dream of the red star

8/7/2019 Dream of the Red Star

1/47

D r e a m o f t h e R e d S t a r

Written by: Grant Molnar

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It started out as a project. No, not even a project, just ahobby. We had no idea what it would grow to become.

C h a p t e r I

Reth found the day to be normal, by and large. Cabal and Order initiates stareddown their noses at each other as though there was a practical difference between their organizations. The Crystal Wall refracted the already iridescent light of the sun and castrainbows on Sunvales market square. Peddlers hawked their wares in the market. Rethand Torral hawked the meat and skins they had caught with the best of them. Truly, itTorral who had caught them, but he included Reth in everything he did. Just as Rethincluded Torral in everything he did. They had, after all, been friends for over twentyyears.

Then a dragon dropped a corpse in the middle of the hubbub and haggling. Thiswas not normal in the least. Horrible was the word that leapt to mind.

Scarlet winged and golden bellied, it was majestic and royal. It could even becalled beautiful. What a strange thing to think in a crisis. Reth smacked his forehead withhis hand, and then drew his sword. It wouldnt do much against a dragon, but its weightwas reassuring in his hand. Plain but well-balanced and well-honed, it would still help if he got in a fight with someone on the ground.

The shock of seeing the impossible began to wear off. Wide eyed, terrified, people began to run. Screams of terror rent the air. The more responsible citizens of Sunvale were wise enough to grab their children, to comfort the children of their moreagitated neighbors. Peddlers with no stake in the village at all, overturned their stalls intheir attempts to get away. Initiates of the Cabal clustered together, sharing their horror.Order members stood aloof, but beat a hasty retreat.

Reth was not particularly surprised by their reactions. The terror wasunderstandable. Dragons did not exist on this side of the Crystal Wall. They had all beentrapped on the far side, with the elementals and Anarias most terrible monsters, back inthe Second Elemental War, a thousand years ago. They had. So what was this one doinghere?

The first explanation to leap into Reths mind was that this was a drake, not adragon. They both were scaled, they both had wings, and one could masquerade for theother quite well. But dragons were intelligent, and drakes were not. A drake would notknow to drop a corpse into the square of a bustling town to sow confusion. If there was akind of drake that was intelligent enough to manage that, it boded as badly for the worldas the Crystal Walls potential breach.

The prospect of the Crystal Wall broken frightened Reth. Where was the breach inthe Crystal Wall? There was a gate through it in Sunvale, but only the most powerful, andmost insane, wizards would go through it. The most insane of an insane lot. The CrystalGate did not stay open, and nobody had ever returned from beyond it, so it seemed

probable that it didnt open from the other side. The alternative wasnt much better. Nobody wanted to die.

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Which brought his attention to the corpse. It was an old man, but clearly affluent.A blue cloak held by a golden brooch, which was too spattered in blood for him torecognize, covered a scarlet cloak and velvet breeches. Probably, the poor man hadsimply chosen the wrong day for a stroll in the country side. It was unfortunate that thedragon had gotten him. This turned his thoughts back to the monster flying over his head.

He shook his head. His thoughts were wandering in circles! And the circles werent even pleasant! Torral, for his part, had his shortbow drawn and ready, though the dragon wasnow winging its way north. It was far out of range.

How did a dragon get here? Reth asked nervously. His thoughts were rushing incircles, veering back to the horrifically mauled corpse They were all trapped on thefar side of the Crystal Wall after some of the Ikona destabilized. Right?

Second Elemental War, thats right, nodded Torral, eyes still on the heavenseven after the dragon had vanished from view. Clearly, he was no less terrified than Reth.Reth took a deep breath. No less terrified. His fear was justified after all. Less miserablethan the first war, but not by much, Torral frowned to himself. How my thoughtswander in this crisis! Back to the subject at hand: it hardly appears conceivable that a

dragon has been hidden on Our side. Reth could hear the capital in Torrals voice. Of the Ethereal Wall for so long without being noticed. Which means there is a breach.Perhaps the walls strength was fractured, somehow, during the Great Tear?

Great, muttered Reth. A breach. Do you think that this relates to our prophesy?What, the prophesy that you are the banechild who will threaten the foundations of

the world and I am the only one who can stop you?Reth rolled his eyes. This had become a longstanding joke between them. They had

already become friends when their parents told them the prophesy, and the ties of friendship were not easily severed. Especially since their entire tribe was wiped outduring the Great Tear. All they had left was each other. It doesnt say that! The hierarchsaid As the red star crests the horizon, a child will be born; a child who will threaten thefoundations of the world. His name will be a curse for generations. He will be a bane tothe world.

Torral quirked a quick grin, picking up the narrative. And the tiefling said Atmidnight, a child will be born; a child is Anarias only chance. A child who will berevered as a hero. A child to be honored as Vantin is.

Well, there we go, then. Youre hardly Vantin. You dont even use a sword!Torral ignored him. This was a discussion they had had many times before. So of

course, midnight was the time that the red star crested the horizon.Of course. This, Reth jerked his head in the direction that the dragon had flown.

May be the start of our prophesy. Saving the world from elementals would certainlysatisfy it. Though it would seem that one of us will turn evil in the search... Reth tried to

block out that thought. He would stay good! He would! And so would Torral! Evil peoplenever had brown hair. Hair was always black, in the stories. That was a depressingthought. He had black hair. Might as well get started now. If the Crystal Wall wassomehow weakened by the Great Tear, then it must be related to the prophesy. The dreamtold him and Torral to leave their village on the very night it began. It couldnt be acoincidence...

Indeed, Torral nodded, biting his lip pensively. Well, were not going to getany closer to tracking down the dragon by standing here!

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Reth started, jerked out of his reverie. It went that way, I think, he said, pointing. Toward the Kobold warrens, perhaps?

Torral nodded slowly Those primitive draconians would worship it as a god.Yes, we shall head towards the Kobold warrens. Hopefully, without falling victim to their traps. I think someone should know where were going. The Cabal, perhaps?

Reth shrugged uncomfortably. He didnt much like magic, whether organized inguilds or not. You always speak so melodramatically. And verbosely. Torral raised aneyebrow. Sure. You do the talking.

Torral nodded and strode towards the Cabals headquarters in Sunvale. Rethtrailed behind reluctantly, but he followed. There was justification for his dislike. Order members were an egocentric and self-superior lot, convinced that their knowledge of thearcane arts made them, in some way, superior to the common folk. As though drawing

power through the Ikona proved anything. Anyone could do it, given training.Theoretically, the Cabal disapproved of wizards self-superiority, and believed magicshould be open to all. They believed that magic was not the sole estimate of a personsvalue. They believed a great many things, but very few of them translated into actual

action. And few of those actions were endorsed by the common folk. Well, none, really.They reached the once-mansion that served as a center of operations for the Cabalof a Thousand Prisms, in Sunvale, without mishap. An apprentice took them in to thewaiting room (nearly empty, which hardly surprised Reth. Sensible folk avoided wizards)and asked what their business was. His eyes widened when they told him, but his fixedsmile remained in place. It was just as well that wizards were so good at controlling their emotions. They would devastate the world otherwise. The apprentice, or whoever he was,wrote something down on the slate he was carrying, presumably that they were insaneand wanted to hunt down the dragon, and hurried off to seek guidance from his superiors.

A surprisingly short while later, he returned, bringing with him a stately man withsilver hair and the emblem of the Cabal embroidered on his white robe. Aram, here, tellsme that you seek the Cabals blessing and guidance in hunting down that red winged

beast of a dragon. I dont have much I can tell you, not now, but from what is written,dragons are cunning foes and dont like to engage their opponents directly. That beingsaid, they usually have a hoard, at least in the myths. And that , they will guardvoraciously. It may be that this dragon has not had time to form one since breakingthrough to this side of the Etheral Wall. The mans lips pursed. Clearly, dragonsmanaging to escape to our side of the Crystal Wall did not please him. Reth wasntsurprised. He hardly found it pleasing himself. When you find anything out, pleasereport back here. I await your news with interest. This is a monumental event, andsomething the Cabal of a Thousand Prisms would like to keep a close eye on. Have youany questions?

