Upon arrival Lu's mother walked into the nursing home with her, “I plan on leaving soon. I just want to see how she is.”

Lu nodded as they both waved at Piper and went to Stalida’s room.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Lu knocked three times and waited to hear her great grandma’s voice chime through the door.

“Come in!”

Lu opened the door and let her mother step in first.

“Decide to finally visit after all these years?” Stalida asked as Lu’s mother had not been by in a long time.

Lu’s mother rolled her eyes, “Please, I have been busy keeping Daniel and Lu in line. Who do you think let Lu visit you?”

Lu knew her mother had something to do with her getting permission to visit her great grandmother. Let alone the rod and scroll her father gave her. Her mother had an impressive way of persuading those around her.

Stalida smiled at her, “Thank you for that Harley, I knew there was a reason why I liked you all these years.”

“Any time Stalida.”

“Lu, sit next to me.” Stalida patted the bed and Lu sat next to her. “Let me finish my story.”

“Go on ahead Nana.”

Lu hugged her great grandma and pulled out the recorder and hit the play on her recorder.

“Where we left off was the talk about the other rifts. There are endless planes of existence, according to the wizards in the plane I was in. From planes made completely of water to planes made of fire and ice. The plane I was in was called Aetheria. It was a unique plane that had two suns Heliosia and Surya. One sun sets in the east and the other sets in the west. There were even two moons present, named Lunaria and Crescentia. The two moons helped balance the two suns.”

“Aetheria wasn’t home to just goblins and elves. There were dwarves, gnomes, giants, and many other humanoid races. The area I was at was a heavily forested area within a mountain range. The mountain range we named was Grimrock Mountain. It was home to several goblin clans.”

“Sometimes, the clans would fight against each other but that usually ended in death.”

“What world would you rather live in, here or there?” Lu was curious to see if her great grandma would choose there over here. Lu kind of figured she knew the answer.

“There any day.” Stalida said, “It may have been brutal from time to time, but that place was truly something out of one of your fantasy novels.”

“What else was there, Stalida?”

“There was a magical lake that was known to almost everyone. If you entered the lake something magical happened. Mirror Lake. It spanned over a good portion of the valley under the mountain. Creatures from all over would come and explore the lake.”

“That sounds familiar. I read something about that in one of my fantasy books. It talked about wild magic and how it was unstable in some planes.”

Stalida nodded, “That’s correct.”

“I’m starting to think, my books are from people who traveled through the rifts to other plans.”

Lu said as she recalled how most fantasy books involved some interacting plane of existence with its own rules and magic system. Making each book more unique than the last.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Most of them are. How do you think they came up with their worlds?”

Lu’s eyes widened, “Really?”

“Yes dear.”

“How do you know that Stalida?”

Lu’s mother questioned. She had remained silent for some time as she just stood against the wall and listened.

“It’s just a hunch, I guess.”

Stalida gave Lu a wink as Lu loved to write as much as she loved to read. She hoped that her great granddaughter would become a well known writer and explorer.

“Do you know if the rifts would ever open again?”

Stalida thought for a moment, “They can open any time. Those wizards are tricky and love to mess with magic. Sometimes, I wonder if those rifts open to those who need them the most. Like I did.”

“How would they know if you need them to open a rift?”

Lu was curious as to how this whole magic system worked. Like, how would a wizard from another plane of existence know that someone from the Nomad Plane or any other plane needs their help?

Stalida thought briefly, “Back when I was a little girl, the first time around, the rifts seemed to open more and more frequently. With a lot of people disappearing, as the times were not the greatest here. There was plenty going on back then, that people needed escape. Now, it’s not so bad. For me, I prayed that I could escape my reality and have a new life because my family was struggling and no one seemed to care about me. I guess deity’s as they called it listened, and well the rift opened.”

“Power of prayer then?”

Lu was still confused. She didn’t understand how a simple plea would get her anywhere. Perhaps one of the many books she had would be able to explain it better.

“I think that was part of it dear, I’m sorry I don’t have much explanation. Perhaps, they have spies in every plane and those they see that are fit get chosen over others. That to me makes more sense but I am not entirely sure. I know magic items can be found on occasion throughout this plane. I believe your father has one.”

“The rod and scroll?”

Lu asked as she pulled them out of her bag, showing her great grandma.

She nodded, “The scroll and rod was a gift to me by the wizard that came to rescue me. Her name was-” Her Stalida paused as she tried to think of the wizards name.

“Astrid Vangof?”

Lu asked as she handed Stalida the note the wizard left.

“Yes! Her! She was a very sweet elf. I wonder if she is still alive?”

Stalida began to stare off into space as she got lost in her own thoughts.

“Lu, I think it’s time to go.”

Lu’s mother spoke up as she watched Stalida just stare blankly at the wall.

“Wait!” Stalida shouted and pulled out one of the side drawers and pulled out a stone. The stone was opal in color and had a bit of a prismatic rainbow to it. “Take this before you go. Astrid gave it to me in case I ever wanted to leave. I am not sure if it still works. I haven’t talked to her in over one hundred years!”

“How does the stone work, Stalida?”

Lu asked as she held the stone that she had given her. She looked it over curiously as the only magical item she ever held was the rod that was supposedly attuned to their current plane of existence.

Stalida looked at the stone curiously as Lu held it, “I am not really sure. I never used it. As a goblin, I just thought it was a shiny rock that I found. It was a treasure to me. Now, I wish I remembered how to use it. Maybe one of those books of yours would be able to help?”

Lu thought about it, some of the stories she had read had mentioned these things. Magical sending stones that worked better if you were on the same plane as the person but worked just like a cell phone does in the modern world. In all her readings it was simple. All they did was just say the message they wanted to tell the person and the person usually received it.

“I think we just say what we want. I think there is a limit of like twenty five words though.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea? You could be bothering someone.”

Lu’s mother spoke, causing the both of them to look up at her.

“Why not?”

Lu questioned her. She didn’t understand why her mother cared about any of this, if this was all just nonsense to her.

“Whatever, try if you want. I just didn’t want to get your hopes up in case it fails.”

Lu rolled her eyes. She didn’t know what she was more curious about. Why her mother seemed to care all of a sudden or the opac looking stone.

“Perhaps you should speak it. I think the voice message comes through like you would be talking to her directly.”

Lu handed the stone back to Stalida. Stalida took it with shaky hands.

“Astrid Vangof. Astrid, this is Stalida, Queen of the Goblins. I…I don’t know what to say….”

“Just say hi.”

Lu whispered in her ear.

“Hi Astrid.”

Stalida finished the conversation. Both watched as the stone seemed to magically glow like a star and fade. Now, all they had to do was wait.