"What is it?" Keevan grumbled, rubbing a bump on the back of his skull. He could already feel the goose egg forming. A few thin wooden slivers still irked his face, on top of the bruises now forming on his limbs.
"You can see it, can't you?" Calistra hissed, her voice filled with wonder. "We Tri-Beings feel an itching sensation when we're this close to it. What's does it look like for you?"
Finally, Keevan looked over his shoulder, further down the tunnel. He paused, blinking his eyes and drawing on his power a few times, trying to understand the thick mass of coiled energy before them. His eyes filled the cavern with blue light as he strained to take in every detail.
"It's an elemental field," Keevan answered, pursing his lips nervously. "It's blocked off the entire tunnel," It wasn't just heat either, every strand of moisture linked and curled in the direction of some distant source. All of them held in perfect stillness. As if one massive Tri-Being sat in command of it all. It was the elemental equivalent of a strung bow with an arrow at the ready, anxious even, for the snapping.
"Yes, the Harbor Guild's Watcher is one of the best," Kors rumbled. "Danica enhanced bracers notwithstanding."
"You wanted to set the Pagoda loose in the royal grounds," Keevan echoed, putting the pieces together. "Someone with this much reach could capture it easily, though it would take time. Meanwhile, you sneak in through the tunnels. But someone scared it and it flashed away, across half the city."
"I'm glad you have a sharp mind," Calistra said with a smirk, "given your obvious lack in the elemental departments. Now, how to we get passed it?"
Keevan bit back a sharp retort. Goosebumps covered his skin, sending shivers down his arms, but he fought against the urge to shudder. A stubborn fleck of pride in him refused to show anymore weakness than what they already saw. Here, in the bowels of Issamere, between two Etrendi and a Watcher, he felt vulnerable indeed. He couldn't even light a candle on his own, how was he to face this?
Kors put his hands together and cracked his knuckles with a hollow pop. "Well, Sight Seeker. If you want Bahjal to live, now's your chance. Get us past the Watcher and I'll personally see to it you’re both set free."
"I... I'm not sure I can," Keevan admitted. "It's not like I can walk you through this."
"I asked about you the moment I saw you in the Steam Gardens," Calistra warned, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "I know you've helped Nariem with his smith work, a Danica device even. Stop lying to me and get to work," A steady pulse of heat blossomed out from her, warming Keevan's skin. The shivering continued, just deeper down, along his spine. For all her beauty, the Arnadi daughter bore a fierce edge.
"I know my father," Keevan pleaded earnestly. "If I thought I could help, I would. I really would! But I don't know your life or your emotions like I do his. How do you expect me to guide your emotions when I don't know your life?"
"Carefully," Calistra answered, her teeth stubbornly clenched in her jaw. "If we aren't back by night fall, Bahjal dies."
A heavy silence filled the cavern. Keevan felt as if the weight of the city above him hung down over his shoulders. If he did pull this off, there were other consequences to consider. How could he earn the trust of Malik Morgra or those in power, if his first act of “usefulness” among the Tri-Beings was undermining their authority? Then again, perhaps such worries were unfounded. The city had waited years for Keevan to prove some form of worth. One bit of parchment couldn’t be important enough to destroy all of that, could it?
"Well?" Kors said, picking up a heavy stone in one massive hand. "If you can't help us, why should we keep you alive?"
"Because the hopes of half the city rest on him someday accessing his full Sight Seeker powers, moron," Calistra snapped, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together as she thought. The gesture brought a sliver of red flame to her finger tips, ushering out a thin layer of steam. Keevan couldn't restrain his curiosity, he slipped into his Sight Seeker vision again. "Many in the Scholars Guild feel he may help us become like the stormborn creature, uniting flesh with element."
Hot anger, tempered with the moisture of focused concentration, flickered around her hands. The mixture coursed through her cloudlike frame and a sickening sensation settled in the pit of Keevan's stomach. This was a rare mixture of the anger and focus, bordering on homicidal rage.
"We use the girl, then?" Kors asked, taking a cautious step back, looking from Calistra to Keevan. "I could bring her here."
