by J B Forest
“Sire, I would advise against using the portal again so soon. We risk detection each time we open a portal. I recommended to Rahim that after this initial contact, we only use the portal in emergency situations. However, if you wish to speak with Zehn, I will notify him of your request.”
Mogran looked displeased with Seth’s statement and turned to Rahim. “Do you agree with Seth’s assessment that we risk detection by using the portal?” he asked.
Seth could tell from the mage’s facial expression that Rahim was struggling with whether he should admit the danger and risk displeasing Mogran or try to win points by giving him an answer that he wanted to hear.
Rahim cleared his throat and concurred that the chances of detection by others increased every time they used the portal. He was tempted to give Mogran the answer he wanted hear, but decided that the risks were too great, especially since he had not shared his concerns about the vibrations that occurred when they opened the rift.
“Very well,” shrugged Mogran. “I will heed your advice; I definitely do not want to have any meddling Seelie miscreants nosing around in my affairs.” He turned and walked out of view of the mirror without another word.
Rahim looked over his shoulder to make sure that Mogran was out of earshot and otherwise distracted before leaning closer to the mirror. “We may have a slight problem,” he whispered to Seth and Jerard. He looked over his shoulder again to see Mogran pouring over his strategy plans.
“What is it?” asked Seth.
“The vibrations we noticed during the testing occurred when we opened the rift and shifted the two groups through the astral plane. They were only momentary but I noticed them with each group.”
“What did Mogran say about it?”
“He did not notice them, I guess I was attuned because we experienced them before and were working on a solution. They were more pronounced than with the testing but still not significant enough for someone who did not know what to expect to notice. I did not mention them to Mogran.”
“We can only hope that they were not noticed elsewhere. No sense in getting Mogran all excited without good cause. We will work here and hope that things continue to go well. Zehn is giving the order to move out, we must go now.” Seth prepared to close the portal but then looked at Rahim again and waved. As he closed the portal he said softly, “Farewell brother and good luck, I fear you will need it more than we will.”
“Seth, what vibrations were you and Rahim talking about? I did not feel anything,” inquired Jerard.
“We noticed slight vibrations each time we created a rift during the testing phase. Rahim and I were working on a solution when Mogran accelerated the departure schedule.”
“Is there a problem?”
“We are not sure. We were not able to identify the cause of the vibrations. We hope that they were not noticed outside of the Unseelie domain. Otherwise, we could potentially have unwelcome visitors.”
Jerard stopped walking and turned to Seth. “Do you mean that the Seelie could invade our domain?” he asked.
“The Seelie, the Elves, or even others who are committed to ensuring that no Unseelie Fae ventures into the astral plane could come to stop us.”
“Why is it that so many are determined to keep us from advancing?”
Seth felt a bit sorry for the young mage. He was one of the few Unseelie Fae that he encountered who was truly innocent. He worked diligently to hone his powers to better serve his master and did not possess the malicious traits typically observed among his race.
“There was a time when the Fae Dominion was united and the royal court consisted of both Seelie and Unseelie. However, some of the Unseelie princes sought to gain more power for themselves and usurp the authority of the King and Queen. The King at the time was Unseelie and the Queen was Seelie. According to Fae tradition, the true power always rests with the Queen while the King mainly serves as her consort.
Mogran and his comrades wanted to change the balance of power. They also began to frequently travel the astral plane into other worlds and take advantage of the indigenous populations. The humans suffered the worst from their exploits. Eventually some of the other races stepped in to stop the decimation of these lesser worlds and banned all Fae from traveling through the astral plane. The elves were instrumental in these efforts.
Shortly thereafter, the troubles between the Seelie and Unseelie escalated and the King was convinced to side with Mogran and his comrades. The Seelie prevailed in the uprising and exiled the Unseelie. It is unclear exactly what occurred after the Unseelie were exiled but within a year, the King was dead and the princes were vying for power. There has not been a true leader in the Unseelie domain since that time.
Mogran has a lot of power and rules with an iron fist, but there are other Unseelie princes within the domain who are just are powerful and ruthless as Mogran. They all exist in a tenuous truce and do not encroach upon each other’s territory. I believe that one day they will either finally ban together and attempt to take over the Seelie throne again or kill each other.
Enough history, we must rejoin the others, I can see that Zehn is preparing to leave. Have you truly never heard the story of how the Unseelie were exiled?” he asked the young mage.
“No one ever dared speak of it when I asked of our history. I assumed that we always lived in this domain. I agree that the Master can be stern, but is that not necessary to make people obey and follow the rules?”
“Rules and order are necessary in any society my young friend, however the manner used to enforce those rules vary widely.”
