City of IF

[Shady Stoat]

The majority vote was to stay and continue her training, risking the raid from the guards. Chapter fifteen follows from that...

Chapter Fifteen

Keli looked around the cellar, nervously. If anyone came for them, they were trapped in a burrow, with no hiding places. Shakal may be able to fight her way out, but Keli already knew what her chances of surviving an attack were, and they didn’t amount to much.

On the other hand, what were her chances out there, with the City Watch scouring the area? Hiding hadn’t done her much good before – and she was always going to be helpless if she didn’t learn some skills with which to defend herself.

Besides, if she could begin to learn the skills of spirit-travelling, she might be able to keep an eye on where the guards were conducting their raids. If they got too close, she could tell Shakal to take her to somewhere safer.

She only hoped there would be somewhere safer, if the need arose.

She turned to Maurice and tried to look more confident than she felt.

“We’re staying,” she said, proud of the fact that her voice wasn’t shaking. “Can you do anything to cover the cellar door? Make it a bit less obvious to anyone who comes in here?”

The small man looked doubtful. “I could put a sheet over it, I suppose. It’d probably make the door more obvious, though.”

An uneasy silence descended for a couple of seconds. Then, Shakal spoke.

“You could drag your still over to the area in front of the door.”

Maurice looked at the Were as if she were crazy. “You know how heavy that thing is, wolf? Besides, that’d draw the guards straight towards where you’re hiding.”

“The two of you could hold it for balance,” said Shakal, patiently. “I have the strength to move the still. If you move it to the point where the door will only open narrowly, the guards will either have to spend time dragging it away from the door, or they will at least have to enter the cellar one at a time. It gives the girl and me the best chance to defend ourselves against an organised attack.”

“So long as you’re quick,” grumbled Maurice. “I want t’be out of here before the filth hits.”

He turned and led the way up to the filthy living room. The other two followed him wordlessly. They navigated their way around the mattress and the unclean dishes and to the giant copper kettle in the corner. Between them (and due, mostly, to Shakal’s uncanny strength), they managed to shuffle the foul-smelling still close to the cellar’s wooden door. Even the wolf was breathing hard by the end of their exertions.

“Well,” said Maurice, “I’ll see you if you’re still here when I get back.”

With that, he began to gather a few of his possessions. It didn’t take long and there weren’t many. Within a minute, he had disappeared out into the street, jamming the slanted door shut behind him.

Keli stared after him, feeling a little sick. She heard Shakal’s voice, calling her back from the edges of panic.

“What would you like to study now?”

She drew a deep breath. “Spirit travelling. If the guards are coming for us, I want to know about it.”

“I doubt you will be able to master the skill to that extent.” Shakal stated, as she squeezed herself through the tight gap and into the cellar.

“I learned dream control faster than you thought I would.” Keli followed behind the wolf, unable to hold back her retort.

“The skill is more difficult, the time is shorter and you are more tired now.” The wolf’s voice was flat and dry of emotion. Keli felt herself getting angry again, and bit the emotion back. There was no time for them to quarrel. Not if she wanted to survive. Let her actions prove Shakal wrong, not her words.

“Teach me,” she said, simply.

“Be seated,” answered the wolf, sitting down on the blanket again.

Keli sat beside her, imitating the cross-legged stance of her instructor.

“Pick a point in the room,” said Shakal, softly. “Anywhere within the cellar.”

Keli’s eyes roved, before fixing on another pile of blankets next to the shelves of food and drink.

“Now,” said Shakal, following her gaze, “try to imagine yourself sitting in that spot. See yourself there, feel the material of the blankets beneath you, smell the dampness of the straw in that corner. Look at the two of us talking, hear the conversation, not from where you are sitting, but from where you imagine yourself to be sitting. Focus… and try.”

