But… have I stolen the power from the stone circle? I walk out to it and open my mind to its existence. Is it depleted? It still sounds the same, except for one very quiet song, a melody that leads back to my ring. So that's it, it creates links to power sources!
I wonder, do I need to direct it? Can it seek on its own? Returning to my comfy chair, I summon forth another tendril, thinking only ‘seek’. It rises up, moves through the kitchen and attaches to Mathair’s food preserver. I suppose I deserved that… I concentrate on the silly link and think, ‘let go.’ It dissipates into nothingness. Perhaps a combination of direction and seeking? That works well, and doubles as a good investigative method. I attach to a few of the more powerful magic sources of Shiral, then realize it’s gone dark outside! I’m hungry… I’ve missed lunch and dinner. How could I have let that happen? I raid the kitchen and stifle some giggles as I peruse the contents of the erstwhile sought-out preserver. I can’t help my laughter, it grows like ripples in water… I force it down by thinking of the wondrous nature of the device. Instead of requiring preservation spells to be cast on the contents periodically, Mathair’s creation preserves the exact condition and temperature of everything put inside it once the door is shut. Mathair had many magical items that were well beyond what anyone else on Shiral could create; I’ve often wondered where she learned such advanced skills. One of her favorites was the cleaner. Place items inside, close the door, listen to a moment of pretty harmonies, and then when all falls silent, remove perfectly clean items. Dishes, clothes, shoes… anything. She used it a lot. I like delving into memories of Mathair, even the not so pleasant ones. As I lie down to sleep I allow one of the not so wonderful memories to fill my mind – Mathair’s disapproval of my standing in front of her food preserver, door wide open as I tried to decide what looked tasty for my snack. The problem with a food preserver is that if the pudding goes runny because the door is left open too long, it stays that way, and the soup stays too cool. She wouldn’t let me eat anything else until the cool soup and runny pudding were both gone… then she began giving me lessons in visual recall. After those lessons I never had to look at anything for more than a moment until I could identify everything I had seen. No more food preserver incidents.
I fall asleep thinking of her, and in my dreams I’m once again a babe in her arms, watching fantastical scenes from the safety of her embrace. The very world around us changes impossibly, several times; I have not until recently had anything to compare it to. Now, I can almost see monolith like portals before the world-changes. Some man accompanies us, but he is so unremarkable I cannot recall his face.
I wake in the early morning and decide to take a short swim in lieu of a shower. There is something about water… I can rarely resist making it whisper my name. “Shi” as I draw my hand in an arc through it, “ahhhn” as the spray rejoins the lake. Gaea hears, of course.
‘Shi'ahn! When did you return, were you here yesterday?’
‘Yes I was, I was experimenting with a new item I was given. I had no idea how long I had used it until I was too tired and hungry to come down for a swim.’
‘I thought I felt you, but you did not respond to me.’
‘Sorry, the device is rather enthralling.’ Interesting, she doesn't usually notice me until I come to the water. Is my Gaea continuing to evolve?
‘How long will you be staying?’
‘Not long at all, I’m afraid.’
‘I miss you, I miss the touch of your mind.’
‘Well, before I go I would like to do something that may help with that.’
‘What would that be?’
‘I’d like to attach a power tendril from my new ring to your consciousness. I believe it may allow us to contact one another while I am away, though the time differentials will make it somewhat problematical.’
‘It sounds well worth the effort.’ Yes, while many of her thoughts are child like, that last statement was not. I concentrate on the ring again, and think of Gaea. The tendril angles underwater and continues sinking deep into the Shir. As it reaches deeper it seems to increase in size to encompass all of Shiral. Finally, I feel the sense of contact. ‘Shi'ahn, is that you?’
‘Yes, that is the ring. Now the time differential we will be dealing with is great – one day here is the equivalent of about a ninebreath in Lumina. Our getting the other’s attention may be difficult.’
‘We will manage.’
‘Yes, I believe we will. Gaea, I must return now – there is a lot going on there. But first, I want you to promise me something.’
‘Anything, my Shi'ahn.’
‘I want you to promise not to speak to anyone but William or I, no matter what contact method is used. The place we go to, Lumina, it is filled with very powerful but not entirely trustworthy individuals. There are also others from other places that may wish you harm. Speak to no one but William and I!’
I sense her sadness, ‘But I get lonely, Shi'ahn.’
‘This is important, for both your safety and mine.’
‘If it will help keep you safe, then I will do as you wish, but I would ask to at least speak with Zah-Ha'Gor and Puff.’
‘Gaea, have you been speaking to anyone else?’
‘Aside from them, no, not yet, but I always hope. It is lonely here without you.’
‘That link you may continue, but otherwise nurture the land and the people, Gaea. I have made you stronger than you were, use that strength to protect Shiral. Serving a purpose helps keep loneliness at bay.’ I let her feel the sorrow that floods my heart at the thought of her isolation, so closely related to my own. She understands.
