The Splitting of Souls; Chapter One

The drop wasn't as steep as Talasi had feared. Looking down into the dark hole she summarized that she would probably be able to scramble back up the sloping incline as long as she was careful. The crater was deep enough that Talasi couldn't make out where it ended, but wide enough that a person could theoretically make their way down, hopefully all the way.

She glanced over at her twin brother. Tavin was watching her in the weak morning light. "What do you think?" She asked, wiping her hands on her brown trousers trying clean the dirt off of them.

Tavin was a big man, thick in both arms and chest. His face always seemed to have a serious tone to it, especially now that he had grown a beard. The bushy red hair now covered both his face and the top of his head. He took his sharp blue eyes off her and looked down at the shaft again. "It's going to be a little hard to get back out." His voice was deep, but surprisingly soft for such a big man.

"I can make some handholds for myself, which should help. We need to find out what that was last night before anyone else shows up," Talasi said. She couldn't explain why but she was drawn to whatever lay in that hole. Grabbing her long red hair she tied it into a knot at the base of her skull with a leather thong. It was constantly getting into her face and she needed to be able to see for this climb.

It was surprising chilly for a summer morning, even though it was still early in the season. Most mornings the sun had already warmed up the cold land from the icy night, thawing everything around, before it even reached its full height.

This morning it was the wind and not the sun which caused the twins to shiver. The wind grew more fierce the higher a person climbed on Suba, the Mother Goddess of the Mountains. Her peak rose straight up so high that it was constantly shrouded in clouds. Once in awhile she would show her rage as she made the ground shake and spit fire into the air. To the south of her sat Arrow's Bay with the city of Fletching further inland down the coast. To the north and east more mountains rose up, but none reached the height of Suba. On the western ridge was the Weeping Forest that stretched over the low lying hills both north and south across the bay.

The twins were about a quarter the way up on Suba on that side. However, instead of being surrounded by trees, in a large circle around the mysterious crater all the great evergreens were a smoking and simmering ruin on the ground. It looked like all the trees blew away from the centre.

Tavin glanced at the numerous little fires that decorated the downed trees around them and then back at his sister, who was still crouched over the hole. "We need to hurry. I don't like the look of those fires or the smoke."

Talasi shrugged unconcerned. "It poured yesterday and every day in this forest. Everything is so water logged I'm surprised that it even caught fire. They won't spread."

She ignored his frustrated sigh. He was too cautious and would take forever to make a decision. This is our only chance to see what happened.

Before he could say anything else that could stop her Talasi turned around so that she was going feet first into the hole. Slowly she eased herself down. Rocks shifted slightly and some broke off with each movement of her hands and feet. Each step was precarious and she had to really focus on where she was putting her weight. Talasi had to feel out every step, making sure it was solid enough.

She brought her left foot down on a nice flat rock. As she took her other foot off its perch the flat rock slipped out from under her. Without anything to hold her Talasi started to slide down the shaft. Less than a metre down her foot hit another flat rock, this one taking her entire weight. However the momentum of sliding slammed her into the side of Suba.

"Fuck," she said in pain as her knee hit a particularly jagged rock. She could feel the sticky wetness beneath her trousers and knew that she was bleeding.

"You okay?" Tavin called from up above her. Apparently he had heard her curse.

She looked up and saw that she had only gone four or five metres. "Yeah, I just slipped and jammed my knee into some rocks," she called back. She put her head on her hands taking a little break. Looking around at all the rocks and earth jutting out from all sides Talasi frowned to herself. Why am I doing it this way? She thought. There was an easier way for her.

In her mind's eye she brought forth the image from the night before. She had been walking back from the Temple with her mother and brother when there was a flash of white light. A moment later a ball of fire flew through the night sky, growing larger and larger. The three of them watched transfixed as it sped over Fletcher and hit the base of Suba. A loud boom could be heard as the explosion lit the sky with streaks of yellow and red.

Talasi replayed the fear she had of the giant fireball, thinking that it might hit the city. She pushed that fear from her mind to her hands and bare feet resting on the earth beneath her. A final shove drove the fear into the ground. With a pathway now established she could direct a part of her soul into the earth as well.

All at once Talasi could feel the earth around her. The warmth of the dirt packed tightly together all around; the coldness of each stone from where it poked out of the soil; the shifting of each particle as insects and worms pushed their way around. And deeper than anything else she could just make out the steady pounding of magma as it stirred in the depths beneath Suba.

