CHANNELS

“This is strange…”

Before Dock was even finished speaking, Raven silently spun around, threw her arm painfully against his chest and pushed him back into the shadows against the wooden wall of a nearby building. Dock’s scowl was overruled by his lungs heaving for the breath which had unexpectedly been knocked out of them, and he doubled over as he tried to regain his breath. When he was finally breathing normally again, he rose, already rearing for an argument, but the words rushing from his lungs died in his throat at the angry look on Raven’s face as she lifted her finger to her lips.

Dock frowned at Raven, but swallowed his argument. He knew he would never win anyway. When on a mission, Raven’s rule was God’s rule, and Raven had been clear: absolutely no talking on the grounds of the establishment. Dock knew why and had waited until nobody was near enough to hear so as not to risk their cover. Raven obviously didn’t see it that way, though, and there simply was no arguing with Raven.

Dock tried to convey an apology with his expression. Whether the message carried, he couldn’t know. Raven simply continued staring at him, stone-faced, for a moment, and then turned, sticking even closer to the shadows than before. Dock hurried to stay right on her heels, not wanting to risk antagonizing her again.

As they made their way through the grounds, never treading too far into open ground unless to move from the side of one building to another, Dock looked around, taking in his surroundings. He knew little about where they were. Concerned only with things which affected her ability to complete her task, Raven had simply defined it as some sort of commune. As far as Dock could tell, the people of the establishment lived very simple lives. They wore loose, woven clothing he suspected they had made themselves. Their buildings were mostly single-storied, constructed of wood, uncomplicated, and unadorned, even by paint. They even seemed uninterested in security, the establishment set neatly in a cleared-out section of woods, not even boasting a wall, which was unusual for a settlement in this area, given the natures of the clans that occupied the surrounding forest.

Dock couldn’t imagine what these people could possibly have that was worth stealing.

Still pondering this, Dock nearly ran Raven over when she stopped at the corner of one of the buildings. She scowled at him again as he backed up and then stepped up beside her. He again tried to convey an apology, and Raven again ignored it. Instead she pointed two fingers at her eyes and then pointed at a structure that was set at an angle from where they were, in the center of a large courtyard in the middle of the settlement. She nodded significantly toward the structure, emphasizing that that was their destination.

The structure was very different from the buildings which surrounded it. Instead of wood, this was made of stone. Into the stone was carved sculptures of animals of all types, facing outward in all directions. Although there were many different types of creatures carved into the stone, great and small, beast and fowl alike, two types seemed to stand out to Dock above all others. The first most striking one was a massive bird, which seemed to be rising out of the mass at the center; its plumage spread wide, its head arched up to the sky. But as Dock looked closer, the other animal that stood out to him was the wolf and its brethren. The only part of the structure that was smooth was a slab on one side of the mass of animals, and that slab was surrounded by a pack of giant wolves, which huddled around it on either side, with one perched above the slab and just beneath where the massive bird rose out from the rest. Dock could see slight indentations in part of the slab spelling out words, but they were too far away for him to read it.

Dock stared in confusion, first at the enormous statue, and then back at Raven, who was now scanning the courtyard. Apparently satisfied that the courtyard was currently deserted, she looked back at Dock, her already glowing eyes particularly alight with anticipation. She was clearly ready to approach the structure. Dock just continued staring at her, puzzled. His part of this mission was supposed to be simple: he was simply there to break open a door. He had done it before for Raven. It was one of the few things his ability was actually good for. He had plenty of strength for it, it required no finesse, and it was the quickest, easiest way through doors that were supposed to be unbreakable, which was why Hix called him a glorified skeleton key.

But what was he supposed to do here? The way Raven had described the mission to him, they were simply cracking a safe, the same sort of job he had helped with dozens of times before. What were they going to do with a giant statue?

Frowning angrily again, Raven held out her arms in a silent, what, gesture.

Frustrated at the prohibition on speaking, Dock pointed at the statue and then mimicked her gesture.

