Sabine began leading her back the way she had come, since the way she had been going was making less sense the further she went. Most of it did not look very familiar because she had been watching the black cat instead of where she was going. She could hear the sound of a church bell tolling, meaning she was not too far from the restaurant where she worked. She focused on moving toward the mournful gongs.
“Excusez-moi,” a man’s voice suddenly said behind them, “où êtes-vous allez-vous?”
Sabine turned to see three rough-looking men approaching quickly from behind. She tugged on Selindria to try to get her moving faster, but the taller woman stopped and turned to face the three men.
“Would you care to repeat that?” Selindria asked, rather politely Sabine thought.
“Américain,” the leader of the three said, “mon favori. You are not bad-looking, non?”
He began advancing toward them, with his two companions moving to the side of them. Selindria just watched him dispassionately as he closed the distance. He seemed slightly put-off by her obvious lack of concern. He glanced to either side at his two companions before looking back at Selindria with an evil grin. His hand shot up to grab a handful of her hair, at the same time that one of his companions made a grab at Sabine’s hair. There was a sudden blur where Selindria had been standing, followed by the sound of sharp cracks. Sabine stared at the three men laying on the ground around her in amazement. No one moved that fast. It was impossible, yet the evidence lay in the street in front of her.
Selindria turned back to her expectantly, waiting to continue their walk to Sabine’s home as if nothing had happened. Sabine stared at the three men that had accosted them; they were all unconscious. Selindria had twisted all of their elbows backward so they looked as if they were double-jointed. That had been what the cracking sound had been.
Giving herself a shake, Sabine began walking toward Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis in a daze. “Was that karate?” Sabine felt foolish as soon as the words left her mouth. If Selindria was not even from this planet, the word karate would certainly have no meaning to her.
“We just call it hand-to-hand combat where I am from,” Selindria explained, as if she knew what Sabine was thinking.
As they walked, Sabine tried to watch Selindria without appearing to. Selindria moved differently than other people, more fluidly. There was a liquid grace to the way she moved that Sabine had never seen before. There was also a strong sense of presence radiating from the other woman. Sabine was certain that she could close her eyes, spin around in a circle several times and still be able to point straight at Selindria. The tall, black-garbed woman stood out like a beacon with all of her oddities put together.
The two of them wound their way through the maze of streets for another quarter hour before Sabine finally found the restaurant where she worked. She had lost her sense of danger after their encounter with the three ruffians. In truth, she had devoutly hoped they did not run into any trouble with more of the local inhabitants, knowing full well what the outcome would be.
“This is where I work,” Sabine gestured at the restaurant as they walked past. “We are famous for our 330-seat belle époque dining room. If you like the atmosphere of France in the late Nineteenth-Century, you would enjoy this restaurant.”
Selindria was studying the cars that were driving down the street with a frown on her beautiful features. “What are those?”
Sabine looked at a bus passing them in surprise. “They are called automobiles, or cars for short.” Sabine watched Selindria gaze at the self-propelled vehicles in wonder. “How do you move around where you come from?”
“We walk,” Selindria answered distractedly, “or ride a horse. I have been told that we used to have other modes of transportation, but that was thousands of years before my time.”
“How did you get here then?” Sabine asked curiously. She had just assumed that the other woman had come from outer space or something.
A haunted look crossed Selindria’s face for a moment. “There was an accident. I am not sure what happened.”
Sabine decided not to press her on it. The subject seemed to upset her. She decided to try from a different angle. “Do all of the people have eyes like yours where you come from?”
Selindria turned her head to stare into Sabine’s eyes with her own lavender, cat-like eyes. “Only other Zerans; Humans and Talons have eyes like yours.”
Something about Selindria’s cat-eyed gaze was disconcerting. Sabine was not sure if it was the sheer intensity, or if it was the way she walked around obstacles on the sidewalk while she was looking in the opposite direction. It was as if she had eyes in the back of her head.
The sun was beginning to set on the western horizon as they continued down the Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis toward her apartment on Rue Eugène Varlin. People who usually ignored everything around them on the busy sidewalk seemed unable to walk past Selindria without staring at her. Part of it was her beauty, but Sabine new the main reason was her overwhelming presence. Sabine had once seen a magnet on the underside of a piece of paper have the same effect on some metal filings that were on the top of the paper. The two of them moved through a sea of swirling heads. All of the attention was beginning to make Sabine nervous. It was with a great sense of relief that she walked up the steps to her apartment building and opened the front door. Her propriétaire, Mme. Blanche, was sweeping off the stairs as the two of them walked in. She was a widow that was almost as wide as she was tall. She had a habit of sniffing at people as they walked past, as if she suspected them of bringing drugs into her establishment. As Selindria walked past the half-canine propriétaire, the old woman sniffed at her, then blinked in surprise, turning to watch her walk past. She wondered what it was the propriétaire smelled. Sabine was cursed with a permanently stuffy nose, so she did not smell much.
They moved up the steps to the second floor and moved down the hall to the door labeled #42. Sabine felt a tingle run through her skin as she pulled her key out of her shoe and unlocked her door. Selindria was frowning, peering up and down the hall.
