“Why, whatever is the matter?” Chiu said playfully at his side.
“This is going to create a problem.”
Chiu frowned. “Why?” A light seemed to come on in her mind, and her eyes opened wide. “I see where your difficulty is. Marriage laws on Eldenworld are a little different from your world. Here a man or woman can have more than one wife or husband. I am the daughter of Kiang’s first wife. Shen and Qingzhao, my brother and sister are Shaw’s children. My own mother, Daiyu died just before I left home. Kiang, Daiyu and Shaw loved each other very much.
Gareth just shook his head. “So that’s why you invited Lyndra to share our bed…” He raised an eyebrow.
“And that’s why you didn’t take advantage of the situation.” Chiu muttered, also raising an eyebrow. Her smile was slow and mischievous. “Perhaps next time.”
Gareth’s smile turned sour. “If there is a next time. I don’t see the mules, or our supplies.” Kuan was staring down into the long valley below them when Chiu groaned.
Qual blankets might have been light and warm, but they were no proof to the mules against getting carried away by an avalanche. Two hours later they found what remained of the animals at the bottom of the long steep mountainside wedged into the trees, where the snow had left them. One of the frames was too badly damaged to repair, but using parts from both Gareth was able to fashion one serviceable sled. It was just after midday when they finally departed toward Diakx Mountain looming in the near distance. Kuan assured him that their destination lay no more than four days away.
~~~
Scratching at his week’s growth of beard, Gareth stared down the mountainside at the distant Yeugate Vale. The chill knot in his stomach told him how similar it was to the ruins at Zuebrihn, and he fervently hoped that the results here would be better. Domes filled the foggy valley; domes of different sizes and colors. Fingers of greenish fog slithered down rubble strewn streets between the domes, and as much as Gareth looked, he could see no sign of life. He could see that there had been parks at one time, with columns and statues, but time and earthquakes had claimed The Yeugate, and the statues and columns had fallen, crushing some of the once colorful domes. Left to themselves, the parks and trees had withered and died. One dome at the very center of the small city stood out from all the rest, probably because of its size, easily many times the diameter of the other domes at six hundred meters, and because of its cinnabar color, still vibrant after all these years. Nearly the color of blood, the hue made Gareth shudder.
Kuan seemed to have shrunk in on himself. “That’s the place yer lookin’ for, I’m thinking.” He muttered, nodding at the distant dome. “The dome has two great dark metal doors in the front, locked shut. For years treasure hunters have tried to get in, without much luck, ye know.”
Gareth glanced at the cloudy sky. “Then I suppose we should get out of these mountains as fast as we can. Lead on.” Kuan simply nodded, shouldered his pack and started walking.
Plodding through the snow at the end of the group, Gareth mused on the events of the past several days. Save the one snow slide that carried away the mules, their trek had been straightforward, however Gareth had had to use every trick he’d learned during his winter training with The 3rd "Mountain Battalion", a Vermont Army National Guard light infantry battalion which specialized in mountainous and cold weather operations. He was more than surprised that they all made it out of the mountains and into the vale in one piece.
There was a smell in the air of The Yeugate that Gareth found difficult to describe. Maybe it was just the smell of old death, or new death buried deep, or maybe it was something else. The gray hand of a statue jutted from a pile of weed-choked rubble in mute supplication as they passed, and a cold chill ran up his spine. When they explored one, they found the broken dome empty and abandoned, all sign of furniture or the people who once lived there long since removed. A shrill cry jerked Gareth from his reverie, and he turned to Chiu. Electric blue today, her eyes were wide and scared.
“Dire wolves!” She whispered.
“Let’s head for the large dome and see if we can fort-up there.”
Kuan nodded and set out, followed immediately by Lyndra, Wokeg and Chui. Drawing his Colt and checking the operation, Gareth hung back slightly. Debris crunched under their feet, and occasionally they heard a pebble rattle in a side street.
