Captain had seen enough. The chaotic surge of light, the horrifying, targeted Bedel that stole his face – it proved Kael was a force they couldn't ignore, nor simply cast out. His potential was intertwined with devastating cost, a paradox Captain was determined to understand.
He couldn't risk another uncontrolled outburst in the main chamber. He needed a controlled environment, a way to observe Kael's power, to find triggers, to perhaps, impossibly, find a way to manage the Bedel.
He chose a small, rarely used section of the lower levels, reinforced with extra stone and a heavy, sealed door. It wasn't Kael's previous cell; it was larger, more like a testing chamber. It felt cold, sterile.
Captain himself oversaw these "observations," rarely allowing more than one or two trusted survivors near, always under strict orders of silence and distance. Elara was the constant exception; her presence seemed to calm Kael, and her sharp mind, coupled with her research into the old legends, offered the only potential avenue for understanding.
Kael, still grappling with the void of physical sensation and the specific blankness of Captain's face, would be brought to this chamber. He relied entirely on Elara to guide him, her hand on his arm (a touch he couldn't feel, but whose presence was comforting), her voice explaining what was happening. He would look at Captain, seeing the familiar shape and hearing the voice, but struggling with the alien feeling of not recognizing the features.
"We need to see," Captain explained one session, his voice low and measured, directed at Kael. He didn't speak with Gus's fear or Elara's desperate hope, but with a grim, pragmatic necessity. "How the light responds. What triggers the Bedel. If there's a pattern."
The first few sessions were simple observation. Captain would introduce different stimuli – changes in light, specific frequencies of sound (measured by a salvaged device), even controlled exposure to small pieces of grey dust from outside. He watched Kael's reaction, looking for any flicker of Vispera's warmth, any involuntary surge of light, any sign that the Bedel was reacting to the environment rather than just power use.
Kael felt the changes in the environment, the sounds, the faint presence of the grey dust, but it was filtered through his numb senses and fragmented mind. He felt Vispera's presence, always with him, sometimes stirring in response to the stimuli, but she remained a gentle warmth, not a frantic urge like during the attack.
Captain also tried having Elara guide Kael in attempting small, intentional actions with the light. "Just... a tiny spark," Captain would instruct, his voice tense. "Towards this stone. Can you do that, child?"
Kael would try, focusing with all his might, guided by Elara's soft instructions and Vispera's patient presence. He would reach out a trembling hand, trying to gather the light, to control it.
It was agonizingly difficult. The fear of the Bedel was a heavy weight, dulling his focus. The knowledge that any success would come at a cost – another void, another piece of himself lost – was a constant dread. The void where Captain's face should be was a fresh, silent scream in his mind, a reminder of the last price paid.
Sometimes, a faint, golden shimmer would appear in his palm, a tiny, controlled spark. Other times, nothing. The light seemed to respond not just to his will, but to Vispera's guidance, and perhaps, to the underlying cosmic forces of the Balance.
And even the smallest sparks, the most controlled efforts, carried a risk. A wave of disorientation, a flicker of the physical numbness intensifying, a brief blankness where a less vital memory used to be – the Bedel was always watching, always waiting to claim its due.
Captain documented everything, his expression unreadable. Gus, when rarely permitted to observe, would watch with grim, fearful satisfaction, seeing only the Bedel, the decay.
But Elara watched Kael, saw the effort, the struggle, the fragile spark of potential. She saw Vispera's gentle guidance. She continued her research, more convinced than ever that understanding the Bedel, understanding the Balance, was the key.
The chapter ends with Kael undergoing tense, controlled observations and rudimentary attempts at power control under Captain's watchful eye, highlighting the difficulty and risk involved, the Bedel's constant threat, and Captain's grim determination to understand the power that might save or destroy them.