Attempting to obey, Keli closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, staring at the spot in the corner. She tried to imagine seeing herself there. She tried to imagine watching herself from a remote location. She tried to smell the dampness and feel the coarse blankets. She tried… and failed. After a few minutes of intense concentration, she expelled her breath in a great sigh and looked back at Shakal.

The wolf looked unsurprised, merely saying, “Take a few moments. Then try again.”

Keli tried. She tried until she thought her head would explode. There was not even the whisper of the type of success she had managed with the control of her dreams. It was as if she was trying to lift herself up by her own boot-laces. Simply impossible.

After a while, the wolf’s apparent patience became its own rebuke. Keli stared into the corner of the room, feeling ever more stupid, wondering what the wolf was thinking of her boasts now. Was Shakal regretting – again – the necessity of babysitting some helpless human cub, while her own people thought her lost? Was she angry, or frustrated, or simply bored, under the calm exterior of the teacher? If Keli chose to sleep, would she wake up to find that the Were had simply given up on her, leaving her in the cellar, alone, for the guards to take?

She tried to drag her mind back to the job in hand, but it insisted on tying itself in knots of anxiety. Her eyes would not see what Shakal wanted her to, her mind insisted on seeing all the things she herself dreaded.

“Again.”

“It’s no good – I can’t do it.”

“You were the one who wanted to stay and learn.”

“I know,” Keli almost wailed her frustration.

“Do you want to stop and sleep a while?”

“I’m not tired! I’m just… isn’t there any other way to learn this?”

Shakal was silent a moment. “No other way that I know. The skill is not mine to teach – I can only instruct you as I was told. You must keep trying.”

Keli’s eyes swam with tears. She should not have expected to be able to learn everything she wanted to. Not in a single day and night. Still, her failure stung all the more because of her easy victory over the first skill.

She focused on the corner of the room, feeling the wolf’s eyes upon her. Eyes of amber, flecked with brown and gold, she could see them even though she was not looking at Shakal at all. Those calm, accusing eyes surrounded her, making her head swim with light-headed giddiness.

There was a moment of disconnection…

She stared at Keli, the girl with a single tear running down her cheek. The girl’s face was slack. She stared into the corner of the room with dull eyes. There was something… familiar… something… wrong…

Get out!

She cautiously explored the wrongness. Her fingers curled and she felt strong claws digging against her palms. There was an alien sharpness to her teeth and there were far too many of them to fit into her mouth. She ran her tongue experimentally over them, while her nostrils assailed her with a host of smells like…

Get out!

…like nothing she had ever experienced before. The human smell was sour with sweat and fear. The straw was old and starting to rot in the dampness of the cellar, and above everything else was the stench of yeast, sinking down from the floor above. Fermentation and decay and bitter acid that burnt the throat and poisoned the mind. This she knew, although she did not know how she knew. It was like…

Out! Get out!

She heard it then. A voice from within. It sounded angry – and frightened. She reached for it, and it seemed to fade. Once again, she found herself staring at the human girl – the one who seemed half-asleep. The one who was…

You! It’s you! Think!

Reality imploded on her. She was watching herself. Her mind had travelled – but not to the point in the corner of the room. Somehow, she had ended up in possession of Shakal’s body. Looking out through alien eyes and breathing through alien lungs while her protector railed helplessly at the sudden switch.

Keli was torn between triumph at finally achieving something, and fear of what the wolf was going to do to her when this was over. Then another thought imposed itself on her, driving the other considerations out.

What if she couldn’t get back to her own body?

She looked at her slowly slumping form and willed herself back. There was nothing. No sensation of movement. She ran, panicked, through the imprisoning hallways of the alien body. Random muscles twitched and jerked as she tried to find a way out. Everything seemed slammed closed against her escape. Shakal’s voice was speaking – shouting – at her, but she was heedless and, by now, terrified.

Another avenue and, suddenly, she was trawling through memories.

