Machine, page 21
part #1 of The Peradran Legacy Series
Before she accepted she said, “Eric, you're Arcane sense is improving, just like I said it would. The same will probably be so for the presence of Zeraad.” She took the sword and put it to rest respectfully in its scabbard, locking the crossguard firmly. “I believe we will soon become quite a team.” I wasn't sure if she meant me or the sword. Both I hoped. I had told her the previous night while we lay together that I intended to remain in Peradra. She was wasn't surprised and had been waiting for such an admission. Together we hoped there was no reason why I could not, whispering how we would defy Morbannon secretly to remain together.
She continued my thoughts verbally, “Now that we are confidants we will share my precarious destiny. Let's go see if Mor is busy, I'm anxious to know if my Dancing Sword will too.” As she turned toward the brass bound door I exercised my will on the unbound Suit, ordering it to wave good-bye. It responded comically if not more mechanically than the Machine.
I could not bring myself to refer to it as Kevin Connor anymore. He was gone. In his place was the Second Most Deadly Machine. Named so in light of my perspective of its origin, not its placement as the second Suit to be altered by the Void. My automaton was tougher, more dense, harder but as clumsy as it was first built. The Machine was more metal than man, somehow becoming both; graceful and agile, powerful and sentient. Free to roam the Peradran countryside. Free from the scientific horrors of Earth. I did not envy it. However, I no longer pitied it. I was relieved it lived and somehow enjoyed the thought that we would meet again.
We passed through the arch that led to the polished steel door of Morbannon's sanctum. In front of the portal I could sense the Arcane presence but withdrew my scrutiny out of respect for Morbannon's privacy. My indirect sensitivity remained an involuntary act, immediate if I did not consciously repress it.
“I think he might be doing something.” I said before she could knock.
“Maybe so, but he probably wants to get this out of the way.” She rapped on the wooden frame for acoustical effect.
The Arcane presence ebbed then faded until only Cohiri's aura was evident. The moments passed as they did in silence. Then the polished steel moved out, just enough that one might slip a hand in to finish the task. I did so and scrutinized what lay beyond.
Empty work tables surrounded by cluttered shelves. The only light fell from the room where the rostrum rested upon its dais. Therein ample light flowed that we might enter without danger of upsetting the delicate contents of the unoccupied laboratory proper.
We entered single file, I led the way through the maze of dormant things. Again the Arcane presence was revealed, this time from an inanimate source. Confined to the area immediately before the unseen rostrum, where surely a magic circle existed. At the corner of the wide opening Morbannon met me. He was looking well and repressing his Arcane aura intentionally. Likely to my benefit.
He was ambient in his greeting. “Now what can our two love birds be up to? Hmm... Perhaps a final request before braving the destiny before them.” He smiled a genuine smile. An expression rare to his features. I welcomed his positive nature with my own smile in admission of his noticing. “Before you come any further, I want you both to know what I have been doing does not concern you. So just let me say that what you ask does not require being in my sanctum.” He stepped back allowing us to enter beside him. As I had perceived, a circle was drawn. Complex script described its circumference, within were various geometric shapes arranged in such a way that described a very specific purpose. A moment of sublime attention and the purpose was clear to me. Cohiri was suddenly tense, she also understood the design; an extremely powerful precognitive and fate altering divination of a self-guided nature.
“I really hope you're not going use one of those on me.” Her voice was full of intimidation.
“One day Cohiri, we may face one another. This type of circle may effect one native to Peradra but its focus is otherwise.” Her eyes found mine. Morbannon acquiesced. “Our two-named friend is, to be blunt, not worth the effort.” He stepped away from us, avoiding the circle's edge. A different sort of smile crossed his lips, one more familiar to me, indifferent.
I dwelled on being able to speak and understand a foreign tongue fluently. I dwelled on how that came to be, emphasized by - 'not being worth the effort' - in Peradran terminology. I knew Spanish also. I cross-translated through his words. It was like hearing that candid tidbit three times in my own mental voice.
