Solatium (Emanations, an urban fantasy series Book 2)

by Becca Mills

  Foolish boy, it thought.

  Cordus should’ve had his pet barrier-worker help him with this. Sheer power is no replacement for skill and experience.

  The fragment sank deeper into the youngling’s point of view and began searching for two ozone molecules in close proximity. There! It guided the youngling to push a carbon atom out of its own substance and then to use its gravity-working to bring carbon and ozone together. The resulting reaction left two tiny holes in the barrier, holes a gravity-worker could enlarge easily. The Brooklyn fragment got the process started and then began separating itself from the youngling.

  As it withdrew, it sensed gratitude.

  How odd, it thought. I wouldn’t expect the youngling to be capable of that.

  Disturbed, the fragment sat still for a moment, trying to remember when it had first gained enough sense of itself to feel emotions like gratitude.

  It couldn’t really remember. The years had added up, so.

  It shrugged and began pulling out the rows it had knitted since the dropped stitch.

  The youngling was someone else’s problem, now. It was already on the move, headed south.

  Epilogue

  The man known to some as John Williams stood on a frozen beach in Ice Like Glass.

  The lake before him was the first of a series that lay like stepping stones through the valleys ahead. The jagged, scorched peaks rising to either side were impassible. Short of flight, the lakes provided the only way through this stratum.

  The journey from Fur had taken more than a year. Every stratum had posed some difficulty. Float of Charms had been particularly bad.

  The delay was unfortunate. He’d crossed Ice Like Glass many times, but never this late in the spring.

  A thin layer of new snow covered the landscape. Kneeling, he brushed the crystals aside and examined the ice beneath. It seemed sound enough. Average highs were still several degrees below freezing. He should be all right, if he went quickly.

  The steppe bison behind him chose that moment to rub its massive head against his shoulder, nearly knocking him down. He stood and scratched the animal’s wooly forehead. In return, it gave his coat several long, wet licks.

  They were good creatures, but heavy. He’d bought one to use as a pack animal, but he wouldn’t chance riding it this late in the year. Not on the ice, at any rate.

  He turned back to the lake and, clucking to the bison, started across.

  The rhythm of walking on ice came back quickly, and he picked up his pace, giving the bison its head to walk or trot, as needed, to keep up.

  He could hear the wind and the sound of his own crampons. Every so often, the ice creaked.

  The quiet of the place was soothing. Ice Like Glass was good that way.

  Out in the center of the lake, the man paused and drank from his waterskin.

  Here the wind had scoured away the snow, revealing ice the color of clear sky a good while after sunset but before true night — deep, luminous blue. Flattened white disks were stacked within it like pancakes — trapped bubbles of the methane that made this stratum so dangerous. In summer, a dense layer of the gas hung over the water, suffocating those foolish enough to attempt a crossing; when lightning struck, whole valleys were filled with fire.

  As though mindful of the need for haste, the bison nudged his back.

  The man took another drink, then slipped his waterskin back inside his coat.

  He took a moment to study the route ahead, looking for pressure ridges and other flaws, but the surface was remarkably smooth and even, as though the ice had formed all of a sudden on the coldest and stillest of fall days. When he looked straight down, it was, in fact, almost as clear as glass.

  Sounds beautiful, she’d said of this place.

  It was.

  Things that could get you killed often were.

  Though to be fair, the ice wasn’t what killed you, here. The ice was the thing that kept you safe. Maybe. Ice is frail, especially in April.

  The bison bellowed softly, and the man began walking again.

  With luck, he would be home by autumn.

  He took no pleasure in that thought.

  About the Author

  Becca Mills teaches writing at a university in California. She has loved fantasy since, at age seven, she listened to her father read Tolkien aloud.

  Solatium is the second book in Becca’s Emanations series (the first was Nolander). She’d love to hear your comments. You can find her on Facebook or through her website. If you’d like to be alerted when Becca publishes new works of fiction, you can add yourself to her mailing list, which is super-duper 100%-guaranteed spam-free (honest!).

  The third novel in the Emanations series, tentatively titled Isolate, is forthcoming in 2016. A free short story in the Emanations series, “Theriac,” will be available soon.