Reth shook his head mutely, but it was Torral who answered. What do you believe is the most probable way that the dragon escaped to Our side?

The old man shook his head slowly. I imagine something involving the GreatTear. An event that creates discordant, rainbow mist that collapses anything that touchesit into entropy, an event that warps both the minds and the bodies of many innocents,giving new meaning to the name tiefling, an event that, rumor has it, has spawned anew form of power, beyond arcane magic, divine service and elvish enchantments it

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seems reasonable to believe that such an event could have done something to the EtherealWall. But I certainly didnt anticipate it!

Nobody did, agreed Torral. But it certainly seems to be the case now. If youhave no further advice, shall we begin our search?

If it pleases you, agreed the wizard. Where do you intend to search?

With the kobolds, first. Like clings to like, and koblds are like little, idioticdraconians.Indeed. Be wary, they may not be intelligent, but they are cunning. I wish you

luck on your travels.Torral stood. Thank you. Well need it, if the myths are anything to go by.

Dragons are more cunning than kobolds, and more intelligent as well. Additionally, they breathe fire. That never bodes well.

Reth looked over at Torral in annoyance. Did they have to engage this self-superior mage in small talk ?

The man chuckled. Farewell. I look forward to receiving your information.Torral smiled slightly. I look forward to giving it.

Torral and Reth left through the east gate, but soon turned north. I liked the prophesymore, thought Reth, when all it did was give me bragging rights.

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Adam provided us with the facilities, the AN, the computers. Hehad the money to buy it all out of pocket, which the rest of uscouldnt manage. Rachel set up the program, over the course of several weeks. And I I came up with the cosmology. Or at leastthe starting cosmology. I certainly did not plan on what theworld we created did to itself.

C h a p t e r I I

Sunlight dappled the floor of the forest. The valley was in the middle of adrought, so the leaves of the trees were wilted and almost dead, despite it being latespring. The forest still carried an enamoring tranquility, though. It carried a curious fromof beauty. This was especially true immediately after leaving the Sunvale. Oak, beech,and elm formed a delightful background for Torrals miserable thoughts. They were

particularly fitting half-dead, as the stood now. Sunvale was a pleasant enough town,without a doubt, but Torral and Reth had spent half their lives in the wilderness. Anytown was constricting after that.

Torral was planning on the best way to get close to the kobold warrens withoutdetection when he noted the presence of the man. Judging by the bared steel in Rethshand, he was a little slow on the uptake. Torral placed a hand on his hunting knife, butdidnt unsheathe it. It was a little bit paranoid of Reth to have drawn his sword. Rather silly, to be honest. Who are you? he asked the raven-haired figure who now barred hisway. The man was wearing a blue cloak, held in place by a golden brooch in the shape of a spider wrapped in silk. Torral chuckled a little at the irony in that.

My name is Vladrin. Vladrin Elarial. You saw the dragon? replied the mancalmly.

Torral nodded impatiently. It was probable that the vast majority of people hadseen the dragon. The man it dropped in town was my father. Im burying him. Onlythen did Torral look past Vladrins cool exterior, and rich clothing, and saw the sweatdripping down his face, the dirt that crusted his hands, and the stains that marred his coatand cloak. He also saw the large hole behind him, which it looked like Vladrin was nowfilling in.

I am a wizard, though not in either guild, Vladrin stated. Beside Torral, Rethwhistled through his teeth. Neither the Order nor the Cabal were particularly pleased bywizards who owed allegiance to neither. Nobody was, for that matter. But I choose to

bury him by hand, because labor is a thing many wizards forget. Labor was a thingmany nobles forgot as well. This Vladrin seemed like a talented and unusual man. Aswell as being a remarkably trusting one.

Why are you revealing this information to us? asked Torral curiously.Why are you telling us, you mean? Reth muttered under his breath. Torral

ignored him. With effort.Because I dont talk to people much, and I was bored. What are you two doing

out here alone? Vladrin countered.Thats no concern of began Reth, but Torral cut him off. Really, Reth could

be quite inconsiderate at times. Were hunting down the dragon. Care to join us?

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Temptation flitted across Vladrins face, along with something else. Obligation?Pain? II cant. Id love to, but Vladrin bit his lip. No. Im sorry, but no.

Torral shrugged, as though it didnt matter to him. Having a wizard in the partywould have been useful, especially one of the caliber that Vladrin appeared to be, but if Vladrin was unwilling, then there wasnt much to be done. Reth exhaled in relief. Torral

wasnt sure why he disliked wizards so much. Sure, they channeled the powers of elemental chaos, which naturally lead to destruction and had nearly destroyed the worldmore than once, but even so, there was no real reason to be afraid. Alright, there was, butit hardly seemed conceivable that Reth would worry so without anything to galvanizehim in some fashion. It didnt matter particularly anyway. Vladrin wasnt coming withthem. With an apologetic shrug, he led Torral past Vladrin and on towards the koboldwarrens.

The woods had a quiet to them, even as squirrels darted away from the interlopersand branches cracked under foot. The journey felt replenishing and invigorating.

But it didnt take long for their travel to be interrupted again. But this time, it washalted, not by a person, but by a flaxen net that now held them upside down, dangling 15

feet above the ground. Scaled humanoids at perhaps waist height, kobolds, streamed fromunderground hiding places, squealing excitedly to each other in some sort of pygmydraconic. He wished he could understand what they were saying. It might help him figureoutone of the kobolds blew threw a blowpipe, a dart whistled through the air towardshim, and he knew no more.

* * *

In ideal circumstances, one does not return to consciousness hanging upside down by ones toes. Given this criterion, these were not ideal circumstances. Torral failed tostifle a groan. His eyes flitted open. A kobold cocked his head. It yammered somethingthat Torral couldnt understand. With the blood pounding in his head, he doubted that hewould have understood even if the kobold was speaking common.

Reth, do you know what he said? Reth knew a little bit of draconic, so itseemed possible. Torral received a grunt in reply. Apparently, the blood in Reths headwas as painful as the blood in Torrals. His thoughts muggy, Torral tried to say this outloud. It came out more along the lines of. Reths blood is painful on your head. I canrelate to this.

Reth chuckled. Torral shrugged, though he imagined that shrugging lookedstrange when your feet were where your head should be. Then a kobold led the dragon inthrough a large opening in the back of the cave. It was far less majestic on the ground,and far less graceful, though its gold and scarlet scales were still pretty.

But led the dragon? Dragons, from what he had heard, did not allow themselves to be led anywhere, under any circumstances. Granted, all he had to go by was legends, butthe point remained. Strangest of all, the kobold was making cooing noises at it. The waya villager might at a cat, or a child might at a rat.

Torral, Reth said. I think he is leading a drake. Hes talking to it like he mightto a dog who performed its assigned task well.

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Torral frowned. That Reth had confirmed his thoughts did not bode well. Is it possible that we allowed ourselves to be captured following a meaningless trail? If we areannihilated over something as trivial as a drake, I will be annoyed.

If we allow ourselves to be annihilated by something as trivial as a drake thenthe world will be better off. After all, it will hardly curse the name of a corpse. Torral

could hear the ropes above Reth creaking. That could be a good sign. Perhaps the tautlines were capable of being disrupted in some fashion? And perhaps they were settling into place and would be unbreakable. Besides, I cant save the world as a corpse. I think.So I cant die yet.

Torral didnt laugh at the feeble joke. Banechild. Swing back and forth, your ropes might break. Might was accurate. It was improbable, but it was all he had. Torral

began to follow his own advice.Reth immediately began to jerk backwards and forwards. Torral could feel his

rope stretching. His head still hurt, and moving it around was exacerbating the problem.It felt like he had his head against an anvil and a burly blacksmith was pounding on it.But given that the alternative was being fed to a monstrous lizard, he wasnt going to

complain. His face locked in a rictus of pain, he continued to swing.There was a snapping sound above his head and he dropped a foot. A second one,and he sank lower. A third, and he was cradling his head on the ground. Rock was hard,and he had fallen headfirst. Still, this was fortunate and surprising. He had suspected thatkobolds would be a little more discerning in their choice of rope. He wished he had hisknife. It had been confiscated, it seemed. The kobold jabbered something and pointed.

