Chapter 224 – Plans
Yelran did not rise from his knee, but looked up at me. In the elvish tongue, he said, “The Chapter of the Ebon Skull has one in their number, granted the gift of prophecy, and he has said that the only by finding the Vengeful Lady of Damnation, and joining forces with her, might any of those who called Elthara home be saved. All that remains of Elthara, one million souls in all, would kneel, and pledge themselves to you, your Majesty, for this is the best path to survival.”
I nodded slowly, considering his words. From what I knew, before I returned from Onerth, Elthara had been a prosperous land, in no small part because elves were long-lived and they enthusiastically engaged in the slave trade. The population should have been nearly six million, since the war did not touch their lands directly. For them to have been reduced so far? She could see why the elves were calling her departure the Unmaking.
And these people, gathered by those who worshipped me, in one form or another, had traveled across war-torn and monster-filled wildlands to reach the site where Athelas once stood, all in the hope of finding me, and serving me. That was not a gift to be thrown away without very careful consideration. However, there were more problems than just whether or not to accept these elves into my service.
“We are not unmerciful. Elthara was a kingdom that deserved its fate, for the crime of summoning others from their worlds to fight for them, and then betraying them, as well as their extensive use of the slave collars. But We are willing to say that the bleeding has been enough to teach those who remain the error of their ways.”
I looked to the gateway beyond them, and said, “The gateway cannot remain here. This land is not under Our rule, and is neither ally nor enemy of Risen Athelia. It is a grasping would-be rival that is slowly starting to understand the difference in power between our lands.
“In addition, this place, which marks the site where We were first stolen from this world to Onerth, and serves as a monument to those who were stolen with us, and fell in a land not their own. We will not mar this monument with the presence of a Gateway which will draw the grasping and unscrupulous to grounds We would see hallowed. No, it would not do to leave this gate here. So, it shall be moved. We shall cut the connection here, and remake it in a place of our choosing, within our lands here in this world, for Risen Athelia has retained all its strength from Onerth, and now grows with the power of the living in this world, which is still learning the ways of magic.”
Yelran bowed his head. “I understand, my Queen. Shall I send for Archmage Ilimys?”
That name was known to me, and it was not one I had fond memories of. Indeed, I would have never expected that elf to be connected to this. “So, Rennyn Ilimys, Archmage of Life and Contractor of Thybris, God of Life and Change, still lives? Was it not he who counseled the Eight Families to not support Risen Athelia in the war, offering neither corpses to add to the legions nor even the simple assurance that our flanks would not suffer raids from their forces? Who counseled them to not even meet with an ‘abomination against Life’, such as I?”
Yelran shook his head. “Nay, your Majesty. Archmage Rennyn Ilimys died when his slaves found their collars breaking in the middle of the night. Archmage of Life though he was, when his favored bed slave and bodyguard already had a blade near at hand? He woke to find his head no longer attached to his body. It is said that it took him three days and nights to die, despite being only a head. It is his daughter, Shalaevar Ilimys, Archmage of Shadow, that designed and led the ritual to create the Gateway.”
That made more sense. From all I had heard, Rennyn Ilimys had tastes that mirrored those of the Troll Patriarch, being so intertwined with Life. It wasn’t surprising that his slaves turned on him the second they could, nor that it took him that long to actually die. I knew less about Shalaevar Ilimys, other than that she was an Archmage of Shadow, and was, supposedly, far more morally flexible than her father was.
“Rise, all of you. The Lich Queen has decided. The Elves of the Blood Oak shall be accepted as part of Risen Athelia. Send for the Archmage, so that We might discuss how to transfer the Gateway to a more suitable location.”
The elves stood as one, and bowed. At Yelran’s command, the Shadowsoul and Shadowblade of this Fifth Mark of the Nafaallas Order turned, and headed back through the portal. The remainder took up guard positions by the Gateway, as I turned to the mortals behind me.
Switching to English, I quickly explained the situation. Not fully, but enough that they could understand the implications. “These soldiers are the vanguard of a company of refugees from the world my class and I were summoned to. Captain Fairchild, you may inform the Mayor, and the Governor, that Risen Athelia shall be moving this Gateway to a new site, so that the Memorial is not permanently disturbed. If anyone objects, please inform them that the land beyond is home to monsters that make the Lightning Wolverines which have begun appearing in the Cascades look cute and cuddly in comparison. Having an open portal in the middle of Seattle connected to such a place, without also having sufficient strength to properly contain the situation, would be… unfortunate for the population.”
Captain Fairchild snorted, despite himself. “That’s one way of putting it. More like, it would be a complete fucking disaster. Especially if whatever turned these elves into refugees follows them through the portal. I’ll make my calls.”
“Mistress,” Nawai Kai, my Flame Sorcerer disciple, started, “how will we move the portal? And where will it be moved to?”