The dome was huge, the doors alone standing ten meters high and wide. The cinnabar color, aided by the rays of the dying red sun turned the dome the color of clotted blood. The weakened sun, as well as the greatly accelerated continental drift had been the result of a devastating war with an alien species thousands of years earlier. Militarily mankind had won the war, but now, thanks to alien weapons, both planet and sun were dying early deaths. Gareth shook his head, trying to shake away the disturbing history of the world he now found himself on.
The double doors, not quite black, were actually a dark aubergine, and search as they might, a lock couldn’t be found. What they did find, buried under a deep pile of rubble on the right side of the entry was a second door, man sized, with a keyed lock set to one side.
When the three meter ogre couldn’t get the door to budge, Gareth decided that something more serious was in order and drew the Colt. Backing away from the obviously insane human, Wokeg took Lyndra by the arm, while Chiu grabbed their guide and headed for the cover of an adjacent dome. After slipping in his ear protection, Gareth swallowed and flipped the insanely powerful handgun to three shot burst, setting the targeting pipper on the lock and squeezed the trigger. The blast threw him back ten meters, to land in a leafless thorn-bush. The titanium slivers from the Colt, traveling at a significant fraction of c would blow an ice dragon in half, or vaporize a dire wolf. The three titanium slivers had left three, six and a half millimeter deep dimples in the surface of the metal door, one directly in the center of the lock. Gareth stared at the marks for a few moments, and then clenched his teeth as he walked away. Twenty meters from the dome he turned, and raised his cupped hand. “Ignis Pila!” He growled. A glowing ball of plasma the size of a grapefruit, the biggest he could manage, appeared in his hand, and he threw it with all his might at the offending door. Gareth wasn’t sure exactly what fireballs were, or where they came from. He’d discovered, on the way to Zuebrihn, that a fireball could be generated by him using a simple command. He’d taught Chiu the trick, but the best she could manage was a thumb size ball of fire. The power of the fireballs increased exponentially with their size, as did their cost in human energy expended as he found out when the world around him went black as the fireball impacted the metal door.
Chapter 4
SHSA-TIRION
Someone was drizzling cold water on his forehead, and he grudgingly opened his eyes. It felt as though that same someone had been using his head for batting practice.
“Are you all right?” It was Chiu’s voice, and he squinted up at the woman by his side.
“Define all right.” His voice was rough and dry.
She laughed. “You’d better get up. It’s getting dark and like you said earlier, we’d better take shelter inside, although I don’t think any animals will bother us this night.”
Gareth struggled to his feet. “So, I punched through the door?”
“No.” Chiu smiled. “But you tore the hell out of the casing and we can get in.” As they passed the doorway Gareth noticed that the metal of the door was bent and twisted where his fireball had impacted. Part of the door casing had actually vaporized, and he could see where the three bolts attached to the door had torn through. Beyond the door a single torch burned. Everything else was black. “There are some stone benches over there.” Chiu’s voice echoed in the huge room. He could dimly see her pointing. “Sit down and let me check you.” Behind him the metal door squealed shut as Wokeg put his shoulder to it, and a second later came the sounds of a stone bench dragging across the floor to the door. Nothing would be following them through that particular door very easily.<
br />
Sliding his old rucksack off his shoulders, Gareth set it on the floor with a sigh, sniffing at the stale dead air. Shadows loomed ominously all around them, and he knew that something was off; not wrong or bad, just off. It took him a moment before he had it. “Where’s Kuan?”
Chiu looked disgusted. “As soon as you blasted the door open, he lit out. You could see the fear in his eyes.”
Gareth shook his head. “But there are dire wolves out there. Didn’t he know that?”
“I guess that he was more afraid of you, at that moment, than the wolves.”
“Ah well.” He finished, feeling let down. “It’s all for the best, I guess. It will be a long walk to wherever we’re going, and I envy you the ability to turn into a cat,” he said, as Chiu delicately swiped at one of the deeper gouges torn by the thorn bush. “Sometimes I wish I could.”
“Have you ever tried?” A woman’s soft contralto said at his side.
