"Hey, Noface," the bronze dragao greeted the other even more dismissively than the minotaur had at the gate.
"Is Ediyem here?"
"I think she went up to scold Shaelamee again," it responded while its gaze remained on a book sitting on a desk in front of it.
"What did she do this time, Nadron?"
Shrugging, the bronze dragao still remained focused on his book. "Who knows, but probably the usual thing?"
Releasing a sigh, Helios signaled for Alec to follow him some more. The creature called Nadron didn't even notice the human following the other wizard.
They returned to the stairs and climbed to the open door with its gray light. As they exited the doorway, Alec found it released them onto the top of the keep. Spread out in all directions, the view of a flat roof was broken up by supplies and a few small enclosures.
The green light flashed from the right as they exited and Alec noticed a chair with a high wood back with a small table sitting beside it. A sword rested against the chair's left armrest and more interestingly he noted a blue arm on the right reach over to a glass on the table. Some food sat there as well including a half eaten sandwich.
"Shaelamee, is Ediyem around here?"
A face peeked around the chair back as blue as the arm and hand. Long, blue hair, darker in shade, glistened almost to the point that Alec might have thought that it looked like water and cascaded over the arm resting on the chair.
Noticing that blue feet rested on the stone outer parapet as they suddenly dropped to the floor that was also a roof, Alec was completely stunned when the blue woman stood up and turned to face them.
"What do you have there, Helios? Is this a new pet?" she asked smiling at the two.
Chapter 3- A Meeting of Worlds
Gray clouds roiled overhead tinged red and the rooftop of the keep echoed their colors. Gray stone reflected some of the red to a lesser degree, while beyond the outer edge of the keep's walls; he could look out onto a wide expansive plain surrounding it. Black stones dotted the landscape, but the color palette of Atropos seemed to just be more shades of gray.
Unlike the rest of the world around them, the silver dragon with his bright blue eyes stood out, though Helios' scales reflected the light in a similar way to the stone but his scales had a reflective shine. Alec's eyes weren't on his guide at the moment, however. A strangely beautiful woman moved towards them, her green eyes glanced to the dragao for just a moment before landing on the human beside him. She had blue skin and even darker blue hair which looked like water in the night washing over her shoulders and onto her breasts.
She was very obviously blue everywhere as Alec looked at her and could have sworn that she was naked. He didn't know this race, so maybe it was common; but coming from Southwall the boy wasn't certain where to place his eyes that wouldn't come off as rude. Since he didn't know their customs, perhaps this creature simply existed this way. Glimpsing her skin as the boy tried to keep his eyes on her face, he noticed that droplets of water seemed to cling to her skin like water droplets on a cold glass on a warm day.
"So, Helios, what is this that you have brought us? Are you and Nadron planning on a meal?"
Frowning at the woman who was the first creature smaller than Alec that he had seen so far; Helios replied, "We are dragao. Eating intelligent beings is unseemly, genasi. How could you insinuate such a disgusting thing?"
The woman continued to smile and shrugged. Alec's eyes were drawn to her breasts with the movement almost without any control. He could see the shape of each breast, though her hair draped over each masking the exact detail. Her navel was like a human's, but Alec wrenched his eyes back to her face refusing to look any lower even as his cheeks reddened.
"He does seem to be intelligent," the woman replied with a knowing, seductive looking smile. It seemed to have no effect on Helios whatsoever. The dragao was either unimpressed with her looks or used to the way she appeared unlike Alec, the novice thought wishing he knew what to do in this situation.
"I was looking for Ediyem," the silver scaled sorcerer reminded the petite woman in front of them.
Frowning, Shaelamee asked, "What do you want with that stick in the mud?"
"Alec, fell through a gray portal. I have never seen its like, but then again I know too little about that kind of magic really. I was hoping that Ediyem might be able to help return the boy to his own world."