The drake moved forward smoothly and opened its jaws. Torral thought he saw amalevolent gleam to its eyes, but it was probably just a fancy. Panic-stricken, he jerkedout of his pain-filled reverie and stood, pivoting on one foot to avoid the drakes attack.The drake, who had overcommitted itself, staggered to a halt. Without hesitating, Torralwrapped an arm around its neck and swung up on to its back. The drakes scales weresmooth, but not soft. Even if Torral had a knife, he doubted he could puncture thesescales. Being on the drakes back offered Torral no protection from its wings. Being

buffeted, he rapidly discovered, was not significantly preferable to being bitten. And itdid nothing pleasant for his headache.

With a snap, Reth crashed to the ground beside him. With a cautious glance at thedrake, he leapt for the kobold who apparently acted as trainer, baring his teeth in a snarl.Torral wondered idly whether it was the headache or Reths rage that brought on hisfriends dark expression. The kobold attempted to pull out a knife, to protect itself fromthis warrior who was so unexpectedly free, but it was too late. Reths fist swung wildly,and the kobold tried to duck, but was sent flying backwards into the wall. It crumpled,unmoving. Apparently, it was far less lucky in its landing than Torral had been when hehad freed himself from the kobolds ropes. Reth leapt after the motionless kobold, turningit over and pulling the knife rapidly from its belt. The drake was still flapping its wingswildly, attempting to dislodge Torral. Reth dashed towards it, holding the knife againstthe back of his forearm. Hoping that the drake would not recognize it, perhaps? It was

probably an unnecessary caution. The drake was thoroughly engrossed with theimpediment on its back. Reth halted abruptly directly in front of the drake, flicking hiswrist backwards and burying the knife in the drakes underbelly. Apparently, not every

part of the drake was as impervious as Torral suspected its back to be.

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Reth looked over at Torral. We have to get out of here quickly, before thekobolds swarm us.

Torral nodded, slightly nervous and very wary. A quick search of the koboldtrainer netted him a strip of steakor at least, he hoped it was steakand a knife. Torralstepped through the opening the drake had come from, crouching to avoid banging his

head. He found himself in a low hallway that went in both directions for perhaps twentyfeet and then forked. Sputtering torches cast long shadows on the wall and filled the air with a thick cloud of smoke. With the light shining through the murk, it felt more like hewas surrounded by wraiths than by ash on the breeze. Reth coughed, apparently havingdifficulty breathing in the smoky atmosphere.

Torral glanced over his shoulder. Dont worry, Ive got your back, Banechild,Reth smiled at him, but there was a grim note to his voice. Torral nodded slightly andturned toward the right end of the hall, which seemed to slant upwards slightly. Fork.Right. It was going down now. That didnt bode well. Fork. Left. Why hadnt he seen anykobolds? Fork. Right. He was beginning to get claustrophobic.

Torral wished that the ceiling in the halls was a little higher. The crouch he was in

added a crick in his back to his other discomforts. He suspected that it would go away if he simply had more space.As he was pondering the wonder of open spaces, he wandered into one.

Delightful. The ceiling was arched, but the vaulting atmosphere seemed more brought on by natural stone than complicated humanor koboldstructures. It was wonderful,either way. Torral stood and looked up, pleased to be able to leave a crouch at last. Hefound himself staring at another drake.

This one was white, highlighted with blue, and perhaps ten feet long from tail tonose. It circled above a frozen pool in the middle of the floor. Killing it would be aninconvenience, but not an enormous one. It was very graceful in the air. A pity that itmust die, but it might notice him at any moment, and who know how well these beastswere trained? Torral wondered where its trainer was.

He was moving into position to fire his shortbow at it when the drake deigned tonotice him. It went into a dive, ready to snap him up in its jaws. Torral dived and rolledout of the way, bruising his shoulders on the hard stone. Granite, perhaps? Why was he

pondering the form of rock when a drake was trying to kill him? The drake in questionlanded gracefully and lashed its tail, smacking Reth, who had been about to stab it, or try,anyway, and sending him skidding on to the ice. Torral found this both irksome and

painful. Painfully cold, as it were. The drake turned back towards Torral and opened itscavernous mouth.

A flurry of hail-filled wind emerged from its maw, causing Torral to curl back into the ball he had just emerged from. And revealing a terrible mistake he had made.This wasnt a drake at all. Blighted ether!

It was a dragon.

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Truth to be told, I drew from a number of sources with my initialdesigns. Norse mythology, Dungeons and Dragons mythos, beliefs

and philosophies of the 15 th centurynothing was free from my searching. But taking a direct hand in the worlds progress did

not occur to me. No, that was Adams idea.

C h a p t e r I I I

A dragon. The Crystal Wall was breached after all. Ether! Blighted ether! Rethgasped, and not just because the ice he was lying against was freezing him to the bone.He hoped that Torral was unharmed by the blast of ice that had blown over him. He washuddled in a ball now, which probably meant he was unhurt and unlikely to help Rethfight the dragon. A dragon!

Dragons didnt exist, not here. Not now. No wonder the market place had panicked. It seemed the only reason he hadnt was because he didnt believe what hissenses had told him. He had been right, but he was also so, so wrong.

It took the dragon turning towards him and growling something in draconic abouthaving to take care of the intruders on its own despite the kobolds promises to thecontrary to jerk Reth back to his senses.

He held the knife that he had gotten from the trainer and killed the drake with flatagainst his forearm. Hopefully, the dragon wouldnt see it coming until it was too late. Itwas a small dragon, according to the legends. Of course, the legends placed dragons atover 100 feet long, but still. Hopefully, this one was still young and gullible.

He put on a frightened expression. To trick the dragon. Yes, that was the onlyreason. He wasnt frightened, not at all. Without taking a step closer, the dragon openedits mouth. Reth rolled to the side, and avoided being more that clipped by the frostbiteinducing breath. Frostbite inducing. Hah! Torral was wearing off on him, with all his bigwords.

Torral, seizing on the dragons fixation with Reth, leapt and tried to stab it in theside. His knife rang like he had tried to stab a bell. And the scales were unmarred.Reth! he yelled. It is critical that you strike the underbelly of the dragon to avoidthe dragon caught him with one of its legs and threw him against a wall. That was alright,he thought he knew what Torral was saying. Reth hoped that Torral wasnt dead.

The dragon turned back to Reth. Reth began to roll, from shoulder to hip and back again, never staying in one place long enough to be hit. He hoped. The dragon spun inconfusion, then, recognizing that he was rolling in a large circle and seeing where hewould be in a few seconds, turned towards that spot and prepared to destroy him.

In one smooth motion, Reth stood, turned, and leapt. He plunged his knife into thesoft underbelly of the dragon, which jerked. He stabbed it again. And again. Wonder of wonders, it didnt roll over and kill him. But it did thrash around, hopefully in its deaththroes, and that might have the same effect.

Reth jumped clear, and ran over to Torral. It would be just typical of Torral to die,and saddle him with being the dark enemy that would be hated by people the world over.Torral groaned as Reth rolled him over. The dragon shuddered, and lay still. So. That wasone thing he didnt have to worry about. He supposed he should be elated that he nighsingle-handedly killed a being out of legend, but he was too concerned for his friend.