I nodded at that. Good questions, focusing on the problem at hand, rather than going into the monsters I had mentioned. He knew that I would not allow the monsters through while I was here, so there was no reason to concern himself with them. Instead, he focused on the part that he might be called to help with.
“The question of where is simple enough. The volcanic island of Pagan, in the Northern Marianas Islands, is largely uninhabited, so there is no need to worry about displacing local populations. That is where the portal shall open, though the Elves of the Blood Oak shall likely spread throughout Risen Athelia, in time.”
I paused, looking back at the Gateway. “As for how we will move the Gateway? That I am less sure of. I have read the shape of the magic, what I could see of it from this side, but that is not the full scope of the spellwork. I will need to make a study of the full ritual to determine how best to safely move the Gateway. The assistance of the Archmage who led the ritual would be a major boon, in that regard.
“Already, I can see the process going down one of three paths, depending on how the rite was constructed. The first, and most inconvenient of all, would require completely dismantling the portal on both sides, and then remaking the connection from scratch with the new ritual site on Pagan. The second, slightly better, would require severing the connection, destroying the Gateway on this side, building a new Gateway on Pagan, and then forging the connection anew. It is my hope that the third option will be the one we can use, where a Gateway is made on Pagan, and then we can ‘jump’ the connection from here to there, like transferring a phone call to a different line, and then dismantling the Gateway here.”
Dr. Daniel Fletcher frowned. “Is forcing the connection to switch from this Gateway to another really possible? And couldn’t the portal be moved someplace closer, where it could be jointly maintained and studied?”
I chuckled, and said, not unkindly, “Doctor, would you allow high school physics students ‘jointly maintain and study’ a thermonuclear warhead? Because unless academic standards have changed greatly in the last few decades, I believe that someone would be screaming at any teacher who came up with such an idea. This world’s knowledge of magecraft is not enough to understand how to safely maintain and reproduce this kind of work. However, it is advanced to the point where someone with more ego than sense might think they have calculated everything, and end up ripping a hole into the Void Between, or worse. Especially if someone from above is pushing for results yesterday. Do not rush to be the scientist who ushers in the Apocalypse by opening doors that this world is not yet ready to build.”
Dr. Fletcher sighed. “All right, I can accept that. Doesn’t mean I like it, but I can accept that playing with things beyond our understanding is not a wise course of action.”
“Don’t feel too bad, professor,” Eri grinned. “She restricts what information she gives me, as well. Especially considering that my element is Life, which does some ‘unfortunate’ things when it gets out of control. Since no one wants to deal with magical super-cancer, she makes sure I triple check everything, and run it by one of the Life Mages of the Athelian Spire before I make any new medical devices.”
The professor nodded. “Yes, considering that I tested as a ‘Radiant One’, or Light Witch, I have some idea of what an element, taken to its extreme, can do. One experiment accidentally creating an industrial laser in my garage was enough. Especially since my car did not survive the event. A motorcycle is fine, for most things, but it does limit what I can take with me, and how far.”
“Well, eventually enchanters will crack a Bag of Holding, or similar. But the only people who might know the proper means to enchant expanded space and weight reduction enchantments would be either in Risen Athelia, or those taught by Athelian Arms. So, it will probably be a while until someone discovers it independently.”
“There’s a reason for that, you know.” I chuckled as the two academics turned to me. “A bag that reduces the weight of what is placed inside it is one thing. You’re still limited by what can fit wholly inside the bag, but it is better than nothing. And creating an expanded space, so that a room is bigger on the inside than the outside is doable, though you need to ensure it is properly powered, otherwise a fluctuation in the magical supply will see the contents of a ballroom compressed into a coat closet, with the decidedly unhealthy effects that you might expect of such a scenario.
“To get a true ‘bag of holding’, like the old games use, where the bag holds far more than you could reasonably put inside it, and the whole thing weighs the same, no matter how full it is? Even versions with limited storage space would require a pocket dimension, anchored to the bag. And any damage to the bag risks the pocket dimension exploding. Amongst other dangers. This is not even starting to talk about the dangers of people using them for smuggling, mind you.”
I was going to continue, but the portal rippled again, signaling that people were coming. Turning back to the portal, I saw the two elves who’d gone through earlier return, and with them another elf, wearing the traditional robes of an Elven Archmage, black eyes showing that she was well in touch with the element of Shadow. In her hand, she held a staff of black wood, with an onyx jewel at its head, and it was an artifact powerful enough that I could taste its magic from here. No doubt, this was the Archmage Ilimys.
Her eyes found me instantly, and they widened in shock and awe. She knelt, and said, in the elven tongue, “By the gods! An Archmage of all the elements, with a Hero’s power, an Archlich’s fortitude, and I see the aura of a dragon upon her! Not even Mieserrynth, Lord of Fire, is so powerful! Truly, the Chapter of the Ebon Skull has led us to salvation!”