Riya pulled hard on the reins, forcing Bryst to skid to a halt atop the grassy knoll. The ever-present wind of the grasslands blew at her back, whipping her hair wildly as she stared in horror at the vast forest laid out before her.
“Idiot,” she groaned, already turning her horse around. She must have veered northward at some point instead of continuing west toward the river basin as she’d been instructed. An understandable mistake, given the circumstances, but a mistake nonetheless.
Bryst danced nervously as Riya cast her gaze over the moonlit grasslands, a thread of worry breaking through the surface of her thoughts.
“Shhh,” she whispered gently, patting the horse’s neck in reassurance. “We’ll be alright. Just got turned around is all.”
She knew the words of comfort were a useless gesture. A bonded couldn’t be fooled by such mundane platitudes, especially one of the Gen’Sheld. Instead, she buried her emotions under a cover of false calm, something she had plenty of practice doing over the years.
The change was immediate. Bryst stopped prancing about in agitation, his labored breathing a clear indication they needed rest.
“How about a short break, huh?” Riya said aloud just so she could hear something beyond the pounding of her own heart. The horse whinnied, tiredly bobbing its head in agreement as she deftly slid from the saddle.
Both of them needed more than just a short rest. They had been on the run for the better part of the day and should be on the last leg of their impromptu journey.
Riya winced. They would have been on the last leg if she hadn’t stupidly steered them North.
Slowly, Riya stretched out her aching muscles. Not the easiest thing to do in the ridiculously impractical riding dress. Why her father thought that she of all people should wear something so fine was beyond her. It had lace ruffles along the bodice. Lace!
Still, it was pretty enough. Rather, it had been pretty, right up to the point she had been ordered to run. Now, the expensive garment was covered in layers of mud and sweat. Not that she cared overly much. If she had her way, she would sneak gripper ants into the clothes of whoever designed the horribly inflexible garment and see how they liked being pinched and rubbed raw in all the wrong places.
After Riya’s aches and pains had been reduced to merely tolerable, she grabbed their last apple as she forced her mind back to their immediate circumstances.
“We’re going to have to backtrack, Bryst,” she said, rubbing his snout affectionately as she fed him the apple. “Can’t wander into the trees now, can we? But a short rest shouldn’t hurt…”
Riya stiffened as mournful howl broke the stillness of the night, its hypnotic cry echoing over the plains.
A notification appeared, which she promptly willed into the growing stack of unread messages. A warg’s song was easy enough to recognize for a grasslander. The foul creatures were the evolved form of wolves and used their hypnotic cry to lull prey into a false sense of security. All the notification would have said was that she had successfully resisted its call.
Riya had resisted such crude attempts before. Every grasslander worth their salt had. No, the song itself didn’t worry her. But the howl had been close.
“I believe that’s our cue to leave,” she whispered to Bryst, resting her forehead against his as she willed her heartbeat to slow.
The horse whinnied softly, the gentle touch of his mind agreeing with her.
“Do you think they're ok?” She hadn’t moved. She was so tired and… well, she was scared. Scared of what she might find when they arrived at the river basin.
Bryst snorted, stomping his hoof on the ground.
“Alright, I’m coming,” she snorted, pushing the stubborn horse’s head away from her. “Have it your way. We’ll make for the river basin.”
They’d be safe there. At least, that’s what her father had said before he sent her off.
“Well, safer, at any rate,” Riya muttered to herself as she gave Bryst’s saddle and tack a quick once over. Everyone knew there was no true safety within the grasslands. Only hunters with the brand of Perseverance or warriors with the brand of Courage claimed that privilege. And she was neither.
For what felt like the thousandth time, Riya pulled the sleeve of her riding dress down to glare at the brand on the inside of her wrist. She could just make out the octagonal shape under the light of the moon with its elegant, multi-layered spiral.
It was beautiful. When Riya was younger, she would lose herself in those spiraling lines, searching their depths for hidden meanings that simply weren’t there. She hadn’t understood the implications of having such a brand back then. Not really anyway.
But she knew now. A living curse one elder had called her. A blemish upon her house. A symbol that, quite literally, marked her a coward. The brand of Meekness.
A series of howls shattered the stillness of night as a multiple hypnotic assaults slammed into her unprepared mind.
She staggered under the attack’s combined weight as another notification appeared. She dismissed it without thought. She didn’t need an Adjudicator to tell her the wargs had found her trail. And where there were wargs, goblins were sure to follow.
