Out of Time the Grand Quest

by Christopher Douglass

  “And if we don’t?”

  Jeremy looked at Valerie in silence for a moment. “Then you end up anywhere in known time and space with no way back if you are lucky enough to still be alive. So I ask one more time, are you two prepared?”

  Kimberly looked him in the eyes, as if searching for some answer to a question only she fathomed. Finally she picked up her own bag and looped her arm through his. Valerie nibbled her lip but did the same. As one, the three of them stepped into the tear.

  Just like when he had entered from Atlantis, it felt like his world was turned upside down. Unlike the last time, it also felt like his insides were being pulled out through his mouth. It was a testament to how unstable and wrong the tear had become. Unlike the instantaneous transition of a stable rift, these feelings went on for a good minute. Then, the three of them exited the rift, dropping a few inches from mid air in the process.

  A quick glance to either side assured him their bodies were still attached to the arms looped in his. They both looked a little green but none the worse for the transition. Releasing them both, he dropped the bags to the floor and stepped forward into the chaos of Controllers madly working their stations.

  “Report.”

  “Sir, wide scale tectonic movement on Aerth has destroyed four towns and swamped three more. Estimated number of casualties so far is around ten thousand. The Grand Wizards and mage-mediator pairs have managed to shunt most of the damage away to minimize deaths. Hiccups and tears have been appearing more frequently the last few days, sending the people into a panic. They don’t understand what is going on, as this has never happened before. They assumed they were safe because the Grand Quest was successfully over.”

  “Assessment of the mages and mediators powers?”

  “Drained. They have been fighting nonstop for the past three weeks with little rest. More and more are becoming casualties as their own abilities or magic tears them apart from the inside. They continue to burn themselves out even when they have nothing left to burn.”

  A large maw of darkness spanning three miles wide and ten miles long appeared on one of the screens. From out of the darkness came misshapen creatures long forgotten to either history. Creatures of magic that the ancients who had founded Atlantis had created in their attempt to surpass their own limitations. Monstrosities that were a fusion of magic and technology, born from the wild imaginations of humankind to create a slave race to serve the people of Atlantis.

  Creatures that looked like a twenty foot tall troll with four arms, each one crafted from a different magical beast and crystals sprouting like a spine from its back. Horses with six legs, burning red and blue fur, eagle talons for hooves, and a five foot spiked drill set in the middle of its head. Thousands of fairies hardly bigger than a finger with guns for right arms that shot status inflicting seeds that grew rapidly. On and on they clambered out of the hole in an unending line, heading in the same direction.

  “What is that place and what are those things?”

  Jeremy looked over at Kimberly who’s eyes were wide and mouth gaped open. Slowly he turned his head back to the screen to watch the emergence. “That is the Maw. Atlantis’ anchor point on Aerth. When the worlds were stable, the anchor held those creatures back. Creatures deemed unfit and unsafe to let loose on the new world of magic.”

  Jeremy stopped there a moment, watching as a creature that looked like a floating ten foot eyeball came out of the darkness.

  “As for what they are-- they are the Unnamed. While I am sure they once had names, those have been forgotten in history, along with their strengths and weaknesses. The Great Library probably has a record of their creation and names, but it could take months, even years to find such things. They will not die of old age, only if you kill them. Even then, they might not stay dead. Engineered by the ancients to be the perfect bodyguards, perfect miners, perfect army’s, perfect anything you could imagine.

  “In the end, those creatures were the reason the great societies of the ancients fell, forcing them to create Atlantis and destroy their own world, creating it anew in the process. While it is true the world would have been swallowed by a giant black hole, if not for the Unnamed, the ancients might have been able to save most, if not all, of the planet. Those creatures voraciously eat any and all magic, never becoming filled. Given the chance, they will suck out the life energies of the planet. They are the physical embodiment of the end of days.”

  “You know a lot about them, considering you say they have been forgotten in history.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “I’ve always believed knowing what has gone on before will enable us to keep from repeating the same mistakes in the future. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Grand Library. Some of the older texts make mention of them, even named a few of them. But the books and scrolls that might have detailed information are somewhere deeper inside.

  “How did they get free? If the anchor is holding them back, they shouldn’t be able to escape unless the anchor was released. Even weakened, they still shouldn’t be able to escape.”

  “EVE. She must have deemed keeping the balance between three worlds was too dangerous. Since there are more people living on Earth, she has decided to sacrifice Aerth in order to save the most number of lives.”

  “They can be killed though right? Or contained once more? Now that I came back through the rift, it will close and balance can be restored.”

  Jeremy shook his head slowly. “I told you, balance needs to still be restored even after the rift closes. Actions once done, cannot easily be undone. Yes they can be killed, even contained once more, but it will not be an easy task. Thousands will still die, both humans and magical creatures before the Unnamed are dealt with. Even if we were to summon an army and fight them right now. Stability will return, but Aerth will not be the same.”

  Jeremy tore his eyes from the creatures still climbing out of the maw so dark you couldn’t see farther than a hand span into it. “Status on the time tear between Atlantis and Earth.”

