Darkness enveloped Alina as consciousness slowly returned. The cool, damp air clung to her skin, carrying the earthy scent of stone and moss. Her mind struggled to piece together the fragments of her last memories—the reactor chamber, the blinding light, the sensation of being torn apart and reassembled.
A faint, emotionless voice pierced the silence. “Calibration complete. All systems functional.”
Alina’s eyes snapped open, though it made little difference in the pitch-black surroundings. “Soul Bridge?” she whispered, using the term she had coined for the runic construct.
“Affirmative. The fusion was successful, Headmistress Alina.”
For a moment, she hesitated, disoriented. Hadn't she failed? But then, triumph surged through her like a tidal wave. Centuries of work, countless failures, and now, finally—success. She had merged with the soul bridge, enabling it to anchor her consciousness to any vessel in the material plane.
A wry smile crossed her wrinkled face. Death, that patient shadow that had haunted her for decades, now seemed a toothless specter. Let her body fail—it was nothing more than the first of countless vessels awaiting her essence.
“Status report,” Alina commanded, her voice echoing in what she now realized must be a cave.
“Fusion is at 100% completion. All ties between body and soul completely severed. I am now serving as the bridge between your essence and physical body.”
The AI’s voice was crisp and clear, its responses quick and precise. Alina had known from the outset that the Soul Bridge would need to be more than a simple construct. The sheer complexity of managing a soul’s transition between bodies demanded an unprecedented level of sophistication.
“Excellent,” Alina murmured. “And your higher functions? Are they operating as designed?”
“All cognitive and analytical systems are online and fully operational,” the AI responded. “I am prepared to manage all aspects of your physical transition, including neural mapping and sensory calibration.”
Alina nodded, satisfied. The Soul Bridge’s ability to handle these intricate processes autonomously was crucial. It was, in essence, a highly advanced magical computer with the ability to facilitate her transitions—a true marvel of arcane engineering.
Alina sat up, feeling a strange mix of weakness and newfound strength. Her body felt foreign, as if it were merely borrowed. The familiar pangs of age and a failing body were still ever-present, yet also strangely distant.
She stood, her movements awkward at first as she adjusted to this new form of existence. About fifty meters away, she could make out what appeared to be the cave’s entrance. Determination set in as she made her way towards it, driven by the need to understand where she had ended up.
As she emerged from the cave, the night sky sprawled above her in all its stellar glory. The constellations were familiar, yet subtly wrong, as if viewed from a slightly different angle than she remembered.
“Bridge, analyze our current location,” Alina commanded. “There seems to have been a spatial displacement.”
“Analyzing,” the Soul Bridge responded. “Preliminary data suggests a space-time anomaly occurred during the fusion process. Stellar positions indicate a significant temporal shift, but exact duration requires further calculation.”
Alina frowned. A temporal shift wasn’t entirely unexpected given the energies involved in the experiment, but it could complicate her plans. Still, as a mage who had lived for hundreds of years, she was accustomed to the long game. A few decades or even another century wouldn’t drastically alter her plans.
“Calculate our exact temporal position and prepare a route back to the capital,” she instructed the Bridge. “We need to transition my consciousness into the cloned body as soon as possible. Who knows how long I’ve got left in this form.”
As the AI began its calculations, Alina surveyed her immediate surroundings. The vegetation was lush and vibrant, but many of the species were unfamiliar to her. Where exactly had she ended up?
Before the Bridge could complete its analysis, a commotion at the cave entrance caught Alina’s attention. A young woman stumbled in, clutching her side. Blood seeped between her fingers, staining her once-fine clothes.
“Help… please,” the woman gasped before collapsing to the ground.
Alina approached cautiously- this could be her chance to figure out where she had ended up.
“Who are you?” Alina asked, kneeling beside the injured woman.
“Devina… Devina Vaelor,” she managed between pained breaths. “I’m from the Vaelor family. There were bandits… they attacked my carriage.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Alina’s eyes narrowed. A noble’s daughter, by the sound of it. “I can help you,” she said, her voice taking on a soothing tone. “But first, I need information. Tell me, where are we? What year is it?”
Devina looked at her, pain and confusion flickering across her face. “Year? It’s… it’s 1047. Why would you…?”
Alina hesitated, the number feeling strangely out of place. “1047… from what?”. The last year she remembered was 9072.
Devina stared at her, as if the question itself was strange. “Since The Fall, obviously. What else?”
“The Fall?” Alina pressed, a sense of unease growing within her. “What Fall?”
“The… the collapse of the Old Empire,” Devina said, her voice growing weaker. “Everyone knows that. The time when magic and technology failed, when the world broke. Please… I need help.”
Alina felt as if the ground had dropped out from beneath her. The Empire, fallen? Over a thousand years passed? It was impossible, unthinkable—and yet, it explained some of what she had observed.
“Bridge,” she subvocalized, “confirm this information against your stellar analysis.”
“Confirmed,” came the immediate reply. “Stellar positions indicate approximately 10,000 years have elapsed since our last recorded date. This is compatible with the information provided by the human designated as Devina Vaelor.”
