Unseen Secrets

by S. B. Sebrick

  “You alright?” Bahjal asked, her voice touched with concern. “You didn’t hit your head that hard in the alley, did you?"

  “I’m fine, just not used to seeing this much lightning at once,” He grumbled, lowering his hand and gritting his teeth. Warm discomfort, like a muscle pushed to its limit, ached in his eyes. He watched the flash again and again. The pain faded.

  “Alright. I got it now," Keevan admitted, focusing on the creature’s progress through the streets. Each time the Pagoda ‘jumped’ it sent a faint shockwave of movement through the many specks of water and heat in the air, which vibrated like a second heartbeat with the rumbling thunder of the creature’s passage.

  A whisper echoed through the spectators around them, whispering like a distant swarm of mosquitos unsure of their target’s edible nature. Keevan hesitated, his vision flickering back to normal for a moment as he felt their eyes fixing on him. Bahjal folded her thin arms and stood defiantly at Keevan’s side, ready to rise to Keevan’s defense if necessary.

  “Try looking for patterns," Bahjal offered, pointing at the crowd now pursuing the Pagoda northwards, to their left. “Think about where it’s been and where it’s headed. Could we ambush it?”

  “It and a couple hundred other Tri-Beings, I imagine," Keevan laughed, grateful for Bahjal’s ability to distract him with a new puzzle. He didn’t feel the heavy weight of the spectator’s expectant eyes so much. He turned his attention to the prize at hand. “We’d need one really big net."

  “Pretty sure one of the bounty hunters tried that," Bahjal said in frustration, shaking her head. Strands of water and heat weaved around her, too thin for detection by normal eyes. “The Pagoda just ‘flashed’ through it. Burned the hunter something fierce too, sent him on a rage."

  “That’s only half the answer then," Keevan agreed, cocking his head to one side as he scratched his head. “What do you know about lizards in general? Dad deals with them at the mines sometimes. I know they eat bugs and like warm, wet places to sleep."

  “Don’t forget, this storm born isn’t wild. It didn’t just wander into the city. It must be someone's pet. It's worth more than twice the going rate of your home," Bahjal pointed out, pointing behind them with her thumb. “Only the Etrendi have that kind of gold, to spend on a prize animal like a Pagoda. Which means there’s a very furious High-Born running around the upper streets angrier than a Persuader charged with finding a corner in an oval shaped room."

  “It’s not wild—but right now it feels threatened," Keevan muttered out loud.

  “You know, if you ever come up in the world, you really need to learn to keep your thoughts to yourself," Bahjal offered, making a twisting gesture in front of her mouth as if turning a key. “Never know whose listening."

  “I trust you," Keevan said offhandedly, watching the Pagoda's progress through the streets. He reached up, tracing its route through the air before him. “Besides, I think better like this. Always have."

  “Well, should you decide on an academic direction at your Ranking, let me know," Bahjal said. “I’d love to sit next to you on one of their tests."

  Another wave of sick realization twisted at his gut and Keevan’s vision wavered again. He shot his friend a poignant glare. “I thought you were trying to take my mind off things with this little project. Why'd you have to mention the Rankings?"

  “Sorry. My mistake," Bahjal said, taking an emphatically wide step back. “Let me just give you some space, oh mighty Sight Seeker."

  Keevan rolled his eyes, more-or-less pushed the Council's decree from his mind, and turned his attention back to the Pagoda. “It’s not quite wild. It has a home," he muttered, rubbing his temples. The Pagoda flashed suddenly again, reversing direction as it sprinted southwards along the base of their wall.

  “Most animals, if they’re attacked, won’t lead predators back to their lair," Keevan smiled, glancing up at Bahjal’s confused expression. “But this one is partially tame and comfortable with the city surroundings. Lizards also like warm, wet places with lots of bugs. What does that tell you?"

  Bahjal flashed a knowing grin, crossing her arms proudly. “It’s staying close to home, an Etrendi house near the steam gardens. Once it loses the hunters, it will be thirsty and hungry. I wonder where it will come for warmth and food."

