“Whether it was the Seekers or someone else, is that what waits at the end of the tunnel, Racall? An Ovid?” Jinn asked.
“Yes. The Ovids steal the Light from the Sephirs, its magic included. All of the Sephirs are under attack, but the Sephir of Water’s theft demonstrates just how bold the Ovids have become.”
“Incredible!” Erec blurted out in a fit. “I can’t believe you’re buying into all of this too, Jinn. You’re gonna be sorry when none of this turns out to be true, and I have to save both your tails.”
Jinn stopped and turned, facing Erec in defiance. She marched up to him, holding her torch before her. “You had your chance to turn around and go the other way, but you’re still here. I don’t know what you think you’re planning to prove by going any further, but it isn’t going to be what you expect. I don’t think it will be what any of us expects. So for the last time, be quiet.”
Erec looked like he might explode in anger, but somehow he managed to restrain himself. He stood before Jinn’s small, stubborn frame, nodding in obvious defeat, and motioned the way forward. Together, they fell into line behind Darr and Racall.
Darr smiled at the heated confrontation between his brother and little sister. For as far back as memory served him, Erec always believed he knew the best course of action in any given situation, and Jinn always put him in his place. Erec listened to her most of the time. Darr figured it had something to do with Jinn’s role as the youngest child or because she was the only female in the family.
Darr didn’t often get away with standing up to Erec.
They trudged on and the torches grew short, threatening to leave them in darkness. How they would get back without their light remained a puzzle Darr didn’t want to decipher. The waterway passage continued to wind onward, a never-ending tunnel into the center of the mountains.
A rumbling from the spirits interrupted their trek. He couldn’t make out their words, but their emotions were clear--repulsion and aggravation.
“Racall,” Darr whispered. “What’s going on in the Currents? The spirits are so angry...”
The Archon answered but Darr couldn’t see his face anymore. “Ahead of us, the unbalance between the elements is great. The Ovid of Water is near.”
The torches died out soon after Racall’s grim proclamation, but the four travelers weren’t left in complete darkness. From around a slight bend in the passage, blue light bathed the stone in its soft glow.
Racall turned to Darr and his siblings, whispering quickly, “We will be expected. Prepare yourselves for anything.”
Darr reached for his long knife, not knowing what else to do. He found Erec beside him, eyes hard. Jinn stood at his other shoulder, her fear buried deep inside her, but it echoed out into the spirit realm. The Summoner gave them an encouraging smile before looking back for Racall’s reassuring presence.
Chapter Twelve
“The massive amounts of the Light Symdus consumed corrupted his own Light, twisting his physical shape into something unimaginable. Seeing their master stray so far from their original purpose, Symdus’s remaining assistants revealed his location to the Elder Council. Foreseeing the destruction of their world, Caeranol confronted Symdus with the intention of disabling him.”
~From A Current History of Ictar, as told by Nidic Waq
Darr stared into the dark, empty space previously occupied by Racall. Although, it wasn’t quite empty. Something blended into the rock of the cavern and looked to be a part of it while retaining an impression of separateness.
“Racall?” Darr called out.
--I am here, young Reintol--I have taken this form so we can fight against the Ovid--
The Archon used the Currents to communicate. It didn’t appear Racall had a mouth to speak with. He looked like a rock-hewn statue of a man with tremendous arms and legs, and a thick torso. This new form would’ve eclipsed his old shape. Strangely, his face appeared somewhat similar to Racall’s despite its lack of features.
“Darr?” Erec called out behind him, and the Summoner turned back. Erec held Jinn behind him, her protector first. “What is that thing?”
Darr shook his head, and his gaze fell on Jinn. “It’s Racall. I think he transformed himself so he can fight against the Ovid.”
“Darr...” Jinn began, but her voice lifted into a yelp.
Racall moved, the rock of his body turning and twisting. Erec looked ready to scoop up Jinn and retreat back into the passage.