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A kobold peeked its head into the room, saw that dragon lying bloody and on itsside, and quickly turned to leave again. Reth held up his hand arrestingly. The koboldstopped, staring wide-eyed from Reth to the dragons corpse and back again. I am god,he said, thinking quickly. Your dragon false god, so I cast down. By Taeron, this would

be easier if he was actually fluent in draconic! Your language beneath me. Carry my

servant, he gestured peremptorily at Torral. Out. I will follow. Do not cross me, for Iam godWide-eyed, terrified, ears flat against the sides of its head, the kobold obeyed. He

led Reth past several other kobolds, jabbering to them as he past. They prostratedthemselves before Reth. An unintended side effect, but not an unpleasant one. He smiledto himself. One of the kobolds, who had dared to look up, squeaked and pressed his faceagainst the ground. Surely his smile was not so hideous as that? No matter.

He ended up outside the kobolds warren without significant difficulty, though thehallways were low enough that he worried for Torrals head on occasion.

Now free, Reth gestured commandingly, royally. It had worked once, so why nottwice? You lead me to path. Carry servant with you. I take it from there. You be free to

go. Obediently, nervous, eyes roving constantly, the kobold led the way through thewoods, avoiding the oaks, and sidestepping several traps that Reth saw and probablyseveral others that he did not. When they reached the path, well-trodden and refreshinglynormal, after the warrens, he dropped Torral and ran. Apparently, he did not find it sorefreshing. Or perhaps he was simply terrified of Reth. There was that.

Once the kobold was out of sight (which didnt take long with the willows thatlined the paths thick fronds blocking Reths sight), Reth picked up Torral, hoisted himon to his shoulder, and began to walk to Sunvale.

At the moment when Sunvale was coming in to sight, Torral groaned and tried tosit up. He almost took both himself and Reth to the ground. Try to gain full control of your faculties before you try to stand, Reth advised without slowing. So close to hisdestination, he didnt want to stop for anything.

If I had done that, it is probable that we would be corpses. You successfullydefeated the dragon? It was a good point, but a silly question.

If I hadnt done that, it is probable that we would be corpses, Reth quipped.He struggled not to grin. If you can still talk like that, you cant be too far gone.

If I was too far gone, you wouldnt talk like that, Torral shook his head. Youare always making jokes at my expense.

You are always making jokes at mine, Reth pointed out, still not slowing downa whisker. Well, perhaps a little, but it was difficult to maintain a conversation with aman who was slung over his back. He had justification.

True, but mine can be reasonably described as witty or clever. Yours, Reth, are just mocking.

Hush, muttered Reth, but he wasnt annoyed. Not really. No, certainly not.Torral was silent the rest of the way to Sunvale, which Reth found a relief. But he wasfrustrated with being connected to the Cabal in this. Why did you have to get usinvolved with wizards? he finally burst out, three feet past the town gate.

Because, responded Torral soberly. I suspected one of us might be injured. Iwas correct in that regard. I suspected that events might be larger that we could handle on

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our own. If there is truly a dragon on this side of the Ethereal Wall, I consider myself correct on that score as well. And if we had to be involved with wizards, better the Cabalthan the Order of the Runeborn, is that not so? Now set me down, I want to be on myown two feet when we talk to the wizards.

At least the Order is honest about who and what they are. And if you want to be

on your feet when you are facing the Cabal, perhaps you recognize the danger they poseas well! Reth muttered these things, but he did so to himself. He didnt much likewizards, but he didnt have any concrete reasons. Just a feeling. Just a blighted feeling, asinking suspicion, that wouldnt go away.

They entered the Cabal headquarters, and were lead promptly to meet with the oldman who they had talked to before. It occurred to Reth that they still didnt know hisname. It didnt matter particularly. It wasnt like he planned to talk with the man anymore than he had to.

Torral reported the goings-on in the kobold caverns. The wizard frowned inthought, but said nothing for several seconds. This is too large for the Cabal in Sunvaleto handle alone. Would you two be willing to report to Kharon and explain to the Cabal

everything you just told me? He pulled out a letter, embossed with the Cabals seal, andhanded it to Torral. This should explain everything else to their satisfaction. That youwere so reliable in your duties here, the significance that there may be to a dragon soclose to the Crystal Gate will you deliver it, and your information? Oh, and one other thing. Dont open it yourself, or it will burst into flame. A general ward, not intended toguard against you specifically.

No, Reth wanted to say. Absolutely not, weve been entangled enough in your machinations. I wont go. We wont go.

Yes, Torral nodded. And we wont.

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The first flaw in our world was this: the high elementals werenot supposed to get so close to destroying the world.

C h a p t e r I V

Talitha decided that the Cabal was patently unfair when they refused to hear her petition. It was a reasonable request that she had made. She simply wanted to do something significant, something that mattered, and the simplest way to do it was to work with the men who had brought word of a dragon on this side of the Ethereal Wall alongwith a message from the Cabal in Sunvale. She was seventeen, and a full member of theCabal now. She could work with these adventurers who had slain a dragon.

She was a full member of the Cabal, if barely, having completed her training after a mere three years when four or more were typically required. If the study of plants wasnot the most applicable subject for this difficulty, it wasnt the least either, though shecouldnt think of any focuses less applicable off the top of her head.

But to be rejected out of hand? The Cabal could not spare the members whowould be most useful in accompanyingwhat were their names? Torral and Reth?andthose who might have gone regardless were investigating other unusual happenings insuch diverse places as Gohan, Moonglen, and the United Provinces of Vantins Promise.She was the best person available for this job. Well, close, anyway.

* * *

This is by far the most serious report that we of the Cabal have obtained,announced the somber, silver-haired man who lead the Council of Rainbow. There have

been signs of unusual behavior, suspicious events, but nothing as explicit as a dragon

terrorizing a town! And the one that is closest to the Ethereal Gate, at that! Admittedly,the Ethereal Gate is barred and impassable to all but the most powerful of wizards, butthe presence of a dragon on Our Side of the Ethereal Wall challenges many notions thatwe have held for generations. The Cabal must take action immediately, to keep the Order from disrupting our plans and endangering the future that Salestriar has planned for us!

All that you have said appears to be true, counsel leader Mahu, but the dragon islikely to be an isolated occurrence, if it ever existed at all, the blonde haired councilmember shook his head. It seems that all we have to go by, all the evidence that we havethat the dragon exists, is circumstantial. Except for the two boys who claim to have slainit and they can hardly be trusted. Moving too quickly could be worse than being tooslow.

Agreed, piped up Tom, the newest member of the council. If the dragon isrelated to Salestriars plans, then it is important to keep them from being disrupted. Butrumors will circulate, among the Cabal and throughout Kharon, that a dragon has beensighted and slain and the Cabal had done nothing to prevent it from happening again. I

propose that we take a junior member of the Cabal, a weak one who does not know our secrets, and have him work with the dragon-slayers to try to find a path through theCrystal Wall, Tom chuckled to himself at the impossibility of such a feat. The Cabalwill be seen to have taken action without threatening the overall plans. Even if they do

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manage to break through, somehow, there is little they can do against the monstrouselementals who inhabit the Other side anyway.

Mahu nodded. Your suggestion has merit. But well have to set up acontingency, in case they get too far. Either way, I think I know exactly what arrogant,impotent wizard to pick

* * *

When she was approached and told that the Cabal had reconsidered its position,Talitha didnt believe her ears at first. She shook her head, dark hair streaming behindher. You meanI can work to uncover the mystery of the dragon?!? she asked,disbelief tingeing her voice. This was delightful! But why had the Cabal changed itsmind?

Council Leader Mahu smiled gently. You have both the blessing and resourcesof the Cabal at your disposal, so long as you do not turn this into a wild goose chase. Iwish you luck. Shall I introduce you to Torral and Reth, our gallant dragon-slayers?

She nodded with more calm than she felt. She was not going to ruin thisopportunity, this moment of wonder. The Cabal didnt doubt her, as Talithas fellowstudents did, didnt consider her calm exterior to conceal weakness. She was trusted. Shewould not squander this honor. She would stand tall and strong. It would be wonderful.

Mahu lead her out of the library, where she had been researching, or attempting toresearch, other incidents of parallel magnitude. Not brooding. Certainly not that. Talithastepped down steps, through halls, and on through the Tower, to the sitting room. Plushvelvet cushioned the chairs, murals adorned the walls, and chandeliers illuminated it all.But she had seen all of that before. Her eyes went immediately to the two men who sat, illat ease in their luxurious surroundings.

