It was clear when they found the strange road that the alien landscape now occupying the Aegel Coast had people in it. It was a wide road of dirt, but with parallel ruts that suggested the use of wagons. They were certainly wider than the wagon wheels she’d grown used to, but the thought of people actually living in the region filled her with excitement and trepidation. What sort of people were they? Humans? Perhaps another race? After all, the Disputed Lands were home to peoples such as the El’Dar and Featherclaw. Even the Spine of eastern Rasza was home to the Sigha.
But when the strange, low growl emerged from over the rise in the road, she wasn’t certain what to expect. At the very least, she did not expect the bright red beast with wheels for legs. At first, she thought it to be a living creature. It was only after she’d leapt out of the way of the barreling monstrosity and looked up to see a man emerge from it did she realise it was no creature, but a sort of wagon. No doubt the very sort of wagon to make such wide ruts in the road. A wagon that moved under the sway of some power she couldn’t see, nor fathom.
Nonetheless, it was a man that controlled it. Bayne, of course, immediately moved to defend against the newcomers. When the newcomer spoke, she expected him to use a strange tongue. Yet, he spoke clearly in the tongue of the Pactkeepers, if perhaps with a strange and unfamiliar accent.
She feared immediate aggression was not going to be conducive to communication with these newcomers, and despite Bayne’s insistence, she ordered him to stand down.
“What the hell is going on?” The newcomer asked. “Who are you people?”
Nalya noticed another form sitting inside the strange wagon, it was a young woman perhaps no older than Nalya herself, only… something was different. Her hair appeared to be a shade of red she had never seen before. It was bright, and oddly unnatural.
“Please,” Nalya repeated, slowly approaching the newcomer with open palms. “We mean no harm. We only came to inspect. We saw the light, and needed to see for ourselves.” She looked back to Keltz and Arie, who were standing silently, observing the situation.
“I don’t trust him, Nalya,” Bayne repeated. “Any man who can command a beast like that is a danger.”
“He’s given us no reason to distrust him,” Nalya replied. “The beast is idle. He seems as surprised as us, and he’s unarmed. If he was dangerous, he’d already have struck.”
Bayne grumbled something under his breath, and Nalya turned her attention back to him. “My name is Nalya,” she began. “This is Bayne. Forgive him for his rudeness, he only means to protect us. My First Lieutenant, Keltz, and this is Arie. May I have your name, stranger?”
The newcomer shifted nervously. “Uhh. Ryan,” he said. “Where did you come from? What are you doing up here?”
The young woman with the red hair opened the door and stepped out onto the road, peering out over the front of the strange vehicle toward them. She remained silent, yet wide-eyed.
“We come from Halen,” she said. “To the north. We were resting for the night at a village past the mountain in the valley when we witnessed a strange halo enveloping the coast,” she said. “We came and found this place. We only just passed into your land. We were curious.”
“Halen?” the young woman said. “I’m going to guess that’s not a part of Vancouver Island.”
“It is a part of the Pactlands. Are you familiar with the Pactlands?”
Ryan and the young woman looked at each other gravely. The looks on their faces answered her question for her.
“Then you are strangers here,” Nalya replied. “I must ask what magic you used to bring your lands here? For what purpose?”
Ryan laughed. “Magic? Listen, we have no idea what happened to… to bring us here. Most of the town was sleeping, then there was an Earthquake and that… field. We lost power, and now here we are.”
Nalya absorbed his words for a moment. They’d lost their power? Did that mean they were stripped of their magic?
“You speak of a town,” she said. “Is it near?”
“It’s… yeah, it’s down the mountain. Ahh, hold on. I need to report this.” He turned to the young woman. “Terra, can you pass me the radio?”
The young woman, Terra, nodded and reached into the vehicle, then walked around to hand a small rectangular looking object to Ryan. She noticed Bayne tense up and put his hand on his hilt as he lifted it up.
“Stills to Base,” he said.
“This is Base,” the radio spoke. Nalya took a step back in alarm. Was there a man inside of it? Like a Widow’s Tear, only one that had the capability of speech. Obviously they had not lost their magic. Rather, between the radio and their strange vehicle that ran under a mysterious power, they had quite advanced magic.
“We’ve got something here,” he said. “Four people up the logging roads, northwest of Coronation Mountain. They’re… uhh… they’re not Canadian.”
There was a moment of silence from the radio. “Define not Canadian, Stills.”
“Like I don’t think they’re from around here,” Ryan replied. He looked up to Nalya. “But they’re speaking English.”
