Chapter 8: Going Nowhere

~ Part 3: Nowhere Over the Rainbow ~

Standing atop of the hill, my back to the radioactive mountain and bathed in the last blood red rays of the twilight, I stare pensively at the two departing backs, one tall holding the hand of a small one reaching barely past her hips. I don’t say a word until they disappear between the houses of the darkened hamlet.

Eventually, I look down at myself and note with a frown that I’m still clad in my villager garb, save the useless short sword. “Tsk.” Fast, I banish the piece of scrap iron in my inventory and summon my full-plate silver enchanted armour, helmet included—although I keep the visor up. Another mental nudge to the interface, and my large Zweihänder appears, strapped to my back and pulsating a warning glow.

The familiar burden of my equipment settles on my shoulder, bringing a shallow smile to my lips.

I turn to the waiting Elder and feel a small tingle of amusement at seeing his eyes widen slightly at my appearance. It’s odd though. This shouldn’t be the first time he sees me in armour. He’s sort of staring too…Is there something on my face? I cough lightly to catch his attention. “So, you were saying…?”

My voice sounds a bit odd to my ears too. Aloof and subtly mocking. I kind of like it too. It feels natural. I watch intently as the ancient lord wipes some sweat off his balding scalp. Again I repress a chuckle at his actions. “D-Did I? Right—I wanted—Err… Ah! Yes.” He points the tall boulder he was sitting on just instants before. “Simply destroy this. We shall be on our way then.”

“I see…” Being once more denied any form of explanation, I scoff and lift a disdainful eyebrow. Point an’ shoot, uh? What does this geezer take me for, a rocket launcher? Does he expect me to just destroy some random boulder and not ask what? Oh, fuck it. I’m past caring.

I take one glance at the large stone, appraising it, then raise a hand, fingers joined, and palm facing the target. He wants point and shoot? No biggy. I live to please. “I serve the Lord of Day, the Slayer of Darkness. Grovel out of my way, or rejoin Nothingness. [Solar Flare].”

From my open palm erupts a cluster of thick orange-red filaments, akin to blinding interlaced threads of liquid fire. Indiscriminately they devour the oxygen in their wake with a roaring wheeze. The burning weave swoop down hungrily on its designated prey and explodes in a blazing pillar of scorching light, an inferno that by far dwarfs the puny [Purity Blaze] I had to endure on my first day in Kansas. Well, the incantation is chuunibyou as ever, but it gets the job done.

When the wave of heat washes over me, I calmly raise a hand to shield my exposed face. I might be fireproof, but I do feel the heat.

Soon the last rays of sunlight disappear beyond the horizon, leaving the world to the greenish glow of the emerald-jade mountain and the smouldering molten remains of the boulder.  Deprived of their main source of power, my magical solar flames quickly die out. The dwindling fire reveals the blackened earth and utterly satisfying destruction it leaves behind. Everything, in a radius of fifteen yeards has been reduced to less than ashes. Nothing but a smoking crater subsists, sprinkled here and there with puddles of rapidly solidifying lava.

That’s the difference between a Solar Knight and those goody-two-shoes Paladins. Most Light Gods offer blessings, purify Evil, protected the land, and cured their followers. My beloved Lord of Day offers sunlight, purifies Darkness, and burns everything. Don’t expect healing from the sun. You’d sooner get skin cancer. That’s not funny.

Looking away from the result of my magic, I turn back to the Elder, doing my best to tame the feral smirk tugging at my lips.

“So…What’s next?”

* * *

The way to Nowhere—as ridiculous as it sounds—turns out to be hidden in plain sight…and by plain sight, I mean a crack in the stone behind an overgrown blueberry bush at the back of the grove where the chief’s cabin is located. Kind of disappointing. I expected at least a sliding wall, or just a big rock with a secret opening mechanism, or if nothing else, a magical door sealed by a password in elvish that suspiciously resembles the name of a fruit of the gourd family…

Dwarves. I never understood their weird fascinations with melons.

But I suppose a hole hidden behind a blueberry bush is as valid an entrance as any. The blueberries are tasty in any case. And I suppose finding Kansas is already a challenge in itself so…Well, it’s none of my business how they hide their precious secret valley.

