Part 13 - Selected

The lake was vast and dark grey. The looks of it gave the impression of a bottomless abyss. The rains had caused the level of the water to rise and the howling wind made huge waves which thrashed the banks. The thrashing caused an echo of dread among the onlookers and the participants alike. It was a very old lake said to be formed due to a meteor strike. It homed various aquatic animals and plants and was a protected site. There was a barrage of large rock-cut walls at its borders but these rocks were of little help as the water dominated over it and splashed everywhere. The tension among the people surrounding the lake was evident in the atmosphere.

Markand took all three of them inwards on a deck that was erected on stilts. The level of the water had risen so high that it spilt on the deck.

Tashvin shrunk with fear. He was acutely hydrophobic, Tash had slipped and fallen into a river when he was merely five years of age when his family had been to a resort on a river bank for a holiday. He knew how to swim but feared that he would forget it as soon as he entered the water. Aaden noticed his nervousness so he held him by his shoulder and gave him an assuring nod. " All of us are here with you, we will help each other out okay," he said.

Tashvin nodded and sighed.

Markand blew a whistle and called them all close for instructions. " The task is quite simple, all of you have to work together on this one. There are three parts of an object placed in and around the lake. You all have to first collect all of the three parts and then assemble them to make a very useful object. The same object will help you all locate another object. On finding the final object your task will be over. There are no hidden tricks today, it's a very straightforward task. You all have to work by communicating with others that's what is important." He was going to move away from them but then leaned in," plan out first then act," he said and winked at them. Then walked away.

They all huddled up closer.

" What's the plan Aaden?" Vysna asked.

Aaden thought for a while then said,

" We will search for one part at a time. As we don't know what the final object is, we will each use our power to locate the part of each element surrounding us. I think we should start with air first. Coz, Tashvin has mastered his skill." He looked at Tash and smiled. He said it, to cheer him up and help him get rid of his nervousness.

Tashvin nodded, moved back a little bit and concentrated on finding the object. But it was too windy and the rain made the situation worse." It's too noisy, I am not able to concentrate, he said."

"Shall we wait for the rain to subside a little bit," Vysna suggested.

"Yeah, I think it would be better," Tashvin said.

"Then let's try earth," Aaden said and placed his hands on the deck. He felt a faint buzz. " I feel nothing, I need solid ground," he said and started to walk to the bank of the lake. He placed his hands again on the ground but it was too wet and squishy. He couldn't get his hand firmly placed.

" The soil is too moist I am not able to get a proper image," he said.

" I have an idea, I dunno if it will work though," Tashvin said.

" We have to try, or we won't get anywhere," Aaden said.

" Okay," Tashvin turned to Vysna,

" Vy come hold my hands." He held his hands forward towards her. She held them. He turned her palms upwards and placed his hands below her palms. Both their hands turned upwards in the air.

" It's raining, there is too much water in the air. You will be able to send a frequency better than me." He said.

"Hmm..Okay, but will it work?" She asked.

" We won't know unless we try." He said. The rain pattered over them mercilessly and the winds made it hard for them to concentrate. After two attempts both of them were able to synchronise their wave. Aaden could feel their energy from where he was standing. Two distinct frequencies at regular intervals.

He looked at the audience sitting at the other bank of the lake. He could see their astonished faces. The elders were observing keenly. He knew they were impressed but didn't show it.

Leysa looked to Navil and he nodded with pride and amazement. He held her hand," like I said, our kids will always be there for each other." he told her. Leysa was very happy.

The first object was found inside a tree hole. Tashvin had found it within no time, both of their energies were in perfect sync. Each travelled through the air, wave after wave first in all directions then they concentrated it in a single direction at a time. The object was a semi-sphere which had clips-like apparatus on its edges. Which they assumed should fit into another similar part.

After they had found the first part, Tashvin suggested that Aaden and Vysna follow the same method to find the other earth part. The second time was a bit tricky. Vysna had placed her palms on the ground and Aaden placed his palm on top of hers. Vysna couldn't send a wave as easily as she could with air. Concentrating on water molecules present in between the mud, the pebbles and the rocks. They tried and tried for more than seven or eight times. But we're not able to get a firm picture.

Then Vysna thought they would get a bit closer to the water as there the water would be plentiful. It was difficult for Aaden to manage a wave when they tried to get closer to the water. So, they ended up midway where both of them could get a better feel of their respective element.

After a few more tries they finally were able to get the second part of the object. They found it under the rock wall towards the deck that extended into the water. It was another semi-sphere that fit perfectly with the part they had found earlier.

They clasped the two parts together to form a seamless sphere and an instrument inside the sphere started to tick. Similar to the ticking of the resonance machine they had found during their first task.

Lastly, it was Vysna's turn and they guessed that they had to get into the water to obtain the final part. Tashvin was hesitant to get in so Vysna and Aaden helped him along and distracted him.

