“Explain,” I state. “Succinctly.”
“They are trapped in our Trials. They cannot escape until someone forms a Spirit or blood contract with them.”
I sigh. Do I really have time for this? “Okay. We’ll figure it out. For the moment, they’re your responsibility. I need them to stand to the side and let us figure out what the Trial is. Has anyone gathered any information yet?”
No one volunteered anything. Great. “Okay. Rio and Kari. I want you through the door. Kari, you’ll stick close. If it’s safe to move, Rio will make a short sweep.”
““Yes, ma’am!””
Penny! I send a mental communication her way. Where are you?
I’m in the Library of the Aedificium, she answers. I wasn’t completely pulled into the Trial.
Okay. Stand by for support.
Addie, this is Kari. We’re in what looks like a normal city. Similar to what I was in during my third Trial. Rio’s gonna do a circle around the block.
Got it. I’m sending Nix through now. Make sure he stays with you.
“Nix!” I call out. “You’re going in now. Kari’s waiting for you. I want you to send out some flying scouts.”
“Okay,” he says and heads through the door.
What about me? signs Saki.
“We’ll go through in a moment. Let me talk to these ladies first.”
I turn to the three women Rio brought with him. “My name is Addie. Think of me as the boss. Rio acts like a dick most of the time, but he must like you if he’s giving you a chance. Right now I need you to stay here. I’m sure you’ll have a part to play. I just need to figure out what it is before we can solve your problems.” They all nod. For some reason they look a little bit scared of me. “If any dragons or wild little fox girls or anyone else shows up, hold them here for now.” They all nod again.
Addie, I’ve been through the streets around our entry point, says Rio. This mental communication is great! Entry point is just a normal garden-type door in the back wall of a cul-de-sac. It’s early morning so there’s not a lot of activity. The people we’ve seen appear to be more or less human. Nix says there’s not much to see from the air, either. Can you check your Situation Map?
I check the Map and sure enough, I can see what they’ve scouted out so far. “Let’s go, Saki,” I say and we step through the door together.
It’s a little bit chilly and quite humid. The rising sun has temporarily turned the street in front of me into a river of gold. Kari and Nix are sitting on a bench in the cul-de-sac. The area in front of the door is like a tiny park with two small trees, some bushes, and bird baths built into the wall on either side of the door. We join them just as Rio returns.
“There aren’t a lot of distinguishing features. Just normal residential type buildings. There’s one big building to the West. Looks like some sort of Temple. Maybe a Palace,” he reports.
“Okay. Can you send a mental image of it to Penny, somehow? Maybe she’ll recognize it.”
Addie is approaching this Trial quite aggressively. Guess she’s been bored lately. Within minutes we’re scouting out the situation and searching for clues about our mission. I have to admit that in our previous Trials we were all a bit passive. We let the situation unfold at its own pace. Clearly Addie has a feeling that this situation is different.
We move as a group toward the center of the city. I could not send a clear enough image of the big building to Penny from so far away. We take a main road that goes straight toward it and eventually come out in a huge plaza.
The building is impressive. Something like the size of St.Peter’s Basilica in Rome. There is a name engraved on the architrave above the enormous main doors in letters as tall as Kari: Temple of the Subsistent Gods. That’s enough for Penny to start gathering information.
I am racked with mental anguish as memories flood my mind. Memories of long ago ages, of people and places that no longer exist, of battles won and lost. Who am I? How did I live through these things? I’m just eighteen! I know this is true. And I also know this is not true. Unbidden, an old story surfaces in my mind and without thought I repeat it to my Family.
In the beginning there was Yuurvkjbjupd. In the subtlety of their thought they conceived of the Void and so the Void came to be. The Void was empty and without form. Displeased, Yuurvkjbjupd created from their thoughts a Book of Law: The Book of Chaos. Thus was born the Primal Chaos which filled the void.
Yet the Void was still without form and thus Yuurvkjbjupd was still displeased. With another thought, the second Book of Law was formed: The Book of Order. The Laws in these two books worked in conjunction to form the Universe within the Void.
Yuurvkjbjupd was pleased. Over time, however, they realized that the Universe was still not complete. With only Order and Chaos in play, nothing had permanence. Yuurvkjbjupd pondered this for some time and finally produced from their thoughts a third Book of Law: The Book of Worlds. From this book sprang forth the many worlds that populate the Universe, of which Emulgren is one.
