40 Scanning the Mine (1/1)

”I give up,” I throw my hands up in exasperation.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Alistar chuckling. Even Ede is biting her lip to suppress a smile.

I roll my eyes and don't bother with them. Looking at the Elder, I ask, ”Don't you have something else you should be focusing on?”

She arches an eyebrow, staring at me for a moment, but moves on, ”As I was saying, we know the current situation. Clear away, so we have room to work. Also, grab a map of the mine and note down what I tell you.” The three moved closer to the opening of the mine while everyone else trails behind.

I push my way to the front with Lark. The Elders stand in a triangular formation with a few feet of space between them. They close their eyes while beginning to channel asura. An unseen force pushes against everyone as a heavy wind kicks up. The three Elders are unaffected as they shine the color of their asura. Baldy glows green for Asura of Mind, found in the earth. Cheerleader has a rare yellow glow for Asura of Land typically found in animals; while Angry Teacher is orange for Asura of Soma found mostly in people. Cheerleader raises her arms slowly, and her yellow glow concentrates into her hands. A thread of asura comes from the other two; she grasps the threads and gradually merges them into one. The new thread is constantly shifting with the orange and green pressing against each other; while unstable it manages to hold. From there, she weaves a pattern. The process is slow as she merges the threads and weaves at the same time.

She's about halfway through when her hands begin to faintly tremor. She grits her teeth and continues. A murmur runs through the crowd. No one tries to stop her, knowing if they distract her, the asura could backlash against the Elders, and cause more damage than the Asura Poisoning. Although, if her control is already slipping when she's halfway through the pattern, there's a high chance the Asura Poisoning will crush her organs before she finishes.

As time stretches on the tremors gets worse. Two laborious hours later the pattern is complete and roughly the size of two palms. The two outer circles had writing in the middle. I'm too far away to make it out clearly, but it seems to be a prayer to a goddess to give them sight. In the center is a stylized eye created from a series of swirls and loops. Because of how the pattern formed, it's similar to drawing a picture without lifting the pencil.Upon completing the image, Elder Ozora condition takes a turn for the worse. She's suppressing the effects of Asura Poisoning as much as possible, but right after the completion of the pattern, a trickle of blood comes from her nose.

”Elder Ozora!” someone yells with concern.

Before more could be said, the pattern beams with a blinding light. After it faded, a large transparent snake hovered in the air. It had no discernible eyes or nose but had a gaping mouth with tiny feelers inside. The space around it faintly rippled like the distorted space above hot pavement on a sunny day.

Our attention is pulled back to Elder Ozora when she coughs up blood but remains standing firm. They've come this far, and no one is willing to stop now as hundreds of lives depend on them. Everyone understands the danger the Elder is putting herself in to save the others. Looking around I can see the tightened jaws and red eyes from the people around me.

Through pure stubborn will power, she directs the snake forward and although it's hovering it slithers as it moves. Once inside she immediately begins describing the current condition of the mine.

”Quarter One, Section Five unstable foundation with a tunnel collapse near the entrance and a partial collapse in the middle. Fourteen bodies found,” Elder Ozora speaks through clenched teeth, ”two still alive.” Elder Ozora went through all six quarters and all twenty-five sections in each. As she went deeper in the body count rose.

Although directing the snake takes up less power than creating the pattern, she has used too much energy at this point to maintain complete control. Elder Ozora is going to kill herself at this rate. Her nose bleeds heavily, creating a small puddle on the ground. Her pale face is tight as she begins to sway.

Upon reaching the last section of the final quarter, she brings out the snake. As she brought the snake to hover in front of her, she brings a shaky hand up and pulls on the edge of its tail. I shiver when I again feel pressure against my skin. The snake unravels as though it was spun together by yarn becoming a vortex as air rushes towards it. The green and orange separate and disperse until the entire image dissipates. When the pattern dispersed so did the rushing wind as well as Elder Ozora's strength, she dropped to the ground like a stone. Since the other two Elders only supplied asura, they're not as affected as Elder Ozora. The Angry Teacher jumps toward her without hesitation and manages to catch her before her head hit the ground. Her necklace and bracelet glow as she places her hand on Elder Ozora's chest. I could practically feel everyone holding their breath.

”Elder Uless,” someone hesitantly asks, ”will Elder Ozora...?”

”Don't panic she'll pull through just fine. You know she's too headstrong to give in,” the angry teacher calmly replies. Her gaze turns sharp as she looks at everyone gathered, ”You know what to do. Elder Agron will help. Plan the route quickly and act. Some of the people in their don't have much time.”

Baldy speaks up, sounding more like a grunt, ”Naturally.”

Elder Uless slides him a look from the corner of her eye, ”Then get going.”

Everyone visibly relaxes after learning Elder Ozora will be okay. Elder Agron grabbed the map, quickly preparing a plan of action.