Machine, page 22
part #1 of The Peradran Legacy Series
The air no longer tasted of blood and a more polite image of the situation took hold.
Mor said. “Idol chose to flee Eric, over remaining in my Keep and facing the challenge. To him we are a potential threat. Distance became his only defense. Despite his formidable attributes his knowledge of the Arcane is fairly limited.” I saw his point, if not with the perspective of how things could change in Peradra if Idol's motive went unchecked.
“What are we going to do Mor?” Cohiri took hold of my words, and her eyes fixed as he answered.
“You two are going to the Scalla forest, there Cohiri will apprentice for Cirrez as planned. I will take care of Idol.” His tone reflected a meaty guilt trip with plenty of bread to soak up all the blood.
“Mor, you can't do it alone...” Cohiri was cut off abruptly.
“I do not intend to.” He turned his back on us and added, “You'll leave tomorrow. You can borrow Tuvia and Helis, otherwise take all you want.” He turned again to face us before retiring to his inner sanctum. His countenance lightened. “You'll know when you are needed. The North Khapr is safe refuge for the time being. Goodnight for now.”
We left the lab and passed through the former chambers of the Eschelea quads. I recalled their revenge driven aberration that took away all there was of Kevin Connor and left the Machine in his place. Something correlated with that thought I was sure. It left me feeling ignorant toward a few subjects. Important as they were my concern was juxtaposed. Cohiri seemed all right, tired but otherwise alive. The demon creation of the Void; Idol, managed to follow the trail from Earth to Peradra - into Morbannon's summoning chamber.
Understanding Idol meant succumbing to incognition, it was inevitable. Within the influence of his arrest one felt extremely vulnerable. Having the realization of a shared awareness shielded me from his power. Cohiri had no shield previous to her near death experience. Somehow her return from Idol's influence has imbued her with a secondary vinculum between Arcane forces and the Void's nonexistence.
The big picture escaped me; esc'che. The foyer brought me back, I was beginning to feel at home in Peradra. There was a certain piquancy to having a woman like Cohiri at my side during that moment. The ever present Arcane presence was then accompanied by a new sensation, one of rare form. Both the logic of Earthly sciences and Peradran magics are relative to the Void, as I believed all living realities to be. The Void rejects and consumes those realities paradoxically, joining together what never touched, only to forever leave its imprint upon the all that it defined as substantial. I could barely sense the distinct presence about her. It seemed to pacify the same within myself.
Morbannon's role in Cohiri's escape from Idol's enormous capacity to manipulate that which made him, seemed only to amplify her own innate potentials, as a Steel Wizard as well as an individual within a single facet of the incomprehensible design that was the multidimensional realm.
At that moment, in the foyer of that impressive Keep, built near the same relative time period as when I first perceived the infinite not to be conversely, finite. No longer limited to the realm of the conventional sciences - those that could barely conceive reality beyond the third dimension. When Theo Panopolis proved that mathologically, the first three dimensions of 'Earthly' existence were founded upon what he first discovered to be a sterile Void. An immeasurable impossibility. The loose story rounds the mind of an inspired genius; what made reality real?
All of that was then imprinted upon Cohiri. The ruby charm, capable of absorbing the intangible Arcane freely was once linked to Morbannon's banished soul. It had within its tiny structure both the very signature that extended itself to Cohiri and that of the Void. Enabling the superlative Morbannon to channel that link not only to free Cohiri from her spontaneous clairvoyance but to implement her nondirected Arcane influence toward sustaining her physical being within the transmutative effects of the Void. Her aura arcane was sharper, at that moment more like than unlike Morbannon's cultivated yet unfettered Arcane presence.
Her voice was a low and rolling encouragement. “We make a pretty good team, you and me, and Mor of course.” She added.
She was beaming. I didn't even think she knew why. I shared in her satisfaction. She was alive, I was alive and the entire world of Peradra awaited our revelation. Again I was drawn to her new and delicately poised presence of the Void. It resided in a state of serenity within her dominant aura arcane.
Instead of projecting to the place of its origin, I found inside myself a new balance. The senses that revealed them to me were in equanimity, as normal sight was, or touch. Possibly more reliable; not dependent upon conventional stimulus. They had begun to function in a more natural fashion, almost like breathing and a simple sigh would reveal truths imperceptible to all but that which was intentionally exposed. Like the crimson portrait I stood before or Idol's formidable coercive insinuation. I believed that I would face Idol again some day. I also believed the circumstances would be less than coincidental. A twinge of fear tightened between my shoulder blades. I stood to my full height, posturing myself before the lack of confidence I was sure to start feeling.
Cohiri said. “Eric, you are a strong man. Strong willed. Your discipline of abilities unknown to your world are, surprising.” She put on a short contemplative face then asked. “In the lab; when you felt the Void within me and projected there as a result, somehow I brought you out, did you notice anything different? About me and you, anything, just for a moment - afterward?” She looked at me with a concerned demeanor, like she forgot to tell me something important about the event.
“Just before your presence reached me, I was following a pessimistic view of the situation. I was considering retreating to Earth and taking you with me. To escape the malign insurrection of Idol's design. You didn't seem to notice. To me, the air was heavy with the smell of blood. It carried the prophetic edge of condemnation. Then your presence reached me. When I perceived only the Void, you were there, stronger than what was inside me. A second later I was back with you and Mor. The scent of blood was gone and my insight had relayed suddenly toward a more favorable viewpoint in the wake of Idol's appearance.” I reflected the moment once more, divining there was some significance to her question. “And outside the lab now, my Arcane sense has become more efficient, independent and nondirected yet as practical as breathing.” I took a deep breath, almost a sigh. It felt good. I ended my moment to moment replay with a question.
“How do you feel now, afterward?”
“Like I've never felt before. Its not like I was almost dead at all.” That seemed to cover afterward. She pulled the memory together for the first time. “It became a fascination. I separated from my material body to continue following Idol. It was so easy, not to feel fear. I was anxious to describe my new clairvoyance. His form became so real, so impossible to explain. His voice led me and the distance grew. I followed for an explanation, a silent promise beckoned me.” She stopped just before her eyes lost focus, a chill ran down my spine. I took her in my arms. Her skin was cold but grew warmer as I held her tight.
“I believe I understand how it is that Zeraad - is.” I listened as her breath stroked my neck. “Zeraad exists only to fill what is not real.” I relaxed a little. She seemed to also. Where there is, there also is not. She continued. “If a living reality, a sentient life, enters Zeraad, that reality becomes immersed in what exists only on the very edge of reality. An edge that is never far away. Alone such life would die, suffocated by nonexistence. But if that barrier is transcended, whatever it was that made it so would also be immersed. Together both realities would await the pure judgment of the only active force present – its own.”
I understood then how I myself, the Machine, Idol and Cohiri will forever remain in Zeraad. The Void.
Edward Delaire, Machine
