{"id":570,"date":"2018-10-18T11:51:49","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T15:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allen-wold.com\/?page_id=570"},"modified":"2021-03-07T10:37:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T15:37:01","slug":"first-pages-of-hero-transcendent","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/?page_id=570","title":{"rendered":"First pages of Hero Transcendent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part Ten: The Nightmare King<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chapter Eighty One: Crossing the Threshold<\/strong><\/p>\n

The immense hall of cloud-topped columns was as they had seen it before, awesome and awful and terrifying. It was not sky above the clouds, but an immensely distant ceiling, white with gold and blue traceries. The floor was white and beige marble, and the huge columns of marble and crystal and dark chrome extended to an impossible distance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was time for two heartbeats, then they were pushed away, not to the world from which they had come, but into a non-place. They were not even in the greater reality, half way between one world and another, but nowhere at all. And though they were aware of all the worlds around them, they did not exist on any of them.<\/p>\n

They were still all together, still linked together, though they had no bodies, no brains to contain their minds. Had they been alone and unlinked, they would have dissipated into nothingness. It took a subjective moment for them to calm and stabilize their thoughts, to take stock of their present condition, and to know that they were not in any immediate danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody doesn\u2019t like us,\u201d Gaeliu said breathlessly, with no body and no breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever sent us away,\u201d Lirikatli said, \u201cwas a little slow on the uptake this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew about it when LeShaw brought us here,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cI think our coming by ourselves took them by surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey think we\u2019re dead now, or destroyed, or helplessly lost,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cMaybe we can surprise them again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just right now,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cThat place is terrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cIt\u2019s not what it looks like, it\u2019s \u2026 it\u2019s\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no time here,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to go back, aren\u2019t we,\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course we are,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what will we do when we get there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust try to stay there for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if we can\u2019t stay there? If whatever it was keeps pushing us away, then what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could go to some place more congenial,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cwhere we can at least be real people while we try to work out what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can go along with that,\u201d Galban-Dado said, \u201cbut I think we should go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

They turned away from their own thought, into the nowhereness, and found the place of columns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was not a globe orbiting a sun, among millions or billions of other suns, in an evolutionary cosmos of stars, dust, gas, and galaxies. It was more akin to Diapollion\u2019s garden, or the gray plane of strange objects, or even the wither, though it was much smaller than that, despite its apparent vastness. And it was not really a place, in and of itself, but just a threshold, as it were, to wherever it was that Kada Barros existed.<\/p>\n

They made themselves ready, and went back. They waited for the repulsive force, and when it came, they tried to get some idea of whether it was automatic, reflexive, intentional, Kada Barros himself, or some other intelligence. They learned nothing before they were thrust again into the non-place between the threads of the greater reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t expecting us,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will push harder next time,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to push back.\u201d<\/p>\n

They went. The force tried to push them away. They resisted, got no sense of what it was that was pushing at them, and when the force stopped, they stopped too. Then it came back, taking them<\/i> by surprise, and sending them once again into limbo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s intelligent,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

They went back. Nothing pushed at them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They looked around at the columns, which were in no particular order. They could as easily have been hung from the blue and white ceiling, as set on the white and beige marble floor. Their size and spacing were proportional to the scale of the separation between the ceiling and the floor, not to insect-like people.The wispy clouds were half way between floor and ceiling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They did not resist the thrust, when it came at last, and let it sweep them into limbo, but this time they came back at once. When the force came back again, with a sense of exasperation, they sidestepped it, as it were, and stayed in the place of columns.<\/p>\n

They waited, tired of the game, but determined to have their way. The air moved, but it was hard to tell from which direction. There was a scent, not of flowers, exactly, or of metal. The temperature was almost neutral, skin temperature instead of body temperature. The light came from everywhere, there were no shadows.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes he really need this much space?\u201d Elsabey asked. Her voice was lost in the emptiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis ego does,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

They were thrust away, more violently this time. Almost without a flicker, they were back among the varied columns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not very powerful, is he,\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not Kada Barros doing that,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cHis power lies in other areas. That\u2019s why he uses physical agents in the physical worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long before we can expect a new Arkenome?\u201d Saylees asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. Arkenomes must be found and trained, and that\u2019s got to take some time. I suppose he has a few candidates, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if he really is this big?\u201d Gaeliu asked. \u201cHow could we possibly fight him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cHe\u2019s not a physical person like we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cThe laws which control our bodies and allow us to exist are different from those which control and permit a being of thought such as he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was another push, a stronger one, but it felt half-hearted somehow, and they didn\u2019t even stagger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink we can outlast him?\u201d Elsabey asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how can we attack him,\u201d Galban-Dado asked, \u201cif he has no body?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJeanette has two weapons,\u201d Lirikatli said, \u201cwhich can affect spiritual beings. Sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was time for their enemy to push on them again, but the expected shove did not come.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wither,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cis a place with no physical reality at all, no matter what it looks like. But I shared its nature when I was there. I became a part of its metaphor, and I was, well, as spiritual, or as psychic as the place was, whatever that means. And because I was a part of it while I was there, and subject to its laws and rules, I was able to deal with it as if it were physical. Whatever really happened there, in any kind of objective sense, doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

They waited, but nothing happened. The place felt even emptier than before, as if its resident had withdrawn to another plane. The clouds overhead moved in no particular direction, forming and fading in a semi-random way, as real clouds sometimes do if you watch them long enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what we think that matters, isn\u2019t it,\u201d Gaeliu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore or less,\u201d Jeanette said. She chose an arbitrary direction and started walking. Her companions walked with her. The sound of their footsteps on the white and beige floor was lost in the vastness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d Saylees asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

He thought about that for a moment, then nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is all a product of Kada Barros\u2019s mind,\u201d Lirikatli said, \u201ccouldn’t he just \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven minds obey rules,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cEven in your thoughts and dreams, there are rules, though we may not know what they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The floor shuddered slightly, and silently, as if something heavy had been dropped upon it somewhere far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I just hear a door slam?\u201d Lirikatli asked in mock innocence. Elsabey giggled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to find that door,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cif we\u2019re ever going to confront him face to face. Assuming he has a face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat could take a long time,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cunless we get some kind of clue. Do you sense anything?\u201d he asked Gaeliu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no life here,\u201d Gaeliu said. \u201cNone at all. Not even us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people really do like sterile environments,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cEasier to keep clean, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

They kept their banter light, as a way to keep up their spirits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They were nearing one of the great pillars, a crystal one. It was transparent, but the fluting distorted their view, and it was so thick that, even if it had been perfectly smooth, they could not have seen all the way through it. It sparkled, slightly iridescent, in the unchanging, directionless light. The neutral temperature, the ambiguous scent, the subtle movement of the air were no different than before. Something like a brief breeze disturbed the clouds overhead for just a moment, but they did not feel it on the floor. They kept walking.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not forgotten us,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is he trying to impress?\u201d Lirikatli asked. \u201cWho comes here besides his Arkenome? Or his Ecliptor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRecruits, maybe,\u201d Saylees said doubtfully. Nobody else had any suggestions.<\/p>\n

After a while Tondorre said, \u201cIf this is just his front porch, what must his parlor be like?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething far more comfortable,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cPlaces like this are intended to impress people, not to be lived in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo who is he trying to impress?\u201d Lirikatli asked again, exasperated.<\/p>\n

