by D N Meinster
"Can you wait on the rain until we're inside an AGT?" Doren beseeched her.
Rikki winked at him and lowered her arm. There was no reason she couldn't hold off the downpour.
With a deep breath, she tried to focus her thoughts and keep her emotions in check. For the next six hours, she would have to reserve a part of her mind for this storm in order to maintain it. If she started thinking about Doren, she'd undoubtedly forget and have to start all over.
Aros ran over to the parade of AGTs and crazily waved both of his arms at the endless lineup. Somehow, his madcap motions were correctly interpreted, and an AGT broke off from the pack and waited for them at the edge of the platform. Aros looked back at his friends, apparently pleased with himself.
"And I halfway expected him to fall off," Doren murmured as they made their way over to the vehicle.
Rikki stole one more glance upward before she entered the AGT and took a seat next to Doren. She peeked at him and immediately regretted her choice of seating. Being too close to him was very distracting.
"Do you – "
A clap of thunder interrupted Aros before he could finish the sentence.
"You won't mind the rain now, right?" Rikki confirmed before the downpour began. They could hear the beating raindrops as they showered their vehicle. The crystal on top of her staff flashed right before a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky.
"Did you cause that?" Doren asked her.
"Not intentionally," she said, looking away from him. "So, are either of you going to say it, or should I?"
"Do we have to enable voice command first?" Aros asked, staring at the plain metal ceiling of the vehicle.
"Take us to the weapons lab," Doren requested aloud.
The AGT floated back in line with the other transports and sped off to their destination.
"Apparently not," Doren said, leaning back into his seat and viewing the rain through the window.
Aros had taken to fiddling with the controls on his seat. He was spinning it around, then having it rise and fall, so his feet would occasionally dangle off of it. Rikki choked back her laughter as she watched her friend. She checked to see if Doren was witnessing this, but he was fixated on the waters flowing down the outside of the AGT.
Ji-Ji hopped out of the crude pouch on her back and scaled her shoulder. His white fur collided with her cheek several times before she grabbed him and brought him down into her lap. She petted the denhare as she tried to think of nothing but the rain. But inevitably, Doren's name popped into her mind.
Once again, they found themselves without time to discuss what they urgently need to. With all that was left unsaid, it was no wonder she couldn't hold back these thoughts. Now they had an entire list of objectives to get through before they might even be able to broach the subject. Except even after those were completed, they had two more keys that needed to be recovered. At this rate, they might never have the chance to talk about how they felt.
No. This was it. As soon as the third Key was theirs, they were having this discussion. There was no more putting it off. Every day, they risked their lives for some greater purpose. But they were going to take a moment to say what needed to be said.
Why did there have to be so much left to do? She'd shift out of here with him right now if she could and tell him how she felt. There was always the possibility they'd never get their chance. It should be now.
But then, there was the storm she had to keep going. And there was a mission that needed completion. Oh, and she had to face her old mentor in battle once more. Last time, she only had to destroy a few replica keys to defeat him. Much more would be required of her on this occasion.
They'd have to make it through all of that before she could even plan on speaking with Doren. And who knows what would get in the way then?
"No!" Aros exclaimed before he tilted the chair forward too far and fell out of it.
Rikki couldn't hold in her laughter this time.
Doren looked at her and smiled. It didn't even seem that he'd noticed what'd happened to Aros.
"Now arriving at your destination," the AGT informed them.
Rikki lifted Ji-Ji up and nudged him back into the pouch she had made for him. Then she stood up and headed for the door. There were a few rumbles of thunder before the AGT landed and the door slid open.
Rikki stared out into the monsoon. Beyond the rain, she could make out the weapons lab. It wasn't just one building; it was several. All of them were dome-shaped, and they were packed so tightly that they seemed to be built on top of each other.
"Shift us in?" Aros asked as he came up next to her.
"Do we want to risk shifting into a place filled with armed Bellish?" Doren responded. "We shouldn't give them a reason to attack us."
Rikki considered their options. If she was more skilled, she could create a shield overhead from nothing. But she hadn't even practiced that. She could perhaps form some other entity to protect them. Or she could shift them straight to the entrance.
She held out her staff for each of them to grab onto. "I'll bring us right over there," she said, pointing to the exterior of the weapons lab. "Prepare to get wet."
Doren and Aros latched onto her staff and their surroundings immediately began to fade away. They were in two places at once. They were indoors and they were out in the rain. And then they were only in the rain.
In the few seconds it took for Aros and Doren to let go, the three of them were already drenched. Fortunately, there was a visible door there, and it opened for them as they hurried to get inside.
"Couldn't you have slowed it down?" Doren asked as he brushed aside his sopping hair.
Rikki touched her staff onto his back and he was instantaneously dried. She then repeated the process for Aros and herself. "Better?"
Doren shook out his hair. "Thanks."
Aros spun in place a few times before he said, "Where do we go, now?"
Rikki was expecting to find numerous branching corridors similar to what they had in Castle Tornis. Instead, there were no corridors. There was no obvious way to leave the immaculate white room they had entered, except for the way they'd come in. It was entirely vacant. Thankfully, that also meant there were no peacekeepers.
