I concentrate on her understanding of Novanus, willing his image to come to life in my mind, but something is missing. His… song, that which I hear and seemingly no one else does; his is intense, even for one of the Imperial family. I had thought it was because of his overly flamboyant nature, but now… it fits with Aurora’s knowledge of him. His song is loud and exceedingly complex because there is so much to him; he is astoundingly vibrant, very experienced, and in a great deal of pain. I add his song to the image I hold now in my mind and try to share my addition with the others. At first I sense trepidation from them both, they probably can’t sense what I’m adding, but finally they accept it. The song I’ve added begins to change on its own somehow, the pain becomes louder, first slowly and then with increasing intensity. The vision in my mind changes as well, becomes thin and haggard, his eyes filled with pain, then surprise. I feel as though I’m suddenly yanked forward by Aurora’s hand, then my senses are assaulted by angry light, shrieking disharmony and then… nothing.
~~~
Why am I lying on the floor? This isn’t the padded floor of the room we were in, this is smooth, almost impossibly so. I hear breathing nearby. “Celeste? Aurora?” Cloth rustles in the darkness.
“Shi'ahn?”
“Celeste! Yes, it’s me. Aurora?” There is no answer, just very slow breathing to my right. I move toward her, find her neck and check her pulse. It’s very slow, but steady. “Aurora, can you hear me? Aurora!” Celeste moves near.
“Here, let me.” She remains silent for a few moments. “Physically she seems uninjured, but her mind… it has taken a substantial blow – she is in a coma. I suspect we were all intended harm, but that she blocked whatever it was that attacked us.”
While waiting for her to assess Aurora, I notice that my music sounds strange – muffled somehow. “Where are we?”
“I do not know for sure, though I have a terrible suspicion. Shi'ahn, I am unable to manipulate this place… can you?”
I try to excite the air particles around us enough to generate some light, but nothing happens. It’s almost as if… there isn’t any air to excite; yet I breathe… what’s going on? I try the same on a bit of my skirts, and they eventually glow softly. “That took more effort that it should have – I am unable to effect our surroundings, however. It’s almost as if there isn’t anything there.” I send out a subliminal burst of vibration to assess the boundaries of this place, but nothing comes back. I sing out a note, but no echo returns. “I don’t understand, it's as if our surroundings aren't real.”
Celeste’s voice sounds very concerned, “I’m afraid I do. I suspect that we are within Aurora’s crystal.”
“But how could we be in her crystal?”
“There is a moment, while using a transport crystal, when we become as one with it, in a sense passing through it before taking form at the destination. In that moment we are more than data, but less than matter, our mass having been converted into energy. It is the transition state, and we, I fear, are trapped in it.”
“I wonder…” I reach down to Aurora and find her hand still cradling the crystal exactly as she did before we ended up here. Celeste speaks urgently.
“Do not take the crystal from her – do not break that contact – it may be all that maintains our reality in here.”
“But… how can the crystal be in her hand while we are in the crystal?”
She sighs, “We aren’t corporeal creatures right now, Shi'ahn; we are beings of energy; representations of our true selves without being the entire person. It’s rather like data compression, coupled with energies commensurate with all that we were and had with us when we entered the crystal.”
“How does one uncompress on the other side?”
“As we pass out of the crystal it must surrender all that it has taken in, re-assembling us according to the data that is… essentially what we are right now.”
“Does it take any additional power to do this?”
“Normally, no, the power needed for the entire transfer is provided at the beginning by the mind in control of the crystal. In this case, Aurora. In our current situation, though… I’m not sure. Our momentum has been broken and it has now taken us far longer than the entire process should have – more power may be required.”
“Can we provide the energy needed?”
“No, I do not believe so – it must come from the same source that started the process.”
“But… she is in a coma. Is there any way we can get extra energy from her?”
“No. What energy and direction she already provided should still be available, but she cannot provide more if it is necessary.”
“Then how do we leave this strange place?”
She shakes her head “I don’t know. I doubt that it is actually possible, even if Aurora were able to help. You see, sometimes people vanish and are never seen again, and this is believed to be one of the ways that happens.”
“I won’t accept that! Tell me more about our current state.”
“Shi'ahn, I don’t know any more than I have already told you – this situation is as new to me as it is to you. I’ve never heard of anyone escaping something like this. Of course, that could simply mean that no one has shared the secret after discovering it.”
“Well theorize, then. Tell me, how much energy do you think it takes to keep us here?” She pauses in thought before answering.
“Quite a bit, but I have no idea at what rate it is drained away. I have heard of injuries occurring when vast distances are crossed while using inferior crystals… when the transport takes overly long to complete. Sometimes parts end up missing; it can be fatal.”
“Is it known what the cause of the injuries is – the distance itself or the time the transport takes?”
“It is theorized to be the time, that the energies necessary to cross the distances dissipates quickly, leaving insufficient power to fully re-create the individual at their destination. It may also be the fault of the traveler – that they may not have had a powerful enough mind to provide the necessary energy for the transport. The fortunate ones have lost only some belongings, while the unfortunate…”
“So, if we leave our belongings behind, we may mitigate our potential losses.”
