by R N Skye
“Oh that? That was nothing just a little letting off steam after the warball championship. You know Shane, he makes friends where ever he goes,” answered Ari with a poorly attempted straight face.
“Oh please uncle Ari. You’re not fooling anyone. You’re as bad as he is if not worse. Laura you won’t get anywhere talking to him. I’ll have to get the story out of Shane when were alone.”
“Okay, all that aside we are on a time line.” Ari changes the subject. “We need to get these folks to Coh Y Nord and out of Jehhet by the end of the day. What do you have to do to make it habitable?”
Ava thought for a moment, “I just need to go to the records center and get the keys to the infrastructure and activate it. It should only take me a few minutes. The Problem I see is finding a place to put everyone. I know nothing of the city lay out.” Turning to Laura, “You have been locating refugees in Valee and Yllyan for months do you know anything about Coh Y Nord?”
“I would be delighted to help,” the energetic Laura offered energetically rising to the crisis. “The city plan will be in the records center. While you get the infrastructure running I’ll figure out where to put everyone.”
Ava and Laura left through the portal and Ari explained to the group in the warehouse. “We have until sunset to get things moving. After that I think it’s safe to say that the king and his agents will be on to us. The place we are going is a third of the way around the world so it’s already after sunset and it will be late night by the time we start moving you. Start bringing the necessities and whatever is easiest first. Other than bedding I recommend that you don’t bring any furniture unless it is a family heirloom. Have your men and crew get all of your equipment onto the ships. We can move equipment and ships in one go. When Ava and Laura get back they will have a place for you and you can start bringing the children. The key is that we need to have this all done by sunset our time. After that I’m not sure how much longer the king will be distracted.
The docks and the warehouse became an anthill of activity. The Ships were soon loaded down with all of the equipment from the pier with all of the nets and other equipment that the family of fishermen used in their business. The total number of boats was seven with three dinghies used to tow with when the winds weren’t favorable. Shew took charge of the watercraft and he used his portal device to open up a massive portal between the Jehhet Piers and those at Coh Y Nord; the energy required for such a large opening caused the water to steam creating a convenient blanket of fog in the wintery coastal air. With the aid of the massive ropes and pulleys that the fishermen used and the strength of the large fishermen the boats were soon safely moored in their new locations. The fog had provided a perfect cover. By the time the portal was closed and the fog dissipated the ships were mysteriously gone. Shane had opened portals from each house to the ware house so that they wouldn’t have to walk from each residence. And soon a brigade of parents and children were handing goods from their homes through magical doorways to those waiting on the other side carefully stacking belongings neatly in the ware house. He would have rather have opened a portal from each house directly to their destination but so far Laura hadn’t given him a spot to unload everything He hoped it would be soon seeing how the ware house was filling up fast.
The last of the homes were unloaded into the warehouse when Shew came running into the building. “Shane you better get cracking sonny. There’s about five hundred soldiers coming down the avenue headed this direction I give you about ten minutes.”
Overhearing the conversation Ari swore and pulled out his portal and began scanning Coh Y Nord. Finding what he had in mind he called over to Shane. “I have an idea but I don’t know if this artifact can handle it - it will probably draw too much energy.”
“What do you have in mind,” asked Shane.
“Do you think you can use mastery to move this whole warehouse if I give you a large enough space?” Ari explained as he held his portal viewer were Shane could see.
Shane mentally calculated the effort it would require and knew it would be close. “I can probably do the inside; and that way the soldiers won’t know what we’re up to. Comm Ava and Laura and let them know that ready or not we are coming. Find a safe location and use your portal and get everyone through while I set this up. Set a guard at the clearing; I don’t want to bury anyone by accident.”
Shane immediately began placing glyphs round about the warehouse to mark the boarders of the area he was planning to move. He could hear the marching of boots when Ari returned and told him that all of the D’roe family and Shew were through the portal. “Close the door behind you. I’ll meet you at the clearing.”
“Good luck, pal,” Ari said. “See you in Coh Y Nord,” and he stepped through his portal closing it behind him.
Shane took a deep breath. He’d never attempted anything this big. The portals for the ships had caused Shew’s portal to glow red hot and the water to steam from the energy it had used. He was about to do the same thing to an area nearly twenty times the size. Hoping that because he was using mastery there would be no heat issues because he would not be using a substrate. His only worry was the lumen requirement and the energy requirement.
The marching sound ceased as the soldiers came to a halt outside the warehouse. As a precaution Shane sealed all the doors and windows in case the locks failed. There came a loud pounding at the door. “By order of the king you are commanded to open this door,” bellowed a loud officious sounding voice.
