by Max Jager
The scanner easily located the beacon below them with Amber showing Matt how to manually lock in the coordinates on a given landmark. When they got to about twenty thousand ing's above the flashing beacon, it suddenly winked out, but by now their landing location was locked in.
The Nora-Lee set down on a large courtyard surrounded by a low stone wall,
"I detect no threats," announced Karla," do you want me to charge my hull?"
"I don't think that will be necessary," replied Amber, but just place yourself on standby."
"As you request captain," came the reply. Playing it safe, Matt grabbed his AR, and handed the Mossburg to Kaitlyn, passing her a shoulder bag filled with shotgun shells, a med kit, and an MRE.
"Sling it over your shoulder," he instructed, "But for Christ's sake don't point it at anyone unless they attack us first."
"Is this wise?" she asked. With a look of concern, Matt replied,
"Until we determine their intentions, we are at triple red, got that?" Kaitlyn nodded. Matt then looked at Amber and Gandric,
"You know, I never thought to ask, but do you two have any sort of weapons built into you?"
"We do," replied Gandric, "But we'd rather not reveal them at this point, to use them quickly depletes our energy supply, and I haven't as yet created a re-charge unit to re-charge Amber and I should the need arise."
"So much for that," thought Matt, "Well let's just be on our guard, let's go take a look." Amber thought it must be around mid-day from the position of the sun, although Matt wondered how she could know that, not knowing this planet's orbit cycle, or the length of "days" on the planet. At one end of the low wall was a high tower just like in some of the video games he'd played. There was an open gate at the other end and it looked like they were surrounded by a thick forest.
"Wow! This is so cool!" Exclaimed Kaitlyn, "I wonder if anyone lives in that tower, kinda looks like something a mage or wizard would live in."
Suddenly five Centaurs' came galloping through the gate and quickly surrounded them.
"Holy shit!" Gasped Kaitlyn "Centaur's, my god they really do exist!" Matt could only look at them and accept that fact, but slowly he was coming around to the idea that he was going to be seeing a lot of very strange things on this trip.
The Centaur's were naturally a half horse half man combination, but unlike the mythological depictions, these Centaur's wore grey or linen colored shirts under brown or black waist coats. They also wore felt hats, and large saddles, that extended around their fronts like aprons, with what appeared to be cargo type pockets on the front. Matt smiled to himself at their appearance. Amber and Gandric just stood there looking intently at the creatures.
In a tone of impatience, one of the centaur's said,
"Hurry up, climb on, let's get out of here!"
"Oh shit! They even talk!" Exclaimed Kaitlyn.
The centaurs gave her puzzled looks,
"Of course we can talk human, now if you're quite ready, swing up into our saddles, so we can get out of here."
Chapter 12
Titan Stand Chapter 12
"Hold on there a second," replied Matt, "I've ridden before, but I'm not sure about Kaitlyn here, and I know Amber and Gandric haven't." The centaur took a closer look at the androids,
"Who, and what are those two?" He asked.
"That's Amber and Gandric, they are androids." replied Matt, "I'm not sure they would be able to stay on your backs."
'Oh yeah, is there something wrong with them?"
"No," replied Matt, Technically, they are mechanical, but their intelligence puts them at a level above humans. In other words, they aren't living beings." The head centaur studied them a bit longer, then said,
"They look like they are made of metal, is that true?"
"Well yes and no," replied Matt, "Although their skin looks like metal. Its way more than that, Amber told me she doesn't weigh that much more than a human woman of her size."
"Is that so?" Replied the centaur, "Both of them look like they are made of metal, which spells "heavy" in my book." He then called out to the androids,
"Are you two heavy?" Both droids didn't seem to understand what he was talking about, when suddenly one of the other centaurs called out,
"Hey Khes, what's the hold up? I was all set for supper, let's get going!"
Khes turned to Matt and said,
"Do you hear that? My troop is hungry, we've been out all day, it's our suppertime, our wives are getting impatient, and the last thing we want are impatient wives." At this remark the other centaurs started laughing.
"Well look," replied Matt, I'm just not sure those two will be able to stay on your backs."
"Well let's get 'em on, and see shall we?"
There was a medium sized rock nearby, so Matt directed the Centaur's over to it then he demonstrated to the androids the proper way to mount a horse.
"Just put your left foot in the stirrup like I did, grab onto the saddle like so, and quickly pull yourself up swinging your right leg over the saddle like so." Using the rock as a step he had Amber try first. It too her three tries, but she finally made it. Gandric managed in two, but being somewhat shorter, it took Kaitlyn three tries as well. Since these "horses" were basically men, they didn't need reins, but instructed their riders where to hang on.
Owing to the fact that their passengers didn't know how to ride, the centaur's maintained a fast, but easy gait, as they rode, Matt asked his centaur what his name was.
"Names Khes, and your's?"
"Matt, Matt Grainger."
