by Tony Corden
Leah said, “Thank you, Priscilla, I do appreciate that. I’m not sure of the figures involved, but I would like to have a share in your generosity. Add half of what you’d normally charge Wisp, her family and our friends to my bill.”
Before Priscilla could reply Leah turned to Leon and said, “Please work with Stephen to appoint Priscilla as our broker. I’d like you to consider investing what you can in Cosmos Online. I imagine that Wisp and I will have the station and portal turned on and ready to use within a week if nothing world shattering happens.”
The discussion continued for another ten minutes as they finalised a few details and then Stephen, Leon and Priscilla left, leaving Wisp and Leah to discuss their next course of action.
Wisp said, “If we head back we’ll only have two-and-a-half hours, and I don’t think that is enough time to do much. Why don’t you tell me everything that’s happened over the last few days and we’ll head back to Cosmos Online tomorrow.”
Leah agreed and spent an hour talking over the things she’d been dealing with. She didn’t go into all the details or let Wisp in on her secrets, but she was able to share some of her feelings, frustrations, and pain. When Wisp finally left Leah, felt more relaxed than she had since her mum had been abducted. She sat reflecting for another five minutes and then spent the remaining time back in her study reading through some papers that theorised about time and how it was connected to space, mass, velocity, energy levels, and molecular chemistry, just to name a few. Most of them only found new ways to restate Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity mixed in with some of Podshivalov’s early thoughts on braid interactions, but they stimulated her thoughts and made her look at the situation from different angles.
She was still thinking about the problem when she logged out for some lunch.
14
December 15, 2073 - Part 6
REAL WORLD
When Leah entered the common room to get some lunch, she was pleased no one else was there and then felt bad for wanting her privacy. So, instead of rushing back to her room with the food she sat at one of the tables to eat. She was almost done when Conner walked in. When he saw Leah he grabbed a drink and a piece of fruit and went to sit near her.
He seemed hesitant, but when she kept silent, he finally said, “Hey, I wanted to thank you for getting Mum back. I saw your face last night, and Dad told me how hurt you were. Are you going to be OK?”
“I’m already much better, Conner. My shoulder still hurts and I have small twinges down my back if I move too fast. I’m much better than yesterday, that’s for sure. How are you coping?”
“I’m OK! Still mad about Mum and scared about what’s going on with her forgetting you and her still being in danger. Dad hasn’t told me what’s going on, but he’s almost more scared now than he was before.”
“It’ll work out, Conner. No one will stop until Mum is safe.”
“I know that, but you really need to fix this memory thing, and soon.”
“Why? What happened?”
“She’s freaking me out, Leah. It’s like I’m an only child and she’s all over me, all the time.”
“What else? I can tell there is something else you’re not saying.”
“While I was having breakfast she sat and talked for ages about the new girl, ‘Leah’. She said you were pretty and suggested I should try and talk with you. She said that if I played my cards right then in a few years, I could ask you out.”
Leah couldn’t help it, but after a moment of shock, she began to laugh. She tried to hold it back behind a smile but couldn’t. Leah wasn’t a big fan of laughing loudly, and it made her shoulder and back hurt. Every time she almost got herself under control she’d glance at Conner and see the look on his face, and she’d begin to laugh hard once again. It was a look of absolute horror, mixed with shame and a goodly dose of disgust.
Finally, Conner stood up and said, “I’m leaving now. Just don’t be surprised if she asks you to dinner sometime. It’s not because she likes you, it’ll be because she’s trying to set us up.”
Leah just started laughing even harder. Without Conner in the room her laughing stopped pretty quickly, but she continued to chuckle under her breath all the way back to her room. After a quick shower, she got into the Pod.
DUNYANIN
Leah entered Dunyanin and changed her appearance into her dark elf disguise and headed to the armoury to get her new set of armour. As she was leaving, she asked T’sar if she could recommend a cartographer in the city. T’sar directed her to a small stall at the edge of Batislar’s market square. The stalls were set up daily by vendors who rented the space on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis.
The small stall T’sar had sent her to had a table which blocked three-quarters of the three-metre-wide entrance. The table was bare except for a tablecloth which reached to the ground. As Leah approached the stall she could see another table toward the back, on it was a parchment which covered most of the surface. Next to the parchment were the usual tools used by map-makers to draw maps and to measure distances. Along one wall Leah could see several small racks which were half-filled with scrolls. She couldn’t see the cartographer until she was right in front of the front table because the cartographer, who was a female Yarim, was sitting on the ground beneath the level of the table. She was playing quietly with a toddler. They were pushing a ball back and forth between them.
The woman didn’t notice Leah until Leah said softly, “Excuse me.”
The woman startled and looked up at Leah. A look of terror appeared on her face. Confused, Leah was about to check if there was someone behind her when she saw the child. It took a moment for what she saw to register, but as soon as it did she understood the woman was terrified of Leah because Leah was a full blood Siyah elf with high rank. The child was a little female about two years old, with a skin colouring much darker than her mother’s. The toddler’s hair started out the same as her mother’s, but Leah could see a few streaks of white and the very ends were black.