Gareth turned to Chiu, only to find her staring into the darkness, open mouthed. “I wouldn’t know how to try, Athena.” Gareth said, realization hitting him like a fist.
“Chiu will help you, won’t you my dear?” The dark-haired woman nodded numbly. “There, you see? You just touch Chiu’s consciousness as she changes, and do what she does. You’ve touched her with your mind before. Follow her with your mind. It’s fairly simple, really.”
“So says the being that can manipulate time and space like I use play-dough.”
“Be nice.” Athena chuckled. “One step at a time, my Gareth.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Gareth rumbled, but Athena was already gone.
“What’s up” Lyndra’s voice said from the darkness on their other side.
“Oh, not much.” Chiu replied blandly. “I was just about to teach Gareth how to shapeshift.”
“Shapeshift??” The tone of Lyndra’s voice went up an octave. “Gareth is a human, and humans can’t shapeshift.”
Chiu shot Gareth an ironic look. “We’re still trying to define just what Gareth is.” Touching his shoulder, she gave him a wry smile. “A human being he certainly is not.” Holding his eyes with hers, she continued. “Now link with me and do what I do. Do you have anything particular you’d like to try at first; perhaps the tabby cat form I used when we first met?”
Gareth gave her a flat look. “I was thinking of something a bit more aggressive.” He formed an image in his mind.
Chiu’s eyes widened. “Are you totally insane?”
Gareth held up his hand, thumb and forefinger a single finger width apart. “We don’t have time to play games.”
Chiu rolled her eyes. Okay. Watch carefully as I form the image of the sabertooth in my mind. Floating by her side in her mind, he watched mesmerized as she slowly and very carefully created the heavy-shouldered sabertooth tiger. When she was finally finished, their point of view did a slow orbit around the form, and he could feel Chiu’s satisfaction. Now, you build yours.
Gareth bit his lip, and concentrated. It was, he discovered, much more difficult than he’d imagined. He found himself glancing at Chiu’s image for references. How’s that? He said eventually.
Beside him he felt Chiu concentrate on his form. The rear legs are too short, and the sabertooth we saw has a bobbed tail. Biting his lip, Gareth made the corrections. Better. Now concentrate as I pour myself into the shape of the cat. In his mind it looked exactly like that; Chiu became thin and transparent, and flowed into the head of the cat. Suddenly the massive cat was standing in front of him in the flesh. Your turn. She said, as if they were queuing for a movie ticket.
Gareth swallowed, and focused on pouring himself as Chiu had done, into the head of his mental cat. Nothing happened for the longest time, and then… he felt himself fading. Scheiße! He thought. This is so amazing I can’t believe it! A second sabertooth, the twin of the first raised its head and sniffed. My senses are so acute it’s incredible. Smell especially is very sharp, and I can see in the dark! He said amazed. I can feel each pebble under my feet and I can feel… He stopped, feeling a ripple in his lower abdominal muscles. His cat body was on the verge of panting. I feel incredibly horny.
The second cat began to make hacking noises that Gareth recognized as laughter. You copied the form that I used exactly. Remember what I said last time; that this body was about to go into heat? Welcome to being female, Gareth.
How did you ever concentrate?
It wasn’t easy. When we’re done today’s lesson, we’ll deliberate on getting you a male body. In his mind he could feel Chiu smile. That will fix both of our problems.
If Gareth had been in his human form he would have blushed. Chiu, we don’t need to worry about a litter of sabertooth kittens right now.
Chiu’s laughter was light. That particular problem will never happen until and when we want it to, in any form. There was particular emphasis on the word ANY.
It was midmorning when they set out, Chiu and Gareth as sabertooths, Lyndra as a wolf and Wokeg in his ogre form. As they were about to depart Wokeg had drawn Gareth aside, and pointed out something on the small door they’d entered. The inside of the door and casing were covered with scratches. Something had been trying to dig its way out! As they walked along Gareth wished that Wokeg hadn’t revealed that particular fact to him.