\u201cHimself mostly, I guess,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cJust to prove to himself that he can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of his security,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cYou can\u2019t get in off the porch unless he opens the door. Or you have the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Lirikatli said, \u201cor break a window, but secure against whom?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe built all of this for us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr my predecessors,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cOr his imagined enemies, whoever they might be.\u201d She paused. \u201cOr his peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A slight breeze came up, one they could feel this time, coming from ahead of them and to their left. It wasn\u2019t very strong, and it might actually have started some time ago. There was no change in temperature or scent. They kept on walking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s silly,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cMaybe he can throw all this together in just a minute or two, but even so, just on the chance that you might drop by some day?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has to gratify his ego somehow,\u201d Tondorre said sardonically.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s contradictory,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cHe does everything he can to destroy as many worlds as possible, and then he creates places like this and Diapollion\u2019s garden. The gray plane makes sense, it\u2019s a portal and a prison. But this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe only destroys other<\/i> people\u2019s stuff,\u201d Jeanette said quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat other people?\u201d Galban-Dado asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cIf it\u2019s not his, he doesn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew somebody like that,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cWhen I was little. Tomis would build these huge structures out of blocks, and Railif would kick them over. He envied his little brother\u2019s imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo our enemies are all neurotic children,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

The light flickered, as though from distant lightning. There was no following sound of thunder. Perhaps Saylees\u2019s comment had struck closer to home than he had intended.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did Railif\u2019s parents do?\u201d Tondorre asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. It wasn\u2019t my family. Eventually Railif was old enough to move away, so he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d Galban-Dado said, \u201cthe situation here may be nothing like that at all. And even if it is, it doesn\u2019t matter. What matters is \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether we can get out of this place,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cAnd more importantly, how do we get to Kada Barros? And what do we do with him then?\u201d<\/p>\n

The breeze died away.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny ideas?\u201d Saylees asked Gaeliu, who looked at him in surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI, ah \u2014\u201d he started to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta find a bush,\u201d Galban-Dado said. He looked toward the nearest pillar, which happened to be marble, lightly veined in light cream and pale gray, and vanished.<\/p>\n

Gaeliu was staring in the other direction, at a group of people, twenty or more, about a mile away, coming toward them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo where do we find a bush?\u201d Lirikatli asked, as if the approaching people, possibly armed, were nothing to be concerned about. \u201cJust go behind a pillar?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all we\u2019ve got, isn\u2019t it,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cThough it\u2019s strange that we would even have to, under the circumstances.\u201d He stood beside Jeanette. Though it would take the people fifteen, twenty minutes to get close enough to matter, he adjusted his position and posture, standing easily and ready for anything from cheerful greeting to all out attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you suppose,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cthat Kada Barros minds us soiling his pristine environment?\u201d He put his hand on his sword hilt, then let it fall by his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cRailif hated it if Tomis even touched<\/i> one of his projects,\u201d Elsabey said. She drew her crossbow, loaded a bolt, held another bolt in her left hand \u2014 there weren\u2019t that many left \u2014 and let the crossbow hang down from her right.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can take an analogy only so far,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cbut I\u2019d guess it would apply here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galban-Dado came back, stood on Jeanette\u2019s other side, and folded his arms across his chest. He was not relaxed because he wasn\u2019t concerned but, like Tondorre, because he was ready for whatever he might have to do. \u201cI tried not to leave too much of a mess,\u201d he said, \u201cbut Kada Barros isn\u2019t going to like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you get any sense about the shape of this place from where you were?\u201d Jeanette asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people were still more than half a mile away. They were in two staggered ranks, holding what looked like short spears diagonally across their chests. Why hadn\u2019t they been set down within immediate attacking distance? Maybe there was some kind of supra-mundane law that affected Kada Barros\u2019s warriors so that they, like Jeanette, just could not ever be sent right to where they were needed. Or maybe whoever had brought them liked melodramatic flourishes.<\/p>\n

Gaeliu and Tondorre, instead of watching the warriors, were looking at each other, as if silently sharing an interesting idea. They had a kind of special bond, almost like brothers. They both smiled, just a little bit, then, nearly simultaneously, they both disappeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kid\u2019s got a lot of talent,\u201d Saylees said to Jeanette.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nobody here who doesn\u2019t,\u201d she said, though she kept watching as the warriors kept coming. \u201cIt isn\u2019t always clear what that talent is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike Ghinn\u2019s compassion,\u201d Elsabey said, sounding almost relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly. I don\u2019t think any of us expected that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tondorre and Gaeliu returned, almost simultaneously. The two dozen warriors did not seem to notice or care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing how we can communicate,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201ceven if our links don\u2019t let us read each other\u2019s minds.\u201d He paused. \u201cWhat are we going to do about them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing just yet,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went as far as we could,\u201d Gaeliu said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t take any risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFive times,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cin opposite directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we felt the link between us, just to see what it was like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a kind of curve to it,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe. This place isn\u2019t as big as it looks. And the shortest distance between us was not the way we had come, but some other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this is mostly a mirage,\u201d Gaeliu said, watching the warriors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts appearance is,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cbut the place is real. As far as I can tell. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a world attached to it, in the ordinary sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn interesting way to put it,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it fold back on itself?\u201d Lirikatli asked. The warriors were now about a quarter of a mile away, and seemed very determined. \u201cOr is there actually some place to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaeliu pointed straight up. There was a strange grin on his face.<\/p>\n

Tondorre nodded slowly.<\/p>\n

Galban-Dado looked up. \u201cHow do we get there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lirikatli looked at him, then she disappeared.<\/p>\n

Jeanette knew where Lirikatli was, and the others did as well. She was directly overhead, though the concept of \u201cstraight up\u201d didn\u2019t really apply. There was a dimensional kink of some kind, hard to describe, which also made it hard to tell exactly how far away she was. This was going to be interesting. Her companions knew what to do.<\/p>\n

The warriors picked up their pace. They had seen Lirikatli vanish. Then Jeanette and the others all jumped together to where Lirikatli was, standing on a floor that was subtly different from the one from which they had just come. Jeanette looked up at the not quite white ceiling overhead. The clouds were just as far away from this side as they were from the other. The warriors were too far away to be seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat seemed almost too easy,\u201d Saylees said. He drew his sword, and looked around as if expecting to see the enemy suddenly appearing somewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still don\u2019t see the point to this place,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cWho comes here anyway? Who could<\/i> come here except his Arkenomes and Ecliptors? We know LeShaw could. Does he have any other visitors?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to work for a prince of a fairly important country,\u201d Galban-Dado said. He was just as watchful as Saylees. \u201cThere were hundreds of people in the palace and its offices. Household staff, personal staff, their<\/i> staff, visitors, emissaries, traders and services, government officials, lots of people. Having a palace made sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this doesn\u2019t make any sense at all,\u201d Lirikatli said, saying what Ikusa had said so often.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to make sense to us,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cI don\u2019t think this guy is sane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably not,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cbut it really doesn\u2019t matter, does it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really,\u201d Gaeliu said, \u201cbut that does.\u201d He was looking at the warriors whom they had left on the other floor. Saylees and Galban-Dado turned toward them. They were a couple hundred yards off, no longer in a staggered line.<\/p>\n

They were large men, vaguely reptilian, brown skinned, wearing heavy brown leather jackets, trousers, and boots. Their weapons were not exactly spears, but more like a Japanese naginata. It had a two-foot long double edged blade instead of a curved one, on the end of a six-foot shaft. They could easily outreach any sword, and could hack and slash as well as pierce and stab. Though the men weren\u2019t human, their expressions were easy to read, a determination to use their short pole arms to murderous effect.<\/p>\n

Why were projectile weapons so rare in all these worlds? Firearms could be an accident of technology, as could air-powered guns, but bows of all sorts should have been more common, or slings, or javelins, or even throwing knives or axes or dirks. It was something else that didn\u2019t make a lot of sense. Unless Kada Barros chose to mess with worlds without projectile weapons. If he, or the Ecliptors, or the Arkenomes, had recruited people from worlds like Jeanette\u2019s, where powerful, long range weapons were common, he could run rampant on worlds that didn\u2019t have any ranged weapons at all.<\/p>\n

