Flying 41

“Stop,” said the nearest guard. The other had a bow and arrow notched and drawn. He was positioned in an elevated scoop in the stone wall, protected by a skirt of stone which came up to his shoulders. “Password and business,” he said with a grim sternness in his words.

“Telos lead, Phora injured, code star blue, emergency for Phora,” exclaimed Telos.

“Second code,” replied the guard.

“Code star blue, evening,” said Telos.

“Let us see the injured Phora,” said the guard.

The group brought Phora to the edge of the iron grated barrier and held up Phora’s head.

The guard made a short gasp. “Pass,” he said quickly and the door swung open. But, the guard did not put down his drawn sword to help, nor did the bowman release the tension on his bow.

The group quickly ran through the gate, which came banging down behind them. Ahead were a number of massive steel doors surrounded by iron plates fastened to the stones by large steel spikes driven into the stone.

Telos took the latch on the door and turned it as if she were setting the hands of a clock. The door sprang open on the last twist with a screeching rending of metal being forced to move against its natural resting state. They rushed inside. There was a marble tub, large enough for three persons, sitting benches, a table covered with a layer of goose down enclosed in white linen, scrub brushes, and a wall of ointments and dressings. They carried Phora over to the tuba and put him in it. Hyle pushed buttons on the remaining armor; it sprang away from him without moving Phora at all. Overhead, there was a large device that looked like a funnel upside down, though the large opening was covered by a screen mesh. Telos grabbed a lever and said to Hyle, “Hold the helmet under the output.” Hyle put the helmet under the funnel device and Telos pulled the lever. Immediately, a cascade of water came out and poured into and over the helmet. By the time it hit the tub in which Phora rested it was filled with rock like bits of ice which rattled and sounded against the marble of the tub as the tub filled quickly up.

Telos rushed to the shelves with the ointments and medicines and retrieved a funnel similar to the one they had used on Kinesis. She grabbed a large silver goblet from a lower shelf and carried them back to Phora’s side. She put the goblet in the helmet, then held it below the water funnel.

“Pull the handle easily, Hyle,” she commanded.

Hyle pulled the handle in a slow movement and water filled the helmet and goblet. Both were now cold with ice. Telos gave the goblet to Hyle, took the tube like device and slowly inserted it down Phora’s throat.

“Give me the goblet, Hyle,” she said, and Hyle quickly handed it to her. She poured the iced water down Phora’s throat. It went down with a scattering of pebbles sound. There was no effect that she could see. Her brother lay beneath the cold waters, only nose and mouth above the rumpled iced garnished liquid, red puffy faced in a white tomb of gleaming stone.

(to be continued)

Flying 42

Kinesis saw Telos and Hyle burst into her room. She tried to speak, but she was so tired that her lips would not move. She tried again, but it was as though they were glued shut.

Something was terribly wrong. She could see that Telos was glaring at her. Hyle shared the glare.

“You have killed him. You have killed my brother, the Prince of the Keep. And justice will be served,” said Telos with precise staccato words. She said them so violently that the spit encased each word with a rabid froth.

“But I did not mean to harm Phora,” Kinesis tried to say. But her mouth would not move. Her lips were made of lead.

Telos and Hyle dragged a black box, a black steel coffin over to Kinesis’ bedside. Telos opened it. On the bottom of the lid were sharp pointed knives. Kinesis could see that when the lid was closed, the knives would sever the person or body inside.

“But I am innocent. I tried to save Phora. I am not guilty of misdoing!” shouted Kinesis in her mind. Her lips still would not move. Her body would not move, no matter how strongly she tried. “What is wrong with me?” she cried to herself. “Can’t they see that I want to tell them something? Surely, they can see it in my eyes/” She tried to move again, but her body felt as motionless and numb as the granite walls around her.

Hyle and Telos lifted her and put her into the box. She could see them looking down at her, glaring with commitment to execute what they thought was just.

“Please, stop! Please stop. What have I done? I tried to help Phora, not kill him,” she said through sealed noiseless lips. The glares only continued. Then, the lid began to close.

(to be continued)

Flying 43

Nothing happened for a moment. Then it looked as though the water began to boil ever so slightly around Phora’s body, covering it with tiny bubbles that rushed to the surface to form a red foam. Telos with care poured more water down into Phora’s stomach. The bubbles increased in strength and red foam began to froth at the surface. Telos watched for any sign. And she saw it. Phora’s lips which had been fire red were now returning to a normal color. His puffy face began to regain its normal features and his skin began to turn its bronze color patch by patch merging together to make a proper color. The bubbles stopped and the last of them rose to the surface as the smoke would from a candle that had just been blown out.

