“Alright,” Vaneryth said, sounding a bit more confident now.
They were close to the castle, and as she examined it, Evelyn frowned thoughtfully. While small things were missing, like, oh, the courtyard, there was enough for her to make out a bit about the inhabitants. They were likely close to humans or elves in size, not quite as tall as most senne were, which was an interesting detail. The stonework didn’t look like the construction of most dwarves, though she was reminded that there were clans that didn’t follow the usual aesthetic most dwarves were known for. There were words carved into some of the doors… but most interesting to her was the magic.
Magic was the only thing holding the wall in one piece, she decided after a few seconds. Spells reinforcing and solidifying the masonry were woven across the stone, and even if Evelyn wasn’t an artificer, she could recognize those well enough. There was something odd about the spells, though, something she couldn’t quite place… but she set it aside after a moment. Even the tower was heavily enchanted, and that, more than anything else, told her that this place had been ripped from somewhere more primitive than the planets she’d lived on. No one would spend that much effort on a building as primitive as this was unless they had no choice. She hoped not, anyway.
“Can you read the words?” Evelyn asked after a bit.
“I’m afraid not. I can understand spoken languages, not written words,” Vaneryth replied, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. “Sorry, I should have mentioned that earlier.”
“Pfft. Not a worry,” Evelyn replied, and triggered her thrusters to approach the door into the tower. There wasn’t anything free-floating in the area, which indicated that it’d been drifting for a while. So she touched the doors, testing them, then slowly pushed them open, triggering the thrusters to provide force.
It took a little more effort than Evelyn had expected to get the doors open, but they slowly creaked inward, revealing a room that was more interesting than the exterior. Furnishings were floating all around the room, from pot shards to candlesticks, and a chandelier was smashed, drifting on its cables in the middle of the room. There was a table, several carpets, and some stray sheets of paper, which prompted Evelyn’s eyebrows to rise again.
“Interesting,” She murmured, looking around, and began feeding information to the ship again. “Where is the heated room in relation to me, Control?”
“Calculating. Based on projections, it should be through the door on the far side of the room, then down approximately a meter.” Control replied after a moment, her voice calm and unruffled. “The layout is unknown, so I cannot be more precise.”
“Of course it’s unknown,” Evelyn murmured, a smile playing across her lips. “Understood, Control. We’re going in.”
“Acknowledged, Captain. No new data from sensors,” Control replied.
Evelyn glanced back at Vaneryth, who’d come to a halt somewhat clumsily, then nodded. “What do you make of this?”
“It looks… well, like you’ve said. No advanced technology. There’s something else that’s… irritating me. Almost like I should recognize some of it,” Vaneryth said after a few seconds. “Do you think anyone else will?”
“I think I’ve seen similar architecture in my history classes, but it wasn’t my best subject,” Moon volunteered. “On the other hand, a lot of architecture looks similar to me.”
“Mm, there were a few other things that I noticed as well,” Evelyn agreed, slowly moving through the room, though she was forced to move a table to the side along the way, as it was in the way. The door opposite was also closed, and she took a few seconds to open it. It wasn’t much easier than the first, though it wasn’t as heavy, and Evelyn paused, looking closely, then shook her head, muttering. “No wonder it’s hard to open. The door isn’t hanging on its hinges right. They’re bent.”
“Curiouser and curiouser,” Zelirana murmured softly.
The other side of the door revealed a hallway, and she looked both ways, but immediately focused on the destination she needed. In front of her was another door hanging open which revealed a room filled with fluttering, drifting books and bookshelves. The sheer number of books, old-fashioned tomes on paper and parchment, left her flabbergasted, and some of the windows she could see were cracked. To the right was a stairwell that circled upward, but to the left was what she wanted, stairs going down.
“Books. Paper books,” Evelyn muttered. “I’ve only seen them when I took over Peldra. The palace had an entire climate-controlled library for keeping their rare books intact.”