Yet Yuurvkjbjupd was still not satisfied. With another thought they brought forth a fourth Book of Law: The Book of Life. Thus were born the organisms, plants, and animals which populate the worlds. The worlds of the Universe became bright and colorful and busy with life. Yet these creatures had not the means of understanding Yuurvkjbjupd and all they had wrought.
Once again, Yuurvkjbjupd brought forth a book. The fifth and final Book of Law: The Book of Thought. Thus the beings of the worlds developed thought each according to their own capacity. The Gods arose, and then the speaking peoples. Yuurvkjbjupd looked upon the Universe of their creation and was satisfied. After a time they moved their awareness elsewhere and left us to learn and grow on our own.
The Gods read from the Books of Law and learned. They governed the worlds according to their understanding and all were content.
In time, however, the greatest of the Gods became jealous of the power of Yuurvkjbjupd. They fully understood the Laws and wanted to usurp the power of creation for themselves. They opened a door from the Universe into the Void and ventured forth to create their own Universes based on the subtlety of their own thought.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Yet it was not to be. The thoughts of the Gods held no power outside of the Universe which Yuurvkjbjupd had created for them. They tried many things but none bore fruit. In a final desperate attempt, a group of Gods stole the five Books of Law and took them into the Void.
The Books enacted their Laws in the Void and a new Universe was created. Yet without the power of Yuurvkjbjupd’s will behind them, the Universe the Laws created was a smaller and meaner place. Likewise, without the Books of Law the Universe created by Yuurvkjbjupd became less vibrant and ceased its growth. The door between the Universes was closed.
The Gods who stole the Books of Law became known as the Larcenary Gods in our Universe while in the Universe they created with the Books of Law they became known as the Subsistent Gods.
We all stand there for a while after Penny finishes her story. A different Universe. Guess you can’t say our lives aren’t interesting. Or something. Okay, I’m scared.
Addie has been saying all along that the Gods brought us to Emulgren for a reason. Guess we’re finding out one of the reasons now. A different Universe. Wow. Stealing from the Gods. Scary wow.
“Okay. We need to know what’s in the Temple. Maybe there’ll be a clue to where the books are. Or some other clue if what we just heard is misleading in some way.” says Addie.
“I’ll go,” volunteers Kari.
“I’ll go too. My range is better if I’m there myself,” I say.
“Very well. You two go together. Pretend like you’re brother and sister. Or something.”
Kari grabs my arm and we start walking across the plaza. Still not many people around.
“Nix, how about I say you’re my big brother and that we’re visiting from a village far away?” Kari asks.
“Sure, sounds good. You can say that I’m a bit simple. It’s always been my dream to pray at the big temple in whatever this city is.”
“Haha! Don’t have to pretend about that big stupid brother.”
“Yeah. Right. Haha.”
We’re approaching the temple doors by this time. They’re huge and grand. A couple of guards are standing to either side. We act all nonchalant and they don’t bother us at all. A few other people are going in now, as well. Must be normal.
I won’t try to describe the interior of the place. What I see wouldn’t make sense if I try to describe it anyway. Kari tells me that it’s a big open space with pews lined up in the center facing some kind of altar. The thing that attracts my attention is a space off to the right. A space which is totally blank to my senses.
“Kari, what’s over there?” I ask.
“A wall with a lot of fancy pictures and statues and stuff. A big door there with guards on either side.”
“I can’t sense anything over there. If there’s a room or some kind of space it must be completely warded off somehow.”
“Interesting. Let’s do a circuit and then sit down. See if they open the door. Wanna get a mouse ready to sneak in if they do?”
“Okay.” We walk around a bit, then sit down. While I’m near that wall, I drop an origami mouse behind a pillar.
We sit there for over an hour before anything happens. Lots more people show up during that time. Mostly doing the same kinds of things we are. Feh! Tourists. Finally a whole troop of guards marches in. They approach the big door. A change of the guard, maybe?
Sure enough, the door opens and a squad of guards comes out, while some of the new guards go in. My mouse sneaks in with them. While the door is open, I can sense what’s in there. Another big room. Maybe half as big as the one we’re in now. My mouse finds a place to hide.
“The doors are closing again. Seems like they were open a little over six minutes. What are you getting from the mouse?”
