Grace Bridges is a geyser hunter, cat herder, author, editor and
writing mentor. A longtime member and previous president of
writers’ organisation SpecFicNZ, she is often found poking
around geothermal sites or under a pile of rescued kittens. She
is a multiple nominee and three-time winner of the Sir Julius
Vogel Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of
New Zealand, and has edited dozens of published books. Besides
the Earthcore urban fantasy series based in New Zealand, she has
also written several science fiction books as well as
non-fiction material which you can find under Writing.
Hero Talent Quest: An
Earthcore story
Tiger slouched in his seat. Outside,
the crowd hummed before the white marquee set up for the
Talent Quest. I
shouldn’t be here. He resettled his cap backwards and
glanced along the table at his four teammates. Each of them,
and the others not here today, had an invisible guardian and special
abilities according to their gifts. Each thought Tiger had
that too.
“I still say
this is a bad idea,” he said. “We’d find them eventually
anyway.”
“Well, we can’t cancel now. Half the city must be out
there.”
“There’s no way all of them could—”
“Don’t know why you agreed to this.”
“Come on, we discussed this before.”
“Enough grumbling.” Bethany stood up. “We ready?”
“As we’ll ever be.” Tiger fiddled with his pen and
stared at the blank notepad on the table, peering through
the pressed pulp and deep into its molecular layers with his
gift of sight.
Bethany opened the tent flap and called, “One at a
time. Who’s first?”
A blond teenager entered, his eyes wide and movements
stiff. Tiger’s gaze caught on his jugular, pulsing at an
elevated rate. “I—I can’t do this,” he stammered, and then
he fled.
“Super nervousness isn’t a superpower,” Tiger sighed.
He’d follow the kid out the door if he thought he could get
away with it.
The young lady who came in next was so intense that
she needed to ease up before she sprained something. Anira
wrote NO AURA on
her notepad.
Bethany slipped back into her seat and tucked a
strand of silver hair behind her ear. “Name, please?”
“Harry. Harriet Lim.” She faced them, fidgeting.
“Tell us about the superpower you believe you have.”
Harry surveyed the panel. “Well, uh, it’s—Look, it’s
probably easier if I just show you.”
Graeme nodded. “As long as it’s not dangerous.”
“No, not at all.” Harry slid into the slickest
performance of the robot dance that Tiger had ever seen.
Tiger’s jaw fell open at the genuine skill. But… Harry
thought this was her superpower? Where’s the dang buzzer
when you need one?
Manaia cleared her throat. “That’s very impressive.
The, um, expert opinion of this panel is that you need to
share your gift with the world.”
Harry beamed. “So, I get through to the next round?”
Round?
Bethany shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear. You have a
true gift, but it isn’t supernatural. I’d see your taniwha,
if you had one.”
“Nobody’s seen mine.” Tiger countered. “Doesn’t mean
it’s not there.” Or
does it?
“I can sense your aura,” Anira said to Tiger. “Harry,
I don’t sense an aura on you.”
“What?” Harry’s face contorted.
“The
taniwha are creatures of legend who give powers.” Bethany
glanced at the opposite corner of the tent. “Mine is sitting
over there.”
Tiger gnawed on his lip. Wish I could see mine.
“I thought this was a talent quest!” Harry’s gaze
followed Bethany’s. Of course, only Bethany could see the
taniwha.
Except she
can’t see mine. Tiger bit his lip. Was his taniwha even
real? He’d asked himself so many times…
He thought back over their group’s previous
adventures ousting villains, saving cities, even stopping
earthquakes. His own part had been…smallish. But vital, part of
him whispered. Your
power is real, even if no one can see your taniwha.
If only he could believe it.
Graeme winced. “I’m sorry, Harry. This is a supernatural talent
quest.”
“Waste of my time.” Harry stomped out.
“Um—” Tiger swallowed. “Did the publicity team know
we meant actual superpowers?”
Bethany frowned. “I thought they understood, but I
haven’t seen the ads myself.”
“So, what do we do? Pack up and go home?” Manaia cast
a glance at the door flap. She bounced a ball of fire above
her palm, then closed her fist and extinguished the little
flame.
The seconds ticked away, and the crowd’s murmurs grew
louder.
“No,” said Anira. “Someone with genuine powers could
be out there. We can’t leave them alone to deal with a
taniwha gift.”
“I suppose seeing everyone is doable if we bring them
through as fast as we can.” Manaia shot a sideways glance at
the door.
Graeme walked to the flap, opened it, and called,
“Next, please!”
A curious few hours followed in which people of all
ages demonstrated singing, ear-wiggling, card tricks, more
dancing, and even stand-up comedy. Anira sensed no auras,
and Bethany shook her head each time they considered the
taniwha question.
“Are you the last one?” Manaia opened the flap. “Oh.
It’s you again. Ready for a redo?”
The blond teen entered and nodded. “I’m Chase Eden.”
Tiger opened his mouth to ask, but the boy vanished
into thin air.
The team leaped up and converged on the spot where
he’d been. The tent flap flapped, but there was no wind.
Anira wobbled on her feet, then steadied herself.
“That was a strange aura. It’s gone now.”
Tiger wheeled to Bethany. “Did you see a taniwha? Or
anything?”
“No, did you?”
“I thought…” Tiger punched the palm of his hand. “I
can’t be sure. But when he disappeared, it was as if the
edge of a huge wing wrapped around him. An invisible wing.”
“Like a bird? Or a dragon?” Manaia tapped her toe on
the ground.
A laugh sounded close outside. The group rushed for
the door. With the crowd gone, the park basked quietly under
the summer sun. There was no trace of Chase and his
maybe-dragon.
Tiger jumped up and down. “Do you know what this
means?” Whatever he’d expected today, this wasn’t it. Who
would have thought!
“We’ve got another wannabe supervillain to deal
with.” Anira sighed and stared across the glistening lake.
“Well, yes.
But…” Tiger pulled off his hat and danced on it, his grin
spreading. I’m not
alone. “My guardian isn’t the only invisible one.”