“I remember those! You complained about how much of a waste of space and energy it was, then had the systems refitted to be more compact and higher-quality,” Fya volunteered cheerfully. “I thought you were going to throw them out!”
“Why? They were valuable, and even if trying to read them gave me a headache, they had good information. I just couldn’t believe how much the systems had been neglected. If nothing else, we’d best rescue these after I’ve checked the building.” Evelyn said, shaking her head slightly. “They could tell us where this is from, potentially.”
“True! Do you think we’ll discover a new world?” Star asked, suddenly sounding excited.
“I hope not,” Evelyn replied grimly, thinking about how badly similar incidents had gone in the past. The culture shock of an advanced species meeting a primitive one could often go poorly, especially if the more advanced species decided to take advantage of their technology. She was not going to be involved in that if she could help it.
The passage grew darker as they descended, the light from outside fading, until they came to another door. Evelyn tested it, then blinked as she realized that unlike the others, this one was locked. Moments after she tested it, a voice sounded from the other side of the door, one belonging to a woman. She didn’t understand what was being said, but a moment later she heard a quieter, higher-pitched voice as well, and her blood almost ran cold. That was the voice of a child.
“Ryth, did you hear that?” Evelyn asked calmly.
“Only through your implants. The woman was asking if someone was here, then a girl asked her mother if they were being rescued,” Vaneryth replied after a moment. “Give me a second, let me talk to them.”
“Sure.” Evelyn said, pushing herself to the side so that the angel could move up to the door.
The angel spoke in a language that sounded similar to what Evelyn had just heard, then paused for a response before speaking again, her tone soothing, and listened. Then Vaneryth nodded, pushing away from the door.
“They’re going to try to get the door open, and the woman apologized, saying that it would take her a minute, as she secured them to the wall.” Vaneryth said, a hint of concern in her voice. “I’m not exactly sure what happened, but she sounds relieved at being rescued.”
“Mm… if they’re going to take that long… I could take them back via telekinesis, or maybe even teleportation… but I don’t know that it’s a good idea.” Evelyn said, frowning to herself. “Control, send a pilot with one of the shuttles to hold station about… fifty meters out.”
“Acknowledged, Captain. ETA three minutes,” Control confirmed.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Vaneryth said, relief flooding her voice. Then there was another comment from the woman, and the angel responded, before adding. “She’s not sure how long they’ve been here, I’m afraid. At least a couple of days, but they lost track of time. Some of the guards drifted off into the void before she could help them.”
Evelyn’s eyebrows rose, and she asked. “Before she could help? Considering the technology… she’s a mage?”
Another short conversation ensued, then Vaneryth nodded. “That’s right. She says she was working on a rain ritual when there was some sort of vortex that sucked half the palace into it. She says that it involved temporal magic, and she’s not sure where it came from.”
“Temporal… oh, of course,” Evelyn said, wishing she could pinch the bridge of her nose as
realization struck her, the oddities regarding the enchantments snapping into place. “They were ripped out of their own time. That would explain this, and considering that they aren’t on a planet, it’s time and space. We’re dealing with the remnants of a temporal rift.”
“…Well, fuck,” Fya said, a note of resignation in her voice. “I really hope that doesn’t include the station my cousin mentioned.”
“We’ll find out. First, we have some poor, time-stranded women to rescue,” Evelyn said grimly. “Is it just the two of them?”
“That’s right,” Vaneryth confirmed, and was about to continue when the door began rattling. Evelyn could hear the lock click, then the latch moved, and she couldn’t help but cringe as the door opened, leaving a woman windmilling on the other side of it.
The room itself had seen better days, Evelyn decided, but she immediately realized why the woman had chosen to use it as a refuge. There was a large hearth in the center of the room, with an enchanted brass brazier in the center of it, flames leaping within without fuel, which was impressive without gravity to give them tear-like shapes, and around the edges of the room were racks of a pantry, which someone had fastened with place with strips of silk, rope, and even shredded clothing.
