Completed (Flashback) An Ocean of Meditation

[Kuvarakh]

3 Summer, 408 AV

Kuvarakh cursed his lack of focus. Always the cries of his daughter. Not a memory. Worse, his imagination. But to turn away from anything even resembling a memory of his daughter seemed a betrayal. It had been less than three seasons since her death and it still dominated his spirit.

The last time he had seen her there had been something odd about her, as though she was a different person. She was supposed to be at the University, but she was walking towards the docks. When he confronted her, she gave him some flimsy story about a class trip on one of the ships, something about aerodynamic theory and sailing... - *Kuvarakh* -

He had quickly exposed the many discrepancies in her story, not the least of which the fact that any transportation costs were not part of the tuition package and had to be paid out of pocket, HIS pocket.... - *Kuvarakh!* - ...in addition to the fact that she was only taking classes in agriculture.

It seemed as though he had woken up back at home right then. He had shaken off the sense of dizziness, attributing it to an unexpected nap, as well as the confrontation with his daughter, now obviously a dream. He had gone to the window to see how soon until nightfall and was shocked to see it was the middle of the night already!

He never saw her again. Two tortuous weeks later, representatives of the Sailors' Guild confirmed his worst fears.... - *KUVARAKH!* -

The teacher stood not five feet from him, eyes glaring, face set in anger, "What is the matter with you? Focus on the task at hand! Even if YOU can not find a reason to see your tuition money well spent, be so good as to see that your PARTNER benefits from his!" He turned back to addressing the class, "Now, you have all shown an aptitude for accessing your djed. Some more than others. That is fine. I have teamed you as best I can to form pairs with one member that can provide force and one that provides support.

"Do not think that just because you are in the supporting role, that you are not as important. Far from it! The primary will set the stream in motion and will keep building the acceleration. It is the job of the supporter to define the boundary. It may seem at times that you work at cross-purposes, since the primary will be trying to push and the supporter will be trying to restrain, but this is not the case. The more the supporter is able to condense the stream by binding it to a plane thick enough to encompass the chargers, but thin enough to avoid diluting it with uncharged atmosphere, the greater the result!

"Now this is very early in your experiences and I do not yet expect much." he laughed and the class joined in, glad to be relieved of high expectations. "And I fully expect to be making some changes in teams as your abilities and shortfalls become clearer to me. But I hope not to do too much of this, as you will grow to form a...."singular mind" with your partner regarding the shaping and blending of your combined applications of djed. In short, the more you work with one person, the faster you both progress." He lifted the needle and held it up for everyone to see, "Now you all have one of these on your tray, pick it up, give it a taste of your finger and begin!"

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh drew a bead of blood on his finger and waited for his partner to give the signal. Nothing fancy, just a nod of the head. He placed his finger on the keystone simultaneously with his partner. He waited to feel the sense of flow through the ring. There were no chargers placed, so there should be no fount qualities to weave into the flow, no...

"'Friction' is the word you are looking for." the master stated loudly, "Do not think that because djed has no substantial physical weight, that it is not present, nor that inertia is not an issue in the alchemical process. You will not be experiencing the added resistance of the chargers' quality needing to be 'stirred' into the path of acceleration yet. That will come later.

Kuvarakh was still waiting for the djed to cycle around to his side of the ring. His mind started to wander. One of the female students complained that her partner was going too fast. he smiled to himself at how his daughter would have snickered at the bawdy innuendo of that remark. He started to think about her. How he missed her...

She had been found aboard a vessel heading to Sahova. Rather, her body had. Hers and two others. Speculation was that she had been taken by a Nuit. Additional speculation was that there had been some confrontation with either Nuit-hating humans or a rival Nuit while sailing to Sahova, Most likely the latter. The first assumption was due to the fact that her body had been largely drained of blood. The second due the fact that the ship’s manifesto had… - *Kuvarakh* - shown a passenger list that was well mixed, so neither race would have been likely to start racial hostilities. Whereas a mage fight would be something BOTH races would want to get clear of.