The blue woman moved closer to Alec and Helios, but her attention was on the boy who rose over half a foot taller than her. Shaelamee was short, though about his friend Katya's height; but even slimmer he thought. Katya wasn't heavy looking either, but the blue woman was slighter in build though she still had surprising curves to her body.
Her hand reached up to caress his left shoulder stepping between the two males. Her eyes lifted to Alec's and the boy felt drawn to those green eyes. At least they seemed safe enough to look at anyway, the boy thought still feeling warm thanks to the oddly attractive creature beside him.
"That doesn't sound like Ediyem to me. I can't imagine that she would be so generous and besides, won't she consider his arrival an intrusion? Sending him back where he comes from will probably be the last thing that she would want to do.
"Maybe she will want to send him to Cenestraya in the hopes that he might win her some favor to be rid of this place? I can't see her doing the other though," Shaelamee said slipping around behind Alec who stood rigidly returning his gaze to the land ahead of him.
Grunting in annoyance, Helios countered, "There might be other reasons to return him to his world."
"To find her way there?" she asked having slowly rotated towards the novice's right dragging her hand down his back. She gave his rear end a squeeze as if checking his ripeness, the boy thought thinking of his mother when she went to market squeezing the melons there.
A small sigh of appreciativeness escaped the water genasi as her hand rose up his back to his right shoulder mirroring the start of her pass.
Helios frowned, though Alec was distracted by the woman too much to catch it. "I suppose that might be another way to entice her to help."
Alec looked at the woman now on his right, but she looked past him to the dragao. "So you would help him to send them to his world? They will likely do what they did here to his also. Are you certain that you wish to ask this favor?"
"Harumph," the dragao cleared his throat in annoyance. "Not every action leads to that, Shaelamee."
"If you say so, Helios," she replied before looking up at Alec again this time with a smile that felt a bit sad.
"I think her people have already found my world," the novice stated with a frown. "That thing that met us at the door and the description you have for this Ediyem sounds like what I saw there. We fought them and sent them running though. Maybe they'll give up after getting beaten like that?"
Shaelamee's smile remained sad as Helios grunted, "Others have fought them in the past. Some serve them now and others are like the hollows."
Alec looked up at the dragao and asked, "I heard you and that other dragon say that word. What is a hollow exactly?"
Moving to the edge of the roof to stand beside the low stone wall that served as fence and protection from possible missiles, Shaelamee pointed as she stood on her toes. Trying to avoid looking at her shapely rear end, Alec moved to her side as Helios joined them.
A shambling creature could be seen exiting a small, withered looking clump of trees. He was pretty certain that it was one of the same kind of creatures that attacked him on the plain earlier.
"That is a hollow," the woman proclaimed and drew back her right hand. Green light gathered there before she cast her spell. A beam like he had seen from the courtyard lanced out striking the creature in the shoulder spinning it around once making it fall onto the ground.
After a moment, it pulled itself back up and wandered off in the direction that it was now facing.
"Darn it!" the woman complained. "I thought I had it that time."
<
br /> Alec noted the distance and doubted that he could accurately throw a ball of flame as far. Perhaps using the wind spear he might do as much damage and be accurate enough to at least strike it in the torso, but based off of Helios' earlier direction to kill the one he fought, such an attack might still leave it to wander away like this one.
Folding his arms, the silver dragao pondered, "You didn't really believe that would kill it. Just hitting it won't kill one of the reconstituted hollows."
Shaelamee made a mocking unintelligible voice pitched lower though not as deep as Helios' real voice.
"So that's a hollow and I guess that is what we fought earlier, but what are they?" Alec tried asking again.
Sighing, Helios began, "When the Ciemnosci come to a world, they start by seeding it with paired chests. They are placed at a distance, but near enough to affect each other. Between them, they draw out magic from the land there. One creates a reversal of time, sort of restoring life; while the other chest accelerates time or moves towards death. The result is sand-like pieces of dust."
