Cracks

“That was a lot faster than expected.” Inquisitor Kal was already waiting in the tower as they returned to the academy.

At least Elan’drin had put Rin back on Ria’s shoulder before they entered the academy itself.

“I told you that you gave me the information necessary to take decisive action. I just had to check my theories, and now I have the results and the locations.” Elan’drin smiled.

“Locations?” Kal narrowed his eyes. “There is more than one?” He seemed very displeased. “How long have you allowed this to fester?”

“We wouldn’t have let it ‘fester’ this much, if we had known more about how to make it.” Elan’drin frowned. “I don’t know what you think we should’ve done, but invading houses and searching the whole city would’ve been in bad taste.”

The elf and the inquisitor stared at each other. Ria got the feeling that their magic clashed once more.

“Very well. I am not here to question your governing decisions.” Kal finally relented. “Where do we need to go?”

“I guess you want to be present at every location?” There was no hostility in the way Elan’drin asked the inquisitor.

Kal nodded “But of course. I need to destroy their facilities personally.”

“Very well.” The elf turned to Lithzy. “The map, please.”

“Of courze.” The lizz opened the map.

“I’d suggest, we go after this location first.” It was along the canal and opposite of the tower they had been to.

“Good. Lead the way.” The Inquisitor nodded.

“Auron, Lithzy, Ria, with me. The rest will wait here!” Elan’drin turned around. Ria wondered, why she needed to be there to bust that organization. She’d rather be alone and work on her magic.

“We could fly to the location,” suggested Kal.

“No. I want to surprise them,” countered Elan’drin.

Ria wondered whether that argument would really hold water. The organization had shut their facilities down, after all. They were warned already. Then she remembered that Elan’drin didn’t trust the Inquisitor. How long would he they have to hide, what Ria really was?

It felt strange as the five of them walked through the city and to the outer canal. No one said a word. It took them quite some time to arrive at the house where they suspected one of the facilities to be and no one said a word.

“If we’re in luck, they restarted their operation,” Elan’drin whispered as they arrived at their destination. “Rin, can you sense a strong mana source nearby?”

The slime was quiet for a moment, then cooed and pointed at the ground.

“Below us?” The elf sighed. “Why do they have to make things more complicated than they need to be?” He knocked on the door of the house closest to where they suspected the facility to be.

A human woman opened and met the ocean of wisdom with a very confused look on her face. “Yes?”

“Excuse the sudden interruption, but I was wondering whether you have a basement.”

“Y-Yes. Why do you ask?” the confusion on her face grew.

“May we see it?” Elan’drin ignored her question.

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“You may have noticed that the city doesn’t have as much water as it’s supposed to have. We have uncovered that there are several underground leaks, and we believe one to be in the area here. We hope we can use your basement to get closer to the source and fix it.”

“A leak? In my basement?” She looked shocked. “It always was a bit damp, though …”

“Perfect. Now let us in!” Kal pushed to the front and past her into the house.

The woman was clearly taken aback by the inquisitor’s action.

“Please excuse him, he seems to be a bit of an anus,” Elan’drin said, and followed him.

“I-Is the loss of a bit of water really something that an inquisitor has to investigate?” asked the woman of Ria, just as she tried to set foot in the house as well.

“I, well …” She had no idea what to tell the lady. “Th-There is a lot of water missing?” She hadn’t intended this to come out as a question.

“Yes, I noticed that, too. But is that really something the High Mage Council needs to be handled?” She sounded a bit confused. “On the other side it’s nice that they care this much about our city.”

“Yes, it’s really nice.” Ria laughed nervously and hurried after the rest. She didn’t want to answer questions that she had no answers to.

“Ria, come here, please.” The voice came from a room to the left. When she entered, she stood in a kitchen. There was a quadratic hole in the back with a wooden cover lifted up. A ladder led down into the basement.

Ria climbed down into the cramped space. “What is it?”

“Rin, where do we need to go?” Elan’drin ignored her and looked at her shoulder. He had needed the slime, not her. Rin obliged and pointed at the wall to her left.

There was a sudden spark of magic and the stones of the wall were ripped apart.

Ria coughed and closed her eyes until the dust cloud settled. When she could breathe and see again, Kal had already run through the opening. Elan’drin was just getting through, while Lithzy was climbing down.

“Ah, fer slag’s sake,” she heard Auron mumble.

