Smart Alec in the Dark Lands

by Donald Wigboldy

  Shaelamee stepped closer raising her left arm. Droplets went down her upper arm before lifting upward on the raised forearm. She smiled watching the water.

  "A water genasi tends to live with moisture on them at all times. We exude the liquid or draw it to us. Living in a desert might dry other species out, but we can resist longer than most by holding water on our skin or pulling what might be available from the air to keep our bodies from dehydrating."

  Glancing back to Alec, she continued, "Fire genasi are often seen emitting flames and are hot to the touch I am told." She grimaced. "I don't think that I would enjoy being too near one of those, though some people have said that they aren't too bad."

  Her eyes flit to Helios and then to the door where the dark elf had gone.

  "Anyway, while water genasi and fire genasi have their traits, earth genasi tend to look a lot like you; though they also look dusty all the time. Personally I find it hard not to tell them to take a bath," she giggled.

  "Then there are the air genasi. They also look a lot like you, but standing near them you will almost always feel a breeze."

  Shaelamee moved close, almost uncomfortably so to Alec lifting both hands to hold his face between them forcing his head to tilt downward to look into her green eyes. They would have looked natural in a human's face, the boy thought. Most of the people he had seen in his life ranged from lighter skin tones, pinkish according to the observing dragon man, to dark browns or even a few closer to black. The latter weren't as common to eastern or middle northern Southwall where Alec had lived and occasionally traveled. He was only fourteen, however, so the novice had barely seen much of his world.

  As far as Alec knew there weren't any people colored blue anywhere in Alus, however.

  Turning his head left and right, the genasi examined his features. Alec noted her skin was cool, perhaps cooler than a human's though there were times when his hands or feet might feel unusually cold. Expecting Shaelamee's hands to feel damp, the boy was surprised to find them dry enough. In fact at the moment, being nervous in her presence, it was his hands that were feeling a bit clammy and moist. The air was warm enough that his skin could even be bared comfortably, though he wasn't sweltering wearing a long sleeve shirt and coat either.

  "Rounded ears, actual hair on his head, maybe even a slight dusting is beginning on his chin and upper lip... eyes mostly gray though I could argue light blue. Most genasi would have darker blue eyes of a stronger coloring. Hmmm, he would make a cute genasi though he is a little on the tall side," the blue woman made her notations verbally as if to tell Helios what he had probably noticed already. "His cheeks keep changing color growing red... very strange."

  Alec did his best to not look uncomfortable, but the woman was quite close, pretty too if blue, and maddeningly brazen in her dealing with him if not everyone else around her. Being only fourteen and hardly a heartbreaker of any kind, the boy wasn't quite sure what to do. She was a lot to take in and not a type of girl he had ever dealt with in any way in his previous world. There were a few boys he knew well enough in White Hall that might be ready for her big personality and overly familiar ways, but Alec had never figured out how they could be that way.

  "Shaelamee!" Ediyem's voice called distantly carrying through the open door. Apparently guessing that the genasi woman had yet to leave for her new post, the dark elf was already checking up on her.

  "Eep," the target of the call said with a grin as she suddenly lifted on her toes gaining a few inches of height before releasing the boy's face. "I guess that I had better leave. Ediyem must be in one of her moods."

  Turning away from Alec appearing to have a little regret as her hands slowly released his face, Shaelamee chanted a spell with words largely unknown to the novice who was still trying to learn the basics of spell casting. Before he could take in the backside of the smaller woman, a doorway mimicking the shape of her outer dimensions formed swallowing her in an instant as it closed around her once more. No sign of the blue wizard remained on the roof and Alec glanced around curiously wondering where she had gone. It wasn't like a spell of invisibility as far as he could tell, but felt more like the storm gate that the novice had been carried into by the griffon like creature.

  Helios pointed across the courtyard to a tower holding the corner of the outer wall.

  "She used a dimension door," the dragon man stated drawing the boy's eyes to a blue form now standing across the way.

  "I have heard of magic that is supposed to send a person from one point to another, though our wizards have always done their best to close ripples in the space between our world and others. Usually that involves moving between worlds, not remaining within the same one."

  The silver dragon man moved to the side of the roof to lean on the stone wall with its gaps permitting an opening for sight or the casting of spells without having to reach over the wall. "Not every wizard is so capable, but whatever Shaelamee draws upon to cast her magic, she is capable of... squeezing space I suppose you could call it."

  "What do you mean?" the novice questioned with a furrowed brow.

  "She has a limited distance that she can travel, not even as far as her eyes can see, but a much shorter distance. Between those two points Shaelamee basically uses magic to bring those two together centering them on her body. She then moves through a rift like you mentioned, but not one that technically uses another world like the portals the Ciemnosci can create.

  "It is a limited spell, but useful enough."

  "I would like to be able to move like that. If I had known that spell, I could have avoided..." he glanced to the dragon man realizing that he hadn't explained how he had actually come to be in the portal that led to the gray doorway and this place... "falling into that doorway."