A brother’s playful nip sends her wailing off to her mother…

Standing in her father’s workship, watching him enchanting a pretty piece of glass with light magic, until it looked like the most delicate of diamonds…

A tattoo-ed man, hurling a stone at her as she walked along the park, towards her family’s home…

The call in the middle of the night. “The guards are on their way. We have to get out.”

The sudden surge of pride as Malkai bade a task of her, then the disappointment as…

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

Keli slammed back into her own body. She sucked in a choking breath as her head reeled. Everything felt smaller, enclosed… she felt as if she couldn’t breathe, even as the oxygen pumped her lungs with frightening rapidity. Her heart was pounding as if she had been running for miles and sweat began to prickle her skin.

She didn’t dare look at the wolf, although she could hear similarly ragged breathing from the space opposite her.

What had she done? Why hadn’t Shakal told her that could happen? What was the wolf going to do to her? The gnawing fear of being left alone came back, redoubled.

“How are you feeling?” The voice of the wolf cut into her thoughts, numbing her with surprise.

“I didn’t mean to,” she blurted out.

“I know. Are you all right?”

Keli finally glanced nervously at Shakal. The wolf was still catching her breath, but there was little sign of the expected fury.

“What happened?” ventured the girl, feeling herself relax a little.

Surprisingly, she got a tight smile in response. “You short-cut a few of my lessons. I will not say you mastered a new skill, for I saw little of mastery in it. Even such a clumsy attempt at possession is remarkable, though, especially from a…”

The wolf faltered to a halt. After an awkward pause, she resumed. “You took possession of my body for a few moments. It is an advanced skill, and not one that seers generally access easily. I had not contemplated teaching you, thinking an attempt would be well beyond your capabilities. To some extent it was. What you managed, you managed by chance, with no skill behind it. I was able to… return you to your own body in a matter of moments.”

“But…” faltered Keli, “I read your thoughts. By accident,” she amended, hastily. “Was that part of the… the possession?”

Shakal sighed. “The simplest form of soul travel is spirit walking. This you were attempting to master. In its more advanced form, the soul can walk straight into another form, taking over its muscles, sensations, perceptions and, yes, searching through its mind. Even more advanced is the ability to ride someone else’s consciousness and rifle through their thoughts and memories without being sensed.”

“Could you teach me how to do that?”

“In the time we have? No.” Shakal looked at her, flatly. “I think we should continue to try and teach you the basic skills, for now. The Oracle said that spirit-walking was a skill that you might have need for – not bodily possession.”

“But you said they were both aspects of the same skill,” protested the girl. “Maybe he meant…”

“Whatever he meant,” interrupted the wolf, “I think it must wait until we have slept. I am weary. I imagine you must be, too.”

Keli was. Her body felt heavy and her head felt light. Nevertheless, she objected.

“If we sleep now, we won’t wake ‘til morning. Then Maurice will come back and throw us out. I’ll never get the chance to learn what I need to know!”

“You will learn nothing when you are tired, human,” replied Shakal, already settling down on the bedding. “The body and the mind need to rest. I will find a way to teach you what you need to know before we must face Itharien. Now, sleep.”

Grudgingly, Keli gave in. There was no point in staying awake if her tutor refused to teach her. She tried to stoke her resentment, but found only exhaustion to call on. Within minutes of laying her head on the pillow, she was fast asleep.

------------

The thudding of footsteps over head jolted them awake. The candles had been snuffed before they slept, and the only light down here was creeping in from the gaps between door and frame at the top of the steps.

Keli peered, making out the outline of Shakal, her eyes reflecting against the glow of the thin light. She crawled closer, trying to move silently.

Boots trod the ground above, causing a rain of dust from the ceiling. There was the sound of mocking laughter and thickly accented voices, arguing amongst themselves. It sounded like at least four people were up there, although the door and their accents muffled what they were actually saying to each other.

As she edged closer, Shakal gripped her arm, almost making her shout out in surprise.