  “Convenient," Keevan said, glancing up at the sky. “Because sunset is only a couple hours away. The garden will be mostly deserted by then. What would we need to catch a Pagoda? Think you can nick us a sleeping draught?” Bahjal licked her lips in excitement and nodded, eyes unfocused as she processed their plan in her mind.

  “Excuse me. You are Keevan Stratagar, are you not?” A sweet, musical voice asked. Bahjal stifled a strange noise, part squeak and part 'hello'.

  Keevan turned, taking in the white cloudy image of a Tri-Being form. Water floated after her in thick streams, definitely an Etrendi then, one concentrating very hard at that. His heart skipped a couple beats. The noble class didn’t concern themselves with Haldrans without good reason. Then again, he wasn’t a Haldran, or a Rhetan for that matter, not exactly.

  “I am," he answered, offering a curt nod. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced?”

  “I’m Calistra, of the House Arnadi," she said with a curtsey. Though her body was a white cloud to his vision, he barely recognized the tabard insignia through the tangled weave of colors around her. Her father commanded most of Issamere’s military force, with the exception of the Harbor Guild’s ships. “Mind looking at me with your real eyes? I find that glowing shade of blue rather disconcerting."

  Oddly enough, Keevan noted, she didn't carry a single spark within her. No fear. Her talk of feeling 'disconcerted' was a lie.

  “Apologies," Keevan offered, chewing his bottom lip suspiciously. That much water hinted to an act of immense concentration, but they were only talking. She lacked the heat one would expect from a Tri-Being feeling anger, or the residual rage of a worshiper of Belenok. When dealing with him, most Tri-Beings, however cruel, carried fear at their core. Calistra's though, was an odd lack of emotions. He let his eyes slip back into the normal spectrum and stifled a gasp.

  Calistra was Etrendi alright and absolutely beautiful. She wore the silk wraps of the fire Temple, a mixture of black, red and blue fabrics to honor the fire God, Belenok. The hems of her trimmed tunic and thin breaches were embroidered with a long black dagger dripping blood. They twisted around her body to emphasize both her curves and her need to expose her shoulders, back and hips to vent excess heat from her body. Her lips were curved into a practiced, flirtatious smile, painted crimson.

  About that time, as Keevan struggled to keep his mouth from gaping open, the largest Tri-Being he’d ever seen strode up behind Calistra. His thick fingers stroked the hilt of his falchion, as if daring them to walk within touching distance of her. “Miss Calistra, surely you’d rather watch the Pagoda's progress from the view of the Belenokan Temple."

  “Actually,” she said, eyeing Keevan’s battered frame and grungy clothing. “I think watching it from here would be far more fun."

  “Uh huh," Bahjal managed to grunt. The air around her head warped with sudden heat and a few sparks of electricity jumped around her disheveled head. Fear and anger... was she jealous? Of the Etrendi's wealth perhaps? Well, he wasn’t the first boy to find Calistra imposing. That was for certain.

  “I’m sure Miss Calistra could find a bench to her liking here," Keevan managed to say, backing up a step and extending his arm further down the trail to let her take the lead. The wind shifted, carrying her thick perfume of lilacs and lavender to his nostrils. His mouth went dry in a sudden flush of nervous desire.

  Suddenly, Keevan felt very glad his emotions didn’t show as openly as a Tri-Being's. He felt a part of his mind, the logical side, warn him about her unusual focus. This wasn’t social or really emotional on her part, this kind of water accumulation only formed around cold calculations. The larger, adolescent part of his mind however, told
the first half to go jump off the nearby cliff.

  “No," the bodyguard grunted. His voice carried so much weight of authority and contained anger Keevan wondered how the melted trail beneath them didn’t revert to its molten form. This man was of the Fire Temple too, his completely black armor drawing in as much heat as possible. Keevan shuddered. How could someone live with that much constant, throbbing rage?

  Not to mention, who would be stupid enough to cross them?

  “Very well," Calistra said with a sigh. The air flickering around her with frustrated heat. Finally, something interrupted her inhuman concentration.

  A dull ache settled in Keevan’s chest, begging him to keep her near for just a while longer. The hulking behemoth of a body guard managed to counter those thoughts quite readily. The cliff was only a few yards away after all. One flick of that man’s massive fist and one of them would go on a one-stop lesson in human flight.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Keevan. I’m sure we’ll meet again," she curtsied slightly, taking her leave. Keevan and Bahjal offered deep bows as she left, glancing over her shoulder with a flirtatious wink.

