***
Why am I friends with a ticking time-bomb again? Sye wondered as he watched Zook’s retreating back, Why did I follow him into Saranoda without a thought?
Sye heard Pird’s voice behind him, “It had to be said, Eris.”
“Just leave me alone,” she said miserably. She left, going out into the hall and into her room.
Never upset, Sye thought sadly, never angry. She always just goes and sits by herself. Locks the door for a few hours then comes out like nothing had happened. What goes on in her calm mind when anyone else would be furious?
Two of their party gone, Sye now felt rather alone.
“Just you and me then, eh?” Pird said to Sye, failing a weak smile.
Sye ignored him. He watched a small, curving machine with a pair of flat three fingered arms detach itself from the submersible. Lights flickered on from the three lenses that hung from its front. It kicked forward and zoomed through the sea. In less than a minute it returned and disappeared in the ship's side. A small bubble rose from the floor to hover at eye level. Sye held out his hand and the bubble popped, dropping the Glass into his hand.
“You still haven't told me what happened,” said Pird.
Sye bounced the orb in his palm, “The Oracle said the reason this thing is so special is because it attracts and stores enormous amounts of this ‘energy’. I found that out first-hand earlier in the day when I touched it with my Magic. Then the Oracle said the water elemental was just living energy. Two and two, Pird. Plus,” he turned to the Oracle, “Oracle, do elementals normally pursue their prey over such a large distance? It must've been following us since Saranoda.”
“No,” the Oracle said, puzzled, “Actually they're quite lazy. If they expend their energy too quickly over failed prey they dissipate.”
“This thing,” Sye held the orb up between two fingers, “Attracted it.”
“Don't even have to blow on it,” said Pird. Sye raised a questioning eyebrow. Pird sighed, “You know...like those hunting whistles...makes animal sounds?” When Sye still didn't understand Pird continued, “How did you know the Glass would be teleported outside by the lights?”
Sye shrugged, “It made sense that the trash would be dumped outside.”
“It made sense?” Pird began, but Sye interrupted.
“Anyway, didn't you notice the change in Zook's third attack?”
“His Magic-” Pird began.
“Energy Manipulation,” the Oracle interrupted irritably.
Pird afforded her a wide, strained grin before continuing, “His ‘ma-nip-u-la-tion’ didn't just puff and flit by, it made something like a...like a thread. He sorta connected to it.”
“I wonder what he did different,” Sye pondered.
“He pointed, like this,” Pird pointed at Sye.
“Pird wait-!” began Sye fearfully before a sharp gust of wind blew back his freshly cropped hair, making his eyes water.
“Don't worry,” Pird said, grinning, “While you were sleeping in I've been practicing on Zook. I can limit myself to half a blast.” His fingers went to his temple, wincing.
“Anything different?” asked Sye.
“Yeah,” said Pird, looking at his finger, “Wasn't just a wide poof, but a stream.” He sighed inwardly, “Zook can make things explode and the most I can do is knock over a one-legged drunk.”
Makes sparks into explosions, Sye thought, Of course that’s Zook.
“Anyway,” continued Pird, “Why are you asking me, why don't you try it yourself?”
“We don't have Eris to work the lights.”
Pird rolled his eyes, “Oracle, can you-?”
“Done,” The Oracle interrupted. A glass of crystalline water rose from a glowing circle atop one of the tables. Sye hesitated, then sat in front of it and leaned close, hands flat on either side. He sought out the throbbing weight and lit all his focus upon the water. He was so close his breath rippled across the clear surface.
I look ridiculous, thought Sye. That was enough to break whatever meager control he had. Cold water sprayed over his face, causing him to pull back so fast in surprise that his chair fell over.
Pird helped him up, barely containing his laughter, “I didn’t think you were that thirsty!”
Sye ignored him, wiping the water from his face and setting himself in front of the glass again. The Oracle refilled it with a casual wave of her hand and he again leaned close, waiting for the Magic to grow again. His aim was to have the water ripple, move, do anything without it going everywhere. But once he focused again, Pird whispered “Don't blink.”
Sye whirled around, face dripping wet, “Damn it Pird!”
Pird's expression wavered as he bit back a fit of laughter, “Sorry, couldn't help myself.”
Sye irritably turned back to the refilling glass and half heartedly swept at the water, accidentally releasing the small amount of Magic he had regained. For a moment it was like he was holding the liquid, not the glass but the water in its cylindrical form. Then he finished the gesture in surprise and the connection snapped. The glass seemed to fling itself suicidally from the table, hurling halfway across the room before exploding into a watery mess, summoning many of the cleaning-lights.
