Chasing Portals: Swords and Science Book 1

by Jason Parker

  Dagan nodded. Yes, wondrous—at first, but like moths to a flame, they were consumed by arrogance. The grandiose names they adopted were just the start. Even the brothers Jamis and Calvor who insisted on retaining their given names were so driven by vanity they devised a spell to ensure no one in Gandany could ever use their names again.

  Dagan massaged his temples. Even he had fallen victim to the seduction of power. Believing the great wizards were too illustrious for a single lifetime, he developed a spell to drastically slow aging and granted the great wizards prolonged youth—virtual immortality. They had it all: endless power and the means of cheating death. They fashioned themselves as the demigods of humanity.

  Araphel put her hands to her cheeks. “Oh! I shouldn’t forget our god, Pargon. He made everything so much more fun!”

  “More fun?” Dagan asked with a frown. “You mean because our magic was more powerful if we prayed to Pargon or one of his children, Keyaul or Teylan? When they would grant us energy, strength, or focus?”

  “Of course there was that,” she said with a roll of her eyes and a playful grin, “but I meant when Pargon spoke to us through the Ingress and told us how we could use other things to supplement the mystical energies and create new forms of magic.”

  Dagan felt the blood drain out of his face. “Please, my love, tell me what you mean.”

  Araphel put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “You really are silly today. You know all about how we combined our magic with things like herbs, plant extracts, minerals,” she paused and shuddered, “and blood and animal tissues.”

  The image of Araphel began to flicker. Dagan rubbed the brooch and the image clarified. “Yes, yes,” he said, “but I thought Vladrik came up with that on his own.”

  She shook her head. “No. You remember the Calerian Plague?”

  “Of course,” he responded. “We knew the plague originated from desert fly bites and that the flies lived and fed on the blue spine cactus in the Calerian Wastelands. A group of explorers were bitten and brought the highly contagious disease back with them to populated areas. We couldn’t find a cure with the mystical energies. Then Vladrik thought to incorporate juice from the blue spine cactus in a spell and,” he snapped his fingers, “the plague was eradicated.”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t Vladrik’s idea,” She said, almost jumping with excitement. “He was very determined to find a cure. Natresse and I worked with him for weeks, but no luck. When we had a chance to ask Pargon about it, he told us to try combining natural substances with the mystical energies. He suggested the blue spine cactus juice since it was at the origin of the disease.”

  Dagan stared at her, his head shaking slightly. “All this time. I never knew.”

  Araphel frowned. “What’s wrong, dear?”

  “Pargon started it all.” He tented his hands and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “A suggestion to save thousands destroyed a hundred times that number. Vladrik pushed the boundaries of this new power to extremes that ultimately descended into darkness and corrupted his soul. You, me, the other great wizards, we all turned a blind eye and then it was too late. He combined the mystical energies with torch weed oil and snakes to create the flame-breathed fire basilisks. Human brains and arachnids to create the parasitic brain spiders. A mixture of human and lion parts to create the savage manticores. Vladrik’s army of abominations.”

  Dagan looked at the image of Araphel. She had her hands over her ears and was weeping. “Why do you speak of such things, Touchstone?”

  “I’m sorry, my love,” Dagan said softly. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Perhaps you should rest.” He returned the scarab brooch to his desk drawer. The image of Araphel shimmered and faded. Dagan stared until the last vestige was gone.

  The tapping in the back of his mind returned. Teylan was knocking again. Good, Dagan thought. Now I have questions for him. Dagan sighed, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Through the years he found the easiest way to initiate contact with Pargon, and now Teylan, was to simply open his mind and focus on a non-distinct image, such as a bright light.

  “Thank you for meeting with me,” an ethereal voice spoke from seemingly everywhere within the room. The voice was dull and slightly thick and muffled. A stark contrast to Pargon’s strong and authoritative voice. Dagan could not help picturing Teylan as small and unassuming.

