“Ah, there you are.” Kelsu grinned at her. “It is good to see you again.”
“I do not know you,” she said. “The Kelsu I knew would not do these things.”
“But you should know me,” he retorted. “You made me this way.”
“In what way?” How dare he try to place the blame for his actions on her! “I did not make your choices for you! I did not choose for you to turn your back on your people!”
“Did you not? You would have our people become servants to the honorless humans. I was content to let them live their way and we would live ours. The less I had to deal with them, or even think about them, the better. But then you had to join them. Then you named one ch’tasa. And, as if that were not enough abomination for a Shanthi, you are now ch’nai to one! I could not stand by and watch our proud people bow down before them with my own sister leading the way.”
“I do not bow down to them. Those you name treat me and all Shanthi with respect, not as servants, but as equals. Your heart is so shrouded by hatred that you are blind to light shining in the darkness. You say they have no honor, yet you have betrayed your own blood. It is not the humans who are without honor here.”
“Your blood has become so tainted by the humans that it can barely be considered Shanthi blood at all. There is no dishonor betraying such blood to restore the honor of my people.” He gripped one of the bars as he lowered his voice. “I would, however, prefer not to see that blood spilled if it can be cleansed.”
“Spilled? You would kill your own flesh and blood?”
“I will do what is necessary to free my people from their servitude to the humans.”
“Even to becoming kinslayer? Where is the honor in that?”
“It is the highest honor! I am willing to sacrifice my very own in order to save my people.”
“You are mad, Kelsu. Or deceived by the Shadow Lord. Those are the only explanations for what you are saying.”
“Soon Lord Regor will cleanse you. Then you will know that it is not I who has been deceived.”
“Cleanse me? How?”
“First, the abomination that was created during Sho tu Ishta must be reversed. After that, it will be much easier.”
She almost laughed in his face. “You speak of the Bond? You know Chai na cannot be broken. Not even by an Altered.”
“You are wrong, sister. And when Lord Regor arrives, he will show you.”
“Lord Regor has arrived, but I have another idea before we ‘cleanse’ your sister.” Lenai turned to see Regor’s shadowy form appear in the chamber behind Kelsu, who immediately knelt before the dark figure. Then Regor’s fiery gazed fixed upon her. “Now, my dear, tell me more about this bond that connects you to Jason Bennett.”
Cloudburst
Ekim’s domain reminded Jason of days back home when everyone knew a bad storm was about to break. Heavy, rolling clouds covered the sky, washing the colors out of the landscape and casting everything in a bluish-gray pall. Again and again, monstrous funnels dropped from the clouds, extending halfway to the ground before retreating back into hiding. Although Nyala assured him they were mainly for show, he kept a nervous eye on the low hanging clouds as they made their way toward Ekim’s palace.
“The funnels are mainly illusion,” she told them. “He uses them as a reminder to his subjects of the punishment for disobedience.”
“Punishment?” Seryn asked.
“If someone in one of his villages does anything he doesn’t like, a funnel will drop all the way down and destroy the village and anyone too slow to evacuate it.”
“How much advance warning do they get?” Jason asked her.
“Not very much,” she admitted.
“So even if only one person in the village is guilty, all are punished?” Seryn asked.
“As drastic as it is,” Nyala said, “it is an effective deterrent to disobedience.”
Jason glanced over at Nyala. She was sounding less and less like the person he had first met. Had he been wrong about her? Was she really playing her own game, just like the rest of them? He couldn’t argue about Teleria being better off with the Altered out of the picture, but was she doing it for Teleria, or to get rid of the competition? He looked at Seryn. She acted as if she wanted to tell him something, but just then Nyala stopped and turned to them.
“Loremaster Seryn.”
Seryn stopped and Jason was surprised to see her actually retreat a step. “Yes?”
“Ekim’s palace is just over this hill. Are you ready to try again?”
“Oh, yes, I am ready. I believe I will be able t—”
“Jason,” Nyala turned to him. “Haras was the weakest among us. Ekim will not be handled so easily. You will need to focus your efforts more than you did the first time.”
He couldn’t believe she had just cut Seryn off like that. “Are you feeling okay, Nyala?”
She looked at him for a moment, and then Jason could see the realization of what she’d just done hit her. She turned to Seryn. “Oh my. That was rude of me. Please forgive me. It seems all I can think about is what we are doing and that we must do it quickly before any of the others suspect anything.” She gave Seryn a look Jason couldn’t quite interpret. “Will you accept my apology, Loremaster Seryn?”
Seryn nodded hesitantly. “Of course. I…well…this must be a great pressure upon you. I understand.” Jason didn’t remember ever seeing her look so flustered.
“More than you know,” Nyala agreed.
They crested the hill, and Ekim’s palace came into view. It was an impressive structure made of black and gray swirled marble, with the alternating shades of stone in continuous motion. A massive granite slab served as the roof of the porch, floating on the top of eight whirling, twisting tornadoes. Their gyrations caused the slab to bob and dip precariously, giving the impression that it could come crashing down at any moment. From the center of the structure, a monstrous cyclone ascended into the sky. Sporadic flashes of red and purple dimsai attacked the clouds from the base of the funnel. The constant motion no matter where he looked was making him queasy. He decided to look at the ground instead, only glancing up occasionally to mark their progress and keep from running into anything.