“That is assuming that we find a way out in the first place.”
“You say we are more than data, but less than mass?” I carefully inspect my hand, it seems normal. I wave it a bit and it changes… pixelizes. As though it is insubstantial. Unreal.
“Could it be?” Celeste waves her hand around, then passes it through the floor.
“Shi'ahn, I believe it is our perception of ourselves that holds us here! All we need do is convince our minds that our bodies are insubstantial and we can escape!”
“What will happen when Aurora leaves this place with the crystal in her grasp?”
She pauses in thought, “I suspect that this place is a construct created by what currently passes as our minds, made possible by the presence of the crystal, and will cease to exist once our perception of the crystal has left.”
“Then we all must go at once.”
“Without our possessions.” We dare not waste more time, we both reach down to disrobe Aurora. We have to tear much of the cloth to keep from disturbing her hold on the crystal. She has quite a bit hidden in her clothes, but hopefully she will consider her life more important than physical possessions. “Celeste, if we aren't physically real, why do we have to rip Aurora's clothes in order to remove them?”
She sighs, “Think of our minds as programs. The 'code' specifies the means by which we interact with everything. In normal space, we would have to tear cloth to remove Aurora's dress without disturbing her hold on her crystal, and so we must go through those steps now to separate ourselves from the items we wish to leave behind.”
I suppose it makes sense. Celeste and I quickly disrobe ourselves, leaving almost all behind. I pause then, holding three things, my transport crystal, my spell ring and t
he pouch of food. Celeste looks at me questioningly. “We need to leave as much as possible, Shi'ahn.”
I hold up the transport crystal, “But the Emperor just gave this to me – won’t he be angry if I lose it so soon?”
“Would you rather chance losing your head?” She has a point; I toss the crystal onto my pile of clothing. It hurts, but I also remove my spell ring – it is precious to me, but no more so than my life. I keep the pouch. The look she gives me clearly indicates that she thinks I’m making a mistake.
“I saw Novanus momentarily before we ended up here, he looked emaciated, as though he hadn’t eaten in a long time. I’d hate to have him die of hunger after all this.”
“You have food in there?”
I shrug, “You never know for sure what needs the future will bring, but hunger is one of life’s constants.” She grins as we lean down to pick up Aurora, linking our arms around her back and supporting her weight. Celeste clasps her other hand over Aurora’s crystal bearing hand, so I place my arm around her to keep us from losing contact. It certainly is a new experience for me, holding two naked women in my arms. I hope we don’t have any witnesses… besides Novanus, which will be pretty bad on it’s own. Well, even that must be better than the alternative. We spin around as quickly as we can, until we get that odd, pixilated look, and throw ourselves to the floor.
Chapter 6
Dungeon Life
We spin through the air and then hit something hard. Actually, Celeste hits something hard, as to a lesser extent does Aurora. My fall is broken almost entirely by them, though it still isn’t something I would choose to repeat, the arm I had around Celeste hurts. “Celeste, are you alright? Celeste? Oh rats.” I feel for her pulse, which is steady. “Aurora? No, still out.” Her pulse continues to be quite slow, but it remains constant. Then I realize I should check us over to see if anything is missing. My pouch remains in my grasp, and Aurora still holds her crystal. I remove it from her weak grasp and place it in my pouch for lack of a safer place. I suppose… feeling pretty darned… odd, I frisk each of them to make sure no body parts are missing; we’re mostly fine. Celeste has a nasty bump on the back of her head and her back is badly scraped. So is the arm I had around her, for that matter. Aurora is also rather scraped up, but I’m sure it could have been worse. I turn my attention to our surroundings and notice my music no longer sounds deadened, at least there are proper acoustics around us. I inhale deeply in what I intend as preparation for a sigh of relief, and notice something I’ve been too preoccupied to catch so far. The air smells and tastes like a waste pit! When I get my coughs under control, I hear a terrible rasping sound only an arms length away, it sounds almost like laughter.
“You… get… used to it.” Listening carefully I hear a sad echo of his former song, there doesn’t seem to be much life left in him.
“Novanus – you sound terrible!” I need light to access him, but I don’t want to reveal much of myself… I cause dim light to appear above and behind me after arranging my hair to cover as much as possible, hopefully he will see only a dim outline of my head. I can’t help my gasp as I see him. No longer does he radiate brilliance and power, he is faded, literally wasted away; his body is now only slightly larger than mine. His hair lies limp and dull, his clothes are in tatters, and he has quite obviously been extensively tortured, though most of his wounds have partially healed. His eyes, at first dull and empty, widen as I lean toward him.
“Clarice?”
“No, Shi'ahn – you’ve seen me from a distance before, in…” He interrupts.
“Water?”
“I have none, but wait… this place is quite damp.” I cup my hands and cause water to condense into them, then hold what I have caught up to his lips. He catches nearly every drop. His voice loses much of the dry rasp, but is still quite weak.
