At least, not for a while. She wanted to be sure that the Weaver wasn’t going to suddenly appear and take her back. Besides, even with the growing fear that the Weaver was going to leave her here, she was quite curious about the world she was now in.
She was over a thousand years back in time. How many people got to do something this insane? So, why not make the most of it and have a look around?
Removing the last of the clothing from the woman, she moved back into the trees.
With a quick thought and a working of will, she created an expanded Force Field that worked as a shelter, keeping the rain off her as she laid out the clothing she had taken from the woman on a large rock. There was a fur cloak, which the woman had worn with the fur turned in, no doubt to keep her warm. The main garment was a long, ankle-length dress with a leather belt. There was a knife attached to it, which Amanda decided to keep. There was also a pair of leather shoes that were secured with straps. The only other item of clothing was an undergown made of linen. With another working of Magic, she dried the stolen clothes out before stripping and placing her own outfit into a pile. She considered leaving her underwear on but ultimately decided against it, even though it was unlikely anyone would see her wearing them, she wanted to be as authentic as possible. She quickly pulled on the clothes she’d taken from the corpse and was surprised at how warm they actually were. They were also quite rough and threatened to rub in a few places, but that was all fixable with a few Magical alterations.
With her new outfit on, she set her modern clothing alight with a violent and intense Magical flame that consumed them utterly in a matter of seconds.
With that done, she wondered where she should start, realising that she knew nothing of the world she had been stranded in. She hadn’t been terribly interested in history, and there was no way for her to find out the details she needed, now that she was actually here.
Well, she thought, the capital of England was London, she knew that much, so she felt reasonably sure that the city would be there, and be a good place to start. There would be people there, and she would be able to have a look around and get a feel for the time she now found herself in.
With a quick working of Magic, she sent her senses down the length of the country, a second image from these Magical senses appearing in her mind’s eye. She’d placed her senses somewhere just within where the London Orbital Motorway—the M25—would be in the modern-day, thinking she would be outside the city somewhere, only to find herself looking at more tree trunks and no people.
Frowning, Amanda moved her senses up, out over the tops of the trees to get a bird’s-eye view of the landscape, only to see woodland and countryside as far as the eye could see. She knew where her senses had appeared, and she knew where they were in relation to modern-day greater London, so she sent them zipping off over the tops of the trees towards where the centre of London should be.
Several tiny settlements with wooden, thatched-roofed buildings passed by beneath her senses until eventually, something caught her eye. She spotted what could only be stone buildings off in the distance. She jumped her senses over there and found some ruins of a former settlement.
It seemed to be a town, or, at least, it used to be, and it looked to be abandoned. Amanda shrugged, it was as good a place to start as any, she thought and worked her will on the local Essentia again. With a snap, Amanda Ported and found herself standing amidst the old town. The place had been here for a long time, and as she walked through the streets and buildings, she could see the remains of makeshift dwellings that had been built within the old stone walls and then also left behind.
She wasn’t entirely sure where she was, but the look of the buildings, or what was left of them, appeared to be similar to buildings she’d seen in Italy.
Was this an old Roman settlement, maybe?
As she walked, she soon came to the edge of the settlement and saw that it was close to a river. She spotted a couple of ladies sitting at the water’s edge, dressed in clothing not too dissimilar to hers, although they both also wore head coverings. Amanda chose to keep out of sight but used her Magic again to listen in on their conversation.
Within seconds, Amanda realised she couldn’t understand what they were talking about. They seemed to be speaking some kind of foreign language, although, the occasional word did sound familiar. With a frown, Amanda used her Magic and reached inside each of the ladies’ minds one at a time, and copied the knowledge of the language into hers.
All of a sudden, she could comprehend what these two were talking about, but it wasn’t of any use to her. They were discussing their families and relationships. Typical everyday stuff.
Keen to move on and find where she needed to be, Amanda pressed her Magic into one of the girl’s heads and pulled what she needed to know from her.
It turned out that Amanda hadn’t been wrong about her observations. This was the old Roman settlement of Londinium, and apart from a few people living here and taking advantage of the pre-built houses, most people avoided it, preferring to live elsewhere. The main and biggest of which was Lundenwic, about a mile west of where they currently were.
Satisfied that she knew where she was and where she needed to go, Amanda concentrated and sent her senses west. She quickly found Lundenwic close to the river, but felt somewhat underwhelmed by it.
Surrounded by a wall of pointed wooden stakes, the small town, which looked like a tiny village to Amanda, seemed to be centred on a single large hall with lots of smaller simple wooden structures around it.
Wanting a closer look, she found a place she could discreetly Port to and worked her Magic.
She immediately sunk into the mud as she appeared between what she could only describe as a hut and the outer wall of the town. One of the first impressions she had of the place, apart from how cold the mud was, was how badly it smelled.
