The Grey Tower

At this hour, Kiellan could usually be found in the Tower Library, studying the various uses for Earth Singing, reading through books that looked older than human history, or rarely in the Gardens, practicing what he had learned from the books. Today, he had decided to do something different in his pursuit for knowledge of his new Talent. It had been a while ago, but there was one other person who knew about his Talents. Well, two, now that he had told Mirin, but only one who would be able to help him. He had done enough studying from the books; it was time to share that knowledge and see if he could get some in return.

That's why he had asked around about the Accepted who had first help him realize what he could do. He had only learned her name recently: Betrys. Apparently, she was teaching a class and should pass him in a couple of minutes. The excitement rose inside Kiellan. It would be nice to talk to someone who knew about his Talent, someone with whom he didn't have to hide it. Kiellan didn't like lying, and he considered what he did about as bad as lying, but he didn't have a choice. If he didn't want to get Betrys in trouble, he had to keep his secret. People would want to know how he had discovered his Talent, and they wouldn't appreciate his answer.

Kiellan pulled himself away from his thoughts when he saw the girl he was looking for. Brown hair framing her remarkably unremarkable face, she looked very much the same as she had those months ago. Their first meeting might have been strange, and couldn't really be called friendly, but he thought of her fondly. She had helped him, even after his initial attack, and Kiellan wasn't sure if he would've done the same. He owed her a debt, and he meant to repay her in kind: with knowledge of the Talent they shared, and that both of them were still learning about. With that in mind, he approached the girl.

"Good afternoon, Accepted Betrys," Kiellan said. It never hurt to be polite; if he remembered correctly, this girl would appreciate that. "It's been a while. How is life treating you?" After they had exchanged the obligatory pleasantries, Kiellan got to the point. "I've been reading up on Earth Singing since our last meeting. It's an amazing Talent, isn't it? More versatile than any other I've ever heard of. I've been able to grow plants, crack rocks, move stones and shape the earth. I thought it'd be time for another exchange of knowledge. Would you accompany me for a walk?"

Kiellan was surprised by how hostile Betrys was all of a sudden. True, their first meeting hadn't started well, but he was under the impression that they had left on good terms. In fact, he distinctly recalled her telling him that she would like to talk again about their shared Talent. Kiellan wasn't really sure what to do with this cold reception.

"I... I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Betrys. I thought we agreed to meet again to discuss our Talent a bit more. Yes, I wanted to share my findings with you, and perhaps you had some insights to share as well."

Then, he realized what she had said last. "Wait, what friend? Do you know a male Earth Singer?" That would be amazing! So far, Kiellan had done okay trying to find his own way, discovering the different uses and weaves for Earth Singing in the plethora of books that could be found in the Library, but someone with some actual practical experience to share ideas with would be great. Sharing information with Betrys was great, and it had been very helpful, but channeling was so different for men and women that they couldn't teach each other the weaves. They could of course share their experiences, and most things that could be accomplished by saidar could also be accomplished by saidin, so their talks weren't useless. He had enough natural proficiency in Earth Singing to figure out how the weaves worked on his own, if he took the time.

He had freed up his time for now, however, and he had even taken the time to gather the information that could be useful for Betrys. "Do you have time for a talk now? I really think it would be helpful for me, and probably for you as well." Another idea suddenly came to him. "Or... Perhaps we could just go and do it? I wonder what we could do, together. What do you say? You don't have to, of course."

Kiellan immediately felt bad for his sulking tone. He had been overreacting and he knew it. He had just been very excited about this moment, about the further exploration that they could do together, but he had been nervous about meeting Betrys again. Their first encounter had been a good while ago, and that had been lukewarm at best.

He was surprised by the name she gave him. Val was an Earth Singer? His former teacher, the first friend he had made in the Tower? Strange, he had never noticed that. They would have to talk about that, later. Kiellan almost laughed at how fitting the whole thing was. Val had trained him in the basics of the One Power, and in Battle Weaves, and it only seemed right that he would be able to teach Kiellan in this. Perhaps he would be able to help Val in this, as well. It would be good to do something for him for a change.


