Reality's Plaything 4: Savants Ascendant
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Marna tilted her head and narrowed glowing eyes. “Gaea, what are you hiding from? Or should I say, ‘who’? If you understand time that well, and can control your awareness that effectively, you could exist in any whence or place you chose.” She put hands on hips. “When we last bumped heads, you bragged to me about ousting Jyril nobles. I wondered then if that was a bluff to frighten us. It occurs to me now that your children, the first ones, those war-like violent powerful creatures are not unlike evolved Baronians.” She glanced to Senalloy and Luthice. “We have long suspected the Masters that Senalloy and Luthice have described to us are a rogue sect of the Jyril.”
Gaea frowned at the Kriar high council.
“I am wondering if you’re something the Jyril made that got away.” She glanced to Senalloy and Luthice again. “Their creations seem to do that.”
“And I’m a bit old to be diverted by rhetorical questions,” Marna said with folded arms. “You live out of time. You could arrive a thousand centuries from our current now and come backtime. In fact, living in transition, there’s no need to move in time at all. Space and time would be the same for you. So, what exactly are you?”
“Are you afraid to answer the question?”
Bannor saw Gaea’s jaw tighten. The bluish light overhead flickered and threads spun around her.
“Hey, you know,” Tal said. “Let’s not tick her off when we’re like inside her or wherever the frell we are where we can’t get out.”
“Let me make a point then,” Marna said in conversational tone. “Just this morning I reviewed a recording of Bannor fighting a rather powerful Baronian weapon—something they call a coven dreadnought. The creatures are nightmares almost impossible for us to slay. Yet, your son there, with a body based on the original first one forms took them on in ones and twos and dispatched them with such ease it was almost as if his powers were designed to fight them. The coincidences are getting thin, don’t you think?”
“Am I? The first ones, your ‘children’ were originally to protect this universe—you have told others as much yourself. What you never said—was from what.”
The Kriar matriarch just stared at Gaea and the all-mother stared back.
Energy crackled and rasped around the goddess. Bannor looked around feeling uneasy.
“All right, forget that question,” Marna said. The Kriar woman turned and thrust a hand out toward him. “Bannor, tell her, tell your Mother about your little spells… and those interesting words.”
He felt a stab of unease in his insides. How did she know about them?
The growing anger in Gaea’s expression, became surprise. Her dark eyes widened.
He swallowed. “Well, mother… a few times now I’ve felt this intense pain, and there’s this—” His jaw dropped as he stared up at the all mother and her glistening emerald skin. “Green—light. I sense millions of life threads and there’s a voice in my head that says ‘creation’, ‘annihilation’, ‘perpetuity’ and then everything turns red. I wasn’t sure what that was about, then I started helping them look for this thing called the genemar and I got a sense they were somehow related.”
His words seemed to rock Gaea back like a physical blow. Her body swayed and her massive form trembled.
“Mother?” Wren took her huge arm.
Gaea’s hands balled into fists.
Megan stood up, spread her wings, and raised her hands. “Whoa! Wait. You mean there’s some truth in all this? Not just you two sniping at one another?”
The green mother’s head dropped and her shoulders rounded down.
“Can’t we just find this thing and give it back to them?” Wren asked.
Ziedra floated up from the ground so she was at eye level with Gaea. “Why?”
“Hold on! Hold on!” Tal said. “I thought you created this universe or somethin’.”
“And these creatures can just come here and kill you?”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Corim said, stepping over by Dulcere and Senalloy. “What happens if this thing is used to kill you?”
She looked to Marna.
“That don’t sound so good,” Tal rumbled.
“Our gate systems will chain react. Every world where there is a primary portal will be annihilated.”
“You have them damn things everywhere!” Tal growled.
“Yes.”
“Is that it? A couple hunnert planets get blown out of existence?”
“What if we shut down all the gates?” Cassandra said.