“You pulled to the left with your hand,” said Pird, “And I felt the 'thread' and water follow.”
Sye watched the lights clean his mess with interest, “Just a little movement changes everything. Doesn't make any-” he turned to the Oracle, “Why didn't you tell us about gesturing?”
“You didn't ask,” the Oracle replied curtly.
“Glad you're doing your best effort to save Adrala,” Pird said sarcastically.
“No,” said the Oracle, for some reason sounding confused, “It's just interesting watching you four.”
“How so?” asked Sye curiously.
“You four act like friends, yet you behave like siblings. It is very...” her eyes flickered to her far away place, “Strange, for me to watch. I like to…part of my programming is to analyze human behavior and interactions. You four are very unique. You don't fear instinctively for yourself but for yourselves. You are like one being. A very disorganized and sardonic being,”
“Thanks,” Pird muttered under his breath.
“But one nevertheless. The fact that four radically different personalities have come together in such a relationship, complementing each other, seems almost-” her monologue was suddenly cut short, a flicker of realization passing across her face. Her eyes suddenly went distant. For the briefest moment Sye thought he saw a different expression touch her face.
Fear.
“Almost what?” asked Pird. The Oracle didn't react for a moment, but when she realized she was being addressed she abruptly looked away.
“Almost what Oracle?” Pird asked again.
“You were going to say,” Sye began slowly, pieces fitting together, “Almost convenient, weren't you?” The Oracle would not meet his eyes. Sye stepped closer asked quietly, “What do you know that you're not telling us? What did you figure out?”
Her head suddenly snapped up, her eyes going far away again, “Approaching Benji Bridge, this is the limit of my effective range.”
“No!” Sye shouted. She knows something! Something to do with why we were chosen!
“If you need to use the submersible again, twist this,” A small silver blue cylinder dropped onto a desk, “And drop it into the sea.” Her voice was beginning to fade.
“Tell me, Oracle! Why is it convenient? Who is controlling us?” He reached out to touch her but she lost her form, sinking into the Talad that in turn sunk into the floor.
“Best wishes,” her voice whispered before the Talad disappeared.
It was silent again, save for the quiet hush of the ship slipping through the sea.
“Sye?” Pird asked tentatively.
Sye balled his hands into fists in frustration.
Another chance to figure out what's going on, he thought angrily, and it literally slipped through my fingers.
Sye suddenly felt heavy as the submersible began its ascent.
“I'm going with Zook,” Pird announced, rather loudly. Sye turned to him in disbelief.
“Nothing against you,” Pird said hurriedly, “If you haven't noticed he isn't in good graces with me either. But this Scorn has erased our history, Sye, wiped out an entire civilization. Whatever he’s trying to do, it won't be pretty. We have to do something.”
“Yes, we do Pird. We need to go to Mirith and-”
“As far as I can tell,” Pird cut him off and held up his grapplechain and a dagger, “These things were meant for a different kind of diplomacy. If everything is trying so hard just to push us forward without giving us answers, maybe it's better if some things are left unknown.”
“Pird, I can make a cup explode,” Sye countered bluntly, “As noble as going against him is, we don't have a chance.”
“The Oracle changed my mind about that. What if this didn't start at Saranoda? What if our wild adventure didn't begin when the fountains fell silent?”
“When did it start then, Pird?”
“She was going to say it was convenient-”
“She could have been about to say that.”
“C'mon Sye, do you really think we're out of her range? Saranoda's range?”
Sye didn't answer; he didn't need to so Pird continued.
“What brought us together Sye? What put us under the same roof? What made it so all four of us would be in that tower at the same time?”
“You think someone sunk the Sea Hammer so we would become friends?” asked Sye in disbelief.
“Look, I don’t know! Someone out there thinks we're the only chance Adrala has, who are we to argue any different? Please come with us Sye!”
“Who are we to argue,” breathed Sye, “Do you know who you're fighting Pird? Do you honestly know?”
“If you're going to go on about your vision I'm not going to-”
“Just answer,” Sye interrupted, suddenly calm, “I just want to know which page you're on.”
Pird sighed, “Scorn.”
“Who is 'Scorn'?”
“He's a monster of enormous power, do I get a cookie?”
“How do you know?”