Calistra didn't answer right away, though Keevan could see her elements tangle in uncertainty for a moment, gauging her options. The red glow from her hands lit her half of the cavern, throwing an odd shadow against the blue light from Keevan's eyes. A glimmer of hope caught in Keevan's throat, forcing his attention back to the Watcher's wall of still elements within the tunnel ahead of them.
Keevan stood. Calistra and Kors paused, watching him wordlessly. He walked up to the spectacle of suspending heat and water, studying strands of blue and red energy connected them to the Watcher stationed in the city above. They gulped and clenched their fists nervously when he stood only a few feet away.
"It's a Danica field," he muttered, kneeling in front of it. Despite the grim situation, he couldn't restrain a smile. This was what he loved about being a Sight Seeker, the feeling of discovery, the pure understanding. There was a way past the Watcher, one no Tri-Being could manage alone.
Kors moved to block his path, but Calistra put a cautionary hand on his shoulder, watching Keevan in nervous anticipation. They stared into what they only saw as empty darkness, which too Keevan presented a web of element and raw power. The field stood like a wall before them, the Danica object's reach limited by the strength of its user.
Its reach... and perhaps its sensitivity.
"If someone crosses into the field, what happens?" Keevan asked, picking up a smooth pebble the size of his thumb.
"The Watcher will sense the movement through the moisture in the air," Calistra warned, walking up beside Keevan. "If it's bigger than a pebble, he can send a torrent fire or water inside a few seconds. Not a lot of rats beneath the Royal Palace these days, you can imagine."
"Dual Danica devices then," Keevan said, to no one in particular. "That means two very opposite, potentially conflicting emotions. Emotions I can read through his own elements," Whatever attack the Watcher sent, wouldn't go beyond the field's reach. He glanced at the walls further down the tunnel, finally noticing the glassy, polished sheen. He gulped. That kind of heat would reduce them to identical piles of ash.
"Can you make this work, or not?" Calistra demanded, pulling Keevan away from the field. He felt the heat of her fingers through his cloak, smoke teased his nostrils as he turned. He pulled his arm back instinctively, unwilling to linger any longer and burn.
"Yes. I can," Keevan countered, glaring back at her. "If you can keep a firm grip on that anger of yours. And if Kors can keep his calm."
"I've put up with you this long, haven't I?" Kors muttered dangerously, glaring down at Keevan, his head scraping the ceiling of the tunnel. The moisture around him surged, a bit warmer than necessary, but he was a well-trained Suadan to be sure. Water followed his will just as it did Masha's.
"Indeed," Keevan said, restraining a giggled laugh. This would either work or get them killed. He felt like laughing and screaming all at the same time. Was this how people lost their minds? At least, Calistra and Kors couldn't see his emotions, as long as he kept his face straight, his feelings were his own. Yes, all was not lost.
"How do you propose getting past this?" Calistra asked, holding her arms stiffly to her sides, heat flickering within her as she fought it down.
"The Watcher has two Danica orbs, one for heat and one for water. If he sense a change in either, he can either drown or burn the target," Keevan summarized. He lifted both hands in front of his face, fingers apart.
"You are going to neutralize the elements in his control, rather than move them," Keevan explained, putting his palms together
and interlacing his fingers. "I'll tell you what emotions you need to use to counter his. Just have potent memories ready. We won't have time for you to ponder and find the right ones. Be careful about over doing it. He'll sense that too."
"What kind of emotions?" Kors asked uneasily.
"Moisture and logic are connected," Keevan explained excited, looking back at the Danica field. "So are dryness and boredom. Your job will be to feel bored."
"What walking through a Danica field of raw power," Kors echoed numbly.
"Exactly."
The big Tri-Being shot Calistra an imploring look, but she only shrugged. "It's not like we have a choice. If we want to see this done, that is. What's my part?"
"The Watcher's heat will be tied to his anger," Keevan said, "So I'll need you to focus on something sad. Terribly sad. That will drop the temperature around us. But there's one last thing I'll need from both of you."
"Which is?"