Telos looked at Phora and watched his lips suddenly turn blue. The blueness began to creep across his face.

“Get him out now!” Telos shouted and they all grabbed Phora, lifted him from the tub and carried him over to the table. His under garment was already dry, but his arms, legs, and head were dripping with water that crunched under their feet from the ice that was in it.

(to be continued)

Flying 44

Hyle was shaking the steel box uttering some kind of chant. Kinesis was rocked gently by the movement; the box was extremely heavy, for Hyle had great strength. Telos reached down to jostle Kinesis one time before the lid was to be closed. Kinesis knew that Telos would close the lid; she could see it in her eyes. They were white with glare. Telos shook Kinesis hard. Kinesis tried to respond, but nothing in her body would respond. She could see Telos, but she knew that her eyes were closed. Telos pulled back her hand and placed it on the lid with the dagger knives. She pressed on it, the muscles stretching out the armor of her arms from the force required. Down the daggered lid came, ever so slowly. Ever so slowly. Kinesis could see the sharp blades descend, closer, closer to her face and eyes. Then the first blade began to cut into her forehead. The pain was sharp and felt like a needle that had penetrated her skin and was expanding. The blade was cold, but the cut felt like molten steel. The other blades found their marks and began slicing down into her flesh. She could feel the blood running down her sides, small rivers of anguish. The pain was everywhere in her body. It hurt beyond anything; she was slowly being cut to pieces alive.

“Nooooo!” she cried in her mind. “Nooooo! This can’t be. How can they be so cruel? They must see that I am innocent. Cruelness. Cruelness. The pain. I cannot take it anymore.”

And then she screamed.

(to be continued)

Flying 45

They dried him quickly and wrapped him in a white material that looked more like woven angel hair than cloth. Telos rubbed his right arm vigorously while Hyle did the same to the left. Phora began to breathe more easily. The blue of his lips and skin began to fade to white, then the bronze color crept back to his body and his lips gained a deep rose. Slowly, his skin regained the sheen that indicated that his body was returning to normal. His eyes opened into narrow slits.

“Where am I?” Phora asked in a voice that sounded as if he were chewing frozen honey.

“You are in the secure bathing room on level one,” said Telos. “We thought that you died twice, once from the overheating and another from the ice therapy. But, you are back,” she said, and with that sat down on the side of the linen mattress where Phora was lying. Her face was lined by battle fatigue and the exhaustion showed in the blank stare of her eyes.

“Telos,” said Phora weakly.

“Yes?”

“The Elven woman, Kinesis, who entered the Keep with me? Is she….” But, Phora did not have a chance to finish his question; Telos softly put her hand over his mouth.

“You must rest, Phora. There is much to do and you will need all the strength you can muster. Let me just say that everything has been taken care of. You need not worry.” Telos smoothed his jet black hair and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. Phora smiled at her, then looked to Hyle who nodded and smiled back. Phora gave a long sigh. He closed his eyes and began to take the deep breaths of restful sleep.

“We will tell him when he awakens, which I think may be a day away, given the way he is breathing,” said Telos. “Are his guards in position?” she asked of Hyle.

“Yes, they have been outside since the moment he entered the room. The close guards will enter when you leave. He is secure. I shall personally take command until Ergon is back.

“Good, but I shall need you for the woman Phora brought in. You must come with me. We shall leave first to see the commanders and check the soundness of the Keep,” said Telos. She and Hyle left the room, both giving a quick glance around to make certain that all was in proper function. Telos’ exist was marked by the subtle snap of her helmet into place as she went through the steel door which was closed behind her by invisible hands only after four guards entered, two with hands at the ready on swords and two with maces gripped ready for action.

(to be continued)

Flying 46

Telos and Hyle made their way quickly to the command post on level one. The commanders were all in the ready room and were waiting. They entered at a half run.

“Status of the Keep,” she barked.

“All is secure and well,” replied the first commander, Dynamis. Dynamis was tall and had arms that looked half a hand too long. But, there was no question that his strength was exceptional. His eyes were those of a hawk and flashed even with the most casual glance. He had the unusual ability to move his eyes when he blinked. He could be looking at one person, blink, and then be entirely focused on another person in the opposite direction. Those who thought that he had missed their comment were only too startled to find that hawk stare upon them in the instant of the blink of an eye.

“The other commanders have made rounds and we are assured that no savager has been able to enter,” said Dynamis.

“Good,” said Telos. “And Ergon?”

“He is still in the room with the Elven woman. She put him into some kind of sleep charm, but he has come to and is helping with her management. He is still a bit groggy.” Dynamis spoke with the hint of a question in his voice.