Nalya raised an eyebrow. “English?”
“Yeah, the language you’re speaking.”
“It is the tongue of the Pactkeepers,” she said. “It is the standard language across the Pactlands. Even the traders of Caede speak this tongue. How do you know it?”
Ryan looked over to Terra. “Well…” He looked back to Nalya. “It’s just what we speak here. The Pactlands? Is that where we are?”
“Technically speaking, no,” she replied. “These are the Disputed Lands, called the Free Lands by some. They are outside of the Pactlands, yet the tongue is spoken here as well.”
Ryan spoke into the radio again. “I’m with a woman named Nalya, and she says we’re in a place called the Disputed Lands.”
“And these are human people?” Boone asked.
“As far as I can tell,” he said.
“Standby, Stills,” he said.
“He can hear you,” Nalya commented. “But he cannot see you? How does this magic work?”
“Not magic,” Ryan said. “Just a grumpy old cop back in town.”
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“You keep bringing up magic,” the young woman, Terra, commented. “Is magic a thing here?”
Nalya raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand what you mean. Is magic a… thing?”
“Like… is it real here?”
Nalya looked at Bayne. He seemed to relax a bit. He shrugged at her. She turned back to Terra. “Magic is the force with which we live,” she said. “Magic is what provides us the gifts given to so many. The power to negotiate with the elements.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“What she means is,” Ryan began. “Magic is… well, superstition where we’re from. It’s something from fairy tales and myths. We put that away a long time ago when we started to understand and explain the natural universe.” He fidgeted uncomfortably. “But since we’ve been here, we’re starting to reconsider things.”
“Is not your radio magic? Your wagon? Your eyes, how the blood flows through your heart? How the sun rises in the morning and the Azure Dream hangs in the skies? Is that not all magic?”
“No, not for us. We figured out how all that works a long time ago. We can learn to build radios and trucks. Cell phones and television. It’s all science. Magic is different, it doesn’t follow rules. It’s more like… things being controlled by will? Manifesting something from nothing.”
“Then you do not have mages where you’re from?”
“Mages? No, we have magicians, but they use sleight of hand. Stage tricks to fool people into thinking it’s magic.”
“That isn’t what we call magic,” Arie suddenly spoke from behind Nalya. She approached Ryan and picked up a handful of dirt from the ground, holding it in her palm. “This is.”
Nalya watched as both Terra and Ryan’s eyes widened as they observed Arie shape the dirt in her hand to form into a column, and then further shift into other shapes.
“Jesus Christ,” Ryan commented. “Yeah, we don’t have that.”
“Can you all do that?” Terra asked. “Can I learn?”
Arie shook her head. “Only Earth Mages can do that. And only those who understand the song of the earth. Not everyone is a mage. You must be born into the gift.”
“So then there are also other types of mages?”
“There are nine foundations of magic,” she said. “Earth, Air, Fire, Spark, Water, Light, Life, Mind and Soul.”
“Stills, this is Base,” the radio suddenly rang up.
“Go, Base,” Ryan replied.
“Constable Shepherd is on his way to your location,” he replied.
“Yes sir,” Ryan replied. “Listen, Sergeant… there’s something else.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not just dragons,” Ryan said. “Magic is a thing here.”
There was a prolonged silence on the radio. “Ten-four,” came the response. “Somehow I’m no longer surprised. Sit tight, Shepherd will be along in a few minutes. Ask our friends if they’re willing to come into town and have a chat with the Emergency Committee. We’ve got some questions.”
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“Magic?” Goose asked. He put his head in his hands. Boone had been on the peripherals of the Emergency Committee meetings all morning, and they were getting nowhere. All that they could do was argue, express concern, and at one point Carla started to cry. He understood, her husband was out of town when the event occurred that morning.
Boone nodded. “That's what the kid said.”
“And they speak English?”
“Apparently so,” Boone replied.
Goose's mind started reeling. Magic? It was absurd. Everything he'd ever learned about stage magic his entire life flooded through him. There just was no substance to the so-called real thing.
But since the Blacklight…
“They’re saying we’re in some territory they called the Disputed Lands, as though that’s not ominous, and the people in question come from some country to the north of us.”
“So did they have something to do with the blacklight?”
Boone shrugged. “That was my thought, too. Stills says they’re just as confused about it as we are.”
“So how do we know these people are safe? Are those kids armed?”
Boone hesitated. Just for a moment. “I don't think so.”
“Jesus, Gerry!” Goose exclaimed. “What are you thinking?”