“It’s all right,” Darr soothed, stepping in front of him. Erec’s gaze remained fixed on Racall, as if daring him to make an aggressive movement. “His speech is limited to the Currents in this form, and only I can hear him. Erec, I promise you that this is Racall. He won’t harm us.”
His brother watched him, judged him. Erec’s priority had always been protection when it came to his siblings. The concept of Racall had to be difficult for him. This new world of magic and spirits forced him to put less trust in his instincts, and more into Darr’s.
Finally, Erec relaxed, and Darr gave him a faint smile. He turned back to Racall. “What do we do when we get to the Ovid?” Darr asked.
Racall looked down at him but said nothing.
Erec stepped forward and grabbed Darr’s shoulder. “What did it say?” he demanded. Erec’s forcefulness was growing thin.
“We’ll just have to find out when we get there, Erec,” Darr said and shook Erec’s grip off his shoulder.
With his arms folded in front of him, Erec leaned in and said, “I don’t like all this game playing. We shouldn’t go any further until we know what to expect.”
When Darr looked up again, he did so with certainty. “That’s the thing, Erec, I don’t think anything is going to prepare us for what will happen next.”
Behind them, Racall shifted in a soundless movement that belied his body of stone.
--Time to go, young Reintol--
Exuding an air of dominance over the entire passage, Racall proceeded around the bend in the tunnel moving towards the source of the blue light.
Darr steadied his gaze on Erec. “We have to go now,” he said.
This time when Darr turned, he didn’t look back. He followed Racall into the pale light of the passage. Jinn and Erec trailed behind them. Whatever awaited them would likely change all their beliefs about the world, but Erec would be changed the most.
As they rounded the final turn in the passage, the temperature dropped by several degrees. Darr shuddered in response. Before them, a large rounded cavern spread out, its sides worn smooth, but stalactites hung menacingly from the ceiling. Residual water from the Lourcient River lay motionless on the floor, and ice ran thick along the far end of the cavern, rising high up into a frozen waterfall.
Across from them, fixed into the ice, the source of the blue light blazed, a shining cobalt star that obliterated every shadow in its path.
Darr walked to Racall and said, “The ice. That’s why the river has stopped.”
The Archon’s head bowed. --Yes--And that-
A flicker of shadow caught Darr’s eye, movement from the base of the frozen waterfall. A dark form crouched before the intense blue light. Whatever manner of creature it was, it turned towards them and rose to its full height, blocking the light with its lanky build.
Darr gave a quick glance behind him. Erec shielded Jinn where they stood in the cavern entrance. When the Ovid approached, Darr recoiled within himself. While shorter than Racall, the monster gave the impression of being bigger with its gangly arms and legs. Thick rows of dark purple hair jutted straight back from its head like saw grass.
“Racall,” it rasped. Its face was a grotesque mask of features--with the eyes of a snake, and the flattened snout of a lizard, but altogether the face of a woman. “You brought me a Sssummoner. How nissse.”
Darr’s legs locked beneath him, overcome by sudden fear. The Ovid intimidated him more than the cindercats that prowled the Valimere. The creature slid effortlessly through the water, ooze drippin
g off its body as it closed the distance between them.
“Darr!” Erec cried. Erec charged through the water, his sword arm raised, letting go a tremendous cry from deep within his lungs.
The Ovid stopped and raised its arms before Erec got close, clasping its clawed fingers in the air. Darr shielded his face as the creature slammed its arms down like a hammer. In a monstrous roar, the water around it exploded into a geyser that nearly reached the cavern’s ceiling, billowing outward with an ear-deafening roar. An impossibly tall wave rose before them.
Darr gasped for air before the wave engulfed him and sent him spinning backwards into the dark.
* * * *
For one endless moment, Darr drifted in icy blackness. The water closed about him, suffocating and blinding him. He groped through the darkness unsure of which way he would find air. The spirits whispered with sudden clarity, and Darr drove himself where they willed him. He surged upward through the rippling surface, gasping for breath. Erec crouched several feet away, drenched and visibly shaken. He held Jinn in his arms while she coughed the water from her lungs.