“Yes. The sleep charm was very powerful. And so are the others that she possesses. We have never seen anything like them before. Hyle and I are going there now to assess how she is doing. When we took Phora, it seemed that the ice charm she used exhausted her strength beyond her limits. We may have to use the rejuvenation box with her.” Telos and Hyle gave a salute to the commander, who returned it. Then, they hurried through the checkpoints to Kinesis’ room.

“I am worried,” said Telos. “After she used her ice charm, she was turning the same blue that almost took Phora. I hope that we are not too late. Fortunately, there is a rejuvenation box in her room. I suspect that Ergon has already put her in it and has started the streamers. She is a stranger to this world, so I do not know how it will affect her, but it is our only hope for her to regain her strength. She is so frail. I cannot imagine how she even made it to the Keep.”

“Yes, we must use the box,” replied Hyle. “But, books cannot be judged by their covers; she may be stronger than we think.

(to be continued)

Flying 47

Hyle and Telos made their way into the room where they found Ergon peering into a black steel box with silver rivets that studded the sides. He rested his left hand on the box and seemed to sway as he turned to meet them.

Telos could see at first glance that Ergon was struggling to stay awake. It looked to be the case that he had put the back edge of his dagger which had sharp saw like notches on it against the side of his face and had drawn the dagger across. The pain must have been sharp and lasting, for the blood flowed freely down his armor.

Ergon spoke. “The Elven woman. She is not doing well. The blue coldness is taking over her body. I put her in the rejuvenation box and it has slowed the process, but we may have to use its full force.” Ergon’s eyes reflected worry, desire to close and enter sleep, and vicious pain that occurred whenever his mouth moved and the skin wounds reopened.

Telos hurried over to the box and looked down at Kinesis. She had blue lips and her arms were polar ice blue. Her fingers were a darker, ugly blue and the tips almost looked to be on the verge of turning frostbite black.

“We must use the full force,” Telos said without hesitation. “Ergon. Unlock the cover safety, release the energy ribbons and slowly lower it down.”

The cover was a thick bronze plate the exact size of the top opening of the box. The cover was hung with copper chains from iron circular inserts in the stone ceiling. It was also covered in silver studs, but they ran in a crosshatched pattern over the top and protruded through the bottom. Attached to small hooks on the bottom studs were triangular shaped silver colored ribbon/flags that hung down in rows and columns that matched the stud patterns. The cover had the look of a flat metal centipede with silver ribbons for legs.

Ergon grabbed the chain to a winch that held the top to the ceiling and began to work the chain so that the cover began to descend. As it approached the box in which Kinesis lay, the ribbon/flags started to shimmer and flutter with a force of their own, a wind that was strong but felt only by the ribbon/flags. As they got closer to Kinesis, they began to glow and stretch out for her face and heart. Ergon stopped just a few inches above Kinesis’ face. The ribbon/flags strained to reach her face and heart region. They were radiant fingers of life reaching out into the cold of dismay and doom.

The effect was slow to be seen. Small spots of normal color appeared on Kinesis’ face. But, there was a battle, for some spots returned to a blue color after a few seconds. The ribbon/flags fluttered harder. The blue coldness massed darker in her finger tips.

“They must touch her,” said Telos.

“But, Princess Telos,” exclaimed Hyle, “that would be very dangerous. We do not know how the force of the box will react with a stranger, especially one with the powers that she has.” Hyle had a worried frown on his face. Ergon blinked and his eyes then started to close, but he snapped his head sideways, held the chain with his left hand, reached for his dagger and drew it across his face. His blood flowed freely again, and his eyes were wide open with the pain. His grip never failed and the tension of the chain was precise.

“Princess Telos is right, Hyle. She will perish unless we release the full power of the box, dangerous as that may be,” said Ergon, looking at Kinesis and then to Hyle. Sharp spikes of pain made his eyes twinge when he spoke.

“Ergon. Slowly, very cautiously lower the top so the just the tips of the ribbon/flags touch her,” said Telos. She reached down and gave Kinesis’ hands a squeeze and placed them to her side so that they barely touched the white fabric of her battle stained dress. She straightened Kinesis’ head so that it would be first touched. She backed away.

Ergon lowered the lid so smoothly that the movement was not perceptible unless it was seen in glances.

The ribbon/flags fluttered as if they were in a terrible storm, then touched Kinesis’ face and heart region.

(to be continued)

Flying 48

Where the ribbon/flags touched, orange, then white shooting star sparks shot out. The sparks became white flames and surged into volcanic eruption with red plumes of clawing smoke fingers reaching out, fingers of magical heated air. There was a smashing Whoosh that sounded like a massive tree falling in a forest or a tidal wave crashing against the rocks. The room shuddered in spite of being made of stone and mortar.