Leah turned back to look at the mother and said, “You have a beautiful child, what is her name?”
None of the terror had left the woman’s face, and she moved into a kneeling position, looked at the ground, and in a whisper said, “She is called Rik, my Lady. If she becomes a woman, she will become K’Rik.”
The woman’s voice was soft and trembling, but there had been a touch of bitterness when she’d given the adult name.
Leah said, “What does K’Rik mean?”
It was evident to Leah that the woman thought she was being toyed with but she believed that answering was her only hope. She crouched even lower and said, “My Lady, it is as you see, it means ‘The Broken’.”
Elves throughout Dunyanin looked down on those of mixed heritage. Players sometimes chose to be mixed for the abilities that came along with the option. NPCs were almost never from combined heritages, although some existed to set in motion a particular quest or storyline. Leah had read several player reports where they shared their experiences. She’d searched for the information in the Dunyanin forums because of her own history. Dark Elves were more insular and isolated than their Light cousins, and they were rumoured to destroy any child who wasn’t pure. Leah was sure the developers had set her up by giving the woman a half-Yarim, half-Siyah child. She hated to think what experiences and memories the developers had implanted to set this scenario up.
Leah became angry when she saw the hopelessness and fear cause the woman to slump even deeper toward the ground and begin to weep silently. She was sure that the feed was being watched by whoever set this up and in her rage she wanted to suck them into the game and tear them into small pieces. She didn’t want to play their stupid games but knew she couldn’t leave the woman or child like this.
Leah walked around the table and knelt beside the woman. Leah reached over and using her fingers to lift the woman’s face, she gently forced her to look into Leah’s eyes.
Leah spoke quietly and said, �
�But she is not broken. She is beautiful.”
Ever since Leah had arrived, Rik hadn’t made a noise and had remained still, holding the ball, her only movement the turning of her head to look back and forth between Leah and her mother. As Leah finished speaking, Rik lowered the ball to the ground and pushed it toward Leah. Leah let go of the mother’s chin and shifted slowly to sit crossed-legged on the ground. She used two hands to bring the ball close and then gently pushed it back toward Rik.
The mother remained still, her only movement the shifting of her eyes as she watched the ball move between Leah and Rik.
Leah spoke quietly as she continued to roll the ball back and forth, “Where is her father?”
“There is no father. I was foolish and travelled through Siyah lands alone. A small band of Siyah attacked my camp one night and took my honour. When I realised I was with child, my shame was too much to bear, so I remained silent. I lived in hiding, alone until her birth. I planned to leave her in the forest as is proper when a child is broken. Beasts should live and die with their own kind and not among the pure. But when I first held her, I knew I could not leave her to perish. I am filled with shame for my weakness. I have brought dishonour on my family for I lack the courage to do what is right.”
Leah didn’t take her eyes away from Rik but kept playing their silent little game. After a few moments, she said, “A wretched tale indeed and full of despair. I would tell your story differently. Rik has no father. When you were younger, and with less knowledge of the world, you travelled through Siyah lands alone. One night some dishonourable, broken Siyah revealed themselves as nothing more than beasts, and they attacked you. When you knew you were with child, you bravely lived alone without any help to protect the family you loved. Although you planned to follow the prejudiced and narrow-minded thinking of your people, you had the courage to think for yourself. When you saw your beautiful and pure little girl, instead of punishing her for the evil actions of the beasts who attacked you, you had compassion. You showed courage and strength by keeping her alive and caring for her with love. You have brought nothing but honour to your family even if that family is only the two of you. That is how I would tell your story.”
The woman’s chin dropped to her chest, and she began to sob. As soon as she did, Rik, who had been holding the ball, dropped it, got to her feet and tried to climb onto her mother’s lap. Rik’s mother gathered her close, wrapped her arms around her and while Leah watched over them, the little family comforted each other.
While Leah sat there watching, she asked Gèng to search the Dunyanin site and see if there was any mention of Dark Elves with mixed blood. It didn’t take long, and Gèng said, “There are no references that I can find which discuss the existence of a person who is part Dark Elf and part something else, but almost every other combination exists.”
It wasn’t too long before Rik became restless and wriggled herself out of her mother’s arms, shuffled close to Leah and reached up to touch Leah’s long hair. Rik’s movement had been the catalyst for her mother to slowly gather herself together. When she looked up and saw Rik with a handful of Leah’s hair, she was horrified and looked about to pull Rik away before she offended Leah.
Leah smiled and said, “It’s fine. She’s only a child, and all children like to touch new things.”
The mother gave a wan little smile and said, “She loves new things.”
Leah said, “I know her name is Rik. I am Atherleah. Would you honour me with your name?”
“The honour is mine. My name is N’den.”
“If you will forgive my impertinence, where do you live?”
“I have a small home outside the city. It is a cave, but it is dry and safe.”
“Who else knows about Rik?”