Darr sloshed through the waist-deep water, struggling to reach his brother and sister. From out of the corner of his eye, he saw Racall. Darr turned and froze, awed by his presence. Unharmed, Racall had withstood the wave unleashed by the Ovid of Water. With his powerful arms braced to attack, the stone giant charged.
The Summoner shook off his hesitation and hurried to Erec’s side where Jinn had lapsed into unconsciousness. “Is she okay?”
Erec cradled her and shouted over the roar of the settling water, “She hit that back wall. What is that thing?”
The Summoner stared at his brother incredulously. “That’s the Ovid!” he exclaimed.
Erec stared at the Ovid and Racall, his jaw hung open. Darr shook his head in frustration--his brother still couldn’t accept the truth. The Summoner brushed at Jinn’s forehead. He wished he could stay with her, but he got up and started after Racall, .
The Archon of Earth stood before the Ovid, towering over it. The Ovid didn’t cower. “Your little friendsss injure easssily,” it hissed.
--Go back to where you came from-- Racall ordered through the ether of the Currents, his emotions forceful and cold.
One of the Ovid’s gangly arms whipped out of the water, swiping across Racall’s chest. Darr cringed as bits of rock flew away from the blow.
“You go back,” it hissed.
Racall fell back a step and the Ovid attacked without restraint. The creature jumped on top of the Archon, raining thunderous punches down on his body with a quickness beyond human means. The Archon fell to his knee, and the Ovid beat him down further while crawling over him like a lizard. Wicked blue light appeared at the Ovid’s fingertips, and thick layers of ice began to coat Racall’s body. Darr cried out in desperation, unsure of what else to do. The battle was quickly growing out of control, and the Summoner still had no idea what Racall had intended for him to do.
With an explosive clap, Racall’s arm shot out from beneath him and connected with the Water Ovid’s forehead. The creature sailed through the air, then its scaled body skimmed out along the water’s surface before sinking out of sight. With a strained motion, Racall rose to his full height. Patches of silver ice covered his body. The Archon shook off his mantle of ice and glanced where the Ovid had landed. When he looked back at Darr, his gaze suggested defeat.
--I am weaker than I thought--Help me, Summoner--Bring your Light to mine--
“How?” Darr pleaded. “Tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
Racall couldn’t answer. The Ovid rose out of the water beside the Archon and kicked one of his stone legs out from under him. Crippled, Racall suffered a fresh onslaught as the Ovid hacked away at him with a vicious whipping of its arms. There was no doubt in Darr’s mind that Racall was losing this battle. Once he fell, there would be little hope for him and his siblings.
Darr’s thoughts raced. Why doesn’t Racall use his magic? Why doesn’t he use his command over the Element of Earth to crush the Ovid?
The Summoner took a steadying breath...
...and plunged himself into the Currents.
Darr didn’t seek the help of the spirits on this venture. Through the wisteria light of the spirit realm, the blue flare from the Sephir of Water blinded him. His mind focused and the light cleared away. The Ovid and Racall fought before him, their battle captured in both worlds. Outside the gates of Stern, when Darr reached out and touched Racall, he’d seen the Currents and the physical world overlap like this.
The Summoner slid to Racall’s struggling form. Carefully, he placed the shinning white aura of his hands upon the Archon. His own Light mingled with Racall’s, and together they spread out into the physical world.
Disgust raged out of the Ovid in waves. Too late...
Darr cried out and jerked upright, then collapsed to his knees. The lights of the Currents flooded across his eyes, overlapping his sense of the physical world. His consciousness merged with Racall’s.
Darr got to his feet, and Racall stood with him, a stone pinnacle of destruction. Together they picked up the Ovid by its sawgrass head and flung it against the nearest wall, smashing it with a dreadful crunch. Darr twisted his head in the Ovid’s direction, watching the Current’s light dance around its mangled form. He urged Racall towards it.