Once I’m back in Lumina, I concentrate for a moment on the Gaea link, calling out to her. I hear her resounding response, ‘Shi'ahn!’
‘May you never be truly alone again, my Gaea.’
~~~
There is an urgent thumping on my door. “Shi'ahn, are you in there?”
“Yes, come in William.” He steps in and closes the door, and my mind freezes. He’s… his song is astounding!
“I’ve ascended the Path, Shi'ahn – the Path of Enlightenment!”
“Yes, I hear it, William – you're beautiful! How… When?”
His smile, if possible, becomes more radiant. “Right after we left Shiral – I intended to transport to the front gates, but Cailliach intercepted and brought me to her. She said it was time!”
“So what was it like?”
“I don’t have the words to describe it.” He reaches out his hands for mine. I eagerly take them, but then I experience… nothing.
“William? Have you changed your mind?”
“What? No – didn’t you see it?”
“No, I did not.” I sense him concentrate harder, but again I experience nothing.
“Well?”
I shake my head.
“I guess I can’t share it.” It’s the first time we have ever been unsuccessful in sharing our experiences; it feels strange, wrong. “Tell you what, I'll do my best to describe what I can.” He sighs, collecting his thoughts.
“She took me, via her transport crystal, to an amazing looking chamber. It was filled with the most beautiful crystal formations I've ever seen. The crystals seemed to grow out of the tower walls, forming a tall spiral staircase with occasional landings. The entrance to it was entirely blocked by another one of those strange monoliths, this one bearing the same message as the one on Shiral: “Those of the blood, prove it.” Once it had my blood sample, the monolith seemed to disintegrate and I was standing on the brink of my future. They are data crystals, Shi'ahn! With each step my mind was forced to absorb all the knowledge stored in that crystal. I can see why she said ascending it prematurely could be fatal – I felt like my mind was exploding and yet, it felt wonderful as well. She later told me that individuals usually ascend to only one new platform with each traversal, but I just couldn't stop myself, I made it to the third.”
“But William, you could have hurt yourself! How
could you possibly have been ready to ascend so far?”
“It was the pathway itself – each crystal provides the background necessary to begin understanding the next; it's the first step that's the real lulu. After that it's really the strength of the mind that carries you through. The platforms are intended to assist in integrating the information, and allowing one to leave the staircase, but on the first two I felt energized to continue, as if I was meant to go on. At the third platform, when I knew I was ready to depart, I suddenly found myself standing on the floor in the center of the chamber. Oh, I'm doing a terrible job of describing the experience, I haven't even mentioned the light. I’m sorry, sis. It was so amazing – I can’t wait for you to experience it too.”
I find myself quite anxious as well. I have to force myself to return my concentration to more mundane matters. “So that was last night? Where have you been since?”
“It took a while, and we spoke for quite some time afterward. Then suddenly she swore rather angrily and sent me to my rooms.’
“How long ago was that?”
“Oh, about… an hour ago? I would have come straight to see you, but I was really hungry, and I realized I needed a bath. You didn’t answer your door the first time I tried. I knew you had been in here, though, I could sense you; was something wrong?” I lose control and laugh through many emotions. William looks really concerned. “Shi'ahn? What’s happened to you since we last spoke?”
“Oh William, it’s a long story. I suppose, though, that it would be best for you to understand.” I reach toward him and offer one of our ‘reports’, beginning with the summons to Lucian and ending just after Cailli justifies casting Casanova away. William gasps, looking horrified.
“That Bastard! Those bastards! So that’s why Cailliach took off in such a hurry – I understand now. I knew Casanova was trouble!”
“No, you don’t understand, William. He helped me a great deal – he gave me the comforting that no one else was available or willing to give.”
“But he broke his promise of your safety.”
“In truth, I don’t think there was such a promise in effect at that time – yet I don’t think he planned his action. My chosen method of obfuscating what he sought struck a familiar chord within his heart, that’s all. I am not angry with him, and I won’t have you be so either. Not at Casanova. Lucian, however, is another matter altogether. He stood by and purposely let me be…”
Our conversation is interrupted by yet another knock on my door. I hear a servant’s voice, “Lady Shi'ahn?”
“Yes, enter.”
The servant pauses for a moment, staring at William. “Lord William. This message is for you as well. There will be a formal court in the morning at 8:00 sharp. A Chaos lord will be in attendance – the Shiftling woman’s brother, he is coming to negotiate her release. Attendance is expected.” With that he turns and leaves.
“Well, this should be quite the interesting day.”
“You mean tomorrow should be.”
“Yes… well, I’ve already slept. I just returned from Shiral.”
“Well, you may be rested, but I am not. I’m off to bed. To sleep.”
“Join me for breakfast?”
As he pauses to look back at me I see that the adrenalin rush he had experienced with his ascension has drained away, and without it he has little energy left, leaving his voice sounding half asleep, “Sure, sis.”