  A silver brow lifted curiously, but the dragon man didn't dig further. "Well, it is an advanced piece of magic, though not the hardest spell to learn. I have been working on mastering it myself and am close to having it too. Perhaps with Ediyem's permission I can teach you a few spells... and perhaps you know some that you can teach me."

  "I am just a novice among my people. My magic was discovered only a few months ago by one of the wizards' gathering parties. My training has really only been going on for a short time, so I doubt that there will be much that I know that you likely don't already." Understanding that he had no real reference for such a judgment, the novice added, "Unless you are somewhat fresh to magic also. I don't know how old you are, I just realized."

  Helios looked thoughtful, more thoughtful than Alec believed a simple question like one's age should require.

  "Well, that is an interesting question actually. Depending on what world one might exist on, a year might be a different increment," the dragon man replied. "Here I would be roughly three decades, but a year on Cenestraya, for example, would be thirty days different from Atropos, so I would be almost three years younger there."

  "And you are a dragon man?"

  "Some call us dragaoin, which is similar, if the translation spell is correct; but my people call themselves Zmaj. What are your people called, Alec?"

  "We call ourselves human... and I guess other races call us that also," he added scratching his head. "There are other races on Alus though. There are che'ther... another dragon like race and mar'goyn'lya or gargoyles. I've met both of those... well one of each anyway, though the che'ther is trapped in human form."

  Alec frowned and realized that this was sounding more complicated than he had originally thought. He was also one of a small group that knew the girl was actually a dragon in human form. "And I am told that there are elves and dwarves too, plus all the monsters the Dark One brought there..." the boy added before noting that none of these names meant anything to the dragon man that was actually called a Zmaj or dragaoin, he supposed. "Am I supposed to call you a Zmaj or dragaoin?" Alec asked venting his thoughts curiously.

  "I am called, Helios. I would assume that you would rather that I call you Alec instead of human?" the sil
ver creature replied and Alec thought that was he smiling. Some teeth were bared with the reaction, but there was no malice or anger to be seen, and his voice sounded amused to the boy's ears.

  He nodded. "Yes, Alec... Helios. So what now?"

  Shrugging, the Zmaj said, "Well, I guess that we can find you a room. Are you hungry? I could also take you to the kitchen.

  "We can worry about how you will earn your keep here. Ediyem won't likely just let you live here without some form of chores or work."

  "O...k," Alec answered slowly and with some amount of dread. He wondered what kind of work they would make him do, but for now the ache in his stomach told him that it was past time for refreshing his energy with more food. That led him to suddenly worry what kind of food this world and these odd creatures might have.

  The first steps towards the door following Helios' cloaked back were the first towards answering his many questions.

  Chapter 4- The Food Quandary

  Following most of the path that they had taken previously to get to the roof, Alec followed Helios down three flights of stairs before following a hallway until it had a turn. While it continued for perhaps forty more feet, the first intersection led them deeper into the heart of the castle keep. Uncertain how best to define the stone fortification, Alec did note that the walls were mostly bare.

  While it was certainly lived in, there was no real character impressed upon the interior of the keep. Furniture, like tables and chairs, could be seen inside a number of open doorways; but there was rarely anything even including paintings or perhaps tapestries to be seen masking the gray stones making up the walls of the hallway. There were also no others walking the halls he noticed and realized that it was quiet here except for their footfalls.

  "Where is everyone?" the boy asked as he followed the larger dragaoin through the hall.

  The silver scaled head glanced over Helios' shoulder and raised his brow curiously. "Everyone?" he questioned Alec in turn.

  "I mean, I've seen five people here, but this castle is large enough to hold at least a hundred, I would have to guess. Where is everyone?"

  Sighing at the proposed question, Helios answered, "It depends on how you look at it." It was a vague answer to a rather direct question, the novice thought without saying another word. Waiting for clarification was enough as the creature answered, "The original inhabitants died in a release of time magic when the Ciemnosci first arrived here. Since much of our world was destroyed at that time, and most of the survivors were forced to leave, Naermere has become one of several forts used to keep an eye on this world."

  Remembering that he had seen very little plant life while walking back to the fort; Alec mulled the man's words over a moment before saying, "If they killed most of your world, what is the point of watching over what remains?"

  Helios nodded. "Why indeed? Well, the answer is that not everything is dead. I also believe that Atropos will recover eventually, so perhaps the Ciemnosci plan to wait long enough for magic to recover here as well and then they will do it all over again. They can tear it down, but like some plants the world continues to live while appearing dormant."

  "So they kill a world just to power their own," Alec mused with a small shake of his head. If this was why the Ciemnosci had gone to Alus, the novice feared what lay ahead for his world if it wasn't protected.

  The silver head nodded. "The magic used and drained also scarred Atropos in a strange way. I know of other worlds where the Ciemnosci did their work as well, but none have these hollows roaming around. We haven't been able to discover why, even after years of research by the wizards there."

  It was Alec's turn to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Is it only the dark elves who have researched the phenomenon?"

  Stopping to look at the boy, Helios replied, "Yes, why do you ask?"

