All eyes were on Kael. The air in the small, contained room was thick with silence and anticipation, broken only by the low, constant thrumming of The Void outside. He stood before the barrel of murky reservoir water, his small hand raised, a faint, golden light beginning to bloom in his palm.
It wasn't the wild explosion from before, but a focused, controlled glow, guided by Vispera's steady presence and Kael's desperate will to help, to create. He felt the familiar drain as the light intensified, a subtle tugging at the edges of his being. He pushed through it, focusing on the water, remembering Elara's hopeful face, Captain's grim necessity.
The golden light flowed from his hand, not in a beam, but like a liquid warmth, descending into the barrel of water. It swirled within the murkiness, a pure, radiant energy fighting against the contamination.
For a moment, the murky water seemed to brighten from within, a faint golden glow emanating from the barrel. The low thrumming outside seemed to pulse in reaction, a subtle shift in its rhythm.
Then, the Bedel hit.
It wasn't a sudden, tearing agony this time. It was a creeping, insidious coldness that spread from his chest, numbing his senses, his connection to the world. This Bedel took not a memory or a feeling, but a fundamental awareness. The awareness of cold. And the awareness of pain.
Suddenly, Kael couldn't feel the chill of the room, the hardness of the stone floor, the ache in his tired muscles. The sharp sting of his previous Bedel wounds was gone. A terrifying physical numbness enveloped him, a void that erased sensation.
The light in his hand flickered, then died. The golden glow in the water faded, leaving it murky, though perhaps marginally clearer than before. Kael gasped, not from pain (he couldn't feel it), but from the sheer horror of this new loss, this new emptiness. He stumbled back, his legs weak, the absence of physical sensation a profound disorientation.
Silence. Shock. Then, a chorus of reactions.
Elara was the first to reach him, her eyes wide with horror and concern. "Kael! What happened?" She grabbed his arm, her face paling as she felt the unnatural coldness radiating from him and the unsettling lack of response to her touch.
Captain rushed forward, his gaze fixed on the water, then on Kael. He dipped a finger into the barrel, tasted it cautiously. His expression was unreadable. "The water..." he murmured, "It's... different. Less bitter. But not... clean." The light had had some effect, but not complete purification.
Gus shoved forward, his face a mask of fear and furious triumph. "See?! I told you! A curse! It's draining him! And it didn't even fix the water!" He gestured towards Kael's trembling, numb form. "It's killing him! And for nothing!"
Other survivors clustered, their fear reignited by the terrifying display of Bedel. They had seen the light, seen it interact with the water, but the consequence on the child was far more immediate and horrifying.
Kael could hear their voices, see their faces, but he couldn't feel Elara's hand holding his arm, couldn't feel the hard floor under his feet if he were to fall. The world of physical sensation was a distant, unreachable place. Vispera's presence felt faint, overwhelmed by the new, sensory void.
Captain knelt beside Kael, his face grim. He saw the terror in the child's eyes, the profound disconnect. He had witnessed the potential – the light could indeed affect The Void's corruption, could potentially create. But the cost... losing pain? Losing touch with the physical world? It was a terrifying, unknown variable.
"Get him to the fire," Captain ordered, his voice heavy. "And the water... keep it separate. We need to understand this."
As Kael was carefully lifted, numb and disoriented, Elara stayed close, her hand still trying to find a responsive part of his arm. She looked at the water, then at Kael, her initial hope now mixed with profound fear and a fierce determination to understand this monstrous Bedel.
Captain watched them, his decision weighing heavily on him. Kael was not a simple weapon, not a simple burden. He was a complex, terrifying enigma, a source of both potential salvation and devastating destruction. His test had provided answers, but raised even more terrifying questions. His place in the sanctuary, and their future, was now irrevocably tied to the horrifying price Kael paid for his light.