Kuvarakh didn’t really hate the Nuit for what had happened to his daughter. They were predators of a sort. The creator of the race was theoretically responsible for their actions. Every bit of research he’d done since… - *Kuvarakh* - his daughter’s death had indicated that there was no “cure” for their condition. Of course, there was equally little indication that the Nuit themselves were making any effort in this regard. But no, he didn’t hate them…He didn’t…HATE those... cold… uncaring…. murdering… - *KUVARAKH* -

Kuvarakh suddenly remembered where he was. His partner was backing away from the ring, his trembling face drained of color. The ring was glowing bright orange, the djed stream spinning furiously, forming a bell-shaped cone, higher than his head, the base of which was spreading beyond the boundaries of the ring. Several other students were gasping and losing control of their rings, lacking the presence of mind to focus their attention on slowing or releasing their rings simultaneously. Several rings had djed slopping over the boundaries of their rings like water splashing over alternating sides of a bucket, from uncoordinated releases.

“Kuvarakh! Stay at your keystone!” the teacher called out from the other side of the room. He ran his hands up his sides and a shimmering blue translucency lit up around him. “Those of you who have abandoned your rings, get out now!” He said the word with contempt. “Those of you who have not, Good work. Remain where you are. I will see you get extra marks for exemplary discipline!” He made his way to a nearby door as he spoke, waving Kuvarakh’s partner over and threw it open. Disappearing inside for a moment, they returned pushing a high-walled cart, straining as though it was quite heavy.

He pulled on a pair of gloves which also glowed with what Kuvarakh assumed was shielding. “Stand Back!” he commanded as he pushed Kuvarakh’s partner, Andrik, away. With his shields in place, both on his body and his gloves he grabbed each unmanned ring and threw them in the cart with a splash. ’Lead-lined and full of water, no wonder it was heavy.’ Kuvarakh thought as he fought to keep the djed from exploding out from his ring.

Eventually, they got the rings sealed in the cart and got Kuvarakh’s ring back under control, so it could be closed properly. “In my office! BOTH of you! NOW!”

[Kuvarakh]

The teacher paced angrily. Disgusted with Andrik for backing away from a charged ring, and furious at Kuvarakh for continuing to build acceleration after the exercise was disrupted.

"You weren't even supposed to BE the primary charger, Kuvarakh! TWO primary chargers? This whole section is an experimental theory! We are trying to take it as slow as we can!" He whirled on the other man, his finger, a stab of accusation, "And YOU! You must have been able to tell that Kuvarakh had taken over as primary! Why didn't you take it upon yourself to revert to support? I am going to let everyone take turns. Too proud to lower yourself to taking up the supporting role? Do not EVER let pride prevent you from contributing to the BALANCE of an activation again!"

Andrik pleaded to speak, "But master, please! I DID switch to support! It was already out of control when I realized what Kuvarakh was doing. But I couldn't even begin to keep it shaped. I couldn't even begin to slow down its expansion. I'm sorry I backed away, but I've never seen a ring grow so fast! I didn't wait more than ten seconds before I tried to switch!"

The master's brow furrowed as he looked at the man, "Wait a minute...are you telling me that Kuvarakh's djed push overpowered you beyond recovery in only ten seconds? He tested lower than you...considerably lower! That's why I had him in support. No, you lost focus! And now you're trying to divert the blame."

The man was almost in tears, "No master, I SWEAR I'm not lying! I thought it was my imagination at first. I admit I lost focus, but not until after the stream expanded beyond the ring."

The master's expression changed subtly from anger to astonishment, "Beyond The Ring? In only TEN SECONDS?"

"Well, ten seconds after he started primary push, yes."

The master looked thoughtful for a minute. He turned his gaze back to Kuvarakh, "What are you up to, Kuvarakh? Are you one of those traditionalists that is against this research? trying to undermine my experiment by creating disasters deliberately?"

