Chaos Trapped

by Eric T Knight

  “You don’t think so?”

  “I’m strong. I grew up a lot. I can take care of myself.”

  “You can. But you can’t always take care of others. That’s what frightens you, isn’t it?”

  “You don’t know anything!” she yelled at him and stomped away down the beach.

  Treylen remained lying on the sand. He was tired today. He hadn’t slept well last night. Being surrounded by stone like that, so far from the sea, had made him feel stifled, disconnected in some fundamental way. He dozed off.

  When he awakened, he knew without opening his eyes that Aislin had returned.

  “You’re a foolish old man,” she said.

  “So I’ve been told.” He sat up but avoided looking at her. When she said nothing more, he began humming to himself as he stared out at the sea.

  “I know what you’re doing,” she said crossly.

  He stopped humming. “What am I doing?”

  “You’re pretending to ignore me.”

  “Am I?”

  “You are.”

  “You pretend. Why can’t I?” he asked.

  “I don’t pretend,” she said sullenly.

  “You pretend you don’t care about anyone. You pretend the thought of people you love dying doesn’t frighten you.”

  “I’m not frightened!” she yelled. “I really don’t care about Liv or Netra or…anybody! Not you either. Why can’t everybody see that? Things are better without them around. I was happier when I didn’t know any of you. I wish I’d gone with the Lementh’koy!” She stomped off again, a swarm of agitated crabs scuttling along in her wake. A short distance from shore a number of shark fins circled.

  “This might take a while,” Treylen said to himself. “It’s a good thing I have lots of time.” He leaned up against the tree and stared out at the water. He was feeling more and more like himself, rejuvenated by the sea and the sun.

  It was late afternoon when Aislin returned. She flung herself down on the sand. Treylen left her alone. Finally, she said, “You said you would teach me about Seaforce.” It sounded like an accusation.

  “I did.”

  “Well?”

  “Are you going to keep stomping off? It’s hard to teach someone who’s gone all the time.”

  “I might.”

  “Then I’ll wait.”

  “I don’t like you.”

  “Your mother said something like that this morning.”

  “She’s not my mother. The sea is my mother.”

  “And you don’t care about her. About Netra, I mean.”

  “No. I don’t care about anyone.”

  “Then why didn’t you get the key for Lowellin? Why didn’t you let him kill her?” He was watching her from the corner of his eye as he spoke, and he saw her stiffen, the color draining from her face. “Why didn’t you let him kill Liv?”

  She turned and stared at him. The emotions that crossed her face were like waves on the sea, too fast and fluid to read. Anger. Fear. Despair. Loneliness.

  “I…I can’t…I don’t know…” She crumpled all at once and curled up on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in them. Her small body shook violently.

  Treylen watched her. He wanted to touch her, but he knew it was too soon, so he waited.

  “Why?” she moaned finally, her voice muffled. “Why do I feel this way? What’s wrong with me?”

  “Nothing’s wrong with you,” he told her gently. “You’re human, that’s all.”

  “I don’t want to be. It’s terrible, feeling like this.”

  “I know.” This time he did touch her. He stroked her hair lightly, then pulled his hand back. She stiffened but didn’t flee.

  “Make it go away.”

  “I can’t. No one can.”

  “I swam so far. I dove so deep. But I couldn’t get away from it.”

  “Nowhere is far enough.”

  “I liked how I was before better.”

  “Are you sure?” He waited a minute, then added, “What about the good times with your mother? With Liv? Wouldn’t you miss those?”

  Time passed. Finally, she nodded.

  “You don’t get the good parts without the bad,” he said. “You have to open yourself to receive the good, but when you do that, it makes you vulnerable to the pain.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “It doesn’t to me either. But that’s how it is.”

  She lifted her head and glanced at him, then away. “How come you know so much?”

  “I have a lot of time to sit and think. And I’m old.”

  “I wish I was old.”

  “You will be. But it takes time. A lot of time. Until one day when you realize it happened while you weren’t paying attention.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  “I was mean to her, to Mama, and to Liv too. Wasn’t I?”

  “You were scared. People are often mean when they’re scared.”

  “I just…I can’t stand the thought of…” She broke off, and it was a bit before she could continue. “He killed those two guards, and when I looked at them I could see Mama and Liv lying there. It was too much.” Tears flowed, and she wiped at them angrily.

  “The hardest part of loving is knowing those we love can be taken from us at any time.”

  She clenched her jaw, and a cold look settled over her face. “I want to learn about Seaforce. I want to be strong, so I can make sure no one can threaten them again.”

  ╬ ╬ ╬

  “Seaforce is the power within the Sphere of Sea. It resides in every drop of water, no matter how small.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know why,” Treylen admitted. “It simply is. Just as there is power in the Sky and in the Stone.”

  “Is it like LifeSong?”

  “Not really. LifeSong is always in motion, flowing from the River and into living things and then radiating outwards from them. It changes and moves constantly. Seaforce doesn’t. It’s just there. The shlikti, the Shapers of the Sea, can control it with their thoughts. Which means you can too.”