One was tall, lanky, and brown haired. He had a curious air around him, a quiver on his back and a hunting knife at his side. He cocked his head at them as they entered, asthough surprised about something. Whatever it was, he shrugged it off momentarily andwent back to his study of the room.

The other was shorter, with broader shoulders and darker hair. Where hiscompanion seemed curious, he was most certainly wary, his hand rising to the sword athis back and dropping again as though he expected to be assaulted inside of the Tower of a Thousand Prisms. Perhaps this would not be as enjoyable as she had hoped. There wasno turning back now, though.

Greetings, Torral and Reth, Mahu said as gravely as if he was telling them thata mutual friend had died, nodding first to the brown haired man and then to the broad-shouldered one. I come with both an assignment and an ally for you. This is Talitha, aninitiate of the Tower and a wizard both talented and clever.

Salutations, ally Talitha, Torrals lips quirked into something akin to a grin.You will be assisting us reconnoitering and discovering the route that the dragon used tocome here?

Hello, Talitha, said Reth, glancing at Torral with a mocking smile on his lips.Youll help us figure out a path through the Crystal Wall, right? He turned to Mahu. Itdoesnt bode well that youve started with good news. To soften us up? What sort of assignment is this going to be?

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Talitha opened her mouth to answer, but Muha spoke first. Actually, the other news isnt as delightful, though you misstate my motivations. There have been a varietyof hideous, senseless murders around Kharon. We of the Cabal suspect that this is related,in some way, to the dragon and the breach of the Ethereal Wall. So we would like you toinvestigate them, find out their cause, and report back to us.

Great, muttered Reth to himself. Locate a mass murderer, on the odd chancethat he might be involved with the dragon. Then hope that he doesnt murder us. ThisReth seemed very cynical. This adventure could grow very frustrating, very quickly.

I trust you to be able to take care of yourselves, replied Muha gravely. You didkill a dragon, after all. The Cabals resources are at your disposal. Good luck.

Any suggestions on where to look?Just ask around the city. Im sure you will find the experience interesting. Now, I

have work to do. We have quarters for you, if you wish to use them.

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It was supposed to go like this: the elementals try to tear theworld into its component parts and assimilate it into the

Maelstrom. The gods protect the world and defeat the elementals.But things went wrong. The gods were too proud to work together,

for one.

C h a p t e r V

Five days of asking questions, five days of examining the homes of the slain. Andnothing to show for it. Reth ground his teeth in frustration. Torral thought there was a

pattern to the kills, but was unable to specify what it was. Reth was skeptical. He thoughtthis was an exercise in squandered time, a pointless attempt to find pattern in chaos. Rethdoubted they were going to find anything in the luxurious squalor of Kharon under anycircumstances, but the only chance they had was not at all like what they were doing.Interviews were all very well, but the only way they would discover anything was to waitat a house each night and hope it would be slaughtered!

What a depressing thing to hope for.Im so close! declared Torral, eyes tight with frustration. I should be able to

figure this out, but it simply isnt happening.Talitha, their dark-haired, buxom compatriot, looked over his shoulder at the map.

Perhaps outlining things in something that contrasts with the map more clearly than thatink might help? She waved he hands around and spouted gibberish. Wizards. Reth rolledhis eyes. The ink that Torral had used to mark the location of the murders on the mapturned bright red. Torrals eyes widened. Perhaps there was something to wizardry after all. Reth twitched uncomfortably at the thought.

I figured it out, announced Torral to nobody in particular, looking up from themap. Talitha raised an eyebrow pointedly. Torral shrugged uncomfortably. You helped,Talitha. Thank you. He turned the map around so that Reth could see it. Oh! It was Askull. The murderer is patterning his kills to make a skull. But the picture isnt quitecomplete. Following the pattern we have observed thus far, he will strike here, next.Torral pointed to a house in the southwestern corner of the map.

I agree with your synopsis of the next target of the murderer, said Talitha. Butit looks more like a smiling clown to me.

Torral fixed her with a withering look. We camp out there tonight with the townguard, and we have our man.

Are you forgetting the houses that just vanished? Talitha asked. A man whohad been walking casually down the street rapidly quickened his pace. He wanted nothingto do with vanishing houses. I dont know about you, but I wouldnt wish that onanybody. We could protect the people in that house, give them warning. And if wesimply confront him, it will, or could, happen to both us and the guards. Thats hardly a

pleasant thought.There was that. The killings fell into three major categories: either an entire

household was slaughtered, the corpses mutilated and torn to pieces, or an individual waskilled cleanly and the rest of the house was unharmedor the house was simply gone,and everyone inside with it. Those last two were the least frequent.

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Regardless, Talitha had a point. One does not expect a wizard to make sense, butthey did, on occasion. After a fashion. They were just so egocentric! Perhaps sneakingwould be best Reth said cautiously. I dont support stabbing our enemy in the back,

but if we follow him discreetly, we could find out if he is connected to the dragon. If hisspells are anything like normal ones, than blindfolding him from behind should keep him

from targeting anything.Torral nodded slowly. Yes, that makes sense. Lets get a bite to eat, and Ill leadyou to the house, where we can camp out for the night. If he doesnt show up then, hestill might tomorrow. If he slaughters a different house, than well change strategies.Perhaps I was wrong.

Reth shook his head. I doubt it. You never seem to be.Torral winked and chuckled. Right you are, banechild. Reth rolled his eyes.

Honestly.Talitha looked on curiously. Banechild? This is a story I want to hear.Torral and Reth exchanged nervous glances. You ought to know us a little better

before you here that story. Reth finally said.

Yes, agreed Torral. It would be problematic if your opinion about us shifted because of that. Best avoided, for sure.Talitha looked from one grim-faced man to the other. Alright. But, she added

hesitantly. Isnt what Ill come up with on my own likely to be worse than the truth?Typically that would be a rational thing to assume. And the banechild thing isnt

all bad, Torral replied. Didnt Torral want to refrain from telling her about their past?But in this case, I doubt that your thoughts could be worse than the banechild

phenomenon.What? she asked suspiciously. Did you do something wrong? Kill someone, or

something?Neither of us has committed a crime, Reth replied, not giving Torral a chance to

respond and give away more information. At least, nothing of significance. The banechild thing is something quite different. Might the Ether consume him, hecouldnt keep quiet any better than Torral!

Right, Talitha said calmly. Reth couldnt tell if she was skeptical, or earnestly believed what they said. He didnt care, either. Certainly he did not. Why would he carewhat a wizard thought?

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Their pride blighted the world.

C h a p t e r V I

It was cold and dark in the alley that Torral, Talitha and Reth had chosen to wait. Their view of the neighboring streets was restricted by the high walls of the houses the stood inthe shelter of. It restricted Torrals view, but the house that the death would take place inwas directly in front of him, so it shouldnt matter too much. As an additional bonus, theywould be obscured from probing eyes. If any eyes were probing in such a fashion, theywould be disappointed. He hoped that the were not, but one did not trust their life tochance.

He wrinkled his nose, failing to ignore the slime that moldered on the ground. Itseemed to him that the city would be a little more sanitary, being the headquarters of twomagic guilds, but cleaning alleys was atypical, even here.

Torral was jerked out of his reverie abruptly by a hand on his shoulder. He half-

drew his belt knife before he realized it was Talitha, not the mysterious murderer. She pointed toward the low, tiled house in front of them, where a hooded figure was caperingwildly. Torral believed that he could discern the dull glint of a knife in the mans hand.Then the world exploded in light and color, and he was torn to pieces, annihilatedcompletely.

