A Prison of Worlds (The Chained Worlds Chronicles Book 1) (28 page)

“We’re
both reasonable adults,” I replied, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.  “I am
sure we can work something out.”  It may be prudent to talk to her when she had
a chance to cool off.  “But not tonight.” 

“Hello
Mat,” I nodded cheerfully to the policeman, as I met him at the door. It was
actually a few minutes before noon, but I had been up for a while.  I still
didn’t dare to sleep too deep, so I had spent the night with my studies and a
few hours of meditation.  It doesn’t sound very restful, but I was slowly
catching up on my beauty sleep without actually sleeping.  All that really
meant was that my energy reserves were back to normal and I may be able to try
real sleep without risking an accidental ‘Sleeping Beauty’ moment.  That would
be embarrassing.  A narcoleptic dragon is just silly.

“Hey,
there Professor, how is...” he paused a moment as he looked at the living
room.  “What the heck is that?”

I
glanced at the living room and noted the images of circles slowly rotating in
the air.  They were all canted at varying angles, but they spun in
synchronization.  “Oh, that’s just some of my work.  I recently figured how to
not blow up my vid player.  This is an older model, but it has all the basic
functions.  I was playing around this morning and I figured out how the
simulator worked.  I think I may get another one for the work space below.  It
may really help.  You know that old adage ‘Measure twice, cut once’.”

“Does
that mean you may actually have an address to call?” Mat asked with a smile.

“Well,
I would hate to be mobbed by all my fans,” I mimed looking behind him
fearfully.  “But it would keep everyone from looking at me as if I am a
caveman.”

“It
certainly would make arranging a pickup easier.  Are you going to get a
portable terminal too?” 

Shrugging,
I followed him out to his vehicle.  I was still reluctant to join the current
century.  Besides, most people used implants except for the supernaturals. 
Vampires mostly went for a ring that projected an interface.  Older vampires
and shifters usually used a wrist mounted device.  They were old tech and
bulkier but more reliable around mystic energy.  Jeremy used one, but his was
tricked out with more accessories than Batman’s fabled utility belt.  I might
be able to put a ward on the back of the case of the wrist device if I was
careful.

“Maybe,
no rush.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.”  I paused as I was about to get in the
car.  “Wait a second, I need to get Helga.”

“Helga? 
Who’s that?” Mat asked, somewhat confused.  “I thought it was you and some
woman named Estella.”

“Well,
if we’re lucky it will be.  If we’re not we’ll have to get another car to fit
her pet caveman into.”

The
model home was only across the street, so it literally took less than a minute
to walk over and knock on the door.  When the door finally opened I blinked in
mild surprise.  Estella had actually dressed up even more than the first time I
had seen her in the alley.  Colorful gauzy silks hung tastefully from her
gown.  Honestly she looked more like she was heading to a festival than a
police scene.

“Nice
get up, are you going to the Ball afterward?” I asked.  It just better not be
in my house or she was losing her deposit.  Or she would if she was actually
paying to stay at my extra house.  Hmm, how did that happen again?

“Don’t
be silly Derek, these are just ceremonial clothes.  If I have a chance I like
to dress up to show my respect for the elements.”

“Do
the rock monsters and wild wind elementals criticize your fashion sense if they
see you dressing down?”

She
giggled, “I doubt they even realize the difference from what I am wearing and
what I am.  I believe they may consider this comparable to a bird’s feathers.”

“Then
why...”

“Because
I know that I am dressing this way to show respect.  I commune directly with
them.  They know no human tongue.  The elements feel what I feel.  I wear this
to remind myself that this is a solemn occasion and help me project the proper
emotions.”

I
found it hard to believe the elf had any other setting other than bubbly, but I
suppose that she would know how to commune with elemental spirits more than I would. 
To be honest, I tend to ignore the elemental planes.  You can’t live in them
for more than a few minutes and the elemental inhabitants don’t even perceive
you as a sentient unless you have a link to them.