“You told us!” Pird replied, exasperated, “Or those ‘Four under the Foundings, I don’t know! You're the one prattling on about how dangerous he is!”
“Yes,” Sye said distantly, “But as the Oracle changed your views, she has changed mine. Again who is he?”
“I'm not sure what you're getting at-”
“Ok, a simpler question. What is he?”
“I...” Pird hesitated, “We don't know.”
“Why are we fighting him?”
“He destroyed Eretia!”
“Did he?” Sye countered, “How do you know?”
“The Oracle said so, she said he was after the Glass!”
“Then why,” asked Sye angrily, reaching into his pocket, “Am I the one holding this,” he held forth the orb, “Instead of him?”
While Pird struggled for an answer Sye pressed on, “If he was willing to level a whole city for this little energy magnet, why didn't he take it? Why did he just pause in the room it was in and move on?”
“Maybe he was studying it, or needed the tower for something else.”
“Maybe he wears thick spectacles and rides a unicycle!” yelled Sye in frustration, “We don't know! We're fighting blind! Who is the one who told us Scorn wanted the orb?”
“The Four under the Foundings,” Pird answered shiftily.
“Who told us he was evil?”
“The Four.”
“Who told us that he needs to be stopped?”
“The Four!”
“Who won't tell us what Scorn is, nor what he's done?”
Pird paused before answering, “The Four. But Sye, you’re the one that saw what he did to those people, explain the good in that!”
“It just doesn’t add up. I want to find out what they’re hiding. I want to figure out who this ‘Scorn’ is. Four under the Foundings or not, I refuse to be a pawn.”
The room they stood in brightened as their ship approached the daylit surface.
“I'm sorry, Sye,” Pird said, unconvinced, “But our home is gone. Nothing makes much sense past that.”
“I just need to find out who really is the greater evil.”
“I'm satisfied with the one we know, and obviously so is Zook. To be honest, I'm sure Eris is too.”
Sye opened his mouth but had nothing to say. He never imagined going it alone. He thought one of them would see reason, see that they were being forced to dance to some faceless group’s tune. It's just me then, Sye thought sadly, will I see them again after this is all over?
Pird turned away from him to the fast approaching surface, clearly eager to escape the submersible.
Isn’t he claustrophobic? Sye realized, Not once has he said anything about being on this tiny ship so far underwater.
“At least we'll have a little peace for a day or two in civilization,” Pird said with a relieved smile, “Maybe we can talk this over and figure some things out, I bet this itty space isn't the greatest for intelligent thinking. Welcome to Benji-” The submersible broke the surface, bobbing once before settling.
“-Bridge?” Pird finished with horrified astonishment.
Heavy smoke rose from the high hilled island of Benji. The famed city in the sea was nowhere to be seen. Flashes appeared erratically on the far off demolished coast.
“It's just like Eretia,” Pird whispered.
Sye scanned the horizon, unable to believe his eyes, “No. Eretia was killed with one swift stroke. Benji is still dying.”
End of the Twelfth Chapter
Anarchy
“His questions have become a nuiscance.”
“Will he be a threat?”
“The destruction of their island was supposed to be evidence enough.”
“Nothing was in the plan of needing their trust.”
-The Four under the Foundings
“Why is there destruction everywhere we go?” Eris asked mournfully. The four leaned forward as the submersible bumped up against a half-submerged building. They jumped off the top of the ship onto the sloping stone structure. The submersible turned, closing the top hatch the four had climbed out of and silently disappeared under the choppy gray sea. They had approached the coastal island under the water at Sye's urging. He did not want them to be noticed until they knew what was going on.
Sye led them up the fallen building and dropped to the muddy grit below, as the structure had sunk far into the ground. They were surrounded by either high rises cracked open like square eggs or buildings that had several of their stories swallowed by the wet ground. Mud was streaked over the cracked surfaces and water dripped from every crippled overhang.
“What happened here?” asked Sye, stooping to look in a blown out window. The shop that used to be inside was a meter underground. Bottles and crates floated in the dirty water that flooded the room
“Isn't it obvious?” asked Zook scathingly.
“No, it's not,” Sye retorted, “This place wasn't torn apart. If Scorn was here there would be little left. Look at Benji's canal city,” he gestured to the empty sea behind them. “There's nothing. Something hit this city hard and all at the same time. It wore itself out on the canal section, but still managed to break upon this hill.”
“What about a wave?” Eris said.