"I'm guessing we have to do something with the eDat," Doren said.
"Take us to the electric magnet," Aros ordered. "Am I saying that right?"
"No," Rikki replied. "Take us to electromagnetic testing." The crystal on her neck flickered to life, as she figured she'd need to alter her voice to get a response from the eDat.
However, before she could even say a single word as Versil Talap, the room shuddered and the floor began to rotate away from the entrance.
"What's happening?" Aros asked.
The only way out was lost behind the far wall as the room kept revolving. All around them now, there was only white.
"Don't worry, I can shift us if we run into – "
She let the words hang unfinished as the room came to a halt. But instead of staying in place, it shot up like it was an elevator.
When it came to a stop, all three of them stumbled to the floor.
While they picked themselves up, one of the white walls began to part at the middle. Behind it was an entire lab full of men and women running around in pastel coats and tossing three-dimensional images at one another.
"Excuse me," one of the scientists came into the white room and addressed the trio. His bland gray coat somehow fit his plain face. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"The Directorate sent us," Doren lied. He stood at full height and closed in on the greeter. "We're here for the electromagnetic device."
"I was not informed of this," the scientist bickered. He took hold of his hips and shook his head so that his cheeks wobbled with every shake. As he further studied them, he asked, "Did Lodmac send you?"
Rikki wasn't sure why he would ask that until she remembered that they were all wearing Bellish armor. Keisler had provided them wit
h it shortly after they arrived in Belliore. Had he been brainstorming since then?
"The electromagnetic device," Doren repeated.
The scientist's shoulders sank. "We just moved it to closed testing. Take them there, please." He backed out and the parted wall began to close back up.
None of them said a word until the wall was reformed and the room started to rotate once again.
"I think you intimidated him," Rikki relayed with a smirk.
"And we didn't even have to draw our weapons," Doren replied. As soon as he tapped on his shield, the room launched upward.
All three of them squatted to the ground until it was done taking them higher. When it stopped this time, it didn't open. Instead, it started rotating in the opposite direction.
"Who designed this place?" Aros asked, spitting out the words with obvious frustration.
"The smartest people in Ghumai," Doren sarcastically answered. "Who are we to question them?"
Finally, the room came to a standstill and the walls opened up. This time, there was no hectic lab behind them. There was only a row of black doors.
The trio stepped out and looked to the left and the right. There were doors in each direction, all continuing around a bend that fit the circular architecture.
"This could take a while," Aros sighed.
Rikki walked up to the nearest door. "It brought us in front of this one."
Both Aros and Doren gawked at her.
"Mmhmm." With her free hand, she knocked three times. There was no response. "Very well." With a wave of her staff, the door slid open. She made sure her thoughts returned to the storm outside before she went any further.
Doren touched her arm and poked his head forward before she could proceed. "Empty."
Rikki could see that the room was as nondescript as the elevator-type one they had taken to get here. The only difference was that this one was unlit.
"To the next one?" Aros proposed.
Rikki did not want to spend all six hours that was needed opening doors. They still had to shut down the generators. And obtain the master control. And then the Key. It would take too long.
"How about this?" The channeling crystal on her staff filled up with a green light, and she thrust it to the left and then to the right.
All the doors on the floor opened at her command.
The light drained from the crystal, leaving only a few flashes of miniature lightning in its wake. A thunderous boom subsequently shook the foundation of the building.
"Let's find it," Rikki urged and she began passing each of the open compartments. Many were as unoccupied as the first one they had opened. When she finally came to one that was illuminated, she stopped and peeked inside.
Doren and Aros lined up behind her. "What do you see?"
There were at least ten objects, most of them metallic, and they were all floating in the middle of giant bubbles. The bubbles would bounce into each other and then head in the opposite direction. She was captivated for a moment before deciding to move on. "Not what we're looking for."
She continued to the next door, though she noticed Aros and Doren were no longer following. As she peered into another active compartment, she took a handful of sparks to the face.
Rikki toppled back, momentarily blind. Ji-Ji flew from his pouch as her back crashed into the floor. She let out a yelp and rubbed at her eyes until she could finally see again. But her vision was hazy. Was her vision inalterably damaged? No, it was smoke. Her hair was on fire.
She lifted her staff to her face and water spouted from its apex and doused her head. It was nicely refreshing.
By the time she allowed the stream to cease, Doren and Aros were helping her back on her feet.
"Are you okay?" Doren asked with some trepidation.
Rikki patted his hand, which was still on her. "I'll be fine." She made sure her thoughts went back to maintaining the storm. That's what was most important.
As soon as she was satisfied that the downpour was continuing, she went to check on Ji-Ji, but did not find him on her back or in the nearby vicinity. "Ji-Ji!" she called out.
Both of her friends crooked their necks down and tried to spot him.
"Ji-Ji!" Why wasn't he coming back to her? She knew he could understand when she called him. "Ji-Ji!" Rikki almost tripped as she dashed forward. After regaining her balance, she rushed ahead. Every few seconds, she would call out her denhare's name.