Seth hurried them along, he did not want to lag behind the main group. He shook his head as he realized how truly naïve this promising young mage was about his own world. “We Fae are not a race of tender or sympathetic beings. However, not all Fae gain pleasure through the suffering of others. The Seelie Queen rules with a firm hand but does not torture and kill without just cause. She does not use fear to rule.”
They ended their conversation at this point because they had rejoined the main body of troops. Toran approached them as they moved through the ranks. “Seth, Jerard, I was looking for you. All seems to be in order with the troops. We found no sign that they were reverting to their minion state. However, we would like to keep close tabs on them.”
“That is good news,” replied Jerard.
The three mages walked together to the front of the ranks. The troops were already formed into squads under each of Zehn’s lieutenants. Seth was impressed with the organization of the contingent. Zehn was a very capable leader. He wondered what personal aspirations the soldier hid behind his rigid outer shell. He also wondered just how devoted he was to Mogran.
The mages interspersed between the troops during the march to the designated area. The terrain was easy to traverse, it was filled with lush grass and rolling hills. A shallow stream was their most difficult obstacle. This part of the country appeared to be very sparsely populated which suited their purposes well. There were no roads in the area. The only evidence of habitation was a game trail which led to the forest.
As predicted, the main body reached a densely forested area within an hour. The forested area was an abrupt change from the fields that they passed on their way from the transport site. Zehn was relieved for the cover provided by the trees. He was not comfortable traveling with such a large group in the open. He gave to order to make camp and the troops worked efficiently under the direction of his lieutenants. The contingent was settled by dusk. He made sure that no fires were built because he did not want to alert the humans of their presence.
Zehn and his lieutenants met in his tent to discuss their plan of action. He invited Seth to the meeting out of courtesy. The mage’s actions thus far did not seem to demonstrate the he had designs on Zehn’s control of the mission. In fact, Seth and the other mages were turning out to be very useful thus far.
“Everything is in order and we are ready to implement our plan,” Zehn told his lieutenants. “No
sh, you and Gnar will accompany me at first light to scout the human’s territory to ensure that they are not aware of our presence and confirm that no changes have occurred since our last scouting mission.” The two lieutenants nodded curtly.
“The human king Cruim does not expect us until the next full moon. We will have plenty of time to send scouting parties into the surrounding territories to determine to size of Cruim’s holdings as well as that of the neighboring rulers. He is intent on becoming ruler of all the lands in what they call Alba. We will help him achieve that goal but what he does not realize is the price of our assistance.” The group laughed at this last comment. Once Alba was presumably under the rule of Cruim, he would be nothing more than a puppet for Mogran. They decided to reconvene the next evening to discuss the results of the scouting mission.
Zehn motioned for Seth to remain after the group dispersed. “I understand that you have a way to contact Mogran. I would like to report our progress thus far if that is possible,”
“We are able to communicate by opening a portal with a scrying mirror. However, we should only use it in emergency situations. Jerard and I contacted Mogran shortly after we arrived to inform him that the transfer was successful. He wanted to speak with you once we made camp, however, both Rahim and I recommended against. Every time a portal is opened, it increases the chances that others will detect our activity. He seemed to accept our recommendation without much resistance once we told him of the dangers,” remarked Seth. “The mission is yours to run, as I stated before, the other mages and I will assist where we can. I cannot assist much with military strategy but we may be able to provide some assistance on the battlefield when the time comes,” he smiled.
“Thank you for the offer, I will keep it in mind,” replied Zehn. The two parted ways to settle in for the night.
Chapter 13 - Present Day – Southeast Texas
Tristen easily navigated through the astral plane and arrived at his destination without incident. He took great precautions to prevent discovery but he was pleasantly surprised that his endeavor was accomplished so easily. His entry point was a wooded area in the heart of a metropolis known as Houston, Texas by the humans. The area was called a ‘park’ and it was used for a variety of recreational activities. He arrived after dark so there was very little activity in the area at that time.
His ability to fold space (an ability that was common in the Fae Dominion) would be useful while in the human world but he also wanted to use more mundane modes of transportation to blend in to the environment. His research revealed that the majority of 21st century humans possessed personal transportation and that animals were rarely used as the primary method of transportation. Motorized vehicles, particularly automobiles appeared to be the most common method of transportation.
His first task was to ensure that his clothing was suitable, find a place to have a meal (he was always hungry after travel through the astral plane) and then research his choices for motorized transportation. He was not sure what type of currency was used in this era, but felt certain that he would be able to obtain sufficient quantities when necessary. If all else failed, he would just use his glamour to convince any unsuspecting humans to give him what he needed.
Tristen found a table and bench in a secluded area of the park. He sat at the table and removed his amulet from his wrist band which was covered by his long-sleeved shirt. The amulet stored all the information that he would need about the human world during his visit. Before activating the charm, he checked the surroundings to ensure that he was alone. He took a deep breath and began an inaudible chant.
