“Words cannot express how grateful I am to have the three of you here,” Thal'rin said as he looked to his counterparts from Rydic Syredel, Sinyu Syredel, and Gullreach. Since Kirlon, who was representing Nextriix, the Mother of Gullreach, was a zerok, he could not take a place at the table. However, the Meldohn Hall of Diacs, shaped like an enormous bell, was built with the aid of his people to accommodate their kind. He was perched on one of the wooden beams above, which he accessed via a large passage. From there, he could look down at them, read whatever documents they laid out on the table, and participate in the political workings of groundwalkers. Several tuhli scribes at the edges of the round chamber transcribed what was discussed.
“I am even more glad that you do not think I have gone senile,” Thal'rin continued, staring at the medallion taken from Ayrlon's neck, which now lay on the table between them. “I do wish the Voice of the Gyanyu would have sent some sort of response by now, but as always, Jalhara is silent.”
He woke up this morning feeling agitated and had found himself quivering. He attributed that anxiety to this meeting, which he had been anticipating from the moment Ayrlon began to weep omens. The three leaders had taken the news of Vincent's presence far better than he could have hoped. The gratitude he felt should have lifted a portion of the burden from his shoulders. Why then, did this anxiety seem to intensify rather than weaken? Something was wrong...profoundly wrong. It had been decades since he felt this shaken. The air itself seemed to lick at him with intimations of danger.
“You are not that old, Thal'rin,” Gangen, the Diac of Rydic said, “you just need sleep. There are shadows under your eyes.”
“Indeed,” Thal'rin admitted, “this has taken a toll on me. But, at the risk of sounding sentimental, I am relieved that the three of you are taking this 'revelation' as well as you have.”
“Where is the Paradox?” Trill, the Diac of Sinyu asked.
“To clarify, I hesitate to call him the Paradox. We do not know what he is. But to answer your question, during his translation to our world, his own garments were torn. So now he is being taken to a tailor.” Thal'rin scoffed as he leaned over the table. “I never thought I would utter a line like that during my tenure.” He shook his head. “One of our best kiolai is accompanying him around the green district. My hope is that he will become familiar, comfortable perhaps, being around our people. This is a very...'unique'experience for him, so I am treating his situation with a soft hand. As for his absence here, he has expressed a wish not to be involved in our affairs. So, he knows nothing about this meeting.”
Is that wise? Kirlon projected, I have felt the ebbings of a strange being in your city. I sense a creature whose form resembles that of a groundwalker's, yet whose pattern is chaos.
“He is right, Thal'rin,” Gangen said, “we should be meeting this individual!”
“What do your tuhli think?” Trill asked, “they have met with him?”
“They are divided,” Thal'rin said. He took a moment to shake off his agitation. But he could not ignore the sensation of “wrongness” permeating the air. It felt like the odor of carrion. He spared a glance at one of the scribes, who also had lambent eyes, to see if she shared his agitation. Only a tiny curl of the lip betrayed any disgust. Other than that, her poise was one of calm. “Half of them believe Vincent is the Saedharu. The other half...well, they are skeptical and rightly so.”
They need our eyes, Kirlon added, this being is not of us. I am surprised the zerok of your city have not taken notice of him. I have not seen this individual, yet even now I sense an anomaly walking your streets.
“Well the explanation for that is obvious,” Gangen said with humor in his voice, “city flyers have been corrupted by us 'groundwalkers'. Every time we get a messenger from Gullreach, they complain about the 'sight' wielded by our flying inhabitants.”
You speak truth.
“Speaking of which,” Thal'rin continued, “I have been told that Gullreach has been observing these storms. What can you tell us about them?”
Kirlon shifted on his perch before answering. We watch them from a safe distance, as the ebbings within these storms frighten us. However, we have learned that they travel far faster than normal clouds, and they can change direction in an instant. They do not dissipate over time as normal storms do. Instead, they remain the same size until they abruptly 'disperse'. They defy patterns. Because of this, determining their origin has been impossible. Their winds vary in violence. Some are as mild as squalls while others are as violent as hurricanes, ripping trees from the ground.
Thal'rin found himself impressed by the fluent “diction” of the zerok's projections. Most zerok struggle to convey coherent sentences, preferring to project sentiments and abstract ideas over structure. Though younger than Kyrotin, Kirlon was clearly experienced at communicating with groundwalkers.