Kinesis sat bolt upright, her eyes wide open and seeing all, completely all, around her. She saw in front, to the sides and behind her. The room was filled with red fingers of smoke that laced their way around everything, serpentine fingers of anger. Small pieces of rock fell continuously from the ceiling, hitting the rock floor with raps of forced trauma. Granite dust misted with gray ash swept through the air in a shock wave sandstorm. The two guards that had been posted by the door lay sprawled on the floor, though each was moving, trying to regain an upright position. The box in which she had been lying was split open at the corner joints and its uppermost edges had been rounded over. Pieces of chairs, a table and cabinets covered the floor in a splintered display. Ergon was an ash gray coated figure, swaying as he incredibly still held the chain to the lid which was spinning wildly and crashing into the walls with sounds of heavy metal and stone fighting. Though blinded by the ash that was in his eyes, he had drawn his dagger, ready to fight in spite of wrestling with the chain and out of control lid. Telos lay thrown against the far wall, her legs twisted around so that the right one was bent to the breaking point underneath her. Her left arm covered her eyes, the other moved to find her dagger. Hyle was moving in a crab crawl. He had grabbed a shield that had been knocked to the floor from its place on the far wall and was scurrying sideways quickly to provide protection for Telos, his eyes wide and focused in a confounded daze on Kinesis.

Kinesis could feel her body vibrating with an unseen energy or force. It seemed to run in and through her as a glowing wind or pulsing blood on fire. She could feel that she had caused the explosion that had wrecked the room. Something in her had arisen and had countered what seemed to be attacking her. But, was there really an attack? Ergon seemed more startled and dumbfounded than a fiend torturer. Telos and Hyle clearly were not prepared for battle. Something was amiss.

Kinesis could hear doors clanging shut down the corridors that led to her room. Hyle made it to Telos who was straightening her leg out, grimacing and wincing as she did. She had her dagger drawn and it pointed in quick jabs to any sound nearby. Hyle gave a short signal as he approached Telos and she pointed her dagger in the other direction. Just as Hyle made it to Telos to shield her, the door burst open and two heavily armored guards entered. One had throwing hatchets and a chain net. The other had a close encounter mace and a spike studded shield. The one with the hatchets took a glancing look at Hyle guarding the struggling Telos and drew back his right arm while sweeping his net in front of him. He aimed the hatchet in his mind at Kinesis, steadied his cocked arm, then threw it with a guttural snarl. The hatchet sped towards Kinesis, twisting end over end, its razor sharp blade making the air hiss as it hurtled forth.

(to be continued)

Flying 49

Kinesis could see the hatchet coming straight for her body. It would center her head. But, she thought to herself, “It will miss me to the left and hit the round stone behind me.”

The hatchet was flying in the air, but she entered her feelings and found that it would be off the mark; she could feel that it would hit the wall with a terrible metallic bang and that the wall would splinter away some chunks of the granite that made it up. She could feel the persons around her: Telos who was furiously trying to wipe dirt and dust from her eyes and straighten her leg (there was much pain there); Hyle who was hovering over Telos with the shield trying to assess the damage and situation (there was agony of being incapable of defending properly); Ergon clutching the chain of the lid and holding it so that it only did damage to the walls, though the chain was ripping small bits of flesh from his fingers (he glowed with the torment of muscles trying to will calm an untamable beast); and the guards who had thrown the hatchet (he held the confidence of a kill). It did not matter that her eyes were wide open, even though the room was clouded with dust and rocks falling from the ceiling. It did not matter that the room screeched with the sound of the lid careening off of the wall, but that her feelings were different from silence. It did not matter that she thought that she probably could be dead in the next second with the hatchet strike. What did matter was that she could feel their thoughts and everything in the room, almost as if they were warm or cold colors, bitter or sweet noises, loud or soft tastes –they were not like anything that she had experienced before, yet they had the ingredients of her senses. She could feel the events themselves; she could reach out and be the events, mingle with them, become them.

And her new mind feelings changed those events.

The hatchet whisked by her head by an inch and crashed into the wall sending splinters of granite into the air with a metal rending crash. Just as she had felt it to be.

The guard who threw the hatchet look perplexed. He never missed. He drew another hatchet.

(to be continued)

Flying 50

“Hold!” cried Telos. She had cleared most of the dirt from her right eye and had seen and heard the hatchet smash into the wall barely missing Kinesis’ head. “The Elven person has done no harm; it was the use of the rejuvenation box on her that caused the explosion.” Telos saw the guard with the hatchet fix his throwing position, then move backwards to have his back against the wall, all the while casting his eyes around the room. Ergon had managed to bring the swirling lid to a halt, though his hands were bloody from the task. Hyle was handed a sword from the guard with the mace. They stood in protective positions around Telos.

