Trial by Water

By Sara Harricharan

Marcus Gillen is a Twilight Knight with elite Gold Clearance gifted to him since his Knightship. Twilights with Golden Queue training are taught to play a game of wits with their mission objective and Marcus is one of the best. But his latest mission has popped up at a bad time. His gift is water--a double-edged sword to an elemental bearer. It can show him the darkness in the world--and the darkness inside himself. Visiting Kainesworth on assignment opens a new set of puzzles for Marcus, including run-ins with an ancient sea serpent and one strange little girl. Digging deep into his past might provide a few answers, but in doing so, Marcus is forced to take a closer look at himself. The darkness he's fighting may be closer than he thinks. Can he win this game or will he drown trying? Book #3 in the Twilight Knights Series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Harricharan
• Release date: Aug 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466164307

Sara Harricharan

Sara is a Christian author writing both inspirational Christian Fiction and Christian Fantasy. She is a graduate of the Christian Writer's Guild and recently graduated from state university with a B.A in English. She has written over two-hundred short stories and is published in anthologies, inspirational newsletters and e-zines.

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Trial by Water

A Twilight Trials Short Story

by

Sara Harricharan

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Trial by Water

A Twilight Knight Short Story

Copyright © 2011 Sara Harricharan

Discover other titles by Sara Harricharan at Smashwords.com

#1 Trial by Fire: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/74396

#2 Trial by Air: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75917

#3 Trial by Water

#4 Trial by Earth: Coming Summer 2014

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblances to real life individuals, places or situations are purely coincidental.

Acknowledgements: Special thanks to my family who has always encouraged me to keep on writing and to my ‘jewelly sisters’ who help me sparkle.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I saw the surface in shades of blue and black, shimmering and almost peaceful-like as I sped through the water, feeling it more as a part of me than anything else. It was a relief to have this mission over with. I wanted to sign off of work and into relaxation.

Out of habit, I chanced a glance behind me to check up on Terrance. He was my current borrowed help for the moment and useful for something once in a while. He lagged behind, courtesy of his elemental gift while I sped ahead thanks to my own.

The water rippled, casting bullets of light across the stone cavern as our shadowy figures raced towards the water’s surface. I crested first, vaulting out of the water by the aid of a solid pillar of blueness, thanks to my elemental gift.

Cheater. Terrance hacked, coughing as he gripped the stone ledge of the underground portal, heaving himself up and out of the wetness.

Wasn’t cheating. I flicked a hand of water in his direction.

He rolled his eyes, shying from the stray drops. Show off. He lay on the wet stone ledge for a moment, trying to catch his breath before his body finally shifted from its silvery metal form to a more human appearance.

You alright? I scooped up a handful of water from the pool and tested the strength of it. It wasn’t too bad, considering, but the water in the hot springs further down the caverns were always nicer and stronger.

Terrance coughed and sputtered some more.

I took the moment to splash water on my face, thankful that I hadn’t needed to switch from my human form to my water self. Terrance worked on evening out the transitions between transformations as per his former sponsor’s request, the wonderful Twilight Guardian, Ellis Lathmore. He’d recently graduated from Twilight Knight to the secondary ranks of Titan.

I had to admit that it suited him.

His physical form returned, his Titan armor gleamed in the reflective light of the cavern as he shook water from his ears and hair. I tried not to smile. As a Titan, he wore more armor than a Knight and as a requested mission assistant; he’d had to wear said armor. I was lucky. My aquatic talents and current clearance levels allowed me to slip past regulation with a thin wetsuit and ankle wrap. It was one perk I thoroughly enjoyed.

Terrance grimaced, attempting to force the water to exit his oversized ears. Oww…stupid water.

Plug your ears next time. I smirked. I always tell ya.

Yeah, yeah. I know. He snorted. So generous of you too.

I’ll do it for you next time.

Terrance snorted. As if. I don’t want your water anywhere near my metal! He gave his head one final shake. What’s with it, anyway? You didn’t morph out even once the whole time. Did I miss something?

I shrugged. A little sore, too much street fighting, I guess. Hot springs should help.

I told you not to say anything.

