THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 12 - Blessing in Disguise - Part 2

*Remember to click the play button to listen to the soundtrack as you read!*

"Someone is hiding something. I can feel it. If Trycho could remove Councilor Rohana's supposed possession of Quin, he could possess Quin and the officers out there just as easily." Will'ym looked around the quarters that they had commandeered, gauging the other Keepers' reactions. They were gathered in a fairly large living space, with room for all of them in the circle of couches, but Ozul had insisted on laying on the floor, and he was staring up at the ceiling pensively.

"It does sound like he got very defensive when you and Velda questioned his motives," Iyan mused. He shifted on the couch he was sharing with Pecci and Lenora. "But what can we do? I think Ozul, Ivy, you, and I could figure out how to pilot this ship with our combined experience, but that isn't worth anything while these two mages and their officers are around."

"We need to take all of them down at once," Titus argued, punching his fist into his other hand. He was met with a few hesitant nods. "We've got swords. We can just kill them overnight."

Astonished gasps circled the room. "What?" Velda sputtered. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"We don't have any idea who these people even are!" she protested. "There has to be a way to take control without resorting to that kind of violence."

Ozul perked up and turned over onto his belly, resting his chin in his paws. "Does anyone have any sleeping gas on hand?" he suggested, grinning with wild fervor. His tail flicked above his head playfully.

Ivy narrowed her eyes at him in mocking amusement. "That is far too complex of a molecule for Will'ym to know by heart, I believe." Will'ym nodded abashedly. "They are produced chemically, after all."

"Not always," Lenora put in abruptly. "There are beetles on my home planet that attack using something like sleeping gas in their sting." She closed her eyes, concentrating on her memory of the insects. "They're called slumber beetles, or slumbugs."

Standing and holding out one hand, the dracona released her magic stream and formed a fist-sized ball of yellow energy. The Keepers watched her work with amazement. As her magic faded, the tiny newborn slumbug within it opened blue, dragon-like wings and began to buzz softly. "They're afraid of fire, thankfully," she said, spitting a small stream of flame at the beetle to demonstrate.

It squealed surprisingly loudly and dove for cover under Velda's chair. She peeked over the edge of her seat in inquisitive wonder. "Your specialty is life creation, right?" she gawked. "I had no idea it was so powerful!"

Lenora smiled shyly. "I could make plenty of them, given the time. It'd be easy to anger them and spread them through the ship. They're much more confident and aggressive in large numbers." Then her face darkened. "They wouldn't be able to sting Trycho, though. He has an exoskeleton."

Councilor Quin will be inseparable from him from now on, Pecci predicted. The Councilor is much too weak for Trycho to leave him alone.

"Right," Iyan agreed. "We have to find a way to deal with them separately."

Ozul looked to the kathumis with a wink and said, "You and I can take care of them, with Ivy's help."

Iyan peered down at him in confusion. "We can?"

"I've got an idea," Ozul beamed.

After the Keepers finishing their planning, they spread out among the beds and couches to sleep, and the vaya were put in charge of waking them up before the rest of the ship did. The bridge was likely to be relatively empty with most of the mages and other officers sleeping in their quarters, which was perfect for Lenora's part of the plan. After what was surely not enough time for a proper night's rest, Velda woke up to Cha's whisper in her mind. It is time.