Gareth had expected many things in the great dome at The Yeugate. He hadn’t expected a vast spiraling ramp, one hundred meters in diameter, disappearing into the bowels of the Earth, too far even for the incredible vision of the cats to penetrate. From the breaks in the railing looking down into the dark central thirty-meter wide shaft, it was obvious to Gareth that there had been, at one time, a massive elevator to take people up and down. When they reached the second level Gareth stopped and looked up. The cat had even better binocular vision than his human eyes, and he was able to judge that each “floor” was a full ten meters high. From the central shaft, access corridors radiated out in all directions as far as the eye could see. By the third floor down Gareth finally recognized it for what it was; a city designed to hold millions. The domes above ground that he’d thought a city had simply been a welcome center. With an unknown number of floors before them, the four began to run.
Four hours and one hundred and ninety two floors later Gareth called a halt. While the others stood panting he looked over the edge of the shaft into the darkness below. His feline ears pivoted slightly, and their exceptional hearing could just pick out the dull throb of a power system still operating. The rising air, slightly warmer than at the beginning of their descent, held an elusive scent, an animal scent. Gareth felt the fur along his spine ripple, and he couldn’t suppress a low growl.
What is it? Chiu asked, standing by his side.
Smell and listen. He said without explanation.
Her feline head raised, ears forward and her eyes went distant. I hear machines, and I smell… I smell something our kind has fought before, Gareth. This cat knows the smell of an enemy.
I thought it was just me. We should… Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off by a grumbling sound from deep beneath their feet. The floor trembled slightly, and from far down the dark shaft came a crash, and then the rumbling dwindled back to the sound of the power systems.
Earthquake! We should go.
Wait. His cat’s face twisted in a wry grin. Athena, I can’t speak with this cat voice. I’d like to ask for two large bowls of water, if I could. We all need a drink.
All you had to do was ask. Two gallon glass bowls of water appeared on the floor, Wokeg let Lyndra drink first, just as Gareth let Chiu.
Thank you.
You’re welcome, but hurry. The tremors are becoming more frequent, and soon will get more severe.
Peachy. When they were finished drinking, he motioned to the others. Run!
It had been another three hours when Chiu halted them. Stop! Gareth skidded to a halt, searching to the right and left for danger, and seeing none. Look to my right. The tone of her thought
was wary.
I don’t see any… His eyes went wide at the sight of a small yellow light glowing somewhere beyond a dirty glass wall. I see a light! Concentrating, he morphed back into the shape of a human, and immediately felt exhaustion cause his knees to tremble. “Wokeg.” He said aloud, leaning against a wall for support. “Could you please light a torch? I need to see where the light is coming from, and while the big cat is superior in most things, it’s mostly color blind. It might see a blinking red danger light as green or blue. All I see now is a spot of light in the darkness.” Walking forward with his hand out, he chuckled. “Door handles give it a problem too.”
The small control room was eight meters square, and boasted a large glass window that looked out onto the central access shaft. The remains of a single chair was no more than dust in the far corner. The blinking light on the still bright stainless steel console was orange, and when Gareth brushed away the thin layer of dust, a small plaque beneath it read POWER LEVEL CRITICAL. The rest of the lights and screens on the wall to wall panel were dead. Beside the orange light sat a small red button labeled RESET. It might have as easily said DRINK ME. Chuckling, Gareth reached out a finger.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Chiu said standing at his side. “It might blow us all up.”
“The next earthquake could bring the ceiling down on all of us.” He said softly. “Without power we go nowhere. Athena hired me because of my military and my technical background. I think that it’s too late in the game to play it cautious. We have to take some chances.”
“But…” She began. He pushed the button and the orange light went out. They all stood there for several long moments while nothing at all happened.
Gareth sighed. “Well, it looks as if I struck ou…” A green light on the control panel flickered to life, just as green letters began to crawl across the bottom of one of the many dust covered display screens. They read: — SYSTEM REBOOT INITIATED — Gareth swore, and began to laugh.
The City that Time forgot Page 9