  “It is closed, sir. Stability has returned to the veil and EVE has closed the gateway for the Unnamed to escape. Tear generation and hiccups are also slowing down. We must wait for reports from the Observers to evaluate the alterations this will have on Earth.”

  “What about opening a tear to Aerth? Can it be done right now?”

  “Not yet sir, the veil is still too unstable on their end. The wild magic is in flux, making it impossible to anchor an opening.”

  “How long before it will be stable enough?”

  “At least thirty-six hours, sir.”

  “Aerth could be destroyed in thirty-six hours! Can’t you do something about that!”

  The Controller tore his attention from Jeremy to answer Kimberly’s outburst. “No ma’am. EVE wouldn’t allow us to do so. While we can create our own openings, that is only true as long as EVE deems it safe. Since it is unsafe, she will not calculate or allow us access to those core functions. If we were to try and hack her to bypass this, she would shut down completely.”

  “But people are going to die if we don’t do something!”

  “Yes, ma’am, that is correct. But that is no different then any other day for a Controller. We watch lives get snuffed out on Earth and Aerth all the time. It is a hard job that can tighten your chest, not everyone is suited for it. It is not like we can really do anything from our pocket reality except honor them.”

  Silence descended on the room then as every Controller stopped what they were doing. Taking those words as some kind of signal, they all began to hum. It was a slow melody that always put Jeremy in mind of falling leaves tinted with sunlight. When Kimberly opened her mouth to say something, Jeremy placed a finger over it to stop her. The humming lasted only a minute or two, but once it was done, they all went back to work.

  “What was that?”

  “The song of the fallen. They hum a small piece of it every time a disaster is about to fall either on Earth or Aerth. It is how they handle having to watch
so many die. When nations fall, or timelines become dead ones, they sing the song in its entirety. It is a song every Controller, Seer, and Sage know off by heart.”

  “I hate to ask this, but where exactly are all those monsters going?”

  Jeremy looked at the screen once more and saw Valerie was right, all of them were moving in the same direction. With a shrug he answered. “Probably to the place with the highest concentration of energy, magical or otherwise. ”

  Without him prompting them to, one of the Controllers expanded the picture to show a crude map, a red line moving from the Maw to the final destination. “It seems they are heading for a Quester’s Tree, sir. One outside of a town called Yandor.”

  A female Controller nearby spun to look at the male Controller surprised. “What! That’s impossible! All the trees should be deactivated now that the Grand Quest is over.”

  “That’s what the readings say. All Quester Tree’s aside from this one are in a state of sleep, but one of them is still active, so it must look like a banquet to them.”

  “Is there something wrong with the readings? Or maybe the seed was defective, the signal to deactivate not being received properly.”

  Jeremy shook his head at the woman, “No, the tree is perfectly fine.” His eyes traveled from the Controller to Kimberly who’s face had grown wide at the mention of the town. “There is one mediator still on quest standing right here.”

  The female Controller blinked, understanding crossing her face. Kimberly rushed over to the man who had brought up the map to begin with, a note of fear in her voice.

  “How long before they reach Yandor?”

  The Controlled tapped a few keys, complicated mathematical equations appearing that only one of his profession could read. “The first wave should get there within five hours, maybe a little less.”

  “They can hold them off right?”

  The Controller shook his head. “I doubt it. Most towns have been fighting incursions nonstop. They’ve never encountered these kinds of creatures either. As it stands, I believe the town will fall shortly after the wave gets there. Perhaps five percent might survive if they are lucky.”

  “I’ve got to go help. Got to warn them so they can escape.”

  “I’m sorry ma’am we can’t bypass EVE to open even an unstable rift to Aerth for at least six hours minimum.”

  She turned towards Jeremy, a look of pleading in her eyes. “You can do something right? You’re a Sage, so you have access to something that can help-- right?”

  Jeremy noticed some of the other Controllers had turned to watch him as well. He was sure they didn’t like the way things were going either. He did indeed have the means and they all knew it. Still it was a gamble, using his Other power to open a rift so soon after the unstable one to Earth had been closed.

  “Live hard, love hard, die hard. What the hell, I’ve got to die sometime.”

  Sucking in a deep breath he let it out slowly, closing his eyes as he took a step forward to take command of the room.

  “Station one through three, get those rift batteries up and running. We’ll use them all in one explosive blast to rip down the veil between Atlantis and Aerth. The stress is already in chaos, a little more isn’t going to make a difference at this point. Station five and six, get a hold of the Seers and work with them to bypass EVE’s firewalls and access her core. If we have to destroy her to make it happen then that’s fine. We’ve lived too long under the thumb of that computer. We humans have evolved from those ancients, it is time to stop relying on their hand me downs.

  “Station seven through nine, get as many people with the Encyclopedia ability together as you can to scour the Library along with the Librarians and the databases for anything on the Unnamed. Weaknesses, names, skills, anything. Link with Marrion and feed that information to Kimberly once we get to the other side. Station ten through fifteen, send out the call to arms. I want every able bodied person willing to lay down their life ready for battle within the hour. You five will be the primary strategists to feed us enemy positions.”