  Glossary of Places, Terms, and Individuals

  Agathon Dherudellen: An elderly friend of John Williams, great-grandfather of Agathe Dherudellen.

  Ancient Inland: A late Carboniferous or early Permian stratum, about 300 million years old. The single supercontinental landmass is arid inland and wetter on the coasts. Connected via ligature to Gold Rush and Fur.

  Andy (Andrew) Duff: A Nolander who belongs to Cordus’s organization. An air-worker.

  Baasha: The lingua franca of the Second Emanation.

  Beans (Fred) Beenton: A member of Cordus’s organization, usually stationed in Phoenix, Arizona.

  Ben Ryder: Beth’s brother, older by ten years. He manages a hardware store in Dorf, Wisconsin. His wife is Justine Ryder, and his children are Tiffany, Jazzy, Lia, and Madisyn.

  Beth (Elizabeth Joy) Ryder: A member of Cordus’s organization. Until age twenty-three, a receptionist at a doctor’s office in Dorf, Wisconsin, and severely afflicted with panic disorder.

  between: A mysterious space Ghosteater can visit. He usually keeps his feet there.

  Bill (William) Gates: A power born in West Africa in around 1710. He controls the North Carolina strait, which connects to Gold Rush in Free.

  Blue Seas: A late Jurassic stratum. A narrow sea separates the diverging landmasses of Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. The world sea Panthalassa covers the rest of the globe. Connected via ligature to Gold Rush and Demesnes.

  blunt: A derogatory term for a Second who cannot work essence.

  Bob of Dorf: An ice man who lived in the graveyard attached to a Catholic church in Beth Ryder’s hometown. He was killed by John Williams, upon Graham Ryzik’s orders, because Beth photographed his (clearly not human) foot and showed it to others.

  the Brooklyn fragment: See Sturluson, Helen.

  Butua: A mining town in the stratum Gold Rush.

  Callie McCallister: A member of Cordus’s organization who lives in Dorf, Wisconsin. Gifted with prescience.

  capacity: A measure of someone’s strength as an essence-worker.

  carven strait: A set of two stones (or other objects) invested with the ability to transport people from the location of one to the location of the other. Their making is thought by Cordus to be a lost art.

  caste: The level of essence-working ability attained by an individual. Reaching the first caste means being sensitive to worked essence to the degree that one can “see through” a half-working and recognize the presence of a working; many workers never leave the first caste. One enters the second caste upon manifesting a gift. Achieving the third caste means becoming sensitive to natural (unworked) essence. A worker who has mastered a significant number of learned workings is said to have entered the fourth caste; few workers reach this level, which requires great time and study as well as natural strength.

  Cata MacAngus: A teenaged Second. One of Bill Gates’s people, living in Free. Gifted with low flight. Ida MacAngus is her mother.

  Chasca: The power ruling the town Free; styles herself “Lady.”

  Cordus: A great power born in Constantinople around the year 330 or 340. Gifted in mind-working. Styles
himself “Lord.” His full name is Gnaeus Cornelius Marci Filius Cordus.

  court: A formal reception space established by a power. Cordus holds court in a penthouse suite at the top of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan.

  Demesnes: A Holocene stratum, created by humans for humans roughly 700 years ago, comprising the modern landmass of New Zealand. Relatively densely populated. A number of human powers hold territory in this stratum. Connected via ligature to Blue Seas and Ice Like Glass.

  Dorf: The small town in north-central Wisconsin where Beth Ryder grew up. A strait is located nearby, at an old mill at Bilford Crossing.

  dress code: At formal events, Nolanders are expected to wear black. This clothing distinguishes them from Seconds, who usually wear more colorful outfits. Nolanders may wear small amounts of white if they possess significant power; the greater their power, the more white they are permitted to wear.

  Emden: A major port city in the stratum Demesnes. Ruled by Mary of the Flowers, who likes things neat.

