“I hate to say this now,” Perian said hesitantly, “but could something go wrong?”
“There’s no way to know,” Brannal argued. “We’ve been making it all up as we go along. Still, it’s not a bad idea to—”
Kinan solved the issue for them by walking through the shield.
Cormal felt it as… an impact, though not at the strength it would have been if his shield had completely repelled something.
(He still had nightmares occasionally about the day of Kinan’s birthday, holding his shield against the wraiths and all that water. The pressure had been awful, and he couldn’t imagine how Brannal had done it with so many more shields.)
Kinan shivered visibly. “Oh, that felt odd.”
Variations of “How so?” came from every throat.
Laughing a little, Kinan said, “Uh, it’s hard to explain. I guess it was a bit like going through a physical object like a wall. It was more intense than that but not as intense as going through a person.” He reached out and waved a hand through the nearest chair. “But it hasn’t done any good. I mean, I went through it like everything else.”
He sounded defeated.
“What kind of shield did you cast, Cormal?” Brannal asked. “Allowing the elements through?”
“Yes.”
It was the default shield that they cast unless there was a reason to keep everything out. It was less taxing, and it ensured anyone inside the shield could still breathe. This shield had been one wall only, but no one wanted a mishap.
“Are you up for more experiments?” Brannal asked, his eyes gleaming.
He’d taken over like the Summus he was meant to be.
“Yes,” both he and Kinan agreed readily.
Further tests proved that the stronger they made the shield, the more difficult it was for Kinan to get through. He could still pass, but he described it like a sensation of more and more pressure.
Then they tried with Molun, who could create a shield of both water and air, and it became more difficult still.
Finally, Brannal created a full shield with all four elements blocking all the elements—and Kinan was actually rebuffed.
He stepped back, startled, with an expression of surprise.
“Oh!” he exclaimed. “I actually feel that!”
“Did it feel solid?” Brannal asked. “Like normal?”
“Yes.” Kinan made a face. “I think so, anyway. It’s been a long time since I actually felt anything solid that wasn’t me.”
Cormal remembered how Kinan had told him that since he never disturbed anything on the ground, he assumed he wasn’t quite touching it.
“Could you push through if you tried harder?” Brannal asked.
“Maybe just try pushing with your hands,” Perian said hastily. “No need to walk face first into the shield.”
Kinan approached the shield more cautiously this time, reaching out carefully and laying just his fingertips against it to start. He smiled faintly at the evident impact. He started to push harder, and then harder still, until his body was angled, and it was clear he was pushing with all his weight, his hands flat against the shield.
Suddenly, his hands started to sink in.
Only then Kinan said, “I feel a little—”
His body… flickered, coming in and out of view. Trill and Yannoma gasped. In an instant, the shield was gone, and Kinan dropped to the floor. Cormal rushed to him, Perian on his heels.
“Kinan, are you all right?” Cormal demanded.