She was getting strong wafts of human or animal waste mixed with smoke and cooking meat. It was certainly a unique odour, that was for sure. Pulling her cloak a little tighter, Amanda stepped out from her hiding place and started to make her way along what she could only guess might be a street, although, there was no formal or recognisable layout that she could see.
Some of the shelters had walls of wood with pitched roofs, but many of them didn’t have walls at all and looked like a tent made from thatch. As she walked, several people looked at her curiously. The town was small, so it was likely that long-term residents could spot someone new right away. She also guessed, in this era of horse travel, that visitors to the town were probably not terribly common. Her long red hair probably looked out of place as well.
She continued on though, taking in the sights and feeling utterly fascinated by how people used to live.
From what she could see from peeking into the huts, they all looked like they consisted of a single room, usually with an earthen floor and a fire in the middle beneath a hole in the roof. In a few others, the floor was covered with wooden planks, but in either case, a covering of straw was often over the top.
People all around her went about their business, running errands, cooking, working or trading, looking at her occasionally to get a good look at the new arrival, but ultimately not really bothering her.
As she walked, she came to the conclusion that there wasn’t anywhere for her to stay. She’d hoped that there might be a tavern or something where visitors could pay for a room, but there was no such thing here. However, even if there had been such a place, she wasn’t sure what was used as currency in Britain right now.
It didn’t take her long to look round the whole town, and she was starting to feel somewhat dejected and unsure about what she should do. From what she could see, although there were guards on duty, people were coming and going through the main gate quite freely, so Amanda wandered over, made her way through the gate unchallenged, and walked down to the river’s edge where a few boats were moored.
She gave them a wide birth and looked for a quiet spot where she c
ould be alone. It didn’t take her long to find a secluded place where she could sit down on a rock at the edge of the water.
For a moment, she gazed out over the river, watching its choppy waters move lazily along. She sighed. This was getting tedious. She didn’t have time for this, she wanted to be back home, dealing with whatever fallout might be coming her way from the Magi Legion’s kidnapping. But, instead, she was stuck here waiting on the damn Weaver.
She wondered if she might be able to summon it or something, so Amanda reached out, focusing on the image of the Weaver she had in her mind and tried to find it somehow, or reach out to it like she would do with a regular Link.
She sat there for several minutes, getting more and more frustrated until she slammed the base of her fist onto the rock and screamed through clenched teeth.
Frankly, she’d had enough of this shite and decided that if the Weaver wouldn’t bring her back, it was down to her. Amanda reached out with her mind and pulled on the local Essentia, focusing on jumping forward in time, only for the Essentia around her to suddenly disappear. It was gone. She couldn’t even feel it anymore.
Looking up, she noticed the river had frozen in time also. The world around her was utterly still and silent, which was really unnerving. A short distance in front of her, a hole in the fabric of reality tore itself open, creating a void of pure black with what looked like a generic male human face, seemingly lit from below, hanging towards the top.
“Amanda,” the Weaver said, its strange deep voice with its odd modulation reaching deep into her mind. “You cannot do that.”
“There you are, finally. I was wondering when you might turn up, don’t ye know?” She stood up as relief flooded through her. “I’m ready to go back now.”
“I will not take you back to your own time, Amanda,” it said.
“Excuse me?” Amanda asked, feeling like her heart had just stopped as she caught her breath. “I’m sorry but, you brought me here, you sent me back through time. Take me back, please.”
“I cannot.”
“Me arse, you can’t. You brought me here, now take me back.”
“You misunderstand me, Amanda. I am quite capable of returning you to your time. However, circumstances will not allow it, nor will they allow you to, either.”
“What circumstances?” she asked as the sinking feeling in her stomach grew.
“It is complicated. Suffice to say, your path is set. You are to live your life here, in this time, from this day forward. You may not use your Magic to return to your time or pursue other methods of reaching the same goal. You must live here, from today, each and every day going forward.”
“So… I’m stuck here?” she asked, her voice almost a squeak from the stress she was feeling.
“That is one way of looking at it. You are to live your life from this day forward without travelling through time other than as a last resort to save your life, and then only the minimum required. Do you understand?”
“Well, sure, but this is banjaxed. This can’t be right.”
“This is the path you must take. It will be a long and arduous one, but I have faith in you.”
“You? You have faith in me? Ah, go-on-with-ye,” she said, feeling somewhat taken aback. “Hang on, Magi are immortal, right?”
“Most Magi.”
“Okay, sure, most Magi, which means I might live through to the modern-day? That’s like, over a thousand years away.”
“It is, young one. I have a piece of advice for you before I leave,” the Weaver said. “Be careful how involved in Magi society you become. In fact, I’d recommend keeping out of it entirely whenever you can. Many Magi and Scions are long-lived and frequently bear grudges for hundreds of years. Any enemy you make now might eventually find your younger-self when you are significantly weaker than you are now. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate any further.”