  “The probabilities of the future have been shifting,” Teylan continued, dispensing with any additional pleasantries. “The most favorable outcomes now have Nightlocke in Corava. He must journey there soon. And you, Dagan, must locate and prevent the death of your fellow former great wizard, Calvor. There are many paths to his death, but the future aligns best if he remains alive. He’s in Crossroads now, but he tends to wander between there and Lyraton.”

  “Hold on a moment,” Dagan protested, raising a hand to his unseen guest. “For the second time in the past few months you request my assistance and offer vague explanations in return. Out of gratitude for your father’s sacrifice and the aid you provided after the war, I excused your audacity the first time and agreed to mentor the young man from the Science Institute who you claim is the key to the future. At the time I asked no questions, but now, I will not continue to manipulate Nightlocke or be a puppet on your strings without an explanation.”

  “Very well,” Teylan said after a long pause. “What do you wish to know?”

  “Tell me how you know about the future,” Dagan requested.

  “This is something you already know,” Teylan said with a hint of annoyance that produced a slight squeak in his voice. “I’m well aware my father discussed this with you in the past.”

  “Yes, but that was many years ago and I am old,” Dagan countered. He tapped his index finger on the side of his head. “My memory is not what it once was. Please, indulge me.”

  “I think you are playing games with me,” Teylan said in a thickened tone. “But as you request, I will indulge you. The Nexus where I exist sits beyond time and in a dimension between worlds. Something like a bridge with many paths. I can see all points along the timeline for these worlds. From my perspective, past, present, and future are meaningless concepts in these places. Everything that will happen has already happened. Your world, Gandany, is different. The veil between Gandany and the Nexus is thinner. I am attuned to the movement of your time. I know the past only by watching it occur through the Ingress. I can see your present, but only for the location I am focused on, not everywhere. Right now, for example, all I know of the present is what is transpiring in this room as we speak.”

  “Stop right there,” Dagan said as he sat down in his favorite leather chair. “Remind me of everything you can do with the Ingress.”

  A sigh filled the room. “I can see any part of Gandany in present time. I can focus on a person or an object and see all their or its possible futures. I can’t instantly locate someone, I have to know where to look or take the time to search. As you know, I can send a mental invitation to someone to open a dialogue with me. If the person understands how to accept my invitation we can converse, as we are doing now. Of course, you can’t see me, but I can see you—you know all of this.”

  Dagan crossed his legs. “Then tell me something about the Ingress I don’t know.”

  Silence filled the room, and then Teylan’s voice returned. “There are two things. First, the only time I can hear anything on your world is when I’m in a conversation such as this. All other interaction is visual.”

  “This is new information,” Dagan said with a nod. “And the other thing?”

  The pitch of Teylan’s voice rose. “Understand I have only tried this once, and that was to test it out when my father first explained it to me. During conversations I can use my voice to affect the emotions of the person I am speaking with. Please believe me, I have never used this ability on you.”

  Dagan stood. “Please demonstrate.”

  “I would rather not,” Teylan squeaked.

  “I insist.”<
br />
  Another sigh echoed throughout the room. “Dagan Garris, you have performed outstanding service to the world of Gandany.” Teylan’s voice was suddenly powerful, simultaneously silky and jagged. A swell of pride filled Dagan. He wanted to hear more.

  “Do you understand now?” Teylan asked in his normal dull, thick voice.

  Dagan gasped. He felt the momentary exuberance fade. “Yes…that is a powerful ability. Did your father ever use it on me or the other wizards?”

  “I imagine he did, but I don’t know to what extent,” Teylan replied.

  Dagan walked to the sole window in the room and looked out into the castle courtyard. Dusk was settling in. He caught a glimpse of Lassernan moving about the stables. “I appreciate you not using this emotion manipulation on me and hope you never will.”

  “I will not,” Teylan’s voice assured him.

  “Let’s move on,” Dagan said as he swiped his hand in a cutting motion. “Tell me more about how you can see the future.”