He insulted my-

He did not. He insinuated, but he did not insult. You could have ignored it.

And let my honor go-

It had nothing to do with your honor or with Twilight. Terrance retorted, mildly. You simply wanted to work out some frustration.

Ah, yes. I was very frustrated. Thank you for pointing that out.

You’re quite welcome. He smirked. You signing this one out or you want me to? I don’t mind either way as long as you report in before you take the next one.

I always report in before I take another one.

That’s because it’s required. I mean, if you would actually give your side of the report instead of just throwing your audio chip to some overworked transcriber in the assignment division?

And if I do, you’ll cover this?

I just said I would, didn’t I?

I considered the offer, gauging his current energy level. By not shifting forms, I’d forced him to pick up more slack than usual. The kid was almost exhausted—kid, for the singular fact that he was two years younger than my lofty eighteen. But he was offering something that was too good to pass up. I hated logging in after a mission to spend forever standing in line to sign and file documents in the proper departments before I could actually give the required report. Oral reports helped some, because it was a pain to write them by hand and the water inside me hated being around electronic systems too much to consider a transcription program.

Terrance would save me considerable headache and footwork by signing off on the mission and filing a main report. It would mean I only had to show up and initial his reports, add my own traveling log to the mission files and move on. As long as he remembered to rest a few hours or so, he’d be fine. I almost smiled. Sometimes Terrance is nicer than he ought to be and this is one of those times. I handed over the document canister. Knock yourself out.

He pushed me back into the pool.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I surfaced after he left, watching the armored figure dissolve into a series of blue-white sparkles as the academy transportation hub locked onto his energy signature. I stared at the wall until the portal’s chill crept into my body. Climbing out of the bottomless water pit, I made my way down the half-hidden pathway to the left. Skirting the transportation squares layered on the ground, I continued until the darkened pathway opened up into a shimmering blue expanse.

My eyes adjusted a few moments later and I took note of the steam rising from the various puddles and pools of the natural hot springs. Slipping into the nearest puddle, I held one hand under water and attempted to morph into my elemental form.

That was a mistake I remedied a few seconds later, scrambling from that puddle into the next one nearby.

My water form was hideous, a current murky green speckled with black flecks here and there, reflective of my current state in all aspects of my life as a Twilight Knight. It hadn’t always been that dark, only recently had the black flecks begun to appear and the dark blue turning more green than blue.

The madness teased me. I could fight it, but if something did not change very soon, it would be a pointless battle. It was not something I could keep hiding from much longer, even empty-headed Terrance had noticed my lack of true form. It didn’t help that my current records had me slated for review to take the necessary tests for his Titan-ranking. Titan was the second level of Twilight and it was quite appealing, as far as rankings went, but the tests that I would be required to take would expose this dirty little secret.

Green-and-black speckled streaks danced in my mind as I closed my eyes, trying to push it away. I couldn’t deal with it now—not now.

Taking a few deep breaths, I stretched out in the small, hot puddle of water and tried to relax. It was awkward and forced, like I knew it would be in my present state. My specialty as a Knight in the Twilight ranks demanded that I stay on my toes and in my full capacity at any given time. Relaxation was something I hadn’t experienced since before my applicant years.

Floating in the steaming water, I stared up at the shimmering ceiling where flashes of colorful light played off the glistening rocks. It was bright and cheerful. It should have made me smile.

But it didn’t.

Just like watching Terrance leave to sign out and report on my mission.

The kid didn’t know when to quit.

He was lucky; he’d been sponsored by a Shirron willing to see him through to Titan status. A Shirron who had graduated to the fourth Twilight level of Guardian in the years they’d been together.

I suppressed a shudder at the thought of Ellis Lathmore. Sometimes Terrance was too much like him, too good for his own good. It would have been nice to be sponsored by a high-ranking Twilight, but I would never have accepted a sponsorship from that particular Shirron. Their cheerful faces danced through my mind and I ducked beneath the water to clear my head. The swirl of the hot wetness and silence lent a soothing touch to my agitated mind.

In the water, I could breathe comfortably, I didn’t have to think and I didn’t have to worry.

There were many advantages to being in water and this was one of them. The stress drained away from me in slow,