“What happened to me, to the room? Where am I?” asked Kinesis. Her body was not vibrating as it had just moments before and her senses were returning to a normal state. She still felt a little as if her ghost or soul did not match up with her body; she could still have the slight awareness of a presence in her that reached out into the room entering into what it encountered. Her vision now focused on Telos.

“You saved Phora by using your ice charm, but it took too much of your strength –what very little you had left after dealing with being cleansed of a savager bite.” Telos spoke quickly, all the while clearing her other eye and assessing the combat positions of Hyle, Ergon and the two guards. “We used a special box to give your powers and vitality back, but the encounter was too much for the box. I have never heard of such things happening or a box being bent, much less its top edges rolled over. But, tell me, are you alright?” Telos looked keenly at Kinesis.

“Yes, I think I am fine, but I have had strange experiences that are hard to describe. Phora. Is he, is he with us? I had a terrible vision of his being all red, then all blue,” replied Kinesis. Kinesis bit her lip, waiting for a response.

“He is recovering. He is on another level, and we should get you to that level also. Can you walk?” asked Telos.

“Let me see,” replied Kinesis. She folded her knees up against her chest, put her hands on the rolled over sides of the box and lifted herself up into a squatting position. From there she stood up.

“Ergon, lift her from the box and let her stand on the floor,” said Telos.

Ergon went over to Kinesis. Even though she was standing in the box, he did not have to reach very high to get her; his height brought his head almost to her shoulder level. With a gentle sweep he grasped her legs with his left hand and cradled her back with his right arm and hand. He lifted her from the box as if she were a matchstick and placed her on the stone floor.

“We must go to the next level,” said Telos. There you will be fitted with armor. You are too vulnerable without it. If you are too weak to walk, Ergon will carry you.” Telos’ eyes ran up and down Kinesis’ body. Kinesis had the hint of a mixture of confusion and wonder ease into her mind –she had somehow been in Telos’ thoughts.

Kinesis shook her head slightly. Strange were these ideas that did not seem to be hers, yet were in her mind so that she could know them.

“I can walk,” Kinesis said.

“Good. Let us be away,” barked Telos. The hatchet guard left the room first, peering around the doorframe before he exited. The others followed, Ergon being the last to leave and securing the door with a grinding bang.

They proceeded through stone hallways, blocked at intervals by guards and doors. As they rounded a corner, Kinesis could see a large stainless steel plated door with stone guard encasements on either side. The encasements had windows with scarred stainless steel plates that could slide open and shut, but only by manipulation from the inside of the encasement. Telos called out various code words to the questions coming from the encasements. At the final code, the stones in front of the door sank two feet revealing that the door was larger than it looked and could not open save these stones being dislodged. Behind the door was a white marble staircase which they climbed for what Kinesis thought was an eternity. The staircase seemed to provide its own light; it glowed a soft moonlight. At last, they reached the top where another door blocked their way. Encasements were on the side facing down towards them and Kinesis could remember that when they had passed through the first door climbing the stairs, she thought that she had seen encasements that watched their backs. It was beyond her to think of a dwelling that had so many precautions. “What kind of people would live in such a paranoid world?” she thought to herself.

They passed through more checkpoints and finally entered a large room. This room had a vaulted ceiling made of the trunks of massive oaks. The trunks must have been six feet thick. The room had steel grated windows, which were open, but with heavy steel shutters ready to close. There was a fireplace of brown sandstone and mortar, big enough to stand in. Tapestries lined the walls, but they looked more like maps than works of art. Large oak tables and chairs filled the room in an order that would allow movement in a direction, but then divert it towards another. Again, Kinesis thought to herself. “What kind of people would live in a world that consisted primarily of wood, stone and steel?”

“Kinesis,” said Telos. “Please take a seat. Before we take you to the fitting room, let me ask you some questions, if you don’t mind?” Telos asked, but Kinesis knew that it was not a question, but a command.

(to be continued)

Flying 51

Telos led Kinesis over to the large sandstone fireplace. In front, there were two dark brown mahogany cathedral chairs, intricately carved with figures of dragons, savagers and many other strange creatures, all battling armored figures. The chairs’ were padded with red velvet cushions on the seats and rolled velvet rests on the arms. Telos moved her chair close to the other and motioned Kinesis to be seated. Kinesis sat in the large chair which rose high above her head. She tried to move it a little by pushing her legs but the chair was a solid weight and did not budge; it would take much strength to just move it an inch, yet Telos had moved her chair using only one hand. She looked again, much more closely at Telos.

