by Greg Curtis
“It's not a requirement for the job!” Chy replied. “He's the mayor. People cast ballots for him.”
“Ballots?” The dwarf's look of shock only grew more profound. “Why would anyone do that? Are they witlings?! Shouldn't the strongest just get to lead? And if there's a rival they can fight until someone wins and the other falls down.”
“It doesn't work that way here.” Chy sighed, realising that the dwarves had a lot to learn before they could make themselves at home in Charlton. But he didn't plan on explaining the casting of ballots to them. They could work that out for themselves.
“I'd suggest talking to him, and remembering that this is a peaceful town and that you're guests here. You need to obey the rules.” And he didn't know how they would compare to the laws of their own world. All the dwarves he'd met – which admittedly was only a few – had been extremely garrulous sorts. They would fight with anyone at the drop of a hat.
“Are you calling us brigands?!” The dwarf suddenly growled at him.
“I'm saying there's no brawling allowed,” Chy told him not wanting to get into an argument. “Not unless you want to be turned into a puddle of slime on the ground!”
The dwarf stared at him and then turned around to stare at the scorpion lying in two pieces in the middle of the street and seemed to reconsider his anger. As a wizard it seemed, Chy had some ability to intimidate even the dwarves.
“By the Stonecutter's arse!” the dwarf muttered under his breath. “Ballots and witlings!”
Then, with a wave of his hand, he and the others turned and headed unhappily for the Mayor. Mayor Barkins for his part, didn't look any more thrilled by the prospect of speaking with them either. But he looked even less pleased at the sight of a giant scorpion in the middle of his town. And at least there were only a dozen of them, Chy thought. And they were dwarves not sprites. Over the coming weeks and months he suspected, there would be a lot more people arriving from a lot of other worlds. And the chances were that many of their people would be vanishing too. If the barriers between worlds were breaking down, there was little choice in the matter.
But that was for later. For the moment he had another problem to deal with and her name was Aisha. She was heading his way now that the dwarves were leaving with a somewhat confused expression on her face. He stood and waited for her to reach him.
“Hey Soot!” He greeted her as he always did, with the nickname she'd had since she was a child. It was because of her dark hair and dark eyes and of course her name, which sounded a lot like ash.
“You did that?” She stared pointedly at the dwarves who were already rounding on the mayor, and the dead scorpion.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“How?” She asked sounding baffled.
“I have magic.” He held out a hand palm up, and let a flame dance just above it. Her eyes grew wide. “I'm a spell-caster.” And with that his secret was completely out. Other people were standing around, watching from a safe distance. People who knew him. Or who had thought they knew him until now. But there was no way of hiding it when people had seen him launch a shaft of ice at a giant scorpion. There was going to be trouble, he guessed.
“Since when?” But even as she asked her eyes never left the flame dancing in front of her.
“Since I was about twelve or thirteen. Since the guardians of the Heartfire Temple called me, and I started learning my gift.”
“You never said,” she accused him.
“No. There's no such thing as magic in Ruttland. Or in Althern. I would have been either laughed at or called a liar or a trickster. Or worse I might have been believed and then they would have hung me as a witch. There aren't many with the gift, and we stay hidden.”
“Praise Alder!” She abruptly turned her attention from the flame to him. “You know Mother is going to be pooh faced when she finds out!”
“I know,” he admitted as he let the flame go out.
“I mean you could have turned lead into gold. We'd all be rich!”
“Sorry Soot. I don't have an alchemy gift. And if I did you'd all be broke, probably in gaol, and I would have been hung. You think the nobles and the big wigs just let people go around making gold and getting rich?” But maybe the next time he sat on the golem chair he would gain that particular magic. And then they would have a whole new problem to deal with. Poor people weren't allowed to just get rich. Peasants could not have more wealth than the nobles and merchants. It was one of the unwritten laws of the world. It was one of the reasons he stood in freezing cold water with a pick axe every so often. Turn up with diamonds to sell and he'd be called a thief. He'd probably be up before the magistrate. It was suspicious wealth or some such thing.
“You could have tried,” she accused him.
“I did try. But it never worked out and I only have limited magic. That's why I chip stones out of a freezing cold river with a pickaxe.” He thought he should point that out before she got upset about all the things she thought he should have done.
“Then there's that mess in Stonely?” Soot suddenly looked worried. “Didn't the inquisitor talk to you about that?” She knew he had if only because he'd told her. And because everyone had gossiped about it.
“Wasn't me.” He paused for a moment wondering if he should tell her the rest. But really there wasn't a lot of point in hiding things anymore.
“Then who? Another wizard?” She stared at him her face filled with worry.
“No. Not a wizard. Not a human of any sort.” He let his eyes fall on the dwarves who were still busy accosting the Mayor. “Not a dwarf either.”
“So?”
