Onyx Dreams Ch. 01

Chapter 1: First Sight

**Scotland, Secret Druidic Monastery**

Sir Anthony Davenport stood in the main dining area and grimaced. He was expecting a visitor, a psionic who had no control over his burgeoning powers. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of his only child and his pride and joy, Kennice.

"Father, is it true? Are we getting a new priest?" she asked.

"No, dear. Not a priest but a psion."

"OH!" Kennice's eyes grew big.

At sixteen, she was already a beauty and had a body that made men write songs about. Her father wisely kept her away from the males of the monastery and made sure his daughter wore demure clothing at all times.

"You must behave my dear and do not frighten him," Anthony admonished.

"I will, I will. I promise!" Kennice said quickly, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of meeting someone like her family, someone with gifts that made them different and special.

She let out a squeal and raced from the room when the doorbell rang.

Anthony sighed and followed after her. He felt his wife's gentle mental touch and he smiled for he knew she was already at the door.

* * *

Looking up at the large doors, Cyrus shivered, a sonic charge building within him as his apprehension grew. What would this new place be like? Would his mentor be hard on him? Would he be too lack? And what of his education? Cyrus found it difficult to believe that a monastery could have book on modern subjects.

Clutching his backpack closer, his meager belongings held within, Cyrus waited for the doors to open and his new life to begin.

The door opened to reveal a woman in her early forties who had hazel eyes and a welcoming smile. "Come in, come in from the cold," she urged.

Cyrus walked in and looked around in awe at the huge entrance way.

He stood beside Lady Davenport sighing softly even as he shivered in the cool air. He was not used to such a chill in these northern lands, more used to the warmer climates of the south of Britain.

Kennice rounded the corner in a full run and tried to come to halt but the floor was slippery from the mopping earlier and her feet came out from under her and she went sliding across the floor and crashed into the young man who stood with her mother.

Elizabeth Davenport had heard her daughter coming and with a touch of telekinesis had moved herself out of the way.

Kennice let out a moan and struggled to sit up, her face red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry!' she cried.

Cyrus, who, unfortunately, lacked the powers of premonition, didn't realize Kennice was coming barreling round the corner until she had crashed into him, taking him clean off his feet.

The sudden impact and resulting startling shock, caused the buildup within him to release, a mild sound blast emitting in a sphere around him, tipping over the tall candle stick holders and pushing small items from shelves. Cyrus blacked out for a few moments as his powers drained him completely. He landed in a crumpled heap on the floor beside Kennice thankfully not breaking anything during his fall.

Kennice opened her mouth to apologize again when her father came around the corner. "Kennice Davenport! You should be ashamed of yourself, young lady!" he scolded as he pulled her to her feet. Her braided hair had come free of its braid and fell in long waves down her back.

"I am sorry father! I didn't mean to hurt him!"

"It's alright dear. He's drained not hurt," Elizabeth reassured her daughter before looking at her husband. "His powers might be a problem. We will probably have to use some mild sedatives on him until he can learn some control."

"I bow to your healing knowledge my dear," Anthony said as he kissed her hand and gave her a wink.

Kennice ignored her parents to study the unconscious young man. He couldn't be much older than her but he sure was hot! She immediately clamped down on that thought lest her mother hear it.

He was taller than her but she liked that in a guy. She looked at his lips and wondered how they would feel on her....

"OW!" she yelped when her mother cuffed her.

"You will not think such thoughts. Go to your room this instant. I will let you know when you can come out!" Elizabeth scolded, her face angry. One of the advantages to being a mind reader was that she could keep a very careful eye on her daughter. Elizabeth knew that her little girl was growing up but that didn't mean Kennice could be wild either. Her daughter was going to be well bred not a whore.

Kennice felt the tears well up and she raced past her parents and up the stairs without a word.

Cyrus groaned softy as his eyes flicked open, the vision of Kennice running away filling his view as the blurriness faded. Those long waving locks of hair, that perfectly slim lined body. Cyrus closed his eyes a moment as his body checked it was still all there, his 18 year old mind filling with thoughts of what Kennice might be like in his own bed chambers at home.

Elizabeth was scowling at Cyrus. She had heard his thoughts and was not happy with them. And she mentally told Anthony to keep the boy away from her daughter. Aloud she said, "Let me go get the table set, you must be starving." She left quickly, leaving her husband and their guest alone.

Cyrus flexed his hands a little to get the feeling back into them and winced a little, rubbing the back of his head where he had clocked it on the hard wood floors. "Anyone got an aspirin about..."Cyrus held his hands about a foot apart. "This big?"

Anthony held out his hand. "I'm sure we can find something," he said with a grin.

Cyrus gratefully took the offered hand, his head still spinning a little but recovering. "Thank you Sir, may I ask who that vision of beauty was...I'd like to think I might have the chance to become more acquainted with her...?"

Cyrus smiled in a slightly mischievous way and looked at Anthony, the look on his face however made him stop in his tracks, the smile melting from his face.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow a little and asked. "What?"

"That "vision of beauty" is my daughter. Kindly keep your hands, eyes and thoughts to yourself," Anthony said sternly as he steered Cyrus toward the dining room.

Cyrus' eyes went wide as alarm bells erupted in his head. Softly he said, "oh...." In his mind he finished. ~...Fuck...I am so screwed right now...~

"Of course, Sir, my hands are tied, eyes are sealed shut and thoughts are nonexistent..." Cyrus stated, his guts twisting with fear at the potential punishment that may be about to befall him, another charge beginning to build with his fear. Silently Cyrus followed Anthony to the dining room.