Where the storms have rained, wildlife has changed. Anomalies similar to the stormspawn described by your kiolai and shandan have risen up and attacked villages. We have given them much-needed aid, as these beasts do not die easily.
“Yes,” Trill said, a frown creasing her face. “We have seen the same thing. But we have also observed that these creatures will often...” She cringed, “revert to a 'sludge' after a time for no apparent reason. Given this information, we have been telling our smallest villages to flee if they see them and simply wait for the creatures to die.”
“It is the same here,” Thal'rin said, “We have been instructing our messengers to fly to every village and warn them about this blight, to shelter their cattle and prepare to flee if they catch sight of such storms. We can only send so many soldiers across the land before we leave Meldohv undefended. We need to find out where they are coming from and what is causing them.”
Gangen crossed his arms and leaned back, bringing a wing under his chin. “I do not like Jalhara's silence. No doubt they are waiting to see how this weakens us.”
Thal'rin had little doubt what Gangen said was true. Relations with Jalhara were already tenuous. Though all the nations across The Skein had signed and maintained a peace treaty with Mid-Admoran since before Thal'rin was born, the Jalharans were elusive. A wall stood between them and the rest of Admoran. Nobody from either side was allowed to cross the Skein except emissaries and diplomats, so it was difficult to tell what they were thinking.
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“When will you tell your people about Ayrlon?” Trill asked, “about the...newcomer?”
“Soon,” Thal’rin said, “I plan to send a summons to all members of our Culluinar, who will then be in charge of divulging this information to the public. I can no longer hide the fact that Ayrlon's Tear is alight from them, I do not have that right. In regard to our visitor, I do not see any good coming from us revealing Vincent's presence, at least for now. I think such a thing would only sow chaos. It raises far too many questions too fast. Whatever the cause of these storms may be, my immediate concern is that our villages are being harried. Our flyers continue to monitor them, flying ahead to villages that are in their path to warn them. We should all prepare to take in refugees. Many of our provinces have armed soldiers, but as I said, they cannot be everywhere at once.”
I am in agreement, Kirlon projected, we will give aid where it is needed. We have no qualms about eradicating these anomalies.
A brief silence followed as Thal'rin listened to the scribblings of the tuhli.
“You truly do believe there's a possibility he is the Paradox Incarnate?” Trill asked, “Or one of them?”
“One of them?” Thal'rin repeated.
“I find myself pondering the hypothesis proposed by some that there may have been more than one character in our history who inspired the stories.”
“You ask if I believe in fables...it is not an easy question to answer. Possibly,” Thal'rin nodded, “Vincent is certainly not thousands of years old nor does he act it, so perhaps the 'multiple Saedharu' holds weight. I simply do not know.”
“Has the Lore of Contradictions mentioned these storms?” Gangen asked, “if there have been multiple Saedharus, are you saying that whatever force is responsible for his translation into our world, has been doing this throughout history?”
“Or perhaps it simply learned the 'lore' required to...” Thal'rin pondered this for a moment. “'Bring about’ or summon these figures. Perhaps the knowledge was already there...bah! This is only conjecture. I am not well-studied in the Lore of Contradictions. Our world is ravaged by calamities. Generations are only allowed to grow so much before their society is wiped out by some catastrophe. Then, we start all over again, our people having to repopulate the wilds. What we know about the previous generations is what we find in ruins. Perhaps somewhere, some entity discovered a way to summon beings from another world, but that knowledge has been lost.”
The four of them stayed silent for a moment, shifting. The unidentifiable sickness in the air was almost tangible. Thal'rin felt he should be able to see pollution floating around the room. It was wrong...so wrong. Something bad was coming. He looked to the young woman who was taking notes and they met eyes for a brief moment.
“Lorix's Eye deserves a second inspection,” Gangen said, “if you are willing to accept our aid, we would lend you the help of one of our skylights so its depths can be further explored. If your guest hails from another world, then at the very least, we need to learn how to hold the gates. The presence of a passage to another realm means our world is but a mere nation. This may mean it can be invaded. We need to secure it from outside forces until we know more about them.”
“You mean protect Falius' borders?” Trill asked.