A moment later, he was standing there again, shaken and gasping for breath. Ever since the Great Tear, the world occasionally dissolved in that fashion, but it alwayssprang back together again. Still, dying, or whatever it was that happened, was never a

pleasant experience. He might have supposed it a sign of insanity, or a mark of the prophesy, but those around him were always affected as well. Talitha was gasping for breath, Reth wide-eyed. Had they had less experience, they would have been on the floor

retching instead. Might the Abyss consume him, it never felt any easier, even if herecovered faster. Dying never felt pleasant.The figure in front of the house was still capering wildly. Then he stopped,

suddenly. Perhaps he had been performing a magical spell and had now finished? Torralglanced questioningly at Talitha. She shook her head silently, and might have mouthedno magic besides, but he could not tell. Either way, it was a curious phenomenon. Werethey chasing a madman? He was walking away from the house now, so if they were, itwould be best to follow him promptly. It was undoubtedly the wisest course of action. Hegestured to Talitha and Reth, motioning them to follow the madman. They nodded,though Reth looked confused, and snuck after him, keeping as far back as they couldwhile keeping him in sight and darting into alleyways whenever they had the opportunity,

striving to avoid detection.Torrals breath hissed between his teeth as he watched them go. They could probably have avoided detection better if they simply happened to be going in the samedirection as their quarry. There were reasons they could be out in the dead of night. Notmany, but a few.

Of course, they were tailing a madman, and he might not care if they suspectedhim of anything. The insane were liable to pursue virtually any course of action. Perhapsthere was wisdom to the strategy that they were pursuing.

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Before long, they were out of sight, and Torrals thoughts turned back to thereason he had stayed behind. He wanted to see what condition the people in the housewere in. He wanted to see if he could assist them in any way. He had abandoned them totheir fate, after all. It was the least he could do.

He strode across the street swiftly, hoping to avoid attention. It was unlikely that

the villain who his companions were tailing would return, but footpads roamed the roadsat night, and Torral hoped to avoid a fight, if at all possible. Fights were cumbersome and painful, and his most recent attempt at one had resulted in him being carried into Sunvaleon his friends back. He hadnt realized how bony Reths shoulders were before.

The door of the house was unlocked, unsurprisingly enough. Few people couldafford locks of any sort, and low quality locks were practically useless. Locks that wereaffordable by even middle-class merchants were easily jammed, broken, or picked. It wasfar more effective to simply hire a strong-arm. If the strong-arm was trustworthy, it wasfar more effective.

Why was he dithering like this? Was he afraid of what he would find inside?Gritting his teeth, he swung the door open. The smell of blood rolled over him in a

revolting wave. If he could smell this from the door, then there was no chance that theyhad survived. If the man had done this from outside, however, he could have saved them by warning them to leave the house. Their death was on his head.

When he stepped in and lit a candle, he saw that the rooms walls were coatedwith blood. And he did not even want to think about what coated the floor. Silently, heswore to himself that he would never again allow innocent blood to stain his hands, evenindirectly. Abandoning people to needless torment was never justifiable. Even necessarytorment was not.

Unashamed, he knelt on the floor and wept.

* * *

For a capering madman, the villain that Talitha and Reth stalked was surprisinglyfrustrating to tail. Talitha gritted her teeth. This idiot probably hadnt even done anythingto the house. But he repeatedly darted around corners, forcing Reth and her to sprint after him, then stop abruptly when they realized that he hadnt kept running once you roundedthe cornerit was heart-stoppingly stressful. So she tried maintaining her speed, slowingReth to match her with a touch on the arm. Only to discover that their quarry hadntslowed on turning the corner, and being forced to run to catch up. It was almost as thoughhe knew he was being followed. But if he did, then he must be an innocent crock. If thatelaborate magic he had performed was real, and she doubted it was, because she couldntsense it, then why hadnt he done the same to them, if he knew they were following?

Then he turned abruptly and entered a shipping warehouse, one that had beenslaughtered, and months before any of the others. Suddenly, she knew there was nomistake. That house had been slaughtered. And that meantether help her and the Order toothere was a form of power that was undetectable. The world dissolved into roilingcolors, and she was annihilated.

Talitha gasped and stood back up, Reth right beside her. That sort of unpleasantthing happened, on occasion, the fabric of the world pulling loose, no doubt, but it wasuncommon. It had only happened to herand that meant that it had only happened to

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anyone, because it was a world wide phenomenontwice in her memory. A third time, ithappened twenty times in one night. That was particularly bizarre, but it didnt seem to

be particularly relevant. She had nightmares for weeks after it though.She took a step toward the door, and a horrifying thought occurred to her. What if

the source of his power was that twisting of the world? What if he was tearing the world

apart by using it? Reth tugged impatiently at her arm, jerking her back to the realm of theliving. She took a shuddering breath. The Cabal had to know about this threat! She had totell it!

Talitha and Reth snuck up to the door. Reth peeked around the doorframe, thenturned to Talitha, wide-eyed. He knows were here! he whispered. The door swungopen in his hand, and she saw that he spoke the truth.

The murderer had red hair, green eyes, and a lopsided grin on his face. He alsohad tentacles sprouting from the top of his head where hair was more appropriate. He wasa tiefling, a term initially used to denote those who had made a pact with the Abyss, butafter the Great Tear occurred and changed both the bodies and minds of hundreds, theterm was generalized. Youve seen the pattern to my murders. Im glad. I spent a lot of

time figuring out how to make that skull, and a good deal more time putting it together.Wasnt it an enormous accomplishment?Talithas eyes widened. She hadnt realized how accurately the term madman

actually applied to their mass murderer. Perhaps, however, his insanity could be turned toher advantage. But it probably meant he was unrelated to the dragon that had put her inthe company of Reth and Torral. It meant that she had been sent on a will goose-chase.Have you done anything with the Crystal Wall? Do you know anything unusual aboutit?

Yes! he exclaimed excitedly. That didnt bode well. Then his expression grew pensive, the tentacles sprouting from his head still. Buthow did you know? I was bringing you here to show you, but I dont quite understand

Just a lucky guess, she replied calmly. Blight, calmly! She felt like attacking theman, like screaming, like doing anything at all! It was one thing to go on an adventureexpecting to find the world turned upside down. But when it actually was, you still

bumped your head. This tiefling had done something to the Ethereal Wall?!? If anyonecould cross it now, somehow, if it no longer held, more firmly than diamonds, the worldwould be overrun by elementals before very long at all!

The madmanyes, extremely madwas speaking again. Talitha cocked her headand began to listen, though she didnt like what she heard. so I felt like I needed to

bore a hole in the Crystal Wall! It wasnt uncommon for tieflings to feel strangecompulsions, their minds warped by the Great Tear so that they no longer capable of discerning what ought to be done, and what not. But he had bored a hole in the CrystalWall? But I didnt want to walk through the trees outside of Kharon to the Crystal Gate,or anywhere, because trees are actually evil monstrosities that want to eat you! Clearly,his mind had been thoroughly twisted. Trees were evil monstrosities? Trees werewonderful! She wished they could grow in Kharon, more than just the saplings in the Elar and Batrin gardens and the grounds of the Cabals tower. Treelessness was one of thethings that she despised most about cities, or at least Kharon. She opened her mouth torespond, but the tiefling kept talking. So she kept listening.

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Anyway, so I wanted to bore a hole, but I couldnt leave Kharon. So I killedeveryone in this warehouse and dug a secret tunnel from here to the Crystal Wall! Thatwasnt pleasant.

How did you manage that without being discovered? Reth asked gently. Heasked surprisingly gently, for such a hulking man. And how did you dig all the way to

the Crystal Wall? The clay under Sunvales topsoil doesnt dig very easily, and youwould have had to work alone.The madman puffed up self-importantly. Well, I changed the fabric of reality. I

reached past the universe as you understand it, and into the ones and zeroes that made upcreation. He reached into the ones and zeroes that made up creation? The Tear hadaffected him very strongly indeed, if he believed that. I messed up several times andended the universe, but that was okay, because the universe has an inertia, of sorts, that

pulls it back together again. Anyway, it seems that way. The tentacles on the mans headwrithed in cadence to the tieflings voice, changing color as they rippled, from red to

blue, to a nauseating green. So I changed the universe so that the soil was no longer there, and strengthened the soil around it as I did so. It was hard, and it took practice,

especially since each time was slightly different, but I did it. So now I was at the CrystalWall.And what did you do then? Talitha asked, a slight tremor to her voice betraying

her nervousness.I tried to do the same thing to the Crystal Wall that I did to the ground, but it

kept popping back. It was very annoying. But after ending the universe a few more times,I removed a large enough chunk that when it grew back, it didnt come back completely.At least, I think that is what happened. But I cant quite remember. But what wasamazing about this is that there was a cave on the far side of the Crystal Wall that wasenormous and had a bunch of people in it!

