Chapter XIV: Hermit's Hollow
In which the end is in sight...
Almost an hour had passed since the lively group emerged from the cave. However, they had yet to move more than a few feet beyond the entrance, mostly due to Kingston's suggestion that they proceed with caution.
“What is the point in waiting? The madman is finally within our reach, so why are we not moving?” Alza's good mood -compared to her usually sour demeanour- had worn off half an hour earlier, after Kingston first expressed doubts in investigating the smoke. It was the closest thing she had to a clue about her past, and she was not about to let some old, doddering fool stand in her way.
“I never said that I was certain he was there. For all we know, it could just be a forest fire, or a pocket of exposed magma. And, if the Avatars are right about how dangerous he is, then marching up to his front door without a plan is suicidal. We should take our time, maybe wait a day or two, and properly scope out the area. Once we are sure that he is unaware of our presence, and that he has no traps or ambushes waiting for us, then we can confront him.”
“That is unacceptable. If he knows that we are here, then neither we nor he are at an advantage. If he does not, then we gain nothing by waiting around. If anything, the longer we wait, the greater the chance of him finding out about us.”
Barsch, while trying to stay out of the argument, felt a pang of guilt. He wanted to support Kingston, but at the same time, he wanted Alza to discover who she had been -and thanks to his dreams in the cave, he was ready to accept her, for better or worse- but his pity for Kingston was a close match for his empathy for Alza.
“Um... Kingston? I think I agree with Alza. We really don't lose anything by checking the place out. And if it's a trap, I'm sure we'll be able to beat it together.”
“Barsch, I don't think-
Kingston's reply was cut off by the arrival of something rather peculiar. It started out as a faint glimmer of light, dancing through the air. It came from the direction of the smoke, moving at a speed that should not have been possible for anything made by nature. Kingston first thought was of guided missiles and unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, causing his body to activate it's fight or flight reflex. Barsch, being much more naïve, believed it to simply be a trick of the light, such as a ray of sunlight reflecting off a piece of metal. Maloch, whose vision far surpassed the others, had already seen and identified the source of the light, and had chosen not to ready his weapons systems. Alza saw this, and, deciding to trust in the re-mech's decision, put down her hands and waited for it to arrive.
Less than a minute later, the glimmer of light had grown into a radiant sphere, one that was both a mystery and a familiarity to the group. Like a leaf settling gently on a pond's surface, the entity known only as Spectre descended into their midst. Once it had settled on a colour and size -it took on both attributes of a peach- it began moving amongst the group. It first headed towards Maloch, where it grew several feet taller and took on a gun-grey shade. It swam around his slanted head for a while, like a puppy eagerly greeting it’s master. It then made its way over to Kingston, who regarded it with a mixture of apprehension and caution. For him, it turned a shade of white, while shrinking to the size of small coin, making it appear as if a star had fallen from the heavens. Next, it lazily floated over to Alza, who greeted it with an apathetic stare. It treated her in kind, taking on a violet hue and growing to the size of an apple. Strangely it seemed to avoid her while still watching her. Last but not least, it swam over to Barsch, who was the only one to greet it with a smile. However, for him alone, it stopped several feet short of reaching him. While all of its previous colour changes had been gradual and gentle, when it changed for Barsch, it was violent and sudden. It had stayed a violet ball after leaving Alza, which meant that it's next transformation was all the more of a shock. As it approached him, it underwent a tremendous expansion, growing larger than Maloch and just as wide. It's body went from light violet to the deepest, darkest black imaginable, with only two small patches of dark blue to provide contrast.
With no skip in its rhythm, Spectre moved away from the confused boy, returning to its peachy hue as it drifted away. When it had reached the edge of the group, it stopped and changed once more. If before had been an introduction, or a greeting of some sort, this was a conversation. It began to flicker between multiple colours and shades, growing enormously big and shrinking to near invisible levels in seconds. It was clear that it was trying to say something, but as far as Barsch was concerned, it was speaking gibberish.
“What do you think it's trying to tell us?” whispered Barsch, as he and Kingston watched the light-show with dumbfounded looks.
“I have no idea, m'boy. Sure is pretty though.”
Barsch had to agree with the hermit. While it may not have made sense, seeing Spectre rapidly flash between one end of the spectrum to the other was an amazing sight. Still, he couldn't help but feel so sorry for the creature, as he watched it try so hard just to be understood. After a few more minutes of watching, Spectre stopped changing and returned to being a small speck of peach-coloured light.
“I see. There is some kind of danger that requires our urgent attention. If we do not hurry, misfortune will befall us.” For almost a minute, everything stopped, as Barsch and Kingston looked at Maloch with incredulity.
“You understood that?”
“Yes. The being known as Spectre uses three variables to communicate: colour, size and intensity. It is a simple matter to analyse it's changes, catalogue them, and then build up a database of known translations from which other colour meanings may be derived.”
“Huh?” said Barsch, who was completely lost.
“Simply put, it means that I can understand Spectre's message, although there are still several colours that I have not yet catalogued, I was able to ascertain the general meaning. Furthermore, the colours for 'danger' and 'urgent' came up repeatedly, suggesting that it wants us to know that there will be danger if we do not act quickly. And, taking into account that it appeared from the same direction as the smoke, I believe that the danger must be in that direction.”
“So, it will be dangerous if we don't hurry towards the smoke?”
“Yes, that was my interpretation.”
“There, even the re-mech agrees that we have to move quickly. Are you still going to advocate waiting now, hermit?” Alza wore a look of satisfaction on her pale face.
Spectre, irritated that it's message had been misinterpreted, chose that moment to leave. In a flash of light, it disappeared, leaving only empty air. It's message, which had been a heartfelt desire to keep the group safe, and had not been condoned by the Avatars, had actually meant, “It's very dangerous over there, so please leave this place as quickly as possible.”
“Well, if all of you are set on going, then it is my duty as an adult to accompany you. Now, if there are no further matters to discuss, we really should be on our way,” under his breath, Kingston added, “Towards certain doom, knowing my luck...”
Alza, looking pleased with her victory, led the charge. With an uncharacteristic enthusiasm, she half-ran, half-fell down the gentle slope that led up to the cave. Barsch, with one last, fleeting look at the cave of dreams, hurried after her. Still upset over having been ignored, Kingston took his time in following them, a grimace souring his kindly face. However, less than ten steps from the cave entrance, the bright sunshine and -reasonably- clean air had brought an immovable smile to his face.
“Hmm... I wonder if I should have told them that there was a 50:50 chance that I misunderstood Spectre's message? No, I should not ruin their... happiness... with needless worrying,” thought Maloch. After properly scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary, he followed after his human companions.
Awakening Page 211