Ria didn’t wait for the other members of the waters of wisdom and followed Elan’ðrin and the inquisitor inside the space behind the wall.

She immediately flinched back as a giant fireball exploded right before her. Light and heat faded as quickly as they had come, but it took her a moment to be able to see again. She took the next few steps carefully. Then the cave opened before her. A crystal hung in a metal harness from the ceiling, glowing softly. It was around half the size of the ones in the other towers, but it had the same glow, if not stronger.

Kal was holding someone down, while Elan’drin threatened two more people with sharp stone spears.

“Holy motherlode of slag!” Auron panted as he stopped next to her. “Th-that looks like mah prototype design!”

“S-Stanbert?” Lithzy stared at the person that Kal was holding down.

“Auron, close the wall. Lithzy, get a team down here.” Elan’drin gave orders and the two ran off. “Ria, take their mana retention collars off.”

“Ah, y-yes.” She jumped down from the ledge and did as she was told.

Kal got up from Stanbert. The half-dwarf looked as if he was half-melted into the ground, his mana retention collar had been thrown into a corner of the cave. The mouth of the half-dwarf had been covered by stone and he looked scared. The Mage Inquisitor grinned as he turned to contraption at the ceiling. Magic flared. The metal construct around it melted. Cracks formed in the crystal.

“Wait, don’t!” Elan’drin shouted.

Water shot out of the cracks in the crystal. Water spouts formed in mid-air around it.

“Ria! Help me!” Elan’drin created something around the crystal. She recognized the construct. The water spouts tapered off. Then the water from the crystal itself subsided. But it didn’t stop completely.

“Ria!” He snapped at her.

She reacted and created her own construct around the one Elan’drin had made. Finally the water stopped completely.

“What in the deep mines is happenin?” Auron ran back in.

“What in the name of the dark dragon did you think you were doing?” Elan’drin snapped at Kal.

The Mage Inquisitor grinned. “I am simply following the council’s orders: I’m Removing everyone that knows how to make this type of mana distillery!” He had a broad grin on his face.

“You could’ve killed us all!” shouted Elan’drin.

“If this little bit of water would’ve killed you, you wouldn’t be worthy of being the ocean of wisdom. You’re supposed to be equal to us Mage Inquisitors.” The grin on his face faded and he straightened.

“That’s still no reason to do this. We need to question these people here.”

“I don’t see the need for that. You have a map of all the other locations.”

“Do you really think that we can get the head of the operation at one of those locations? The one that really knows, how to create these distilleries?” Elan’drin narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, I want ta kno, who stole mah work!” Auron grumbled.

Kal was silent for a moment. Then he started to laugh. “I guess you don’t have the title ocean of wisdom for nothing.”

Something trickled in the back of her mind. If Kal wasn’t really trying to get rid of the organization, but rather wanted to get rid of Elan’drin, Auron and her, then … “Then … You are the head of this organization?” Ria looked at him with wide eyes.

“You’ve trained your little Elemental Lap Dog very well. And I have to congratulate you on creating a collar of your own. One that I can’t control.” Kal shook his head. “But it’s still not enough. You’re exactly where I need you.”

He snapped with his fingers. His eyes flashed a dark blue. Both Elan’drin’s and her magical construct shattered.

Again, water shot out of the crystal and out of mid-air. More cracks formed in the crystal.

“Have fun!” Kal’s magic tore a hole in the ceiling and he shot upward and away.

Ria was stunned. Auron and Elan’drin reacted. They both made control constructs and Ria joined them. The water disappeared again. She still heard and saw the crystal crackling.

“We need ta get outta here. The Avatar’s full power is being channeled through that crystal!” Auron shook.

Ria remade her control construct as well. It bulged under the crystal’s pressure and only managed to slow the formation of new cracks down.

“Thank you. Elan’drin, we need ta get out.”

“Leave. Ria can keep the crystal contained for a while. I’ll get Stanbert out. You two, flee!” The two he had threatened before looked at each other and ran.

“Fine. Ya better get out as soon as possible.” Auron left and his construct collapsed. The pressure on Ria’s mind increased and she felt close to her breaking point. And the crystal looked as if it was close, too.

“Th-Thank you. I never thought he’d try to kill us, too,” Stanbert said.