“There is a female who lives with us. She was driven from her family because she was becoming a burden because of her age. Normally Rik remains with her, but today she is sick. The manager of the market square also knows, and he takes one half of my profit to keep quiet.”
“I have some skill in healing. Would you like me to see if I can help your friend?”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because I can. Because it is a good thing to do. Because it is what I would appreciate if I was sick.”
“I will lead you there now. I will close the stall today.”
N’den packed away the map she was working on and her tools. She turned the table on its side and unscrewed one of the legs. Next, she opened a box and screwed a small wheel onto the table, replacing the leg. She repeated the action three more times and then lowered the table top, now turned into a trolley, onto the ground. She carefully packed the racks of scrolls onto the cart and lifted Rik into a small hollow she had created. She folded the cloth from the front table and placed it so Rik was hidden from view. She broke the large front table into smaller pieces and packed everything onto the trolley. Finally, she used some rope to make a harness and began to pull it onto the laneway.
Leah asked if she could help, but N’den refused saying she was used to the weight. It took thirty minutes for the three of them to leave the city because N’den was continually stopping to wait as people pushed past her. Once outside the city N’den moved faster, and within another twenty minutes she was standing outside the cave she’d made into a home. N’den had used rocks, mud and grasses to close in the opening and there was just enough space to pull the trolley inside.
Once inside, N’den lifted Rik out of the trolley, and she immediately trotted to the rear of the cave where an elderly elf was lying on a low bed edged with branches and made of cut grasses. She was covered with a blanket. Rik crawled onto the bed and lay down next to the old sleeping elf. The elf was a Siyah with short hair cut close to her head. Leah checked the elf’s health and discovered something new about Dunyanin. It seemed that as NPCs got old, they didn’t keep the HP levels gained during their lives. That she was sick was evident by her half-full HP. Although Leah could heal the old elf, it looked like her maximum HP would keep getting less until she died.
Leah cast Heal and filled the old elf’s health. Her breathing, which had been shallow, became deeper and soon the elderly elf opened her eyes. When she saw Leah she quickly glanced at N’den with fear.
N’den said, “E’ski, don’t be afraid, this is Atherleah. She offered to heal you.”
E’ski looked down at Rik who was snuggled close, and she said, “What of the child?”
Leah said, “E’ski, don’t be concerned. Little Rik is in no danger. I see nothing wrong, broken, evil, dirty, or cursed when I look at her. I see a sweet and beautiful child who has a small family here who loves and protects her.”
“Why are you here then?”
“I’m here because I wanted to heal you and to make sure Rik got home safely. I was at the stall because I needed a map.”
N’den said, “Which map were you after?”
“I love maps and will probably purchase as many as you have. What I wanted was one of the areas east of Batislar preferably one that includes the area around the ancient city of Yilinlar. I would like a map that shows the trail from Yilinlar to the Eastern tip of Yatan if you have it and one of the Kukurt Depression if it exists.”
E’ski said, “You seek access to the realm of Lord Geckiş?”
“I do.”
N’den said, “I have a detailed map that shows the East. I have one that has some detail of the area around the Kukurt Depression, but once inside the detail fades until there is only a blank parchment.”
Leah said, “I will take what you have, and it will be enough. I am also interested in maps which give some detail of the different regions of Vatan and any ancient maps you have.”
N’den said, “I will prepare what you have asked. Excuse me, as it will be easier to find what you need if I step outside.”
Leah said, “I can make a small light for in here if you wouldn’t be offended.”
N’den agreed and Leah imagined a small globe of
light above where they were standing and then cast the spell. A small globe of light lit the cave. N’den began to prepare the maps and Rik got off the bed and stood under the light, straining to reach it.
E’ski said, “I have been deep into the Kukurt. For your kindness, I will help N’den prepare the map. You are safer to attempt that journey than to go east. The Günahkâr rule to the east and they are mighty warriors, strong, vicious, and evil. None live who dare travel through their land.”
“Your words are wise. I appreciate your help.”
“Atherleah, I am old and I no longer see the world as I did when I was young. Then, I would have looked at Rik with hatred and fear. All I see now is a child. I will die soon, and your eyes show that you know this to be the truth. What I offered I give freely, and I have no right to ask you for anything else. Even so, I will ask, for you hold Rik’s life in your hands. Will you keep her safe or will you let her go knowing that she will be found long before she can affect her own destiny?”
“E’ski, what can I do? I must continue my quest, and I cannot take a child into such danger. Gold will not protect her no matter how much it is. What do you want of me?”
“Take them to the lands of Light.”
“I cannot until my task is completed.”
“After it is completed would you care for them?”
Although Leah had no idea how she would do it, she didn’t even pause before saying, “E’ski, I will return and take them with me into the lands of Light. I will find a place for them to live in safety and I will provide for them as I am able.”
“Do you promise?”
“I do. I don’t know how long it will be, but when I am done, then I will come back and keep my promise.”
E’ski lifted her hand and said, “I accept your promise, Atherleah. Let me place my hand upon your head. I wish to give a blessing.”