"No sir, I'm not sure wh-" Kuvarakh began.

"One of those narrow-minded conservatives that doesn't understand the inherent risk in true discovery-level work?"

"Sir, I don't know what hap-" Kuvarakh began again.

"So you sand-bagged through the initial assessment so you could unleash some reckless burst to discredit me. To make my theory look dangerous!" Kuvarakh again tried to interrupt, but the teacher waved him down, "Haven't you figured out the point of this? This is NOT about alchemy on live subjects. I'm against that as much as anyone! That's why we are not actually charging anything! No chargers, no receivers! This is to see if a process can be boosted dramatically by two mages working in concert!"

"I KNOW what the point of this section is!" Kuvarakh shouted back, "Increased effect is what I'm looking for! You know, a lot of students avoided this quarter because of that 'conservative / traditionalist' crap you're talking about! But not me! It suited me just FINE! I want my daughter's death to matter! I want to find an answer NOW!" he slammed his fist on the desk and stomped towards the door.

Andrik stepped towards him. Kuvarakh turned and locked eyes with him, "Look, if you want a different partner, I...uh...I won't...I...won't complain...I..." The room seemed to rock like the deck of a ship for a second and he closed his eyes. He felt a strange pull in Andrik's direction and struggled to push against it. His effort took on the sensation of having his head inflate, but only from his face. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into a face. He wasn't sure if it was Andrik's or his own. "Oh, forget it, just forget the whole thing!" He turned and shook his head, breaking eye contact. The strange disorientation passed and he left the room.

After he left, the teacher turned to Andrik, "Well, it's just as well to have thrown some fear of disaster into these students, that should help them focus." Andrik just stared blankly, "Andrik?"

Andrik blinked suddenly and looked around uncertainly, "What am I-...? How did I get here? Sir? Did you want me for something?"

The teacher just stared at him.

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh made his way to the Library. The quiet would calm him. He wasn't really worried about being expelled for walking out of the teacher's office. He had been a late addition, no doubt the rules had been bent slightly due to his willingness to take part in the experimental class. He imagined they would bend the rules again to 'overlook' his outburst.

The fact was, he had been as intimidated by the growth of his ring's djed stream as anyone else. And as excited as he was intimidated. He didn't know how he had done it. And the teacher's accusation of "sand-bagging" infuriated him. He had done his best on the initial assessment. Again, he had thought it was only his willingness to join That Class that had cleared the way, for the measure of his djed quotient was unremarkable at best. At least it HAD been.

In retrospect, he couldn't really blame the man for thinking he had held back at check-in. His curiosity drove him to research past Students of Note in the field of Alchemy. He wanted to see if any past students had displayed sudden surges of djed affinity. By the time he finally realized he needed the Records Section, he was already finding it difficult to remember what he had been looking for. That was odd. He normally was able to retain focus easily. It wasn't as though it was noisy or anything.

Once in the Records section, he again lost track of what he wanted there. 'Oh yeah, students with marked increases in...what? Oh, that's right, Djed Access and Control...for....what field was in again? Not Animation...that other one...Alchem...istry...no wait...Alchemy! Gods, what's wrong with me?

By the time he had given up and decided he just needed a good night's sleep, he had gotten out a dozen books on a variety of subjects. Not remembering what he wanted them for, he left them on the benches and walked home. Andrik was there waiting for him. He had a lute with him.

Kuvarakh invited him in, curious what he wanted. They were friendly enough, for students in the same class that didn't really know each other, but they weren't friends. Something seemed different about him. He would never have actually said this, but Andrik had always seemed a little slow. He had considered it some sort of balance of fate that Andrik had higher djed skills, but he had higher inteligence. But now, Andrik was sharp, eloquent and self-assured.

"I'll get to the point," Andrik said, holding out the lute, "I've been playing the lute for twenty years. And all of a sudden, I can't even tune the thing. I want you to tune it for me."