“There are a lot of worlds out there. A lot of strange people. The dwarves come from one world – Stalen. They don't have much magic there either. But there are others. One of them is N'Diel – the world of the sprites. A nasty, very powerful people with potent magic. For years they've been kidnapping people from the other worlds and enslaving them. Now it seems they've turned their attention to Althern.”
“The people of Stonely were taken against their will and are now probably wearing their chains. I tried to stop them. But I got there too late. I didn't even know they were there until I saw the portal above the town. And I can't get them back. Even if I knew how I can't fight an entire world.”
“Sprites?” She stared at him dubiously. “Little winged people from the stories?”
“That's them. But tell everyone this. If you ever see a tiny little person, even shorter than the dwarves, very finely built and with gossamer wings, fear them. Walk away. Run. Stay a long way away from them. They're not what they seem. They are a dangerous enemy with powerful magic and ill intentions.” He took a deep breath. “And the chances are they're going to be coming.”
“To enslave us?!”
“No because the barriers between worlds are breaking down. People and creatures and land are crossing over. The sprites have done something. And now all the worlds are in danger.”
Aisha stared at him and he could see the doubt in her dark eyes. He understood it. What he was telling her sounded like complete madness. He would have thought the same in her boots. Which was why he stepped up to her and held her.
“I know. It sounds like the demented ravings of a drunkard. But tell the family what I've told you. Keep everyone safe. And if something bad happens, call me. You have a wizard in the family. One of the very few around. Maybe I can protect you a little bit. Though this is much bigger than me. I can't stop what's coming.”
“Then shouldn't you tell them?”
“No. I have to prepare myself for whatever comes. Build up my strength. Learn what I can from the others.” He sighed. “This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.” Not that he expected it to get better. He didn't know of any way to fix what was broken. Nor to even survive it. Just maybe, to hold off the inevitable end for a little while longer. Someone much more powerful than him was going to have to fix things.
He kissed her on the forehead. “Sorry Soot
. I have to go.” And with that he turned and started the long walk back to his home, leaving her standing there. But maybe there it wouldn't be to do what he'd said. Because he didn't know how to do any of that. Only how to sit and gnaw at his lip in worry.
Chapter Sixteen
It was time. It had been nearly two weeks since the sprites had unleashed the primordial nothingness. And she'd studied and prepared herself for this ever since. But Elodie still wasn't sure that she was ready. That she would ever be ready. Not for this. Because no guardian had ever done or even considered doing what she was about to do.
But there was no choice. The Temple, the entire volcano was completely surrounded by the black primordial fire, and it was only being held at bay by the Heartfire. And beyond that she didn't know what remained. She didn't know how far the darkness had spread. If it had reached the endless forest. Or the shadow worlds beyond it.
She knew that throughout the many worlds, things were falling apart. The portal she used for sending could reveal a little of what was happening out there. People were being taken along with whole chunks of land. They were swapping places with other, matching pieces of land. Beasts were crossing between worlds. Sometimes dangerous beasts. And magic from the Heartfire was bursting forth across all the shadow worlds, turning the skies into glorious spectacles that even those without magic could see. The lands were shaking and the seas trembling. No one could deny that something strange was happening. Something dangerous. And no one could find a way to fight it.
But the worst news was that ancient and mythical creatures had been seen across all the worlds. Creatures that could only have come from the endless forest. Mammoths, unicorns and dragons. Creatures that existed nowhere else but in the endless forest. It seemed that the boundaries between Prima and the shadow worlds were also breaking down. Things were moving at pace.
Most of all she knew that people were frightened. The casters out there were frightened. Those at least who had come to the Temple. She could feel their fear. And the fear only seemed to grow more powerful as the days passed. The battle between the void and the Heartfire was growing ever more intense. Chaos was claiming the shadow worlds.
They had to fight that. They needed to send not just the magic of the Heartfire to the shadow worlds, but the means to control it. They had to send the thrones. The influence of the thrones would bring order to the Heartfire out there. And maybe it would stand as a bulwark against the void. Stop or at least slow its advance. At least that was her hope. And even if it didn't, the very presence of them would allow other casters to advance in their gifts, and so let them battle whatever chaos was out there.
It wasn't a good plan, she thought. It was simply the only plan she could come up with. And at its heart it was the most basic plan there could be. The void was spreading. Growing. The Heartfire fought the void. It had to spread and grow too.
Elodie stood in the summoning chamber by the sendings portal and did her best to control her nerves. And to tell herself that all the magic she'd woven into the portal and into the thrones on the Heartfire Terrace had been done right. That it would work. But she wasn't at all sure it would. She'd read every book from every shelf in the library that said anything at all about this. There weren't many. She'd studied every piece of magical knowledge there was. Consulted with the most learned casters and wisdoms in every world she could find. But in the end, the magic she was using was older than all the mortal peoples of all the worlds put together. There was no certainty.