“This building only has eight rooms,” Selindria observed in a puzzled tone. “Why is yours labeled #42?”
Sabine stared at her tall companion in surprise. How did she know the building only had eight rooms? “The propriétaire’s late husband had a sense of humor. Before he died, he said he discovered the answer to life while he was in this room, so he named it #42. It’s sort of a pun from a book he read.” Sabine knew her explanation sounded lame, but she did not know a way to explain it without getting into a long story. “If you get bored, I’ll find the book and you can read it.”
Selindria nodded, following her into the room. It was a modest studio apartment, with a small kitchen. There were plants growing in all of the windows, as well as on all of her small tables. Framed art hung on her whitewashed walls, mostly oceans with moons and planets hanging beneath them. Sabine had always been attracted to astronomy, and these pictures were a perfect representation of places she would want to vacation if they existed. A two-seated couch sat on one side of the room, with two cheap, cushioned chairs sitting on the other side.
Sabine flipped the light switch and moved over to the refrigerator to find something for the two of them to eat. The contents of her refrigerator consisted mostly of take-home meals from the restaurant. “You don’t mind leftovers, do you?” she asked, pulling out a take-home box of Coq au Vin and crème brûlée.
She turned around to see Selindria studying the light on the ceiling with a frown. She reached over and flipped the light switch down, and then up. Sabine was sure that anyone observing from outside would think a party was in progress. “How does this work?” Selindria asked curiously. “I can feel electricity flowing through the walls and into that glass fitting up there. What causes it to create light like that though?”
Sabine stared at her for a moment before answering. “You can feel the electricity moving through the walls? How?”
Selindria turned to regard her with those cat-like eyes. “Where I come from, we use what we call our yar to sense the world around us, as well as affect it to a certain degree. I have not felt anyone here yet that reaches out with yar. It is like there is a hard shell that surrounds you, keeping your Spirit from reaching out. Do you know if there is anyone on this world who can use their Spirit to sense the world around them?”
Sabine shook her head slowly, “There are commercials on television about psychics but I think they are all frauds.”
Sabine turned back to the oven to start reheating their meal. “The light is caused by the electricity flowing through a special piece of metal inside the glass, with some special gas as well. When the electricity flows through the metal, it excites what are called atoms, which causes them to release photons, or light.” Sabine laughed. “The only reason that I know that is because a little boy asked me that once and I had no idea, so I looked it up.”
Sabine took the food out of the oven, separated it into two dishes and handed one to Selindria. “So what are your plans?”
Selindria thanked her for the food and followed her into the living room where she sat on one of the cushioned chairs. “There was a man where I came from that was from this planet,” Selindria explained after she had picked at her food for a moment. “He was with me during the accident that brought me here. He ended up on my planet after inventing a device he called a wormhole while he was trying to discover how to dispel something called radiation. He said a war had begun just as he and his partner discovered what their invention did. Since the war would destroy the world, they decided to go through the wormhole and ended up on my world.”
Sabine felt her eyebrows climb. “Someone invented a wormhole? What was his name?”
“His name is Terrance Rendrum, but I think he changed his name since arriving on my planet.”
“How long ago did he appear on your planet?” Sabine asked curiously. If they could pinpoint the time he had disappeared, they might be able to find a news article regarding a missing scientist.
“About three thousand years ago,” Selindria replied slowly. “Once he discovered how to use his yar on my planet, he discovered how to extend his life as well.”
“That’s impossible,” Sabine said, more to herself than Selindria. “We just discovered electricity a little over a century ago. We were still living in mud huts three thousand years ago.”
“Maybe,” Selindria said doubtfully. “Time might not move the same way on your world as it does on mine.”
“So you want to look for some kind of record of this Terrance guy?” Sabine asked, already feeling a sense of futility in the sudden enormity of the task looming before them.
“Yes,” Selindria said firmly. “If I can find the place he invented this wormhole, maybe I can return home.”
Sabine smiled to herself. She had always hoped that something would happen to bring some kind of mystery back into life. She had just not expected it to actually happen. “I will do whatever I can to help you.”
Chapter 33
Radroc stood on top of the battlements overlooking the forests surrounding Chasel Ri' Aven. Guardians raced up and down the walls, making last minute preparations. The ground shook steadily to the rhythm of millions of giant footsteps. Several miles away from the walls, the army of Elementals approached, their Spirits encased in crude stone bodies. The root snare had destroyed most of the Earth and Water Elementals, but there were still a large number of Fire and Wind Elementals. Fifty Guardians lined the wall with Radroc, awaiting the arrival of the remaining Elementals. Radroc had spent the last hour teaching the Guardians how to destroy the Fire and Wind Elementals.
The Guardians stood facing the approaching army with determined faces, without a trace of fear. They knew how to control fear before becoming Guardians. Fear was the greatest weapon one could wield against an enemy. Chasel Ri' Aven was probably the worst city for an army to attack.
“Steady,” Radroc murmured, and his Yar distributed his voice through the ranks of Guardians lining the wall with him.