Talitha and Reth waited tensely, silently hoping for the best while expecting theworst.

These people had pointy ears, like elves, but jet-black skin, as black as theOrders symbol, the madman giggled, and his hair turned as black as the skin of thesepeople. Except without the red and blue. But they had white hair that glimmered in thelight of my torch. Almost like it was spun from silver.

Reth and Talitha exchanged glances as their host sighed rapturously to himself,lost in his story. And a strange story it was. Making the wall vanish, and it reappearing?Black skinned elves? How had they survived the elementals? Very strange indeed.

They asked me where I was from and how I had broken through the CrystalWall. So I told them. They suggested that I murder a bunch of other places too, so thatthis one wouldnt stand out, and asked if they could add to my tunnel and give itadditional branches. The madman frowned to himself, and then shrugged. I said yes,and decided to make the deaths interesting by sticking them in a pattern. Was that okay,do you think? he inquired anxiously.

Talitha shrugged, a disgusted expression flickering on to her face and off again.Probably.

Oh, good. So they dug extra tunnels, or actually got a bunch of chained people todig other tunnels. I went down one of their tunnels because I liked it, and I saw a dragon.A white one. It looked very dramatic. They probably brought it so that it could dance for

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the Elars. Those nobles really like flashy celebrations, he explained, nodding toreinforce his point. Anyway, after a while they left, so that people wouldnt know whothey were if they discovered the outpost. At least that is what they told me. And I finishedmy pattern! And you followed me, and I thought it would be wonderful to share theexcitement.

How long ago did you meet these pointy-eared people? Reth asked carefully.Oh, not too long. A couple months, I think. Maybe three. Maybe a year. Do youlike spinach? he replied, grinning crookedly.

I have never heard of it. How did you keep people from finding your tunnelwhen they entered the warehouse?

You try to find it. Then youll understand, he explained. Reth obliged, runninghis hands up and down the walls, looking at the floor for a trapdoor or a hole. I joined inthe search, casting a spell to detect magic, checking to see if there were any hiddencatches. Neither of us found anything. We looked at each other in confusion.

The tentacles on the tieflings head wriggled back and forth in amusement.Nobody ever looks up, he whispered conspiratorially, and, bracing himself in the

corner of the warehouse, he climbed until he reached the ceiling, and then swung hishand towards it. We winced, waiting for the crash of his hand against roof. It didntcome. When we looked back at him, his hand was inside of the ceiling, moving back andforth as though it wasnt there. I left the ceiling in place visually, so you can still see it,

but replaced it with the tunnel physically, so you climb through the ceiling to end upunder the floor.

That seemed strange and paradoxical, but it also seemed to be true. Even thoughteleportation was impossible for any save the gods, and even they faced restrictions. Howthis insane fool had accomplished this, I couldnt imagine, and I didnt really see why heneeded to bore a hole in the Ethereal Wall if he could, but it didnt really matter. It wasdone.

Can I talk with my friend in private? asked Reth politely. The insane foolnodded happily, paying little attention to Reths question. Reth leaned over and put hismouth next to Talithas ear. What do we do with him? He isnt evil; not really, but itisnt safe to leave him loose, and with his strange form of power, I dont know that eventhe Cabal could keep him bound. And trying would likely anger him, Reth addednervously, gesturing vaguely with his hand. Which wouldnt be a good idea, if he canmake houses vanish with only a little effort and slaughter innocents without getting closeenough to see them.

Talitha shrugged helplessly. She didnt like the idea of killing this man, but whatelse could they do? He was a danger to Kharon, and the world. Sir, she said cautiouslyto him. Would you consider restoring the Ethereal Wall?

The tiefling stared at her, tentacles writhing in consternation. His eyes were wide.No! I worked hard to bore a hole in the wall! I dont want to do it again! Suddenly, hiseyes shifted, and he peered warily from one of them to the other. I understand. I thoughtyou would be fun to talk to, but you are jealous! the mans face was murderous. Youwant my power! Ill

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We were forced to correct matters. So we awakened Taeron, god of dreams, and an immensely powerful NPC, placed in case we needed to take an active hand in the world. We had one of his paladins,

Vantin by name; bind the 13 highest elementals in the ikona. Itwas the most dramatic shift we made to our program until the

Great Tear, so called. And a farther reaching one.

C h a p t e r V I I

In one smooth motion, Reth bared his blade and sheathed it again, but in themans flesh, not the leather on his belt. The madmans tentacles went limp, his eyesglazed over, and he collapsed, dead, on the ground.

Im sorry to have had to do that, Reth said, looking down at the body andwincing. But he was about to eviscerate us like he did those households. Reth stoopedand wiped his blade clean on the mans clothes. And I dont want to die yet. But wedidnt even know this mans name!

It was the best way it could have ended, replied Talitha calmly. If we had lefthim alone, he would have continued to sow destruction. We couldnt imprison him, asyou so articulately explained, and we couldnt leave him to bring death to the innocents.This way, we at least had justification.

Do you know where this is in the city? asked Reth. It would be problematic if they could not locate the entrance to the tunnel of the breach. Talitha nodded. Then letsgo find Torral.

Talitha began to turn toward the door, and then stopped. What do we do abouthim? she asked, nodding to the corpse. Reth looked at the body, bit his lip, then grabbedthe man by the collar and belt and threw him into the hole that he knew to lead to theCrystal Walls break. He went up, but didnt come back down.

As I hoped, said Reth, a trace of smugness in his voice. Now, lets go findTorral.

Torral was where they had left him, standing ashen faced outside of the house thatthey had seen slaughtered. His face was dry, but Reth thought he could see tear streakssmudging Torrals cheeks. He said nothing of that, however.

Did you ascertain the location of the murderers hideout? Do you believe him to be connected in any fashion to the dragon? Torral asked anxiously. My apologies for not joining you, but there were things I wished to do, and see, here.

The murderer is dead, replied Reth abruptly, voice tight. But as to the restReth explained what they had discovered, that the man was an insane tiefling who hadsliced a hole in the Crystal Wall; that there were evil black-skinned elves on the far sidewho had brought the dragon in and suggested to the man that he murder other locations tocover the whereabouts of the bore he had cut in the Crystal Wall; that there was a tunnelin the warehouse that lead to the far side. Then Talitha chirped that she suspected themans power to be related to the Great Tear, that it was not detectable by magic, and that

people had best hope that there werent any othershe fumbled over the word for whatthe man was, but said psion eventuallythere werent any other psions, because theworld couldnt really handle another one.

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So, we return to the Cabal and explain what we have ascertained? asked Torral.Reth and Talitha nodded agreement.

Council Leader Mahus attempt at calmness was credible, but Reth could seesigns that it was false. A face a touch to smooth, fluttering hands, words a little to rushedat the beginning and a little to slow at the endthe man was very near to panicked. This

was understandable, given the circumstances. Reth was surprised not to feel panickedhimself. He wondered if he was in shock, but decided that he was just taking thingsunusually calmly, because shock would have worn off by now. At least, he hoped hewasnt still in shock. It would be difficult to be astute in his reactions if he was.

It is clear, declared Mahu grandiosely, That these matters need further investigation. The Cabal will need to discuss this, but do not be surprised if your accomplishments, managed so observantly and with such skill, place you at the forefrontor vanguard of another investigation. Is there anything further you would like to say tome before I take this matter before the council?