But Arkenomes worked more by insinuation, seduction, and perversion to turn a people against themselves, rather than by using physical force. The people themselves could do that. Maybe that was important. One charismatic psychopath could cause an awful lot of damage on a global scale, as Jeanette knew well, while a psychopath with a gun killed a few people before he was killed himself. And there was never more than one Arkenome at a time.<\/p>\n

Everybody had their weapons at the ready. Jeanette left her own alone. She took a breath, then walked a few paces toward the warriors.<\/p>\n

They were not tense, but they were alert, and more than ready for whatever Jeanette\u2019s companions might choose to do. They all held their weapons in the same way, left hand near the butt of the haft, right hand three feet further toward the head, each weapon at forty five degrees across their chest. They would not hinder each other when they attacked. If Jeanette and her companions did not port away, they would be cut down in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

Jeanette waited until they were fifty yards away. Then she gathered all of her own authority that she could, and said, \u201cStop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost in unison, all twenty four warriors stopped. For a count of two. Then they came toward her again.<\/p>\n

She tried not to think about what she was doing as she reached over her shoulder, took the Tash Griaf from its scabbard, and set it point down on the floor at her feet, knocking a chip off the floor in the process. That rather surprised her. The warriors didn\u2019t like it either. She put both hands on the hilt and, when the warriors were still thirty yards from her. Again using her own authority, not the Tash Griaf\u2019s power of command, she said again, \u201cStop.\u201d<\/p>\n

They stopped, and this time they stayed stopped, but they held their weapons at the ready. They were not confused, and they were not at all afraid, and their vaguely reptilian, brown faces were still determined.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go home,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cor you can die here. It is your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The seconds stretched \u2014 seven, eight, nine \u2014 and then the warriors, grimmer and harder and even more determined, came toward her again.<\/p>\n

She took the hilt of Tash Griaf in her hand and held it down at her side, with the point of its broad blade angled toward the warriors. Though it weighed almost nothing, the muscles of her arm clenched, as if an electric current were running through them, and there was pain in the back of her head and down her shoulders and in her stomach. If she were to attack now, the pain would go away. It was her keeping this weapon in check which hurt. Rather the pain than the blackness of guilt afterwards, if she should let it have its way.<\/p>\n

The Tash Griaf began to sing, like a crystal goblet stroked by a dampened finger. \u201cStand where you are,\u201d Jeanette said. Her voice, lower and rougher than ever, yet still feminine and oddly pleasant, resonated with even such a little power as she was drawing from the troll sword.<\/p>\n

The warriors stopped. They lowered their weapons just a little. Their faces showed no fear, though the hard edge of their determination was being replaced by an apprehensive wonder.<\/p>\n

Jeanette\u2019s companions were tense and alert behind her. They knew they wouldn\u2019t have to fight. They could feel, through their links with her, a little of what what she was feeling. They did not want her to have to use her weapon, either to call on its power of command any further than she already had, or to actually slay the warriors facing her, who would have no chance of survival. Their concern was not for the warriors\u2019 sake, but for hers.<\/p>\n

She spoke again, her voice somehow magnified and distorted, and it hurt her. \u201cLeave or die.\u201d<\/p>\n

And one by one, the warriors rotated away and were gone.<\/p>\n

Her knees gave way. She dropped the Tash Griaf as she went down. She barely kept from hitting her face on the floor. Her stomach heaved. There wasn\u2019t much in it.<\/p>\n

Hands took hold of her, steadied her, held her shoulders and her head. When her convulsions stopped, Tondorre and Galban-Dado helped her to her feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets worse every time, doesn\u2019t it,\u201d Galban-Dado said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time,\u201d she said, her voice now thin and weak. Her muscles ached, and there was a hot pain in the back of her head. \u201cAs long as I don\u2019t let it go too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

She sat on the floor. Lirikatli sat beside her, with an arm around her shoulders. Her other companions stood or sat, waiting patiently until she felt better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaeliu looked one way, then another. \u201cI think I know which way to go,\u201d he said when she stood up. \u201cIt\u2019s not something you can see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsabey closed her eyes. \u201cHow did you know how to get up here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the way my link with Tondorre felt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a simple three dimensional volume,\u201d Tondorre said, waving generally at the clouds above him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut how can you tell?\u201d Saylees asked. \u201cIf you could exist on a piece of paper, you couldn\u2019t tell if the paper was flat or curved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good analogy. I like that. And now that you say it like that \u2014 I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not human any more, are we?\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course we are,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cJust not in the way we used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we live through this, and get back home, will we still be like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll all be different,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cafter all we\u2019ve been through. But we won\u2019t be like we are now, unless we come back here again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll have to be careful not to show off any acquired skills,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cLetting people see us jumping from place to place would not be a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cPeople would fear us, and we could be lynched. But I\u2019ll worry about that when we get back home. Right now, which way do we go? Back down, er, up? To the other floor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing down there,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cI think we should all move away from here, each of us going in a different direction \u2026\u201d He glanced at Jeanette, and saw that she approved, \u201cthe way Gaeliu and I did, and see what our links feel like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stay here,\u201d Lirikatli said to Jeanette. \u201cYou\u2019ll be our center and focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t she always?\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least we\u2019ll learn something,\u201d Jeanette said. She was pleased that her friends were taking the initiative and assuming responsibility. The more that they could do without her, the lighter her burden, and the more likely they could survive if anything happened to her. And Elsabey was right about the part that she had to play now.<\/p>\n

They turned from her and ported away, each a distance of their own choosing. Galban-Dado, who was in front of her, went so far that he became little more than a dot on the flat horizon. Their links were coordinated with each other and with her, so that she sensed their intention before they ported again. And again three more times.<\/p>\n

She focused on her links with everybody as a group, rather than on the individual people, trying to see if she could tell anything about the shape of space here. She knew she wasn\u2019t as good at that as Tondorre and Gaeliu, who shared a special talent, but she did get a sense of multi-dimensionality. And she could tell that going farther wouldn\u2019t get them anywhere. It wasn\u2019t that the surface on which they were standing was infinite, nor that it curved back on itself. If this place had only three, or even four dimensions, she could have visualized it. But it wasn\u2019t like that. Fortunately, a clear or comprehensible mental image wasn\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n

It made her wonder. If Kada Barros had such power that he could construct multi-dimensional places, why did he need agents? Couldn\u2019t he just twist worlds some way or another, without hiring fallible Arkenomes? Did he need an Ecliptor to act as go-between? On the one hand, he seemed powerful beyond comprehension. On another, his limits were crippling.<\/p>\n

She doubted that any Arkenome had ever been on this surface, with its blue and gold traceries, which was supposed to be the ceiling, or the sky, of the porch or entrance to Kada Barros\u2019s dwelling. She doubted that Ecliptors, if there had been more than one, came here often. And she didn\u2019t see why Kada Barros ever had to come here at all. Whatever kind of being he was, he didn\u2019t have to worry about dimensions or space.<\/p>\n

So what kind of being was he?<\/p>\n

Her companions returned before her speculations could get too far afield. They came as if they were sliding on ice. They passed through her without touching her, and through each other, and went on in the other direction.<\/p>\n