"What? Tune your lute? I've never played a lute. I wouldn't have any idea how to tune one!"

Andrik looked at him for a moment, "Very well, just listen and tell me what you think is wrong." He sat with the lute in his lap and strummed the strings one time.

Kuvarakh grimaced and reached for the tuning fork, tapping it lightly, he set the ball end against the face of the lute and plucked the low G. It was off by less than a half quaver, but the overall tuning was progressively worse. He took the lute from Andrik and plucked the outside strings, high and low, which he knew would be the same note, though a couple octaves apart. The high G was off, but sharp, not flat.

He knew instinctively that one of the low strings had broken and the new string was still stretching, and as the string stretched, he knew the pull on that side of the neck would drop, putting more pressure on the thinner, high strings, which would make them go sharp. He tuned it and then stretched the string across the frets with his finger, bending the note. The high strings went slightly sharp and he made adjustments again. He repeated the process until bending the note no longer stretched the string.

He explained what he was doing as he tuned the lute and handed it back to Andrik, who looked at him as a scientist might watch a rat solve a maze. "And when did you learn to do that, Kuvarakh?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I never actually...uh...I don't...know" Kuvarakh stood staring at Andrik. "What's happening to me? To you? I can't seem to concentrate. I don't care about playing a lute! I want my mind back! I don't care about having more djed skill, I can't do anything with it!"

Andrik's expression took on a subtle change. He took a step closer to Kuvarakh, strangely threatening, "Well there's something I can do about it." A knife appeared in his hand.

[Kuvarakh]

"What are you doing?" Kuvarakh stared at the knife as he backed away from Andrik.

"It appears this experiment has not affected your ability to ask stupid questions. Maybe I should make a note of that." Andrik sneered, "Like you, I am not concerned about the change in djed control between us. As you say, what good is it when you don't have the wits to employ it effectively. But I, for one, AM enjoying the reciprocal trade in mental focus. But don't overdo it, Ku. It's not as though you are actually retarded. Just slow."

"But you'll never get away with this! The faculty will find out. Professor Feldorin will notice me gone!"

Andrik snorted with amusement, "Forgotten already, have you? You stormed out of the R & D lab after your near catastrophe. If you don't come back, no one is going to suspect 'foul play'" he made the classic 'quotation mark' gesture as he said the words. Kuvarakh lunged as he lifted his hands to do so, grabbing the knife-wielding arm at the wrist and elbow, twisting down and in. He instinctively swung his heel behind Andrik's knee and kicked back to force his knee to buckle as he pushed the arm back, forcing Andrik to either spin to his knees facing away from Kuvarakh or let his arm be broken.

Kuvarakh dropped to his own knees atop Andrik's calves and wrenched the knife arm into position to drive it into Andrik's own back. He didn't know where the move came from, but he ventured a guess, "I guess you must have taken a few semesters of wrestling, eh, Andy? Kind of backfired on you, didn't it? Now drop the knife and I won't break your arm as I cut your liver out through your ribcage."

The knife clattered to the walkway. Kuvarakh shoved Andrik to his face and rose, picking up the knife. "So what now, partner? You know, I honestly don't think you're as slow as all that. What do you really want?"

"Don't hurt him." a voice called from a short distance behind him. Professor Feldorin stepped out of the shadows. "It's my fault. I was hoping to goad you into using hypnosis to defend yourself. Please, let him up."

Kuvarakh's brow furrowed in puzzlement "Hypnosis? What are you talking about? I don't even know hypnosis!" the arm with the knife dropped to his side as he backed up to let Andrik loose.

"Well, what you did earlier today sure looked like it. You told Andrik here to "forget the whole thing". And he DID! He forgot everything that happened during your class time today. Were you even trying to use hypnosis on him?"