Telos was as tall as Kinesis, but that was where the similarity stopped. She was certainly Phora’s sister. Whereas Kinesis had light skin and golden hair, Telos’ was like Phora’s, deeply bronzed with etches of struggle around her eyes. Her eyes, like Phora’s, were a deep dark brown, though hers had a hint of red flakes around the pitch dark pupils. Telos took off her helmet and her hair streamed down in ebony waves that glistened even in the soft candle light and splashed across her shoulders and back. Her face was not as full as Phora’s and her nose was straight and clipped at the end. Her mouth was a bit larger than normal, though her lips seemed to be normal size and were a blushing rose red. It was when she spoke that her beauty could be seen; her teeth were white and set as diamonds in a perfect ring. In Kinesis world, her smile would have been rapture for any male. “Strange,” Kinesis thought herself, “I have yet to see Telos smile or far that matter show any emotion. She did grimace, but that may have been through effort of circumstances and not emotion.”

“Are you comfortable, Kinesis?” asked Telos.

(to be continued)

Flying 52

“Yes, thank you,” replied Kinesis.

“I am a person who gets straight to what I have interest in. Tell me, what did you give to my brother?” Telos leaned forward. Her hair slid like silk in easy cascades down from her shoulders to hang as thick undulating banners alongside her cheeks. Her eyes looked sharply at Kinesis. The red flecks seemed to glow.

“He was badly injured. I used an emergency medicine which we have in our world to save him, though you may have something similar in your world. I mixed it up, but when I did, some of my tears fell into it. I have heard that this combination can transfer some of the tearful person’s characteristics to the recipient of the potion.” Kinesis saw Telos’ eyes flicker for an instant.

“What characteristics? Could they be those that caused the drops to fall from my brother’s eyes without their being something in them?” Telos had the intensity of a tiger bearing down on its prey.

Kinesis hesitated for a moment. She could not think of persons who did not know what tears were. They were not merely drops that cleansed the eyes when there were foreign objects in them.

“Tears can come from eyes washing out things that have gotten in them. They also come from crying,” said Kinesis, giving Telos an inquisitive stare.

“Impossible,” came the immediate response.

(to be continued)

Flying 53

“What do you mean, Telos?”

“There is no such thing as crying,” she replied. Kinesis could see Telos’ hands slowly clasping the large carved dragon’s heads of the end of the chair’s arm rests. “Phora could never cry, impossible,” she reiterated. She gave a quick shake of her head, sending her dark hair in sprayed veils of darkness across her face.

“But, you saw the tears yourself, Telos. And there were no debris in his eyes. He was crying,” said Kinesis softly, but firmly. “How long has it been since he has cried?”

(to be continued)

Flying 54

Telos bolted and leaned quickly forward, putting her hands on the ends of Kinesis’ arm rests. Her face was inches from Kinesis’. Kinesis could feel the heat from her face, but more so, the confusion and perplexity of her mind.

“Phora cannot and did not cry. You must never say that to anyone, ever,” said Telos. Telos was very close, so close that she seemed to look not at, but through Kinesis. The feelings were strong. But, Kinesis could feel more than Telos’ individual feelings. A wall of history of past emotions, silent but colored with patterned feelings and pressures loomed behind and around Telos. It was almost as though Telos were a small figure on a huge stage which was built with energies of fears, angers, sadness, joy, love, hatred, despair –like a small gull on the sand with a monster rogue wave in the ocean suspended in the moment before it crashed down on the beach, towering in brute force and emanating its awesome power. Kinesis’ body began to vibrate in reaction to and with the massive intensity before her. As she reached out, bits of the wave poured in.

“But, he did cry, Telos. He is different from what you say now.” Kinesis felt that strange ability to feel rather than sense the emotional aspect of things. It was forcefully throbbing in her. It was reaching out cautiously from her, while letting what it encountered flow back inside her own feelings. Her mind could track the tendrils of search as one would watch bits the arms of some of her octopus sea creatures explore holes in the coral reefs. It reached out more and more, encircling Telos and penetrated into the towering wave of history behind her.

(to be continued).

Flying 55

Telos could sense some sort of difference in the air around her. A frown of incomprehension slashed across her face, then vanished. She turned her head suddenly and looked behind her. Seeing nothing between her and Hyle and the guards, she wheeled around to Kinesis.