"From what that female was saying it sounds like you are familiar with our race, I wasn't aware that there were others like us around." Matt shook his head, the thought of talking to a "horse" was having a hard time sinking in, but he replied.
"Well we're from the planet earth, and while there are no real centaur's there, they appear all the time in ancient folklore." This seemed to pique Khes's interest, but he said nothing more. Before long they arrived at what appeared to be a large settlement, all stone and brick. The buildings all appeared to be painted and well maintained, the streets were even cobble stoned.
"Doesn't that bother your hooves?" Asked Matt, as they clattered along."
"Not really," replied Khes, "I'm wearing shoes that can handle it." From time to time Matt kept checking on Amber and Gandric, but they seemed to be doing just fine.
Arriving in front of a large brick house with a wide porch, and a well kept lawn, shaded by several trees; Khes turned his head slightly, and said,
"Ride's over, this is queen Breca's castle." Matt gave it a puzzled look,
"This is a castle?"
"Yeah," replied Khes, "What were you expecting?"
"Oh I don't know," replied Matt, "I guess a real castle, you know, towers, turrets, draw bridges, that sort of thing." He then watched as Amber and Gandric dismounted, doing so a lot easier than mounting. Matt then shook Khes's hand,
"Thanks for the ride Khes, maybe we'll catch you around." The centaur didn't reply, but quickly turned, as did the others, and clattered back down the street.
"Well that certainly was…Different," stated Gandric, Amber agreed, wondering if she might like to try it again.
As they were starting towards the steps up to the porch a man in a green and yellow uniform came to the edge of the porch, both teens spotted the fact that he was an elf, with long pointed ears. Kaitlyn let out a little gasp, but was cut off by the elf's announcement.
"The queen is expecting you, please follow me." As soon as they entered the house, Matt thought of a large southern plantation house. There were several elves both male and female doing various things and all wearing the green and yellow uniform. Following the servant down a long hall, Matt and Kaitlyn observed the walls covered with artwork and portraits, with display cases along the walls filled with artifacts. The servant was maintaining a brisk pace, so they didn't have a lot of time to examine the paintings any closer, but both could see the subjects were ei
ther elves or fairies and pixies. Finally they stopped at a large wood grained door. The servant lightly knocked, then peeked in. Then turning to the group, announced,
"The queen will see you now."
It wasn't a large room, but the woman whose face appeared on their scanner was sitting behind a large wooden desk typing on what looked like a laptop computer.
As they stood there for a moment, Matt thought to himself, "Will the wonders just keep on coming?"
Without looking up, the queen said,
"Just have a seat, I'm almost done here." Matt looked at Kaitlyn who seemed equally amazed by the fact that this was supposed to be a "medieval" type atmosphere, yet here was the queen pecking away on a laptop computer. Finally the queen looked up; she was wearing spectacles which gave her a "bookish" librarian look.
"Sorry for the wait, but we're trying to put the finishing touches on next year's budget. Sooo, you are the space travelers who know about the Tuatha De' Danann?" Matt didn't catch what she meant, but Kaitlyn did.
"Uh yes, your highness," she replied, "But please understand, we only know them from folklore, as far as we know none still exist on our planet." The queen slowly closed the computer's screen, studying them closely, then indicating the androids, asked.
"Who are these two? My sorceress could only detect two life forms."
"I am Amber, and this is my friend Gandric," exclaimed Amber, "We are Motok's I come from the planet Z'ha'dum, and Gandric comes from Xandrus." The queen gave Gandric a closer look, then said,
"Xandrus, I believe I've heard the Golians mention that planet, wasn't there some sort of revolution there a long time ago?"
"Yes," replied Gandric, "We androids overthrew our creators, after Zadra's of cruel treatment."
"Ah yes, well then, moving on, welcome to the planet of Denedra, you are in Gwyn Wood, the capitol. But I find your knowledge of our ancestors quite fascinating, just a moment." The queen then pressed a button on her desk. "Before we begin, I'd like to get my advisor, and royal sorceress in here." Moments later, two people entered, one was a male elf dressed in striped pants and a gray frock coat with one of those old-fashioned cravats. The other was a tall sultry looking woman with piercing blue eyes; she wore what appeared to be horns on her head. She was dressed entirely in black, and wore what appeared to be some sort of cap.
"This is Lord Morrone my Royal advisor, and this is Mullein Shade, my sorceress." Kaitlyn's eyes grew large, then speaking out of turn, she stared at Mullein, and exclaimed,
"You look just like Maleficent from the movie!" The sorceress looked at her queen, then back to Kaitlyn,
"There is another like me?"
Clearly on the spot, Kaitlyn scrambled to correct herself.
"Uh no ma'am, back on earth there are what we call "fairy tales" Maleficent is a character in one of them, that's all." Queen Breca leaned back in her chair and removed her glasses. Then looking at her advisor, and sorceress, she let out a sigh.