“Are we ready?” She asked all those who were listening. Untold thousands of casters.
“Yes,” came the reply from all those thousands or even millions of voices, loud enough that even though they couldn't be heard she could somehow hear them. It wasn't a word so much as a roar of agreement. Frightened, desperate agreement. They weren't ready. They weren't confident. They just had no choice and they knew it.
“So be it,” she replied. Then she bowed her head and closed her eyes, letting her thoughts embrace the incredibly complex series of runes that had been interwoven with the portal enchantment. Using it to send not just the words of the guardians to those with the gift, but the order of the thrones.
It wasn't easy. The portal had never been designed to send such energy, neither the type nor the amount. But little by little it accepted the essence of the thrones and sent it out across the worlds. And out there in the shadow worlds she knew, shadow thrones would be being created. Each one connected to its throne in Prima.
This went against everything the guardians had stood for for a thousand years. They would no longer be able to control the way that the gifted learned their magic. That would be entirely up to the gifted living in the shadow worlds. But it was what had to be.
So she concentrated, and let her thoughts guide the portal to send the energy to all those others. And though she didn't really have the capacity to concentrate on anything else, she prayed to the Lady of Grace that it would work. Maybe Elenar heard her.
It took time. A long time. Minutes passed and then more minutes and then hours. And the magical might and order that was the thrones, only trickled through the portal to those who were receiving it and setting it down. But as her legs began to ache and her head throbbed with pain, she kept going, strengthening herself with the understanding that it was working. However slow it might be, the energy was flowing. What needed to be done was being done.
The hours passed painfully slowly. But she kept going, and little by little she could feel the magic strengthening. The links between the thrones in the Temple and the shadows thrones were growing stronger. And of course when it was complete the Heartfire would pass into the Temple thrones and then out into the shadow thrones.
What would happen after that she wasn't completely sure of. But it would help the casters of the shadow realms to maintain order in the face of chaos. It would allow them to grow in strength. It would hold the void at bay. That was what mattered. If she could keep it going. And her strength was failing.
Eventually though, she felt the first tiny click which she knew was the first throne in one of the shadow worlds being completed and the magical connection between it and its parent throne being made. Elodie was almost on her knees by then, but in that moment she grew strong again.
And she grew stronger as more tiny clicks followed that first one. And like a crowd slowly starting to applaud, those tiny clicks slowly became a continuous roar.
It had worked! She laughed, even though she knew she had to keep concentrating. Tears of happiness started rolling down her cheeks. Relief too as she knew her task was almost over. And that a tiny victory in the battle against the primordial darkness had just been won.
She found the strength to keep standing there. To keep going. To push herself to the very limit as the thunderous applause eventually began to die down. And eventually to get back to just hearing one click after another as the stragglers finished making their connection.
Then finally there was only silence. The very last shadow throne had been formed. One way or another it was over.
Elodie finally let a smile find her face. It went against protocol to show emotion in the Temple, and she could almost imagine Fylarne standing there beside her, frowning at her lack of discipline. But he wasn't there. No one was. And she told herself, she could smile if she wanted to. And she had reason to smile.
For good or ill, the Heartfire was out there. The last shadow throne had been created and connected. There were no more. And now it would be growing and spreading out. Fighting the void. Pushing it back with its mere presence. Strengthening those who knew its gift. Hopefully returning a measure of calm to the worlds.
It was then that she finally allowed herself the chance to give in to the fatigue of her her flesh and the pain in her head. And to leave the summoning chamber and head for her bed. And maybe to weep a little more for all her missing friends now gone from this world and hope they would approve.
Chapter Seventeen
Chy stood
on his patio staring at the dozen stone statues staring back at him from the other end of his front yard. And all he could think was that they shouldn't be there. He'd created them – or rather the magic from the Temple had somehow been funnelled through him to create them – but he still didn't quite know how that had worked. But most of all they shouldn't be there. They should be in the Heartfire Temple on Prima.
But that was magic he supposed. It had its own rules, and sometimes they weren't completely obvious even to those who cast it.
The dozen thrones sitting at the end of his yard were an impressive sight, even framed against the back drop of the forest and without the orange light from the Heartfire reflected off them. And the magic he could feel flowing from them was more so.
It was so powerful that it was like being back in the Heartfire chamber even the best part of sixty or seventy paces from him. Though only to him. To people without the gift it was nothing. Just a bunch of odd looking stone chairs standing against the trees. Gigantic of course. But nothing more. And soon they wouldn't even see that. He had planted some bushes in front of them that were growing at an impossible rate, obscuring them from anyone who came calling. Already the bushes were nearly four feet high, and by the time morning came he hoped, most of the thrones would be concealed up to their shoulders. In a couple of days no one would be able to see the thrones at all massive as they were.