“Our parents didn’t agree with the Emperor. They were meeting with a group secretly to decide what could be done about it. They were trying to get others to take a stand and not just let him walk all over everyone.”

Will didn’t interrupt. It seemed as if Ezra had more to say, so he just stayed silent.

“But that’s not against the law. At least, not technically.”

Bet slowly made her way to Ezra and lay her head against his arm.

“Anyway,” Ezra seemed to compose himself, “one night, when everyone was over, the pockets started opening. That’s what we call the purple circle-things like you saw Murden use with Tenebrim.

“Right in the middle of the meeting, they came from everywhere. There must have been… eight or so. They all appeared at once. The Darkhands and their Links, they came in and dragged everyone through the pockets and into the Voidside. Everyone but Bet and I. They left us alone. We weren’t their targets, so they pretended we weren’t even there.”

“Where are they now?” Will said.

“Well, we don’t know for sure, but we think they’re in prison. Still trapped in some holding place in the Voidside.”

“Will they get out? Do they get some sort of trial or anything?”

Ezra scoffed and sat down. Bet followed. “That’s not how the Emperor does things.”

For a long time, Will didn’t know what to say. Finally, Bet spoke up.

“That’s why it’s hard for us. You have to learn these things. The skills of a Darkhand that we remember so clearly. It’s painful, Will.”

“I won’t do things like that. I promise. I’ll use whatever I learn for good. I’ll help you.”

“I want to say I believe you.” Ezra said. “The thing that bothers me is this. You don’t just randomly become a Darkhand. It has to be in your family line. It could be your grandmother or great grandfather even, but still, it’s a family thing. What were they? What did they do? Would you do what’s right even if your family hadn’t?”

“Yes, I think I would.” Will thought of his mom and dad. Both of them seemed so clueless. They had the Binders, so obviously they had some connection to Androsia, but to think they were anyway negative was practically unthinkable. And his grandparents were even more harmless. He hardly ever saw them though.

“All right.” Ezra breathed in a steady stream of air to calm himself. “Take out those Binders you have. We need to talk about them.”

Will didn’t argue. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the purple pill bottle. Ezra calmly took it in his hand and tried to count, through the plastic, how many Binders were left inside.

“This is insane. The wealth you have right here.” He shook the little bottle. “Some people don’t use this many in their entire lives.”

“You need to know how they work, because obviously, you don’t,” Bet said.

“I think I’m starting to.” Will dragged his foot back and forth against the dirt. “I gave one to Swoop. Once I did that, she wouldn’t stop following me. Like you said earlier, the first one attaches you to the Link, that’s how I knew to give one to Ezra for Tenebrim.”

“This is how it works,” Ezra said. “Binder one connects you to the Link… makes it yours. You don’t need a full binder to do it but that explains why you and Swoop have such a strong bond. You fed her probably twice what was necessary. The next stage comes after only a few more, usually something like three. At that point, the Link can then use one particular ability whenever it wants. We call it their passive ability. For most of us, after our first full year with the Link, families will work to purchase the Binders to unlock this particular passive ability. For Pexel, it’s his barrier. You saw him use it back when Tenebrim was controlled by Murden. He’s a defensive Link and is here to protect.

“For Tenebrim, Murden had already decided to unlock his passive ability. He must have an enormous amount of Binders. Tenebrim is a Link used for combat. He’s not bad, or at least no more bad than whoever is controlling him. His passive ability is his dash attack. When he rears up you know it’s coming. Anyway, he’s lost the ability once I linked him back. When that happens he has to start over.”

“When he attacked it was like he warped or something. He went forward to hit but reappeared back further away.” Will was highly interested now.

“Yes, that’s what the dash looks like.”

“So, what’s Swoop’s passive ability?”

“We don’t know,” Bet said almost cheerfully. “Cakrit’s are really rare, Will.”

“But we do know her feeding ability,” Ezra said. “This final skill can only be accessed once the passive ability is unlocked. After that, you can feed her a bit of a binder for her to do something specific. Just like how the old man gave a bit to Seebrus in order to heal your arm. You’d do the same for Swoop, but we already know what she’ll be able to do. It’s the same for all Darkhands.”

“The purple-glowing portals,” Will said.

“Here, we call em pockets. They lead to the Voidside.”

“How do they work?” Will found himself getting excited.

“Honestly?” Ezra stood and began to busy himself by pulling the meat from the fire. “Bet and I really don’t know. You’re going to have to find out. Hopefully this teacher can get you up to speed quick.”

Ezra raised the pill bottle up where Will could see.

“I’ve got more questions,” he said. “But for now, we need to think about this. These are yours to use however you think is best, but there’s a lot we can do with them. Tenebrim would hunt better if his passive ability was unlocked, and Bet and I have never seen Tenebrim or Pexel’s feeding ability. Also, you have no idea what Swoop’s passive ability is and you may want to unlock that. I think it’s likely that any teacher you meet will want the abilities open and available. Unfortunately, doing all those things will take a lot of Binders. You have quite a few, something like thirty I think, but we need to use them well.”

Ezra handed the bottle back to Will.

“No hard feelings. You do what you think is best. Bet and I are with you regardless.”

How should Will use the Binders for now?

Save them for later

Use them to unlock Swoop’s abilities fully

Use them to unlock all three Links fully

This Poll is Closed