  émigré: An entity originating in the First Emanation but possessing enough power to open a strait and travel into the Second Emanation. All émigrés are powers, but not all powers are émigrés (many powers are born in the Second Emanation and don’t need to emigrate).

  essence: The fundamental constituents of the universe. Defies easy explanation. Essence-workers conceive of essence in different ways; they often rely on metaphors that make sense to them as individuals. The human sciences of cosmology and particle physics have, over the years, constructed its own approaches to the subject.

  essence-worker: An organism capable of manipulating the fundamental constituents of reality, or at least aware of others’ manipulation of those constituents. Often called “workers,” for short. Workers occur among all species of plants and animals.

  Eye of the Heavens: An ancient (perhaps mythical) entity of the Second Emanation. Cordus believes that Justine Ryder is Eye of the Heavens.

  Eyry: A later Triassic stratum, created between 228 and 210 million years ago. Connected by ligature to Demesnes and Fur.

  First: A person, animal, or other entity native to the First Emanation.

  the First Emanation: Earth and its universe, as we know it; the normal world. Nolanders tend to call it the “F-Em.”

  Free: A small market town in the stratum Gold Rush. Ruled by Chasca. Connected via fixed strait to Bill Gates’s farm in North Carolina.

  Fur: An arctic stratum created within the last million years. Inhabited by the ice men. Connected by ligature to Eyry and Smerda.

  Ghosteater: A wolf power born in North America about a million years ago. He is gifted with the ability to go “between.” Over time, he has modified his body in several ways and has gained some ability to use language and think symbolically.

  gift: A working someone can do automatically, without study and practice. The emergence of a gift marks entry into the second caste. The weakest essence-workers do not have gifts. Some workers have more than one.

  Gold Rush: A late–Cretaceous stratum comprising the South American landmass. It has been in the process of colonization by human beings for some thousands of years.

  Graham Ryzik: A high-ranked member of Cordus’s organization, in charge of the Upper Midwest region and stationed in Madison, Wisconsin. Gifted with luck. Assigned as Beth Ryder’s first trainer.

  green men: A Second Emanation species with birdlike features. Their trackers often become bounty hunters and assassins.

  Gwen Hegstrom: A Nolander who belongs to Cordus’s organization. A firearms expert. Capable of making small objects disappear.

  Hagut Kidron: A strong healer living in Kye Wodor in the stratum Gold Rush.

  half-working: A working that does not attempt to maintain essence in an entirely altered state, instead allowing fluctuation back and forth between natural and worked states. Sometimes called a “halfing,” for short.

  human: This word is used in different and contradictory ways. To some speakers, “humans” are only non-essence-workers born in the First Emanation. To others, the term is broader, including anyone who derives from human stock, whether from Homo sapiens or another Homo species, whether able to work essence or not, whether born in the First or Second Emanation.

  Ice Like Glass: A stratum of mountains and methane-heavy lakes. Connected via ligature to Demesnes and Float of Charms.

  ice people: A species of giant, horned apelike creatures native to the Second Emanation, famed for their water-working. The males are known as “ice men” and the females as “ice mothers.” They are a cold weather species. Their home stratum is Fur.

  Ida MacAngus: One of Bill Gates’s people, a Second gifted in healing and superficial mind-reading. Cata MacAngus is her daughter.

  Innin: A power controlling territory in the First Emanation, including the Florida penninsula, the Caribbean, and the northern coast of South America. Styles herself “Lady.”

  isolate: A stratum that has no straits and no ligatures to other strata. A stratum can be created as an isolate or can become one over time. Pronounced is?l?t, not is?lat.

  Jazzy (Jazmin) Ryder: One of Beth Ryder’s nieces, second daughter of Ben and Justine Ryder.

  Jimena Washington: One of Bill Gates’s people. A Nolander who can make plants grow faster.

  Joanna Powell: One of Bill Gates’s people, born in the First Emanation and unable to work essence. Wife of Kevin Powell and mother of Kite Powell.

  Jobah Washington: One of Bill Gates’s people, a Nolander water-worker.

  Justine Jenson Ryder: Beth Ryder’s sister-in-law, suspected by Cordus of being Eye of the Heavens in disguise. Her true shape appears to be a collection of floating blue balls. She is capable of workings that leave no trace in the fabric of reality. Whatever she actually is, she seems unaware that she is anything other than a normal human woman.

