The Cleansing (Book One: The Folara Chronicles)

067: Kara

Kara slunk along the side of the Aerie rocks, stepping so carefully she knew no one could see. Not fifteen minutes ago a group of Quildor's army Minions had come into the Aerie, almost to the exact spot she'd been laying. She'd rolled closer to the stone wall and then inched her way carefully along it till she came to an opening on the upper side. 

Ahead of her there were several large outcroppings of rock she could make out in the darkness, and at least three small campsites belonging to these Foemen. She tied her hair back and wove it up into a braid carefully as she waited, letting her eyes adjust. She was weak, she knew she couldn't get far.

The smell of something cooking took her breath away, and she realized she was hungrier than she'd ever remembered being. It was just her luck that the men at one camp had gone to talk to the men at another. In seconds, she was scrambling for their bread, some kind of jerked meats, and a fruit.

She realized that her strength would only allow slow careful inch by inch movements. Rocks slid beneath her feet, her hands carved finger holds in the hillside as she crept. But she kept moving, as if she were in the crystal field.

Next came the fires further up the hill. They flickered, she flickered, they rushed, she rushed. This was the Zalez Rion spoke of. The oneness with the elements. 

Not unlike Kai meld, which she suddenly felt she did not need. She wondered if she were to go to the water, which she could hear flowing close by, if she could immerse herself, if she could let the kai go. With her Zalez she truly knew, the more she allowed her senses to fill with the earth meld, and respect the things around her, the less she needed the kai.

Instinctively she knew she would be able to breathe and walk and heal without the kai. She turned and looked back at the ocean.

Was there even a chance that she could make it down there?

The mountain and crystal field loomed over all. Should she attempt to reenter Sentinel and try to get back to Galantyne? Surely he needed her experiences to help him prepare for war! Then she looked back out at the villages.

Rion! Where was Rion? 

Not for the first time, she wished they'd had more time together to explore. Not for the last time, she realized she was thinking like a traitor to her own people, to her own ideals and laws. Fear gripped her stomach painfully as the thought hit her, and then with a will of iron, Kara forced the pain to recede. She couldn't afford to analyze such weak thoughts. 

Two ideals warred within her, two truths. Galantyne's search for the Talisman to free their people warred with her growing belief that she and Rion were destined to be together, that their union would also be a freeing balm to their people, not just the undersea dome people, but to all people. 

With certainty, she made another effort to reach out to him.

Rion!

She focused her newly found Zalez, and then waited for the feelings to communicate to her. Kara closed her eyes again, pushing hard into the rock and dirt under her fingertips. She concentrated on her breathing, on becoming one with the earth again.

Each trial and experiment led her closer to understanding this new awareness. There was a life force that was distinctly Rion's that she had become familiar with, and she could refocus her mind on it if she tried hard enough. 

Suddenly, the smallest of sparks flared and she sensed his living breathing entity, and that was all. He was closed to her by his belief that she was dead and gone.