The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (53 page)

Every spark of magic power that the entire community of Homestead could store would be used to power the call’s psionic spell, and every psionicist among them would simultaneously cast the call with their inherent ability and with all their strength.  The one and a half second call had been recorded as a Reading and stretched to three and a half minutes in duration, making the frequency lower than detectability.  Only an automated spell designed by Valentia would allow them all to make the call together with perfectly coordinated timing and perfect ‘pronunciation’, and most of the participants wouldn’t even be able to detect that they were doing it.

If no one responded to the call, they planned to take two days to recharge their batteries and then try again, and they would repeat this for a month.  Any further attempts after that would depend on developing different methods of making the call, since the first technique would be considered futile at that point.

Somewhat surprisingly, only thirty-nine Sylvan had chosen to attempt to leave Hiliani with them, and they’d all sworn Osbald’s Oath and the vows of The Game of Status and gotten the markings of the oaths.  They were gathered on the beach at Homestead with Mark’s family, the unicorns, Kragorram, Povon, Karzog, and all of the possessions they were bringing with them, having given away the rest or left them in their homes for the next occupants.

A space was left on the sand beside them so that whoever answered the call would have somewhere to arrive in if they chose to make a corporal appearance.

Around all of them were the rest of the population of the islands, including all the Sylvan.  They filled the community, and all of those without a view of the beach were taking Readings from those who had one.  Final visits and emotional goodbyes had filled most of the last three days, and now those who were leaving and those who were staying were all as prepared for the separation as they could be.

Talia cast a huge Illusion of an hourglass above her to show the time remaining.  At noon precisely the final grain of sand fell through, the hourglass turned, and Valentia announced; “The call begins, and will last three and a half minutes.”

Almost complete silence fell as the call was sent.  Slowly the sand in the hourglass trickled down, and the tension slowly built.

Less than one second after the last grain of sand had fallen, the sun leaped across the sky, making the time of day suddenly change from noon to about five hours to midnight, and judging from it’s location the season had changed from early winter to mid-summer.  A being appeared on the open sand from a race that they had only seen once before, and that had been at the victory celebration at the end of The War of The Founding of The Just Alliance, when the gods had appeared for the first time in millennia and announced the end of The Withdrawal.

It was a god of a race that were the ocean-going equivalent of the selkies; she was almost five meters long, and she looked like a cross between an otter, a seal, a dolphin, and a whale, having some characteristics of all of those. 
“Yes, what is it?”
she psionicly asked.

Reggie was quickest, and spoke before anyone else had a chance to do so. “You are Zubzubweeeet?”

“Yes, though your pronunciation is poor.”
she answered. 
 “I am Zubzubweeeet, Fifth God of The Mer.  Do you require assistance?”

“We have urgent news for the Gods.  There is a renegade Sylvan God of Stealth, and there were almost twenty thousand practically undetectable Sylvan living here when the time-bubble was erected.  We’ve dealt with the situation in a practical way, but if there were other hidden communities of Sylvan within any of the other time-bubbles, their occupants might not have fared so well.”

“Also,” Mark added, “Some of our young and all of our People of Morning have found being confined within the time-bubble to be unbearably restricting, and it’s very likely that some of the communities in the other time-bubbles might also become psychologically stressed due to the isolation.

“We strongly suggest that you open the other time-bubbles to confirm that all is going well within them.

“We’d like you to re-establish this time-bubble, but we ask that you wait a few days before doing so.”

Falgaroth, Amirgath, and Visinniria appeared, floating in the air above the gathering.  Those beneath them immediately began clearing room on the beach for them, but Amirgath spoke as soon as they appeared.

“You have voluntarily left the time-bubble?  You will immediately assume your work on becoming divine?” he insistently asked in his thunderous voice.

