by Daniel Ruth
Time passed quickly for me as I mulled over these and similar issues. My exhaustion was forgotten as my supernatural stamina slowly filled my reserves. Not as fast as sleep or meditation, but I just couldn't put the books down. By the time I heard the knock at the door it was dark once more. Looking around I noted that Jeremy was gone but Mei was in the living room watching the holo vid. I had thought I had blown that up again. Wait, he fixed it yesterday.
I slowly stood up and stretched. I was finally starting to feel home inside my skin after my misadventures in the astral realm. I was drained, but not like I was in someone else's body. I meandered towards the door, as the second knock rang through house. It was likely Conrad wanting more detail on the demon invasion thing. He had no concept of priorities. I was lining up several arguments in my head as I opened the door.
The last thing I expected to see on my doorstep was a hulking giant of a man in shining armor, his bulging arm raised to my face. Considering the last time I had seen that arm held in a like position I had lost several seconds of my memory, a set of clothes and tooth, I think I can be forgiven if the immediate adrenalin rush evoked a sound that perhaps, just maybe, resembled a high pitched started yelp. I still say it was a manly war cry, but eye witness accounts may differ.
After trumpeting my war cry, I kicked my leg forward with all the force I could muster, backed with a surge of psionic energy I couldn't yet afford. I was rewarded by seeing the force of nature known as Faramond catapult backward across the street and through the house there. The bell like tone of the armor as it was stuck reverberated in the air. A split second later I heard the crashing of the entire front of the house collapsing around the flying figure and a moment later the sound of the inner walls giving way, then a final crash of the rear outer wall exploding outward. Straining my eyes to see through the expanding dust cloud, I believed I could see entirely though the building. A momentary feeling of satisfaction quickly gave way to alarm. I owned this entire block of houses. Which meant I was destroying my own property. Oh man, did my insurance cover this?
I was about to march, or stagger over to the damaged building when I noticed the screaming. I paused a moment to look to my left and noticed a familiar looking elf shrieking like a banshee. I started to get a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach as I looked from the cavern Faramond had left in my building to the upset elf and back again. It suddenly registered that perhaps the armored maniac hadn't had his arm raised to hit me. It would certainly explain the lack of danger I had sensed and fact that I had time to react to the 'attack' at all.
“Oh crap,” was my first statement. The elf was now pawing my arm and asking me to calm down and wait for a moment. This was better than the wailing but was feeling rather invasive. Not to mention that Faramond was likely to come barreling back through the remains of the house any second and I didn't feel like re-growing another tooth. “I assume he wasn't about to attack me?”
“No, of course not,” hiccupped the distressed lady. She was dressed in a frilly red gown that looked like the doily fairy had gifted her with a dress for a ball room party. “We came to ask your aid for...”
She was interrupted as the remains of the damaged house gave up the ghost and almost imploded as an armored figure ran through it. He didn't even use the same holes he created, but just bulled through the walls that were left as he ran back to us like a runaway locomotive. What an idiot.
I was gathering my rather limited reservoir of energy for a defense when the lady held up her hand and shouted, “By your oath of fealty I command you to halt and allow parley.”
Faramond stopped not more than ten feet away from us. From this distance, I could see the enraged expression on his face gradually give way to a frustrated dismay through his open helm. We stood staring at each other for a few seconds.
“I guess you all know each other,” Mei's dry voice came from behind us. She stood in her nightgown her rune sword out but lowered in a more casual stance than I thought perhaps was warranted.
“I accept your request for parley,” I finally stated and stepped to one side of the door. “Come in and be welcome.” It sounded a bit formal but was apparently enough to diffuse the situation as the elf woman and her human tank walked slowly through the door. As I warily followed behind them I noted the woman eyes roamed curiously around the living room as if she was expecting something different. Faramond walked alertly and stiffly as if he assumed we would transform into ravening beasts and fall on his mistress.
“Mei, this is the elf Estella and her champion Faramond.” I gestured to the two and then waved them to the couch as I took my own seat. I was a little bit claustrophobic in the room with four people. One of them almost the size of an ogre.
“Álfar,” she corrected me. I turned to Mei and interpreted.
“Magical elves that originally came from Norway.”
“We really aren’t elves and we only visited Norway briefly several centuries ago,” she corrected again. Faramond maintained a grim silence, though his eyebrow occasionally twitched. Presumably because I was too familiar with his elf. “We haven't had any reason to be back since then though.”
“So are you the source of the tales of the Sidhe,” Mei asked with an arched eyebrow.
The álfar gave a vague look of contempt. The first non-vapid expression I had seen on her face so far. “No. Those barbarians have nothing to do with our people any more than elves do.” I made a mental note that the various races likely parted ways enough millennia ago that they considered one another to be not related. “They were a most treacherous people then and most likely remain unchanged and unrepentant today.”
“What did they do to get on your bad side?” I wondered aloud. She took the question to be in earnest as she answered it in all seriousness.
“They had a tendency to invite guests to their world under the mound and then torment them if they crossed their arbitrary rules of hospitality. The mortals have had to put up with their whims, but we went to war with them and schooled them in true hospitality.”