They had not been porting, they had been moving through space. They went farther than she could see, and the vast hall of clouds and columns suddenly twisted inside out. It became dark, but filled with lights. The floor was a rough surface, a dark gray disk a quarter of a mile across. The lights expanded as her companions went farther away, some of the lights becoming like stars, like jewels, colored and brilliant. Others became spheres, like planets, some with rings, many with moons, impossibly close to each other in astronomical terms. Each planet or moon had its own unique surface. They had left the porch, as it were, and were now on the threshold. And when her companions had gone as far as they could go, they were beside her again without coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was amazing!\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cHow did you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Gaeliu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know what we did,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very strange,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cWe went as far as we could \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we kept on going,\u201d Galban-Dado said, \u201cand found ourselves coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never turned around,\u201d Gaeliu said, \u201ceven after that. But it wasn\u2019t just us, it was \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were changing the shape of space,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cWe opened the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose Kada Barros does that all by himself,\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any door at all as far as he\u2019s concerned,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cMaybe he never comes and goes at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does he do when he has visitors?\u201d Elsabey asked. \u201cSend out six doormen to open the way?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he does,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cWe\u2019ll never know, so I don\u2019t really care very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what if there hadn\u2019t been six of us, or seven with Jeanette? Could we have done this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Elsabey. Same answer. Should we go back and try it with just three or four?\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about us,\u201d Galban-Dado asked. \u201cCan we leave here and come back again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me a minute,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cToo much has happened too quickly.\u201d She felt for the greater reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was different here somehow. It wasn\u2019t like she was lost, but\u2026 \u201cNo,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can leave, I think, but if we try to come back, we\u2019ll wind up on that floor where we started. Then we\u2019ll have go through the process all over again. This place is really twisted, and I don\u2019t understand it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand it either,\u201d Gaeliu said, \u201cand I never will, so why bother trying? As long as we\u2019ve gotten this far, let\u2019s keep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cPick a direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The planet-spheres in the void around them were nearer than the jewel-like stars-things. They were evenly but randomly distributed from zenith to horizon. None of them were part of a system of planets with a central sun. Each was alone except for their rings or moons if they had them. Beyond them were the stars. Some of them were near enough to be seen as flaming disks, though they were still beyond the farthest planets. But most were just brilliant spots, points of colored light. There was a torn swath of gas among the nearer stars, and a cloud of luminous dust, but there were no galactic spirals.<\/p>\n

The edge of the disk on which they stood was not too far away, an irregular but sharp horizon, except in one place where it appeared to curve down, gently and smoothly. That was, of course, the way they would go.<\/p>\n

The smooth edge of the disk was the beginning of a broad road, hundreds of feet across. Its surface was rough and stoney like that of the disk. Going onto it was like coming over the crest of a gentle hill, except that the ground was always level under their feet, and the road curved down behind them as they went forward. It continued to curve downward ahead of them, so they could not see where it led.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis, this is just a metaphor, isn\u2019t it, really,\u201d Galban-Dado said, a bit breathlessly. \u201cThere is no road, there are no globes or stars in the sky. Whatever this is, we see it this way just because \u2026 because \u2026 well, because we can\u2019t really see it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not particularly lucid,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould you say it any better?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our host were to come this way,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cwhich he almost certainly never does, he would notice nothing at all, except a transition from outside to inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re not really in his house yet?\u201d Elsabey asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re just crossing the threshold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we don\u2019t know what\u2019s on the other side,\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

They went on, and as the road continued to curve down, something vast began to come up ahead of them, until it filled a quarter of the sky. It had eyes, and writhing flesh where a mouth should be, and there was a sensation of something darker than space slowly flapping behind it. Maybe H. P. Lovecraft had once been in this place. Or maybe Jeanette\u2019s perception was inspired by the stories which she had read, on Steve\u2019s insistence, and had never liked. It didn\u2019t really matter either way.<\/p>\n

They stopped walking. \u201cThe guardian of the gate,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

It came toward them. They all felt as though they should be feeling fear as vast as the creature itself, but all they felt was a vague apprehension.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s really that big,\u201d Elsabey said, \u201cwe\u2019re less than dust compared to it, so how could it possibly see us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can\u2019t,\u201d Gaeliu said. \u201cAt home, from high ground, I can see the top of a distant mountain, which is beyond the edge of the world, but I cannot see the mouse on its slope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get any bigger as it comes closer,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s the butler,\u201d Galban-Dado said, \u201ccoming to see who\u2019s been knocking at the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsabey giggled.<\/p>\n

It continued to come nearer, passing over the surface of the road, though it did not increase in apparent size. And then it passed through them. There was nothing on the other side. They turned to see what must have been behind them now, but there was nothing there either. It had no back side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nobody there,\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not strictly true,\u201d a voice said, coming from among them.<\/p>\n

Jeanette felt a thrill, and all her companions felt it with her. It rose from the base of her spine all the way up through the top of her head. She did not startle, and neither did they. She did not turn wildly around to see who was there, since she knew she would have seen nothing. The voice, though inflected, was completely neutral as to gender or age, and it spoke, not in words exactly, not in language, but in concepts, as precisely as if it had used language.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps \u2018butler\u2019 isn\u2019t exactly the right word,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but it will do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you may be missing a fine point,\u201d Saylees said, with a touch of asperity. \u201cYour voice may be among us, but you are not physically here the way we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI could get picky too,\u201d the voice said, \u201cand remind you that there is nothing physical here. Not even you. But yes, in your terms, you are right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we need to discuss this further,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cAeons, figuratively speaking, could be spent picking apart each other\u2019s semantics, and never coming to any conclusion or agreement, so why bother. We\u2019re here, you\u2019re not, what do you want with us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more a matter of me asking you what you want with us.\u201d Jeanette couldn\u2019t tell if it was said with a sigh or a chuckle. And again, it didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want Kada Barros to stop sending his agents out to mess up our worlds,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cThat\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing I can do about that,\u201d the voice said, or expressed itself to the same effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect that you could,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cbut that\u2019s the answer to your question. It is our intention to continue as best we can, until we come to Kada Barros in person, and then make our desires known to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is unlikely to do as you wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we will do our best to destroy him, and if we fail, another will come after me.\u201d She paused. \u201cWe do not want his death. We do not want vengeance for all the damage he has done. We just want him to stop kicking over other people\u2019s sand castles.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he\u2019s run off to tell the boss,\u201d Saylees suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boss already knows we\u2019re coming,\u201d Galban-Dado said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen what was the purpose of that visit?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s merely doing his job,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cOr she. If it makes any difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWas that huge face we saw the same as the voice?\u201d Elsabey asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cI\u2019d guess that it was, but it\u2019s only a guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cthat thing came to us because we were here. Let\u2019s keep going and see who we meet up with next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galban-Dado chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. Anybody else would have been staggered or even knocked over. Saylees just snorted.<\/p>\n

They went forward, and then the whole road was before them, extending into an infinite distance. They looked back and saw only the descending curve behind them. Jeanette went to the edge of the road. Her companions came with her. From there she saw the place where they had started. The ground beneath the starting disk, hanging in the void, was tapered to a point, like an inverted teardrop. The planets and moons and stars were as before, unmoving and unchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a long time to get anywhere,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could \u2014\u201d Gaeliu started to say.<\/p>\n

Jeanette put a hand on his shoulder. \u201cIf you port, you\u2019ll get lost out there. There are no straight lines, remember. It doesn\u2019t matter what it looks like. Going out one way doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll be able to come back the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019ll never get anywhere,\u201d Elsabey protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me think a minute,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow quickly can you port?\u201d Tondorre asked Gaeliu.<\/p>\n

