Chapter 14: Ritual practice
Raehla is not in a good mood. The results of her experiments yesterday still make no sense. She wants to revisit them this morning. But Lissa relentlessly points out that Raehla had promised that I was hers today and she has new holds to try.
Lissa drags me to the observation deck and we look down into the pit at the hardened black slag below. As usual the melted walls cooled overnight, though I'm sure the targets will shortly be glowing again.
Our old test target was the river, but that didn't work out so well. We documented our first and only river test as a "a big upward burst of steam" though that wasn't why we don't use it.
Access to the river from the den is through two heavy sections of city wall and a series of locking bars that even the patrol guards find extremely difficult to move. Once outside, the river edge is muddy and the weeds smell bad. Raehla later decided that outdoor tests were an operational risk. This made us all feel better, and we now exclusively use the rectangular pit in the training den.
Lissa and I climb down the pit scaffolding and stand on the practice deck. In front of us is the scarred bedrock wall we've been etching away for the past week. I draw out the relic box from my pouch and Lissa looks up to Raehla on the observation deck. Raehla has a clipboard and a scowl.
I've become fairly adept at connecting with the wand. I also don't pass out after ignitions any more. After three full rituals I am mentally and physically exhausted and it makes the next day quite difficult to complete even one. I believe I could increase my stamina by pushing through, and have told Raehla as much. But the commander thinks the risk is too high and forbids me from doing any more than two ignitions a day.
"Ignition test number twelve, two-stage, helix-one hold!" shouts Lissa. She kneels down behind me and gently wraps her arms around my waist. Raehla shouts back, "Ignition test twelve, start!". I feel Lissa nestle her cheek into the small of my back.
I close my eyes. My mind is filled with Lissa.
*
It's afternoon and Lissa has gone off with Raehla who received a message. This is not unusual; Raehla often has to meet with clergy to discuss division progress. I'm with Meila and Kona on the den floor working through this afternoon's test plan.
Meila is practising her Word role in the ritual, but unlike Lissa, Meila struggles to have any effect at all.
My part is simple. I stand and Meila sits in a chair in front of me speaking ancient phrases at the relic box I hold. More accurately, I slump against the wall and Meila grumpily makes strange noises at the box that I hold in front. Kona and Raehla take it in turns to record changes in my glow, and record my reports on how I perceive the energy flow.
I have my eyes closed and am half-connected to the wand; the warmth is bearable and stable. It's a technique I worked out with Raehla early and allows us to detect if ritual steps are having an effect. Kona sits on a nearby stool holding a clipboard. We've been here for a while.
Meila makes a series of "gluck" sounds. I feel nothing has changed, so I announce "five" and Kona echos that number back. This is about the fifteenth step in Meila's list. Everything so far has been "no-change" fives.
Meila takes a deep breath and rustles her test sheet. After a short while she begins an alternating sequence of "bluh" and "gluh" sounds. This run goes on for quite some time until she stops. "Five" I say, hesitantly. "Five" says Kona. I hear Meila sigh again.
"Arrrrgh!" Meila suddenly exclaims, "Do something!". Exasperated she must have leaned forward as I feel her forehead on my abdomen.
I feel a spike in the energy flow. "Woah!" I say, dazzled. "Eight, I think?" I open my eyes.
"What?" says Meila lifting her head to look at me.
"Yeah, I saw that too. Eight." agrees Kona. Meila stares at us.
I remain slumped against the wall. The wand energy flow is normal again. I feel warm and comfortable. "Do something!" roars Meila suddenly and, startled, I feel the wand connection flicker and weaken.
"Um, three," I say. Meila's not going to like that. "Three" agrees Kona. "Argh!" cries Meila. "This makes no sense!"
*
We have time for Kona today because Meila rushed the rest of her tests. Kona and Meila have switched places. Kona is in front of me holding my hands which hold the relic box. My eyes are closed but I feel how she has pulled our hands firmly up onto her chest. She is singing a short church song. It's about devotion, virtue and chastity.
Kona's singing voice is sweet and comforting. Her song doesn't fill the den, but I feel that she is singing it to me. With my eyes closed, the wand heat warms me from within yet I can clearly distinguish Kona's body heat through my hands.
"Five" I quietly call to Meila, as Kona sings. "Five" Melia replies. Kona doesn't mind.
This church song is not one of Kona's favourites. Her favourite is actually an old-fashioned one where a lonely lover sings about a soldier away at war. The modern one she is singing now is upbeat and promises a divine love more rewarding than one of whimsical lust.
Kona works her way through the song list prepared by Raehla. The wand energy shows no signs of change.
After the last song, Kona squeezes my hands as I begin to disconnect. I open my eyes in unconscious response. Normally opening my eyes early is difficult, but I find myself staring straight into Kona's eyes. That's strange, they're glowing too. The glows fade as we look at each other silently and smile.
The coolness of the room returns and we drop our hands. That was a long session. I help Kona up and we walk over to review with Meila.
"Your eyes were beautiful, Jak" remarks Kona, slipping her arm through mine. "I've never seen you open them like that before."
I don't know what to say. "Your eyes were beautiful too. They were shining."
Meila slaps me on the rump, "Enough flirting, boy-o!" Her good mood has returned because today's scores are in her favour. "I'm the winner today, sorry Kona!" she laughs.
"Well done!" beams Kona. I check the scores. The win seems marginal to me. Both scores were very poor. I wonder what fine-tuning Raehla would have made.
*
It's the next evening and Lissa and I are walking to the supply store to pick up stationery and another ladder. Lissa's hair is back in a bun and she has a happy stride. We chat about the meal and work things, when Lissa suddenly remembers something.
"Oh! I found out today we have our own symbols! Some old books were delivered and Raehla showed me some wand symbols! Hang on, I copied them down somewhere."
Lissa pulls out a tiny notebook from her pocket, thumbs a few pages in and then shows me:
| )( O x ∇ Y
"Yours is the line," she says. "I guess of course that represents the wand. I am the Y shape because I'm like a slingshot I suppose. Kona's is the two curves, and Meila's is the circle. Probably because she's got an empty head."
"And the other two?" I ask "Oh, is one of them the Hero of the Abyss?"
Lissa points at the cross. "Yes. I asked the same thing, and Raehla thinks it means the Abyss and Soul heroes are different people. Can you believe it?"
"Hmm. We don't even know what they do." I wonder what other mysteries Raehla will uncover about the wand ritual.
We pick up the requisitioned ladder and we start walking back to Juqus Four. I ponder that once we thought our party could only grow to five, but now it looks like six. We really have so little understanding of what we're doing.
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