Kahs-wan Ritual - Day Two Part Three

The Vulcan's Forge

As swiftly as the mazhiv-sahriv came in, it stopped. It had lasted for 5.34 hours, and by now it was dark, and dark meant dangerous in The Forge. Avarak slowly and quietly unburied himself from the layers of sand that had covered him during the sahriv. He blinked a few times to try and clear the grains of sand from his eyes. His clear inner eyelid (a nictitating membrane) had closed over during the sahriv to prevent scratches to his cornea, but there was still a gritty feeling between the inner membrane and the outer which was more than disagreeable. Avarak shook his head; something was not right, but he did not know what. His thought processes were fuzzy, dampened by the effects of the sandstorm. He took a deep breath to steady himself, something which had been ingrained into his psyche from a very young age… he needed to find shelter and find it quickly.

Avarak slowly stood up and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness around him. As we know humans have phenomenal day and night vision; Vulcan eyesight was known to be even more acute, the exception being in very bright light. As they had evolved in a hot and arid climate, and most activities took place during the darker and cooler hours of the day, they had adaptations that enabled them to see more clearly in the dark. Even taking this into consideration, visibility was poor as a result of the mazhiv-sahriv. The air was still thick with dust which would take some time to settle. He gazed up into the hazy night sky; the only light that could be seen was from the stars, which even under normal circumstances were not bright enough to illuminate The Forge. He sighed inwardly. He would not be able to use them to navigate, he would have to rely primarily on his hearing.

Avarak knew that the landscape would have changed as a result of the sahriv, by how much he could not determine at the moment. Before the sahriv had hit, he had been moving up the side of a slope in the direction of some caves, which could not be seen at the moment. To orientate himself, he stood quietly and listened to the whispers of the shifting sands that were around him. He also listened for any sign of predators. There was nothing to detect, nonetheless it would be safer to proceed in the dark than to stay here. He decided to continue up the side of the slope in the general direction of where the caves were. He tightened his robe around him, to protect him from the cool night air, and then he continued on his journey.

The going was hard against the scree, and the low visibility did not help. Just as he was reaching the top of the slope, he cried out in pain as he lost his footing and slipped. Slowly it dawned on him... a d'mallu plant had coiled a tendril around his ankle, and it was now tightening its grip…

*'*

Kr'trkkla eh Kril'es Monastery

It was well after sunset and the only light in the room was coming from the candles which Sordd had lit earlier to aid his meditation. Mimi quietly placed a fresh bowl of burning incense in front of him (a habit that she had developed very early on in their marriage.) She then lit some fresh candles before returning to her seat. She curled up in a little ball and sat quietly, patiently waiting for him to finish. For reasons unknown to her it had an extremely calming effect.

*'*

The sound of his heart became louder and louder in his head, his breathing became heavier and heavier.

Suddenly Sordd opened his eyes, his expression stricken. "Avarak!" he gasped.

*'*

Notes

Thank you again Kehlan and RobertBruceScott for your suggestions on how to improve the story, much appreciated.

References

I stumble upon this amazing resource if you like anything Vulcan, sfi sfmc / SFMC / downloads / xsv _ 2007 . pdf

Star Trek Animated Series - Yesteryear

TOS - The Deadly Years and Operation Annihilate!

And of course memory alpha and memory beta (I know some of this story isn't canon, but that doesn't seem to matter as canon is not sure about canon sometimes.)