Ruler of the Tides (Book Four of the Elementals)

VIII. Kalisa

Even before she became fully conscious and opened her eyes, Kalisa's awareness told her what she needed to know: she was stiff and bruised from falling but no major injuries, she lay on cold rock, water dripped somewhere into a puddle, echoing endlessly, and only two other presences were close by. So, she could move, was deep underground in either a long tunnel or a massive cavern, and the two auras belonged to Pica and Renuo.

Kalisa opened her eyes to near darkness, if not for the odd mushrooms giving off a faint blue glow. She sat up to see that they had landed in a large tunnel, and both ends stretched on into blackness. Looking up, the hole they slid down curved further up so no sign of daylight could be seen. Maybe they were too far underground for the sun to be seen...

A groan made her turn to the fisherman pushing himself up to his hands and knees. He shook his head, then looked up, meeting her eyes.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yes. Bruised as you and Pica are."

It was dim, but Kalisa could picture the question on his face.

"I can sense your spirits and they have not weakened in any way."

"Oh. Well, lucky us." Renuo got to his feet and headed over to where the Provider of Light was still sprawled out. He set to shaking her awake.

As he dealt with the young Rovaneim, Kalisa folded her legs in, closed her eyes, and started her internal mantra to shut all noise out. The other Elementals weren't close enough for her to sense, so she would have to seek them out with her own spirit. Sending her soul out to locate another required complete serenity, and in all the times she practiced before at Hibyscus, she couldn't go very far before being forced to return to her body. It was like holding her breath—too long and she'd pass out.

Hopefully, she would find a trace of their auras before passing out.

And being surrounded by darkness heightened her awareness and powers, so perhaps she could extend the time being outside of her body.

Once Kalisa's calming mantra became white noise, her soul floated up out of her body as easy as gently pulling something free. In soul form, she could only see life auras—everything else was a blueish black. Pica and Renuo's auras were before her empty body, shining bright yellow and a dim blue, respectively.

A tugging on her soul—a sixth sense—pulled her to the left, so she flew toward it. The tunnel raced by underneath her in a blur. Sparse flickers of light shone in places—not many but all in foreboding blacks: danger. She flew for a while and she couldn't tell how many twists and turns she took, and still the presence pulsed somewhere ahead.

Her speedy flying slowed and her energy drained, signs she was straining back in her body. She was pushing herself too far; she would pass out soon. But Kalisa needed a sign that the others were alive and were down there, too.

The pulsing suddenly moved above her; she stopped and looked up. Something distorted the auras—rock perhaps—but silver, red, white, gold, and green shined. The usually strong green had dimmed, and silver shone the brightest.

Then Kalisa's eyes popped open, along with her mouth, gasping. She fell forward, still choking, coughing, and gulping in air. Kneeling before her, Renuo caught her; Pica was behind him, worried and curious at the same time. Pica had created a small sun to illuminate the dark tunnel.

"What did you do?" Renuo asked when she recovered her breath.

"You wouldn't respond when we called you, Kalisa," Pica said. "You had turned gray and didn't have any color. It was like you had become a husk."

"In a way, I had. I separated my soul from my body so I could seek out the others."

"Well, don't do that again without telling us," Renuo admonished. "It freaked me out. But did you find them?"