“It doesn’t help,” Quasar said. “The boreshafts upon which the gates are built look into the subpaths. Even if the gates had never been created, there are billions of weak spots in the ethereal fabric that border subspace flows. The collapse she is describing will tear the fabric of space wide open which will in turn cause violent phase shifts and a disruption of the bonds that hold matter in a solid form. Thousands of cubic leagues of matter around the weak spot will instantaneously convert to energy. Such an explosion would easily annihilate an entire star system.”
“Ouch, so like ten percent of the life in Eternity just goes poof.”
“Then the timequakes start,” Eclipse said. “Right before siderous chronous is sucked into a rip in time/space that will make the Daladarian rift look like a pinprick.”
“Damn guys, don’t paint such a rosy picture, I might start to worry,” Tal scrubbed his face. “Holy spit.”
Bannor let out a breath. His gaze went to the others around him. “All that discussion is moot. It’s not going to happen. These Chyrith or whoever they are, they aren’t going to touch Gaea. I just bloody got to know my mother and I’m sure as frell not going to let them kill her!”
“Friend, that’s all fine and well to talk about, but these creatures made Gaea. How are we going to fight them?”
“First, we deal with their minions,” he said. “I think with Gaea’s help, we can do that. Next, we find the genemar. For every offense, there’s a defense. There must be a way to protect her from this thing’s power.” He focused on Gaea. “That’s possible, isn’t it, Mother?”
For the first time the goddess’ voice was tentative.
“I do,” Wren said. “Starholme Prime. It has enough power to reshape the cosmos. Senalloy said this Genemar thing was small, so whatever it does is probably like a poison that starts in one place and spreads.” She gestured to Dorian. “Lady Degaba taught me that you can create an anti-toxin that can take the teeth out of a lethal poison. So, Bannor is right—we find this weapon, the Kriar analyze it, and we
use Starholme to apply the anti-venom.” She looked around the group. “We always wondered why the first ones needed something with so much power. It may have been for this very thing.” She hugged Gaea’s arm. “Bannor is right, there is no way any weird creatures are touching our mother. Not going to happen.”
Marna pressed her hands together. “Wren, you are truly a tribute to both your mothers and your entire family. That is a brilliant piece of thinking.” She nodded to herself. “There is just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
The Vatraena drew a breath. “The Kriar have key role in this plan.”
“Right, so?”
“You assume we are willing to help.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Six
Assurances
« ^ »
The day Gaea told me she knew about some of my more covert dealings with Eternity, I had a sinking feeling that my life would be changed. Then I found out she was the very wellspring of the art that I have dedicated my life to. It really reeks when all the truths in your world get turned on their ear…
—Cassandra Kel’Ishtauri Felspar,
Mage Council High Archivist
Bannor turned as the atmosphere in this alien place seemed to grow cold. Bodies stiffened and eyes widened. The words of Marna Solaris, the Kriar Vatraena cut through everyone listening. Great Gaea, the green mother frowned, causing the sky to dim and the ground underfoot to tremble. Gazes turned to the Kriar lady. You assume we are willing to help. After what had been done to benefit the Kriar recently, Bannor couldn’t imagine a much stronger slap.
A shrill piercing whistle so loud that it made Bannor grab his ears issued from one side of the group, making everyone jerk and look in that direction.
Cassandra pulled the fingers from her mouth. “Whoa! Hold that threat!” The gold mage looked around. She raised a hand. “Let’s slow down a moment, things went kind of fast there. We went from genemar, to Gaea dying, to everything gets blown to drek.” She swallowed as everyone including Gaea stared at her. “Now, great-mother you said something about your essence being destroyed by this Chyrith device. Didn’t we establish earlier that your essence is magic?”
The green mother sighed.
The gold mage put hands on her hips. “No. Oh frell no. That genemar thing creates and destroys living magic! Even if Eternity were to survive these explosions and the collapse of subspace, all the universe’s magic would be destroyed. No way. Marna you are helping her. You’re not pulling any of that opportunistic dren now.”
Marna frowned, and brushed at her hair and glared at the mage. “Child, you’re in no position to order me around.”