On one wall she saw a large pile of blankets held in place by a hammock, from which peered a young human girl with dusky skin, dark hair and wide eyes, a trace of fear in them easy to see as she looked at Evelyn, as well as curiosity. Closer was an older, human woman, with a similar skin tone. Perhaps dusky was the wrong term, Evelyn thought, but… sun-bronzed might be appropriate. She wore a gown and pants, and her dark hair had started escaping the braids she’d put them into, despite being pinned to her head. Her brown eyes were filled with worry, and the shadows under them told much of the tale, Evelyn thought. She looked very concerned on seeing them, looking them over nervously, then said something.
Vaneryth replied, and the woman relaxed slightly, nodding in response. Her clothing was of a very rough weave, in Evelyn’s opinion, but it likely was rather fine by her era’s standards, and the blue gown had seen better months, as it was stained, had had a couple of burns on the hem, and the like. The woman had trousers on underneath, though, and multiple layers of socks. Considering how cold astral was, even with a fire in the room, Evelyn approved of the precaution, as otherwise she might have lost fingers, toes, or other important parts of her anatomy. Like ears, for instance.
“Sorry, she was a little concerned about our appearances, and I explained it was armor, and that it allows us to fly more easily without gravity,” Vaneryth explained to Evelyn. “I’m having to work to find the right words. This language doesn’t have a lot of the terms I need for technology.”
“I’m not surprised in the slightest. If you’d let her know that we’ll take her to the ship? You also might want to inform her that things have changed a lot since whenever she’s from… or wherever, for that matter,” Evelyn suggested, glancing at the girl as well, and added. “I can move them with telekinesis if they’d like, and we can come back for any items she wants to keep.”
The angel nodded and spoke to the woman, who looked at Evelyn hesitantly for a moment, then said something, nodding reluctantly.
“She agreed, if you’ll give her a moment? Unfortunately, it isn’t one of the types of magic she’s skilled with,” Vaneryth explained. “She wants to explain it to her daughter, first.”
“Of course,” Evelyn agreed, smiling slightly more as she relaxed. “That makes perfect sense. I suspect that they’re going to want baths and something to eat shortly after getting back to the ship. Moon, if you’d start on something relatively simple? I’m not sure how hungry they’ll be, and whether they’d be very adventurous.”
“Sure, I can put together a nice soup with some bread and a salad quickly… it shouldn’t take much time at all and would be easy on the stomach,” Moon said brightly, sounding pleased at being able to contribute. “Do you think that will work?”
“I think so, yes. With as cold as it is out here, I suspect any warmth will be appreciated.” Evelyn replied, smiling a little. Sometimes it was rather nice to have other people around, as it meant she didn’t have to take care of everything.
The woman had made her way over to the blankets by that point and murmured to her daughter for a minute. Only then did she try to help the girl out of the blankets, and as she did so, Evelyn adjusted her estimate of the child’s age. She must be about… ten, Evelyn guessed, and she resisted the urge to shake her head as the woman ended up drifting out of position before freeing the girl from the blankets. From the look of things… well, Evelyn was very glad to have her helmet and filtration systems. She didn’t want to think about the smell that would pervade the room. Sanitation in zero gravity was messy at the best of times, let alone for a pair of people suddenly thrust into it from a much more primitive society, and who’d been in the room for a few days.
Once she had a firm grip on the girl, who was bundled up even more thoroughly than she was, the woman looked at Evelyn and nodded. She took it as an invitation, and Evelyn glanced at Vaneryth again.
“I’d like you to stay with them as much as possible, at least until they’re settled. If they don’t have someone who can talk to them, that will make matters much worse,” Evelyn told the angel, who nodded in agreement. “Now, let’s get moving, shall we?”