\u201cHmmm?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike this.\u201d He ported a hundred feet away, then again, then again, all in less than a second. Then he came back in three jumps, but so quickly that he just flickered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to try that!\u201d Gaeliu said, and he did so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas it hard to do?\u201d Lirikatli asked him. Gaeliu shook his head and grinned. \u201cSo we could all do it together,\u201d she went on, and see how far we can go. If we don\u2019t seem to be making any progress, we could stop and try something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s stop talking,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cand just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette was relieved that she didn\u2019t have to come up with any ideas. The way her people were growing and developing, maybe they could actually accomplish something. She stood, with Lirikatli on her left, and Tondorre on her right, and the others close behind her. They didn\u2019t have to touch each other, they were connected through their psychic links. Then, all together, they made a short jump, then another, perfectly coordinated, then another longer jump, then another. After a while their jumps got longer, and they made them more quickly. It became a matter, not so much of jumping, as of visualizing themselves skimming down the cosmic road at an ever faster pace.<\/p>\n

The positions of the stars and planets around them changed as they went faster and faster. And then, at some point, they left the road entirely. They didn\u2019t stop. Ahead of them was something that was not a planet or a sun, that slowly rotated counter clockwise as they neared.<\/p>\n

We could all die here, Jeanette thought.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Chapter Eighty Two: Inverted World<\/p>\n

They descended through caverns of black rock and flaming magma, like the lava level of some video games. Perhaps, if they had paused, they might have felt some heat, or maybe it was just luck that every mini-flicker of porting took them to an open space instead of to a constriction of fire. Or maybe this place was designed that way. They went ever deeper into hell, until their movement slowly leveled off, and at last started going up.<\/p>\n

The caverns got larger, the lava got darker and crusted, the constricted areas got smoother. The end was ahead of them. It was not an opening onto the surface, just a cessation of hell, which would leave them above ground. They stopped at the perfect moment, when they were right at the surface, not hundreds of yards above it. The hall of clouded columns, the planetoid space, the caverns of fire they had just left, were all preliminary to this.<\/p>\n

They were at the top of a high but gentle hill, in a knee-high meadow of grasses and wildflowers. There was no portal to hell behind or below them. The cavern of fire was off in some other more complex direction.<\/p>\n

There were insects in the grasses, and more fluttering and buzzing through the air. They were like colorful dragonflies, long-winged butterflies, things like fuzzy bees or wasps, bumbling metallic things sort of like beetles. The flowers were of different shapes, generally small, white and pink and light blue and various yellows and sometimes red. There were a few birds of different kinds. Most of them flew near the ground, but several glided high overhead, and one, with yellow wings on a black body, perched on one of the sturdier flower stems. The sun was warm, the breeze was cool, the light felt like late morning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The meadow beyond the hill extended into a hazy distance, then curved up on all sides to enclose them on the inside of a globe. They could see the entire world from here, as if they were in space looking down, except they were inside looking up. There were forests, farms, low mountains, lakes, rivers, more meadows or prairies, some desert areas, and even small seas with islands. There were villages, towns, and even cities, all connected by roads. Cumulus clouds floated everywhere, and cast their shadows on the ground. Way up in the middle of the air was a miniature sun, its light obscuring the far side of the inside out world.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a big world, maybe only a thousand miles across. Inside a real planet, gravity should have pulled them, and everything else, toward the sun-like object at the center. But here it held them firmly to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made this, didn\u2019t he,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cHe must have spent a long time on it. Is there real life here?\u201d she asked, turning to Gaeliu. She stared.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there is,\u201d he said, staring back at her. \u201cAt least, it all feels real. It smells real.\u201d<\/p>\n

By now everybody was staring at everybody else. To Jeanette, everybody looked as if they had come from her world. She felt Tondorre\u2019s reaction. To him, they all looked as if they were native to his world. Lirikatli saw everybody with dog-legs, muzzles, and crests. Elsabey and Saylees saw everyone with a short brush of hair, except Jeanette who had the long hair of a demon. Galban-Dado and Gaeliu saw people as they would look if they were all on their respective home worlds. She looked at Tondorre, and he looked at her, and wondered if that perception extended to touch as well as sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all an illusion,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, not everything,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cThe way we appear to each other certainly is, but I think we\u2019re seeing this place the way he sees it himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow would we know that?\u201d Lirikatli asked, then said, \u201cWe\u2019re all using my language.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, we\u2019re using mine,\u201d Gaeliu and Saylees said together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have finally come to the right place,\u201d Jeanette said, in perfect English, as far as she could tell.<\/p>\n

Tondorre started to say something, got impatient, then turned away from them and looked around at the world which enclosed them. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, even if it is inside out.\u201d It was an intellectual response, not an emotional one. \u201cDo you suppose it\u2019s a slave world?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a village down there,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that far away. We could go and find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has to know we\u2019re here,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cI mean, we just walked into his house. How long before he sends somebody to throw us out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he\u2019s just having fun with us,\u201d Elsabey said, \u201cteasing us while he sits back somewhere laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s going to do something,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cI wish he\u2019d go ahead and do it. Always before, we had some of his minions to deal with. Now he can deal with us personally. But he\u2019s not doing anything. Maybe he\u2019s not really worried about us at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe warrior mice finally invade the castle,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cand the king hardly notices or cares.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sometimes had rats<\/i> in the stable,\u201d Galban-Dado said, just to be saying something while he looked at the world. \u201cToiceegh\u2019sopai never knew about it. We\u2019d have somebody set traps if they got too aggressive. One time Hadro-Nosta had some cats<\/i> brought into the stable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a rat<\/i> can kill a king,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cif he\u2019s smart enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt still makes me feel small,\u201d Elsabey said, unaware of the irony.<\/p>\n

Jeanette sat down in the grass, then lay back with her hands behind her head, and looked up at the sun-like thing above her. It was not too bright to look at. Whatever the \u2018sun\u2019 really was, it was at zenith, and would always be there. How could it possibly rise and set? It never moved, and yet it felt like late morning, not noon, about ten thirty or so.<\/p>\n

Tondorre sat down cross-legged beside her. \u201cYou don\u2019t seem very concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned, but I\u2019m not worried or anxious. Even though we\u2019ve come this far we could still fail. We could all die before our time. But we are here, and each of us will do what we can. We may not finish what we set out to do, but there will be no failure for us as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an interesting way to look at it,\u201d Galban-Dado said. He sat down on her other side, his legs straight out in front of him, and leaned back on his hands. \u201cI guess, in a way, there\u2019s nothing to fear, is there? I mean, death may be painful, and we may have regrets for things that are left undone\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lirikatli sat down by Jeanette\u2019s head. \u201cI regret the loss of friends,\u201d she said. \u201cBut other than that, I\u2019m glad I was able to be a part of all this.\u201d Then she leaned down and kissed Jeanette on the forehead.<\/p>\n

The others, each with their own thoughts, sat or stood as they chose. Though the sun-thing did not move, time passed until it seemed to be about noon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if we could get some lunch down there,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

Jeanette stood, looked where he was looking, at the village at the bottom of the hill. It was only a couple miles away. \u201cLet\u2019s go find out,\u201d she said. They walked.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

The meadow went down to the bottom of the hill, where there were small fields all the way to the back-yard gardens of the nearest houses. Three produce trucks, their beds open, and which looked like they were powered by internal combustion engines, drove slowly toward them on a road that curved around the hill to the left. Another road went around it to the right. There were other roads, on the left and right of the village, and probably one or two more on the far side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The houses were small, frame-built, painted white or pale gray or cream or pale olive. The gardens behind them were neatly fenced and fairly large. Each had a small lawn in front. Smoke rose from many of the brick chimneys. The paved streets were narrow, and there were no sidewalks, and no street lamps. There was a school on one side of town, a court house on the other, a block and a half of shops, a small hotel, and a station behind which a bus was parked.<\/p>\n

The people here looked just like people. What Jeanette and her companions looked like to them she could not guess, other than that they were rough, armed, travel-stained, and rather frightening.<\/p>\n