  Kara Dolores Sanchez: A member of Cordus’s organization. A powerful healer.

  Kelly McLeod: One of Bill Gates’s people.

  Kevin Powell: One of Bill Gates’s people. A Second tracker. Husband of Joanna Powell and father of Kite Powell.

  Kite Powell: One of Bill Gates’s people, son of Joanna and Kevin Powell. A tracker.

  Koji Noguchi: A member of Cordus’s staff.

  Kye Wodor: A major river-port city in the stratum Gold Rush. Ruled by Kekataugh.

  learned working: A working mastered through study and practice (rather than functioning automatically, like a gift). Some learned workings, such as unlocking doors, are common, but most workers never acquire many. A worker with quite a few learned workings under their belt is said to have entered the fourth caste.

  Leontios: See “John Williams.”

  Lia Ryder: One of Beth Ryder’s nieces, third daughter of Ben and Justine Ryder.

  ligature: A doorway between two different strata of the Second Emanation. Unlike straits, ligatures do not need to be opened by a power — they remain open all the time.

  Limu: A great power holding territory in the First Emanation (the Pacific Ocean, its archipelagos, and its coastal rim). Gifted in fire- and mineral-working. Styles himself “Lord.” Claims to be the true husband of the person now calling herself Justine Ryder. Claims that she stole something from him. Sent a green man bounty hunter to retrieve her.

  Liz (Eliza) Raine: A member of Cordus’s organization usually stationed in Phoenix, Arizona. A tracker.

  Madisyn Ryder: Beth’s youngest niece, fourth daughter of Ben and Justine Ryder. A Nolander who saw through very early, a sign she has little power.

  maker: A worker who creates a new stratum.

  minis: Beth Ryder’s name for a small species of dinosaur that attacked her in the Octoworld isolate.

  Mizzy (Mizu) Bard: One of Bill Gates’s people. A Nolander known to manipulate emotion with her voice.

  mouse: A friendly creature Beth Ryder found while meditating on Rib Mountain, in Wisconsin. Graham Ryzik advised her not to tell anyone about it.

  Natasha Globa:
A member of Cordus’s organization based in Phoenix, Arizona.

  Negus: A great power and an émigré, born forty thousand years ago in what is now Ethiopia. Holds territory at the northern end of the southern island of Demesnes. Styles himself “Lord.”

  Nolander: A person born in the First Emanation who is able to work essence, at least to the degree of seeing through, but who is not strong enough to open a strait and emigrate to the Second Emanation. Organized by Seconds into quasi-police forces responsible for keeping the existence of the Second Emanation a secret.

  Octoworld: Beth Ryder’s label for a nameless isolate inhabited by sentient, water-working octopuses, as well as other creatures.

  Okeke, Kibwe: A Second; a member of Cordus’s organization.

  the one law: The rule that the human population of the First Emanation must not be allowed to discover the existence of the Second Emanation. Agreed upon in 1956 by a gathering of the major powers, the one law prompted the development of Nolanders as quasi-police forces to help keep the secret under wraps.

  Patricia Otter: A member of Cordus’s organization. His estate’s stable master.

  power: An essence-worker with sufficient power to open a strait between the Emanations. The strongest of powers are known as “great powers.” Powers are born among all species of plants and animals, not just humans.

  quirk: A derogatory name for a gift that strikes people as silly, useless, or weird.

  Rib Mountain: A four-mile-long quartzite ridge southwest of Wausau, Wisconsin.

  Rudolph Tanner: A high-ranking member of Cordus’s organization, in charge of the northeastern region and usually stationed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A time-twister and fire-worker.

  Rykthas, Nayuspetras: A ship’s captain. A water-worker.

  Samson Gomes: A member of Cordus’s organization, usually stationed in Phoenix, Arizona; able to change solids into liquids.

  Second: A person, animal, or other entity native to the Second Emanation.

  the Second Emanation: A multi-layered parallel world, connected to the familiar world by passageways called straits. The Second Emanation (Nolanders tend to call it the “S-Em”) was created over eons by makers of many different species. A particular maker’s creation is known as a “stratum.” Strata are connected to one another by ligatures.