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77ce47c6a8
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77ce47c6a8
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697aaa2849
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5e881b2cd3
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@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ root = true
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# Unix-style newlines with a newline ending every file
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[*]
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end_of_line = lf
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insert_final_newline = true
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# insert_final_newline = true
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indent_style = tab
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52
calvin-stuck-at-cave.txt
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52
calvin-stuck-at-cave.txt
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@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
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Calvin woke to a complete darkness.
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His mind seemed thick, and his head pounded.
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The blow to his head came back to his mind.
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Betrayed, by a guard he'd trusted.
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Somehow brainwashed by the New Meadowlark, or something like that.
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Calvin stamped his hoof against the ground, and listened to the echo off the walls.
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It sounded like he was in a large chamber, which Calvin hoped would be good as far as air was concerned.
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But he didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, and wasn't sure what the signs of lack of air would be.
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He touched his head.
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The helm had been stolen, and he assumed the sword had gone with it.
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He still had his pack, which had a bit of food and water.
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And, Calvin remembered, an electric torch.
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After the initial shock to his eyes, the light revealed that he was in a relatively smooth room, around twenty feet one way and thirty feet in the other.
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The ceiling was quite tall, and Calvin couldn't quite make out how far above the chamber went.
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Calvin walked to one end and walked around the walls of his chamber, feeling the stone.
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It was smooth all the way around.
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The lack of doors made sense if they'd had the Pathbreaker seal him in, which meant he was probably completely sealed in.
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Calvin reflexively kicked back in anger, and hit the wall behind him.
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A sharp pain bounced up his leg, and when he turned to look, the wall was unchanged.
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Even that was ineffective.
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He turned off the torch to preserve the battery, sank to the ground and began to sob.
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Calvin once again woke to a complete darkness.
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Apparently, he'd managed to cry himself into sleep.
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No obvious improvement to his situation presented itself, which meant he needed to find a way to do it himself.
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He thought about the Meadowlark manual, and started the breathing exercise again.
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His breath stilled, he pictured the smell of a grassy hill, the flow of water and the tight grip of roots.
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He felt himself being pulled in by a wave of yaks spreading across a plain, and he pictured the Haven as their destination.
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He held on to that image, and tried to avoid focussing on the pain that his head was insistently pounding out.
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He felt his hooves tingling as they sank into the stone below him, and he felt the sinews of his legs vibrate as he stood tall.
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The stone under him revealed a hidden warmth underneath, a vein of life or power or something good, and he tried to reach out to touch it, but found it out of grip.
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Straining, he pulled at it, pawing at it wildly, desperately.
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Unsuccessful, he changed his plan, and tried to push more warmth into the stone.
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He felt it sneaking out of him like a thread.
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The thread of power reached for the deeper well below, until wrapping itself around the vein.
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Calvin pulled on it, and after a small initial resistance, it came flooding back into him.
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Calvin opened his eyes, and turned on the flashlight.
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He was standing where he remembered, and he didn't feel anything.
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A few taps on the ground again felt like nothing unusual.
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Although, nothing was unusual, right?
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His rear leg no longer hurt, and his head felt clear, and pain-free.
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In fact, Calvin felt better than he'd felt in a long time.
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Somehow he'd managed to pull some sort of life from somewhere beyond the stone, and it had healed him.
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@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ He was lying on his bed, Vaughan standing next to him.
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―Sir, are you okay?
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Vaughan was holding a tall glass of water, which Calvin happily took.
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His back hurt, and he could only remember the vague outlines of what had happened.
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―What happened?
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@@ -90,5 +91,52 @@ Calvin waved his hand dismissively.
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Thank you Vaughan, I owe you.
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―Sir, Vaughan started hesitantly. You might need to be careful with that.
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We don't know what Yakaterina wants, and she could be trying to trick you.
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We don't know what Yakaterina wanted, and she could have been trying to trick you.
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Or somehow convert you over to the Hierarchy.
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―I know, Vaughan.
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Calvin sighed.
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―If I want to use this, I'll have to learn how to control it.
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Clearly it's a powerful tool, but I'm not really sure what happened.
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I think I felt the stone table and helped it become soil, somehow?
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The manual just talked about a breathing exercise, not actually doing anything.
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Calvin stood.
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He felt okay on his feet.
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The two books were lying on top of the pile of dirt, and looked unchanged.
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He opened up the notebook, and saw he'd written down what the Voice had said to him.
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―Vaughan, I think it was the Voice somehow.
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I wrote down that it said I could help my people, but why?
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Am I doing something wrong by wanting to help them?
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―Do you remember anything about what you were thinking when it happened?
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―Not really.
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It was fuzzy, images of soil and grass.
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Vaughan gave Calvin a worried look.
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―Calvin, are you sure we should be here?
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If we're back home, we could talk to some scholars, or if you trust what Yakaterina told you, maybe Auroklos would know more?
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But we're out of our depth, right?
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It's not just politics anymore, this is all of us yaks, and it might be irresponsible to do it alone.
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―Auroklos was pretty clear that Mountberg was our only hope.
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Maybe the voice was trying to get me to go home to help the people there?
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Unless it wanted me to go to Mountberg?
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Argh!
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―Sir, we're not going to figure this out right now.
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You need to rest a minute, and we'll have to figure out what our options even are.
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We'll talk to the chief and see how far away Mountberg will be, and make a decision then.
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Sound good?
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―Yeah, thanks Vaughan.
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Sounds good to me.
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―I'll make sure you get some privacy, get some rest and I'll see you soon.
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And please don't try anything else from that book.
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Vaughan left the room, and Calvin tried his best to quiet his troubled thoughts as he drifted into a light nap.
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