  As one the entire room answered with a resounding sir, scrambling to obey his directions. Kimberly looked around with furrowed brow, finally asking the question on her lips.

  “How are you going to open a rift if you don’t use EVE?”

  “Me and you. One of my Other abilities is Rift Generation just like you. Unlike you, I can control it easily.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

  “If you learn nothing else from me, learn this. Always keep a trump card. You never know when it will come in handy. I’ll get you across, then it is up to you to save your friends.”

  “You aren’t going to help?”

  “Did you forget? Once we rip the veil, Atlantis will be a part of Aerth. One of my innate abilities is Paradoxial, just like you. I can survive on Earth and Atlantis even though my time line is a dead one. But once the barrier is destroyed, Atlantis will be part of Aerth.”

  “You’re going to die.”

  “Yes. Though disappear is a better term. A person who never existed in the first place can’t die.”

  “Does your wife know?”

  “Of course. She knew from the very start that I would eventually vanish. I had always planned to merge Atlantis and Aerth to alleviate much of the stress that creates the rifts. I’ve been working on this for nearly ten years now. The sole reason I became a Sage was to get access to the power I needed to achieve my goals.”

  “But-- don’t you have children?”

  “No. Marrion and I decided we didn’t want to incubate a child in such a false utopia. She has a sample of my genetic code flash frozen. Our child will be born and grow up in a new Atlantis. One free of the corruption infesting it. Someone like me& well, someone like me isn’t fit to live in the world that will be created.”

  “Why? There will always be wars, and battles that need fought.”

  “Aye. There will always be wars. There will always be a struggle to maintain peace. I’m not so foolish as to think this will end all violence, humans are still humans. But the world won’t need my special kind of fighting. Strategy and tactics, anyone can fill that position. But my skills lay in a post apocalyptic, end of the world, primal survival type of time. Where kindness is true madness and insanity is the new normal. This world doesn’t need that kind of warrior.”

  Jeremy smiled at Kimberly who was looking at him with sad eyes. She had become so much more than he had ever expected her to be. Of the three hundred subjects that had been created, she was the only one to not only survive, but succeed. He just wished he could see the new future she would help forge. Giving her a roguish grin, he put his arm around her shoulder, steering her towards her mother.

  “But enough about such sappy things. While we have time, let us hook your mother up and quickly find out what kind of Other powers she might have. They might come in handy in the next few hours.”

  He skillfully deflected any more questions she might have by continuing with some small talk. Once Valerie was hooked up he left the two alone. It would still take EVE a few minutes to scan and process the information. At the door, he watched the room for a while longer. Watched as Kimberly spoke quietly with her mother who was handling all of this surprising well. Though Valerie had been silent, she was full of the wonder every Phaser had of this impossible world. Content to be led about as she tried to grasp it all.

  With a sad smile he left the room, heading for one of the small rest areas nearby. His room of solitude. Only one other person had access to this room. Easing into the soft chair, he removed his mask, activating the video screen to see a panoramic view of Atlantis from high in the air. He watched the people going about there lives, oblivious to the new world they would soon find themselves in. Would they be happy? He did what he did for their sake, but he knew people didn’t always accept change so easily. Even such a change as he offered them. Some would resent him for making this decision without their consent. He accepted that
.

  What would they make of their new world? Of the new freedom he would give them? Would they even know what to do when they had more than just forty-three miles or so to explore?

  “What do you think Prince?”

  Prince didn’t answer. Just like he hadn’t answered him for the last day. He wasn’t asleep, Jeremy could still feel his presence there in the back of his mind. Rubbing his eyes he tapped a few buttons on his chair. Within moments, a hole opened in the floor and a table emerge bearing a shot glass, some aged moonshine and a large cigar. Pouring out a large portion, Jeremy lit the cigar, taking a sip while admiring the city. His city. His people.

  “God that smells awful. I don’t know how you stand it.”

  Marrion slid up next to him, taking a seat in the chair that grew from the floor next to him.

  “It’s disgusting. Makes me want to vomit. But, I’ve always wanted to try it at least once. Just to see what everyone saw in it.”

  Her hand slid over to rest on his, their fingers linking together after he set the cigar to the side. He took another sip of the alcohol, offering the rest to her.

  “Grade A aged rotgut. The only thing left of the possessions I brought with me when the time tear took me. It would be a waste not to try it. I’ve held onto it for twenty-two years now, time for it to say it’s own farewell.”

  Marrion took the glass, making a face after trying a small bit and handing it back.

  “So it really is time isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll miss you.”

  “I know.”

  “I love you.”

  “I know that too my love.”

  “Are you scared?”

  “Terrified. But this needs to happen. It’s for the good of the people.”

  “I know. You never did tell me what you wanted to name our son.”

  “Victor. Victor Vahn.”

  “Why Victor?”

  “It was my dad’s name. It is the only thing I remember of him.”