The Emerging Part I: Dream

“Well, now that we are all in agreement, I shall make my leave,” Teqqc says, finally smiling genuinely. She flashes away in a hint of golden light, leaving the Daijoks to themselves inside the Chamber.

“Are we to live up to our part of the bargain, truly?” Vulcan asks his fellow Daijoks.

Rhino and Shark look at one another and and shrug.

Vaiqon scoffs, “Of course we are. At least, for a time. Until Teqqc’s anger cools.”

Vulcan smiles deviously, “Excellent! I would be driven mad if we had to inform her of every decision we made including what meals we were planning to serve for the week.”

Vaiqon, Rhino, and Shark laugh.

“Ah, if it came to that particular intrusion, I would have Teqqc forcibly removed from the Injhihato,” Vaiqon says.

“And how are you to do that, Vaiqon?” Rhino asks. “She can challenge us all without breaking a sweat!”

The Daijoks laugh heartily. Their laughter carries out the blown windows of the Chamber. Vaiqon’s eyes fall upon the broken windows. He frowns.

When the other Daijoks’ laughter has subsided, Vaiqon speaks, “It is a shame though. We just fixed the windows.”

Vulcan and Rhino nod to one another. They step to the window to their left first. Rhino summons earth from far below the Spire. He conforms the slab of earth to the circle of the window. He cleaves off most of the earth so that it is thin enough to peer through it. Vulcan then ignites the earth with fire, heating the earth to a cherry red. Rhino punches the molten earth, feeling all the impurities being driven away.

Vaiqon and Shark then rapidly cool the molten material with air and water. Steam quickly fills the entirety of the Chamber. Vaiqon and Shark then filters the steam out the other window. As the steam is drawn away and out of the Chamber, sunlight streams through a new clear window. The Daijoks smile at their handiwork.

They look to the circular opening opposite them where another window once existed. They walk to the opening and repeat the process to create another window of their own design.

Steam fills the chamber yet again. Vaiqon and Shark this time have no place to send the steam, so instead, they filter out their respective connections. Vaiqon then condenses his air into a sphere and releases it gently. Shark grabs his water and places it in a pool behind the bench at the rear of the Chamber.

The Daijoks smile at one another yet again, admiring their handiwork. Vaiqon feels another, familiar presence in the Chamber. He turns around. His eyes befall Hawk, Desert, Santhemum, Fox, and Pork.

Vaiqon, Vulcan, Rhino, and Shark gape in surprise, but quickly compose themselves.

“Ah, Pentad!” Vaiqon says, false ecstasy in his tone. “To what do I owe this uninvited pleasure?”

“We were on our way to meet you at the first ring when we heard and saw the Chamber’s windows blow out. We were concerned and came running as fast as we could,” Hawk answers.

Vaiqon nods, “Well, as you can see, we-”

Vaiqon suddenly appears as if he has been struck. He straightens, tensed. He slowly turns to face his fellow Daijoks. Each of them having the same tension instilled in them. Vaiqon swears to himself.

‘I am still trying to find Uxxok,’ Teqqc says after sending a mental image of Firose, Oukton, and Jtoon’s dead bodies to the Daijoks. Teqqc severs the connections and looks all around the dark cavern. ‘Why did flashing to Uxxok’s aura land me next to Jtoon’s body instead?’ she asks herself.

Uxxok observes the various packs of people slaving hard at the mountain rock. He looks for any inclination that the woman is near. His eyes shift all about. He throws his aura as far as it will go around him.

He feels numerous aura, most full of exhaustion exuding from the people below, some full of tension oozing from the guards patrolling the mines. But one aura is full of anxiety, searching. Teqqc’s aura.

Uxxok turns on his heels, expecting to see Teqqc behind him, but instead is greeted by a monster flame smacking him wholly. Uxxok is thrown from the alcove, flown through the air, and smashes into the mountain rock.

Uxxok falls fast from the height and crashes onto the ground. The slaves hold their screams of shock as guards storm the location of Uxxok’s body. Whips are cracked, forcing the slaves back to work.

Five guards approach Uxxok. Two kneel to search the fallen Rniti while the other three keep watch. Uxxok opens an eye. He blinks to force his vision to clear. He gazes upon an unknown face.

Uxxok feels the guard’s aura and throws an invisible sensing hand in a circle around him, feeling the other four guards around him. Uxxok swears to himself. He connects to his fuhok and searches for any nearby water.

He smiles imperceptible when he finds a water pale just a few yards away. He streams the water over himself. He circles the water, condensing the stream to a then line. He then attacks the three standing guards, knocking them out cold.

The two kneeling guards stand immediately, looking for an attacker. Uxxok then attacks the two guards. He divides the stream into two and turns the water to ice, striking the guards forcefully in their chests, slamming them against one another, knocking them out.

Uxxok finally stands, only to grimace as he feels the aura of the woman close by.

“You are beginning to frustrate me, old man,” the woman’s caramel voice rings through the dimness.

The slaves look above them, searching for the source of the melodious voice. Uxxok closes his eyes to search for the location of the woman’s aura. His face scrunches in confusion as he reads six locations simultaneously containing the woman’s aura.

Suddenly, the locations converge into one, just before him. He opens his eyes to witness the woman pouncing on him. The woman grabs Uxxok’s throat tightly. Uxxok grabs at the woman’s arm. He tries to break the woman’s grip, but discovers her incredible strength.

The woman smiles, “Oh yes, grab the arm, that always works.”