“The magic of Eternity is what healed the Kriar,” Cassandra snarled. “I’m sure as frell not going to let it be destroyed, and neither are you.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“It’s a threatening atmosphere,” the woman raised her chin. “Knowing what you know now, I can’t believe you’d try to pull this spit.”
“Child, you don’t have an entire race to think about. I do. These Chyrith—they are hostile—and they have all but wiped out half my race already. If we help her—” She pointed at Gaea. “It will ensure that we must fight them.”
“Oh yeah, like were not fightin’ them already?” Tal rumbled. “You got those damn Daergons shacking up with their agents. You’re already committed.”
“Their collusion does not automatically mean that hostilities with the Chyrith will ensue.”
“I agree,” Quasar said.
“A more than reasonable assumption,” Eclipse said.
Marna clenched her hands into fists. “Don’t you see? There’s still a possibility of avoiding engagement. If we obstruct them, fight them, then war is assured. Perhaps none of you were paying attention, but the Jyril won the last war—and not by a narrow margin.”
Quasar sighed. “Vatraena, how long have you been pretending to be a warrior?”
“I never claimed to be a warrior, Quasar,” Marna said with a frown.
“Then let warriors worry about winning the war,” Quasar told her. “We lost to the Jyril because of arrogance and bad planning. They beat us because they had weapons we had no defense against…” She gestured to Gaea. “It’s a leap of faith, but I wager the protection we needed is here. Let’s drop all the pretexts here. The Chyrith will kill or enslave us if we let them. The protectorate needs our help—we need theirs. All we really need are some assurances…”
“They don’t like being threatened,” Wren said with a frown. “Even when they deserve it for going in places they knew they shouldn’t go.”
“High mother,” Cassandra said. “Marna’s nose has been tweaked ever since you hinted about the Jyril curse, and the gates getting closed.”
“Don’t patronize me by acting so nonchalant,” Marna growled.
“Hey!” Bannor snapped. “This doesn’t get us anywhere. I understand what’s going on here. The Kriar are scared of you. Anybody with any sense would be. Both of you, just lay it out. Marna, what do you need to feel safe?”
“An agreement that neither of those things will happen,” Marna said. “I came here with incentive to seal that deal. Then these other things came to light.”
“I know that part of what you wanted from Wren was to help band together the savants, and eventually rejoin them.” She gestured to Daena who still lay in Janai’s lap. “Eventually, she might get the savants to work together, as this group is evidence of. However, getting them to join with their pantheon counterparts was not likely to happen. So, what I wanted to present to you was evidence that the rejoining was not necessary.”
Gaea pursed her lips. She reached over and stroked Wren’s hair. She looked toward Ziedra, and to Bannor. Dark eyes hooded she stared at Marna for a great while. She straightened.
The Kriar matriarch eyed Gaea. “Sweeten how?”
Marna didn’t seem concerned as to how Gaea knew about the conflict of interest going on in the conflict with the Baronians. She just nodded. “Go on.”
The Vatraena raised her chin. “A defense against it?”
Gaea steepled her fingers.
“I see where this is going. There’s something that can defend against all of it?”
Gaea nodded.
“Of course,” Marna said. She narrowed her eyes. “If such a thing exists.”
The ancient Kriar leader stared at the green mother.
Sarai, who hadn’t stirred, even with his yells, sighed and raised her head. She blinked and looked around. “Bannor?”
“Shhh,” he hushed her. “I’ll tell you in a bit.”
His wife to be looked around in obvious confusion and disorientation. He noticed that Daena too was starting to show signs of regaining consciousness.
“So,” Marna finally said. “What did you want specifically in return for that much larger piece of information?”
“So far, all quite reasonable. The protection? Can we define that a bit?”
“I notice you made no mention of the bodies.”
“No doubt,” Marna said with a frown.
“Yes.” Marna said. “All right. That’s acceptable for my part. Your children have to promise never to fight against the Kriar unless attacked first, either in person or by proxy. All of your children. There are more than a few of your wayward sons and daughters and they are dangerous. We expect you and your devotees to police them and make them behave. I would like the assurance of an adult—say Idun—to enforce this.”