With a gesture, magic swirled out of her hand and surrounded the woman and her daughter, gripping them carefully, so lightly that the two likely wouldn’t even feel it, yet with all the implacable power of Evelyn’s mind, and she turned to leave the room. She’d just have to be careful not to bang them against the walls along the way.
Chapter 44
Cherys the White didn’t know what to make of her rescuers. Their armor, if it could truly be called that, as alien as it appeared to her, encompassed their entire bodies, and neither of the first two had shown her their faces for some time, not until after they entered the glittering, gold and red vessel hanging in the sky outside her tower. The one had the halo of an angel, which had briefly caused her to wonder if she and Nadia were being ushered into the afterlife, but then the woman had explained that they were going to rescue them.
That didn’t even consider the rest of what she saw once aboard the vessel, and such a strange vessel it was. More lights than she’d ever seen, shining with the clarity of perfectly cast magic, came from the ceiling, and there were small panels with symbols she assumed were letters on the walls in places, and also were on strange, glowing panels where the lights changed. Nadia’s fear had turned to wonder as she looked around, and the angel, now without her helmet, looked at her kindly.
“We’re taking you back to our ship, named the Djinn’s Gift,” Vaneryth said, smiling warmly at them. “The woman you saw with me is our Captain, and the rescuer of most of us at one point or another. The situation with you is quite different, but it remains that we’re rescuing you. She’d like to know what you want from your tower before we leave it behind. Unfortunately, we cannot take everything.”
“I will have to think. My library would be nice, but somehow I believe that all of this makes my knowledge rather paltry by comparison,” Cherys said, looking at the lights above as she sighed, then asked. “Truly, this is where knowledge of machines has taken things? I… can hardly imagine it.”
“Yes, though I should caution that you aren’t necessarily that far out of time as you may believe. Yes, you may be, but there are many planets where the gods placed the mortal species, and some of them have progressed to this point faster than others,” Vaneryth said, shrugging as she admitted. “To be perfectly honest, my own understanding of the technology that is used is imperfect as well. I was more powerful than I am now for centuries, and I did not rely on technology until recently. I am still learning.”
“It’s pretty,” Nadia murmured, looking at Vaneryth worshipfully.
“That it is, dear one,” Cherys said, hugging her daughter tightly. “Pretty
, and we’ll have to determine what we can do here. If everything is as different as it seems, and the magi in this time are as powerful as your captain, I believe that I will not have many options. Unless we can return to our own time and place, that will make this difficult. I sincerely doubt that is possible, as temporal magic is beyond me.”
Vaneryth laughed, causing Cherys to pause, wondering what she’d said to amuse the angel. She still felt that the amount of magic the woman who’d rescued them had was absolutely awe-inspiring. Cherys wouldn’t have pitted even the entire Academy against her, she had that much power at her command.
“My apologies, I shouldn’t have laughed. Evelyn is not typical, let me assure you of that,” the angel said, shaking her head quickly as she smiled. “No, she is one of the most powerful individuals I have ever met short of the gods themselves. I would pit elder dragons against her in the fullness of their power and I believe she would likely win in many cases. No, do not measure your power against her. If anything, I believe you are more capable of wielding magic than most people in this time, if my estimate of your skill is anywhere close to accurate. In this time, the sheer amount of learning and effort involved in becoming a skilled mage means that relatively few choose to undertake it, instead focusing on the easier path of technology. There are some who do, and with as many people as there are that’s a large number, but an even smaller percentage than you might believe.”
“Oh. That… is a very good thing to know,” Cherys said, some of her tension fading and she nodded. “I was afraid that everything I knew was without worth.”
“No, you’ll be fine, given time. The biggest problem will be trying to catch you up on everything which exists now,” Vaneryth said, then paused, adding. “And we’ve landed. Oh, and just so you know, we’re communicating with the others via other machines. Think of it as a sort of telepathy, but with far more limitations on how it works.”
Chosen of Chaos (Eve of Destruction Book 1) Page 30