  “House Arnadi," Bahjal muttered. “Charged with city's defense. I’d heard he kept his troops on a tight leash. Apparently, that applies to his kin as well."

  “Off to the Etrendi District, which we couldn’t enter without threat of imprisonment," Keevan sighed, switching to his elemental vision as Calistra left. Heat radiated behind her, a shade he’d generally accepted to be annoyance. Whatever her intentions, the body guard had cut them short.

  Keevan scratched his head. “I wonder what she was after?”

  “Well, you could always go your mother’s way at the Ranking. She wants to elevate you to Etrendi, right?” Bahjal said innocently.

  Keevan sighed. “Why do you keep bringing up the Ranking? Besides, I wouldn’t last a minute with those Highborns. You have to summon enough elemental power to kill someone just to enter their ranks. I can’t even heal a scrape on my knee."

  “Fair enough," Bahjal said, her expression... relieved. She shoved her hands into her pockets and shuffled back to the cliff’s edge. The gesture was almost comical, blatantly marking all the holes in her pockets with her calloused hands. “I just worry about losing my friend, Keeves. I don’t know what will happen at the Ranking. It all depends on what you decide, right? Your parents can’t make decisions for you after this."

  “You really consider me that close a friend?” Keevan asked, his voice thick with mock suspicion. He folded his arms like a Malik’s Persuader at a trial.

  “Yes," Bahjal replied slowly. “Why not?”

  “Well, I recall a certain friend promising to tackle the first person who accosted me in public after using these," Keevan said, pointing at his eyes. “Last I checked, all you did was stand there, gawking."

  “Did you see that guard? That woman had a personal mountain watching over her. Anyways, forget about it for now," Bahjal suggested, pointing eastwards at the flashing Pagoda streaking across a street directly below them. “I’d bet if we capture that thing, we could negotiate a visit with the owner, a trip within the Etrendi district itself. Interested?”

  Keevan watching the Pagoda flash beneath the trees of a small park, chased by a dozen children excited at the prospect of a fresh pastime. Though his eyes looked at Issamere, his thoughts hovered around Calistra’s stiff control of water, a conversation driven by calculated and pretended flirtation. What was she after?

  “You’re right, Bahj," Keevan agreed with a sharp nod and a flutter of excitement in his chest. “Let’s catch that thing and see what the inside of the Etrendi District looks like."

  Chapter 4

  “You never said anything about stealing what we needed," Keevan grumbled at Bahjal, folding his arms in discontent. In the distance, the Pagoda still flickered from place to place, leaving behind cheering crowds and puffs of smoke. "When I said 'nick', I thought I'd meant you had a friend who'd let you borrow some."

  “Relax, once we’ve caught the Pagoda, we’ll pay her back for it,” Bahjal promised. "Besides, she owes me a favor anyway."

  “Then why not pop in and ask for the herbs up front?”

  “This way is more fun,” Bahjal smirked, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. “I'd rather not have to cash in on what she owes me unless there's no other option. Now, tell me what she’s feeling right now."

  Keevan sighed, leaning against the alley’s roughly cut stone wall. They stood facing each other, allowing him to examine the herbalist’s store behind Bahjal without showing open interest. Sight Seeker energy pulsed through his eyes, throwing Bahjal’s face into a sharp contrast of blues, white and shadows.

  Only a handful of pedestrians walked the streets. Not only was it the hottest part of the day, but the Pagoda chase still thundered on from the other side of town, leaving these merchants with a thin number of customers indeed. Where there were less customers, there were less guards and therefore, less chance of serious 'complications' as Bahjal called them.

  Across the street Madam Vivayne paced back and forth in front of her makeshift shop, praising the quality and quantity of her herbs and flowers. The second Keevan drew on his power, he couldn’t see Vivayne’s features or expression, only a thinly veiled cloud of white energy, tied to the surrounding elements like a stone to so many guide ropes. In her case, a cloud tied to a good deal of heat.