“Time to go!” she called, swinging herself back into the saddle. The moment her feet left the ground Bryst bolted.
Against her better judgment, they skirted the forest’s edge, a prospect that was as thrilling as it was horrifying. But what choice did they have? It was either that or be overrun.
They hadn’t made it less than half a league before Bryst skidded to a halt, sending her a warning of his own. It was more a jumble of impressions than coherent communication, but to her the message was as clear as if she were speaking to her sister.
“Danger ahead!”
Riya knew better than to question a Gen’Sheld’s senses. They were on a completely different evolutionary scale than a mere horse. Instead, she whipped Bryst around, only to find a half dozen wargs charging toward them through the tall grass like arrows loosed from their strings.
Riya couldn’t help it; she barked a tear filled laugh at the irony she found herself in. The one place that should have provided sanctuary for any elf was within spitting distance. Every elf that is, except for her people.
“Where to Bryst?” She cried, not bothering to mask the bone chilling fear she could no longer keep buried. At times like this she trusted Bryst’s senses more than her own.
The horse pranced nervously, looking back and forth before swinging his head forlornly North.
More howls assaulted her mind as the cold, hard truth settled over her. They were trapped. The only way left open to them was North. Into the forest.
Riya’s blood ran cold at the thought of passing beneath the boughs of those wooden sentinels. No, the forest wasn’t an option. What awaited her there was a fate worse than death.
Instead, Riya fingered the marble sized piece of amber suspended by a necklace of twining gold strands.
“For emergencies,” her father had told her.
Riya laughed so hard she cried, wrapping her fist around the priceless heirloom. An artifact from a lost age, given to her on the day of her branding.
She had no idea what magic it held. No one did. Which was why she wasn’t supposed to use it except under the direst of circumstances. Because only the insane or suicidal knowingly activated unknown artifacts.
“Good thing I’m losing it then,” she said, her voice trembling in fear as she activated the necklace with a pulse of mana.
Bryst whinnied his concern, his emotions as chaotic as hers.
A loud crack echoed through the night, the amulet shattering in her hand. There was a momentary pause before a bubble of golden light rolled out from her like a wave of liquid sun, freezing everything in its wake; from the swaying blades of grass to the snarling wargs.
“By the Overseer’s light!” Riya thought, finding that she couldn’t move.
Notifications forced their way onto her status screen, drawing her attention.
You have activated Call for Sanctuary, a Celestial spell tied to the Loshere bloodline. Only direct descendants of House Loshere can activate this one-time-use relic.
Note: Blood relation confirmed.
Congratulations! A request for sanctuary has been delivered to all Elvish (specified race at creation) and Unclaimed portals. You have 8 minutes from the time of initiation to be granted sanctuary.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Note: Once the spell has been initiated you will be surrounded by a Temporal Barrier. Both Call for Sanctuary and Temporal Barrier will deactivate after the elapsed time.
Note: No active unclaimed gates are currently available.
No sooner had she finished reading the prompts than a vibrant map materialized before her with five glowing crests.
“No!” Riya thought, her mind racing at the implications as the reality of her situation struck her with the force of a summer storm. “No, no, no, no, no.”
The largest of the five crests was a majestic rendition of a Silverthread Tree, the crest of the Elvish Royal house.
The other symbols included sun on the horizon, its rays of light spreading over the land. A lesser phoenix in flight, gold and red plumage shifting as it soared. And a magnificent stag racing through an ever-shifting forest.
But it was the last crest that hammered everything home. The image was of a magnificent Gen’Sheld rearing back, its mane frozen in place as if by an unseen breeze. This was her family’s crest. But where the others were vibrant and full of life, this one was muted.
Her heart trembled as she focused on the image.
Warning! The Loshere portal is no longer active. A Warden appointed by house Ki must be present to activate the portal.
With sickening realization, the last spark of Riya’s hope guttered out. The relic had sent its request to the great elvish houses. The same houses that had banished her people over a millennia ago; and she had just knocked on their proverbial front door asking to be let in.
Fate could be so fickle.
Riya’s mind was wrenched back to the map, where the sun, phoenix, and stag crests flashed once and disappeared.
Warning! Sanctuary has been denied by the Ki’s of houses Sol, Benfyr, and Cier. Entrance to their respective portals has been closed.
