Jair and Ran sprinted out into the desert with Hyperion guards in hot pursuit.
The ghost moon grew ever larger over the horizon, its pale glow illuminating the scene below in shades of blue and grey.
The red and white uniforms of their pursuers gleamed in the moonlight and their shouts echoed across the open sand. In a straight race, the Hyperion would outpace them soon enough, but the kind of commotion they were causing would definitely attract their secret weapon.
Jair sensed the vibrations beneath them before Ran did, and signaled for them to duck into the ascending shark's mouth with a quick tap.
The discordant thought that this was too easy, that the Hyperion should obviously know to do this too, flitted across Jair’s mind. But, no, even if it felt like second-nature to him, he’d done things normal people never would, survived - or not survived - places most wouldn’t dare to attempt.
After all, sandshark riding required very precise reflexes and skills that couldn’t be obtained safely. Deep desert sandfishers weren’t part of normal society, their ways unknown to most, mere legend at best.
To their pursuit, it would appear they'd simply vanished.
Still, he couldn’t fully dispel the tension that insisted they’d be followed even here.
Jair guided the shark deeper and forward at full speed. Crossing the relatively short distance took only minutes, but Ran’s breathing grew increasingly unsteady as they progressed.
“We’re almost there, you’ll be fine.”
Ran swallowed audibly, but murmured his assent.
Jair knew they were close when the shark slowed in agitation. Sensing the heavy echoes of the mana well around which the oasis was built, the beast kept trying to veer off to one side or the other. He could have pushed it to go further, but Ran sounded worse by the moment as if picking up on the shark's unhappiness and not doing particularly well at stabilizing himself.
Jair had pity on them and had their shark spit them out sooner rather than later, tumbling them out into the open sand a short walk outside the oasis proper.
Ran got shakily to his feet. “Remind me why I let you drag me into these things?”
Then Ran swayed and stumbled dizzily as though about to fall. Jair rushed to steady him, keeping a hold on Ran’s elbow until he got himself under control.
“I don’t care how dangerous it is, I am taking the transit platform on the way back.”
“Naturally.” Neither of them had the proper tokens for entry to Sejrilo Oasis, but outgoing transits didn’t require the same stringent verification.
Jair absently fingered the tokens in his pocket, the first his standard Institute student pass, the other to Teretho Oasis. That reminded him… Lian… he’d probably need to make concessions if he were to fully exploit House Teretho’s wealth and influence, but the kind of standard groveling and appeasement he’d engaged in so freely last time he’d been running this series of events held no appeal to him.
He truly had been a different person last time he’d returned to this time, even after hundreds of repetitions of these early months.
Each series of events that he’d repeated shifted him further and further from baseline, until even the Jair he’d been in the midst of the Delami Overthrow years into the timeline felt like a child to him now.
They walked into the blue-lit oasis, the faint glow of the mana well drifting around in wisps of unseen white. Much like afterdrift, this free-floating power clung to Jair’s manabody as he walked through it, or drawn to the constructs that lit the paths between buildings.
Jair led the way confidently between the outbuildings and manors of the families who shared the space - Sejrilo may be the primary caretakers after whom it was named, but there were two others who also lived within the oasis boundaries.
The underground lunar passage wasn’t actually underground, being carved into the roof of one of the lower buildings. It was kept covered when not in use, disguised as just another roof, though naturally everyone of importance knew the truth of its reality. The access ramp being as wide as the building itself made the pretense all but unnecessary.
House Sejrilo did a fine trade.
By the time Jair and Ran arrived, a steady stream of heavily-laden camels came and went with different goods. Some would be destined for use on the ghost moon itself, others would be transferred further to other arrival sites as the orbit progressed.
Sejrilo had to maintain at least a facade of legitimacy. Other sites, Jair knew, were large enough to accommodate full eelships - though those tended to be more along the lines of ‘really, don’t go there if you value your life’ locations rather than the relatively tame passages around here. Even setting aside the chaos going down over in Orard, some spots in northern Almas were downright sinister, and the less said about Celsin the better.
Jair paid the ‘access fees’ to the appropriate ‘authorities’ and he and Ran joined the departure queue. Since their timing was significantly different than when Jair did his solo run, they arrived in a different batch of travelers and merchants. Everyone around them seemed wary and suspicious, the pair of mageblade academy students stood out among the rest.