“Ah, so they revised their laws?”
She shrugged, “I have no idea. They were forced to pay wergild and then we left this world as our business took us elsewhere. We take vows of hospitality seriously, but we can't watch over a barbarous race to ensure reasonable behavior.”
“Interesting,” I mumbled. I wondered if the Sidhe were still around. If their world was another dimension rather than merely a pocket dimension attached to this one then it may have a similar effect as crossing a portal I hoped would have on my anchor rune. Of course, if they only lived in Ireland it didn't help me at all. I couldn't even leave the damn city. “So what brings you here?”
“Well, we traveled home through the World Tree and...” she began.
“Wait a minute! You said the portal wouldn't open for five years!”
“Well, that one won't so we used a different one. The Tree has many roots.” She pronounced this as if it was a truism retold many times. I massaged my temples. Maybe I shouldn't have dismissed her as a useless flake and walked off. I reviewed what little information I had on her culture in my head. There wasn't much there, but hosts and guest rights were taken very seriously in her culture.
“Would you like something to eat and drink,” I offered. Mei looked at me suspiciously, as did Faramond. I sent a challenging glare in their direction. I could be polite, I just usually had other things on my mind. Things more important than guests.
“Are you offering us guest right,” the álfar asked formally. I had hit on something in her culture.
“I do,” I offered hesitantly. I wasn't sure if I was going to regret this any less than those ancient Sidhe had.
“I thank and we accept,” there was a slight shimmer in the air and I felt a weak geas take hold. Great a magically binding contract. It was not strong, likely it just alerted to the breaking of an agreement rather than enforcing it. Mei shivered slightly as if she felt it in the room.
I got u
p and went to the kitchen and started preparing some appetizers. I think I mentioned I am a decent cook and I had the fixings of a decent meal going before I went back to the living room with tea and lemonade. Mei and Estella were gaily chatting while the knight glowered. I stood in the doorway blinking at the pair of women. Apparently Mei was more high spirited with other supernatural females than men. I coughed lightly and set down the tray and glasses.
“When is the next gate due to open?” I asked as I filled the cups up.
“Oh, they open all the time, I feel them when they open and just go through,” she waved her hand.
“Can you take other people with you?” I casually asked.
“Only if you are oath sworn to my people or our liege.” She sipped from the cup with a nod of thanks. “The pact we have with Heimdell is all that allows safe passage through the World Tree.”
“The god Heimdell,” I asked flatly.
“Oh, you've heard of him,” she asked merrily. I gave a sickly grin. I knew the gods exist and wanted nothing to do with them.
“Wait a minute, a god like the one at Moscow,” Mei interjected forcefully. Estella and I just looked at her blankly.
“Yes. Like that,” Faramond responded in a pleasant baritone voice. I had somehow expected it to be guttural, more brutal. More like Mr. Evil's.
“You lost me, what does Moscow have to do with anything?” I was puzzled by the seemingly irrelevant comment. Mei looked at me sideways as if I had grown an extra head, but Faramond just looked at me and nodded, as if I had confirmed his suspicions.
“Decades ago a huge glowing opening in the air appeared in Moscow...”
“Central Square,” added Faramond. Apparently he was overcoming whatever shyness he had earlier.
“Yes. Out of if came a huge being claiming to be the Egyptian god Set. The details aren't known, however apparently there was an altercation between the god's emissaries and the government that escalated.”
“Most likely the government attacked or was rude and impertinent to the entity,” the knight stated quietly. I noted the irony and ignored it.
“After most of the armies had been killed by one mysterious means after another the government finally just nuked the entire city. Afterward, the only thing that still stood was Set and his minions... though I suppose the older vampires were around too, if they had stayed that long. The entity was completely unaffected by the attack. We think he retaliated because several cities just vanished immediately after...”
“Define vanished,” I prompted.
“Bare stone where they used to be. The entity left a day later. Went away and took the portal with him.”
“And no one started to look into the supernatural at this point?” I asked caught between surprise and disbelief. I had been under the impression that until shifters and vampires came out of the closet the world hadn't a clue about the other side reality.
“As I recall there was a ton of questions but no answers. The mages of the world were kept busy with hypnotic spells and geases to keep the inquiries from getting anywhere. I think it was the first time and last time they ever agreed on something. There are rumors they cast a huge spell to make people ignore anything that smacks of magic.”
“Until the vampires outed everyone.”
“Not really, I am not sure if you've noticed it, but the mages are still mostly in hiding except for a few mystics,” I gave Mei a flat stare. I had noticed this. “Since the people who were in power are still mostly in power, most of them still ignore the magical world unless it's shoved in their faces,” she continued her explanation.
“Like the vampires did,” I clarified.
“Yes, like that,” she said, disgruntled. I suppose when the vampires acted unilaterally for the mystic races they didn't make too many friends. “It's unlikely that the magical community will ever get its act together enough to do that kind of cover-up again and considering that the vampires plan actually seems to be working I suppose there's no reason. Eventually, the magic will wear off and the government will start to address these things faster. Until then, the response is going to be sluggish.”
