The Tests
The Wolf nodded, “Quite right. When I said Neeka could control fire I meant that literally. He took everything that the fire was, and moved it. That included the heat, the light, everything. He simply moved it to another location. It doesn’t matter the size of the fire, he can control it. I have the same ability.”

The Wolf looked at Neeka and asked, “Want to take a stab at discovering your first ability?”

“Of course!” Neeka thought back, “I’d like to see just how fast I can go!”

The Wolf chuckled, “Well, the only way to find out for sure is to send you on a journey. Over short distances I can’t be sure.” Armageddon looked at Bruce and asked, “How far was that village you came from to get here?”

“Under normal circumstances, about 2 days. Less if you are in a hurry.” Bruce replied.

“That’ll do fine.” Armageddon said.

The Wolf looked at the large Horse and asked, “Do you trust me Neeka?”

Neeka looked at the Wolf for a long moment and thought back, “Yes, yes I do. While you tricked Bruce and I earlier you did it for a reason. I believe you are exactly who you and Tarnisaloo say you are.”

“Good.” Replied the Wolf. Because I want you to go back to the village you came from just as quickly as you can. I mean you have to believe your life depends on it, then come back. Can you do that?”

“Sure, but I don’t want to leave you both for that long. It’ll take awhile.” The great Horse thought to both of them.

“Much less than you think big Fur, much less than you think.” chuckled Armageddon.
“When I say go, I want you to run as fast as you can, when you get there look around for a moment or two and come right back, again as fast as you can. Ready?”

“Yes!” came the excited reply of Neeka.

“Then go!”

As Bruce and the Wolf watched Neeka simply vanished. Armageddon started counting softly, “One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three” He had gotten to thirty when Neeka suddenly reappeared in the camp.

“Very good Neeka, now, this is an important question. How long did you spend in the village looking around?”

“Not long.” Thought the Horse back. I saw a drummer boy at the gates signaling all those affected by Macor’s spell to come there for treatment and then returned. Maybe 10 seconds at the most.”

“Farspeed!” said Armegeddon. “Not teleportation. It figures.”

“Bruce looked at Armageddon, “What do you mean, “It figures?””

The Wolf smiled, “Well, first you have to know how some of these abilities work. While the re is never any guarantee, it seems the abilities you receive are related to your species. For example, Neeka is a Horse. It would make sense he would have Farspeed as opposed to say, being able to stay under water indefinitely. He could also have had teleportation but that is more commonly seen in species that are already fast, like the Cheeta. Had he shown Teleportation he would have been gone about as long as he looked around in the village. Time from here to there is almost nil. Since he took some extra time he has Farspeed. This means he can get from here to there exceptionally fast, but he needs to go around obstacles just as you and I would. If he had teleportation, nothing in the way would matter. He would simply leave here and appear there.”

Armageddon continued, “Myself, being Wolf, gets invisibility, in order to avoid being seen. I also get Growth because of my species innate strength.”

“So do all species get the same abilities?” Neeka asked?

“Oh no.” Armageddon replied. “Many Wolfs will get many of the same primary skills but there are many other skills that seem randomly distributed. For example, with me, invisibility and growth seems to make some kind of sense. Maybe even control of wood. But fire and water? Those just seem to be random.”

“So I have more than speed and fire control.” Neeka asked?

“Oh yes.” The Wolf replied, “At least one more and most likely several more.”

“You seem certain he has one more ability.” Bruce said.

“I should.” Armageddon chuckled. There is one skill that every single Farie Fur has, no matter how large or small.”

“What is that?” asked Neeka.

But that is a story for tomorrow.