“I was given two months, and I’ve voluntarily left the time-bubble due to unforeseen circumstances.” Mark replied.  “I may start that work in a few days, or I might decide to wait until the two months have passed, and I may still choose to spend more of the two months in the time-bubble here, if that’s practical.  In any case, I’ll still start that work at the end of the two months, if not before.  When I do start it, I may choose to do that work in this or another time-bubble, to speed the process.”

“Acceptable.” Amirgath pronounced.  “Excuse me, I go to join the effort to find the renegade.”  With that he vanished.

“Good day.” Visinniria called with a warm smile as she looked around the gathering.  “You’re certainly not the group I expected to find!  This should be an interesting story!”

“May we take a Reading?”
Falgaroth inquired, then took one from everyone who agreed before they could say so.

“By the stars!”
he exclaimed upon considering it for half a second. 
“You’ve been busy, haven’t you?!  You’ve already accomplished almost everything you set out to do in a bit more than a quarter of the time you were allotted!  Including producing some amazing children!  We congratulate you!”

“And as far as military preparedness is concerned, you’ve far exceeded your goals.” Visinniria added.  “Not only have your abilities developed far more than we expected, you’ve multiplied that advantage by integrating with these Sylvan. Well done.  Well done indeed.

“We’ll give you four days for all of you to do what you wish in the world, then we’ll replace the time-bubble.”

“Thanks.” Mark grinned.  “Silaran’s family will be going back to Xervia, the rest of us who aren’t coming back here this week will be going to Hilia to catch up on what’s been going on in the world.

“Beyond that, we’re still off duty, though Alilia has some business in Debivin.  We’ll be concentrating on helping our kids get oriented in the world and introducing them around for the next little while.”

“Quite so.”
Falgaroth told him, then addressed the crowd. 
“I’ll be glad to help any of you with transportation to anywhere you want to go for the next four days.  Simply call my name and state your destination.”

They’d all said their goodbyes and didn’t want to go through the emotional turmoil of repeating them.  So with one more wave and a smile for those around them, Mark and Talia Translocated their family to the patio outside their home on Hilia, and Kragorram’s family came with them.

“Ahh, it’s such a cute little house!” Val cooed as Stripe ran off down the slope of the volcano and Scout took to the air.

“It is, though of course it’s only a small part of our home here.” Talia laughed.  “The rest of it’s inside the mountain.  Though I’m sure you knew that, now that I think about it.”

She took a deep breath of the moist tropical air, and realized how much she’d subconsciously missed the scents of Hilia.

“I’ll call Sheramiv and get an update.” Mark said as he enjoyed the view for the first time in seven years.  From here he could see a few people of every race already ambling onto the beach in the early morning sunlight, a few more walking the jungle paths, the crew of a sailboat readying their craft at the end of the dock, and a handful of Gargoyles flying slow and low over the water, slim spears at the ready, watching for fish.

“I’ll get us some lunch.” Talia decided.

“We’re going exploring.” Fire stated.  “Call us when lunch is ready.”  The four youngsters disappeared.

Sheramiv appeared, smiled, and made a respectful bow.  “Good day Mark, Talia.  You’re home early.”

“Yes, well things went somewhat not as we expected.” Talia laughed as she cast a Speaking to the nearest restaurant’s proprietor, and a moment later plucked a menu out of the air.

“How are things in our principality, First Minister?” Mark asked with a smile as he Summoned a twelve-seat table and its matching chairs from a storage room near the Throne Room.

“Much as they were seventeen days ago, my Prince." she reported with a smile.  "Things are progressing apace as we last discussed.  Would you like a detailed report?"

“No, that's okay.” Mark chuckled.  “And it's sure good to be back."

Talia had been reading the menu while silently communicating with the restaurant.  Now she Sent the menu back as she privately dictated her order.

“Would you care to join us for lunch?" she asked Sheramiv.  "It'll be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you.” Sheramiv smiled.  “And while it’s a bit early for lunch for me, I’d be glad to join you and consider it breakfast.  I look forward to meeting your children.”