There was a caf\u00e9 at the corner of the first block of shops. They stopped outside the door. They had no local currency, and not much money of any kind at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem right,\u201d Elsabey said, \u201cthat heroes should have to go begging for lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not heroes here,\u201d Lirikatli said. The people passing them on the street looked at them with some disapproval.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the same as it was on LeShaw\u2019s world,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cThat was a real world, with real people brought in from outside. Everything here was made by Kada Barros, and we are the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hungry,\u201d Saylees said. So they went inside. Conversation stopped as the people saw them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There were a dozen tables for four, most of them filled. There was a counter opposite the door where people placed their orders and picked up their food. Off to the side was a place where the patrons bussed their own dishes. The customers were a mix of men and women of various ages. Jeanette and her companions were very much out of place. There was no open hostility, but there was a lot of disapproval and distaste.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we really want to eat here?\u201d Lirikatli asked, even as her stomach growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d better eat somewhere,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

Jeanette made herself be calm. She and her companions looked just like the customers, except for size, shape, clothes, and weapons. Like strange people, but not like aliens. She didn\u2019t want to take advantage by exerting her supernatural authority. Maybe she could do or say something that would make these people less anxious about her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d she said to those nearest her. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to upset you. We\u2019ve come a very long way \u2014\u201d and how long could that be in a world as small as this, \u201cand we were hoping to get some lunch.\u201d The people around her relaxed. \u201cIf this isn\u2019t a good place for us, could you suggest one that might be better?\u201d By the time she finished there were no more signs of negative feeling, only an odd kind of curiosity. There was silence for a moment, then some quiet talk among the people, then a man said, \u201cGo ahead,\u201d and waved to the counter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no money,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

There were blank looks, a few murmurs, an increase in curiosity, and some return of apprehension. Then an older woman said, \u201cWhat\u2019s \u2018money\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody works, nobody pays,\u201d Saylees said quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been tried back home,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t work does it?\u201d Galban-Dado said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot for very long,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe built this place from the ground up,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cUhm, in a manner of speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should accept their invitation,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

They went to the counter. They ordered the best they could from the limited choices. Tondorre and Gaeliu took possession of two tables as they became vacant, and pushed them together. They all sat, and had to wait only a few minutes before three people came from the kitchen, carrying small trays, which they put on the counter. The food looked okay but not exciting, and proved to be rather bland. When they finished they took their trays to the bussing station and left.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like this place,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not natural,\u201d Gaeliu said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how you did that,\u201d he said to Jeanette, \u201cbut the people got calm too quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how I did it either,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cAnd Lirikatli is right. This place is too carefully constructed. It\u2019s his idea of paradise, of what a world should be like if everything were perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we destroy him,\u201d Elsabey said, \u201cwill this place die?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo where is he?\u201d Saylees asked. \u201cHow do we find him now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that either.\u201d She looked around at the village. \u201cI don\u2019t think we have to find him.\u201d The people on the street, some two dozen or so, stopped walking and looked at her. \u201cI think he\u2019s right here, all around us.\u201d The villagers went on about their business.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSo it doesn\u2019t much matter where we go, then, does it,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre the people real?\u201d Galban-Dado asked. Those who were nearest Jeanette and her companions now showed them only the mildest curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they are,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cI can feel their minds. They are not slaves. They have free will as far as I can tell. But they are all guided. Not like puppets, more like children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Kada Barros is doing this.\u201d Lirikatli said. The nearest people glanced at them at the mention of the name.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably not directly,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cPrinces have ministers and secretaries, who in turn each have a staff of subordinates who do the actual work. I would think,\u201d he said hesitantly, \u201cthat he\u2019d get more pleasure from watching all this run by itself, instead of managing it personally. Once he got it all set up. I could be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBuild the system to your liking,\u201d Elsabey said, \u201cand set it running, and if it isn\u2019t right, change it here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething like that,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cBut neither he nor any of his subordinates are the kind to just let nature run its course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the point of having control,\u201d Saylees said sarcastically, \u201cif you don\u2019t exercise it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaeliu put a hand to his mouth. \u201cIt is so wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not something we can destroy,\u201d Lirikatli said, looking around at the village.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cI don’t think it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we do have to stop Kada Barros from destroying everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Kada Barros was listening, he didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

They walked out of the village, then skimmed along the ground to the top of the hill. It felt like early afternoon now, though the sun-thing in the sky was as it had always been.<\/p>\n

It was a perfect world, except for being micro-managed. Growth, change, and development played very minor roles here. It had not always been exactly as it was now, but the differences between what it was and what it had been at its creation were not a matter of chance and evolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe this is as far as we can go,\u201d Elsabey said. She lay on her back, and put her arms under her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not about to give up just yet,\u201d Saylees said, sitting cross-legged near by. He looked at Jeanette. \u201cUnless you tell me to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not done \u2014\u201d Jeanette said, then, \u201cI have not done what I was chosen to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever gave you this job,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cis asking too much of you. I mean, saving one world is one thing, you\u2019ve done that \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, yes, but not at first. So what are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSave the world.\u201d A pause. \u201cContain the evil.\u201d A pause. \u201cForgive it maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaeliu was standing, holding his spear just under the head with its butt on the ground. \u201cBut what about right now. Go to a city somewhere and cause trouble? I don\u2019t think that would do us any good.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so either,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cBesides, though we\u2019ve done that, that\u2019s the kind of thing our enemy does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been free to make mistakes,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201ceven terrible ones. But you\u2019re right, we should try to not make those same mistakes again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if we do,\u201d Galban-Dado said, \u201cthen we have accept the responsibility for what we\u2019ve done and get on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pause. \u201cYes,\u201d Jeanette said, trying not to sound as spiritually tired as she felt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a while Elsabey said, \u201cThere\u2019s no weather, not anywhere in this whole world. There are clouds, but none of them are rain clouds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d Gaeliu said. \u201cBut the ground is moist under the grass. Maybe it rains at night?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when would that be?\u201d Galban-Dado asked.<\/p>\n

After a while Tondorre said, \u201cThe people down there knew the name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow would they know him?\u201d Lirikatli asked. \u201cDoes he talk to them somehow? Does he come down every now and then and pay them a visit?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think he does that,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cMaybe he just gave them the idea of an extra-mundane, so that they could think about him, maybe even worship him, though I don\u2019t see him doing that either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are forces in the world,\u201d Gaeliu said, \u201cgreater than we, but\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDemons are just superior beings,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cnot spirits. Even the intelligences in the domes are not spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even know what spirits are,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all different on those worlds where they exist,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve spoken of Gedeon several times,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cIs he a spirit?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette hesitated. \u201cI think he\u2019s more like a sentient force of nature, except that he exists in the whole of the greater reality, not just in one world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike that thing I heard singing once,\u201d Gaeliu said, \u201cout in the white.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. Some intelligence far beyond what we might call a spirit, or a demon, or a god.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Kada Barros is like that,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you spoke to Gedeon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe spoke to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would any being like that,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cwant to bother with us in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we can do things that he cannot, just like a dog or a bat or a fish can do things that we cannot. Even a being like Gedeon has to obey the rules, whatever they are. He told me once, Eyes cannot touch, fingers cannot see. We each have our parts and our limitations. There is no omnipotence. If there were, there would be no need for you and me<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were all silent for a moment, then Saylees said, \u201cKada Barros seems to enjoy breaking the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has to be a part of it,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thrill of the forbidden,\u201d Saylees said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t he be content,\u201d Gaeliu said bitterly, \u201cwith his little paradise here? He could break any rule he wanted to here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause,\u201d Elsabey said, \u201che envies his little brother\u2019s creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just a metaphor,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it matter?\u201d Elsabey asked.<\/p>\n