“I see. That’s why the mayor's special division isn't getting any support from the federal level.”
“I suppose. I would guess that the mayor wasn't holding office during the Moscow Event or they still wouldn't have it.” Mei finished telling me this with a grim expression. I didn't really know how to take this. It explained a lot of the denial I had been seeing, but the average person still seemed a bit complacent.
I heard some sniffling off to the side and turned to see Estella blowing her nose as tears poured down her face. She saw me looking at her and burst out. “That's so sad! I had heard a few things that some of the meaner gods did, but I never knew it happened here. It's practically next door. Heimdall said there was an agreement in place among the gods to make this world neutral ground.”
“Well, I guess if you attack a god you take your fate into your own hands,” I offered lamely. If I was standing near an open portal in a confluence of magical energies I could likely be able to walk away from a nuclear attack too. I suppose a god would barely need the additional power. Anyway that sort of nixed the idea of using the World Trees gates to travel. There was no way I was swearing to serve an elf or get near a god if I could possibly help it. “So what brought you here?”
“As I said previously, I went back home. The oracles were all up in arms. Something about horrible visions of doom and danger to the Tree's roots.” She seemed to gather herself and finally put away the hanky. “They determined it was a danger coming from this world and sent me to look into it since I was familiar with the world and my vassal, Sir Faramond, is a native.”
“Ah, I see. So what brought you here,” I stressed the word 'here' once more.
“Oh, you left something at the place we last met and I used it to track you here. You seem to be a power here in this world and I was hoping that if you were friendly, I would be able to stay with you while I search for the problems. The oracles 'saw' you involved so it only made sense. I am so glad you offered to let us stay.”
“What did I leave behind?” I asked before switching gears again. “Wait. Offered to let you stay?”
“You left this behind,” the álfar took out a small satchel that I had not noticed previously and opened the drawstrings. She then stuck her entire arm into the small container and started to feel around. I had seen such containers before at home, but I heard a gasp from Mei at the unusual sight. After a moment, she came out holding a broken tooth the size of her forearm. My tooth. I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully as she held it out to me. Apparently body parts that left my presence long enough reverted to their original form. Great. If I could survive my head being detached from my torso it would revert to my true shape. How utterly useless.
There were some marks carved into the surface. I reached for the tooth so I could read it better. As soon as I touched it a fat spark of pure energy passed from the tooth to my hand accompanied by a loud snap. Instantly afterward I clutched my chest, as I felt the 'Human' rune burn with fire. I felt more than heard a disturbing crack, as what I could only guess was a rib gave way. Groaning, I fell back in my chair.
Mei was at my side in a moment forcing me to look into her eyes with one hand and holding out a finger in the other. I was confused for a moment before I heard her say “Can you track my finger? Look Derek.” Oh, how sweet, she was concerned. Me too. The good thing was I don’t think she was paying attention to Estella as she went on about the tooth. That might be difficult to explain.
“I'm fine,” I grunted. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no idea,” Estella said haltingly. “The tooth just has some runes of finding and truth carved into it. It seemed a shame to have a perfectly fine dragon's tooth laying around without anything on it so I asked the priests to put something useful on it that would let me find you.”
“You know runes,” I labored out, fixating on the most i
nteresting part.
“No. Of course not. Do I look like a priest of Odin or a dvergar?” Oh crud, doesn't her society have anything useful that's not connected to a god? “Do you want me to take it back?”
“No!” I almost shouted, causing the subsiding burning pain to peak again for a moment. “I'll take it, it just startled me.” They were all looking at them oddly. This didn't stop me from telekinetically lifting the tooth and floating it back to my room for study later.
“So, this house seems a bit small for us plus your wife, is there another area?” Estella began, changing what she may have noticed was an awkward subject.
“Mei is not my wife. I am far too young to get married,” I slowly stood up. The pain was slowly subsiding and now that Mei knew I wasn't having a seizure she was snickering at the question. I hobbled over the front door, gesturing them to follow.
“Normally I would have guests stay over there,” I said, pointing at the now destroyed house. “However it seems to have suffered an accident.” Mei began snorting again. I was glad to be amusing someone. Faramond just looked on impassively and the elf was yawning. “That house will be your new residence,” I said pointing at the next building over. “Wait a minute. That one has vampire juice all over the basement. Use that one.” I pointed one more building over. There should be linens in the closet and we can get your cooler stocked in the morning. Assuming the vid terminal still work.” Mei was giving me a nasty look. I guess her wrist terminal wasn't quit the same since she got here.
“I thought you had a place in the Blight. Although you’re welcome here, why do you need a place to stay?”
“Vampires and shifter rogues and outcasts are congregating in the Blight in response to some kind of rebuilding project,” Faramond stated in response. “For the vampires, I suppose they like the free food laying around and lack of police. The place is full of the mentally unstable and rebels. Ironically this migration will actually make the Blight a better place as each group makes its little niche. I hear they are already starting to renovate buildings and the vampires are actually going to set up a club.”