“Something is strange here. I don’t know what it is, but I know it has something to do with you and the way you think. But, that is for another examination. Listen to me and hear me well. Phora did not cry. He simply had grit in his eyes that was very difficult to wash out. You probably saw my eyes streaming from the dust and bits of ash caused by your interaction with the rejuvenation box. I am sure that the same was true of Phora.” Telos was speaking in an urgent, but very precise and demanding voice.

Kinesis looked at Telos. She was clearly troubled. And Kinesis felt the wall of history surge behind Telos. “What was it? And why is Telos so concerned to convince me that Phora has no feelings?” she pondered.

“Something is, indeed, strange here. Why are you so troubled to say that Phora cried? And, it is strange to me that you did not smile when you told me that Phora was recovering well.” Kinesis put the matter straight to Telos.

Telos leaned all the way back against the straight support of the chair so that she could see the whole of Kinesis. She scanned her from top to bottom in a slow methodical way, paying attention to every detail.

“I have greatly underestimated you,” said Telos. She turned her head from side to side to see the positions of the guards and Hyle. She turned back towards Kinesis, but not quite straight on –her right profile was only visible to Kinesis. She looked at Kinesis from the corners of her eyes, especially the right eye, which had taken on a squint that bordered on the glare Kinesis had seen earlier.

(to be continued)

Flying 55

“Before we leave this room, you must understand that how Phora is perceived by others is of extreme importance. He cannot be seen to be weak. In our world, we have found that the internal sensations you call feelings are detrimental to survival. Steps have been taken to eliminate them from our consciousness. That being the case, we can rely on reason and our desires to keep us alive. The history of our people has led to the demise or at least complete suppression of these sensations, feelings, or emotions –whatever they are. It would be disastrous to have our leader misled by an emotion in the heat of combat. Our teaching, training and breeding has built a history that verifies what I am telling you.” Telos told her account with the authority of a commander talking down to a recruit.

Kinesis nodded her head. “I see your concern, Telos. But, whatever it was that held Phora’s emotions in check has been removed and I do not know of anything that I can do to return him to his previous state. Moreover, though you may not know it consciously, there are strong, very strong emotions in your character which may affect you even without your knowing it.” Kinesis spoke quietly, soothingly as if to softly turn Telos’ head to see a beautiful object that she had overlooked by mistake.

“I shall deal with Phora’s problem in due time. Presently, he is with trusted persons and is recovering well, as I said. In fact, he is improving much faster than I had expected. But, Elven Queen, Kinesis, do not play mind combat with me. I have no, what you call, emotions to trouble my reason. Be sure of that. If I thought that it was in the best interest of the Keep, I would kill you now without hesitation, even though I know now that Phora have difficulty with that.” Telos gripped the ends of the wooden arm rests so tightly that the wood beneath her armored gloves groaned like the board of a porch floor stepped on by a heavy foot.

“You might,” said Kinesis, “but I don’t think you would. There is more to you and your decisions than you may realize. I think that you may have feelings for your brother that would prevent you from doing me harm.”

(to be continued)

Flying 56

Telos looked stunned. She shifted in her chair to face Kinesis head on and stared. Kinesis sat back and returned the stare. There was a long moment in which there was not movement in the room. Then Telos spoke.

“I am confused as to what my brother sees in you. You look to have no strength, yet you survived a savager bite. You were able to put a sleep charm on Ergon and nailed him in slumber to the floor; no one has ever downed him by any means, even to one knee. You had strength enough to put an ice charm on a helmet to save my brother’s life a second time. And you did so at what I think you took to be certain risk to your life. You have faced me in question and search at which I am the best; yet I have the opinion that you gained more from me than I from you.” She shook her head slowly from side to side never letting her eyes stray from Kinesis’ gaze. “I think I am beginning to understand why he risked so much, just to see you, much more to go into your world and fetch you.” With a quick sweep of her hands, Telos pushed her raven hair to fall down her back.

Hyle looked at the two figures in the chairs. One was dark and shimmering with the beams of reflected light which traced fibers of lightning along her armor and the silk sheen of her hair. Telos was almost a shadow filled with slivers of sparks in the massive chair. Yet, her presence was as strong as a black panther hiding in the shades of trees and bushes at dusk. The other was a brilliant white, golden hair raining down on the luminescence; Kinesis seemed to radiate light and made the soft, dull light of the candles dim by comparison. And there was equal power there, as the whiteness of the midday sun against the somber purple curtains of a stormy sky. There were clearly two great forces facing off. There would either be a reckoning or a battle, sooner or later. He hoped not sooner. Or, for that matter, ever.

(to be continued)

Flying 57

Kinesis lowered her head so that she looked out with shaded eyelids. “I am glad that you are coming to know me. I know so little about you and your world. But, you mentioned that Phora “fetched” me. I am not one to be fetched. He took me by surprise. I am here against my will.” Kinesis raised her right hand to emphasize her last statement.

