Crow had been Shinya. His explanation settled uneasily in her head, but from what she knew about Oyama Tye it made sense. Had he not professed her strength and cunning, she may have found herself far more terrified at the prospect of this personal magic than she was. As it stood, the notion that this woman's treachery spanned farther than her own stolen brother was enough to briefly harden her resolve to that of iron.
She took a step towards Jun, but the iron wavered. He explained the methodology behind the flux, and the sharp pain in her backside affirmed his statements and throbbed heavily. At leasts she hadn't cracked her head, or likely she'd be taking a nap with the force she had struck the pillar with. The statue she was to lift was embedded in the ground, and likely weighed forty-five or fifty-five pounds. Not an impossible task even unaided, but she took it seriously.
Projection was hard and foreign to her, but his words made sense. It wasn't though some scholarly knowledge that she knew, rather from she had felt. It was near impossible for her to manipulate her astral self without calming herself beforehand, and so she assumed it would be the same for the Flux. Elhaym crouched beside the statue, arranging her hands into a position that had helped her focus in the past. One palm open, the other balled into a fist and pressing into it. The physical strain helped clear her mind, the ambient noise and the feeling of air upon her skin slowly fading into blackness. It took a full chime before Elhaym's mind was black, before she could truly begin to focus.
She felt her mind instinctively moving to the astral form of herself, preparing to ease it from it's shell. With some effort, she subdued the notion and instead focused on what lay nearby; the rivers and channels that were invisible to the eye, carrying djed as it's passenger. She thought of them as a whole, unable to pick out individuals among the masses, but it seemed enough. She could feel them. Her breath was steady and slow, her mind busily familiarizing itself with the pathways of djed in her body as she slipped further into her meditative state.
Another chime passed, and then another. Even knowing what to look for, knowing what to do, the words meant little when actually attempting it within her body. She merely felt them at first, but soon began trying to will them to grow. As if widening the banks of a river and ushering a tidal wave along it's waters, soon the channels began to respond. She felt it in her body immediately, a hot tingling sensation throughout her major muscle groups. She was ready.
Elhaym opened her eyes, reaching to grip the statue underneath the pits of it's stone arms. One arm hung at her side while the other tightened it's grip, and she pulled with all her might. The statute shifted, but did not rise right away. It was almost instinctive to push harder, but not simply with her muscles. The clarity in her mind still lingered, and the tidal wave of energy pouring through her body became greater. A second yell, more of a roar this time, and the statue was held aloft by a single hand.
Pain stood panting, tossing the statue back to the ground with a heavy thud after giving Jun time to examine it. Her muscles were all tight and hot, and the felt as if they were buzzing. Something hot and prickly nicked at her body from within, and she understood at once that it was the djed she had forced into it cycling through it's pathways unchecked. She had only been able to force it out along her entire body; guiding it was beyond here at this moment. She knew it was dangerous, foolhardy even. The same power had crippled her father, rendering his right hand useless.
But she was strong, and she could handle this. She had to. She became aware that she was panting, and straightened her posture before the Sanim.
"It is hard, but I can do it Sanim." She said simply. Already the hot pins and needles had faded into nothing. |