"You don't need to fear. He won't rip you apart. You will not be the first male at this monastery to have such a reaction to our daughter," Elizabeth assured him as she pointed to the three place settings on the table.

Cyrus paused a moment before taking his place at the table. "Well I, I uhh, I guess it might be natural to think such things..." In his mind he spoke to himself ~Natural? Yeah that's rich coming from me, I'm just a freak of nature...~ Cyrus placed his bag down beside his chair, his clothes emanating the nostril wrenching aroma of a month's hitch hiking on £10.

"Don't worry. We have clothes for you as well. You will be bunking on the ground floor with the other monks and priests. My family lives on the fourth floor. The second and the third floor are for training and instruction. The basement level is where you will spend most of your time since it was constructed to help those with abilities learn control," Anthony explained.

Cyrus nodded slowly, a thought of Kennice once more entering his mind. Cyrus quickly stamped it down, mentally dropping it into a bottomless pit and sealing the top, scolding himself for having such thoughts; did he want to get himself dismissed already?

Cyrus took a moment before speaking, "If it is alright Sir, may I retain these clothes? Once properly washed of course. They are the things that seem to go well when I'm out and about. No one seems to notice me, or just plain avoids me..."

Once more his inner voice spoke out. ~Well duh, who would want to go near a freak? I don't blame though, not after what we did to father's temple...sure there a 20 foot wide hole in the south wall but at least he doesn't complain about the roof leaking anymore...~

Elizabeth frowned as she listened to the young man's thoughts. He was hurting and it was going to take a long time to fix that. But for now, he had to be fed. "Come, eat. Your clothes will be returned to you cleaned and ready for wear," Elizabeth promised him. "Now, eat," she encouraged.

Cyrus nodded and lifted the lid from his plate, breathing in the mouth watering wonderful aromas. "Wow...chicken, done just the way I like it..." Puzzled Cyrus looked up at Elizabeth, frowning a little. "How did you know?"

"I'm good with details," Elizabeth told him warmly.

"Eat, Cyrus. Eat as much you want," Anthony encouraged.

Cyrus, however, did not begin eating, his curiosity getting the better of him. "But I never told you how I like my chicken cooked, are you like a minder reader or something?" Cyrus said with a joking laugh.

"All parents are mind readers. How do you think we always know when are children are up to trouble?" Elizabeth asked him as she ate some of her chicken.

Anthony chuckled. "She has the right of it my boy," Anthony told Cyrus.

Cyrus bit his bottom lips and nodded. "Yeah, father always seemed to have a way of knowing what I was thinking, especially when I was anxious or having a bad dream. He used to say the whole temple used to shake with my nightmares..." Cyrus stared at his plate a moment, his appetite seeming to vanish as his mind dredged up those terrible memories of the past. ~Dark beasts like nothing I have seen before.... scaly, winged beasts of fire, almost...calling to me~ Cyrus visibly shivered and pushed his plate away a little. "I am sorry ma'am and sir but...I seem to have lost my appetite."

Elizabeth and Anthony exchanged looks. "Come then, I'll show you to your room," Elizabeth said as she stood.

Cyrus nodded and shook off the feelings as much as possible, yet still a little lingering, a sound charge very slowly building. "Thank you Ma'am."

Anthony walked over and touched him and suddenly the charge died. "Better?" Anthony asked. Thankful that his powers of energy drain worked on all psions.

Cyrus fumbled a little at the sudden relief. "Yes...thank you Sir...but...how did you do that?" Cyrus frowned in puzzlement once more.

"You are not the only one with abilities, young man," Anthony told him before giving him a gentle push toward Elizabeth who opened the door. "Come, Cyrus," Elizabeth said and gave him a gentle smile.

Cyrus dumbly followed, not quite comprehending what he had just heard. There were others like him? With...powers? ~So she really IS a mind reader...Oh no...~ The memory of when Cyrus had first laid eyes on Kennice flooded his mind before he could stamp it down. ~So that's why she scowled at me~

"Yes, Cyrus, I can read minds and yours is very loud but in time you will learn how to control that as well." Elizabeth stopped at a door and opened it.

Cyrus gasped a little as she confirmed his fears. "I uhh, want to umm...apologize then for uh...the thing...earlier..." Once more Cyrus had to force his mind to stamp down on any thoughts of Kennice, but no matter how hard he tried, She always crept back into the back of his mind, niggling away at his thoughts like a splinter in his brain.

"It will take time. And do not worry. Our daughter will be leaving soon to go study with some of our order to learn her job as future high priestess. She will not be around to distract you," Elizabeth assured him.

"Right..." Cyrus nodded sheepishly and placed his backpack on the floor by his bed. "So uhh...when do we begin?"

"Tomorrow, first light. Leave your clothes in the basket. They'll be washed with tomorrow's laundry," Elizabeth told him.

Cyrus nodded and looked around his room a moment. ~No TV, no radio, no pc, only electrical socket connected to the only lamp...and a bookcase full of books that have at least two million years of dust coating them...~

"You will be reading some of those books, so please have respect. Good night, Cyrus," Elizabeth said as she left the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

Cyrus cursed in his mind and rubbed his temples, speaking softly to himself. "Well it looks like I'll have to learn humility at a world record pace, lest I become jaded by my own thoughts being read constantly." Stripping out of his clothes, Cyrus slept only in his boxers, the long day having exhausted him fully, forcing him into a deep slumber.