THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 6 - Common Ground - Part 4

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

Once in the hall, Velda turned left and headed for the front of the ship, where she assumed the bridge was. Walking as a human was a very different experience, especially considering how tall she had become, but she got used to it, though she wasn't terribly graceful yet.

After a shorter walk than Velda expected, the hallway ended with clear double doors. She could see Will'ym standing inside, looking at one of the wall computers while thoughtfully eating a fruit of some unfamiliar variety. She cautiously approached the door, which silently let her pass.

The bridge of the Stargazer was nearly entirely made of glass, with a clear ceiling and walls. At the very front of the ship, even the floor was transparent. Four seats sat at the very edge of the ship's more visible floor, and farther back was a circle of twice as many chairs around a round touch-screen table. Near the entrance, Will'ym was occupied at one of the clear wall computers laid over the glass.

Will'ym noticed Velda's aura, which was as constant as his, and turned to look at her. Then he did a double-take, nearly dropping what he was eating. "Velda?"

She smiled awkwardly and walked over to where he was standing. Will'ym was still taller than she was by at least half of a mep height, but Velda felt more confident with the height she had. "Cha forced me to transform," she explained apologetically.

"Your vaya doesn't sound very lenient," Will'ym observed. He took another bite of fruit and returned to the wall. Getting a closer look, Velda saw a schematic drawing of the Stargazer. There were two more levels of halls, once above and one below the main hall she had already seen. Thinking back, she had seen stairs on either side of the bridge doors.

From behind Will'ym, a voice said, "So are we going, or what? I have spent enough time on this tiny excuse for a planet."

"Kovas, shut it. We have guests."

A white vaya approached them. It was completely identical to Chalchiuitl in all ways except color and voice. Cha had come out of Velda's Powerstone and was watching it passively. "Kov," it said.

Kovas nodded a greeting and crossed its arms. "Chalchiuitl. Good to see you again."

"You have not changed much, I see."

Kov chuckled blankly. "What would change?"

Cha shrugged. "I had been hoping that your Keeper would knock some sense into you."

"I'm trying, trust me," Will'ym said. Velda looked back at Will'ym as he spoke and noticed his Powerstone, a thin white topaz on a darkly-colored silver chain around his neck. A thin stream of magic connected the stone to Kovas.

Velda looked between the two vaya. "How do you know each other?"

Kov groaned. "You have not told your Keeper anything, have you, Chalchiuitl?"

"I thought I had explained this enough," Cha remarked. "Velda, did I not once tell you of the spirit realm?"

"Maybe a long time ago..." Velda frowned in concentration. "That was where you used to live, right? There weren't any physical things and you lived with the other spirits."

Cha glanced at Kov authoritatively. "I told you she knew."

"So Kovas is another Master Vaya," Velda said in understanding.

"Unfortunately." Cha turned back to Kovas. "I still cannot believe you forced me to go through the portal first. It could have destroyed me."

"Or any of us. Someone had to."