~~~
While William sleeps I find all the information I can in my personal library regarding Chaos and those who live there. There are very interesting differences between our realms. While those in Lumina rely primarily on science and reason, those of Chaos live lives filled with magic and mysticism. Scientific laws often don’t work in their end of the Universe and reality constantly shifts upon them. The constant change is dangerous, and so they must be able to shift to adapt or risk death at any moment. That explains why they are sometimes called shiftlings, though according to my books that is usually considered a derogatory term unless describing the not very powerful masses. Those who are able to exert power over their surroundings are referred to by titles revealing the extent of their powers. Those who have learned to control the stuff of Chaos as it exists now, after the creation of Lumina, earn the title Cas, pronounced as though reducing the word Chaos to one syllable. Those few who are able to maintain, without assistance, a suitable reality for themselves within the Rimall, where primal chaos is the only constant, have a different title, greater than Cas – they are called Ra. Few outside the Royal Dynasty hold this title. Those who are able to exist within the Abyss itself, a place where there is nothing except what one creates and maintains the existence of through sheer mental control, hold the additional title of Ab.
Rimall? What is that? My thoughts are interrupted by a crystal shimmering sound; on the table before me appears a very, very old looking book. All else forgotten, I pick it up and caress the cover. It is indeed very old, it sounds ancient, and… odd. It is boldly entitled, “A Brief History of The All and the Rending of Our Universe.” This should be interesting. The first pages appear to be a summary, with occasional comments penned in.
~~~
A bit dramatic, but fairly accurate.
In the beginning there was nothing. No mass, no light, no energy, no vibration, no sound…nothing. A blank canvas, waiting for… something. With a tearing rend, tremendous energies spilled out into the emptiness, filling it with a cacophony of random noise and one very large… creature. Other beings occasionally flashed into existence, then were destroyed by the very chaos that had given them birth. Everything was fluid, even time itself, although a generally forward motion predominated unless a powerful individual forced it back. Matter and energy were in a constant flux, seemingly battling for supremacy. A few superior entities survived for a time, though eventually only two of the original oldest ones remained. One of them was clearly stronger, the very first to appear within The All, while the other seemed as though it was not yet complete.
The greater one eventually joined with lesser beings that had maintained their existence, and after many experiments, gave birth to a being easily capable of surviving without assistance. With that child and its eventual descendants, the great one, by then known as the SeshHaud, created a dynasty, easily controlling the lesser beings when necessary. During this time the SeshHaud established a mental discipline that could be used by her and others to greatly increase their chances of surviving, by using it to strengthen their control over their surroundings.
It came to be that the SeshHaud bore six more children, each sired by a different lesser form, so that each child was uniquely different from it's siblings. These children slowly began to have children of their own and families eventually formed, then the beginnings of society, the greater beings all descendants of the first to reproduce, the SeshHaud. Discontent eventually set in because all but the descendants of the eldest child were completely and forever outside the inheriting line, and so they formed their own Households, their own lives. After all, it is better to reign over your own household than to forever be subservient to the eldest child's descendants. They agreed to forever forfeit the right to claim they were of the Royal Family.
Generations passed. The Households that split away from the Royal Household became known as dynasties, each led by a Dominar chosen by whatever means was most meaningful to that Dynasty. In order to avoid confusion and political difficulties, the head of the Royal line took the title of Magni Dominar. A few dynasties split yet further, forming Households that were led simply by a Head of Household. Some Households split even further, but the further their founding lineage was from the SeshHaud, the less political power they possessed. A core Dynasty of each of the original descendants always remained – for there was great political strength in carrying the family name of one of the SeshHaud children.
Many, many households formed that had no recognized ties to the SeshHaud whatsoever. Beings that came into existence within the hol
dings of other households. They did not, for the most part, possess the strengths of the Dynasties and older Households. Beings of all imaginable kinds also take and hold form, but many fail to maintain permanency. In raw chaos, the state that The All existed in except for the Abyss, strength truly lay in numbers and/or mental superiority, for the only static matter that existed was that which was constantly controlled by the minds of those present.
SeshHaud's eighth child, yet another son, was the first later descendant to cleave closely to his mother instead of going out to establish a Dynasty or Household of his own. As the throne had passed down several times from the eldest son, he became effectively the only son of the SeshHaud, since all others had renounced that right.
The ninth and last child of the SeshHaud, a girl child, also clove closely to her mother, who then decided to permanently take on male form, thus insuring that she/he would have no more offspring, for no being could survive carrying his child. She/he felt that there were enough of his/her direct blood, things were becoming… difficult. Fortunately, with time the other lines degraded, which made it easier to maintain control over them.
Almost no one!
(To this day, no one outside the Royal House knows how the royal line is perpetuated, for they never marry or have children with any of their concubines, who tend to be short lived. Unlike all the other Houses, they do not become numerous. They remain, however, individually so powerful that superior numbers are not necessary. Occasionally, a child is presented to the populace as the Primus Dominar, the heir. None of these children ever show any traits that would identify the mother's origins, and the line shows no degradation whatsoever.)
Between Darkness and Light Trilogy Page 13