Shane took another deep breath and imbued the glyphs that he had made around the warehouse as well as the ones in his mind. Slowly he began to open a portal above him near the rafters of the large building. He opened it wider and wider, soon a view of the stars above Coh Y Nord replaced the view of the rafters. He continued to widen the space until he began to feel weak. Quickly he added more power glyphs to the already long string that he had in place. He felt his strength return and began widening it some more. He had almost reached the corners of the warehouse area when he heard splintering of wood and thought he smelled smoke. Apparently the soldiers had decided to break down the doors and set fire to the building in an effort to smoke their query out. With a mental push the opening was now equal to the glyphs he had placed in the corners of the building and he began lowering it. Within seconds the walls disappeared and were replaced by the area surrounding the open space that he had targeted in Coh Y Nord. It appeared as if the warehouse floor was now sitting in an open field, but he knew he needed to close the portal underneath the floor to complete the transfer. Slowly he lowered the portal to halfway through the large floor joists below the floor level; hoping that that would offer enough strength to hold the floor together with all the weight that would still be resting on it, he began closing it. As it neared the center the energy requirement grew less and less and it increased in speed. As the portal closed Shane let go of the glyphs and removed the lumen.
Looking around he could see street lamps lighting up the roadways as they climbed the subtle hill that rose away from the wharf. He could hear voices of people talking and laughing as they approached the stacks of belongings that had been in the warehouse. The wind puffed a slight breeze off of the bay; he could smell the tang of salt and seaweed. “So this is Coh Y Nord.”
~~~~~
Leslie and Louisa had entered the records center early and were soon on their own separate journeys of discovery. Leslie, continuing her instruction of records keeping and the purposes of the records centers. Louisa, who like her daughter was curious about how the Elios and Luion of old had lived and functioned as a society, began to pursue the history and infrastructure records. Moreover she was particularly interested hospitals and the healing aspects of her personal glyphs. With anticipation Louisa seated herself and was soon lost in a forest of information.
As she studied she learned that while they had roads to almost every location, the Elios and Luion often walked to their destinations. They appeared to have vehicles of all type
s and capabilities, for many different purposes, but very few used personal vehicles as transportation for casual travel. All of the cities were also set up with wide streets with durable roads, but each city also had a trolley system that along with walking seemed to be the preferred method of transportation. A monorail between each city was the chief mode of traveling from city to city. Also - to her surprise - covered under transportation was the Records Center. That’s interesting, she thought to herself as she saw how it was done. I’ll have to try that one of these days.
The more she learned the more she was puzzled. What did these people do? What types of jobs did they have? There were no records security or government; nothing of police or armies. “Were the Elios sheltered a greater entity or peaceful that they had no crime? Or more ominous were they so powerful that nothing could touch them.” She realized that she had spoken out loud because as soon as she finished her sentence the records center instructor on the desk in front of her responded.
“This is restricted information. Under the direction of the Lumen Master Ahhan and by authorization of the Recorder you have been granted full access and technical knowledge of the Records Centers of Eliom. It is advised that you receive the full study of your request as dream instruction and that you treat this information as highly confidential due to the propensity that it could be harmful to those that have only a partial knowledge of some of the content and context that you will be provided. After a pause the records center instructor began its instruction.
The Elios follow the paradigm of the Laws of Light as taught by the great mage Eno; also referred to as the Laws of Lumen, The Laws of Happiness and the Laws of Love. It should be noted that many races that have been rescued or preserved by the Elios often refer to a lesser version of these laws as the Laws of Elios; their mantra: Serve because you can. The published works of Eno can be obtained by request from one of the Brotherhood of Eno on Elios or by request from a Far-Seer.” The records center sphere added.
“It should be noted that as a mage advances in the knowledge and understanding of Lumen that they become more sensitive to the Laws of Light. Please refer to your personal instructor for further details. An awareness of all ethics is bound into a master’s ability. If a master fails to live the Laws their internal lumen light will eventually dim or atrophy and their bodies as well as their abilities will perish. This can occur if they either willingly transgress the laws or if they no longer live them through inactivity.
The Records center instructor concluded with: “The common summation is that the Mages of Elios always serve one another as well as those around them – Their goal to help others achieve the level of civilization that they enjoy; this purpose has increased the longevity of many mages greatly.
On Elios due to the predominate habitation density of Lumen Mages and their dedication to the Laws of Light, there was never been any need to monitor crime as there is no crime among them.
The Elios have records of countless wars fought - the most deadly of these wars, being the Lumen War which resulted in the expulsion of the Allyant. Since that time the only wars that have been fought by the Lumen Mages has been in those instances that involved the defending or the ending of wars between those who were either being oppressed or attacked by Allyant Mages or similar others of the many oppressors that prey upon the weak. Since the casting out of the Allyant none that could survive the physical laws of the binary system of Elios and its magic have had any inclination to go to war with the Elios, and those that would be so inclined could not survive the environment of Elios.
In the back of her mind a deep worry began to emerge – after hearing many of the conversations between Shane and Ari – how they would they handle the casualties of this war here on Eliom. She had begun to wonder what could be improved. Recalling that there had recently been a large industrial fire at a manufacturing facility and that there had been many people injured, and that the hospitals in Lu Y Onton had been nearly overwhelmed, she queried her instructor. “Instructor, did the Elios have hospitals?”