“That is exactly what I mean,” Gangen said, “if the outsider's race discovered our world, what would happen? How would they react to our existence?”
“But he was captured and brought here,” Trill said, “from what we have been told, his people did not send him.”
“Does not matter. Kidnappers can still travel through gates. I do not like the idea of us being exposed to threats that lie beyond our world. If his captor could find a passage between his realm and ours, then we must assume his people can too. We need to find that passage, if it exists, and hold it.”
“I agree,” Thal'rin said, “that is a threat we have considered. I even asked Vincent once how he thought his people would react if they found out about us. It was a casual question, not the focus of our conversation at the time. But he did not hesitate to say that they would inevitably attack us. Whether or not his answer accurately reflects what would happen in such a scenario, he did not seem optimistic about such an encounter. I will of course accept your offer and our relos will do whatever your wardens ask.”
“When the rest of Admoran...Falius finds out about such a thing...” Trill pondered, “It will change everything we know. I hope we discover nothing. Otherwise, it will sow chaos.”
I think we have more imminent matters that demand our attention. Kirlon projected.
“You're right,” Thal'rin said, “it is unlikely we will experience an attack from ‘Earth’.”
“Are you well, Thal'rin?” Trill asked.
“Yes,” he said, but then stopped himself. He could no longer ignore this sensation. “No, no I am not. From the moment I woke up, I have been feeling a sickness in the air, but I disregarded it. But now, I can no longer ignore it because what I am feeling, it is growing stronger. You sense it too, Ulai?”
“I...do, Diac.” The scribe seemed surprised that he was addressing her. “I feel like there are worms crawling in my flesh.”
Trill and Gangen exchanged looks. Then the Diac of Rydic looked up to Kirlon. “You have been ignoring the voices of your people while we were meeting, am I correct?” he asked.
Yes. If you wish I may open my...
The three of them waited while Kirlon's eye stared into the wall. He appeared to freeze, then he began to shift on his perch, causing the wood to groan in protest. His talons, each big enough to bisect a groundwalker, flexed with agitation.
“What is it, Kirlon?” Trill asked, her voice grown faint.
Hundreds...fear...zerok flying fear...zerok flying afraid. Apologies, inadequate communication. Hundreds of zerok fleeing! Terrified! It is coming right toward us!
“What is coming right toward us?! Be clear!” Gangen said.
A storm! Black!
Thal'rin met eyes with Trill and Gangen for a moment. Then he summoned Sincalindre to his hand, wheeled around and headed toward the door. When he reached it, he threw it open, causing the startled guards outside to raise their weapons in alarm. He did not wait to see if they recognized their Diac, he just kept moving, with Trill and Gangen in tow. He heard the floor above him thudding as Kirlon used his exit. How? How had this happened?
“Open them!” he barked to the pair of sentries guarding the gate to the hall. They obeyed without hesitation. As soon as he stepped outside, he hollered for Kyrotin.
I am sorry friend. Kyrotin's projections thrummed as his distant blue shape grew near, I grew restless at the fear of my brood. I was about to come for you.
“It does not matter!” Thal'rin shouted with urgency, “how close is it?!”
No sight yet, Kyrotin projected as he landed on the steps. but it is imminent. It comes from Admoran's South. It comes fast...little warning. We had no time. It outflew our scouts.
“Raise the screamers and tell Rime to fortify the storm wards!” Thal'rin barked. Kyrotin's eye darted, shooting out projections to his kin carrying the High Channeler's orders, “Have Rekail send his troops to the front of the city. We may be attacked!”
Thal'rin braced himself as Kyrotin launched back into the air, buffeting him with wind. Trill and Gangen trotted up to his side and looked out over the city with him. How did this happen? How could they have received no warning? How could a storm outpace the zerok themselves? It was unfathomable!
“Is there anything we may do?” Trill asked. “I can send my men to help ward the citizens who remain outside the storm ward.”
“We may not have time...” Thal'rin said, “but I would not deny aid. I...” He looked toward the Naikira statue in the distance, it was impossible that even those creatures could pose a threat to Meldohv, with all of its militia and protective lore. Still, for the storm to be moving so fast, for them to be caught completely unaware despite their vast network of scouts.
Mother Naikira, Herald-slayer, he thought, be with us. Then he turned to Trill and Gangen.
“I may need to defend my home.”