out and touched the Key.
*
Cold instantly filtered through her fingertips, along the palm of her hand and swept up her arm to fill her from head to toe. In a moment, she was frozen, barren, solid and immobile.
She could see nothing, feel nothing, hear nothing. No, not nothing. There was something there, in the whiteness. A half-familiar rhythm,pounding in the background, softly. A heartbeat? But whose was it – Robert’s, or hers?
Was he here? Of course, that required an answer to where
here
was, and she didn’t have one. Over the last eight years, since she’d become Jaibir of the Enclave, since she’d been chosen by the Key and joined to it, she’d spent hours with it, talking, constantly linked to it, always feeling it in the corner of her mind. Not once in all that time had she ever been truly alone, and the Key never let her forget that. So why couldn’t she feel it now? Why, when she was actually touching the Key for the first time ever, was there no sense of that connection? Had Nash done this, or the Calyx? Or was Robert—
Can you hear me? Robert? Can you answer me?
She sent the query out gently. There was no way to guess how much Nash could use the connection, and they were already in enough trouble as it was.
Robert?
There was no response, but an overwhelming feeling of his presence, as though he was there, but couldn’t talk yet.
Robert, let me help. I know the Key, I understand how it works. We’re joined. It’s supposed to respond to me. If you let me, I know I can help. But you have to let me. I know you’re trying to block Nash’s access, but in doing so, you’re blocking my connection to the Key and I think we need that now. Robert? Please, Robert, I need an answer. I need to know you’re—
J … Jenn?
The word came out with so much effort, Jenn instantly felt guilty for forcing it from him. If he’d been using his voice, he would have sounded as frozen as she, as though the cold were making him stutter. But it was more than that. It was the effort he was making, the power it was taking from him to do this small thing.
J … Jenn
. He tried again and this time she could feel him closer, as though he were standing just behind her. She opened her eyes and tried to See, but the white affected everything, pulling mist over shapes so thick they became invisible. Except … There! A shadow, something she could focus on. It shifted and fluttered, lifted and sank, the surface rippling constantly, as though it were alive.
She knew what she was looking at, though how, she couldn’t guess. This was how Robert was protecting them, why Nash was no longer talking to them. Somehow he’d used raw power to form a tight mask around the aura of the Key/Calyx, so that whatever connection it had to
anything
was utterly blocked. And the effort to keep it going was killing him.
Robert
, she began quickly, seeing and Seeing what needed to be done,
you can’t do it this way. I know it’s your first instinct, to use your own powers to shield and protect everyone, but this won’t last long, and you’ll be dead at the end of it.
No choice. Can’t … stop.
No, but we can find an alternative together.
Alternative? How?
Remember how every Salti uses their powers through an
ayarn?
They use it to focus and shield? The
ayarn
prevents a power backlash but also provides just enough power to do the work, without draining the user?
Yes
. In his tone, she could tell he was already understanding what she wanted to try. Good.
If you can relinquish control just a little, to let me in, I think I can use the Key the same way.
But you never used an
ayarn.
No, but you can show me what to do, how to make one.
Can’t make the Key …
ayarn.
Not possible.
Then how?
Silence for a moment as he thought, and in that silence she could hear his heartbeat falter a little, feel the thickness of the fog grow more dense. They had no time left.
Robert …
Can do it … won’t last, but it will work.
How long
*
Cold instantly filtered through her fingertips, along the palm of her hand and swept up her arm to fill her from head to toe. In a moment, she was frozen, barren, solid and immobile.
She could see nothing, feel nothing, hear nothing. No, not nothing. There was something there, in the whiteness. A half-familiar rhythm,pounding in the background, softly. A heartbeat? But whose was it – Robert’s, or hers?
Was he here? Of course, that required an answer to where
here
was, and she didn’t have one. Over the last eight years, since she’d become Jaibir of the Enclave, since she’d been chosen by the Key and joined to it, she’d spent hours with it, talking, constantly linked to it, always feeling it in the corner of her mind. Not once in all that time had she ever been truly alone, and the Key never let her forget that. So why couldn’t she feel it now? Why, when she was actually touching the Key for the first time ever, was there no sense of that connection? Had Nash done this, or the Calyx? Or was Robert—
Can you hear me? Robert? Can you answer me?
She sent the query out gently. There was no way to guess how much Nash could use the connection, and they were already in enough trouble as it was.
Robert?
There was no response, but an overwhelming feeling of his presence, as though he was there, but couldn’t talk yet.
Robert, let me help. I know the Key, I understand how it works. We’re joined. It’s supposed to respond to me. If you let me, I know I can help. But you have to let me. I know you’re trying to block Nash’s access, but in doing so, you’re blocking my connection to the Key and I think we need that now. Robert? Please, Robert, I need an answer. I need to know you’re—
J … Jenn?
The word came out with so much effort, Jenn instantly felt guilty for forcing it from him. If he’d been using his voice, he would have sounded as frozen as she, as though the cold were making him stutter. But it was more than that. It was the effort he was making, the power it was taking from him to do this small thing.
J … Jenn
. He tried again and this time she could feel him closer, as though he were standing just behind her. She opened her eyes and tried to See, but the white affected everything, pulling mist over shapes so thick they became invisible. Except … There! A shadow, something she could focus on. It shifted and fluttered, lifted and sank, the surface rippling constantly, as though it were alive.
She knew what she was looking at, though how, she couldn’t guess. This was how Robert was protecting them, why Nash was no longer talking to them. Somehow he’d used raw power to form a tight mask around the aura of the Key/Calyx, so that whatever connection it had to
anything
was utterly blocked. And the effort to keep it going was killing him.
Robert
, she began quickly, seeing and Seeing what needed to be done,
you can’t do it this way. I know it’s your first instinct, to use your own powers to shield and protect everyone, but this won’t last long, and you’ll be dead at the end of it.
No choice. Can’t … stop.
No, but we can find an alternative together.
Alternative? How?
Remember how every Salti uses their powers through an
ayarn?
They use it to focus and shield? The
ayarn
prevents a power backlash but also provides just enough power to do the work, without draining the user?
Yes
. In his tone, she could tell he was already understanding what she wanted to try. Good.
If you can relinquish control just a little, to let me in, I think I can use the Key the same way.
But you never used an
ayarn.
No, but you can show me what to do, how to make one.
Can’t make the Key …
ayarn.
Not possible.
Then how?
Silence for a moment as he thought, and in that silence she could hear his heartbeat falter a little, feel the thickness of the fog grow more dense. They had no time left.
Robert …
Can do it … won’t last, but it will work.
How long
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