"No, I told you, I don't know hypnosis!" He paused a moment, thinking. "But I did feel a dizziness when I made eye contact. I had assumed it was a side effect of the djed stream radiation."

The professor got a sly look, "Actually, I think it IS."

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh helped Andrik to his feet as the man rubbed his strained elbow. Kuvarakh stepped so he could watch both men. his face turned slightly in Andrik's direction, "Did you volunteer for this nonsense?"

"Yes, once the professor explained why my whole day was a blank." Andrik sensed Kuvarakh's distrust and accommodated him by stepping over by the professor. "You want your mind back, I want my djedcraft back. Plus, I have a job as musical accompaniment to a singer and I suddenly don't know how to play."

"What does that have to do with threatening me with a knife?" he turned to Professor Feldorin, "What if I HAD hypnotized him? What if I had suggested to him that there was NO knife in his hand, but he had a spider on his neck? What if he had stabbed himself in the throat?"

The two men stared agape at Kuvarakh, at each other, back at Kuvarakh. The professor stammered, "uh...I...well..." he looked at Andrik, "Oh good gods, I...I...hadn't even considered such a thing."

"Well I might have, if he'd continued to attack me and if I hadn't found that wrestling move. DID you study it, Andrik?"

"Yes, for five years. But it's gone, or I'd have been able to counter that move." his head dropped noticeably, "I still have some sense of it, same as my djed crafting and my lute, but nothing like I should. You've taken it from me! All the things I really love! Yeah, sure, I have a better head for numbers and calculations now, better mental focus on language and research, finding information. But that's all cold and unimaginative. I need instinct and feelings and reactions for the things I love to do. And it's gone. It's all gone."

Kuvarakh felt a stab of guilt and sympathy. He knew all about those feelings. They all knew that no one had meant for this to happen. But he HAD taken all the joy from Andrik's life. Just like when his own daughter had died. His mind again began to recount the joys he had known, her smile and her laugh. How she'd run to him when he came home from the Finance Ministry. How she imitated the way - *Kuvarakh* - he had joked about his boss there. He had, of course, been exaggerating, but she had tried to put on the gruff face and scolding tone. Waving her finger - *Kuvarakh!* - like "no, no, no, daddy". Repeating the things he'd say, things his boss had said to him when numbers didn't add up. Then hugging him and saying, 'it's OK if you don't have the brains the gods gave sheep, I still love you, daddy!'

- *KUVARAKH!* -

Suddenly, everything fell into place.

[Kuvarakh]

"I think I understand!" Kuvarakh blurted, interrupting the professor, who shot him a look of taxed patience. "Oh, sorry professor, what were you saying?"

"If you would stop drifting off, i wouldn't have to keep repeating myself..." the professor sighed. "Ok, I was saying that I think the djed stream pulled your djed in when it crossed outside of the ring. It wasn't supposed to expand that far. YOU were supposed to be on support. With both of you on primary, it got out of hand and the only djed either of you could contribute was your own."

"That's just what I was going to say" Kuvarakh broke in, "....well, not the bit about me supposed to be only on support....but, yeah, we got our djed mixed. I figure it basically released a portion of our very nature into the stream. Then, with the mixing of djed, and with Andrik backing out of the stream, he relinquished a higher amount of his own djed, and I got it. Whereas he received only a small portion of mine. And maybe that's why I can hypnotize him. Only maybe it isn't really hypnosis, but some kind of djed connection or something."

"Well, what ever it is, it seems to have the same effect. Though I suspect it will wear off the same as alchemical effects do." The Professor pondered, imagining whole new chains of experimentation to dabble in.

Andrik grew tired of listening, "I can't wait that long! Why should it have turned out this way? His djed force was so much stronger than mine! If it's a matter of how much djed we both put in, he would have put in more. He overpowered me so quickly it should have been more his than mine whether I backed out or not!"

"Only at the end. That's what I am leading up to. You were stronger to start. That's why I was in support. You may have pulled out as I got stronger, but there was still more of your djed in the stream overall."