The light dimmed for just a second, just a little, though the sun-thing did not change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he heard that,\u201d Saylees said. \u201cI think we may be striking a little close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe heard that too,\u201d Gaeliu said. There was something in his voice which made everybody stand up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Warriors, about thirty of them, were on all sides of the hill, three or four hundred yards away. They were vaguely reptilian, unlike everybody else, like they must have looked at home. They came up with a steady and determined gait.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they the same ones we met before?\u201d Tondorre asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would guess so,\u201d Galban-Dado said. \u201cNewcomers might be dissuaded. I\u2019d guess these poor guys had it explained to them that death at our hands would be preferable to what was in store for them if they ran away a second time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette thought about the thing on her back. She did not want to use it again. If she did, she could destroy all these warriors in a matter of moments. They wouldn\u2019t have a chance. And if she did, the death of each of them would add to the burden of guilt which she already bore, would cause her physical pain of its own kind, and would take her another step toward becoming as evil as it was.<\/p>\n

Lirikatli drew her sword and stood in front of Jeanette, facing the oncoming enemy. The others took up positions around her, facing outward in a protective circle. Even Elsabey was holding her big knife instead of her crossbow.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can always use that thing if we fall,\u201d Tondorre said to Jeanette.<\/p>\n

She turned in place, looking past her protective friends at the approaching warriors. A hundred yards away now, they would not be stopped by a simple order. Maybe she could stop them if she used the full power of the Tash Griaf\u2019s command. But her friends, who had moved a few feet farther from her, did not want her to do that, unless there were no other choice.<\/p>\n

She had no idea what they had in mind. She drew her own sword.<\/p>\n

It would not be a simple fight. She and her friends could move in ways that no ordinary mortal could counter. But the enemy\u2019s eyes were all on Jeanette, not on her companions, and they would do whatever they could to break through the defensive ring. Her companions knew this, and were afraid for her sake, not for their own. If necessary, she would flee rather than let them die needlessly, or worse, let the Tash Griaf fall into enemy hands.<\/p>\n

The enemy charge, when it came, was not to take out her companions, but to pass between them so that they could get to Jeanette. But her companions, making tiny jumps in pairs, got between her and the warriors, while Jeanette sidestepped any who got too close. Her companions were never really where the enemy expected them to be. They avoided blows they could not parry, struck from the side or even the back, moved inside the reach of the long-hafted weapons, or sometimes cut them off short. The reptilian warriors did not cry out, and did not yield, and never lost sight of Jeanette as their objective. And they all died.<\/p>\n

Jeanette and her companions had taken no wounds. It felt so terribly unfair. They regrouped, as they had been before, ready for another wave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsabey was crying. \u201cI hate this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. Elsabey put her hand on Jeanette\u2019s, took a couple deep breaths, and said, in a broken voice, \u201cI\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you will,\u201d Jeanette said softly, squeezed her shoulder once more, and let her go.<\/p>\n

They stayed as they were. No one came for a second attack. They cleaned their weapons on their enemy\u2019s clothes, and sat down on the trampled grass, Jeanette still in the center of her friends\u2019 protective ring.<\/p>\n

Gaeliu looked around as if uncomfortable, then stood up and said, \u201cI need to relieve myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saylees said, \u201cThe nearest trees are over there.\u201d The grove was about five miles away, far to the left of the village.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne jump or many?\u201d Tondorre asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s try many,\u201d Lirikatli said. \u201cShort and quick, like when we came here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was kind of fun, wasn\u2019t it,\u201d Galban-Dado said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll together then,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cKeep together.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were all heroes now. Jeanette could let herself be just one of them, instead of always being their leader.<\/p>\n

They took tiny jumps, a hundred feet or so each time, so rapidly that they seemed to skim above the ground toward the grove. It was exhilarating, especially all working together in unison. Elsabey was actually laughing by the time they got to the trees and stopped.<\/p>\n

The undergrowth at the verge was dense, but there was nothing with prickles, spines, or thorns, and they pushed their way through easily. They stopped when they were about a hundred feet in, in a place where the trees weren\u2019t quite so close together, and each took a turn while the others kept watch for enemies. They were not disturbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you suppose he enjoyed that?\u201d Lirikatli asked sarcastically as they moved to another part of the forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means as much to him as watching insects on a leaf,\u201d Tondorre said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he going to try again?\u201d Gaeliu asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course he is,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cHe\u2019s having fun playing with the mice in his castle before destroying them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, do we want to get out in the open?\u201d Gaeliu asked. \u201cOr meet them here?\u201d He looked up into the branches overhead. He startled and half crouched. Everybody else looked up. Spider-like things, not quite as big as horses, were coming down at them. A lot of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust take it easy,\u201d Galban-Dado said, \u201cand jump carefully. With all these trees we could get separated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The monsters were big, and strong, and fairly quick, but Jeanette and her companions jumped out of the way of long-reaching legs. They killed four of the spider-things each, then the rest of the monsters fled. They were not intelligent enough to be influenced by the enemy\u2019s arguments.<\/p>\n

They stood catching their breath among the carnage of cloven carapaces, yellow ichor, and red and green entrails. Then, without hesitation or consultation, they ported out of the forest to a place a few yards away from where they had gone in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose,\u201d Saylees said, \u201che could just crush us if he really wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he could,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cwhy would he send agents to do his work for him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he built this place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did, but he still has limitations, and I don\u2019t think he wants to damage his own paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we go back in there,\u201d Tondorre said, \u201cI\u2019ll bet we would find that the mess has been all cleaned up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShould we just go exploring, then,\u201d Lirikatli asked, \u201cand see what happens next? Or sit around getting bored while waiting for supper?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tired of exploring,\u201d Tondorre said. \u201cAll the worlds are different in detail, but after a while\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe black world was very different,\u201d Gaeliu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a smaller example of LeShaw\u2019s slave world, with different colors.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was definitely getting on toward mid-afternoon, though the sun had not changed. They decided to go back to the original hill top, and did it in one jump. There were no bodies now, and the grasses were no longer trampled. It was a pleasant enough place to wait for Kada Barros to send another group of minions after them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is just playing with us, isn\u2019t he,\u201d Lirikatli said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives him something to do,\u201d Saylees said, \u201cbesides constantly maintaining this place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Darnian were here,\u201d Lirikatli went on after a pause, \u201ccould he see into this world\u2019s extra-mundane?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette looked at her for a moment. \u201cThat\u2019s an interesting idea. I don\u2019t know. But think about it, this whole world is extra-mundane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s rather academic, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Galban-Dado asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as Darnian\u2019s being here,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cyes, it is. But if he were here, he could see this world, more for what it is than just for what it looks like to us. But he and I, even back then, were very much alike in some ways. In some ways, we almost could have switched roles\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had gone with Darnian into what he called the Spiral. Maybe, if she thought about it the right way, she could see past this world\u2019s appearances. She sat up. The unchanging sun was getting later. She leaned forward, crossed her arms on her knees, and stared into nothing. Her friends, surrounding her, became quiet.<\/p>\n

Not every world had a spiritual realm, and they were not the same in those which did. Every world was different. Every world, whether a single body or a vast collection of galaxies, had its own rules, though there were certain very fundamental rules which were common to all. The presence or lack of an extra-mundane, a distinct spiritual realm, a divine \u2014 a heaven and hell, if you will \u2014 was not fundamental. It was something that varied, an extra, as its name implied, but no less real for those worlds which had it.<\/p>\n

This world had an extra-mundane, even beyond what it was. Of course it did, another layer. It was where Kada Barros existed. Except that wasn\u2019t quite right. Kada Barros\u2019s place of existence was the primary. This shell of a world, which actually surrounded him in a trans-dimensional way, was the extra, the add-on. And his place was a lot bigger than the world which contained it.<\/p>\n

