Part 8 - Familiars

Markand walked to them in a hurry,

" I am so sorry." He was panting, "The traffic is maddening near Fisher's Street I had to take a longer route, over the bridge, to get to you all. I had to park way over there," he gestured in a random direction," and walk all the way here." He said.

All three of them had huddled up on the ground together to keep Vysna warm. They got up and stood in front of him.

"So, did you all find the objects?"

"Yes, we did," Aaden said and held the pyramid in his hand.

" Oh an earther, we need more of your kind," Markand said as he took the pyramid from his hand and kept it in the bag which he had carried with him. Then he took out a small cage from the bag. The cage had a tiny mouse inside it.

" What is that?"Aaden asked.

" Hold it first. I will explain in a few minutes. What have you got Tashvin?" He asked.

" An obelisk." Tashvin handed it to him.

" Air, good." Markand took it from him and handed him another small cage which had a little bird. Which he took out from the same bag. Tashvin took it from his hand gave Aaden a confused look and shrugged.

" And what do you have Vysna?" He asked her.

She handed him the sphere which she had found in the water.

" Where did you get this from?" Markand looked shocked.

"From the lake," she pointed at it.

" That's odd, very odd." He set down the bag from his hand and was observing Vysna thoughtfully. " This is very old." he turned the sphere in his hand." We haven't set these out in over fifty years. We haven't had anyone as a water element in a hundred years. I didn't expect this. Can you actually, hear it?" He asked curiously holding it in front of her.

"Yes, I did, very clearly when it was in the lake." She said.

" Hmm... Okay, I might have to talk with the council on this one." He stood there thoughtfully for a while.

"What were the objects that we found?" Aaden asked Markand distracting him from his thoughts.

"Resonance machines." Tashvin and Markand said simultaneously.

" How do you know about these?" Markand asked Tashvin.

" Well... I have made one of these at home but it's very basic, a prototype you can say. I might have to work on redesigning it now after seeing these." Tashvin said nervously.

" You made these?" Markand asked surprised.

" Is this what you've been working on for the past few months? Bunking classes." Vysna said looking at Tashvin.

"Yep... was the latter information necessary?" He snarled.

Vysna shrugged, "Well I am too dumb to understand like you said." She smirked.

" Shut up, both of you," Aaden cut them off. " Sir, what are we supposed to do with these?" He looked at Markand and jangled the cage in his hand.

" Oh yes, that is going to be your pet for a few days. Try to get to know it better. See if you can connect with it." He said.

" How am I supposed to connect with it, it's a rat." He held the cage to his eye level and looked at the creature.

"That's a mouse, and yes you will have to at least try," Markand said.

" Same goes for you, Tashvin. And about you Vysna, I am not sure. I will talk to the council and you will be getting your pet by evening, I think."

Navil picked them up when Vysna called them. Leysa was eagerly waiting for them at home.

"So, how was the first lesson." She asked as they entered the house.

" We have new members added to the family." Aaden said and showed her the cage."

"Oh wow, what are you supposed to do with them?" she asked.

" We are supposed to connect with them it seems. I have no idea how that is going to help us in the tests." Tashvin remarked.

" I know exactly how it is going to help you all. But I think you all should figure it out on your own that would be exciting." Leysa said smiling.

" Vy, where is your pet?" Navil asked.

" Did you forget it in the car?"

" No, uncle Markand said something about water element and that he will have to talk with the council. And that he would be getting me the creature in the evening." Vysna said she looked disappointed.

"Water? Did you get a sphere? That's..." Leysa looked uncertain. She stood there lost in her thoughts for a long time.

"Mum, what's with the water element?" Vysna asked.

" I will tell you about it once I talk with Markand. Ok, don't worry. Go change first or you will fall ill. I thought you got wet in the rain, did you dive in the lake?" She asked.

Vysna nodded.

" Hmm... Go quickly." She sent her to her room.

Aaden and Tashvin shared glances and walked to their respective rooms.

" Navil, the council should not find out about her... Nobody should know. I cannot believe her element is water. Of all the other elements she had to get water. Oh, what am I going to do."

Leysa said rubbing her forehead.

" The council won't know. It's not that easy to find out right? I mean she doesn't look any different from both of them. They won't know, they won't know don't worry... Would they?" Navil assured himself more than he was trying to convince Leysa.

" She found the sphere in the lake, the same lake. Oh, I am worried now." Leysa held his hand.