They finally made it to the steps. Unfortunately, they were made of the swirling marble also, giving Jason no place he could look safely. Seeing the stone swirl and twist under his feet was giving him vertigo. Looking up didn’t help because he kept waiting for the granite ceiling to fall and crush them. The rushing vortexes towering beside them reminded him uncomfortably of the late spring storms back home in Missouri. He knew what kind of damage they could do. He decided to focus on Nyala’s back instead. He breathed a sigh of relief when they finally walked through the doors. The walls still swirled and eddied, but at least he didn’t have to worry about the ceiling squashing them.
He glanced down the hallway and shook his head. Somebody really needs to slap this guy. The veins of light and dark marble in the walls, ceiling, and floor of the corridor were arranged so that it looked like they were walking directly into one large vortex. The slow spinning of the different shades made him feel off balance; he kept taking a step to the side to keep from falling over. The rumble of rushing wind echoed from somewhere deeper within the building.
“Okay, I don’t know this guy, but I already don’t like him,” he said.
Nyala turned to him, an amused smirk on her face. “He always did have a flare for the dramatic,” she said. “Unfortunately, sometimes he tends to overdo it.”
“Yeah, well, he deserves to lose his power, for this hallway if nothing else.” Jason’s stomach felt like it was spinning along with the building.
“That’s why we’re here. Come on.”
He managed to follow her through the hallways without falling down. With each step, the sound of rushing wind grew stronger until they finally came to a vast room. This was where the base of the immense cyclone he had seen outside touched the ground, filling over half of the
chamber. The tempest moaned and screamed at them as the force of the wind ripped at their clothing, trying to tear it from their bodies. The walls were pockmarked where occasional bursts of dimsai from the whirlwind blasted craters into the stone. To get to the other side, they would have to either make their way around it, or go through it.
Nyala turned to them, raising her voice to be heard over the howling wind. “Ekim requires all petitioners to traverse this room in order to gain an audience. As an Altered, I could bypass it easily. However, such use of my power would alert him to our presence. He expects people to try to go around it. That way is a trap. I know the way through, but I will only be able to use a fraction of my power.” She looked at him. “You must not use your power at all. He will sense you immediately. Follow me, and do exactly as I do. The smallest misstep, and the maelstrom will take you.”
After he and Seryn indicated they understood, Nyala turned and started walking carefully along the wall with Jason and Seryn following. The sound and fury of the wind intensified, as if the vortex realized it was about to be challenged. She had only taken a few steps when she turned and walked directly toward the tumultuous winds. A jagged spear of dimsai from the tornado crashed into the wall right where she would have been had she not turned. He moved to follow her, but a furious blast of wind almost knocked him off his feet. He staggered back and the wind dropped back to its previous level.
“No!” Nyala shouted over the screaming gale. “You must follow exactly where I go! You cannot cut corners!”
He nodded and moved to where he had seen her turn. He pivoted and took a cautious step. No answering blast of wind threatened his balance this time. Behind him, Seryn followed in his path.
When she saw that he understood, Nyala turned back and resumed her progress toward the vortex. As she reached the edge of the swirling mass, she glanced at him over her shoulder, and then stepped forward, disappearing inside the wall of wind. Was she supposed to do that? He hesitated at the spot where she’d disappeared, and then closed his eyes and took a step forward. When he didn’t go flying into the air, he opened his eyes to see her standing in front of him. The raging cyclone surrounded them, but the wind was no stronger here than when they had first entered the room.
He started to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard a startled cry behind him. Seryn! He spun around just in time to catch her foot across the side of his head. As he dropped to one knee, he caught a glimpse of her and then she was gone, taken by the wind into the cyclone.
“Seryn!”
He didn’t think about what he was doing, just sent his senses racing into the raging winds overhead. He found her forty feet up and rising quickly as the funnel spun her. Instinctively, he sent his dimsai streaking upwards, ignoring Nyala’s warning cry. He grabbed Seryn with his power and wrenched her back down beside him.
“Do you know what you have done?” Nyala shouted at him.
“WHAT ISS THISSS? WHAT ISS THISSSS?” The voice came from every direction, sounding like a hurricane had gained the power of speech. An enormous face formed in the maelstrom. The eyes looked around and then focused on Jason as he braced himself against the gale force winds that now filled the chamber. “YOUUUU!” The voice escalated until it blended into the sound of the howling winds.
What is it about these people always having to be so big? He pushed the thought aside. This wasn’t the time for questions. He reached for Nyala, but a jet of wind hit him like a sledgehammer before he could touch her, throwing him out of the funnel and slamming him back against the wall. As he struggled for air, he felt sharp edges of rock digging into his back just below his shoulder blades. Uh oh! He threw up a shield just as a bolt of dimsai from the funnel shot toward him. The detonation of power against his defenses crushed him against the wall again almost as hard as the burst of wind had.