  “Because I am Golgath’s daughter.”

  “In a sense. Part of his essence is within you.”

  “Tell me more about him.”

  “Golgath was the most powerful of the Sea Shapers, one of the Eight who, along with Xochitl, created the prison which held Melekath and his Children.”

  “That was the war Mama fought in, wasn’t it? When Melekath got out of his prison?”

  “It is.”

  “And Golgath is dead now. Eaten by the ingerlings, things that came out of the Abyss. The same things that are living inside Lowellin now.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Why do the Devourers want the key? What does it do?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think anybody does.”

  “But if they get it, things will be bad.” Aislin swallowed visibly and had trouble with the next words. “People will die.”

  “Yes.”

  “But if I learn how to use Seaforce, maybe I can stop them?”

  “Maybe. I hope so.”

  “That seems like a lot. I’m awfully small.”

  “According to Ya’Shi, you’ll have help. Two others like you, with special powers.”

  “Have you ever met Ya’Shi?”

  “No. I was on ki’Loren along with everyone else, but I only saw him from a distance.”

  “He says crazy things.”

  “You’ve met him?” Treylen asked, surprised.

  “Sort of. It was kind of like a dream.”

  “You should probably tell Quyloc that.”

  “Maybe. I don’t like him. He stares at me a lot.”

  “He wants to help you fight the Devourers.”

  “How come the Shapers don’t help fight the Devourers? Are they all dead too?”

  “No. Most of them are asleep.”

  “Why?” />
  “They’re very old,” Treylen said. “Almost as old as this world, I think. When they came here it was an empty place. When you live long enough, all you want to do is sleep.”

  “That must be why you sleep so much.”

  “Undoubtedly.”

  “I guess I’m our Sea Shaper now. I have to do the job the masters wanted them to do.” Aislin didn’t sound happy about it.

  Treylen looked at her, surprised by her words. Was she saying that the masters put the Shapers on this world to protect the key from the Devourers? It was a fascinating idea, and one he’d never considered before. He’d spent some time in his younger years researching the Shapers, trying to figure out where they came from, why they were here. There wasn’t much to be found in books, at least not in the few books which had survived the chaos after the fall of the Kaetrian Empire, but he’d managed to summon shlikti a few times and question them. One of them had shared with him its memories of arriving on this world, but it had no idea who brought them here or why. He’d finally given up the project as hopeless.

  “Why aren’t you saying anything?” Aislin said.

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Think later. I’m ready to get started.” She stood up.

  “I thought we’d already started.”

  “All you’ve done is talk. That’s not starting.”

  He held up one finger. “Talking is…” He trailed off and lowered his finger. “You’re right. It’s time to get started.” He held out his hand. “Can you help me stand up?”

  Aislin frowned at him. “Did you forget how?”

  “Remember that I’m old.”

  She turned away. “I’ll wait by the water.”

  Treylen stood up and followed her. “I hope it’s not going to be boring,” she said.

  He thought about all the things that could go wrong, teaching a child how to take hold of the power at the heart of the Sea. “I hope it is.” He meant it too. Exciting would undoubtedly be bad.

  “It helps if first you learn how to see it,” he said.

  She looked out to sea. “What does it look like?”

  “A green glow. But not the green of a leaf. The green of the deep sea.”

  She peered into the water. “It’s all green.”

  “Don’t stare so hard. Let your eyes relax. Look behind the water itself.”

  She glanced at him. “How can I look behind the water? That makes no sense.”

  “It’s easier if you don’t think about it.”

  “Don’t look. Don’t think. Is this some game you’re playing?”

  “I felt the same way when my teacher tried to show Seaforce to me,” he said. “It took me months. I thought he was crazy.”

  “I think you’re crazy.”

  “But I can see Seaforce.”

  “Okay, I’ll try again. But I’m not doing this for you. It’s so I can kill Lowellin when I see him.”

  “He would be wise to stay far away.”

  She stared at the water for some time in silence, and then she said. “There. I see it.” She pointed. She sounded a little excited, a little proud.

  “Only there?”

  She turned her head side to side. “No. It’s everywhere. The whole sea is filled with it.” She looked at him, a faint smile on her face. “It does look like it’s behind the water.”

  “I told you.”

  “You say lots of things. Most don’t make any sense.”

  “I’m glad this time I did.”

  “It helps if I don’t focus too much.”

  “I made sense two times in one day?”

  She frowned in irritation but didn’t answer.

  “Now concentrate. Use your mind to bring it toward you. Here, I’ll show you.”

  He stared into the sea. Then he held up his hands, palms outward. The air above a small area of water a few paces away began to shimmer. Gradually it turned green and began to glow. He held it for a minute before lowering his hands. The green glow faded quickly. He was sweating a little bit, and his hands were shaking. It had been some time since he’d done that.

  “Now you try. Be careful. Don’t draw more than you can control. You don’t want it to get away from you.”