Keevan hesitated a moment. "The tough part is that we'll have to change emotional intensities in tune with the Watcher's. If someone gives him bad news up there, and he gets angry, Calistra will have to counter with a lot of sorrow. Understand?"
"He's asking for complete control of our emotions," Kors said, staring at the tunnel in genuine fear.
Keevan paused a moment at that thought. What kind of man blackmailed others into deadly situations and kidnaped storm born creatures, but balked nervously when asked to share his feelings? It was a question for another time, assuming they survived this mess at all.
"I’m ready," Calistra offered, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "Just ask me about my mother if you need more cold, my father if you need more heat."
Keevan watched in surprise as the heat around her faded, leaving his hair standing on end, skin covered in goose bumps once more. Blue light danced upon her cloud-like skin, trailing strands of control from her soul out to the moisture in the air and coating the rocks around them. In a mere second, she'd switched from wrath to sorrow. Whatever her emotional scars, they ran to her core. If she weren't holding a proverbial blade to Bahjal's throat, he would have found the scene both heartbreaking and beautiful.
"As am I," Kors muttered, balling up his fists. As if they would do any good against the Watcher. "Ask about my sister if you need more moisture. Skinning potatoes for dryness."
"Alright, time to test this out," Keevan said nervously, facing the Danica field with a nervous gulp. "Here goes."
Chapter 15
The blue light from his eyes glistened against the tunnel's smooth, wet stones. Smooth from intense, melting heat. Wet from a makeshift river of fluid the Watcher could summon on a whim. Given the chance, he supposed instant incineration would be relatively painless, as opposed to drowning.
He prayed to the Gods they wouldn't find out for certain.
"Come alongside me, Calistra," Keevan instructed, eyes fixed on the Watcher's elements before them. Right now, the field's heat smoldered with mild irritation, soaked in light moisture of a Tri-Being stuck at work. The emotions were subtle ones, but pulsed steadily.
As the Arnadi heiress walked up to Keevan's left side, her own “field” of cold sapped intensity from the Watcher's. The two fields merged, and then flickered into nothing. Keevan noted a slight breeze as the changing temperature stirred the air around them, bringing it back up to tolerable levels. He didn't have to shiver anymore.
"Your turn, Kors," Keevan said.
Kors grumbled something interminable under his breath and walked alongside Keevan. His field stretched out a foot farther than Calistra's, sapping the tunnel ahead of excess moisture as his command of water mingled with the Watcher's. They stood silently for a moment, waiting for some cataclysm of power to strike in response to their intrusion. Only silence and Keevan's pulsing blue eyes stayed with them.
A surge of elation rushed through Keevan's heart. It reminded him of his earliest childhood memories, when the scar still glowed and physical strength rushed through him at danger's presence. This was better though. This was all him. His sight wouldn't suddenly vanish and abandon him. Was this the potential Nariem saw when he looked at his son? Excitement tickled Keevan's mind, despite his dangerous circumstances. He needed escape this mess and start experimenting. What other doors could his elemental vision open?
Calistra gasped. "He did it Kors. We're in. I – I didn’t think it was possible."
"Impossible," The big Etrendi whispered. "This can't be real."
"Together, your fields reach only six feet or so," Keevan advised, glancing around them. They stood in a bubble of 'nothing'. At room temperature and this level of dryness, the elements were faint and difficult for even his abilities to detect. "All three of us have to fit in the space where your fields interact. So, stay close."
"Very well," Calistra whispered, still staring at him in numb shock. Sparks flickered across her arm, leaping into Keevan's with a painful snap.
"Calistra, we need more anger. Stop sparking at me," Keevan hissed, watching her field shift out of sync with the Watcher's.
"I'm trying," Calistra insisted, her eyes still fixed on his. Kors' field didn't fare much better, moisture thickening beyond what was needed, and twinkling with gathering currents of electricity. They stared at him with looks of fearful realization. For fifteen years, Keevan's impotence was an accepted fact in Issamere. Perhaps, Kors and Calistra never expected Keevan to succeed her at all.
"Everybody back three steps, now." Keevan insisted. They exited the Dancia field just as the Tri-Beings' fears manifested in a small storm of sparks. The electricity jumped from one Etrendi to the other, their fears feeding off each other's hearts and escalating further.