  “We might need to find a different person to ‘purchase’ from, as you’d say,” Keevan advised with a helpless shrug. “I haven’t seen her this irritated in ages. Anyone she catches trying to steal from her will get paddled on sight, favor or no. Maybe it’s the lack of customers. It's not her fault a Pagoda's running loose today."

  “Give it a moment,” Bahjal insisted, shooting him a stubborn glare. “Timing is everything when you’re dealing with people, especially Tri-Beings."

  Two guards walked by, marked only by the excessive fire energy they pulled along with them, a steady bed of coals ready for ignition. Facing him, he saw their anger subside a moment, into one of the ‘dead’ emotions which no element followed. Curiosity perhaps? One stepped forward.

  Keevan felt a rush of anxiety flitter across his skin. They didn’t have long until sun down, any delay could cost him. If he didn’t have any noteworthy achievements to bring to his Ranking, they’d surely charge him with a profession both boring and meaningless. Then he’d go on with his empty, useless life. He stared at the oncoming guard, too busy imagining a terrible future to think of a clever escape from the man’s attention.

  Bahjal curled a lock of her hair in her finger tips, gave Keevan a light shove in the shoulder and let loose a carefree laugh. “Stop teasing! You’re so funny!”

  The guard paused, pursing his lips in thought, then with a shrug and a slight recession of water around him, amusement perhaps, resumed his course down the street. His fellow guardsman followed, still glancing over his shoulder at Keevan.

  Turning on Bahjal in mixtures of relief and surprise he opened his mouth to speak and paused. Here, standing so close, he could faintly see her smile through the cloud of elements she controlled. The image looked rather angelic, a flirtatious twinkle in her eye, one hand idly playing with her glowing white hair. Something he’d never felt for her before clattered around in his chest, like a man half-awake and not quite certain why.

  “W-what was that about?” Keevan sputtered, folding his arms uneasily.

  “Just a lesson in deception,” Bahjal said, so serious it she seemed playful. “People don’t want to interrupt romantic moments if they can help it. It’s the perfect cover while we scope out Madam Vivayne’s shop. Don’t you agree?”

  “Oh. Right,” Keevan said with a gulp, trying to slow his racing heart. Why did Bahjal suddenly smell like peppermint? Did she always and he never noticed or did she don some scented oil to sell the ‘deception’ when he wasn’t looking. “The herbalist. Got it."

  Madam Vivayne had retired to a stool behind her table,
picking up dried branches from one bag and shaking seeds free into another. Two children scampered by, chasing a rolling barrel. She snapped at them so loud, a thin tongue of flame flickered from her mouth.

  “That’s odd,” Keevan said, thinking aloud. “She’s just a Rhet. She shouldn’t be able to manifest fire."

  “That’s part of the favor I owe her," Bahjal explained, turning so her back pressed against the wall, her hands resting on the belt at her hips. “She used to be a Haldran, but her herbs ended up in the wrong Etrendi and she had to run."

  “So, you're keeping her secret, so she can hide from the authorities. That’s not much of a favor,” Keevan noted, “sounds more like blackmail."

  “All the more reason to avoid playing that card if we can help it,” Bahjal emphasized, rolling her eyes. “She’s probably noticed her elements are getting too strong. What’s she doing now?”

  “Smelling flowers,” Keevan reported, blinking a couple times. “Oh. Interesting."

  In seconds, Madam Vivayne’s spirit sparkled with strands of blue water, meeting her many ribbons of red fire and canceling them out. After another deep breath, her spirit settled into the usual mixture of water, fire and sparse flickers of electricity Keevan was used to seeing in Tri-Beings.

  “I didn’t know scents could adjust emotions so quickly," Keevan echoed, leaning in closer for a better look at the herbalist.

  “Those flowers are called ‘Suada’s Tears’, they’re very good at bringing calming memories to a Tri-Being’s mind," Bahjal answered. Keevan didn’t notice Bahjal bite her lower lip, smile and sigh contently. “The Tribunal uses them a lot when settling arguments."

  “Hence the added water she’s drawing to her," Keevan agreed. “Well, she’s calmed down now. What’s the next step?”

  “Well,” Bahjal said briskly, stepping aside turning her attention to the task at hand. “Your job will be distracting Vivayne long enough for me to nab it."