Amanda nodded slowly. She understood. She was well aware of the concept of time paradoxes, and she didn’t like the idea of wiping her current-self from existence by getting her younger-self killed before she ever went back in time. That concept made her head hurt. Time Magic was nothing but a headache waiting to happen.
“I wish you luck in whatever path you choose to take, Amanda. I will be watching you,” it said, and with that, he was gone and time reverted to normal. The river started to move again, and she could feel her connection to Essentia return as well. She looked about her and sighed. Well, that was that, then. She was stuck here. But, maybe that wasn’t so bad? Maybe she needed to think a little more positively. She remembered her promise to Georgina, to live her life to the best of her ability and to make the most of any opportunity that came her way because you never knew when your time was up.
This, for a potentially immortal Magus with knowledge of what was to come, could be the biggest opportunity anyone had ever had, ever. Moments ago, she’d felt like she was falling, dropping into an endless pit of despair as the reality of what the Weaver had done to her started to sink in. But then, suddenly, she felt free. Liberated. She had time on her side in a very literal sense.
All kinds of possibilities opened up to her, especially with her Magical talent. The world, and maybe beyond, was her oyster.
This might actually be fun.
751 AD
Lundenwic had been great. In the end, she’d actually kind of enjoyed spending a little time there and soaking up the local atmosphere. It was kind of fun. But she was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic and like she needed a little peace. She needed to contemplate her future, and what it was she wanted to do with her life now. She’d thought about it for a while, and eventually, she came to the perfect conclusion.
She made her way out of town in a very visible way, with her possessions in a sack, telling people she was going on a journey. When she was out of sight, she pulled on the threads of Essentia and concentrated on her destination.
With a flash of light behind her eyelids and a whip-crack of air, she found herself in a very different place.
Before her, the huge gates of the Red Temple rose up, guarded as always by the pair of stone Temple Dogs that were more than just statues.
She could think of no place better than here to get some R&R.
Graceful Phoenix
778 AD
Sitting up, Amanda looked out of the nearby window as the morning sun streamed into her small room. She sat on her low, simple wooden bed, topped with a woven grass mat and a couple of thin blankets.
Her bed was hard and uncomfortable, but she was used to it. Having spent some time at the Red Temple back in her own time, she’d known what she was letting herself in for.
She never slept terribly well in her bed, but it did help her enter a better meditative state when she needed to. She’d arrived here about twenty-eight years ago, feeling the need to find some peace and to think through her situation some more.
The monks had accepted her warmly, offering her a room, and making her feel welcome. One of the temple’s masters, a female monk called Pan Mei, gladly took her on and started training her in what would eventually become Kung Fu. Amanda was already a skilled fighter in the esoteric Art of the Phoenix style that Gentle Water had taught her, but she liked the idea of learning new styles and integrating them into her skillset.
That had been her life out here in the Himalayas for nearly thirty years, and she had slowly come to accept that she wasn’t going to be returning to her own time via Magic. She would need to live her life here, and if she happened to be one of the Immortal Magi of the world, then maybe she would still be alive when she finally made it to modern-day New York.
Things were at least looking favourable in that regard. Having lived here for nearly three decades, she still looked the same age as when she’d first stepped through the doors, while most of the monks around her looked considerably older, including her martial arts mentor, Pan Mei.
Amanda wasn’t the only Magi here though, and while she did interact with some of these Magi
monks, she limited her time with them, preferring to focus on her training and contemplate her life.
She hadn’t seen the Weaver since Lundenwic. She might be surrounded by monks and a few Magi here in the temple, but she couldn’t help but feel a little alone sometimes, and so far, the Weaver was her one link to her former life. The one person she thought she could talk to.
But her summons over the years had remained unanswered.
Her day followed pretty much the same routine, day in and day out. She woke up, grabbed something for breakfast, as there was usually something on offer in the temple, before meeting up with Pan Mei for her morning training. She’d eat again at midday, and then go on a long walk during the afternoon.
She enjoyed her walks through the mountain paths that surrounded the temple, taking in the breathtaking vistas. She’d often find a quiet spot and meditate for a while, something else she’d learned from the monks here.
But that would all be later on. Amanda rose from her bed and pulled on the rest of her robes. Her room, much like the rooms of the other monks, was sparse, with few personal items and nothing of luxury at all. The monks lived a frugal life, only taking what they needed to live each day.
Founded and run by Magi, the temple had some similarities to other temples and monasteries in Tibet, but it was also quite different and unique. The main thing that Amanda loved about living here though, was that she felt separated from the world of the Magi.
If she really were to live through to the modern-day, then she knew she would need to limit her impact on the world around her.
Thinking about these things made her head hurt, though. She knew her own past, she knew what she had experienced, and the idea that her actions now could affect her past, which was actually in the future, was mind-boggling.
The best thing, she thought, was to keep to herself. At least, for now.
Magi Legend Page 94