“That didn’t take long,” Riya thought, eyeing the remaining crest. Only the royal house remained. Not that the thought comforted her. Over the centuries, her people had been hunted and enslaved for atrocities they’d never committed. And in that time, the royals had done nothing. Why should now be any different?
Unsurprisingly, the royal crest winked from existence.
Warning! Sanctuary has been denied by the Ri of house Serevlir. Entrance to their respective gate has been closed.
Attention! Your request for sanctuary has been denied by all active portals. Do you wish to cancel the spell, Call for Sanctuary and Temporal Barrier? Time remaining 5:23.
Yes/No
Riya dismissed the map and stared across the frozen landscape. She was so tired. Tired of being nothing more than the brand on her skin. Useless. An outcast among outcasts.
If her father were here, he could send every one of these monsters running with nothing more than a glare. Even her younger sister, Val, would have stood a good chance against them. Afterall, she had been the one to be granted both the brands of Courage and Perseverance.
But they weren’t here. Which meant this was it. Her end.
As she accepted her fate, a warmth spread through her that cut away the last vestiges of fear. And for the first time in her life, she felt… free.
That was not the emotion she had been expecting. But it made sense. After her branding everything had been taken from her. Now, at the end of her life, she would die the same way.
Her one regret was that she had dragged Bryst with her. He would die protecting her. If only she could disappear, be wiped from existence. Then he would have had a chance.
Riya’s mind was again wrenched back to the map. The elvish crests were still gone, but this time the image expanded outward, revealing so much more than the world she knew and a flashing green dot.
She barely registered the information before a notice demanded her attention.
An unclaimed portal has been opened within the Eighth Plane! Anyone with the ability may travel to, or from, this gate unchallenged. Would you like to select this as your destination?
Yes/No
Warning! Unclaimed gateways are highly unstable until claimed by a Gate Warden.
Warning! Destination unknown. Enter at your own peril.
Warning! Returning through the same gateway is not guaranteed.
Riya wanted to cry in relief. It didn’t matter if this gift came from the Adjudicators or the Overseer himself, it was a chance! She chose yes.
Attention! Your choice of destination is irrevocable. By making your selection within the time allotted you may employ the remainder of the spell Temporal Barrier at your discretion within the next 88 days. Spell duration remaining: 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
The light around her winked out, releasing the wargs and their riders from their temporal prison.
Bryst reared back, his fierce cry resounding over the plains as he prepared to defend his bonded to the end when, in a flash of light, Riya vanished.
----------------------------------------
Aarav Laghari looked upon his creation and struggled to come up with the right word to capture this momentous occasion.
Jubilant? No, that didn’t fit. Anyone could feel jubilant with any old accomplishment. What he had achieved warranted a much grander word.
He could see him using the word astonished, but it still didn’t fit. That’s what others should feel, not himself.
Aarav frowned, absently patting down the stray hairs of his combover as his mind raced. Words were very important, especially since his benefactor had witnessed the miracle that was his grand work. Yet, no matter how much be tried, Aarav couldn’t get his brilliant mind to spit out the right word in the moment of his greatest triumph.
How humiliating.
The squat Indian scientist sucked in his stomach as he casually placed his hands behind his back, the buttons on his rarely worn lab coat threatening to burst apart. He made a mental note to requisition a new one. After all, the greatest scientist in the world should always strive to look his best.
It had taken him decades of research to refine his calculations and acquire the necessary materials to build a working prototype. But at long last, he had finally done it! Sure, it had cost several small fortunes, but that didn’t bother Aarav. They weren’t his fortunes.
“Well, that was exciting,” stated Aarav’s most recent benefactor in a deadpan voice. Deadpan wasn’t the right word either, but the overly dressed man’s tone was hard to figure out at the best of times. “Is it supposed to change colors?”
“Of course, of course!” Aarav lied, attempting to cover up his own shock as the tear in space shifted from lightning white to metallic green. “The Einstein-Rosen Bridge stabilization process is quite complex. Of course, after today, we’re going to need to rename it the Laghari Bridge!” After himself, naturally.
The man standing next to him remained completely and totally impassive.
Seriously, was it too much to ask for a little enthusiasm?
The man standing next to him grunted. Whether in acknowledgement or disapproval was yet to be determined. Either way, Aarav was beyond elated. He was…
“Triumphant!” he whispered, writing the word down in his ever present notebook. Yes, that was a perfect word! He, Dr. Aarav Laghari, outcast from the Indian Institute of Science, had accomplished what others had only theorized. An actual deformation within the spacetime continuum! Also known as a wormhole for those of lesser education.