Kiellan smiled at Betrys' enthousiasm. Thank the Light, at least she was excited about this as well. And her offer was very interesting. "That sounds great! I'd love to see what you've done with your Talent." He had only managed the simpler things, himself, but even that had come faster than he had expected. Kiellan had heard about that, people learning some Talents much faster than they were supposed to, and he suspected that was what was going on here as well. Betrys probably had the same thing. It was exciting; from what he had read about it, that level of aptitude was very rare, and many channelers never discovered one. Kiellan couldn't wait to learn what one could do with it.

"Of course, I'll talk to him about that." Already, he was glad he had decided to have this conversation. He had never expected it to reveal another male using the One Power, especially not Val. That was probably some of the best news Kiellan could've hoped for.

Kiellan nodded, indicating his free time, and followed Betrys to the gardens. Kiellan was not surprised to find that Betrys had chosen the same place to practice her Earth Singing. What place was better to practice weaves that focused primarily on Earth than one of the most beautiful, most exquisite gardens west of the Spine of the World? The many different plants and flowers offered the chance to practice growing and moving, but also other types of manipulations like splitting rocks or shaping the earth itself. It had been in the gardens that Kiellan and Betrys had first met, and from then on, it had been Kiellan's usual practice spot as well. Whenever he got sick of the books and felt the need to actually practice the weaves, he went there, for its tranquility as much as for its variety of plants.

As they walked, Betrys asked him about the books he had been reading since their first meeting. He thought about it for a second before he answered. "Well, there's the general works, of course. I started out with the Compendium of Weaves, you probably know that one. That gave me some idea of what to search for. The Power beneath our feet by Joele Irame, Asha'man of the Brown Ajah, listed some of the uses as well. The book is more generally about the Element Earth, but that naturally includes Earth Singing, to a point. Those names led me to other books, like Songs of Old, by an anonymous Asha'man from the Grey Tower, and Sticks and Stones, by a Green Asha'man, which mostly focuses on the more destructive side of the Talent. Most of those were written by saidin users, though. I'm not sure if they would be of use to you. The Talent seems much more common among men. I've found one book for you, however. It's called Earth Singing with saidar -I found the title somewhat anticlimactic. It's written by Tayana Sedai, of the White Ajah of course. I haven't read it, but it may be helpful to you. What about you? Where did you learn your new tricks?"

Kiellan nodded, smiling. "Yes, I do. He was the one to teach me the basics of the One Power, as well as everything I know about Battle Weaves. He's been the most helpful and kind to me out of everyone here. It would be amazing if he could help me with this as well." His books had been helpful, and they had revealed a lot about Earth Singing that he would never have guessed or figured out on his own, but having another man who had the ability to show him how the weaves actually worked, that would be incredible. All the weaves he had learned so far he had had to figure out by himself, through trial and error, and that had gone surprisingly well, but it would all have been much easier if someone else had just shown him the weaves. A book couldn't do that, unfortunately.

He smiled at Betrys' comment about the whole thing being hit and miss. That was how it had been for him, as well. He had been able to figure out most of the weaves, although most of them took him hours to figure it out, but some of them had exploded in his face, sometimes even literally. He had managed to avoid any serious damage, but that was a miracle in itself. One plant had turned to ashed when he had been trying to turn it purple, one rock had exploded when he had tried to split it, and those were only some examples of what had gone wrong. Kiellan didn't mind, though. Some things were bound to go wrong in an endeavor like this.

As they talked, Kiellan realized they had almost reached the gardens. The smell of different types of flowers penetrated his nose. Some of the scents he recognized, but some seemed new. As impossible as that sounded, Kiellan sometimes thought the plants changed every night. No matter what they were, however, they smelled amazing.

With a smile, Kiellan turned to Betrys. "So, we're almost there. Are you ready to tell me what your creation is?"