“A wave?” Sye repeated, “I’ve never heard of one ever big enough to do this.”
“We seem to be encountering a lot of firsts,” Eris replied dismally.
“Here's a way through the mess,” said Pird. He stood over a
deep ditch that ran between two buildings. Trash and debris bobbed in the knee-deep water that filled it.
“Through to where?” asked Zook.
Pird shrugged, “Somewhere.”
They jumped down, one by one as the ditch was too narrow for two to walk abreast.
“What do you suppose this is for?” Sye asked, picking his way around the flotsam.
Eris held her nose, “Trash.”
“Wonderful,” muttered Zook.
They sloshed through the stone ditch for several turns. Sometimes the sun was blocked out by a building leaning precariously over them onto its neighbor. Balconies slanted above them; doors hung open and furniture leaned perilously over the cracked rails.
“Watch it!” Sye yelled out. He grabbed the back of Eris’ cloak and yanked her back. A slab of stone fell neatly between the narrow walls of the ditch and plunked heavily into the garbage-strewn water. Sye watched the plume of white foam fall back into the water, his heart beating furiously.
“Thanks,” Eris offered breathlessly. Sye nodded in return.
“That was too close,” said Sye, shielding his eyes against the sun as he looked up, “We need to move slower and keep an eye on the-” his words died away as something caught his attention down the canal. They heard frantic splashing and the desperate shouts of a man. They could not make out his words until he sounded close.
“P-please come back, I beg of you!” cried the wavering voice, “I'm so t-thirsty! J-just come back, s-stop running away!”
The man turned the corner with a swell of water before him. His clothes were torn and stained, his graying beard wet with perspiration. He ran unhindered by the water, as he neared it was apparent why. The water parted before him, as though an invisible wall pushed it away just out of his reach. His eyes were so intent on the curling wave before him that he did not notice Pird until he ran into him.
Sye felt that unseen power radiate from the man, he ‘felt’ it push out in an invisible sphere, creating a barrier between the man and the water. Manipulation.
How is he using Manipulation? Sye thought in confusion, We didn’t get it until we woke up, until after the core. If this man has it too…that means…
“It’s everywhere now,” Sye said direly, “Magic has come to Adrala.”
Pird grabbed the disoriented figure, but the man tried weakly to escape, his eyes bulging and only seeing the water.
“The water! The water! Oh p-please just let me taste you...”
“Help me Sye!” yelled Pird. Sye stepped in to force the thrashing man's arms down.
“No!” Pird yelled, “Not him, his Magic!”
“What?” asked Sye, confused
“His Magic! He's controlling water like you! Do something!”
Sye stepped back, unsure of what to do. He sought out the man's Manipulation as he usually found his. He tried to take hold of it but the energy did not respond to his will.
He can’t control himself, Sye thought, I need to stop him, take away his tools…
An idea struck Sye. He took out the Glass and grazed it gently with his mind. The Glass flickered for a moment and Sye felt it yank part of the man’s Manipulation away from him. The rest of the man's energy recoiled, then withdrew. The water rushed back around his and Pird's ankles and the stranger immediately stopped struggling. Pird released him, letting the man drop to his knees and dunk his head in the trash filled water.
“Wait!” said Zook, pushing through Sye and Pird. He pulled the man forcefully to his feet.
“I need water!” the man yelled hoarsely, “Please let me go! I'm so thirsty!”
“This water is a cesspool of filth and disease,” Zook said sternly. He turned the man to a crack in the ditch wall, where water trickled down from the above buildings. The man desperately pushed his cracked lips against it, his fingers scrabbling at the edges.
“Water's not going to be much better,” said Pird.
“At least it doesn't have trash swirling around in it,” Zook replied. He pulled the man away from his drinking.
“P-please, I'm so thirst-”
“How long have you been without water?” Zook asked.
“T-two days but I-”
“Then take it slowly,” Zook advised, “Otherwise you won't be able to hold it down.”
The short, aging man nodded slowly. He was unusually short and had a wispy white beard and hair. His unfocused eyes were those of a man missing his spectacles.
“What happened here?” Sye asked, pocketing the Glass.
The man stared at him for a moment, then asked, “What...what d-do you mean? H-happened? Happened h-here?”
“All of this,” Sye gestured around him, “What did this?”
“You...you weren't there? Y-y-you...?” The man's sentences fell apart past his lips. He began to shake. At first Sye was afraid he was going to collapse, then he realized the man was laughing. Uncontrollably.