“Stay here,” whispered the wolf. “I’ll go and deal with this.”

“No!” Keli hissed her whisper. “I mean… we’re safe down here, aren’t we?”

“I don’t know,” answered Shakal. “There may be too many of them. You have no experience with fighting and if they outnumber us by many, then I cannot hold them all off. Besides - listen. Do they sound like the City Watch to you?”

The girl listened. The voices upstairs sounded loud and argumentative, but that proved nothing either way to her.

“What difference does it make who they are?”

“I am not sure. There is no point to us waiting down here, though, like rats in a trap. I can fade out and at least go to see what the situation is.”

“I’m not sure…” whispered Keli.

“What would you do then?” demanded the wolf.

And there was the problem. What would she do?

Keli considered, aware that time was short…

[Smee]

Great chapter :D

Loved the possession.

I'm inclined to let Shakal handle this though. I can't think what would be better. We're rested, so we could try something, but possession isn't going to get us anywhere. We were so confused inside Shakal that taking one of the people upstairs would just cause chaos.

Let the expert at least scout, and then maybe an idea will appear.

Happy Writing :)

[DukeReg]

She should caution against fighting unless necessary. They may not be Itharien's soldiers. Scouting is a good idea.
Assuming they are Itharien's soldiers:
If one opens the door a crack and comes down, Shakal can silently swipe him. The next one down will probably be more cautious if he didn't get an answer from the first, but that wont help him against Shakal. If they all come through one at a time, Shakal can take them all, I'd say. If the remainder of the men try to move the still (without superhuman strength), or if they call for reinforcements, Shakal and Keli will know about it well in advance and Shakal can move up and crack some heads, with 2 or more of them already down before the many on one fight starts.

[ethereal_fauna]

Actually, if she could possess one of the people upstairs, choas would ensue and that could work in their favor. The people upstairs don't know where the two are, and focusing their attention on one in their own midst acting strange, would certainly be a grand distraction. Question is, could Kelli even do it?

If Shakal and/or Kelli think possession is impossible, then use that element of surprise and let Shakal confront them, strike first.

[Chinaren]

I f5 Flauna. Try and possess someone. Koool!

[Solomon Birch]

Wonderfully immersive chapterness Stoat! Loved the fear that they both felt when she snuck into Shakal. :D

I agree with Smee; she doesn't know how to possess properly at all, and it only happened by accident. Letting Shakal investigate without alerting anyone to their presence seems like a sensible thing to do. To me, they don't sound like guards, unless this city's guards like getting stupidly happy (drunk...?) in random houses... :?

If they are guards and they are searching for people, then their best hope is to remain undetected. If Shakal attacks, then she probably wont be able to take too many, and it may only result in Keli escaping into the dangerous streets and Shakal's wasted and painful death. And even if she can take the ones upstairs, there's every chance they will call for help. They cannot risk that.

So, letting Shakal get all sneaky and invisible to observe the situation seems like the best idea at the moment. :biggrin:

*holds breath* :shock:

[Kalanna Rai]

The wolf is in her element. Let her show you a few moves...

[Shady Stoat]

Poll's up for 3 days. Vote away.

[Chinaren]

'ted and 'ing. ;)

[Solomon Birch]

Voted!

*holds breath* :shock:

[ninja baloon]

Use Possesion and assasination. When one won't work use two! We managed possesion even when we where rat-arsed. I know that was accident but still. Isn't it easier to practice a new skill when you manage it by accident instead of not managing it at all.

[Tazgirl180992]

Brill chapter like usual! Shakal got possesed :-D hehe! Shame I didn't get a vote, but my choice has won already so it doesn't matter!

BTW has anyone read my 1st story yet? (Sweet Nightmares) If some one has can they tell me what they think of it please? I've put up the forth chapter already, but I don't know what to put... Oh well! :)

[Shady Stoat]

Chapter 16 up. Thanks everyone, this topic's being locked now. :)