  "Well, I am not saying that they might be doing something, but why not include magic users from your people and any others that might be able to help with their insight? The genasi, like Shaelamee, might be helpful if they understand magic in general also."

  "The Ciemnosci have an interest in ridding Atropos of these hollows. While they are here, few people will want to return to try to collect time magic for the Tempus Chambers. It would make sense that they would wish to cleanse the world of hollows sooner than later."

  "Unless they preferred leaving them here..."

  Helios frowned and asked, "Why would they want to leave hollows here?"

  "Because no one will want a world infested with them as you said."

  At the dragon man's continued look of confusion, Alec amended, "Your people are mostly in exile from your home world. What if by leaving these dangers here, they prevent anyone from wanting to come back to try and resettle? They leave a small amount of guardians to keep them from getting out of hand, but not enough to destroy them completely. Meanwhile magic slowly returns until they can steal it again."

  They stood looking at each other silently in the hallway contemplating Alec's theory. After a moment, the novice asked another question, "Are there any who remained behind? You know. Are there those who didn't follow the Ciemnosci to their world?"

  Again the dragon man considered the boy's question longer than one might expect. After scratching his scaled chin, the dragon man replied, "There have been no reports of survivors or others who intentionally remained behind."

  "According to the Ciemnosci?" Alec questioned again suspiciously. The boy wasn't even certain why he asked, but something had felt off from the start. It was more than just his falling between worlds that had him questioning this new place and those governing it.

  Helios didn't answer this time. It was obvious who disseminated information to those living under the dark elves. Certainly they maintained power through intimidation and Alec had a feeling that deception wasn't beyond a race capable of killing entire worlds.

  Leading his new ward down the hallway, the two came across the kitchen and Alec found a surprising creature inside. It wore simple clothing and an apron, but it was short compared to the human wizard. Even Shaelamee, who was much shorter than Alec, would easily have a foot on this creature. They did have a similar color of skin, however.

  A darker shade of blue than Shaelamee, the small creature had a head which looked more like a dog than anything. He had also seen its kind among those attacking his people. They resembled the goblins of the Dark One, but those were usually some shade of green while these were varying levels of blue.

  "Glint, food for my new friend please."

  The hobgoblin looked over at the silver dragaoin and cocked its head to the side reminding the boy once more of the doglike resemblance.

  "Where did this come from? Is he genasi?" the creature asked with a crackly, somewhat high pitched voice.

  "He is not," Helios replied and continued to move forward.

  "Then what is he? Does he eat the same things that we do?" Glint asked moving towards the novice. "Speak up, creature. What say you?"

  "I- I don't know what you eat!" Alec responded in surprise at the intensity of the smaller hobgoblin. "We eat meat and vegetables where I come from, but I doubt that you have the same creatures to eat that we do or even the same plants."

  Helios looked up and noted, "There were variations from what we ate in Atropos to that of Cenestraya. Strangely most of what the Ciemnosci eat is completely edible for us as well, though they barely add any spice to their food. It is rather bland, but like I said, edible."

  Nodding at the silver creature towering over it, Glint replied, "This is true. Most find common ground in our kitchens. I suppose it will still be trial and error for you though."

  Alec looked at the smaller creature curiously. It spoke common to his ears and seemed to have a good vocabulary.

  "What are you staring at? Never seen a hobgoblin before?"

  It was strange that the word used was the same as he had been using in his head. "You're a hobgoblin?"

  Again the creature cocked its head, but this t
ime it was to the other side. Looking to Helios, Glint asked, "Is it touched in the head?"

  "Well, he did fall out of a gray portal onto the hard ground of the plain."

  "I'm sorry, but I am just surprised that the word I am hearing is as I thought."

  Helios grunted before saying, "The translation spell isn't perfect. Until you have had time to get used to our languages, some things might not translate the same way. If a word is drastically different from anything you know; it still might translate into something you understand for now."

  "But I think that I understood the words you used for your race, Helios. I would say dragon man, but you said dragaoin or Zmaj."

  Shrugging, the silver dragon man reminded him, "Magic isn't always exact or understandable in its ways at all times. Just go with the flow, Alec."

  "Well, as long as I am not insulting anyone when I speak to them, then I guess that it is alright," the boy said considering the idea. "Anyway, I am glad to meet you, Glint. I am Alec."

  The hobgoblin looked at his extended hand considering it a moment before looking at Helios once more. "So what does he want?"

  "Just pull out some basics," the dragon man decided before leading Alec to a counter shaped into an "L".

  "You were gone most of the day," Glint said apparently trying to make conversation.

  "I've been out in the valley trying to track down a nest of hollows, but until our new friend arrived, I didn't see any. I was out there before daybreak until a little more than an hour ago. Until Alec crashed into the ground, it was quiet; but then we were attacked."

  "You think that they were waiting for you to appear?" the hobgoblin questioned as he pulled out a slab of meat that Alec couldn't easily identify. Other food that seemed to be cheese and some form of crackers were placed on a plate with thinly sliced pieces of the meat.