“The Elios did not have hospitals as the current civilization classifies them. The Elios are all very qualified healers. They could heal themselves as well as any non-potents or other creatures in their care. It should be noted that in preparation for when there was the possibility of events where the chance of injuries might occur away from their presence, they provided enchanted devices for healing,” answered her instructor. “They also created healing centers located on protected worlds located on spheres with temporal properties chosen for their propensity for the diminishing of the effects of time. Providing a safe location and a stasis environment until triage and proper healing could be accomplished.”
“How does one access these facilities,” Louisa asked.
“Please extend your hand - palm side up,” instructed the records center sphere.
Louisa held out her hand. To her amazement a small, oval shaped, smooth metal disk, attached to a gold necklace chain, formed in the center of her palm. As she examined it she saw inscribed upon it a pair of activation glyphs. Turning it over, she saw a set of multiple control glyphs.
“This amulet provides access to the temporal triage facility of Merrial to the wearer. Please note: It is required for you to receive instruction on the use of the medical amulet in order to use it. Additionally the instruction for the operation of the amulet as well as the tools within the facility must be received in dream instruction.” intoned the instructor. “It is also required that you be able to use the glyph known as guerit without a substrate. As you are not yet a Glyph Master it is strongly suggested that you practice with your personal instructor or a Glyph Master before attempting the use of the amulet.
Leslie was watching a projection of what was the basic guide to the operation and features of a Records Center when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up she saw Louisa headed towards the door. “Where are you off to so early,” she asked her sister curiously.
“Nap,” was her sister’s hasty reply, and with a smile and a wave she hurried through the now open entryway.
Leslie chuckled at the innovativeness of her sister. As siblings they had grown up very close. Louisa had always been the quick thinker and inventor and Leslie while not as studious was the more adventurous of the pair. That is why it had been no surprise that when Louisa had learned that the only way for her to acquire her glyphs and for Leslie to get here instruction that they needed to be asleep to receive dreams, it had only taken her a moment to come up with the solution of taking a nap. After all, she had said, who says that you can only sleep at night.
“Center,” she said out loud. “What was Louisa studying?”
“The Student Glyph Mage, Louisa, was studying the history of the Laws of Light, the relation and integration of the Laws of Light with the Elios, as well as wars and medical facilities, healing and the temporal triage centers of the Elios,” answered the records center.
Leslie looked at the door her sister had just exited through. Leave it to Louisa to think of the obvious. Turning back to her own studies she continued to watch the discourse on the properties and linking of the records centers throughout Eliom. As she watched the projection in front of her, a floor plan of the records center appeared; depicting in detail each of the four entrances - each with a unique name. The South entrance was called: En’Su, the North: En’Elio, the West: En’Joi. And lastly the East was called: En’Mon.
One by one she queried about each entry, learning what the purpose was for each. The entrance to the south was the entrance into the Records Center from the city where it resided; this evidentially applied to all of the centers. EnElio or the North entrance was a portal to a records center on Elios; a note provided by the Center instructor stated that only Lumen Mages or individuals escorted by a qualified Lumen Mage could pass through. The instructor also noted that this entrance was disabled and would remain so until the World Singer could activate it. The West entry was also disabled wit
h the same foot note. It also contained an additional foot note: See Transition Worlds. The Eastern entryway linked all of the Record Centers on Eliom. To access you simply approached the entryway and either thought of, or called out the name of the city that you wanted to travel to and then crossed the threshold. Out of curiosity Leslie asked the Center instructor, “How many functioning record centers are there on Eliom?”
“Currently there are three active Records Centers. Valee, Yllyan, and Coh Y Nord,” answered the instructor.
“When did the Coh Y Nord Center become available?” asked Leslie. She hadn’t been aware that Ava had already had a chance to activate the infrastructure of the new city on the North coast; she wondered if perhaps it had never been disabled.
“The Record Center of Coh Y Nord was activated a few moments ago by the Lumen Mage Lauranelle Chashanan,” was the quick reply.
Another Lumen Mage, thought Leslie as she thought about the unfamiliar name she had just been given. “Stop instruction. I’ll be back later,” She spoke out loud and then hurried to the East door. “Coh Y Nord,” she said as she walked toward the granite filled entry. It instantly cleared and showed the inside of an identical Center. She could see a pair of women looking at a large crystal screen at one of the desks with their backs toward her.
Leslie continued walking and soon was inside the other Center. She was almost behind the Women when Laura turned and faced her. “Leslie, how delightful, if I would have known you were coming I would have let you bring the center active for the practice.”
“Aunt Leslie?” Ava said in surprise turning to see her aunt standing next to them. “How did you get here?”
“She came through the East door,” Laura interrupted. “She is the Records Keeper of Eliom after all and has access to all of the centers,”
Eventually the three women soon had told each other their tales. Leslie of her mornings studies, Ava and Laura, their tale of the fishing family that they were trying to immigrate to Coh Y Nord.