“A big room. Kind of long and straight. Something along the left side has an aura that’s bright as hell. Oh crap! I’ve lost contact with the mouse. That whole area is blank, again.”
“The door just now shut. Must have cut off your signal.”
“Yeah. Let’s let Addie know.”
Being a super-spy is soooooo boooorrriiiiing! Nix and I hang around that stupid temple all day. Sometimes inside, sometimes outside, always boring. We can’t even buy yummy food from the stalls in the square. We don’t have the right kind of money.
Not until I steal, rrhem!, borrow some anyway. Nothing beats a good ol’ sausage inna bun from a dubious looking fellow with a tiny grill on a cart!
They change the guards inside the door every four hours. Each time, the door is open for between five and seven minutes. Addie wants to know everything about what’s inside. We’re hampered by the fact that my big dumb brother doesn’t see like the rest of us. It takes him several hours to figure out how to let me see what his origami mices see. After that, things get a bit better for us. When the sun starts to go down, we head back.
###
Addie’s been real busy. Based on the Situation Map magic she got from creating the Blood Family, she has drawn a map and based on that map she has started creating a full-scale model of the book room inside a cavern in the Trial space. That’s what we’re calling it now: the book room. Because the books are there. All five of them, each on its own pedestal, sitting in a row down one side of the book room.
Nix says their auras are blindingly bright. Guess he’s the best judge for that. But Addie doesn’t care. What she cares about are the normal sources of light in the room. Because where there’s light, there’s shadows and Addie can jump from one shadow to another.
When the book room’s doors are closed, though, all bets are off. We can’t sense anything, then. Nix’s creatures in the room go dead instantly. He can wake them back up again once the door opens but as far as we can tell nothing can get past the wards when the doors are closed.
So those are our parameters. About six minutes to do what we need to do. All the guards will be at the entrance of the book room two minutes after the doors open. We’re also assuming that alarms will go off immediately once someone gets inside. This is based on some sort of talisman which the guards who leave pass to the guards who enter.
As I set up my little sleeping bag in a corner, Addie is sitting in our mock-up of the book room. A plan is being born.
“Calanthe, Tulika, Holtasoley,” I say their names and they shift their attention to me instantly. “I apologize for not taking better care of you. Have you eaten?”
“Yes, master,” says Tulika. “Rio has been taking care of us. Food, blankets and pillows to sleep on, kisses…”
“Be careful of those kisses,” I warn. “There may be more to them than we know. And Rio is hiding something.”
“Men! Always hiding something,” says Holtasoley.
“I want to see what he’s hiding!” volunteers Calanthe.
“That sounds kind of … extreme,” says Calanthe.
“Are you a cruel Mistress?” asks Tulika. Not sure I like the gleam I see in her eyes when she asks that.
I give a sigh. “I’m … not sure … what kind of Mistress I would be. I hope I would be … not cruel. But honestly I don’t know. I’ve been changing a lot since we came here. Not all of the ways I have changed are …”
“I understand, Mistress,” says Holtasoley, joining in the conversation for the first time. “You’re doing the best you can. And your friends believe in you. So I’ll believe in you, too.”
“What’s our other option?” asks Calanthe.
“Your other option is Nix. He’s a Summoner. He can form a couple of different types of contracts with you. The stronger one will allow you to travel with him in his soul. The weaker one will allow you to travel the world independently. I believe that to escape this place you would need to start with the stronger contract and trust him to change it to the weaker one later if that’s what you want.”
“He is kind of cute …” starts Tulika.
“We are all very protective of Nix,” I interrupt her. “Honestly speaking, I don’t think he’s ready to contract with you. Your personality is too … something. Let’s go with strong.”
She actually looks a little taken aback at my statement. Then maybe a little embarrassed. “If Nix were my Master, I would serve him well. But you’re right. I am wild and willful by nature.”
“Is he kissable?” asks Holtasoley.
“And huggable?” comes from Calanthe.
I try to think of the best way to describe Nix. “He’s naive and inexperienced. He also has a bit of a white knight complex. He would probably be very … conflicted … about touching you in any way if you were contracted to him.”
“He sounds sweet,” says Tulika. “You’re right. I shouldn’t contract with him. You shall be my Mistress!”
“We’ve still got time to think about it,” I say. “I want you to understand that we will do this for you no matter what else happens. That being said, I want to ask for your help.”