Still, the passage to Zelura’s surface passed without incident.
Jair covertly checked on Ran to see how he’d handled the transition. Ran caught him looking and glared.
“I’ve traveled by lunar passage plenty of times, you know.”
The group who’d stood clustered together on the platform now began to disperse, some heading to the local transit terminal, others toward the eelship docks, and the remainder to the local shops or Association branch office.
Ran stared around with a look somewhere between awe and confusion. To Jair, the ghost moon was just one more accessible spot like any other, but he supposed to someone who’d never seen it the sight could be impressive.
Each of the connected network outposts boasted a protective dome to hold in air and mana. Hundreds of threads of constructs ringed the area, glowing in lines of white spaced evenly from ground to the dome’s top far overhead. This dome alone consumed more power to maintain than entire cities back on the planet, but if there was one thing the ghost moon had in abundance it was wealth. The perpetual illumination kept the outpost well lit even at night, but it was daytime now so the lines were faint against the sky.
The planet spread out beneath them, a patchwork of clustered continents separated by the deadly channels that fragmented the world. Arrival platforms were distant dots, not even distinguishable from their towns without magical aid. Either a construct or imprint would be required to target the connection.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The shops were built of local stone, grey blocks stacked atop one another, with pale mortar holding them together.
“Clear for departure, two minutes,” called out the attendant.
Jair guided Ran off the platform and down the street.
“It looks almost normal,” Ran said, sounding somewhere between scandalized and disappointed.
“Told you. Nothing to be afraid of.”
But even as he spoke, Jair’s steps slowed. He felt suddenly uneasy. Something wasn't right.
"How much?"
Jair whirled to face the speaker, a slimy fellow he didn't immediately recognize but who felt vaguely familiar in a 'nah, don't trust him' kind of way. Four more backup thugs slowly closed in.
The thug bobbed his head towards Ran. "For the kid. How much?"
"Not for sale, he’s mine. Back off." Jair raised his hand toward his forehead, but the thug darted forward and snatched his arm down, twisting to hold him free of the contact point. "Soulblade, manifest," Jair called anyway, but without the ability to complete the circuit Maelstrom remained where it was. Secure in his soul, and not in his hand.
Jair mentally cursed himself. Complacency, again?
Not a vacation, he reminded himself sharply.
Jair twisted and fought to get free, knowing exactly how to move to do it, but his untrained body wasn't strong or flexible enough to follow through. He couldn't fully escape, but it was enough to get one arm free. Slapping it to his forehead, Jair completed the circuit and Maelstrom appeared in his pinned hand. His assailant's restraint procedures were clearly not built around actual mageblade opponents, since he'd done nothing to prevent Jair's hand angling just right for the blade to stab into him.
Jair felt the faint tug on his manabody as Maelstrom tore free a portion of his available mana, pulsing it down the blade. The silver glow shifted to virulent green in a momentary flash.
The thug yelped and dropped him, giving Jair space to follow up. Even as he scored a slash across the man's stomach, the thug stumbled and fell to his knees, face twisting in distress. He doubled over, clutching his stomach as though about to be sick, clearly out of the fight.
But Jair's opponent wasn't the only adversary they had to face. While he'd been tied up with this one, the other four had lunged forward. Ran had his sword with him, but dealing with a physical item was even easier than restraining a mageblade.
By the time Jair was free to turn his attention back to them, Ran had been effectively subdued by two of the thugs, a third stepping forward with eyes beginning to glow with a pastel pink.
Jair recognized that particular hue. Mentalist. He jumped forward, switching Maelstrom to his other hand with a quick recall.
Before he could reach them, the man's glowing eyes met Ran's. “Gotcha.”
Ran abruptly ceased struggling, arms going limp in his captors' grasp, head lolling forward.
The fourth thug tried to intercept Jair, but received a Maelstrom through the chest as his only reward. Jair flung him aside without slowing, Maelstrom reappearing in his hand with a flash of silver light.
