Fire in the hole
"Hiya, Yanig." Doa bursts into the tent. "It has been a week since we were last at the ruins. When are we heading back?"
Saqwe responds instead. "One would think you'd prefer a reprieve from near-death experiences. Are you suicidal? Depressed? A little sad?" Doa, confused, takes in the room to find five people glaring back at him and reverses immediately.
"My apologies, I knocked but there is no door," he says, backing out casually. When the tent flaps close he dashes off, thinking ‘It is like a magic trick, if anyone comes to check, I simply won't be there.’
"Where did you run off to earlier?"
"I didn't run, I went poof!" Doa presses his palms together and parts them wide. "Magic!"
Walking beside him, Yanig and Ruben just smile. Pointless question to ask him, of all people.
"The elders have agreed we'll stay here until we break through to the center of the desert." Yanig gestures to benches near the oasis pond. The three sit and enjoy a brief breeze off the cool water.
"Swim?" Doa is already on his feet, fingers at his collar.
Yanig frowns. "Sit down." Doa drops back with a sigh. "Later. Now , Doa, are you really ready to go to the ruins again?"
"Sure. We know what's there now and can be prepared, especially if you let Taek come."
Ruben, irritated that they've glossed over the initial statement, cuts in before Yanig can respond. "What do you mean, break through to the center?" He leans forward, forearms on his knees, one hand fiddling restlessly with the other.
"When you came to us you said eventually you'd want to go to the center." Yanig answers thinking it's obvious.
"You said it was too dangerous."
"It is. But we've all gotten stronger."
"You mean Doa and I?"
"Yes, but also the tribe as a whole. Your presence has changed things. Not only spurring people to train harder, but bringing a fresh perspective to the knowledge we hold. I think we'd grown stagnant. Including myself."
Ruben lets the flattery pass and keeps pressing. "But what exactly is different now?"
Yanig smiles. "Ah, ever the stickler for the concrete. You might not like it, but it is simply time." He dismisses Ruben for now; Ruben frowns in response. Yanig knows that once Ruben's brain stops fizzling he'll be bombarded with questions. So he exaggeratedly slaps his hands on his knees and stands. "Go swim. We'll talk tomorrow." Then he strides off, leaving one with a troubled expression and the other shedding clothes on the way to the pond.
In the morning Doa and Ruben meet Taek at the training grounds. Ruben stops. "Wow , if I didn't know better I'd think this was a lake bed!"
"Simple enough when most of the tribe have sand blessings." Taek shrugs. "Yanig will be here soon. Ruben, since you're mostly in the books these days, you can sit out this session."
Instead of answering, Ruben walks forward a few paces toward the distant target dunes. He glances back at Taek and opens a sinkhole beside himself - unsettling Doa - then speaks. "I'll be fine, thank you for your concern. Take." A barrage of sand erupts from the hole like cannonballs, the impact raising dust clouds as they rip into the hardened desert floor..
"Ooh, fancy, me too!" Doa skips over and shoves Ruben aside. "Your blessing has grown quite a bit. I only have wind, but I think I can manage with a spell." Doa rambles, excited to try. "Ok, move!" The other two step back quickly, knowing full well the odds of a very bad outcome where Doa is concerned. "Really? A bit fast for my liking." He eyes them a moment.
"For realsies now." Doa raises his hands as if conducting an orchestra. "From the depths of the land," he moves his hands rhythmically, buying time to think of more words, ",and um, rise! Bring destruction on the horizon!" He finishes grandly. Then the world erupts.
"That is why we are hoping to break through to the center," Yanig says from behind the three cowering men. They peek out from under their hoods at him, pointing to the horizon.
Doa stands, scans the area, and is surprised to find the ground still flat around them. He joins the others walking toward the blast site. "Not too bad, hey?" he offers from the back of the group.
They stop abruptly. Doa walks into Taek, steps aside, and jumps back. "I almost died!" He grabs Taek's arm to steady himself.
"You almost died? You?" Taek yanks his arm free.
"Taek's right, Doa. Remarkable ability, but you need to be more careful." Yanig backs Taek to placate him. "All of you were in danger when the ground erupted." He glances at Taek's pale face. Taek rarely gets shaken, but sometimes he carries the look of a man who has already seen what comes next.
Taek looks away. Yanig gives Doa a quick wink, then slaps him on the back hard enough that he lurches toward the edge. Taek grabs Doa by the back of his robe, pulls him back, then shoves him forward again. "Why is it a big black hole though?" Doa asks, resigning himself to his fate.
Dissatisfied with his attempt to scare Doa, Taek pulls him back from the crater's edge. "Obsidian. Your spell pulled magma from the earth and blasted a crater in our training grounds."
"Good job, Doa!" Yanig says. Ruben nudges him in the ribs. Taek glares. "I mean , good spell, but very reckless. We'll have a private discussion about this."
Ruben elbows him again and turns to leave. "Sure you will. The recklessness of the spell will no doubt require very thorough examination." He keeps walking, the others trailing behind. "For research purposes, of course."
"It would also be good to invite Saqwe," Yanig adds.
"Obviously I'll need to be there, since I am a part of the research team." Ruben scoffs at the obvious bait but isn't willing to risk missing a moment Saqwe might attend.
"Too easy," Doa says. "Ok but then you need to actually tell us the plan, Yanig. You always do this, everything is some drawn-out saga. I have things to do, you know."
"Like what?" Yanig chuckles. "Actually , fill that crater before you go. Leave the training grounds as you found them."
Ruben glances back, briefly considering lending a hand. Not this time. He walks on with the others, none of them sparing Doa a second thought.