  Aislin held out her hands and stared into the water. An area over the water began to shimmer and turn green. But it was a much larger area than what Treylen had done, a dozen paces across at least. The glow at first was soft, muted, but it quickly grew brighter and brighter until it was hard to look at. Treylen began to get nervous. She’d drawn enough energy to tear a hole in the wall around Qarath. If she lost control of it…

  “That’s enough, Aislin. Don’t overdo it on your first try.”

  “Okay.” She flicked one hand like shooing away a fly, and the glowing energy popped and dissipated.

  A split second later a shockwave hit them. Treylen was almost knocked down.

  “That’s not such a good idea,” he said, after regaining his balance. “That much Seaforce, you can’t release it all at once. You have to bleed it off slowly.”

  “That wasn’t so hard. I think I can draw a lot more,” she said.

  “How about we stay small for now?” he said hastily.

  She gave him a dark look. “I want to teach Lowellin a lesson.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. But if you hurt yourself, you won’t be able to do anything at all.”

  “The sea would never hurt me.”

  “Maybe not, but Seaforce is different. It’s raw power. It doesn’t care who you are. Even the Shapers can only control so much.” He looked and saw that the sun was going down. “Why don’t we say that’s enough for today? We can practice some more tomorrow.”

  She didn’t answer but headed for the water and dove in. Treylen went and sat down. He was frankly astonished at what he’d just seen. He’d spent decades learning how to summon and control even a small amount of Seaforce and injured himself several times along the way, and here Aislin picked it up like it was nothing. If he’d had any doubt that the essence of Golgath was within her, it was gone now. No normal human could do such a thing.

  What worried him now was her control. Not her control of Seaforce. Her self-control. It probably wouldn’t be long before she’d be powerful enough to level a city. If she was to have a fit of rage and act without thinking, she could do a lot of damage. Or if she attacked Lowellin in the middle of a crowd, a lot of innocent people could get hurt.

  That much power in the hands of one so young and impetuous was intimidating, to say the least. It occurred to him that she was reaching the age where the transition from childhood to adulthood would start to happen. In his limited experience it was a tumultuous time for most kids. He shuddered at the thought of how Aislin might react to it.

  The sun was down when Netra showed up again. She stared out at the sea. “Has she been gone all day?”

  “No. She came back.”

  “Oh.” Netra slumped to the sand beside him. “I guess she’ll always get along better with you than with me.”

  “She wasn’t here long before she yelled at me and stomped off.”

  Netra brightened a little. “Really?”

  “She hates being told that she has feelings.”

  “Did she come back after that?”

  “Eventually. Then I had the temerity to suggest that she was afraid that people she loved might get hurt. She shouted at me some more and stomped away again.”

  “I think I like it better when she shouts than when she goes silent and distant. It’s like she’s no longer there at all.”

  “We got to practice with Seaforce for a bit.”

  Netra turned to him, her eyebrows rising. “Really?”

  “In about two days she’ll be able to level Qarath. Maybe one day.”

  “You’re joking, I hope.”

  “No.”

  “How’s she…do you think she can handle it?”

  “She’s an adolescent girl with practically unlimited power. Wha
t could go wrong?”

  Netra scowled. “Sometimes…” She shook her head. “I’m serious. Do you think she can handle it?”

  “She has to.”

  Netra lowered her head. “I wish she didn’t have to go through this. I wish she could just be a normal little girl.”

  “Not so little anymore. She’s growing up fast.”

  Aislin emerged from the water and walked over to them. Netra stood up.

  “I’m staying here with Treylen tonight,” Aislin said. “I’m not going back to the city. Maybe not ever.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll stay too, if it’s all right with Treylen.”

  “I’m not sure I have the room,” Treylen said with a little smile. “I might have taken in a couple of tenants since you were here last. I’ll have to check.”

  Aislin scowled at him. The scowl looked eerily like the one on Netra’s face. “You think you’re funny, but you’re not.”

  “No, probably not.”

  “Maybe we should ask Treylen if we could stay with him instead of telling him,” Netra said. “It’s rude not to, don’t you think?”

  “You ask him if you want. I already know what he’ll say.” With that Aislin headed for the hut beside the river.

  “I’d apologize for her, but I guess you already know how she is.”

  Treylen climbed to his feet. “One of the good things about getting old is you don’t care about the little things as much. Shall we go find out if I have anything in there to eat?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You’re not concentrating,” Treylen said. He was lying on his back on the sand. It was the next morning, and Aislin had lost control of the Seaforce she’d summoned for the third time. This time the shockwave had knocked him down. Treylen sat up and rubbed his temples. He was going to have a nice headache.

  He climbed to his feet. Aislin didn’t offer to help him. She was staring out to sea, her hands clenched by her sides.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have something on your mind. Maybe you’re worried about a friend of yours?” he said.

  “I’m not worried about anyone,” she said tightly. “I’m…tired or something is all.”

  “Maybe we should stop before somebody—and here I mean me—gets hurt.”

  “I have more to learn,” she said, setting her jaw.