A
polite cough interrupted our discussion.  “I hate to rush you, but Conrad only
gave me two hours.  I can call in if you need more but...”

“No
big deal,” I said with a nod.  I was just along for the ride.  I didn’t think I
would be much help in this situation.  “Is tall dark and brutal coming?”

“Sir
Faramond is running some errands in the Blight for me.  Would you mind
escorting me today?” she asked with a warm smile.

My
own smile froze.  Now I was stuck escorting the elf princess around.  “Sure, no
problem.”  She was nice enough but so sweet she made my teeth hurt.  Then again,
I had been stuck in my house for days.  I mean I love research and after a year
of dead ends I was finally moving forward, but unless I am hibernating I like
to stretch my legs a bit.  I used to go to the few surviving books stores in
the Blight, walk around, browse the old books, talk shop with the armed
shopkeepers, and beat up muggers. 

While
I was psyching myself up to something resembling enthusiasm, we both entered
the rear of the police craft.  The car’s door was newer than the rest of the
vehicle and I had a strange feeling of deja vu.  If we had missiles shot at us
again I was raising my rates. 

It
was a fairly quiet flight.  I was balanced on the precipice of depression and
acceptance and the others in the vehicle just talked about the weather. 
Literally.  Apparently, Estella could predict the weather for days in advance. 
Normally not a large trick considering they have limited weather control in
this world but apparently the Álfar was telling Mat that there would be a huge
storm in a few weeks.  I tuned their chatter out as I wrestled with my inner
child.

When
we finally arrived at the location of the first circle mage’s hideout, I was a
bit startled.  Conrad had mentioned the melting, but it wasn’t quite what I had
imagined.  Previously the area was mostly residential with some urban buildup. 
Meaning the housing rarely exceeded ten floors with mostly 3 story housing and
minor shopping centers.  I had only seen it devoid of life after the evacuation
but now it just looked bizarre. 

As
Conrad had said, the buildings were made of permacrete and durasteel.  Both
artificial materials that were very strong.  Unless you had super strength it
took solvents and heavy duty power tools to make a dent.  It was mostly immune
to heat, but plasma would eventually burn it.  It just wasn’t supposed to have
a liquid state.  Yet it had melted.  The buildings for hundreds of meters
around us had been completely turned into a gray and black sludge. 

Towards
the perimeter of the event, the building looked like they had been made of
wax.  At the edge, you could make out the carcasses of the complexes but they
were rounded and slumped at odd angles.  Humans liked right angles, except in
art, and here there were none to be found.  A little further in and it all
sloped steeply to the ground as walls and towers all swirled together.  Here
and there a lump formed that may have been a parked vehicle.  Obviously
something that either didn’t share the common liquid state of at least resisted
it longer.

The
center was just flat.  I had expected to see a crater.  Seeing the perfectly
flat ground, I realized how foolish that idea was.  Liquids don’t form craters,
they settle.  The ground zero may as well have been professionally molded into
a picture perfect parade ground.  A tiny voice in my head also suggested it
would make an excellent staging area.  I immediately hushed it.  No need to
borrow trouble until we knew more.

Estella
was silent as she exited the vehicle.  She looked slightly upset at the havoc
around us.  I wasn’t sure why.  She wasn’t a druid so I wasn’t aware of any
particular love of nature.  Unless it was an elf thing.

“This
ground is more like plastic than rock,” her statement came out with a slight
quaver.  “I didn’t think it would be like this.”

Her
surprise made sense when you thought about where she had been.  From what I can
tell she spent a lot of time in the Blight and my housing complex.  The Blight
was old construction that hadn’t been rebuilt or repaved with newer housing
material.  I think they still used cement and concrete in a good portion of the
area.  My neighborhood was also old but was known to be a quaint area of
historic middleclass.  It likewise did not use the newer materials except as
part of the actual buildings.

“Can
you still do it?” I asked.  I wasn’t sure if the elementals would be offended
at not having natural rock anywhere in the area.  I really didn’t know much
about them.