"That's what I don't understand," the professor faced the two of them, "How did you suddenly get so strong? I was ready to believe it was AFTER you got so much of Andrik's released djed, but it wasn't truly released until after you overpowered his. So you HAVE to have been stronger already!"

"No, but I got stronger and I think I know how."

[Kuvarakh]

They returned to the University's laboratory section as Kuvarakh spoke, as much to himself as to Professor Feldorin and Andrik. How he had lost his daughter. How she was taken by a Nuit bound for Sahova. How some conflict on board the ship had resulted in the Nuit's death, or at least its transference out of her body. How the weeks before learning the truth had driven him nearly insane with the sense of having failed her when she needed him most.

He spoke of how he had hated the Nuit, but come to realize that theirs is an unavoidably predatory nature and, though his daughter was still a victim, it was not a senseless act. How he came to feel that it was whoever created them that was to blame. How he came to feel that the discovery of a way for the Nuit to have less need to change bodies would be a way to give meaning to his daughter's death. How his only real disdain for them stemmed from their apparent acceptance of their need for bodies, as though murder was some right of theirs.

He knew of their cryo-storage of bodies in Sahova. But were the bodies all found dead? Had they all been condemned prisoners or something? And what of those Nuit not living in Sahova?

No, something needed to be done, he had decided. So he had researched and decided to enroll in alchemy, thinking he would work towards that end. Perhaps some way of enhancing the embalming fluids and processes? Even if he couldn't make a single body permanent and eternal, he could surely greatly reduce the need for new bodies! The Dual-Activators Theory class had seemed tailor made for him.

But he kept losing his focus. He kept thinking about his daughter. Understandable, perhaps, given that she was the source of his motivation. But it had seemed that her memory was as much a detriment as a motivator. So it had seemed...

[Kuvarakh]

"Wait a moment," the Professor interrupted, "are you saying that the anger you generate when you get lost in thought about your daughter's death is what empowers your abilities?"

"I'm saying that I think it is, yes."

The Professor noticeably sagged, "Then it's useless! What good is extraordinary djed access when it lacks focus. Or better said, 'lacks focus that you control'."

"I'm not sure yet. There's gotta be a way that I can remember her with the intense...ness of feelings I need, without losing...focus on what I was trying...to...doing at the time." Kuvarakh shook his head, knocked it a few times with the palm of his hand, "If only I could be...able to concentrate. I haven't been able to since the...thing in class. Not like I usually could"

Andrik looked thoughtfully at them both, "No indeed, not as usual. But I find that I can concentrate like never before. That seems to have been the trade-off. It occurs to me that, like all alchemy results, there will be a half-life duration to this effect. Then I find it reasonable to anticipate a restoration of our innate skills."

Both Kuvarakh and the Professor were watching him with renewed interest. "But I, for one, do not care to patiently wait out the seasons for my own personality to reassert itself. No offense, Kuvarakh, but you're a bit of an over-eloquent, long-winded snob. I am already fighting an impulse to rephrase your sentences correctly."

"Me either!" Kuvarakh agreed eagerly, eyes wide with hope.

Andrik winced and sighed, "Neither"

Professor Feldorin chuckled, "Very well, we work together and achieve both ends! Now, how do we go about it? How do we get Kuvarakh focused on his daughter, yet still focused on his alchemy? And go about it in a way that restores you both to your usual selves?"

Andrik put his hand to his pursed lips, staring off at nothing in particular, "One thing at a time...What is there that the alchemical activation process has in common with his daughter's death? Let's see...Nuit...body switching...if we had a girl that looked like his daughter...No...he would know it was not her...A ship?...doubtful....he was not there...there would be no association."

They kicked around several ideas, but there was always some aspect that they agreed would bring it to a dead end. In the end, the Professor suggested they all sleep on it and try again fresh in the morning.