Then Ran’s own eyes flickered, an unfamiliar pure white glow building, then shifting darker. Ran exhaled in a mirthless laugh, raising his head to stare at the mental assailant, his eyes now a perfect mirror of the other man’s pink glow.
The man stared back, eyes widening in surprise, then face slackening as though mesmerized in turn, the glow of his soulspell flickering unsteadily.
Jair hit the man blade-first, Maelstrom slicing effortlessly through his chest and out the back - another pulse of green - then the impact of Jair's full weight hurled the man to the ground.
Maelstrom flashed back into Jair's other hand, even as he pushed himself off the falling body and spun toward the two holding Ran.
Or... who had been holding Ran. One stood swaying with an unfocused gaze, pinned by Ran’s pink-glowing eyes, the other had turned tail and fled.
Jair flung Maelstrom at his back, scoring a shallow gash across the running man's posterior, then recalled his sword.
Ran had an hysterical grin on his face, chest shaking with silent laughter, tears leaking down from his still-glowing eyes, holding the last man in place like a viper hydra.
Jair ran the would-be kidnapper through, dropping the dazed man to his knees, then put a hand on Ran's shoulder.
"It's okay," Jair told him gently, "You can let him go now. You're safe."
Ran gasped in a breath, eyes dulling to their usual firegold, but didn't otherwise react. He stood trembling, shocked speechless by everything that had happened.
Jair kept his tone comforting. "I'm sorry about this. You were right, I shouldn't have underestimated your value as a hostage. I'll revert, and we can try something else."
Ran turned slowly to meet his eyes, moving in quick jerks, still looking lost and dazed.
Jair mentally ticked down one more as he activated his soulspell.
He only fell back as far as the earlier evening in Ran’s back courtyard a few hours previously. He could feel the anchor threatening to crumble even now, he’d be lucky to use it again, but it held for now.
He stood where he had each time, their training just concluded, ghost moon only beginning to rise on the horizon. Ran walked toward the house to talk to Ajriol…
Ran stopped abruptly, swayed on his feet, then put a hand out to the doorframe in front of him.
Reality lurched and shifted.
Without warning, Jair was falling back through the timeline again.
What?
He reached out for a handhold, but there was nothing. His timeline had become blank, textureless, like ghostly projections instead of tangible reality.
What??
He could only watch, flailing helplessly for what he couldn’t grasp, as time slipped further and further back. He passed the entire day of their escape, the days of recovery, the fight with the dragon.
No, no…
He slid by the days of recruitment, past the duel with Lian, the fight with Lian’s gang, the initiation.
Even as he braced himself for the inevitable end, he continued to fall. Straight through the floor of his timeline into emptiness.
What?!
Jair still felt the familiar temporal descent, but otherwise perceived nothing. He didn’t know where or when he was or would end up. Couldn’t ‘see’ anything, no events, no temporal landscape.
Somehow he’d fallen beyond the beginning of his timeline, into the nothingness beyond.
He had no physical body here to panic with, no heartbeat to speed up, no breath to gasp, but his mind screamed that this was a nightmare, couldn’t be real, wake up wake up!
Then he was hurled out of the freefall, back into reality.
He sat in the audience within the Astralla Institute’s amphitheatre dome, and his soul burned. If he’d been through any less over his centuries of existence, he’d have been on the floor screaming. As it was, he gritted his teeth and sat tense as every piece of his being tried to reject every other piece.
Voices were talking in the background, but it was all he could do to hold himself together. Physically, magically, spiritually, everything was wrong.
Maelstrom hummed in his head, vibrating with barely-constrained power, threatening to fray apart completely, trying to escape. He held it together by sheer force of will.
His manabody had burst its boundaries, fluffing out away from him like it was made of seaweed barely anchored to his body. He didn’t have the focus to spare to reign it in.
His body rebelled at the intrusive presence of his future self, trying to tear itself free of him, trying to push him out. He felt numb and heavy; he felt chilled and on fire.
Fists clenched in his lap, Jair strained for endless moments to pull himself back into coherence.
Maelstrom, tucked away back into its tight silver star, set to spinning securely within his soul.
His soulspell, on the other hand…
Temporal Reversion had shattered. Whatever had gone wrong broke it into a dozen disconnected pieces, and try as he might he couldn’t draw them back together.
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