“Yes,”
she started doubtfully.  “The elemental plane doesn’t really need the ‘natural’
elements.  I’ll be far more put off than they will be.”  Ah, an elf thing
then.  “I better start.”

She
moved away from the vehicle to the center.  I could tell that she was directly
above the node the circle room once sat on.  Stopping she placed her hands
together and almost appeared to enter a prayer.  On the edges of my senses, I
could feel something probing at the dimensional barriers, seeking the
weaknesses in the fabric of reality.  The cracks were being gently pried open. 
Not enough for a portal to form or more dramatic yet, a tear. 

“How
long does this part take?” Mat loudly whispered.

“Not
sure, never saw this done before.  I think she made contact, now it’s just a matter
of bringing it over.”

At
that moment, the fabric of space around us seemed to ionize.  It was almost
like being hit by lightning.  I staggered back, slightly disoriented and
blinking away spots in my vision.  Mat seemed oblivious to the brief light show,
so it must have not been in his sensory range.  However, I was still seeing flashes
of lights that seemed to coincide with the dimensional reverberations I felt.

Another
flash and before us stood a ten foot tall vaguely human shaped rock creature. 
I felt mystic energy bleeding off of it in huge transparent gouts.  Obviously,
it came from a plane at a much higher level of mystical energy.  Just being in
the same area made my body tingle as very briefly as my body absorbed the
magical energy being ejected from the creature.  I sighed in pleasure, as a
deep seated background hunger I hadn’t even been conscious of faded away.  For
the first time in over a year, I didn’t feel I could literally eat a horse.

Naturally
as my hunger subsided, my hackles rose.  For some reason, I found the presence
of this creature an offense to me.  I wanted to either attack it or shout that
it leave.  Great.  My territorial instincts had come out to play.  Lesser
creatures, humans, werewolves, magic elf ladies and vampires were beneath me, or
at least to my primordial hindbrain, but this creature set them off.  I had
felt this way before with my own kind at home, where I was born, and with Mr.
Evil, but this was the first time I had the sensation since I had crossed
over.  I definitely didn’t miss it.

Gritting
my teeth, I did my best to ignore the insane little voice in my head telling me
to jump on the elemental and start pounding away.  I started to turn away, but
I caught the elemental merging in the glass like surface surrounding us. I made
a point to look away as I opened the police craft’s door and sat down.  It was
either sitdown and practice breath exercises or pace back and forth trying to
burn away excess nervous energy.

“Wow,
that was impressive,” Mat whistled nearby.  “Is that thing dangerous?”

“Immensely. 
But not to us, at the moment.  She seems to have it in hand,” I grunted out,
tensely flexing my hands, almost as if I were kneading dough.  From what I felt,
that thing was about as powerful as an adult dragon.  Significantly more
powerful than me.  At least it felt that way.  This was making me feel more
than slightly grumpy.

A
few minutes later, the creature bubbled up from the perfectly flat surface like
a monument rising from a lake.  I scowled at it sourly.  There were fewer
flares of invisible energy being spat out by the elemental.  This most likely
meant its energy level had equalized with our own dimensions.  It felt less
like a mystical juggernaut to my senses, but it still grated against my
sensibilities.  I wanted to stomp over to the elf and demand she send it back
or just start dismantling the thing. 

I
did neither one.  The creature would be dismissed once its job was complete. 
Any action I took could only delay its departure.  Not to mention result in
serious injury.  Most likely mine.  As it was, it stood silently, more a statue
than a living being, in front of the elf.  She was nodding, as if she was part
of a conversation that the rest of us weren’t included in.  Soon after she
waved her hands and the cracks in the walls of the universe flexed and moaned again,
as if to a tune I suspect only I heard.  The elemental quickly shrunk, as its
essence was pulled through to the elemental plane. 

As
the accumulated energy began to dissipate and I saw Estella blink and come out
of her meditative state I walked over.  “Did that go well?”