Neither of the two Steel Wizards were facing me but their countenances hung before my vision, frozen from the moment of Morbannon's debasing attestation. Cohiri's own expression mirrored Morbannon's with equal albeit atypical egoism. I casually lagged behind as they moved into the scroll library, near the concealed entrance to Morbannon's inner sanctum. They spoke Peradran but I understood in my native English. They spoke of Cohiri's Dancing Sword and unconventional spirits, and summoning.
Inside myself, I found a place where they could not go. Not the Void, that was to relish in complete languor. Instead I was set adrift in the shared awareness with the Suit. I closed my eyes, the voices of my Peradran associates faded to muteness. I saw through the fisheye lens. The distorted summoning chamber was lit in the rich, deep orange-yellow sunlight. I envisioned myself inside the Suit, piloting the automaton. I counted the tinted panes in each window, panes that formed vague images that seemed briefly animate as I counted. Eight such dioramas filled each of the Eastern and Western walls. I moved the Suit and I could see the door in the north wall, across the chamber. I could see the residual wax on the floor, its dull reflection tinted red in a circle roughly ten feet across. There was no Arcane presence.
The Void.
Then the room seemed smaller and a shadow loomed before my shared sight. My perception grew weak, my will suddenly feeble. The shadow took shape before me, the image burned into my mind. Pale irises gripped my heart, narrow horns gouged my minds eye. It became hard to filter out what I saw from what I heard. The voice was directed at the Suit, the shared awareness mirrored itself paradoxically.
:::The circle has been removed. How fortunate::: Every syllable described itself in the rhythm of Void enhanced speech. The thought/voice reached me if not somehow less substantially than it would if it addressed me directly. I had begun to feel fear, cold icy fear. From the place where I was that of the being I perceived, the Suit and the Machine.
The being/entity followed my perception as if it were his own. He regarded the images that filled my mind, how they swam together as one. I could feel the tail of his insinuation pulling free.
:::It would seem we have something in common::: The voice was still directed at the Suit - as a filter to me. Suffice it to say regarding the black skin was difficult. It reflected the somber glow of daylight, casting it off surrealistically blue and yellow.
I relished suddenly the dramatic influx of sensory exposure. To do so meant feeling the presence of the Void without experiencing the nonexistence reality. Interlaced within the predilection was the dark motive of Morbannon's uninvited guest.
:::I bid you not to interfere. That would be unwise, I assure you::: The voice came at me like a wild beast, in perfect English. My fear blended with realization and my shared awareness faltered. I lost control of the Suits mobility but remained 'visually' connected. The effect was the unmistakable employment of Void enhanced abilities.
Meanwhile, Morbannon and Cohiri were becoming concerned toward my disassociative behavior. Vaguely I recall their Arcane auras expanding. Instantly I saw through my own eyes again. Morbannon had drawn Spiritmoon and Cohiri's charm cast an unearthly shade of red. The Arcane presence washed over me and my thoughts formed around what I had perceived. Everything I experienced was forged into a single, tangible energy sphere. Guided by Morbannon's will the sphere alighted upon the center of the divination circle. As it contacted the pale, powdered ash the entire design flashed with Arcane energy. Ripples of green-blue light danced chaotically, absorbing the sphere completely.
Together the Steel Wizard's concerted their powers, invoking the divination circle. Morbannon conducted; he channeled his Arcane clairvoyance through my shared awareness. Then together, with a dizzying surge of Arcane influence, they negated the Demon's power of subjugation, disabling its advantage. Again in complete control of the Suit, the shared awareness of the Morbannon/Cohiri union included the Eric/Suit union. It felt as if I had lived both their lives and my own simultaneously, from the beginnings to the one collective present. The Demon's voice penetrated, somehow reaching us as if it were spoken aloud. We sensed its effort to apply its subjugation and sensed its rage as it failed.
:::I am Idol. Can you not face me? You dare not::: Idol's voice was, regardless of protective magic's, unique, almost fascinating - more so with full cognitive capacity. We marveled in admiration at its nature. The seconds passed one by one.