Raven stared at him quizzically and let out a long sigh. She glanced around to make sure no one else was around, and whispered, “What’s the problem?”

“What the drav is that thing? I thought we were cracking a safe!”

“Does this place look like it has a vault? It’s a tomb.”

Dock’s mouth hung for a moment as he processed her words. “A… A tomb…?” He looked at her, at the statue, and then at her again. “… The slab…? You want me to break… In the middle of an open courtyard? Are you crazy?”

Looking furious, Raven clamped her hand over my mouth, and hissed, “Lower your voice!” She glanced around again, but the narrow streets between the drab buildings remained deserted. “That’s why we’re doing it while most are asleep, you kefkil weed…”

“Beahmbut…” Dock started to whisper. Raven rolled her eyes and lowered the hand covering his mouth. Dock started again, “Yeah, but… We’ll still be totally exposed. The moment it breaks…”

“We’ll be into the tomb and safe. They won’t follow us inside. Trust me.”

“Well, why didn’t you fill me in on all this beforehand? I know you like to keep your secrets, but this seems like something I should’ve known already…”

“I tried,” Raven whispered, and Dock thought he saw a ghost of a smile flitter across her lips momentarily filling her beautiful olive features with a light all their own. “You walked out. Something about ‘a key’ and ‘just stick you in the lock when we get there…’”

“Oh, right…” Dock twisted his lip in a sort of pout and looked down at his feet as he mumbled, “HIx’s words… I was mad… It was… It was a whole thing… You don’t wanna know…”

Raven tucked a finger under Dock’s chin and gently lifted it until he was looking her in the eye. Each of their eyes glowed with the power they possessed. “Well, there’s the keyhole, Traz… Let’s go see if you fit…”

Raven led the way out of the shadows and into the courtyard, Dock directly behind her. As they moved in the open light of the moon, Raven kept her eyes fixed on the ground directly before her, obviously trying to keep her concentration, but Dock glanced up the wider alleyway directly in front of the statue. Less than fifty cartras away, there stood a boulder of a man, probably a Taijian from the size of him, casually looking down toward the statue. It could have been Dock’s imagination, but he thought he saw the huge man’s head flinch as they moved in between him and the statue. Dock kept his eyes on the man, and as they stopped, Raven looked at him and followed his gaze to the man who appeared to be watching them.

“Does he see us?” Dock whispered, not quite daring to move, and only looking at Raven out of the corner of his eye.

Raven glanced at Dock and then back down at the huge man. “No, I don’t think so… But he’s trying to… His mind is resisting my power. You’d better hurry before he sees through the fugue…”

“’Kay…” Dock muttered, his gaze remaining on the huge man for a moment before forcing himself to turn away and face the huge stone slab surrounded by the ferocious glares of wolves. Now that he was close enough to read the words on the slab, he realized that they were written in ancient Alban. He recognized a few of the words, but not enough to read it. His mind didn’t linger long on the words, though. He was distracted by the wolves.

“What’s the hold-up, Traz? Big-Man is on the move!” Raven breathed.

Broken out of his thoughts, Dock glanced back. The huge man was yet to be moving with a purpose, but his gaze was definitely fixed toward them now, and he was stepping slowly forward. Raven was staring intently at him, clearly trying to focus all her energies on hiding them from the man. Her purple eyes were now positively shining with light. Dock steeled himself, and faced the slab again, this time ignoring the wolves, and beginning to focus his own power…

“Stop, stop, stop!”

Dock heaved a sigh, and threw up his hands. The metal block that had been floating in the air before him abruptly fell straight to the ground where it clattered into the others that had already fallen. He ignored the loud sniggering of the brute beside him, and turned to face the instructor. The man was tall and slim, his thinning hair perfectly combed, and a very precise moustache drawing a line over his lip, which was curled in disgust as he looked down on Dock.

“Dock Traz, you have the delicacy of a large wooden club!”