Vysna dived inside and sent a wave strong enough that she could get a view of a large part of the lake. But due to the rise in the water level she had to swim deeper to get a clearer image. She sent two consecutive waves and waited for the result. But then she felt an odd tug on her. As if an invisible force was pulling her somewhere deep. It was not the kind of pulse she had heard when she had retrieved the sphere from the Yellow Lake. This was more like a pull. When she came to the surface for a breath she saw that Aaden was panicking. He had drifted far away from her.

She swam to him. " What happened?" she asked.

" I am not able to find Tash. He was here just minutes ago but then he was gone as if he was sucked in by something." He was panting. " I dived in to look for him but ... couldn't...I couldn't find him. So, I tried to locate him through a wave. I am not able to get through. Vysna I am worried. He was nervous to get into the water and the weather worsened the situation," he said.

" Wait, I will look for him," saying this she took a long breath and dived in. After she reached a considerable depth she sent a wave but was shocked to find that the wave didn't return to her. It was as if something had absorbed the wave completely.

She sent another wave and waited but to her dismay, it didn't return.

Then it struck her, she sent a signal towards particularly finding Tashvin. She was trying to communicate with him the same way she did the other day on the terrace of their house. And that helped her get a faint but quick reply from Tash. She swam back to the surface. " Aaden try communicating with Tash. See if you can find him. Send me a signal if you find him. I will do the same if I find him first. Okay?" She said.

"Okay," Aaden gave a thumbs up. Both of them dived in and went in two different directions, to cover as much area as possible. This helped them, Aaden found Tashvin's signal near a deeper end of the lake. He signalled Vysna and called her to the deeper end.

Tashvin couldn't breathe. He was being pulled by an unknown force beneath him. The force was so strong that he was flailing his hands and feet to get to the surface. After a while, he began to lose consciousness.

Vysna got a clear picture of where Tashvin was and swam quickly towards him. The force that was pulling him now was tugging at her. She lost control and couldn't swim to the surface. She was losing breath and was going to faint when she felt Aaden's presence calling her. She snapped out of the tugging trance and sent a strong wave to oppose the force that pulled her.

A loud splash was heard and Vysna was seen shooting up from the water only to land on the deck with a thud. She had Tashvin hanging on to her and both of them had fallen on the deck gasping for air. Aaden swam back to the surface and climbed out from the shallow water. He ran towards Vysna and Tashvin. Aaden immediately started with CPR to rejuvenate Tashvin who was lying unconscious on the deck. Vysna was rubbing his feet rigorously to warm him up. Tashvin threw up the clogged water and regained consciousness and both of them were relieved. Markand arrived and was waiting for them to catch their breath. He took out his phone and called for an ambulance.

The crowd left their places and came running towards them.

" What happened out there?" asked Aveda Gautama.

" Wait, Aveda can't you see that they are still breathless? Let them at least regain their energies before you bombard them with your question." Meera Surishi retorted to her twin's inquiry.

" Who was the one that sent such a strong wave?" Siv Lokesh asked looking at Aaden.

Aaden couldn't reply he was too shocked to talk about the incident that he had witnessed.

Leysa and Navil covered all three of their children with blankets. The ambulance arrived and carried Tashvin to the hospital. Leysa went with him in the ambulance and the rest of them followed suit.

Tashvin was taken to the hospital and kept for the night to monitor his vitals and to see that he recovered from his accident. All of his family members were in the hospital waiting room, worried about him.

Navil asked Vysna and Aaden about what had exactly occurred at the lake.

" There is something under the surface of that lake. Something so powerful that it pulls you to it. When we were looking for the last part, I felt something tugging at me. I had almost lost consciousness. When I felt Tash's energy calling me, I could resist the urge to go deeper and send him a signal. As soon as he replied I was able to locate him. I would have drowned along with him if Aaden had not sent a wave to me and gotten me back on track. Only then I was able to swim to the surface." Vysna blurted out in a single breath.

" Mom, what do you know about the lake?" Aaden asked her.

" I have no clue. All I know is that it's an old lake. An old site where a long time ago a few fossils were also found. It's a protected site under the government." She shrugged. " But that's all, nothing noteworthy about that place."

She said.

"Okay, enough of the discussion now," Navil said," all of you are very tired. Leysa, take them home and let them rest. I will wait here with Tash."

"Yes, you are right. Come on let's go." She said.

They disagreed at first then went along with her. After they reached home, Leysa got a call from Markand.

" How's Tashvin?" he asked.

" He is doing better. The doctor is going to keep him under observation for the night, they said that they will discharge him in the morning." She said.

" I had warned the elders to change the task. I am going to have a word with them about this." She said. Leysa was angry that despite her pleading with them they had shown disregard for her kids. The lack of empathy had angered her and she wanted reassurance from them.

" I completely understand, but Leysa ...I have news," he said.

His tone caused a knot in her stomach. That tone was a bad omen, she knew that something terrible was going to occur afterwards.

" Markand, I am not prepared for what you are going to say. I have a bad feeling about it." She said.

" It's not entirely bad news. You only have to keep an open mind," now he had a calmer tone. " The elders have already selected one of the kids as your legacy."

" Don't talk nonsense,, the training is not yet done Markand. How can they select already?"

"Leysa, they have selected Vysna."

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