"Why?" Alec asked genuinely perplexed. What could make these creatures destroy worlds just to make time dust or whatever it was?
Shaelamee leaned back against the wall with her backside. Her hair slipped off of her breasts and Alec's eyes confirmed nipples letting him know for certain that she was definitely built like a human woman. Whether she was comfortable this way and this was the way her people were, the novice wasn't uncertain. Even so, he did his best to avoid looking too closely.
The woman didn't appear to notice as her eyes glanced towards the sky momentarily. "For power, of course. They can use each type of dust individually. An ancient can remove years of decay from his or her body making them young again. The Ciemnosci already live long lives, but with the life dust they can live indefinitely."
"But what would they do with dust that causes them to age?"
"They can adjust for overuse of the life dust, but it can also be used as a weapon against their enemies. Unleashing the black dust can remove a threat quickly."
Helios spoke up adding, "They can deforest land or age old stumps to dust to make the land flat amongst other things, but they are less important individually than when combined in the Tempus Chamber."
While the blue girl nodded, Alec wanted to ask what that was as well. Sensing his question, Shaelamee clarified, "The Tempus Chamber harnesses the energy that the recombining of the dust emits. It can explode destroying a world if mishandled, but placed in the chambers the Ciemnosci can run their cities or even create portals to other worlds."
"Shaelamee!" a female voice called out sounding angry. "I know that you are hiding up here."
Turning even as Shaelamee pushed away from the wall nervously, the three looked to see a female version of the dark elf Alec had seen orchestrating the battle on his world. The woman wore a dark blue breast plate and matching bracers. While the woman looked to be affecting an armored warrior on those pieces, the remainder of her outfit was a blue dress with a hem that only reached to her knees. Leather boots, dyed dark blue like the armor to match, covered her feet and legs.
The newest arrival pulled up short and leveled a demanding finger at Alec as she asked, "What is this?"
Helios mused on the question and replied, "Well, I forgot to ask him what he is, but his name is Alec. He fell through a strange portal in the valley where we fought a couple hollows together. Though he seems young, his magic already appears reasonably well developed."
The dark elf looked from the dragao to the boy; but seemed distracted by Shaelamee enough that the woman didn't ask more questions before complaining, "How many times have I told you to at least attempt to wear some clothing, Shaelamee?"
Crossing her arms under her breasts as if to emphasize the problem for the other woman, Shaelamee retorted, "My people don't need clothing like yours do, Ediyem. Your need to bind yourselves so restrictively is ludicrous, I say."
"Your people wear clothing. I've worked with others of the genasi. Earth and air elementalists I've worked with never had an issue with following our rules. Even a fire genasi, who might burn some cloth accidentally are fine with it.
"Don't tell me that you can't!" the dark elf snapped and Alec could tell that this must have been a long standing argument between the two women.
Sighing, Shaelamee gestured towards Helios and said, "The dragaoin don't care. The koze and minos never bat an eye either." The blue woman paused a moment looking thoughtful, but the dark elf didn't interrupt. "Well, Glint tends to look at me funny, but he doesn't complain."
"That's because he's a pervert," Ediyem stated crossing her arms in imitation of the other woman, though she affected an angrier stance at the same time.
Again the blue girl sighed, but the water on the front of her body suddenly shifted to cover her breasts and the area between her legs almost to her navel. Alec was in a position to see that only the front of the genasi adjusted and realized that she was only putting on a front for her commander.
"Is that better?" Shaelamee questioned as she still remained with her arms crossed.
Grinding her teeth in frustration, the dark elf finally stated through clenched teeth, "Barely."
Her eyes returned to the intruder she had noted from the start and questioned, "What are you doing here... boy?"
Standing straighter in surprise, Alec answered, "I'm not sure. I fell through a gray doorway and ended up in the valley like Helios said."