He couldn’t wait to rub his success into his previous colleagues’ faces.
Oh yes, he felt triumphant alright.
Both men stared at the metallic green rift from the safety of their observation deck that was behind three inches of high grade bullet proof glass.
“Where does it lead?” The businessman asked.
Aarav’s excitement faltered. Why couldn’t his benefactor be more enthusiastic? Didn’t he realize this was a moment that would change the course Aarav’s life? Well, their life he supposed. Still, it was a valid question. A question he couldn’t wait to test out. Of course, he wouldn’t be the actual test subject.
“Well, um… I haven’t been able to run thorough tests yet. So… it could lead to just about anywhere...” Aarav began before smoothly transitioning to his well-rehearsed speech on the subject. “Transcendental bijections, also known as wormholes,” he internally scoffed at the term science fiction fanatics used, “connects two points in space together and reduces the time it takes to travel between them. In theory, one could take a single step and be transported near infinite distances like that!” Aarav tried snapping his fingers to illustrate, but the grease left over on his fingers from lunch kept them from making the proper sound. So he tried again.
“Yes,” Aarav’s emotionally stunted benefactor interrupted. “I’ve heard your sales pitch before. That is why I have allowed you to work on this… side project. However...”
The man turned to face Aarav with hard, uncaring, eyes. “You realize this experiment of yours is not why I hired you, correct? I hired you to develop innovative weapons. Until you have confirmed how I can use the wormhole to consistently transport my merchandise, this,” he lazily waived to the green rift, “is nothing more than an extravagant light show.”
Aarav’s feelings of triumph turned to incredulity, another good word he felt fit the situation. Could this man not see how monumental his creation was? He, Dr. Aarav Laghari, had literally torn apart time and space using second rate materials, not to mention the ungodly amount of electricity it took to power the complex systems, and this man had the audacity to tell him to get back to work?
“And don’t think for a moment I let it slip my notice you could have destroyed my facility,” the man continued in his apathetic voice. “I do not like surprises, Dr. Laghari. Next time you wish to amaze me, please schedule it ahead of time so I can watch remotely.”
Aarav’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Sure, there had been a moment or two after he had initiated the sequence that the jagged tear in the continuum had caused him… concern. But it had worked out in the end! The portal was mostly stable, with only minor fluctuations. Now all he had to do was figure out where the rift led.
That, and to see if the air was still breathable in the bay. The green vapor coming off the rift was a bit concerning.
Mentally, Aarav pushed that last issue to the top of his to do list. Lack of oxygen would be problematic. Someone, most definitely not him, needed to check that out.
The businessman turned back to look at the rift.
“I wonder if you could use a selfie stick and phone camera to see what’s on the other side.”
Aarav looked at the man with incredulity. He liked that word. Incredulity. It just sounded right. His benefactor had no idea of the complexities of the process or he would have never suggested such an imbecilic idea. The electromagnetic field surrounding the disruption alone would likely…
Aarav paused. No, that wouldn’t be an issue because of the dampeners he had tailor made to reduce the potential for electro-magnetic surges. But the shift in space would never support…
Again, he paused, wrinkling his forehead as he thought how best to discredit such a ludicrous concept. After several long seconds, he couldn’t think of anything that would prevent the idea from working.
As Aarav pondered the ins and outs of temporally modified molecular structures, and if a simple click of a trigger could really connect through space time, a flash of light in the bay below drew both men’s attention.
Astonishment, a word Aarav thought was appropriate for this new development, showed on his face as a young woman in a strange looking dress stumbled out of his wormhole, er… transcendental bijection, he reminded himself. She was even glowing! But why? Did the light represent unknown radioactive matter embedded into the host as a result from the transport? Or was it a momentary warping of light? He couldn’t wait to watch the recording and read the sensory readings data!
Aarav stopped long enough to realize what had just happened. Someone had just come through his portal. From the other side. And lived!
And from where he stood, she looked to be in rough shape. Well, if he were being honest, the girl was rather fetching. But even he could tell she was covered in mud and what looked like blood.
And she was unconscious.
Which reminded him that he needed to confirm if the air was breathable sooner rather than later. And if there were any radiation leaks. Wait, were those pointed ears?
Distracted, Aarav didn’t see the raw look of hunger flash across his benefactor’s face.
“How… interesting,” the man said.