"What are you?!" Calistra shrieked. Sparks leapt from her arms, her hair standing on end. "You're nothing. A weak Outlander. You can't even light a candle. H-How is this possible?!"
"You threatened someone I care about." Keevan answered evenly, not sure how to take their newfound fear. Bravado seemed as good a response as any. "One day, I don't know how, but I'll pay you all back for every bruise your people put on Bahjal's body."
Kors shoved Keevan back down the tunnel, electricity from his arms leaping into Keevan, driving the outlander to his knees in a painful burst of spasming muscles. The thief’s' cloudy frame bristled with water and electricity. "We should kill him, now. I don't care what Zerik says. He's not ... normal. He's an abomination. We should destroy him and be done with this."
"They will kill Bahjal if we fail." Calistra echoed grimly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Her elemental field shifted noticeably, more moisture and warmth, but her lighting was nearly gone. Kors hesitated a moment, his electricity fading to imitate her own emotions. Keevan felt a stab of jealousy. If only he could banish his own fear so easily.
"You wouldn't want the blood of an innocent Rhet on your hands, would you?" Calistra whispered to Kors. "Despite all your faults and troubles with the Malik, you do genuinely love the people of this city. I can tell."
Kors grit his teeth, shrugging her away as he paced a few steps. "He's a demon, not an Outlander." Kors insisted. "No one should have the power to beat the Watcher so easily. Nariem and Masha could have slipped into the palace at will, for years! This is – this is – how could Malik Morgra have overlooked a boy with such power?"
"By only seeing what I can do alone," Keevan replied glumly, crossing his arms over his chest against the sudden cold. Calistra's calming moisture was helping put Kors in his place, but it also armed the tunnel's cold with an added edge.
"We have a mission to finish, then," Kors decided, standing up straight and glaring down at Keevan. As if every inch he gained in height granted him further right to judge Keevan's fate. "And the demon must lead the way."
They took a tentative step into the Danica field. Again, the elements around them offered no reaction. They pressed on. The tunnel soon narrowed, until they were forced to walk in single file. Keevan took the lead, where he could watch their prospective fields and
instruct them in how to react to changes in the Watcher's emotions.
Then the Watcher's Danica field heated up. Keevan paused in wonder, watching the change ripple towards them from the tunnel ahead, carried from some distant source at Issamere's heart. They had ten seconds, maybe fifteen. He pulse doubled, and his voice caught in his throat for a moment. He could picture it now, their bodies burned beyond recognition, if they were ever found at all. Thank Suada his emotions didn't affect the elements.
"Tell me about your mother, Calistra."
"Why?"
"Because the Watcher just got angry and your thoughts alone aren't going to generate enough cold to neutralize this," Keevan countered, resisting the urge to yell. Making her panic wouldn't get the job done either. "Talking about it will make the emotions stronger. Do it. Now."
"She was a Suadan," Calistra echoed softly, like a kitten failing to dawn a brave face. "She didn't belong in my father's world. Suadans are all about peace, focus, water, beauty. He's a military general, a fire worshiper, rage and carnage are his specialties. They were polar opposites. It was a political marriage."
"Well, my parents aren’t exactly perfect matches," Keevan offered. He could see the heat around her fading, growing ever colder. Shivers scurried along his limbs, which he fought with gritted teeth. He glared at the Watcher's field. It wasn't quite enough. "They're a Haldran blacksmith and an Etrendi politician. He's very direct about everything and she's all about the 'long game' as she says."
"Did he ever imprison her, for how other men looked at her? Or deny her food for days at a time to keep her too frail for others to be jealous of?" Calistra asked. Keevan cringed. He could feel the pain in her voice, not to mention see the temperature around her plummeting.
"No," Keevan answered softly, exhaling into his hands as they continued their steady pace down the tunnel. "Is that how you ended up working with Kors here?"
"She died a year ago, today," Calistra muttered, "Letting one of his precious trophies free in the city seemed a fitting punishment for treating my mother like an object he could imprison. For starters anyway."
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