It did not take long to pinpoint his location on the amulet. He concentrated on finding a market place or shopping area as they were now called. He smiled as he thought that the 21st century shopping areas were larger the most villages in the human world that he last visited. He was glad that he spent time familiarizing himself with the customs of this world. He would not have imagined that the degree of technological advancement was so significant without the information gleaned via the portal the last few nights.
There was a rather large shopping area not too far from his current location. Everything seemed to have a title. He learned that his current location was entitled ‘Memorial Park’ although he could not determine what was being memorialized. The shopping area that he located was entitled “The Galleria”, interesting. Within this shopping area or more appropriately ‘mall’, he found enclosed toilet areas which were called ‘restrooms’. He could not identify any places where the humans could actually ‘rest’ in these rooms so he was not sure why they were so named. Regardless, these areas seemed to be suitable to his needs, he would be able to fold space into one of these rooms without much notice. Just before he closed the portal, he noticed that men and women entered and exited from separate areas, again, more useful information.
He replaced the amulet on his wrist band, moved deeper into the tree line to avoid notice, concentrated on his new location, and folded into one of the men’s restrooms. Folding space could drain energy quickly, which is one reason he did not use this mode of transportation very often in the Fae Dominion. However, he learned during his earlier visits to the human world that his abilities and endurance increased one hundred-fold while on Earth. He checked his appearance in the mirror on the wall and walked out of the door. Part of him wanted to linger in the restroom to admire the layout and decoration; it was very lavish and stylish. He wondered if all such facilities contained the same amenities. Humans had progressed a long way he mused to himself.
He observed the clothing styles of the men and women that he passed, women’s styles were more revealing, but not always flattering. His senses went into overload trying to absorb the details around him. The choices of items sold were innumerable. He strolled through a section of the store named ‘Neiman Marcus’ that was dedicated to men’s clothing. He decided that he would adjust his own clothing style to emulate the displays. He just needed to focus on a selected style and his clothing would change to reflect his thoughts.
He found another restroom, changed his clothing style and then folded into a restroom in a different store in the mall. He checked his reflection in the mirror and was pleased with the results. His next task was to find a place to eat. He exited into the section of the store devoted to men’s clothing. This store was named ‘Saks Fifth Avenue’. There was a man playing a piano in the middle of the store, presumable solely for the enjoyment of the customers, most of whom passed by him without even noticing. He walked through much of this store and found that it exited into a much larger area with numerous smaller shops. Many of these specialized in a variety of merchandise.
He learned that the larger stores, such as Nieman Marcus, Saks and Macy’s were called department stores because the merchandise sold was divided by departments or sections and the variety of items sold was larger. The smaller ‘specialty’ stores sold specific types of items, such as luggage, shoes, candles, knives, hats, etc. Tristen was not prepared for the sheer magnitude of what he was experiencing. He sat on one of the many benches located within the mall area to get his bearings and soak in the information.
He was amazed at the amount of time and variety of activities that the humans devoted to recreation and relaxation. It was a vast difference from the world he visited in the past. Humans during that period had very little time to spare for such activities. This modern day human world reminded him of life in the Fae Dominion. The Fae were much more focused on individual pleasures and entertainment than work.
Tristen used this rest time to observe the humans as they moved through the stores. He noticed that many young humans gathered in groups and were typically rowdy and loud. They did not appear to be making purchases in any of the stores. There were many families, couples with younger children and infants who seemed to keep to themselves. People of all ages, color and description moved about with little interference from others, with the exception of some of the rowdy youth groups. However, there were e
nforcement types in uniforms with weapons who kept watch on the potential trouble makers.
Overall, he was fairly impressed with the things that he observed. His hunger won out over his curiosity and he focused again on finding a place to eat. He settled on a restaurant that was located just across from an ice skating rink. He was seated at a table which allowed him a perfect view of the rink and the rest of the mall area at this lowest of four levels. When the waiter approached him, he selected several items from the menu. He still had no idea of the type of currency used in this era but decided that it would be easy enough to use glamour to settle his bill.
The food was excellent. The restaurant served what was called Mexican food. It was spicy and filling and exactly what he needed. Tristen noticed the presence of two large inns (or hotels as they are now called) as he walked around the mall. He decided to spend the night in one of these establishments rather than in the park.
He secured a room on the top floor without difficulty. He easily convinced the desk clerk that he had a reservation and that the room was paid for several days. The clerk ‘corrected’ the information in the electronic database while Tristen watched. He noticed that everything and everyone seemed to be connected through electronic systems. This type of communication and access to information was something that he would need to become familiar with before he interacted with too many humans. However, for all their technological advances, humans were still extremely susceptible to Fae glamour.
