A month later,
"Faster." A sharp voice commanded. The voice echoed through the mountain and reached the one whom it was meant to.
"Ugh!" The person grunted in pain as he increased his pace and ran across the inclined hill. It was none other than William, and the one who barked orders was his mother, Aquila.
A month ago, when the sages proposed the training regimen to the mothers, they accepted. And they began training William ever since.
William's muscles screamed as he increased his speed. His heart was pounding like drums against his chest. With each step like a battle against gravity, he ran to the top of the mountain.
"More faster." Aquila barked.
William stopped, frustrated by the torture he had been enduring. 'I can't take it anymore; mother is a devil!, I wanna play!.' he screamed internally in frustration and turned towards Aquila.
With his fists clenched, he looked at Aquila right in her eyes, his amethyst eyes gleaming in determination.
He was going to say it. He was going to say that he didn't want to train and play with the maids.
That's what should've happened. But,
"What are you looking at? And why did you stop?" Aquila muttered; even though her voice was low, the entire mountain trembled as it echoed through the air.
William gulped down his words looking at Aquila; her fiery red hair was now floating, igniting air around it, and her red eyes were blazing with intensity as she looked at William. 'Mother is scary.'
William immediately saluted Aquila and yelled, "Y-Yes Ma'am!". He then began running at an increased pace.
HAHH HAHH HAHH
He gasped for breath as he reached the top of the mountain with his hands on his knees. The breeze hit him like an icy lake as the sweat trickled down from his brows.
After a moment of rest, he looked out to the horizon. The morning sun was rising, piercing through the mountains and into the sky. William's eyes shone in golden light as the first morning light hit him.
'So, beautiful.' He thought in amazement.
The turmoil inside him due to the intense training melted like the morning dew in sunlight as his muscles relaxed and his heart calmed down.
Every day William would stop at the top of the mountain to look at the morning sun for a moment, enjoying its beauty.
"You are late." Aquila mumbled.
William's heart hardened as he listened to his mother; with renewed determination, he turned towards her, clenching his fists.
Aquila raised an eyebrow at this but didn't comment on it; instead, she said, "Why don't we try something new today?"
'I know you are experiencing burnout little William, but this is the only way.' Aquila told to herself.
William tilted his head in confusion, since usually his mother would make him run down the hill and back up again multiple times.
'What happened? Did Mother realize that she is a devil? Did she turn into an angel?' William questioned himself. Perplexed by the sudden change.
William nodded his head to Aquila's question, curious to know what it was.
Aquila, however, did not utter a thing; instead, she sat where she stood and motioned for William to do the same.
William sat on the cold wet stone; he then turned towards his mother, who had her eyes closed.
William stared at his mother for a while, but Aquila didn't open her eyes. 'Should I close my eyes too?' William thought, a little agitated.
He then slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath when a voice resounded in his mind. "Focus, William."
"M-Mother?" William asked, startled. He was about to open his eyes when, "Do not open your eyes, William." His mother instructed him.
"Focus, William. Try to focus on yourself. Focus on the sensation of the air around you; focus on the heat produced due to the sun's rays." Aquila's voice echoed in his mind. Her voice was now smooth, like a still lake, in contrast to her voice before, which was like an simmering volcano.
William slowly entered into a trance, listening to Aquila.
"Follow the heat, son. The heat produced by the sun, the heat produced by your body, the heat produced by your thumping heart."
William, who was in a trance, started following his mother's voice unconsciously as he focused on the heat emanating from his body.
Slowly, the world faded from his vision; the sounds stopped. A few minutes passed by, and William's entire vision turned pitch black. He couldn't sense anything, smell anything, or see anything in that pitch blackness. Doubts began to form in his mind, uncertain about his mother's words.
"Continue, William; you are on the right path." Aquila's voice echoed in the pitch blackness, quelling down the rising embers of doubt in his heart.
He followed his mother's advice and put in more effort and concentrated. And soon enough, tiny red particles shining in brilliant, fiery red light began to appear in his vision.
They danced in the pitch darkness like stars, occasionally coming into contact with William with curiosity.
'Whoa! So beautiful' William exclaimed in amazement as a red ball of light poked his forehead. "Hehehe" William giggled as the red particle tickled his forehead. He stretched out his hand to touch one of them. But,
All the red particles gather around themselves, forming a massive ball of light; the heat emanating from them was so great that it began melting the darkness around it.
William immediately closed his eyes as it was too bright. Gradually, the brightness began to fade out into the darkness, and a figure materialized from the fiery ball of light.
"William." The figure called out, her voice soothing; the heat calmed down at her voice, and the pitch blackness went back to its tranquil state.
William slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the figure who called him, "Mother?".
That's right, the figure is none other than Aquila. Her entire body was made out of the fiery red particles, with her eyes shining in red like the sun.
Aquila stretched out her hand and gestured to William to hold it. William looked at his mother but was hesitant to take her hand. But shook his head and thought. 'It is mother. She won't hurt me.'
With his jaw clenched and renewed courage, he slowly took Aquila's hand.
BOOM
The entire field of blackness shook, and Aquila shone like that of an explosion; the light emanating from her enveloped the entire field of blackness, burning it.
William immediately shut his eyes and hugged his mother tightly; the field of darkness crackled for a while burning and disappeared. Aquila ruffled William's hair once it ended and muttered, "It's okay now, William. Look around."
William slowly opened his eyes and turned around; his eyes widened at the sight in front of him, his breath quickened, and his entire body shook in amazement.
William and Aquila were now standing at the top of the mountain from before. But the difference was that the entire world was red.
William looked around to see the trees at the base of the mountain, the birds and the little animals, the sky—the entire land was clad in red and was burning with every corner covered in fire.
William's breath shortened as he was overwhelmed by the sight in front of him. He grabbed Aquila's hand and mumbled, "W-What is this? Mother?"
"This, William, is how I view the world." Aquila answered.
William's eyes widened further listening to her answer; he turned around to look at Aquila. His gaze, asking for an explanation.
Aquila ruffled his hair and let out a chuckle, amused by her son's questioning gaze.
"This is how I look at the world, William. The entire world is red because it has 'heat' in it. And it is burning because it is emanating 'heat'." Aquila explained.
William's brows knitted as he went to thinking, his frown deepened as he couldn't understand what his mother was saying.
Noticing William's confusion, Aquila went on to explain further, "Everything in the world has heat inside it, William." She then turned towards the ground and continued, "The earth receives the heat from the sun and the animals that reside in it."
"The animals, trees, and birds—even humans and the rest—produce heat in order to survive. They release heat because they are alive." She then looked at William with tender gaze and continued, "The fire you see is the physical manifestation of heat. I can control the heat, William, meaning that I can control the life of a being."
William's mouth went agape when he heard his mother. To control the heat means to control life. A being with 'heat' can be considered alive, and a being without 'heat' is dead.
"And, William," Aquila muttered, "I wish to teach you how to control heat. Do you want to learn it?"
William nodded enthusiastically at his mother's question and exclaimed, "Yes! I do!" He was amazed by his mother's power and was totally excited about his training despite his earlier frustrations.
Aquila chuckled at his excitement and hugged her son in motherly affection and muttered, "Then, let's begin."