Regardless, the Arcane union was at advantage. Combined with the precognitive magic's of the circle, the Demon's every thought was anticipated. We poised for our first strike.
It stood within the remains of the confinement circle towering to more than ten feet tall, wings spread wide, cloaking the Suit in darkness. Its pale eyes hovered in the gloom, unblinking. Together in our union we felt the presence of the Void surge up unannounced. The electronic eye in the Suits helmet fell prey to its influence, the connection was broken. Without the shared awareness the union dissolved. Individuals once more we looked to Morbannon for instructions. He took in a deep breath and spoke to Cohiri, his voice was rich with concern.
“Look now into your Amulet, what do you see?” His order was followed without question. Cohiri pulled the chain off her neck and held the gem tight in her closed fist. The light from within made the pale skin of her fingers and that around the delicate bones of her hand glow red. Revealing in the intense light the frailty of the Peradran Human's flesh. Which I would later learn was inexplicably similar to ours, the Humans of Earth.
She spoke loudly with tension and effort in her words. “I see the keep, from high above. I'm moving closer - to the summoning chamber, inside. Wait, that window. There is a shadow behind it. The glass is beginning to push outward.” She held her eyes fixed on nothing. Her lips tight around her teeth, she continued. “The daylight, its slowing him down. He's trying to penetrate the enchantment of the chamber. I can feel his power.”
I also felt the Demon's influence, it flowed like a river. The unrelenting current threatening to consume me. The nonexistence reality that was the Void hovered ominously before me as Cohiri paused to catch her breath.
I looked to Morbannon. He had returned Spiritmoon to his side, his Arcane presence hovering keenly. Then for a moment the air before him appeared to rip open then seal shut again. When it did, he was gone.
Cohiri gasped. “Mor is on the roof!” Her gaze found me then nothing once more.
“He's lifting a rain basin, its full of molten lead...” Her voice trailed for a moment.
The feat was by no means diminished in the Peradran dimension from the same on Earth. The basin was a stone vat filled with ten gallons of molten lead, over half a ton of rock and metal.
“Its passing through the window now.” Cohiri stressed the word now accenting the effort required to signal Morbannon. The temporarily potent Arcane union had become a weakness shared by all three of us.
Cohiri had fallen silent, her expression was unreadable. The impending mental projection into the Void subsided. I imagined Morbannon had succeeded. Using the basic properties of lead; high density and mass, to turn that living nonexistence reality into a gravity poisoning victim. In a moment the shared awareness was again within my control of will. The summoning chamber was empty, there was no secondary sense of the Void.
I concentrated on the room around me, Cohiri had not moved a muscle for far too long. She was also looking a bit flushed. Then the air next to her was torn open. In the opening was a moment of blackness. As soon as it was there, it was gone. In its place stood Morbannon. His Arcane presence was diluted in the wake of the Demon's influence. I ignored his obviously fatigued state and put Cohiri at the top of the list.
“Mor, something is wrong with Cohiri. Look.” I put my hand out toward her to direct his attention. He slowly turned his head and regarded the motionless Cohiri. He asserted his Arcane influence. His presence coalesced around him as he put the words together.
“Her clairvoyance is still with Idol. His influence has rendered her totally without cognizance. Unless the connection is broken soon he will drag her down – until she dies.” There was no urgency in his words, not even a hint of concern. I thought death was a serious concern.
“He lives? Get her out of it Mor, please.” I wasn't trying to conceal my feelings toward Cohiri. I realized they had grown quite deep then.
“I can not just break the spell. If proper care is not taken she could very well die anyway, she may even take me with her.” I tried to appear as he did, unconcerned about his endangerment. To show him what it was like when he was the epithet. He paid no apparent notice and casually examined my Peradran mate. I filled the silence with troubled questions.
“The Demon was named Idol? What did it say to you, was it in English?” Then, “Do you know what it intends to accomplish?” I knew Idol's dark motive. Free in Peradra, in a dimension of Arcane forces the Demon would pursue a destiny akin to the Steel Wizard. Its very presence was powerful enough to defeat even Morbannon's Arcane union, made vulnerable in the same through my ultrasensitivity to the impressions left by the Void.