It was the partial truth. Even though he was surprised by the arrival of a female version of the dark elf he had seen at the battle, Alec was pretty certain that telling her the exact truth of just how he had been propelled through that doorway from a storm dimension was not in his best interest. Neither was telling her that he was from another world that her people had just attacked; the novice also had to believe. He would leave it to Helios and Shaelamee to add what he omitted since he had already told them more. Hoping that wasn't a mistake, Alec kept his words brief.
"You are trying to tell me that a portal just appeared and you fell through it?" Ediyem questioned sounding like she found it hard to believe.
Trying to remember what he might have heard related to portals, Alec replied, "It isn't uncommon on my world to have rips or tears between worlds. Our wizards try to close them when that happens, but it is like a bandage trying to stop a deep cut. They might seal one tear, but there always seems to be more later."
"And what is it you expect of us? You can't just intrude on one of our worlds and expect us to bend over backward to meet your whims, child."
"I really just hoped to return home, madam."
The elf's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am not a 'madam'. I have never been married, young man."
"My pardon, but as to my expectations, do you think that it is within your power to send me back to my world?"
"Why should I?" the woman asked slowly as if evaluating the novice more thoroughly.
Shrugging, Alec responded, "Well, it might take some effort to send me back, but staying here I would affect your supplies. I will need to eat after all. Send me home sooner than later and you won't have to deal with me any longer."
He was hoping that he was appealing to the bureaucratic side of the dark elf, since she seemed less worried by him being an intruder than an unwelcome guest. Unfortunately Ediyem's response was, "I'll look into it. For now, since you brought him here, it is your responsibility to look after him, Helios."
"I'll look after him," Shaelamee responded with a grin.
Shaking her head, the dark elf replied, "He looks much too young for you. He is just a child."
The genasi placed her fists on the curves above her hips and retorted, "We're all children to someone as old as you, Ediyem. I am quite young for one of my people... not that I was considering such things," Shaelamee amended at the last moment. Glancing at Alec, who looked a little confused by such talk, the blue woman's face changed to a slight smile; but the young wizard wasn't exactly certain
what the new look meant.
"Anyway, Helios, you've caused the problem. You handle it," Ediyem repeated ignoring the other woman. "If he gets in my way... Well, just make certain that he doesn't."
Looking at Shaelamee, the commander added, "Stand watch in the northeast tower until dinner. I want to make sure that the hollows aren't pushing at the walls tonight."
While the blue girl frowned, Helios asked, "Have you seen something to worry about, commander?"
As if the term of respect was well needed, Ediyem's face softened slightly. "It's just been too quiet lately. They're never this quiet for this long. It just feels wrong."
Turning away from the others on that note, the dark elf passed through the doorway descending down the stairs out of sight.
"Stupid cow," Shaelamee complained once it was apparent that the other woman was suitably distant from her. "I can hit them from here. I shouldn't have to go to the outer wall or towers."
The silver dragon man shrugged. "The hollows have been extremely quiet of late."
"You just fought two if I heard the story correctly."
Crossing his arms, Helios raised his right hand to his chin in contemplation. "They were hidden until the boy teased them with his entrance. I waited for hours to see one appear without results."
"Was it the boy's unusual appearance or the strange gate that he fell through that drew them?" she asked once more leaning against the low stone wall behind her.
"It could be either or neither. You could also say that they didn't appear until I was out in the open and speaking with the... boy," the dragon man finished awkwardly. "So what are you called anyway, Alec? What is this pink race? You look slightly like a genasi, yet I don't see any of the elemental twists that those races tend to have."
"Elemental twists?" Alec questioned glancing to Shaelamee. The blue girl smiled at his attention once again. Still seemingly bare, moisture clung to her in pockets mostly to cover where women in the north would conceal their bodies with clothing. Masking exact details, Alec could still see most of her. Muscles and tendons would lead his eye into dangerous areas, if he wasn't wary. Her breasts still revealed their rounded shapes as they rested gently on her lower chest.
Smart Alec in the Dark Lands Page 3