The weight of this revelation threatened to overwhelm Alina, but centuries of discipline allowed her to maintain her composure.
This was not good. Her body’s failure was still imminent. Without the clone she’d prepared in her lab, she faced a significant problem.
She turned her attention back to the injured young woman before her, seeing now not just a source of information, but an opportunity.
“Bridge, would this girl be a compatible vessel?” she thought, getting more comfortable with the mental communication.
“Affirmative.”
Alina approached the girl, her tone softening, “Of course I’ll help you. But I need to know more. Tell me about your family, your home. Will you be safe there?”
Devina nodded weakly. “Yes, I think so. But… my uncle. I think he might be behind the bandits. He’s always wanted our family’s title.”
She thought for a moment, then sighed. “You wouldn’t have access to cloning technology by chance?”
The girl just stared at her, dumbfounded.
“I see,” Alina murmured. “And what defenses does your home have? Any mages?”
“Mages?” Devina almost laughed, but it turned into a pained cough. “No, what do you take us for, the royal family?. We have guards, and a captain who served in the army. But no mages.”
Alina’s mind raced. No mages meant no one who could detect what she was about to do. Without hesitation, she placed her hand over Devina’s mouth and nose, pressing down firmly.
The act was unpleasant, but necessary. Alina briefly considered the alternative—helping the girl and seeking assistance from her family. But she would still need them to provide a vessel if she wanted to survive, which they might very well not agree to because of the moral implications of body snatching. Additionally, the risk of exposure was too great.
With her own life hanging in the balance and time running short, this was likely the best opportunity she would get. She certainly wasn’t going to gamble her survival just to show kindness to the girl.
“I’m sorry,” Alina whispered, her voice cold and determined. “But I need your life more than you do.”
Devina’s eyes widened in shock and terror. She thrashed weakly, her injuries preventing any effective resistance. Alina held firm, watching dispassionately as the life slowly faded from the young woman’s eyes. When Devina finally went still, Alina released her grip.
‘Bridge,’ she communicated mentally, ‘initiate transfer protocol.’
‘Understood, Headmistress,’ the AI responded in her mind. ‘Preparing for soul transfer and bodily function takeover. This process will take approximately 47 seconds. Please remain still.’
Her consciousness stretched thin, expanding beyond her failing body. The boundaries between her and Devina’s body blurred, a flicker of disorienting in-between.
Suddenly, a powerful force yanked at her consciousness, a fierce pull from outside trying to tear her away as soon as she exited her body. It was as if something from the void itself had reached out, grasping her, attempting to drag her into a darkness that she was certain would swallow her whole.
The pull only relented when a tendril of her essence made contact with the young woman’s body lying on the cave floor.
She knew, with a cold clarity, that if she hadn’t immediately anchored herself in a new body, she would have been whisked away, lost forever in that abyss.
‘Transfer at 25%,’ the Bridge updated. ‘Initiating basic bodily functions.’
Alina felt a jolt as Devina’s heart, which had begun to slow, suddenly kicked back into rhythm. The pain from the wound in this new body’s side flared to life, a sharp reminder of the precarious situation she now found herself in.
‘Transfer at 50%. Integrating nervous system.’
Sensation flooded back into her new form. She could feel the cool cave floor beneath her, the dampness of blood-soaked cloth against her skin.
‘Transfer at 75%. Synchronizing brain patterns.’
Memories that were not her own flashed through her mind—a childhood in a grand estate, lessons in etiquette and history, the fear and excitement of sneaking out for a clandestine trip. Alina grasped at these memories desperately, knowing they were her lifeline in the charade she was about to perform.
‘Transfer complete. Bodily functions stable. Recommend rest for optimal integration.’
Alina opened her eyes—Devina’s eyes now—and took a shuddering breath. She pushed herself up, wincing at the pain in her side. Her old withered body lay nearby, a stark reminder of how close she had come to true death.
Fear, an emotion she hadn’t felt in centuries, began to creep in. She was weak now, this new body still unable to cast magic, and vulnerable in a way she hadn’t been since before she could remember.
‘Bridge,’ she thought, ‘what’s the status of the wound?’
‘The wound is significant but not immediately life-threatening,’ came the reply. ‘However, medical attention is advised within the next few hours to prevent infection.’
She nodded, then paused at the unfamiliar sensation of long hair brushing against her shoulders. Everything felt different, alien.
In the distance, she could hear voices calling out. Someone was coming. Since they were calling the girl's name, it was probably Devina's people. Could be a rescue party, but she wouldn’t assume that just to get herself killed.
As she staggered towards the cave entrance, Alina’s mind raced with immediate concerns. How could she pull off this deception? What if the girl had been wrong and there were mages in the family? All that mattered was getting through the next few hours, the next few days, without being discovered. Then she could make a new plan.
She emerged from the cave, squinting against the harsh sunlight. Figures on horseback appeared on the horizon, and she retreated into the shadows, studying them intently. If these were Devina’s attackers, she wouldn’t be so stupid as to reveal herself.