A dull grey rock crumbled into dust as Janice pulled it out of the channel. {The Queen of Stars} cursed at the waste. If she had replaced the stone sooner, then it could have been saved and recharged.
Janice embedded a new manna stone into the empty socket. The green gem sparkled in the light as prongs reached out from the channel walls to keep it securely fastened into place.
Manna flowed out of the stone; it began glowing a more vibrant green as wind once more filled the sails. Janice’s ship started accelerating again as she flew through the outermost boundary of The Void. This far from The Center there was no natural wind, no air, no water, no anything really. Just twinkling lights far in the distance. Pockets of matter bound together by the local laws of reality. A captain had to bring what she needed with her; and Janice’s supply of stones was not unlimited.
Janice thought she was still decades, or was it now years?, ahead of those pursuing her; her lead slowly closing. So she burned manna to keep flying faster and faster. The trail of wasted manna would help them follow her. but Janice was close.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The Weakening was close. Janice could feel it resonate with one of her skills. She had travelled far enough, and was almost travelling fast enough to tunnel through The Barrier. As long as she got there at the right time.
Time. Janice was happy to be going home. Time moved far too slowly here. {The Queen of Stars} sat back in her command chair.
Waiting.
She watched galaxies streak by as her ship was trailed by a tri-coloured aura of manna. Hours, weeks?, later the ship began facing resistance in the nothingness. Rainbow coloured cracks began appearing in reality, expanding in five dimensions before exploding into a penteract of energy as the ship up-stepped into the next universe.
The dimensional boom stood out like a beacon amongst the stars. Antagonising and attracting the beings of The Void. But Janice was already gone. She was going towards the Center. Because {The Queen of Stars} had learned a secret.
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