Chapter 10

Leptep hissed and jumped out of the sink, practically flowing across the floor. He grew, webbed toes hardening into vicious talons, his snout elongating.
Confused, Rain spun to see what he was racing towards.
A man stood there, in a burnt-bark jacket – dark brown with wide black slashes on it – a portal rapidly shrinking behind him. A look of surprise on his face.

He raised his hand, and a bar of distortion shot out, tearing through Leptep, who was thrown back, hissing. A great hole gaped from his stomach, it fuzzed around the edges, and began to shrink, filling itself in. Dazed, Leptep righted himself.

The man raised both hands, for now clearly concentrating on the lizard.

Acting instinctively, Rain pulled in the same way she had in the ferry – it was different to what she had tried a few minutes ago. Gentler. More controlled. It felt like her bones were shattered, and an insect-thing appeared, then another. A third of those creatures appeared, bringing another onslaught of agony. These were the largest she had summoned. Knees of legs brushed the ceiling, they closed on the stranger in a couple of steps. She had forgotten weapons! Blade- tipped arms sprouted upwards from the head of each of the creatures, stabbed down.

Surprised by the lizard – which gave off the signature odour of Avan Nerovast – Torion didn't notice the insect-things at first. An alarm went off in the back of his mind , giving him just enough time for him to throw up a barrier of pure Haze. The first creature's arm shattered, a spray of light raining down on that umbrella he had created, obscuring his vision. Another blow struck. More sparks fell. He could not keep this up. A hazeshaper should not be capable of constructing creatures like this for hundreds of years! He tore open a doorway, wincing as his blood seemed to both freeze and boil at once. Relinquishing his shield, he stumbled through the portal.

After the first two attacks proved useless, Rain allowed the creatures to dissipate. Through gaps in that flowing stream of light which marked the stranger's shield, she could see he had opened another portal and was stumbling through. Acting instinctively again, she pulled on the haze of his portal, dragged it towards her. The man stumbled, shuddering. She felt the gateway trying to close, then felt a third hand on it, holding it open, guiding it. She was pulled through.

She fell out into a massive hall, the ceiling apparently hewn out of the bedrock, which meant they were underground. In fact, the shape of the room was like an ellipsoid She stood about 30 degrees up the the wall, well away from the centre. To her right, gigantic stone doors stood ajar, a flickering glow emanating from between them. She realised she could see be the light of torches planted in a row leading from this door to one at the opposite end of the cavern. The floor sloped gently downwards in that direction, and she could hear a faint wailing originating over there somewhere, though the echoes bouncing from the hard rock surfaces made it difficult to be sure. The stranger lay unconscious on the floor in front of her, scabs forming on his cheeks, and blood soaking through his jacket in places, though the dual-tones fabric made this difficult to perceive.

Fatigued by hunger and effort, almost tripping over her feet, she made her way down to the path. Along its edges were religious verses. “He bears his pain as an example to all.” “He is a living example of what all must bear to achieve enlightenment.” Rain surmised she was in the temple of the Panen – right where Avan had wanted her. Did he send that stranger to bring me here? She climbed back up to where the stranger was and prodded him with her toe, fearing the worst. He groaned. Rolling over. Rain saw eyes full of terror.

She was feeling unsure of herself, but she wouldn't give up her advantage. She put her foot on his throat.

“Who are you?”

He batted weakly at her foot, and she realised she was pushing maybe a little too hard. She let her foot up a little.

“Torion,” he gasped.

“What were you doing in my living space?”

“Investigating. Please, let me up.”

She didn't think she wanted to do that. She leant forward, her right foot crunching his wind pipe harder, and kicked with her left, straight into the soft fleshy part beside Torion's eye. His head snapped to the side with a cracking sound. He stopped breathing.

Rain was sickened by what she had done. She didn't even know why she had done it. She had never killed a person before. Perhaps she had sensed danger. She had certainly felt afraid. Shaking herself, Rain checked his pockets. His notepad was locked, and therefore useless; they could only be unlocked by an authorised user, which she was not. His other pockets revealed nothing of note. A half-empty packet of orange-flavoured chewing sticks, which she kept for later, and a small vial of a viscous liquid, tinted slightly pink, which she also pocketed.

She paused, wondering what to do with the body. She could push it through a gateway, but where would that go? Some other place to be found by someone else? Was she even capable of that? She had to destroy it. Thinking for a second, she drew on the haze carefully this time. Avan was right, this was getting easier, and less painful. She would need to concentrate, so she drew slowly, like Avan had suggested. She moulded a small conical shape with a rounded base, she pushed it over. She gave it a mouth at its point, sharp incisors for chewing, hard molars for crushing. A single eye on the top of its head. The mouth needed... something. She gave it a simple digestive system, muscles to move around and chew. Haze began pouring into it, as if that mindless stuff had intentions of its own. It filled the inch-long creation, hollowed out parts inside, pushed things this way and that. Rain realised she was no longer directing the haze; it was filling in the details that she hadn't really considered herself, working from her intentions. A few minutes later, only a trickle of power was flowing through the gap, but the thing was still not living. She willed the haze to spark the creature into movement. Dropping to the body it tore at the clothing with sharp teeth, grinding it with its molars. Within a few hours this body would be devoured, turned to muck. She was not sure for how long the creature would survive, but she expected it to last a while due to the care she had taken. Isn't that what Avan Nerovast had said? The body was out of the way, obscured by darkness at the edge of the room. But what if someone looked up? She drew on the haze again, constructing a mottled cloak, matching the colours to that of the stone, then reconsidered. She allowed the cloak to dissipate, and instead worked on encasing the body and its little munching companion in a case of stone. The haze, once again, seemed to help her naturally in achieving her aims, flowing into the right shapes, fading to the correct colours, turning to dust on the surface. In a swell of pride, Rain signed her work, her carved name adorning one of the rocks near the bottom of the cairn.

Rain heard chanting coming from the doorway to her right, the one which led outside. She was weary and hungry, but she was also unsure of her location and afraid. Walking quickly, she fled deeper into the cavern temple.