The Archon complied, charging through the water as if it were a mere puddle. Blue light spun wildly around the Ovid’s arms in an attempt to defend itself, but Racall and Darr were quicker. The Archon clamped his massive fist around the Ovid’s throat and heaved it up against the wall. Darr gritted his teeth, and Racall’s other fist exploded into the Ovid’s chest like a massive stone hammer, then he tossed the creature away.
Darr perceived everything through Racall’s omniscient connection to the Currents. The Archon stood motionless, an immutable wall. Erec stared in shock at the spectacle unfolding around him while he cradled his still unconscious sister. Darr turned his gaze to the Ovid as it struggled to its feet, the blue light enshrouding its form growing dim and hazy. Darr urged Racall to finish it.
Green light shimmered all about the Summoner’s arms, and Racall raised his hands high. A rumbling shook the passage, followed by a deep sigh issued from the cavern floor. A knot of triumph exploded inside Darr as a monstrous stone spire burst out of the water beneath the creature’s crumpled form. The Ovid’s cry, filled with hate, echoed across the cavern. It tried to escape, but Darr closed his hands into knotted fists. Racall obeyed his command and sent the spire upward, closing all about the Ovid before sinking back down into the earth. The creature spit and hissed as it drowned in the rock, wicked blue light emanating from the fissures.
With a final cry and a sickening crunch, the Ovid’s body was crushed into oblivion. The rock spire sunk under the water, burying itself beneath the tons of rock below the cavern. In the Currents, the blue light encompassing the Ovid scattered into the wisteria landscape.
In a swift, hazy motion, Darr’s link with Racall fractured and separated. The Summoner took a deep breath to steady himself. Being in the physical world and the Currents simultaneously had been more taxing than he expected. He felt disjointed from his body, like his mind were a glove trying to fit on a hand far too large. Nausea swept through him and he collapsed to his knees.
Above him, all he saw was Racall’s familiar smile.
Chapter Thirteen
“When Caeranol confronted Symdus, he found a mere shadow of the elder he once knew. Worse, the hunger for the Light engulfed Symdus, and the man who once hoped to conquer death became like death itself. Symdus had ceased to be, and the Devoid was born in his place.”
~From A Current History of Ictar, as told by Nidic Waq
Darr didn’t know how long he drifted through nothingness before a spark of light flashed before his eyes. Water rushed into his mouth, and he struggled to rise from where he’d fallen, spitting and coughing, struggling for air. Darr rose to his fe
et and looked around. His breath steadied. Not much time had passed, he guessed. No one had moved since he’d collapsed.
Still hazy and shaken, he hurried back to Erec and Jinn. His sister lay unconscious, but Darr worried more about his brother. The color had drained from Erec’s face as he held his sister, and it took several tries calling his name before he responded.
“Are you okay?” Darr asked him.
Erec shook his head. “What in chaos happened?” he asked trancelike. “That creature and Racall...and you, Darr...you stood there the whole time, but you were a part of it.”
The Summoner smiled, surprised by his brother’s state of shock. “We’ll talk about it later, okay. Look after Jinn for a minute.”
Darr‘s perceptions became clearer, and he turned to search for Racall. The Archon stood near the frozen waterfall, reverted back to his familiar human form. He approached Racall and noticed the brightness normally shining on the Archon’s face was gone despite his broad smile. He looked tired.
“Well done, young Summoner. You have done very well, and I must say you have learned all you can from me. The rest you must do on your own.”
“I’m not sure I know what happened.”
The Archon laughed softly. “Think on it. You will understand.”
The comment frustrated Darr, but Racall wasn’t in a position to answer questions. It appeared he had trouble standing. The Archon shuffled on stiff legs to where the Sephir of Water lay encased in ice. Darr walked towards it also, shielding his eyes from its intense blue light.
When they were before the Sephir, Racall reached up and pulled apart the thick ice enclosing it. The Archon removed it, and held it out to Darr. The light was so bright, Darr had trouble deciding the Sephir’s size or even what it looked like.
The Children of the Light: Book 1: Spirit Summoner Page 11