Insight Kindling by Chess Desalls

Author:Chess Desalls [Desalls, Chess]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Czidor Lore, LLC
Published: 2014-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

“WHAT DO we do now?” I asked over a meal of raw fish and seaweed salad. “How will we know whether the Uproar has been destroyed?”

Valcas swallowed the bits of raw fish he’d been chewing. From the way his face contorted, I gathered that sushi was not his favorite food.

“For now, we wait,” he said. “We may run into dangers of our own here on this side. If anyone lives in the caves, I expect that they’ll need to come out here for food and water sooner or later.”

I looked at Valcas with raised eyebrows, and then quickly looked away. He’d stopped wearing his dark glasses since our transformations. I tried not to stare at him for embarrassingly long periods of time, but it wasn’t easy.

His most recent comment awakened something in me that I’d nearly forgotten since entering the Falls—that my father could be in here somewhere, hiding from the Uproar.

“How long should we wait until we start actively looking for him, Valcas?” I asked, bubbling with anticipation and longing. I was a bundle of nerves. The thought that my father could be at the end of one of the tunnels had me in a panic. Would he be as excited about meeting me? Reconnecting with Mom back at TSTA Headquarters had gone smoother than I’d thought it would. She’d welcomed me, embraced me, as if she were happy to see me and genuinely sorry for staying away for so long. How would my father react when I showed up? Was he looking forward to meeting me too?

Valcas chuckled as he awkwardly reached for me. “You sound eager to meet your father. It’s endearing, and I completely understand, but right now the most important thing is to be safe.”

Part of me cringed inside; yet, some other part of me reacted as if I wanted to give in to a different longing, one that I was certain involved the lonely version of Valcas I’d left back at the White Tower. I inhaled, remembering that Valcas was the same person deep inside regardless of whatever life-changing and hope-jading events he’d experienced. I let him place an arm around me and pull me closer to him.

“In here,” he said. “We’re safe from the Uproar. We just need to make sure there’s nothing else, here on the other side, that would compromise that safety. As for Plaka, I can’t imagine him being in any more danger now than he was before we arrived.”

I sighed, disappointed, and then rolled my eyes. It wasn’t like I could wander off without him. Not now. Noticing that Valcas was not just watching me, but smiling, I smiled back. He was right. Something definitely felt different.

I rinsed my hands in the pool of water and dried them on my jeans. Scooting closer to Valcas, I rested my head on his shoulder. “Thank you for being here with me and for keeping me safe, not just now, but for all of it.”

He tensed, leaving me to wonder whether I’d gone too far.

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