He had to wait almost half an hour but eventually he saw the gold form. He gasped in shock. It was an Arctic fox. But its fur was shining gold in the weak mid-day sunlight. The fox walked towards Joey cautiously then stopped about seven feet away from Joey, who had hugged his knees to his chest.
The fox stared at Joey with piercing blue, unblinking eyes. Joey turned his head and looked the fox square in the face. Then, it bent its head down and lightly touched its nose to the snow below it. It then raised its head and looked at Joey without expression.
Then, in the blink of an eye, instead of a fox standing in front of him there was a golden snake with its head raised. It blinked slowly and calmly at Joey, but its eyes revealed a spark of energy. Joey could only sit with his mouth open. And then, the snake spoke.
“Hello Joey. I’m Kimoshu! What are you doing here?” she said enthusiastically.
“I-I’m here to leave my life behind me. I wanted to leave,” Joey conveyed. “And I’m not going back.”
“Listen, you are obviously one of us. And I am obviously yours. You must come with me to the camp,” Kimoshu said urgently. She then changed into a golden panther, at least five feet tall. Two golden-feathered wings sprouted from her back. “Climb on.”
Joey hesitated, but decided that he didn’t really have much of a choice. Besides, for some reason, he trusted this creature. He scaled the side of Kimoshu and sat in the curve of her neck. It was surprisingly comfortable. Joey supposed it was because of the silky fur.
Kimoshu’s wings beat slowly, then more quickly until they were ten feet off the ground, then twenty, then up to sixty feet. Joey held on tightly, fearing for his life once again. Paws tucked underneath her, Kimoshu raced ahead at blinding speed, graceful and powerful. Joey found himself enjoying the ride, after he got used to it.
“Joey!” Kimoshu shouted over the wind. “We’re nearing the camp. When we descend make sure you keep breathing. The pressure will affect you if not.”
Joey looked down and tried to spot the camp but they were racing so quickly that his eyes watered and he couldn’t see anything below. He felt the panther’s body tilt downward and continued to breath at what he thought was a regular rate.
Down and down they plunged, until Joey was feeling lightheaded from all the deep breathing. Finally, he saw green grass – which made no sense to him for they were in the middle of the Arctic – and as Kimoshu landed, the wind whipped past him and he struggled to stay in the curve of the panther’s neck.
The wind settled down and Kimoshu whispered, turning her head back to him, “Joey, climb down. The director is here to welcome you.”
Joey did as she said and looked around for the first time. He felt as though he was in an enormous bubble. Outside the bubble, there was snow falling and ice forming. Above him, there was blue sky and puffy white clouds. There was grass almost everywhere and he could feel the sun on his face. Green forests were shown in the near distance. He stripped off his layers of jackets and stood in a white T-shirt and cut-off jeans – Kimoshu had pitied the long pants and ripped them with her teeth.
A man in a purple shirt and jeans with a red fox by his side who was probably around 60 stepped forward and beckoned for Joey to do the same. The man had a wise look but humor was shown in his eyes. Joey nervously took a few steps toward the man.
“Hello! I am the director of the camp, Kyros. And what is your name?” Kyros questioned.
“I’m Joey,” he said. He noticed that kids with creatures by them were beginning to gather around them. They ranged from as low as 6 years old to at least college age. They had all sorts of creatures with them. Some scared Joey more than he’d admit. “Um, what is this whole thing here?”
Kyros smiled encouragingly. “Perhaps I should let Kimoshu here explain it to you.” He gestured to a hill a little ways off. “Go and talk over there. The rest of you,” he turned to face the gathered children. “Back to your activities. You may speak with Joey after he is taught.”




Chapter 2

The children walked away and Kimoshu ran with Joey up to the hill Kyros had pointed to. Kimoshu had shrunken so she stood just at Joey’s shoulder. Her wings were tucked neatly against her side.
“Sit down,” she instructed. “How to begin… Do you have a religion Joey?”
Joey shook his head.
“Okay. All of us – everybody here is of the same religion. It is called the Centhin. I’m sure you noticed the creatures paired with each person. Those are Creatures of the Centhin. I am one of them as well. We each have a person that will be our companion forever. They are the other half of our souls. You have the other half of my soul. Back to the Centhin. It is a powerful energy said to be at the center of creation. It has a being in the center of it that changes form and creates everything. It created the Creatures but decided to put the other half of their soul into a human that would learn the Centhin and live by it. Now, there is a dark side to the Centhin. We call it the Shæma. It has a being at its center too. Very dangerous. It influences the world of the Centhin in terrible ways. The Creatures of the Shæma are pure darkness. Their souls are black flames.”
“You got that Joey?” Kimoshu said doubtfully.
“I think so. Please, continue.”
“Alright. Creatures of the Shæma leak into our world all the time. We call these creatures, Shædems. Some are extremely weak, like the kall bats. Others are terribly strong, like the Opiphorus. You will be trained here to fight them. They will never be truly killed but will return to the layer of the Shæma and be reborn at some other time.”
“So I have to learn to fight these things?” Joey asked – not fearfully, but in an interested way which pleased Kimoshu.
“Yes. We should go get you your weapon of choice. No! I have a better idea.” Kimoshu plucked a golden feather from her left wing and handed it to Joey. “Imagine any weapon or object – so long as it’s not another person’s – and the feather will turn into it. Try it.”
Joey imagined a pen in his hand. Instantly, instead of a feather in his hand there was a golden pen.
“Good,” Kimoshu said approvingly. “Now try for a weapon. How about a sword?”
Joey tried to imagine a sword. The pen extended quickly and soon Joey had a shining gold sword in his hand. It was perfectly balanced in his fist. He tried swinging it at an imaginary opponent, slashing and stabbing. He laughed in pleasure. He then turned the sword into a coin and stored it in his pocket.
“Your form may need a little work, Joey,” Kimoshu said teasingly. “Another thing I forgot to mention: Most other Creatures like me – who have a human – can’t change into a divine creature, like the form I’m in now. They only change into regular animals. The animals are very powerful though.”
“Why do you have the ability then?” Joey inquired.
“Have you ever,” Kimoshu paused. “Dreamed? Well of course you have, all humans do. But I mean, when you dreamed, did you ever feel like you were really there, doing whatever it was you were doing? Well, that is what we call your dream-self. You are in the most comfortable shape that your Creature can take. It’s called their true form. Based on your dream-self’s ‘spirit’, that is how the Creature’s ability is decided. That doesn’t mean that if your good you get a Creature with more ability, no! It’s just a visual of the true self.”
“You know, I’ve never even looked at myself in dreams before. Do you have anything else to tell me?” Joey said lightly.
“Actually, I have a question. What was your life like before I found you?” Kimoshu asked seriously.
Joey’s expression turned to confusion. “I’m not sure exactly what I did in my previous life. I can’t seem to remember. I just know that it wasn’t good, and that I wanted to put it behind me. That’s what I told you earlier.”
“Alright,” Kimoshu said. She could tell he was straining his mind trying to remember. “Let’s go back; the sun is setting.”
Joey looked