“Y-you didn't...didn't s-see...it? You w-weren't...t-t-there?” The man threw back his head and laughed, a terrible, gasping noise.
“What didn't I see?” Sye asked, What could have driven this man away from his sanity?
The man suddenly rushed up to Sye, grabbing him by the front of the shirt and pulling him down until Sye could only see the emptiness in the man's eyes.
“T-the w-w-wave!” the man whispered, but soon his tone became a howl. “The w-wave, the wave! Hehe...hehehe...he...hahahaHAHAHAHA THE WAVE THE WAVE THE WAVE HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The man pushed Sye from him and stumbled past the four, laughing all the way. When he reached the turn he whirled around, shouting back at them.
“The w-wave killed the...haha!..city...but the M-Madness...but the Madness killed them all!” The man gave one more howling laugh, then disappeared around the corner.
Sye slowly looked at the ruined buildings around him as the echoing laughter died away, then found a foothold on the ditch’s side. He climbed up just enough to see over the edge, between the buildings, and to the sea and city below, “You were right Eris,” Sye said, seeing now how all the buildings tilted away from the sea, “But where would it come from? Benji barely gets tides.”
“Eretia,” Eris said, “The surge that made the quake...what if it made a tsunami?”
“What do you mean?” Sye asked.
Eris hesitated, “That…wave. The entire island bent over it. What if it was a tsunami that was beneath the island and it found its way here?”
“Leaves behind quite a wake doesn't that mons-dammit!” Zook tripped on a submerged stone slab and fell into the grimy water. He quickly jumped to his feet almost as soon as he fell.
“Oh!” he shouted angrily, “Oh!” he shook water from his drenched cloak and sleeves, dislodging a blackened orange peel. “Just fantastic!”
Sye, ignoring Zook's ranting, reached out with a cupped hand. He 'connected' to the water on Zook and pushed down. Zook fell forcibly down into the water again.
“Sye!” Zook spluttered, “I hope you feel better!”
“Shut up and stand still,” Sye said evenly. He made another gesture, like he was wiping off an invisible curtain. The water on Zook's front simply fell off, leaving him dry.
“Turn around,” Sye ordered. Zook obeyed, raising his arms and Sye dried off his back.
“Probably could walk easier if you imitated our giggling friend's trick,” Pird said thoughtfully.
Sye nodded. He mimed pushing something away and the water dipped about halfway down. Sye's hands shook for a moment under an unseen weight and the volume of the water overwhelmed him, draining his pocket of energy instantly.
“Wonder why he could do it?” asked Pird, “I mean, do it at all? And so strongly?”
“The core,” said Sye distantly, willing the Magic and his concentration to return, “The ‘energies’ the Oracle mentioned must be seeping from Saranoda now. A fountain of
Magic, one that everyone can now tap into. If it spreads as far as Mirith…Adrala must be in chaos.”
His friends nodded in silent acknowledgement. Sye knew that they felt just as small as him, but he continued anyway, “I think he could push the water because he has limits. The Oracle had said something about the Obruos becoming vestigial. That Saranoda’s core had traumatized and ‘cleaned-out’ ours. I bet you that's one of the only things he can do. We can do anything. We're each a jack of all trades and master at none.”
“So because we're the 'chosen ones',” said Zook bitterly, “Our Magic is defective and nearly useless. I can brighten a flare and pop a torch. Pird can screw up someone's hair, Sye replaces a towel and Eris can...” he looked to Eris. She picked up a stone from the crumbling ditch and held it in the upturned palm of her hand. It gently lifted free of her hand to float in the air. She tilted her hand slightly, sending the cube into a light spin.
“I can make rocks fly,” she offered helpfully. Before Zook could return to his pessimistic speech she continued, “Yes our power is spread thin. But the skills of a jack-of-all-trades have more uses then the master's one. I doubt that man would be much help if he needed to pull the water to him, lift it up, or shape it.”
“Yes but-” Zook tried to retort.
“But,” Eris pressed on, “Haven't you noticed that every time you use your power, it becomes a little easier? A little less painful? No amount of Saranodian blessing is going to turn us into wizards overnight Zook, we need experience, practice.”
Zook's irritated glare softened then turned thoughtful, “I suppose you're right, but there's not much we can do about it until we get out of this place and find a little peace.”
“A little peace will go a long way,” said Sye, glad for Eris’ way of defusing Zook.
“That is if we can find some,” said Pird.