I follow the Elder in. The entrance is narrow and low, and I have to force a bit to slide in, but the tunnel enlarges almost immediately and becomes obviously artificial. Those walls are far too smooth to be the work of Nature. I know. I’ve met Nature. That goddess has a crippling phobia of flat surfaces. It’s very bright inside too. I dumbly expected darkness because…well…underground and all that. But I forgot the whole mountain is made of glowing rock. Stupid.

Curious too. Popping a blueberry in my mouth, I cast a couple of small practical spells on the wall, trying to determine the exact mana-capacity and use of this ludicrously massive gemstone.

*tutu*

Capacity: [ERROR]

“Figures…” I swallow another berry. I’m not too surprised. That first spell is designed to measure the capacity of common managems. Hah. I roll my eyes. Why not try to measure the depth of an ocean with a twelve inches ruler while I’m at it?

The second spell returns a much more interesting result though. Apparently some kind of magic is already being catalysed through this mountain. “Eh…” I don’t know if you truly get the enormity of that statement. The mountain is being used to channel a spell. Even I have never done something like this.

Or maybe the sheer magnitude of the task resulted in the spell returning a false positive. That option actually seems more likely. What matter of a spell requires a whole mountain to be cast? Hahaha. Except if someone is trying to do something ridiculous. Like blowing up the continent or something.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

…

An involuntary shiver runs down my spine. Of fear or mirth, I can’t tell. Probably both.

“Elric?” the Elder’s inquisitive voice echoed oddly in the tunnel.

I suddenly notice I’ve stopped walking and am smirking at the wall. I chuckle, then rein in my features and turn towards the ancient fellow. Again I take a certain measure of amusement in seeing him flinch under my gaze. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but it’s very entertaining.

“This…” I say with an encompassing gesture at the surrounding glowing stone. “What is it?”

I don’t elaborate whether I am talking about the mountain itself or the magic I possibly detected. Any information is good to take, and the less specific the question the less I risk to be brushed off with a non-answer.

Ever hear of a leading question? It’s when, instead of asking “Are you free this Saturday?” you ask “Are you free this Saturday? Or do you prefer Sunday?” With the former you are clearly opening yourself to rejection. But with the later you’ve already subtly narrowed the options your interlocutor can chose from, misdirecting their attention from other possibilities and guiding them into agreeing to go out with you regardless of their initial intention.

Here I do the opposite. Instead of narrowing the range of options, I stay purposely vague to allow the Elder to choose the angle of his answer. More time spent on thinking what he’ll answer, and less time spent on thinking he could chose not to answer.

Basic manipulation really. Nothing too exotic.

However, I shouldn’t have bothered. The Elder, for once, decides to give me a straight answer. Weird. Did they change the date of Christmas and nobody told me?

“This? Oh, this is a natural marvel.” The Elder looks at the tunnel in wonder. “A probably unique rock formation, highly mana-conductive at that. This property is used to sustain the inner barrier of Nowhere. This is in fact why this place is called ‘Nowhere’ in the first place. The barrier renders this sanctum fully impervious to any form of scrying magic—amongst others more harmful ones. The specifics are a little complex, but there should be books on the matter at Bluerose Castel.”

Err…keikaku doori? I really didn’t expected him to be so forthcoming. Again, I’m slightly disappointed. Where’s the challenge if he just give away information suddenly?

“Rumour has it, this barrier could even stop a god.”

Interesting. “Is that so…”

*ting*

A message from your friend in high places: Depends which god we’re talking about…

“Figures…”

“It is only a rumour however.”

“If you say so…” Well, I wasn’t planning on offending any major god any time soon. Although…I wonder. Would being [Chaos’ Apostle] piss off the God of Order—aka. Toby—enough for him to come after me personally? I do have sort of a history with his followers. *sigh* MmmH. Maybe I could try to kill both Chaos and Order? Then problem solved!

…

……

………

Meh. Sounds bothersome. But if push comes to divine retribution, killing a couple of primordial gods can’t be that difficult, now could it? Just a pair overblown egos with a near limitless mana-pool.

…

……

………

Okay. Then, let’s maybe not take them both on at the same time.

I snicker. A fun side-project to work on later.

But for now…

“Alright then, lead on Grandpa,” I say merrily while fighting off yet another feral grin. Something is seriously wrong with my facial muscles right now.

With one last puzzled glance in my direction, the Elder resumes his walk along the lightly up-slanted tunnel.