“I hunger…” At least I’m prepared for this.
“I brought some food. Most of it is unfortunately dried fruit, but… here, start with some grapes. They’re somewhat crushed.” He appears not to mind at all, though his eyes widen a bit as I dig around in the pouch. My own eyes begin adjusting to the light level as I slowly feed him, I’m sure he is seeing far more than I would prefer. I run out of grapes and he asks for more. “What have you the strength for? I have… here are some orange slices.” They aren’t in the best of shape either, but I manage to peel them off the sides of the pouch and feed them to him as fast he can take them, then realize I really ought to free his hands. As I reach for the chains he shakes his head.
“Leave them, my captor may return at any time, and my being freed from her bonds would intensify her anger.” He’s sounding better at least. “What else do you have in that wonderful pouch of yours?”
“Dried fruits, broken biscuits…”
“I’ll try a biscuit, and more water?” I pull out pieces of a partially chocolate covered biscuit and he moans in anticipation. “It’s been so long.”
“How long have you been here?”
He answers between bites, “Weeks, I think. It’s hard to tell in a dungeon like this.”
“Weeks? You disappeared only last night!”
“Then this place runs fast – you had better save some of that food – you may be in for a long stay. Water?” I cup my hands and cause them to fill with water again. He looks surprised. “I had thought it odd that you had found so much water… how are you doing that?”
“The air here is quite damp – I’m merely causing some of it to condense. It’s quite pure, I assure you.” He drinks what I have, then kisses the edge of my hand. A shock runs through me, leaving me feeling slightly drained. Novanus takes a deep breath and seems to have regained some vitality.
“Thank you, for your hospitality. Now please, before my captor returns, tell me how it is that you are controlling this environment – this cell is shielded against the use of powers.”
“Is it? I hadn’t noticed.”
“No, apparently not. I ask again, how are you doing it?”
“I… I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to explain. The song of this place may be strange, but it still obeys my will.”
His hand snakes out with tremendous speed and locks around my wrist, his voice explodes in my mind. 'Harmony! Listen to me, Shi'ahn, you must quit openly using that power here. If our captor discovers it, you may never escape this place. Cut the light and music now, and only gather water sparingly.' I do as he asks, while my mind resounds with the implication of that one word; Harmony. He said it like it is the name of a great power.
“What do you know of…”
'Do not speak of it!' He lets go of my wrist and continues aloud, “I'll ask the questions - now tell me, how did you happen to get here with my sister and niece?”
“Celeste and I were assisting Aurora in her attempt to contact you through her crystal, and…” I pause momentarily, realizing he will just yell at me again if I mention my own addition to that attempt. “We made brief contact and began to come to you, but we were hit with something terribly discordant. We woke up in darkness… inside Aurora’s crystal.”
“She got you out of a crystal trap? I’m impressed!” His voice resounds with pride, I hate to ruin it for him.
“Well, no. Aurora is in a coma. Celeste and I figured the way out.”
“You did?” He sounds doubtful, “Without the power of the crystal wielder?”
“Yes, but… not without sacrifice. We left nearly all our personal possessions behind to compensate for the power drain that we feared may have occurred while we were within. I hope Aurora will forgive the loss of all that was left behind.”
“So that is why you have no clothes… I'd wondered about that.” I need to learn to control my wordless reactions, he chuckles. “I have been in the dark for a very long time, the light you conjured was… quite illuminating. Now please do me the favor of checking on my sister’s condition.”
I gladly move away from him, using sound to judge where I go. “Aurora remains in the same co
ndition she has been in.”
“Damn these chains! I can’t chance being caught free of them… Are you strong enough to carry her to me?”
“Ah… what can you do for her while you remain in chains?”
“I just need to touch her – preferably her forehead.”
“Well, she won’t be a very dignified position, but yes, I can manage that.”
“Dignity is a luxury we simply do not have available to us.”
“No, of course not.” Replies the naked woman… I pick Aurora up, swing her over my shoulder and return to Novanus’ side, trying to position her head as close as I can to his hand. I try not to grunt as I shift her surprisingly weighty body.
“Got her.” He falls silent and stays so for quite a while. When he finally speaks he sounds as tired as I feel. “Her mind took the full force of a rather powerful attack. I’ve done all I can for her now, but she will remain unconscious for quite some time. It’s for the best, really. Now listen to me, if our captor shows up, do not give away your true identity! If Celeste is awake at that point, let her do the talking, she is far more knowledgeable in the art of misdirection than you. Now lie my sister down as comfortably as possible, then return with your food pouch.” I do as he asks, opening it to feed him some more. “No, we need to conserve what is left. I’m going to lean forward some, you slip it behind the small of my back. Yes, I know it will further crush what is left, but we need to hide the fact that we have it, and our captor will likely be more interested in you newcomers than in me when she returns. Now, take my hand.”
Between Darkness and Light Trilogy Page 7