"Have any of you ever heard of the "earth?" Both shook their heads. Sensing danger, Kaitlyn quickly responded.
"Oh but it's true, we really do come from earth, all our ancient mythology, fairy and folk tales are filled with elves, fairies, pixies and like I told you, leprechauns."
Staring at her intently, Mullein Shade questioned Kaitlyn again.
"And you say none of these creatures remain?" Shaking her head, Kaitlyn replied,
"No ma'am,
"If there were ever any really there, it's been many hundreds of years, maybe even a thousand." Looking at her queen again Mullein said,
"I believe her, remember that flood we had twenty years ago?" The queen nodded,
"Well thankfully I had an opportunity to read some of the texts that were destroyed, one such tome, the "Alfheim Trect" spoke of three tribes leaving Ae'l'war, but they were never heard of again, from what this girl is saying, perhaps they landed there, we of the Tuath De' are another tribe, and we know the Ladhas are on Doradus." Both Matt and Kaitlyn were taking all this in but understanding none of it, finally queen Breca said.
"I can see confusion in your eyes, so let me explain; Well over a thousand years ago we Tuatha De' Danann, which loosely translates to "peoples tribes" left our home world of Ael'war. Unfortunately there is only one copy known to exist that details this journey. As Mullein just said, we of the tribe Tuath De' are here on Denedra, the other tribe known as the Ladhas are on that moon you'll see in a few days. There was a third tribe, the Aos si' that were never heard of again. It has always been assumed they simply lost their way in the vastness of space and perished. Now it would seem they did not, yet you say they no longer exist."
"So far as we know," said Matt, "Kaitlyn here seems to know as much as anybody about these things. I mean elves, fairies, pixies, dwarves brownies, unicorns all these fairy creatures, exist only in our literature but I look at you guys and your exactly as they depict you back on earth." Matt then asked a question.
"Your highness, I'm curious, you speak of these tribes traveling through space, yet I see no evidence of any current capabilities of spaceflight?" Lord Morrone then spoke,
"As my queen informed you, it has been many hundreds of years since that event occurred. Over time our abilities in that area slowly disappeared, Denedra is now a world entirely governed by magic, we have harnessed its forces, but guard its use wisely and most covetously."
"Well there's a lot of that in our mythology as well," added Kaitlyn. This seemed to convince the three Denevians that earth must have been where the third tribe of the Tuatha De' Danann ended up.
Kaitlyn then asked,
"You say that you've lost the ability of space travel but I see that you are using a laptop computer."
"No one said we didn't use things such as this, we also have wireless which permits me to communicate with all the town councils and the constabulary. Lord Morrone is correct when he says we are a world of magic, when I first hailed you that was entirely by magic. Likewise, had you been raiders or some such space trash you would have been destroyed in an instant. This computer for instance was traded to us by the Golians, who live on a planet roughly a million miles from here. They visit us, along with the Ladhas from time to time to trade for such things as Halx, drods RipDyne plums, and Mocons. For the most part, we deal in emeralds, and diamonds, but they do offer transportation for our ambassadors back and forth from here to Doradus."
"You don't have an embassy on their planet?" Asked Matt. Lord Morrone shook his head,
"That would be Golia but it's really too far, they keep mostly to themselves, except for trading for said produce."
Then queen Breca pointed to Amber and Gandric,
"You told me where you're from, but not why you're with these earth people, what's your story?"
"Allow me to explain," said Amber. She then proceeded to describe the original mission with Greg, the trip to earth, then the trip to Xandrus, Gandric's mission, and the data on the creator's computer that led them here.
"Well we certainly are not in the market for manufacturing facilities, but the Golians might be, unfortunately their schedule is erratic, however our RipDyne plums are beginning to ripen and they are aware of the season, so if you care to remain awhile, they will arrive, and you can speak with them."
"I should also like to discuss with you anything you can remember or know of the Aos si'," added Mullein Shade.
"We would be most happy to help," said Kaitlyn, "But what sort of magical people do you have here on Denedra?"
"Well let's see," replied the queen, "Well besides we elves, there are the lepreehun, centaur's which you've met, pixies, fairies, succubus, and incubus, and of course witches and warlocks, Mullein here being the head of the witches league." Matt then spoke up,
"Your highness, we don't have a lot of money, but we do have a spaceship. We would be happy to offer transportation to this Doradus to any of your people that would like to go."
"Well," replied the queen, "We will certainly keep that in m
ind, but for now I will instruct my house Carl to show you to our guest cottages across the street." Matt then felt the need to ask one more question,
"I have one more question your highness, back on earth they are always depicting kings and queens sitting on their thrones all day listening to grievances, or handing down laws or administering justice, yet we saw you working away on a computer." Queen Breca gave him a hard look,
"I don't know what it's like where you come from, but here on Denedra we all work. No one, least of all me, has time to lounge around on a throne."
Chapter 13
Titan Stand Chapter 13