  Dagan could sense frustration filling the silence then Teylan spoke. “I’ll give you a simple example. Say there are five possible futures for you. One leads to your death. The others, while taking different routes, converge at the same node. From this node there are seven possible paths. Again, one leads to your death and the other six converge at another node, and so on. Aside from the paths that lead to your death, you end up in the same place regardless of the route you take.”

  “So, regardless of which path I follow, ultimately my future is the same?” Dagan asked.

  “Everyone has an impact on the overall future of the world to one degree or another,” Teylan explained, “but when their possible future paths continually converge into the same nodes, the impact is unchanging. The death routes can present interesting twists, but to know the outcome of someone dying and not reaching a node you need to understand how it affects the possible futures of those you interact with. It’s a big puzzle and extremely complex to fit the pieces into place.”

  Dagan clasped his hands behind his back and nodded. “Okay, my future more or less ends up the same regardless of what I do, but my interactions with others can impact the future of the world.”

  “You’ve got the right idea,” Teylan said with a hint of excitement in his dull tone. “My example is extremely simplistic. You have endless possible future paths and countless nodes. No one’s future is predetermined. There are always choices and routes that can lead to less likely outcomes. However, in your case, the vast majority of paths converge to the same nodes. Taken alone, your future map is relatively uninteresting. When combined with Nightlocke’s possible futures, however, the routes you travel have a profound impact on his. Nightlocke has multiple future nodes with equivalent routes leading to them. There is no one most likely future. The path you select will alter the balance and play a key role in determining at which node Nightlocke ends up.”

  Dagan sank back into his chair. “Why is Nightlocke so important?”

  “The future path he follows is tightly interwoven with the overall fate of your world. I’m trying to ensure he ends up on the path to salvation rather than destruction,” Teylan answered.

  “Hmm,” Dagan mused as he drummed his fingers on the armrest of the chair. “Isn’t that similar to what Pargon did? Didn’t he try to steer me and the other great wizards down the route to utopia?” Dagan shook his head. “It didn’t turn out well.”

  “Do not dare to judge my father,” Teylan said in a loud, quivering voice. “His intentions were noble. He brought wonders to Gandany you could never have imagined. He could not predict Vladrik would end up on one of the few paths that led to a future of tragedy.”

  “But Pargon’s actions created that path didn’t they?” Dagan countered.

  “Yes,” Teylan said quietly. “He believed he was responsible. It’s the reason he chanced stepping through the Ingress to your world without knowing the repercussions. He ended up mortal with no means of returning to the Nexus. He made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure Vladrik ended up on a path to his death.”

  Dagan folded his arms. “I respect your father’s sacrifice—truly, but by using me to manipulate Nightlocke’s future aren’t you making the same mistake he did?”

  He picked up the book on the small table next to his chair, Jamis’ memoir, The Rise and Fall of Vladrik. He held it up for his unseen guest. “History is repeating itself.”

  “Perhaps,” Teylan replied. “When my father walked through the Ingress I could see him on the other side, in your world, but I still felt his presence standing next to me. There was nothing I could see, but it was there. I reached out and felt something—a disruption. A jolt of pain coursed through my body, and then it was gone.”

  “Go on,” Dagan said as he returned the book to the table.

  “I didn’t sense the presence again until sometime later,” Teylan said. “I watched through the Ingress as the war with Vladrik ran its course. Vladrik was defeated, my father and several of your wizards were dead along with him.”

  Dagan held up his hand. “Wait, where was Keyaul while all this was happening? Why wasn’t she with you?”

  Teylan uttered a bitter laugh. “For reasons he never shared, my father chose to keep the Ingress hidden from my sister and me. It wasn’t until he decided to make his sacrifice that he shared everything with me—his efforts to better your world and his ultimate mistakes. He was cautious with my sister. He told her an abbreviated version. He said she should keep answering the prayers of the people of Gandany, that they would need her aid. He didn’t tell her about the Ingress. He feared she was too much like him and would use it to manipulate your world as he had.”