Even after a decade of being a Duniya and of experiencing these feelings it always stunned her with the wonder of all it. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts. She focused her soul making the earth move around her. Little ledges made of dirt and rock erupted from beneath and above her. They were the perfect distance apart to be used as a ladder on the steep incline.

Grinning to herself she lowered her left foot down on the nearest ledge. It held.

She pulled back the fragment of her soul from the earth. Soul splitting could be dangerous. Vrac had to be careful not to keep the two halves apart for too long. Each half would tire quickly away from the other. A Vrac who wouldn't listen to the cues her body would tell her would have the existential part snap back into her body. The shock would render her unconscious it could even kill her if it was strong enough.

One of the first lessons her mother had taught her was to make sure that as soon as she had finished using her existential soul to bring it back and not keep pushing it out of her body.

The climb became much easier now that she was not knocking off rocks every few paces or banging her knees into stones like she did before. As Talasi continued down the shaft started to get narrower with less light making its way to her. Before long the sides of it began to brush against her shoulders. It was starting to be uncomfortable and tight. Talasi had to keep reminding herself to breath normally.

The bottom appeared out of nowhere. One minute Talasi was causally climbing down the ledges and the next she had no more rungs to step onto.

As it was too dark to really see anything down here and she wasn't sure if she could use her hands to feel around because it was too tight, Talasi moved her foot around, feeling for anything that seemed out of place. Right in the centre of the shaft she felt something. It was smooth, with no jagged edges like the rocks surrounding it. It was also producing a faint heat, warming her slightly.

Without even seeing it Talasi knew that this was what she was looking for. Now the only problem was getting it out. Awkwardly with her shoulders brushing the sides of the crater she reached down. She couldn't bend over, it was too tight, but she was just able to lower herself down with her knees. They scrapped the rough surface of the walls. That difference was just enough for her to reach out and pry it from the earth.

The stone was just small enough for her to be able to hold it in one hand and it was smooth all over. In the faint light Talasi couldn't quite make out the colour. It seemed to be changing all the time. The stone seemed to pulse in her hand in intervals of five then there would be a long pause. It was like no other stone she had ever seen.

Finally she took her eyes off of it and looked above her. She could barely make out her brother at the top. He was like a dark spot blocking out part of the light. "I got it. I'm coming up," she called. Even though she couldn't quite tell she thought Tavin relaxed slightly.

Talasi stuffed the unusual stone into her trouser pocket. She would need both hands on the way up. Climbing up was much easier than going down as she didn't have to guess where each ledge was and in no time she reached the top.

Tavin stretched out to help her, his big hand grasping her upper arm, pulling her the rest of the way out. Once settled back on her feet Talasi reached inside her pocket. With a flourish and a grin she brought forth her find.

Now in the day light the stone seemed to shine brightly. Ripples of green, blue, red, yellow and purple shifted around with the beating pulse.

"What do you think?" She asked her brother.

Tavin reached out a hand and picked it up. "It's warm," he said in surprise.

"Well it was a giant fireball last night. Maybe it still needs to cool down."

He nodded as he examined it more closely. "It is fairly light for a rock this size. It hardly weighs anything. And the ripples are the colours of the Vrac."

When Tavin held it out Talasi took it again. "I noticed that as well. Maybe it is a sign for us to finally stand up for ourselves." That thought brought a blossom of hope to her chest. Maybe it would help the Vrac fight back and stop being treated second class citizens.

Her brother rolled his eyes at her comment. "It's just a rock Tali. A rock isn't going to stop Dohan Elam from enacting whatever laws he wants against us. He hates the Vrac and a rock ins't going to change that. Besides he's got Nyotas."

"You never know," Talasi said stubbornly, refusing to back down. "Maybe it could call the gods or give the Vrac more power. Maybe it could kill the Nyotas."

Before Tavin could respond a crash in the trees made him jerk his head behind him. A serious look crossed his face. "I think we have stayed here long enough. We need to go. The city guard won't be too happy if they catch us up here."

He motioned for Talasi to follow him. As they silently crept to the edge of the circle of downed trees, Talasi brought forth her fear again pushing it through her bare feet into the ground. She pushed her existential soul into the dirt, turning over all the soil, erasing all of their footprints.

Rats, she thought. I forgot to clear the ledges in the crater. She paused in the protection of the trees and started to direct her soul in that direction. It was a lot harder to manipulate the earth when she couldn't see it. She had only gotten a few ledges erased when the other group broke out into the clearing. As the five men stepped into the sunlight Talasi could see the midnight black colour of the two lead men's uniforms. It seemed to suck in all the light when touched.

Nyotas.