Timestamp - 64th of Spring, 519 A.V.
Continued from: [The Midnight Gem] Becoming More Immersed II
Kelski gazed long and hard at Gilthas and he returned her look. They were both uncertain about what they were going to do next. It wasn’t the uncertainty of the path ahead, it was more the uncertainty of whether this was a good idea or not.
It’s a good idea. It’s a very very good idea.
The Gem assured both of them, flooding Kelski’s mind with her eagerness and certainty. The emotions the building was experiencing tipped Kelski’s opinion over the edge and she nodded with conviction, stepping forward to draw Pitch. Luckily, her dagger was not poisoned at the moment, a condition she normally remedied when she went into battle or just walked the streets of Sunberth. Instead, the dark blade gleamed, eager for blood, as she cut her own palms. The wounds were probably not necessary but Kelski liked the blood involved and wanted her blood on The Gem as both her and her Djedfather advanced.
Flanking the hearth in the main living area, Kelski and Gilthas advanced on either side. Following her lead, Gilthas bloodied his own palms as well, and they were soon enough laying their flesh on the stone of the hearth. Kelski exhaled hard, spewing out a glittering gas that was tinged with purple and blue dancing glitter. She inhaled, filled her lungs with air, and expelled more Res, slowing and certainly building up a cloud of it around her. She directed her breath towards the stones of the hearth and closed the flue on the chimney. Then she exhaled again, pushing the cloud of Res away from her and forcing it into the gaping maw of The Gem’s fireplace. Inhaling, she took a breath, exhaling she produced Res… over and over again.
Gilthas watched her curiously, and then did what she did. The Gem had no flesh and thus no easy way to get Res into her system, but with the flue closed and the hearth isolated… it was a close approximation of a human inhaling Res into their lungs. The older mage was certain Kelski wouldn’t have enough Res on her own, so his deeper red and purple hued gas joined hers and together the inundated the building with their power.
Kelski was used to doing things with Gilthas. The pair studied a great deal of magic together and often bounced ideas off one another. But combining Res to ignite what was, in essence, a Res Storm in another being was an intimate act. She could feel Gilthas’ willingness to take the building on as part of his Djedline. His magic tasted of acceptance and was spiced with a sort of welcome Kelski hoped her magic also reflected. But in truth, her own power was more laced with encouragement, acceptance, and the knowledge she knew The Gem could do this. It was hinting at the pride of a parent and the satisfaction of helping another being better itself.
Res poured forth, doubled and mixed, igniting the djed the building already had and teaching it to transmute itself into a new Res of its own. Kelski knew it worked when a Res that was neither hers nor Gilthas’ washed backward out of the fireplace. Both herself and Gilthas jumped sideways, breaking the contact, as she felt and saw the swirl of bright orange and green Res pass by them then suck back up the hearth as if The Gem herself was breathing. Kelski gasped, seeing the water and earth swirl around it. The motion itself reminded her of air, but it was all in conflict as if the Element itself was choosing The Gem.
Kelski waited, her eyes flicking between The Gem and Gilthas, who looked on curiously as if he’d never thought of doing this with another living creature that wasn’t a biped. The Gem struggled, the Elements at war within her, until finally one dominated and the hearth burped flames before igniting the actual firewood stacked there all on its own.
Word Count 662
