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“I SAW Valcas’ memory inside the travel glasses, where he made his promise to Mom—that he would protect us, and that he would continue to search for you.”
My father sighed. “I had no idea Doreen cared enough about me to get involved.” The blood drained from his face. “Has she been waiting for me all this time?”
“She did wait for a long time,” I said. “Remember that anger you saw in her eyes? Let’s just say that at some point, I got to see that anger every time I asked about you.”
We stopped at a turning point inside the caves. We were at an intersection. One way led up to my father’s hideout, and the other to the latrines.
“Do you want to go up to your cave, or do you want to start heading back?” I asked.
“We should go back and see what progress has been made.”
I cringed. My father’s voice had suddenly become distant. I hoped I hadn’t offended him with what I told him about Mom. Seeing as I’d endured her bitterness toward my father for so long, I decided I could manage to do so a little longer. I changed the subject as we walked back to camp.
“Valcas showed me the slice in time where he first met you. He also told me that he was one of your patients.”
My father nodded. “Before Ray, Valcas was the most tortured soul I’d seen. Although, Ray’s healing remarkably well.”
“I researched Valcas’ past at the White Tower,” I admitted. “From what I could tell, he had a strange and lonely childhood.”
“Never underestimate the sensitivity of the young. Yet, in Valcas’ case, his childhood was only a shadow of his pain.”
Frowning, I asked, “What happened to him that made him so sick that he needed a healer?”
“He hasn’t told you?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not at liberty to tell you either. I am a healer and a confidant. I don’t reveal my patients’ secrets.”
“I understand.” I really did. Remembering the darkness of the memories Valcas had recorded in his travel glasses, I’d already known something had gone wrong. I just didn’t know what it was. Even though Valcas had trusted me with those memories, I’d done my best not to spy on him by searching through them since leaving TSTA Headquarters. I hadn’t looked at his memories at all since our mission started.
“And you,” my father said, interrupting my thoughts. “What is your opinion of Valcas?”
I pressed my lips together, wondering where this conversation would lead, not knowing how to begin. After a lingering pause, I said, “We had a rocky start, but the more I learn about him, the more I trust him.”
“I trust him with my life, and yours. Do you love him?”
Shocked, I stuttered, “I—why, I—that’s none of your business!”
My father raised an eyebrow.
I took a deep breath to regain control over my emotions. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I know him well, and from what I see, he is in love with you.”
“I thought you weren’t in the business of telling others’ secrets,” I shot back.
“This is no secret. Every one of us can see it, a love that is plainly visible. Love that you could use to destroy him. He has given you incredible power over him, Calla. Be careful how you use it.”
My stomach burned as my heart leapt upward into my throat. Valcas hadn’t said anything about love. He’d talked about feelings and proving himself to me. My head spun. What feelings had I burned into the travel glasses when I was at the White Tower? I hadn’t promised him anything... except that I would tell him if there was no chance between us. And if I did, he said he’d back off. End of story. Or was it?
“Okay,” I said, shrugging. It wasn’t like I had any plans to hurt Valcas, with or without whatever power my father was going on about.
I stared at the ground, watching my feet press in front of me. We were almost at the camp. The glow of the light stick “fire” burned brightly in front of the Falls. It was warm and comforting, the exact opposite of the sharp white glow of the Uproar. Figuring that my father’s knowledge of the Uproar would be useful information to Ivory, I waited until we got to the cave before I switched topics again.
“What exactly is the Uproar?” I asked, plopping myself down in front of the light sticks.
Ivory, who was carefully removing our fish and seaweed “lasagna” from the light stick pile, stopped what she was doing and froze long enough to get burned.
“Ouch!” she shrieked, dropping our dinner on the ground.
Fortunately, the meal was tightly enclosed in the package of leaves. She picked it up, turned it over, and set it aside near the pool to cool. Then she sat down beside me, wide-eyed, apparently ready to hear what my father had to say about the Uproar.
Still standing, my father looked over at the Falls. His fists rested on his hips as if he were a warrior staring down his opponent. “The Uproar is an impurity, a being of chaos that resists fire, including the purifying fire of the Fire Falls.”
“Um, okay,” I said. “What is it made of? Just light?”
“The Uproar is a spiritual being, one that can be manipulated because it is sentient. It only takes the form of light, a less intense shade of the Everywhere and Everywhen.”
“A spiritual being,” I said. “No wonder we can’t fight it. But it can be extinguished, right? That’s why Ivory and Ray were trying to surround the Uproar with fire on all sides and drive it toward the Fire Falls.” I furrowed my brows. “How would fire kill it?”
My father brought his finger to his lips and shrugged. “The Uproar is an impure spirit, one of evil. Fire purifies. When the Uproar passes through fire, it is purified until there is nothing left.”
I stared at the pile of light sticks in front of me. They gave off heat and light, but they were not fire. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like I could seek out bursts of bright white light and try poking them to death.
“An impurity,” I said again.
Ivory gently nudged me. “Let me try,” she said. She cleared her throat, raised her eyebrows, and lowered her eyelids, as if she was about to ask or say something incredibly important. “I think we understand all of the words you’re saying, Healer, but we need to hear them in a way that makes sense. Could you give an example of burning off impurity so we can understand better?”
My father smiled; it was a small smile, but full of depth and knowledge. “Yes, I can. Valcas told me about an extraordinary recovery that both he and Calla experienced—a healing that took place while coming through the Fire Falls.”
“My eyes?” I asked. “Does the impurity of the Uproar have something to do with my eyes?”
He sat down cross-legged and placed his hands on his knees. “The fogginess in your eyes and Valcas’ that became more prominent during travel was like a cataract. In one sense, it hid who you were to others and made you more susceptible to becoming lost. It also changed your eyes’ true color, which I hear made Valcas look rather disturbing.”
Ivory snorted. “Disturbing is one way of saying crazy-eyed, horror flick star. He looked like a Halloween ad for the undead.”
Covering my mouth with my hand, I nearly choked trying not to laugh. I couldn’t have said it better, and I couldn’t have agreed more. But then, whatever impurity Valcas had in his eyes, had also grown in mine. The thought sobered me.
“The Fire Falls,” my father continued, “cleansed the contamination that had grown through use of the travel glasses. The fire purified the impurity, eliminated it, much like the Fire Falls could potentially destroy the Uproar.”