Before he could think, the sparkling form of Nyala appeared beside him, her disguise dropped. He reached for her again, only to have his hand repelled by the barrier of dimsai that was suddenly between them. Then another jet of wind blasted him sideways, ripping him across the wall to crash into the corner of the chamber. He slumped to the ground, feeling wetness creeping down his back from where the edges of the craters in the wall had torn at his flesh.
He heard Nyala’s angry shout, and then a blast of power shredded the column of wind for the barest moment. In that split second, she was beside him again yanking him to his feet. He grabbed her shoulder and poured all of the power he could summon through the connection.
A sparkling wall sprang up between them and the raging cyclone. Blasts of dimsai from the tempest crashed against Nyala’s shield, the concussions echoing through the chamber. As Jason gave her as much power as he could summon, her shield expanded and curved around the base of the funnel. Once the vortex was completely surrounded, the shield began contracting in upon itself, constricting the cyclone as it did. The receding wall of wind revealed Seryn, face down on the ground. As the winds moved away from her, she raised her head and brushed a hand across her face. Jason breathed a sigh of relief as she struggled to her feet.
“SSSTOP!” the voice was losing its strength as the funnel shrank.
His head was ringing, and he was beginning to feel dizzy, but he forced himself to concentrate on giving Nyala as much power as he could. Seryn had made her way over to them. A line of blood traced its way from her hairline to her jaw, but she appeared to be alert as she watched the funnel grow smaller.
“Are you able to do what you must?” Nyala asked her. Seryn nodded in reply. “Very well, be ready.”
Nyala constricted her power even more, until the funnel disappeared, revealing a rather short, pudgy, dark haired man within her ring of dimsai.
Wow, that’s Ekim? No wonder he made himself so big, Jason thought.
“What are you doing, Nyala?” he demanded. “How did you get free? The others will be furious once I tell them what you’ve done.”
“There won’t be any others when I’m done,” she answered. “Only me.” Then she increased her power, drawing a strangled cry from Ekim as he disappeared behind the shining wall of dimsai.
“Only me.” Her answer echoed in Jason’s head as he watched her lay her free hand on Seryn, giving the Loremaster the power she needed to try to keep Ekim alive as Nyala drained his dimsai from him. Something really wasn’t right here. Nyala had never expressed anything but regret for what had happened to the Altered. Now it sounded as if she wanted to be the only one, at the expense of the others. What had they done to her while she was imprisoned that could have changed her like this? And if she really had changed, should he be helping her?
“Yes!” Seryn’s exclamation pulled him from his private thoughts. “I see this time. It is working.” Nyala nodded, but didn’t say anything.
The ground trembled as a thunderous crash shook the air. Although the echoes faded quickly, a steady rumble ran beneath their feet.
“What was that?” Jason asked.
“His power is gone,” Nyala answered. “Without that, he cannot sustain the winds holding the slab up over the front of his palace. The crash was the slab falling.”
“And the rumbling?”
“Unlike Haras, Ekim’s power didn’t just create this structure, it is what sustains it. With that power gone, this building will soon collapse. Now be quiet and focus!”
Oh sure, easy for you to say. He tried to push the thought of the building’s eminent destruction aside and give her as much power as possible. The constant vibration and occasional boom of falling stone wasn’t helping him focus. Dust filled the air, tickling his nose and making him cough. But there was nothing he could do other than push his power to Nyala and watch her and Seryn work on Ekim as the building disintegrated around them. Although he knew only seconds were passing, it seemed to take forever. The image of them being crushed by tons of falling rock ran through his mind constantly. He suddenly realized Ekim wasn’t crying out any more. The thought distracted him for a moment, and then p
uffs of dust blossomed across the walls of the chamber as they fractured. With a final thunderous crash the walls collapsed and the ceiling dropped toward them.
Then silence.
He opened his eyes and saw that they were outside. He, Nyala, and Seryn were standing a hundred yards from the pile of rubble that used to be Ekim’s palace. A short distance away, Ekim lay unconscious on the ground.
He looked at Seryn. “Is he…?”
She nodded. “He is alive.” She smiled a little. “And he is human.” Then she collapsed to the ground.
“Seryn!” Jason knelt beside her. “What’s wrong?”
He could see she was having trouble focusing on him as she mumbled, “I…I don’t…” Then her eyes closed and her head rolled to the side.
Jason looked up at Nyala, who had resumed her disguise. “What’s wrong with her?” He was vaguely aware of a burning sensation spreading across his back, but he forced himself to ignore it as he waited for Nyala’s answer.
Nyala stared intently at Seryn’s prone figure. “Too much power has passed through her,” she said at last. “She will need time to recover. We will have to continue without her.”
“But that means the other Altered will die.” He looked over to where Ekim lay, still unconscious. “No. We know we can do this without killing them. We need to wait for Seryn.”
“The longer we wait, the more chance the others will discover what we are doing.”
“I won’t do it without Seryn.”
“You are trying my patience, Jason.”
“And you aren’t acting like the Nyala I first met,” he shot back. “What’s wrong with you? You always acted like you felt so bad about what had happened to your friends. Now you don’t seem to care if they live or die. What’s up?”
That seemed to set her back. She started to reply, and then closed her mouth as her face pulled down into a puzzled frown.
Altered Intentions Page 14