Page 48 of Ocean of Silver

I shrugged. “A hunch.” I didn’t want to explain what I felt when I first saw him. I didn’t know what to make of it. How one moment, I was scared of him, and then the next, I no longer had worries. I immediately trusted him, and I still had no idea why.

“Brock’s other ability is called sensibus furari. He can steal someone’s senses, which in turn, heightens his own when he does.”

“Is that like your summa sensibus?” I asked. All the names of the senses abilities were starting to sound too similar and it was difficult to keep track of them in my head, but I wanted to learn. I wanted to know what the Advenians of Lux could do.

“No. I naturally have heightened senses all the time. Brock sees, hears, tastes, and feels normally. Only if he is actively using his power will he become enhanced by taking someone else’s away.”

“So if he takes away my sight? He can see twice as well?”

“Essentially, yes. Your vision will be added to his. Sensibus furari users also have a sixth sense in a way. He has an effect on someone’s emotions. The same way he can take on someone’s senses, he can do with your feelings, but in turn, he takes on whatever the person was feeling twice as hard.”

I gulped. Was that what he used on me that day? “Does he use that a lot?”

Tezya scanned me, and I could tell he saw right through my question. “He used it on you?” he asked, genuinely curious.

I blushed. “I don’t know. I think so. When he came to heal me, I tried to get him to leave. I was terrified that a stranger was at my door. I didn’t know who he was or if I could trust him. But all of a sudden, I did. Can he do that? Can he alter my emotions like that?”

Tez frowned. “Not quite. There is an ability that can do that, that can completely shift what someone is feeling, and it’s terrifying, but Brock probably just took your worry away. He can take away fear, pain, or any emotions that someone is actively feeling, which would leave the Advenian only with positive thoughts. He probably just shouldered your worry on himself, which would explain why it was gone. He can’t create trust that wasn’t there before. He can’t randomly put a feeling into you. You have to have already had something there for him to use.” He looked over at his friend. “I’m surprised he used it on you, though.”

“Why?”

“Because he never uses that ability. The emotion part of it, at least,” he clarified. “In battle, I’ve seen him take away the other senses with his powers, but he rarely messes with someone’s emotions.”

“Has he ever used it on you?”

“Only once,” he paused as if gauging whether or not to tell me. “I didn’t realize he had used it on me until my mother passed. I wasn’t in a good place. I hadn’t gotten out of my bed for weeks. I wouldn’t eat. Then one day, I just felt better. It took me a while to realize that Brock shouldered my burden, that he was taking my pain away. I was furious with him. He’s never used it again on anyone, I guess, until now.”

“That seems powerful. How is he only a rank four?”

Tezya sighed. “The Luxian Council views his sensibus furari as a weakness just as much as it is a strength.” I must have looked confused because he added, “Since he takes on the sense that he steals, it can be a negative thing for him. It’s a balance. He has to make sure he doesn’t take more than he can handle. And as far as his healing ability, his reserves aren’t as strong as other healers. But he should be a rank five, in my opinion. He is incredibly strong and uses his abilities well. He’s valuable in the army. He’s second in command, even despite being a four. Brock had to work really hard for what he has. Many of the soldiers in the army despise him for being so high up while having a lesser rank than them. He gets challenged to duels all the time by men wanting to prove they’re better than him.”

“Does that bother him?” I asked. I followed him to the edge of the bank as he dipped his feet in the water, gesturing for me to do the same. He didn’t need to roll up his pants since they halted halfway up his calf already. The water was deep on this side of the river. The only shallow part seemed to be where Brock was sitting on the rock. I took a sodden seat on the grass next to him, gently rolling my pants as I listened, thankful that his friends were out of earshot, or if they did hear our conversation, they didn’t show it.

Tez smiled. “No, he accepts the duels and then beats the living shit out of them. It’s actually quite amusing to watch. No one will ever challenge him twice.”

I looked over at Brock with newfound admiration. He was living proof someone could go beyond their rank. A chill went through me as I processed all of Tezya’s words. “You said he’s second in command?”

Tezya turned to face me, his expression hard. “Yes.”

I swallowed. Once. Twice. “Does that mean he works with the Fire Prince?”

Before Tezya could answer, Kallon swam over to me and half dragged me into the water. “Come on, Scottie, I want to show you something.” She turned toward Tezya and winked. “You don’t mind, do you?”

I was about to fully lower myself in when Kallon stopped me. “Aren’t you going to take off your clothes?” I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing thin pants and a loose white shirt. Tezya’s friends weren’t swimming naked, thank Pylemo, but they had on clothes similar to the Luxian swimming attire that Patricia packed for me.

Rainer turned to watch me, waiting for my answer. “Um, no, it’s alright. I’ll swim in my clothes.”

I thought I heard Dovelyn scoff, but I didn’t turn around to see. She still hadn’t acknowledged that Tezya and I were here. Kallon pouted for a moment, then continued on into the water.

Tezya didn’t take his eyes off me as I lowered myself into the water.

I was surprised by how deep the river became as we swam to the wider section. I had to tread water at the bank, but I couldn’t even see the bottom floor here. Kallon looked back at me once before bobbing under the surface. I followed suit, and as I opened my eyes underwater, I saw her beelining toward the fall.

I could feel the water pounding against my back as I swam beneath it. When I finally broke the surface, my eyes widened. We were at an opening to a small rocky cave, just big enough for two people. Kallon hopped up onto the surface, her feet still dangling under the water as she patted the empty spot next to her.

“How are you holding up?” she asked me as I plopped down next to her.

“I’m fine, thanks.”