The woman then connects to her sigo to begin heating her hand around Uxxok’s throat. The memory of dying only three days earlier comes to Uxxok’s mind. He blinks away the memory. He drops his hand to his sides as they go slack. He stealthily grabs a dagger strapped at his knee. He controls his breathing, trying to slow it. The woman gazes into Uxxok’s eyes, baffled by the seemingly growing lights in his eyes.

The woman gasps in pain, withdrawing her arm. Uxxok flashes away as soon as the woman releases him, leaving her to her wounded arm.

Uxxok appears in a different part of the mines. He looks about him, seeing various beds, blankets, pillows, even a stack of filthy clothing. ‘The slaves must sleep here,’ he thinks to himself.′

He begins to walk around the sleeping quarters, his footsteps thudding on wooded beams. He looks down. He sees a splintering wooden floor. He frowns. He looks for a door when he feels the woman’s aura close by. He hides behind the closest bed frame.

He hears an explosion as a door is thrown inside. He looks to see a dark figure in the light the door left in its wake. He squints to see a projection from the figure’s right arm, the woman.

The woman grabs the dagger in her arm, removes it, and throws it with malice into the building. The dagger swirls in fire before planting in the middle of the building, almost revealing Uxxok’s location.

The fire on the dagger does not extinguish, but glows brighter. Uxxok watches the flame. He sees it grow. He swears to himself. He searches with his fuhok for any water in the vicinity. He swears again, finding nothing.

The fire surrounding the dagger grows brighter and brighter, larger and larger, until it sparks and explodes in fury, engulfing the entire building in flames.

Uxxok looks on at the building glowing in flames from across the open cavern space between the flaming building and the shack he now hides. He watches as the woman steps from the flaming inferno without a scorch mark upon her armor or burn mark upon her skin.

He hides behind the wall below the opening he was just gazing out. He feels the woman’s aura growing infuriated. He feels the woman’s aura approaching the building he is hiding.

The woman pauses in the middle of the open cavern space. She looks around at all the shacks surrounding her. She closes her eyes for a brief moment, then, pulses a strong wave of flame around her in a radius, shooting the flame in all directions.

Each of the buildings in the vicinity catch fire and immediately go up in flames. Uxxok sits holding his sleeve to his face, trying to prevent smoke from entering his lungs. He sneaks a peek over the wall to see the woman has turned her back to his hiding spot.

Uxxok flashes away to another shack, one that is outside the rim of fire the woman has spawned. Uxxok breathes a sigh of cool air for a moment before quickly stiffening his intense breathing.

The woman’s aura approaches him yet again. Uxxok knows the woman has a clear lock on his aura, but his distortion of his own aura prevents her from pinpointing his whereabouts.

The woman expresses frustration. She looks among a new surrounding of shacks, pursing her lips at each one. She feels for her target’s aura, trying to locate her prey. She only receives vague blurs in each of the buildings. She curses loudly.

She raises her right hand. She blows a powerful stream of fire at the first shack to her right. The blur of the aura disappears, but others remain. She works her way counterclockwise, igniting shacks along the way, removing the blurs as she does so.

Soon, only one blur remains. She smiles to herself. “Very impressive, Uxxok,” she shouts to the only building in two rings of fire left unscathed. “But, I am afraid you are going to have to die now.”

Uxxok feels the woman’s aura igniting in pure sigo energy. He peeks through the opening above him and appears behind the woman just as the woman erupts fire from her hands, incinerating the shack instantly.

Uxxok composes himself, not making any hasty actions. He thumbs the handle of his blade strapped to his back. He grabs the handle and warps to the woman just yards in front of him.

He sees his blade slicing through the woman’s body, but something distorts his premonition as he returns to reality and sees the woman has easily blocked Uxxok’s attack with her left blade behind her back.

The woman parries the blade, spinning while doing so, and brings her flaming right fist at Uxxok’s head. Uxxok ducks, narrowly escaping the punch, and strikes at the woman. The woman parries the attack, tripping Uxxok in the process. The woman turns her right hand towards Uxxok’s fallen body. Her hand glows with fire and explodes in sigo energy, nearly catching Uxxok in the arm before he rolls away and jumps to his feet.

The woman smiles at Uxxok, “You might actually provide me a decent challenge, old man. But, that remains to be seen.”

The woman charges at Uxxok, utilizing her left blade only, forcing Uxxok into a pattern of her own design without him realizing. She grabs the handle of her other blade and strikes at Uxxok quickly, effectively surprising Uxxok. Uxxok tries to dodge the attack, but the woman is too quick. Her blade slices through his armor as if it were not even there. Uxxok throws his armor away and charges the woman now wielding both of her wicked blades. Uxxok brings his two hand sword down hard on the woman. Metal upon metal clangs in the dim cavern, ringing out in a chorus. The woman and Uxxok trade strikes, trying to work around the other’s guard. Uxxok receives a feeling that the woman is merely toying with him. He grimaces at the thought and attacks with vigor anew. The woman blocks Uxxok’s next attack with her right blade, and slashes fire with her left blade, rocketing the flames into Uxxok. The woman explodes the flames just as they make contact with Uxxok, sending Uxxok flying through the massive cavern.

Uxxok slams into the mountain wall nearly one hundred feet in the air. He begins to fall, nearly unconscious. He feels wind pressing against him as he falls. He opens his eyes just in time to see the dimly lit cavern floor approaching him quickly.

He flashes just in time to avoid a hazardous collision into the rocky floor. He stumbles in a building in the wake of his flash. He closes his eyes involuntarily. His heartbeat slows to a slow thudding in his chest. His aura blackens. He loses his grip on his blade.