  “You mean as you’re trying to do now?” Dagan interrupted.

  Once again, Teylan’s sigh filled the room. “My motivations are different—I’m getting to that.”

  Dagan held up his hand again. “I’m sorry, but I assumed you used the Ingress to respond to prayers.”

  “No, the Ingress is not necessary,” Teylan explained. “When someone in your world focuses their thoughts on us and asks for help we can feel it. Even if a hundred ask at the same time it doesn’t matter. We can split our focus and respond to as many as we choose. As you are aware from past experience, we can provide strength in times of weakness, energy in times of fatigue, or calm in times of stress. What you don’t know is we also receive something from the exchange. For a few moments we can live vicariously through those we help, experience your world through their senses. It can be addictive. Keyaul yearns for it.”

  “So you get to experience life through the people you help.” Dagan rubbed his chin. “It’s a type of symbiotic relationship.”

  “Yes, that’s essentially correct,” Teylan agreed. “Keyaul loves the brief glimpses into the souls of those she blesses. I find them frustrating—a brief taste and then it’s gone. Once I knew about the Ingress, I quit answering prayers. Keyaul, of course, continued and became Gandany’s goddess.”

  Dagan nodded. “In the aftermath of the Vladrik war your sister gave people a measure of hope in a hopeless time, but I’m confused. If Keyaul doesn’t know about the Ingress, how does she think Pargon was able to go to Gandany?”

  “My father simply told her he had found a way and refused to elaborate,” Teylan answered. There was a slight break in his dull thick tone. “She begged and pleaded with him not to go, but he was undeterred. When my father died we immediately knew it. Keyaul cried for days.”

  Dagan shifted in his chair and remained silent. Offering words of condolence to a god seemed inadequate.

  Finally, Teylan’s voice returned. “My father was gone, but not completely. The presence I spoke of. I began to sense it more and more as time passed. I became convinced it was a piece of my father that was left behind when he ventured through the Ingress. A dark and unpleasant piece.”

  Dagan clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. “So you’re saying the dark side of Pargon is living with you in the
Nexus?”

  “Yes, something like that,” Teylan said. “It’s difficult to explain. He’s here—I can sense him, but I can’t see or hear him. We’re on different planes of existence, not quite in sync with each other. I’m certain, however, he’s capable of using the Ingress and is responsible for the resurrection of Vladrik. I’m unsure of his motives, but he’s trying to plunge your world into chaos. This is why I have chosen to intervene. I’m not trying to manipulate your world, I’m trying to counterbalance the actions of my father’s dark spectre.”

  Dagan stood and paced about the room. He glanced out the window. It was fully dark now. “So you see Nightlocke as the key to thwarting this new nemesis you’ve neither seen nor heard and you need my help.”

  “Yes,” Teylan replied. “Your skepticism is evident, but please trust me—the threat is real.”

  “Why me?” Dagan asked as he rubbed his temples.

  “You are one of two living people who understand how to communicate with me,” Teylan explained. “Calvor ignores me and he’s unpredictable. His possible futures are a tangled mess, but the path to salvation is more certain with him alive.” Teylan paused. “I need your help, Dagan.”

  Dagan frowned. “You said there are only two of us. What of Zarlyn, the former wizard Natresse? To the best of my knowledge, she is still living in the Whitehurst Forest.”

  “I’m sorry,” Teylan said in a subdued voice. “I believe Zarlyn is dead. I don’t know what happened, but her cabin in the woods is deserted and I see signs of a disturbance. Her presence is in none of the futures I see interacting with the cabin.”

  Dagan sighed. Of the nine of us who would live forever and bring paradise to Gandany, only two of us remain, he thought.

  “Teylan,” he said as he resumed his pacing. “I do not know you as well as I once knew Pargon, but I believe you believe in the nobility of your actions. I’ll have to trust you. You say you’re certain Nightlocke should travel to Corava. When does he need to be there?”