"We're on the right track, I assure you both. But I am getting tired and that is never conducive to innovation."

Early the next morning, Kuvarakh was stirring a cup of tea. Nothing had come to him in the night. No inspiration. He was frustrated, and that feeling of having failed his daughter dominated his mood. He stared out the window, stirring the tea as a reflex, oblivious to its presence. As his frustration grew, he stirred harder. He hung his head, tears starting in his eyes with the thought of her crying out to him, begging for help.

Something burned suddenly in his lap and he regained awareness of his surroundings, a sad chuckle gracing his face as he acknowledged his clumsiness. He had stirred too hard and it had overflowed the side, just like the...djed had overflowed the ring...the day before. He watched the tea swirl in the cup...much like the djed swirling...in an.....alchemy ring!

[Kuvarakh]

The Professor had been up late generating an impromptu lesson to keep the class away and busy. Andrik arrived shortly after Kuvarakh and the three came to an agreement on the parts they would play. The Professor reminded the other two that all these efforts 'fell under the domain of the University's Research and Development, and any conclusions resulting from this 'experiment' were held as 'discovery' by the University Manifesto, wherein...blah, blah, blah...constituting agreement with the terms of the aforementioned...blah, blah, blah...under penalty of...blah, blah, blah'.

Kuvarakh burst into laughter suddenly as Andrik glared at the Professor, until the professor actually said the words "blah, blah, blah" and tossed the document over his shoulder. Then he, too, shook his head and started to laugh.

"We agree, and you two are witnesses," Andrik snorted between chuckles, "now let's get on with it."

"I think I can use the increased hypnotic...kind of...effect I have with Andrik right now. But it will cut into how long I can maintain the alchemy speed, so we need to focus. Professor?" Kuvarakh made a gesture and the professor nodded, retrieved Andrik's lute and handed it to Kuvarakh. The two men sat at a table and Kuvarakh began to play as he and Andrik locked eyes.

Nothing happened...They leaned in, almost touching, their eyes staring. Something was wrong. There wasn't that sense of "pulling". Kuvarakh concentrated on trying to feel the sensation, but there was nothing. Andrik began to grow agitated and started asking what was wrong. Frustration began to surface and soon both men were voicing annoyance with the situation and each other.

Kuvarakh cursed and leaned back, anger building tension in his mind. As he moved back, it seemed as though the angry pressure made his head stretch, leaving his face back in front of Andrik. The room spun and he closed his eyes and flopped back forward, his arms thumping against the table, He heard Andrik groan and he opened his eyes. Andrik's face filled his vision, his face blank.

"Andrik, listen to this lute." Kuvarakh said as he slowly plucked each string, highest to lowest. "All of what I have taken from you will return to you as you hear these notes. You will feel the essence of what is yours around you as we move in a circle. I will surrender what I have received from you and you will give back to me what is mine. You will help me keep the circle moving as I play. What is yours will leave me as I play and will join with what we move in the circle between us. What is mine will leave you as you hear me play and it will join with what we move in the circle between us. Now, listen to the lute play. Concentrate on the sound of the lute."

Andrik drones the words with him as the Professor carried in a small alchemy ring and placed in the table between them. He then pricked Kuvarakh's thumb and guided it down to the keystone so the two men did not have to break eye contact. Kuvarakh continued to pluck the high 'G' and drone on about the sound of the lute.

Andrik followed Kuvarakh word for word, his voice sleepy, automatic. Kuvarakh now handed the lute to the professor, the both of them taking care to keep the note playing. Even with no lute experience, it was no problem for the professor to maintain plucking an open string.

Hoping that Andrik was sufficiently mesmerized to maintain his own entranced understanding of what was to occur in what order, Kuvarakh now changed his concentration to generate acceleration and get the image he needed in his own mind. They now trusted to the Professor's experience to monitor the acceleration of the ring and let the notes progress for optimum effect. The professor continued to pluck the string as he monitored Kuvarakh.