Hyle sprang forth, sword drawn. The guard with the hatchet had his arm in throwing position instantaneously.

From the side of her view, Telos saw the response. “Hold, there is no danger,” she said quickly, and Hyle and the guards resumed their positions, Hyle giving a grunt as he maneuvered back to the wall to press against the cold granite stone.

“I can see that you are s strong person, Kinesis. I also know my brother. He would not have taken you against your will. There must have been other circumstances that forced him to do what he did. You say that he took you from your world by forcing you from it? That would be hard to understand.” Telos had her brows scrunched down in a look of confusion.

“Ah, Telos. You may be right. He did not force me from my world; I entered his out of curiosity. And, he was taking me back to my world when the savagers attacked. No, you are right. Phora did not take me against my will, but he certainly played to my curiosity. I was a fish to a tempting lure. He certainly knew how to play me.” Kinesis smiled broadly as she finished her remark about fishing. She had expected Telos to return the smile, but Telos only nodded in agreement.

“Yes, my brother is a good strategist. Perhaps, he set a trap to play on your curiosity, perhaps not. You need not ask him; he never tells of his plans to anyone, save when in battle and they are commands,” came the reply in an easier more relaxed tone.

“But he did charge me on the beach. That was clearly an aggressive move,” said Kinesis.

“You could question him about that, but men make moves that appear aggressive, though they are masks for other actions that are more important to them,” said Telos, matter of factly.

“I shall take that under advisement. Thank you for the insider tip.” Kinesis tilted her head in amusement. Telos looked as though she had been merely recounting the number of stones that made up the side of the fireplace.

Telos leaned forward. “There is an important promise I wish you to make to me,” she said.

(to be continued)

Flying 58

“What is it?” asked Kinesis. She could feel the history wall well up again all around Telos.

“You must promise me that you will never reveal or indicate through your actions that Phora has those emotion sensations or to show your emotions to Phora so that his actions may change and somehow endanger the Keep.” Telos had the glare back.

“Under certain conditions and only if you make a promise to me,” replied Kinesis.

Telos was frozen in thought for a moment. The tension between the two women filled the air with a “quiet before the hurricane” presence.

“What are the conditions and promise?” Telos was gripping the chair rests again and there were soft moans of stress coming from the strained wood.

(to be continued)

Flying 59.

Kinesis paused for a long moment to watch Telos. She did not know whether or not her request would push her too far. After all, Telos had said that she would not hesitate to kill her if it were in the best interests of the Keep. And surely, having the soldiers of the Keep doubting the abilities of the leader would not be good. But, Kinesis knew that she must make the request.

“I will promise as you wish if you will promise me that if I ever ask to be returned to my home, you will see to it without pause,” said Kinesis. Her hair seemed to stream and flutter as if a bit of sea breeze had caught it, which surprised Telos and caused her to look around in haste, for the room was still without a hint of wind

Telos turned back towards Kinesis. Her brow was twisted in the torment of trying to work through the difficult problem. Her hands eased off the arm chair rests and settled on her lap within a split second from her dagger.

(to be continued)

Flying 60

The room became eerily silent. Only Keep noises could be heard from distances away: doors clanging shut, footsteps up staircases, swords and shields being placed on walls and other noises that Kinesis could not identify, noises much like great stones being rubbed together.

Telos spoke. “I am in a difficult position. If Phora wishes to court you and you seek to leave, then I must do your bidding, though this action would probably prove to bring out the emotion sensations of crying in him. Am I right about this?” Kinesis could not read any expression on Telos’ face. Also, she seemed to have cloaked her thoughts entirely. Even the wall of history had almost vanished from Kinesis’ ability to touch them with her mind. “Telos must have some uncanny way of mystifying her thoughts,” Kinesis thought to herself.

“That is true,” replied Kinesis. Kinesis was statue still when she spoke.

“If I do not promise, then you will be under no obligation to withhold your feelings or prevent Phora from revealing, perhaps inadvertently, that he has those things? And your doing so could endanger the safety of the Keep,” Telos said, speaking in a way that seemed not to be directed at Kinesis but to herself.

“True again, but I can tell you this now. I would never intentionally do anything that would harm Phora or your home, the Keep.” A wave of golden locks of hair fell over one eye and Kinesis brushed them back slowly with her right hand.

Telos’ hands made into a haystack of pointed fingertips, the opposites of each hand touching the other. They made a steepled roof over her dagger.

Kinesis’ right hand held back the stray locks of hair. Her fingers intertwined with them, but slowly pointed towards Telos.

(to be continued)