In the distance, Radroc could see with his eyes what he had been monitoring with his Yar. A cyclone of fire spun furiously through the green forest, instantly burning everything in its path. Ten more Fire and Wind Elementals appeared spread out to the sides of the leading Elemental. There was a path about a mile wide behind the raging Elementals. They could hear the sound of crackling and loud pops from the walls as the intense heat caused living trees to explode and their juices to turn instantly to steam.
“First File, lay the web,” Radroc commanded calmly. Reaching out with his Yar, he guided the ten Guardians of the First File in creating a web of tightly resonating wavelengths. The air between the city and the advancing Elementals dimmed slightly as they laced the air with nitrogen gas, and held it in place by their Yar.
“Second and Third File, advance the web.” Radroc continued to hold the tightly resonating wavelengths while simultaneously leading the other two files in a new string of wavelengths. A mixture of hot and cold air collided behind the web of gas, causing a burst of wind to push it forward, toward the advancing army. It surged forward at tremendous speed, bending trees as it sped past them. The forest that it passed over was also followed by loud popping sounds as the trees instantly froze, causing the sap inside of them to expand and explode.
“Remaining Files, remove the surrounding air.” Radroc stretched out with his Yar even further to lead the remaining Files. There was a small pyramid-shaped object sitting on the wall in front of each File through which they focused their Yar. It enabled them to reach out much further than they would normally be able to reach.
The last wavelength Radroc created with the remaining Files caused an implosion around the advancing Elementals as the air surrounding them was suddenly sucked away. They slowed to a stop as the Wind Elementals lost their ability to advance the Fire Elementals. Within a few seconds, the web of nitrogen gas wrapped itself around the Fire Elementals. A detonation shook the walls of the city, causing some of the weaker structures to collapse. Brilliant blue and yellow light erupted high into the sky as the Elementals fought to remain in the Physical realm. The light grew fainter as they were denied the oxygen they needed to survive and the heat was sucked out of them. Within a few seconds, it was over, without even a trace of smoke or steam where the Elementals had been.
A cheer erupted from the Guardians lining the wall, shaking the ground as they used their Yar to enhance the volume. Radroc let out a deep breath he had not realized he was holding. Now they just had the army of giant stone men to worry about.
“Captain Jorbran, prepare the impact missiles,” Radroc called down to where Captain Jorbran stood. He was on the inner hallway that ran through the mid-section of the wall. Small openings dotted the wall halfway up, where large spring-loaded contraptions with ten-foot long steel projectiles sat with a team of soldiers cranking levers. Each impact missile that was loaded into the contraptions was made from steel tempered with Quake Root solution. Quake Root grew inside the Rajan Gardens. It was harmless to humans, but when it encountered denser substances, it caused a vibrating resonance that would eventually break the chemical bonds of the substance apart. When the steel projectiles were tempered inside of the solution made from Quake Root, they would shatter with terrific force when launched into an object, destroying anything around it.
Captain Jorbran sent a pulsed acknowledgement with his Yar. The Guardians learned to communicate in this way, without speaking, while scouting. The stone giants were just cresting the hill where the Elementals had been destroyed. They covered the ground quickly, shaking the ground as they marched. Radroc watched grimly as the sea of stone giants continued onward, stretching back almost as far as the boundary. If Radroc did not succeed, just the sheer numbers of the stone giants would overwhelm the Avenry.
Radroc blinked as he felt a small beacon of power erupt far to the North. Radroc guessed it to be as far away as Shalilayo. Some
one was using Yara. A second beacon of power from the same location erupted. Two someone's were using a Chasel. More than likely it was Jerard and Terrance. Radroc hoped they finished each other off, without taking the rest of the planet with them. At least Jerard would not be here at Chasel Ri' Aven when the fighting begun.
The roar of stomping giant feet was deafening as the stone army reached the outer edge of the forest. Radroc took a deep breath. He had promised himself that he would not do this, yet he found himself reaching into his pocket to retrieve the first Chasel ever made. It was round on the bottom, rising to make a pyramid no larger than his fist. Small cracks scored through the surface from the strain of how much power had traveled through it. Turning the planet’s Spirit into a weapon was wrong, but Radroc knew that at this time, there was no other way to stop this army. With a sigh, he placed the point of the Chasel onto the battlement to ground it into the planet. Then he reached inside of the Chasel with his Yar and bridged the small gap that kept it disconnected from the planet’s Yar. A surge from deep within the planet pulsated upward until it connected with the Chasel and filtered into Radroc. He made a sweeping motion with his Yar, forming a tidal wave of vibrating matter so powerful that small cracks began appearing on the indestructible walls of Chasel Ri' Aven. A moment later, he pushed outward and the curtain of vibrating matter washed over the advancing army of giants. Shrapnel flew in every direction as rank after rank of stone giants exploded. Radroc continued pushing the wall of devastation, destroying anything that survived the stone giant’s march. As the wall of vibrating matter descended the mountainside toward the boundary, it suddenly seemed to hit a wall. Radroc hurriedly released his connection to the destructive wall, just in time to avoid the snapping backlash that came rushing back. A moment later, a figure in a dark, brown robe stood in front of the walls of the city, hovering at eye-level with Radroc. His orange-brown eyes were filled with irritation as he studied Radroc.
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