Markand had come in the evening. He had got a small fish bowl with a tiny blue fish in it. He gave it to Vysna. All three of the kids, Leysa and Navil were sitting in the living room.

" This is yours. The instructions to be followed are the same. Try to connect with it."

" How much time do we have, to get connected?" Vysna asked him.

"The sooner the better. Your tests are in six months so you will have to be prepared for them at least two months before they start. There are many things to learn still and you cannot afford to be lethargic." Markand said with a straight face.

All three of them nodded in agreement.

" Leysa, I need to talk to you in private," Markand said.

The children left for their respective rooms.

Mark wiggled in his seat, looking a little uncertain of what to say. He adjusted his posture, " Did you not know that her element was water?" He finally said.

" Believe me Markand, I didn't know. Did the council members say something?" She asked.

" They are shocked, that much I can say. They will have to make a few changes in the tests now. After the accident twelve years ago. They are a bit wary." He said.

"What kind of accident?" Navil asked.

" I was going to ask the same thing," Leysa said.

" There has not been a Partham with water element in the past hundred years. Until about fifty years ago, we had placed a resonance machine to find at least one with the water element but in vain. So, we stopped at that. But we didn't stop the task during the legacy tests which tested the water element. Then the dreaded accident happened twelve years ago, a boy died during the tests. It was a water task. So we decided to stop that test as well." He sighed,

"And now the council is rethinking putting that task back in the set. And I am worried for your kids. I tried convincing them but they won't listen. If you try talking to them maybe. At least talk to the Surishi twins, Meera Surishi and Aveda Gautama. This year they are in charge of setting the tasks." He concluded.

" I don't know, after the fiasco at the council, I don't think any of the council meeting members want to even see my face." Leysa sighed

" Don't think like that. The twins are sensible people, I think they will listen to you. You have to try." He said.

"Yes, Leysa for our kids," Navil said.

She nodded.

Tash sat in his room, staring curiously at the bird in the cage. He clicked a picture and searched for the details of the bird. It was a tiny babbler bird with a yellow breast and golden crest. It didn't make any sound. Probably it was too scared of him.

" If I can give any relief to you, I am as scared shitless as you are about this whole situation," he said warily to the bird.

The bird seemed to have perked up a bit. " Man...I think I am in a haze to think that the bird responded to what I just said."

The day was tiring, but Tash felt an odd sense of achievement with what he had done. Climbing trees, and listening to sounds, the obelisk, the adventure, he shuddered at the thought of mushy moss getting into his nails again. And frantically checked his hands.

When he'd reached home he had thoroughly taken a bath twice. Making sure that he got the outdoors off him completely.

He sat with the resonance machine that he had made. His mind was wandering to the possibilities of what he would do if he got selected for the tests. What would he get to achieve with the facilities that he got if he was selected? He lay on his bed and gave out a sigh.

He looked at the bird again which was now sleeping, perched on a tiny rod at the centre of the cage. It looked peaceful. Tash placed the machine under his bed and tucked in the covers to sleep.

Vysna took a long shower before she prepared for bed. When she was swimming in the lake that day, the water in the lake felt familiar. What a weird feeling to get for an element she thought. She loved water since she was very small. Anything to do with water excited her. Swimming, diving, snorkelling but this was different she felt as if she had been there before. Like a calling.

She snuggled in her sheets looking at the fish, which swam carelessly in the fish bowl. She sent a small wave, which tipped the bowl spilling water on her study table.

"Shit," she frantically got up and held the bowl in one of her hands and dabbed the table with a towel with the other hand.

" Are you ok?" She asked the fish, but it seemed unbothered by what had just happened." Wow, you are so oblivious. You don't even know that I almost killed you." She said placed it back on the table and went to sleep.

" You are an ugly and ungrateful creature," Aaden said cocking his head at the mouse. Aaden had taken out an old hamster house that he had in his closet, cleaned it and made it ready for the mouse to stay. Unaware of its upgrade to a cosy condo, the mouse was nibbling away at the food that Aaden had given it.

" You try to escape from this place or I find you roaming around in my room in the middle of the night. I am going to hang you upside down right there," he pointed at a hook on the study table. " Who am I kidding, as long as I give food it won't matter now would it?" He said laughing to himself.

" I have finally lost my sanity, talking to a rat... A mouse, you're a mouse." He said.

He had only a day left for the final of the race. The practice, the lessons the mouse, the legacy tests, school, Neela, Ishil, Nidhi, the race track, the mouse again, these thoughts ran in a cascade through his head.

Another day to begin, another day to fight, another day to win.

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