"There you are," she said, spotting him inside one of the brightened compartments. But something was off. It no longer appeared like he would be able to fit in the pouch on her back. He'd somehow grown to a more hefty size.
Ji-Ji stepped toward her, but he was getting wider and taller as he neared. Suddenly he was the size of a velizard. And then he was the size of a horse.
Rikki gaped at the denhare as it continued to grow. By the time it reached the doorframe, it was twice her size.
Ji-Ji tried to squeeze through the opening but had already outgrown it. He let out a despondent whistle as he tried to force his way through. Cracks spread out from the doorframe through the wall.
Rikki backed up as Ji-Ji broke through, sending bits of plaster and twisted metal flying. She gazed up at her pet as it towered over her. "Uh oh."
Chapter Seventeen
Engorged
Rikki gradually backed away as Ji-Ji neared her. The denhare was standing on its hind legs, allowing its pointy ears to graze the ceiling. As its continual growth emphasized its features, it lost any sense of cuteness its petite size had allowed. The sharp teeth that had previously been harmless were suddenly menacing. Its misty white eyes gave it the appearance of a soulless killer. Each whistle that snuck out of its pink nose was a deeper, bone-shaking screech. And it moved forward like any bipedal human, though this creature became taller with every step.
Doren and Aros stood next to each other and gawked. What exactly were they supposed to do in a situation like this? Each withdrew their weapons, but they hung loosely in their grasps as they debated the futility of their use.
Ji-Ji made another step forward and nearly squashed Rikki with its foot.
"Rikki!" Doren screamed as he was overwhelmed with panic.
She turned her head toward him and immediately began to fade away.
Doren let out a shaky breath and watched as Ji-Ji continued to grow. His head was pushing up against the ceiling now, where thick cracks were spreading out due to the constant pressure.
"How is this happening?" Rikki said, startling her friends as she reappeared at their side.
"Ji-Ji found the wrong weapon," Doren noted. He glanced at Rikki, whose terror was evident as the blood drained from her face. He felt an irresistible need to comfort her but had no idea what he could do or what would be appropriate. Should he say something encouraging? Put his arm around her? What exactly were the personal boundaries between them?
Doren eyed her empty right hand and figured out exactly what he needed to do. He lowered his arm and let the back of his fingers brush into the back of her own. Then their fingers started wiggling into each other, and before either knew it, their hands were locked together. Each of them took a nervous breath, and neither had time to appreciate the moment.
Ji-Ji's head finally burst through the ceiling, and a layer of dust fell onto them from above. The cracks in the ceiling were getting worse, and at any moment the whole thing would collapse.
"We need to get out of here," Aros alerted them.
Rikki held her staff out in front of them, but asked, "Where should we go?"
Doren's mind was coming up blank. He was too enthralled by the fact that her hand was still in his.
So it was up to Aros to pick a place. "Where the AGT let us off," he suggested.
Rikki nodded.
Doren put his shield away so he could keep their hands together while he grabbed onto the staff. Once Aros was touching the staff as well, the room began to fade away, and the outside of the weapons lab came into view, as did the torrenti
al rains.
Doren tried to speak, but he was still under the paralysis caused by shifting. He wanted to tell Rikki to end the rain, but by the time he was able to say anything, he was already soaked.
"Why isn't this armor waterproof?" Aros whined as he tried to block some of the precipitation by putting his sword above his head.
"Can you stop this rain?" Doren asked, spitting out the rainwater as it dripped into his mouth.
"Right," Rikki said, and she finally pulled her hand away from Doren's and held her staff high. After a few flashes of lightning and an earthshaking rumble, the rain let up. "Shall I?" she said, putting her staff to each of her friends' backs and drying them off once again.
Doren stared into Rikki's eyes, and there was a hope and pining in each of their gazes that acknowledged how they felt about one another. How long had each of them waited to simply hold each other's hands, and why did that moment have to end so quickly?
A raucous boom reminded them why, for it wasn't thunder from the sky that caused the piercing noise.
The trio all looked back to the weapons lab, where Ji-Ji's head was emerging from the top of the structure. After letting loose a harsh growl, he made to escape the confines of the weapons lab's interior. A chunk of the roof caved in, while the rest of the succeeding floors plunged on top of one another. A cloud of white dust rose up while Ji-Ji stepped out into a more spacious environment.
"Can you shrink him?" Aros asked, eyeing her staff.
"I've never tried doing that," Rikki replied.
"Better start practicing," Doren urged, as the denhare grew even more colossal before their eyes.
A minute had hardly passed before Ji-Ji was twice as tall as the weapons lab. It would only be a few more before his foot was wide enough to crush the buildings with a single step. But Ji-Ji wasn't sticking around to cause more damage. The denhare turned and began trotting away, toward central Cortex.
"Ji-Ji!" Rikki shouted after him, but if he heard her at all, he ignored her. The crystal on her neck lit up, and her voice was more sonorous the next time she called for him. "Ji-Ji!" Still, her pet ignored her.
"Where could he be going?" Aros asked.