“Later. Get out, now.” Elan’drin pushed the half-dwarf toward the ledge. Once the half-dwarf had climbed up, he looked back at Ria. “Hurry over!”

Ria looked to him. The elf had started climbing to the upper ledge as well. She turned back to the crystal. She had practiced containing Ariel’s power, but hers had been dampened by her collar. How could the crystal have more pressure than the avatar herself?

Ria moved to the ledge. Slowly, deliberately. She couldn’t run, or her construct would fail immediately. She wasn’t good enough to do both.

“I’ll take over for you.” She felt the pressure within her construct ease. Ria gulped and looked at the elf. He nodded at her. Ria felt uneasy as she dropped her magic and hurried to the ledge.

Elan’drin reached out to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Then she heard a loud crack.

She was thrown against the elf and together they were pushed through the opening and into the basement. Water was everywhere. Ria couldn’t breathe. Elan’drin wouldn’t be able to breathe either. And he needed to.

She fought against the pressure. It took her a moment to turn around and brute force a plug into the wall. Then she looked around to find Elan’drin. He floated in front of the wall next to her. The elf was unconcious.

Ria brute forced more magic to move herself toward him. Then she grabbed him and moved them both to the hole that had led to the basement. She broke to the surface and Auron helped her get Elan’drin out.

“Slag! Stanbert got hurt and is unconcious.” The dwarf pointed to the half-dwarf lying in a corner. The home owner put a damp cloth at his head. “He would’ve known what ta do!”

“I-I don’t know!” Ria pulled herself out of the water, too and grabbed the elf. She shook him. “Elan’drin! Elan’drin!” The ocean of wisdom gave no reaction.

“W-What happened to the ocean of wisdom?” The woman that owned the house sounded as panicked as Ria felt.

“I-I need to get him to the other waters of wisdom. They might now what to do.” And she’d need to do it fast. But how? She needed to fly. She couldn’t lose En’rin’s father. Not now!

“But how? It takes ta long ta get there!”

“Lift Restriction Level Three,” she commanded as she constructed the control magic around herself. At the same time, she lifted Elan’drin onto her shoulders.

“Oi. Ya can’t be serious!”

Ria ran. She ignored the dwarf. “Lift Restriction Level Two!” The pressure on her mind was massive, but she didn’t care. She screamed and took to the sky as soon as her foot touched the ground outside of the house. Water that shot out of the street like a fountain and rained back down on them. She sped past it and headed to the academy.

Why did it take so long, even though she was flying? People needed to breathe and Elan’drin wasn’t breathing. He needed help. As fast as possible.

She shot down toward the central tower in the academy and rammed through the door with her magic and her body.

The people inside the tower looked completely startled as she skidded to a halt between them. “Y-You have to help him,” she stammered and put Elan’drin on the floor.

A precious moment longer, nothing happened, then everyone seemed to react at once. Someone grabbed the elf’s arm, another pulled his robes aside to listen to his chest. “What happened?” asked a third.

“There was this crystal, and then Kal cracked it. Water was suddenly everywhere …”

Someone began pushing down on Elan’drin’s chest. Water came out of his mouth. Ria felt as if her heart wanted to burst. No her magic! She desperately held both back.

Someone used magic. She felt it. Saw the effect. Even more water rushed out of the elf’s mouth.

Then, suddenly, Elan’drin coughed and shot up. He took several deep and very shaky breaths.

Ria’s strength faded and she collapsed. “Reestablish Restriction Level Two.” She sighed in relief and started to cry. She had barely managed to hold onto her control. Had almost burned him in her attempt to save him.

Elan’drin looked around. “Wh-Where? Where is he?” The elf sounded as if he was in panic, although they had just saved his life.

“The Mage Inquisitor?” asked one of the waters of wisdom.

“Yes, the Mage Inquisitor.” Elan’drin turned around and looked at her.

“I-I don’t know. He fled.” She hadn’t seen him at all.

Suddenly the light of the distribution nexus crystal faded.

“Rotten core!” By the gasps she heard, it was the first time that Elan’drin had cursed. “He had told us. In Eirendria the power distribution network had failed first, causing the city to crash. Only after that the Elemental Avatar had disintegrated, and his power had exploded into a mountain. Kal is doing the same here!”

Everyone in the room stared at the elf with wide open eyes, as the implication sank in: Kal had set the destruction of Volasis into motion already.