The sniggers behind him grew louder as others joined in. Dock curled his fingers into fists, but stood perfectly still, biting his lip and standing stiff.

“Bower, show your fellow novates how it is done,” said the instructor. Dock reluctantly turned to face the tall, muscular Taijian right next to him who had been laughing the loudest. Bower sneered at him and then turned to face his own metal blocks which had been stacked to form a perfect pyramid. Bower’s glowing eyes – blue, but a much lighter shade than Dock’s – pulsed with light as he focused on the pyramid. As Bower stared at his blocks, they each slowly rose into the air, and were held steadily there for a moment before Bower side-glanced at Dock, grinning. Still looking at Dock out of the corner of his eyes, the blocks began rotating in a wide circle in the air as if they were being juggled, though Bower never touched them. The entire class, including the instructor, breathed in awe, and then applauded as Bower used his power to gently set them back into a pyramid.

“Show-off…” Dock muttered under his breath. Bower was easily the best in the class at such delicate work. Most of the rest of the class had only managed to stack their cubes one on top of the other. No one else had juggled them with their mind, nor even tried to construct something more than a straight tower with them. And of course, Dock…

“Now, Novate Traz,” said the instructor, glaring down at him. “You’re turn.”

The back of Dock’s neck felt like it was burning as he tried to ignore everyone watching him and focused instead on his own blocks, haphazardly strewn about before him. He focused first on just one block, imagining lifting it with an invisible hand. It suddenly flew up into the air, faster than he had intended, and he nearly let it fly out of his grasp, but he took a deep breath and held on to it, forcing it to float in the air, before him.

Okay, now the hard part… Dock thought to himself. Keeping one imaginary hand grasping the floating block, Dock tried to imagine another picking up one of the other blocks. The block already in the air began to shake as the other started to rise. This one rose more slowly, but shook violently as it did, and soon, both blocks were floating in the air, trembling as if they were being held by someone who was shaking severely.

The sniggers had begun again, and although Dock tried to ignore them, he could sense Bower stepping up close behind him and leaning in. “What’re you trying to prove, eonik? We all know you’re just here ‘cuz of your daddy. Give it up already.”

Suddenly the two blocks Dock was holding aloft plummeted to the floor, and in the same moment, there was a concussive blast and Bower was thrown backward, into the far wall, knocking down several other novates on his way. Bower slumped to the floor against the wall, just a few cartras away, unconscious, and the instructor rushed to his side. Dock was favored with a glower from the instructor and several of the other novates before the yelling began.

In reality, calling Dock Traz a key was a distinct misnomer. A key is delicate, intricate. A key opens doors without damage. Dock looked like a delicate thing. He was short, undersized even for an Alban, and small, his muscles thin and ropey. But Dock’s strength was not in his size or his muscles. Dock’s strength was in his ability. And through his ability, Dock Traz was nothing like a key. He was more of a battering ram.

His eyes closed, Dock visualized the slab, thinking of it as a door. He imagined ripping the door off its hinges and tossing it carelessly away as if it were nothing but a scrap of paper. And just as he did, there was a fast series of cracks and a roaring crash as a big chunk of stone was torn from the statue before him and thrown backward over his head. He looked back to see it crashing to a stop just beside the huge man, who just stared at it, his eyes wide.

Slowly, the man turned his gaze back to them, and now Dock knew he could see them. Raven had stopped focusing on the man, and now turned, gripping Dock’s arm, and started dragging him toward the statue. Dock remained facing the man, waiting for him to shout out, but he said nothing. He just stood there glaring at them, veins sticking out on his neck, his fists clenched at his sides like giant hammers. Still waiting for the man to shout out, Dock was surprised when a screeching wail pierced the night, and for a moment, he thought the high-pitched sound had come from the man. Then, he turned his head and saw a small girl running down another alleyway toward them. But before he could get a good look at her, he was tugged backward into darkness and stale air. Raven gave one last mighty tug, his feet tripped over a portion of stone that had not been ripped off, and he tumbled backward into open air.

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