For several minutes, we progress without a word. But not in complete silence. I have Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”—from the 1939 movie—stuck in my head for some reason. I end up whistling it, which got me a wary look from my old guide. Jesus. Chill out old fart. What are you afraid of? I’m not about to blow your brains off with sound waves, you know?

…

……

………

Would that work?

My gaze returns to the jade-green walls. I try to imagine how well the colour would match with blood red splatters. My verdict? But quite well, dearie~

I report my gaze pensively on the Elder’s back.

Quite well, uh?

…

……

………

Meh. Battling a potential archmage inside the largest mana catalyst ever? Not all it’s made out to be. Although…maybe—Ah. I frown as a crying little girl enters my thoughts. Right, I promised to come back soon. Dying would put too much of a strain on my schedule. I can’t really afford it right now. Shit.

Eventually, we reached a translucent rainbow curtain of light, which I can only assume is a manifestation of the previously mentioned barrier. Made sense it would extend in the entrance tunnel. Otherwise that’d be quite a huge freaking gap in the defences. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and all that…

Why rainbow though? I’m not judging. It just seems like an odd aesthetic choice.

Now as to how to pass through that barrier…

Is it the elvish password after all?

But no. The Elder holds up a small pendant he was wearing under his shirt. It’s a simple silver chain on which hangs a single tear-shaped blood red jewel, no bigger than a thumbnail. Nothing fancy, but the old man is handling it with open care, and near reverence. Family heirloom or historical piece? Possibly both. But a pretty neat key either way.

The pendant touches the curtain of light and it parts gently, giving me my first glimpse of Nowhere—not. With the tunnel slanting up, all I see is the sky. And it’s full of thunderclouds. Yeepee~ Dammit. That’s something I had not missed.

“Well, this is it, Young One. This is as far as I go. Beyond this point spreads the Valley of Nowhere, once prided secret retreat of the Erwynian royalty, sadly now forgotten by most of everyone.” He pauses with a small chuckle before continuing. “As soon as you cross the barrier, you will be able to see Bluerose Castel in the distance. Vi—The Immortal Exiled Princess resides in the highest room of the tallest tower. That is all. Farewell, Elric Walker… Oh. You might—”

Okay. Enough with the speeches. I’ve waited long enough. Pushing past the old geezer, I leap through the rainbow shower curtain of rainbowness and finally emerge in this so-called [Valley of Nowhere].

I am immediately overwhelmed.

The sight is simply that breath-taking.

Humongous green cliffs, slightly curved and coated in a dim ever-changing multicolour brocade of light, form a vast bowl-shaped hollow, topped by nebulous dark clouds furrowed by incessant lightning. But unlike the chaotic overcast infesting the skies of Erwyn, this ominous mass of clouds is spinning slowly, purposefully, in a heavy whirl focused right atop a bleak fortress standing in the exact dead centre of the circular vale.

The ruined castle—made of half-crumbled walls covered in vines—is the picture of abandonment. The one exception is a solitary light, a reddish glow seeping from the highest window of a tall obsidian tower. The tower itself is so dark it seems to swallow light from its surroundings, save again for that one solitary light, like a crimson beacon to guide the souls of the dead through the underworld.

So…most likely, this is my destination. Charming. That princess really knows how to discourage door-to-door salesmen. And I bet the welcoming committee is a bundle of laughs too.

My gaze plunge downwards, literally, in direction of the sombre canopy carpeting the bottom of the valley. Here and there through the dark green foliage, I catch glimpses of unreasonably huge trees. Swarms of bats—big bats—fly fast and orderly between the branches. Sometimes they emerge from the sea of green and melt into the dark mass of stormy clouds, or clash against aggressive flocks of gigantic ravens. Once in a while amongst the constant loud thunder, I hear the piercing howl of a wolf, or the raging call of some unknown beasts—which I predict won’t agree on my viewpoint of our respective positions on the food-chain.

This time I don’t try to repress the feral grin that spreads on my face. A laugh begins to shake my throat…until gravity remembers my existence.

A bit late, the last words of the Elder finally register in my mind.

“…might want to be careful. The ledge is rather narrow.”

Ah. Yes. Yes it is.

And it just so happens the exit of the tunnel is…at a rough guess…meh…seven-eight hundred feet above the ground? Or well, above the tree tops. I have no idea how tall those are.

On the other hand though, the view is quite nice. I take the opportunity to snap a few screenshots for Lautrek.

What did that old fart say about patience again?

I’m falling.

* * * * *