Gaining immortality was confined to the Arcane realm. Idol was one of the very Demons Cohiri had spoken about, obsessed with the suffering of others. One of those that strived to gain entry to a dimension of magic so that its evil might be felt more tangibly. Having accomplished that meant for Idol a destiny of promising futures. As promising as Cohiri's seemed to have been or Morbannon's. My own destiny had been unfolding without a crease. The page had been turned.
CHAPTER TWENTY
INTO THE SUNSET
Cohiri’s condition was beginning to deteriorate, no longer blinking. Tears streamed down her cheeks. The shiny flow traced her delicate features, framing all that read sorrow. Morbannon ignored my questions and brushed invisible particles from his sleeves. He was adjusting the skull medallion around his neck when he spoke again.
“Straighten her up.” I looked at Cohiri, she was balanced on the balls of her feet and leaning precariously forward. Resting in her hands was the ruby charm, a diffuse presence emanated from within its tiny form.
When I approached her the unmistakable corporeality of the Void revealed itself and mounted as I drew closer. The sensation intensified when I held her hands in mine. I clasped them so that the charm would be held there when I guided them to rest before her. I then rocked her onto her heels. The movements were fluid, like there was no tension at all yet she could not relax voluntarily. I held her as gently as I could, suddenly fragile without her aura arcane.
“Mor, this is getting serious.” I could feel her life draining away, her skin grew cold and tight. She was fighting without sense or link to the unique forces of the Void. The charm Amulet continued to redden, a mere ember in the cold sanctum aether.
Morbannon finished composing himself. He reached forward and brought Cohiri's hands up between them. The light in the sanctum became confined, limited to a lesser spectrum. Darkness crept from the edges of my perception consuming most detail and color. Arcane forces blanketed everything in an armored shroud of protection. My original five senses became my only connection with reality. So much so; ounces became pounds, light became shadow, the air was liquid and silence rang in my ears. I fought desperately to maintain. I focused on the stubborn ember. Its glow was beginning to take the appearance of a ruby once more, separate from the Arcane maelstrom. I was seeing through Cohiri’s eyes, through a strong empathic link.
A sensation I hadn’t expected immediately. I realized She wasn't breathing and her lungs had began to ache. Nothing she saw was what she expected at all. Everything was dark, expanding until all was touching. She was all. Within her was Eric and Morbannon, they coalesced before her. Their voices burbled toward her through the congested parallax. The ruby charm didn't seem right somehow.
Many things didn't seem right but she couldn't put a definition to it. Color appeared at the fringes of each parallel vortex. Everything was coming apart. She felt large pieces of herself being pulled away. Existence was not as complex as she had believed. Within the light was order and more color. Her breath was sweet on her lips and the air was crisp.
“Eric.” She found my arm without looking and squeezed until she could believe it was real. “I'm alive.” She said aloud then realized that it sounded more like a question than a statement. There came no response. It must have been a statement. She felt like a Steel Wizard for the first time. She knew that experience was not solely of her own doing, even if it was she who defied the perils of death itself.
Aware once more, my surroundings were revealed in their full depth. I could find Morbannon and Cohiri, their auras were somewhat distended. I could taste blood in the air. A sensation that addled my point of view. I wasn't thinking we had won at all. We barely managed to survive. The thought of retreating to Earth entered my mind. I looked at Cohiri to see if she empathized my train of thought. Her words to Morbannon were a hushed salvo of ancient Peradran.
She stopped when my glance became a stare and perked up with enthusiasm. “Sorry Eric, Its just that I had to explain it all to Mor before esc'che.” Esc'che was a common Peradran term for 'the leaving of the moment'. Cohiri's experience involved more than our shared train of thought.
Her aura reflected that of the Void from within her then, just enough that my perception reached involuntarily into the nonexistence reality. There, her presence was profoundly magnified, it reached into me and the sanctum was once more my theater of awareness.