“It’s good to be back out in the world again.” Povon commented as she and Kragorram cuddled together on the highest lawn, basking in the morning sunlight.  “The loss of psionic awareness of most of the world was irritating, if only subconsciously.  It’s all coming back now, and it’s rather nice.”

Visinniria and Falgaroth appeared, and Visinniria spoke as if she’d been part of the conversation all along.  And perhaps she had.  “To be honest, we considered opening the time-bubble early, though not for the same reasons you had for it."

The Governors, sensing the gods' arrival on Hilia, decided to cut short their sightseeing and rejoin their parents to take part in the discussion.  They arrived as un-noticably as possible, so as to not interupt the conversation, and quietly seated themselves close to their parents.

Visinniria gave them a glance and a quick smile, but continued addressing the gathering.  “When we began the time-bubble projects, it had an unexpected negative effect on the morale of the populace.  The people felt to some extent that you and the other notable persons who entered the time-bubbles were abandoning them in some minor way.  Many felt it unfair that those in the bubbles should have an extra score of years in safety and peace before the demons arrive, when the rest did not.  We even considered putting the entire world in a time-bubble in order to appease them, but it proved to be impractical.  So as I’ve said, we considered opening the time-bubbles early, but we held off, hoping things would stabilize.

“We’ve announced to the entire populace that you’ve returned early with your children, and that you’ll need a brief time to prepare before you resume your public activities.  As a result, the mood of the populace is improving significantly.  Most of that benefit is due to your return, Mark, far more so than these others who have come out with you.

“Whether you choose to admit it or not, you are the chosen leader of most of the people of Kellaran.  Your people have missed you far more than any of us expected them to, and they rejoice at your return.  It would be best if you made some kind of public appearance fairly soon.”

Mark had no immediate response to that, so Falgaroth changed the subject just as the four youngsters returned.

“There have been other developments as well.  The Game of Status seemed to function as we hoped, before the time-bubbles were cast.  But since then, it seems the players have been taking advantage of your absence, particularly that of Povon, who as Lord Regent of Serminak is responsible for refereeing The Game, and who is far more effective at doing so than the subordinates she left in charge in her absence.

“It’s true that when Zarkog was Lord of Serminak, he often took long sabbaticals from his duties in order to engage in astronomy.  But during those sabbaticals, the populace of Serminak never knew how long he would be gone, and they knew that he might return at any moment.

“On this occasion, the players of The Game knew that Povon and yourself would be completely isolated and out of contact for two full months.  It seems that they were therefore emboldened to increase the level of their nefarious activities during your absence.”

“Before we get to that, we should fill you in on some of the other major developments in The Game of Status.” Visinniria put in.

“Three days after you entered the time-bubble, Zarkog appeared in the Hall of The Just Alliance.  No one, god or mortal, knows how he learned it’s location, or how he evaded all of it’s security measures.  He swore the oaths of The Game of Status on the Truthstone, and left before anyone could question him.

“Four hours later, Zwak Deathbringer announced that he was no longer Prince of The Sylvan Nation, he was now second in command in that nation and second in the standings of The Game of Status, and that Zarkog was now Prince of The Sylvan Nation and first in the game.  The fact that Zarkog is not a Sylvan seems to be irrelevant to everyone involved.  Our investigation revealed that Zarkog had done nothing to earn the position beyond asking for it while being extremely intimidating.  He’d spent a couple of hours intimidating his way up the ranks of the top league before he did so, just to solidify his position.

“He then delegated all of his duties to Zwak, and returned to astronomy.  He’s been watching the demons as closely as possible, and has provided us with excellent observations.  You might think he could achieve no more than the gods in this regard, but the fact is that the gods are no more intellectually creative than mortals, and we often tend to become very set in our ways and in our thinking over the eons, and that diminishes our creativity even more.  While Zarkog is proving to be a very creative and capable astronomer indeed, and is constantly inventing new techniques, despite being the eldest living mortal and being quite set in his own ways in many aspects of his behavior.