Something about that frightened her, but she felt Gaeliu\u2019s hand on her shoulder before she could decide whether to pursue it, and came back to the present reality.<\/p>\n

There were twelve of them, not quite human, each subtly different from the others, each surrounded by its own nimbus of light. They were all off on one side, floating toward them on the afternoon air, on the same level as the top of the hill. It was hard to tell how far away they were. Maybe they were tiny and very close, or gigantic and very far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re about as big as we are,\u201d Gaeliu said. \u201cI think.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were only a couple hundred yards off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no one behind us,\u201d Elsabey said.<\/p>\n

The twelve beings, more or less side by side, were naked. Some were male, some were female, some neither, some both, some unaccountably something else. It was strangely impossible to tell how many of each kind there were. Their skins were white, or cream, or pale golden, depending on how the external light struck them, or black, or deep blue, or mahogany where the light did not strike. The light they brought with them did not affect their color.<\/p>\n

They stopped when they were still some thirty feet away, not quite close enough to stand on the slope near the top of the hill. They did not actually speak, and they weren\u2019t quite in unison, but what they said, more or less, was, \u201cYou should leave now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not come here to leave,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cWe came here to deal with Kada Barros.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKada Barros does not \u2018deal with\u2019 the likes of you,\u201d came the twelve-part, non-vocal reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course he does,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cThrough agents like you, and the creatures in the grove, and the warriors, and Arkenomes, and anyone else he can send our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

One beat. Two beats. \u201cWe will escort you away,\u201d the twelve beings said, not quite together.<\/p>\n

They kept their distance as they encircled Jeanette and her companions, who just stood as they were, and did not turn to face the beings moving around behind them. They trusted Elsabey, who was already facing that way, to keep watch.<\/p>\n

There was a subtle pressure, pushing them away, more or less in the reverse direction by which they had come into this world. They did not move relative to the hill, but they came closer to the hell of burning lava and black stone. It was easy to resist, though it might not have been even a few days ago. They went nowhere. After a moment, the pressure stopped.<\/p>\n

They became weightless and began to float upward toward the sun. When they were a few feet above the ground, in unison far more accurate than that exhibited by the twelve glowing beings, Jeanette and her friends ported back down. They were lifted again, and responded as they had before, more quickly this time. Again they were lifted, and again they returned to the ground, and again and again, ever more quickly until, as far as an outside observer could tell, they did not move at all. After just a few moments, this effort against them ceased as well.<\/p>\n

Elsabey came around from behind Jeanette, and drew and loaded her crossbow. \u201cJust curious,\u201d she said. She shot between Lirikatli and Galban-Dado at one of the glowing beings a few yards beyond them. Everyone saw the bolt passing through it without any effect at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a test,\u201d Jeanette said. She reached over her shoulder and took the grip of the Tash Griaf. The beings moved away from her about ten feet or so.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan it touch them, do you think?\u201d Tondorre asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think,\u201d Jeanette asked in return, \u201cthey\u2019ll come close enough for me to find out?\u201d<\/p>\n

The glowing beings circled a quarter turn, and drew away from them a dozen feet more.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you command them?\u201d Lirikatli asked.<\/p>\n

Jeanette drew the Tash Griaf. The muscles of her arm tightened painfully. She looked at the being in front of her. It looked back. \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d She began walking toward it. After a moment it backed away, then they all left.<\/p>\n

Then Elsabey jumped about three hundred yards down the slope of the hill. She bent down, picked something up, and came back, holding the bolt she had shot. \u201cJust in case,\u201d she said as she put it away.<\/p>\n

Saylees grinned at her and touched her shoulder lightly. She grinned back.<\/p>\n

Jeanette watched the byplay, happy at their comradeliness, and started to put the Tash Griaf away, but had only raised it as high as her shoulder, when another person appeared in the air in front of her, just a few paces away, floating just a few inches above the ground. And he didn\u2019t glow, he shone. She lowered the sword.<\/p>\n

He was, or appeared to be, taller than even Galban-Dado. His physique, which was not concealed by his pearl gray shirt and trousers, was perfect, too perfect to be real. His skin was a dark golden tan, his hair a rich strawberry blond, his beard, two or three shades darker, was neatly trimmed. He wore silvery boots, a silvery belt, and there was something on a silvery chain which hung around his neck, just below and inside the open collar of his shirt. A jeweled ring glittered on the third finger of his right hand. He carried no weapons.<\/p>\n

Jeanette let the tip of the troll sword touch the ground. \u201cDiapollion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said, in a bass voice that, though it wasn\u2019t loud, had it been enclosed in a room would have shaken the windows. \u201cI am he.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette\u2019s companions pulled back just a little, as if instinctively they sought shelter behind her. \u201cYou don\u2019t really look like that,\u201d she said to her enemy.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it matter?\u201d Though Diapollion floated, he was quite substantial, and the light emanating from him did not obscure his body.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it does,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cSymbolism is very important to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiled. \u201cAnd to you as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn what way?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat great phallic symbol you\u2019re holding. It negates your weakness and femininity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanette held the nearly weightless weapon up and looked at it. She would not use it here. \u201cI suppose being a phallic symbol depends on how you look at it. Maybe you see it that way. But I do not see it as a symbol of affection, fertilization, and creation.\u201d She put it away. \u201cI see it as a tool for butchery, for cutting meat. Now, I admit, I\u2019ve not known too many penises, but I really doubt that any penis could be used for cutting meat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galban-Dado laughed. Tondorre chuckled. Lirikatli giggled uncharacteristically. Elsabey nearly choked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt cleaves the body of woman,\u201d Diapollion said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are sick,\u201d Elsabey said. \u201cIt joins, it does not cut apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all he thinks women are good for,\u201d Gaeliu said, \u201ccleaving and impregnating. No, not even that. He\u2019s just like Cory Yael.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diapollion glanced at him, his expression strange, then he looked back at Jeanette. His eyes were a blue so dark that they were almost black. \u201cHe never did like that name,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe symbolism didn\u2019t suit him,\u201d Jeanette said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t want to be the son of his mother and father. He wanted to be great and mighty in his own right. Which, of course, he was not, without you to guide him and be his surrogate parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd does nobody stand with you in that regard?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes, I have a guide. And I had parents, too, once, whom I loved despite their over-protectiveness, which I hated. Parents whom you destroyed.\u201d Her voice was calm. She was calm. She was merely stating a fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou seek revenge,\u201d Diapollion said, with a small, condescending smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevenge achieves nothing,\u201d Jeanette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou seek it, nonetheless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not judge me by your own weaknesses. I have forgiven once, and offered to forgive another. Revenge is empty, it is only another form of death. I seek life. All I want from you, is that you leave the worlds alone, so that they can live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not my choice,\u201d he said, but his smile broadened just a little bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are Kada Barros\u2019s slave,\u201d Jeanette said, \u201cso obviously it is he who I must persuade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat cannot be done,\u201d Diapollion said, smiling just a little bit more. He put his hand up to his throat, as if to draw out the chain which hung there.<\/p>\n

Jeanette had her dagger out as if she had been holding it all this time. She lunged at Diapollion for the physical force, and ported at the same time so that she could reach him, and slashed him across the back of his hand, severing two fingers, including the one with the ring, and cutting the chain under his shirt. She swung again, a return stroke, but Diapollion was gone.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

If you want more, you can get it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part Ten: The Nightmare King Chapter Eighty One: Crossing the Threshold The immense hall of cloud-topped columns was as they had seen it before, awesome and awful and terrifying. It was not sky above the clouds, but an immensely distant ceiling, white with gold and blue traceries. The floor was white and beige marble, andContinue reading →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-570","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","no-thumb"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":678,"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/570\/revisions\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allen-wold.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}