“Well, I sent 'em up before the dragons,” Boone said. “I didn't think--”
Goose put his hand up. “It doesn't matter,” he said. “Not right now, anyway. If they were gonna kill them, they'd have got to them by now, but we need to know more about this magic thing. But now I’m having second thoughts about bringing them to town. For all we know they’re the human equivalent to a nuclear weapon, or worse. What if–”
He was interrupted mid-sentence by a sudden roar of life around him. Lights turned on, computer screens began to flash, printers beeped and began to run their motors. Even the little radio in the office started to play static.
“Oh, sweet technology,” Goose said. “Brad, I could kiss you if I wasn’t so damned heterosexual.” He picked up the phone and listened to the receiver, then hung it up. “No dial tone. But at least we got power for now.”
Boone nodded. “We’re on the same grid as the hospital,” he said. “It’s probably only this part of town, but at least it’s something.” He pointed to Boone. “I want someone to accompany our visitors the entire time they’re here. As soon as they arrive bring them to City Hall. We’ve got questions, and I’m hoping they’ve got some answers.”
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“I don’t like it,” Bayne said. “I don’t trust them.”
That was no surprise to Nalya. Bayne didn’t trust most things.
“We’ve come this far for answers,” Nalya said. “To turn back now–”
“Our mission was to watch for the Vectoran movements ‘ere,” he argued. “These people aren’t Vectorans. They’re something else entirely, and that… truck, it’s nae natural, Nalya.”
“I want to see it,” Arie added. “This town of theirs. Natural or not, these people are here now. They’re in the Free Lands. Their truck and their speaking box alone are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. If they can speak over such distances without a runner or a rider, we need to see what else they may have.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Keltz added. “The radio… that alone could change everything. How far can those voices reach? To Stone’s Mouth? To Halen?” He looked to Arie. “As far as Shavi? To communicate so quickly would change the very nature of how we live. And to suggest it’s not magic–”
“And that is exactly why I don’t trust ‘em,” Bayne added.
“I understand your concern, Bayne. But I would remind you that you swore an oath to my father to protect me, and I believe it’s far too late to turn back.”
“What of the men?”
“As long as we return by morning they’ll be fine,” she said. “We are all in agreement, I–”
Bayne stabbed a finger in Arie’s direction. “She is not one of us. She doesn’t get a say.”
“I have no say on what it is you do,” Arie replied. “I never claimed to speak for you. My concern is for myself and my brother.” She once again clasped the Widow’s Tear around her neck. “And regardless of what you all decide, I am still free to choose to accompany them.”
“Bayne, we need more answers. It seems they do as well.” She glanced over at the two newcomers. Ryan, with the shirt of many colours, and Terra, with hair the colour of blood were standing near the truck, conversing with each other. She imagined they were having a similar discussion, full of uncertainty. “This Emergency Committee of theirs may be able to provide us with information of use to us.”
“I say leave the Vectorans to them,” he said. “Ryde’s forces will make quick work of whatever town resides here.”
“For all we know their power is a threat to the Vectorans,” Keltz said. “In which case, that same power could be a threat to Halen, or any other nation of the Pact. I suspect a squad of fully armoured Vectoran Pikemen would pose little threat to one of their trucks. And their radios would be valuable in communication of troop movements and more. For all we know Vectoran forces saw the light as we did last night as well. They could well be on their way now, or already here. At the very least we should ascertain how many trucks and radios they may have, and other possible threats before we go making new enemies.”
Bayne remained silent for a moment. “I… I can’t argue with tha’,” he conceded. He growled. “Fine, we’ll go. But I’ll have a palm on the hilt of me sword while we’re there.”
“Take care not to offend,” Nalya said. She motioned to the others. “They are clearly not soldiers. They are civilians. But this Sergeant of theirs is a military man. And their leaders may be quicker to offend than they. Be respectful, Bayne.”
“Might as well tell me to hold my tongue,” he replied.
“That’s as good an idea as any,” Arie offered.
“You watch your tongue, Shavian,” Bayne snapped.
“It’s settled,” Nalya said. “While we are there, pay attention. If you see anything of note, remember it. We will have to send a report back to Halen, sooner than later. Perhaps even deliver the report ourselves. The presence of these people changes everything. Even if Vector isn’t aware of them, they will be shortly, and I suspect they’ll want to make this place a priority.”
“And of that, what will we tell these people about Vector?”
Nalya glanced back over at the others. “We will tell them the truth. But only to their leaders. This Ryan and Terra… if they are civilians, they should not be burdened with it. Leave it to their leaders to decide.”