Nothing much, Reth replied as pleasantly as he could to a self-superior wizardlike Mahu, but Talitha, interrupting and frustrating as he compatriots in the Cabal, butted

in and asked a question.Council Leader Mahu, will you recognize my part in the investigation, will younot? she asked with a touch of anxiety in her voice. I would like to take part in anyfurther investigations the Cabal of a Thousand Prisms initiates.

Mahu smiled benignly at her. Self-superior fool! It might not be possible for youto take part in all of the investigations, but I will be sure to recommend you and makesure that you can continue to assist in at least some of the Cabal of a Thousand Prismsresearch.

Talitha began to sigh in relief, then looked from Reth to Mahu and stoppedabruptly. Her face purpled, and Reth doubted it was lack of air. Mahu nodded to each of them graciously, arrogant smile still on his face, and glided out of the room. Reth thoughtit would have been amusing to see him trip in the middle of his oh-so-smooth journey.Sadly, this did not occur.

After an hour of playing finger games with Torral, Mahu returned, still glidingsmoothly and arrogantly. Reth wondered if Mahu had realized that Reth had beenconsidering leaving when he walked in. It wouldnt have surprised him if the wizard haddelayed his return as long as possible, just so that he could watch Reth stew.

I was correct, announced Mahu benevolently. The Cabal wishes you tocontinue your investigations, this time by heading through the breach and investigatingthese black elves. Dont return until you have more information. Do you have anyquestions or requests?

Yeah, muttered Reth. Why is it always us who have to risk our necks?Mahu smiled at him. Reth was growing to hate that smile, so marvelously

compassionate and pitying. The condescension was palpable in Mahus voice. Thereasons are twofold. Firstly, you are capable, and have proven yourselves able to findinformation and follow leads that are not particularly simple. Secondly, you are willing torisk your necks, an unusual quality to be possessed by people with those skills. Who elsewould we choose?

Reth ground his teeth at this, but said nothing. After all, there was no one else.Just him, Torral, and Talitha, off to save the world. Except that either he or Torral would

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turn evil, somehow, and nearly destroy the world. Perhaps they would become a tieflingand go insane? He hoped not. He did not want to end up like the madman who had startedthis mess in the first place.

Do you have any additional information for us before we resume our quest?asked Talitha primly. Blight, she was as bad as Mahu!

The Cabal has researched dragons and elementals and dredged what informationit possesses to the surface, but it isnt much. Elementals have been around as long asangels and demons. There were 13 high elementals, but they were bound as the ikona bythe paladin Vantin during the First Elemental War, and used as wards against the other,more common elementals.

Do you know anything that a peasant off the streets doesnt? Reth grated. Torralglanced at him and nodded. Apparently, he was thinking the same thing.

I was getting to that! Wizards gain their power by pulling elemental energythrough the ikona. So we know something about the energy wielded by elementals. It ischanging, quicksilver, and tends more to destruction than creation, lines over circles. Wehave a little information from the Second Elemental War, but more than we do from the

first. The seven great libraries, the Taeronises, so-called for their connection to the power and knowledge of Taeron, god of dreams, were destroyed during this war, and the bookswe have collected and written since then pale next to those lost stores of knowledge.

Reth waited patiently. Well, not that patiently, but this man was yammering aboutlibraries when they needed information on elementals. Honestly, who would choose to

become a wizard if this was what it did to your brain?In any case, the elementals managed a partial break on the ward and attempted to

loose their captive brethren in the Ikona. They succeeded partially, and the ikona weredestabilized, placed in a state of flux that would eventually lead to their release, if nothing was done. This destabilization took place nearly exclusively on one side of theworld, so in an attempt to quarantine the danger, the gods created the Ethereal Wall.Shortly after this, our records indicate, the planets, or wandering stars, came in toexistence. We suspect that they are bound elementals also. It is possible, though unlikely,given the initial tides of elementals to swarm over Anaria, that the gods locked away allof the elementals so that none are left on the Other side of the Ethereal Wall for you toworry about. There are four elements to the Maelstrom, and therefore the elementals.Fire, water, wind, and earth. The fifth element, ether, falls within the purview of theEthereal Sea, and therefore is not relevant to our discussion. The elementals you face willcombine these elements, in both their positive and negative aspects

Positive and negative aspects? Could you elaborate and explain that in moredetail? asked Torral politely. Politely! Why bother to be polite to the arrogant,frustating

Mahu resumed talking, forcing Reth to break off his train of thought. The positive and negative aspects are the brighter and darker sides to the elements. For instance, the positive aspect of fire is radiance, or radiant light, and its darker side is ash.The positive side to air is lightning, and the darker side is the void, or vacuum. Eachelemental will control and be composed of some combination of the elements. It will bevulnerable to the reverses of these elements. Water, for instance, is opposed by fire. Ice isopposed by radiant light. Lightning is opposed by dust. Do you understand? I do notknow much more about elementals.

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We understand, replied Torral, without regard to Reths complete frustrationwith Mahus advice. There are a bunch of elementals, which can be made of virtuallyany of the building blocks of the universe and slightly weaker against their opposites. Asif dust would do anything against lightning! And thank you. Reth? Reth, a snarl firmlyset on his face, followed Torral and Talitha out of the waiting room of the Cabal of a

Thousand Prisms.From there, things were simple. Right up until they had to actually get into thetunnel that led to the breach in the Crystal Wall. The difficulty was, none of them couldfly, or climb as well as the tiefling. And a rope thrown through, while held by gravity,was not held firmly enough to be climbed.

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I suppose, having brought up the Great Tear, I ought to explainit now. We linked our program to the wider internet, allowing

more people to view it and us to modify it from more disparatelocations. This was important, because Rachel moved. But there

was a problem. A bug was revealed on its connection to theinternet, and our program dissolved into chaos.

C h a p t e r V I I I

When Torral was faced with the irksome and inconvenient difficulty of not beingable to get to the tunnel, his first thought was to try to climb to it, despite their regrettablelack of skill. It hardly seemed conceivable that they would be limited by such a trivialthing. As he opened his mouth to mention the frustration, though, Talitha rendered hiscomplaint irrelevant.

She cast an acorn on the ground under the tunnel, and waved her hands around inan atypical fashion while chanting what appeared to be glyphs of power. The acornglowed for a moment, then grew, before Torrals astounded eyes, into a small oak tree,digging furrows into the ground as it did so.

Well have to be careful upon our return from the Other side not to impaleourselves on your, admittedly clever, handiwork, he commented, smiling slightly, andclimbed the tree.

It was a bizarre and vertigo-inducing experience to climb a tree and have gravitysuddenly reversed. But intriguing, and not unsurprising. The tiefling looked odder than hehad imagined from Reth and Talithas description. He shoved the corpse to the side withhis foot; and braced himself at the base of the tree as a precaution against the potentialcollapse of one of his allies on their way through thewallbut discovered his cautionto be absolutely unnecessary. When Talitha turned herself around and stood beside himand Reth, he gestured down the corridor with the torch he had lit before attempting togain entrance to the tunnel.

Shall we begin our journey? Come to think of it, the torch was burningsomewhat low. He lit another torch and handed it to Reth. He wanted a hand open, butnot to waste the light that remained in his first torch.

Talitha and Reth nodded, and the three of them walked down the hall, Reth in thelead with one hand on his sword hilt and the other holding up his torch, Talitha in themiddle, with a glowing light above her right hand and a pointed look for Torral, who hadonly been sensible in obtaining and relighting the torches; and Torral in the back, with his

bow nocked and ready and the torch butt he had been carrying lying forgotten in the back of the tunnel.

Nothing of note happened for several hours, unless one counted Reth tripping, burning his hand on the torch he was carrying, extinguishing it accidentally, and using avariety of colorful words that were certainly not part of normal speech. This was anamusing incident, but not significant to their overall goals.

The three of them paused over the branches that they discovered in the tunnel. Itis my opinion that these side routes are worthy of investigation, commented Torralearnestly. He was always earnest, and expressed what he believed in the most articulatemanner that he believed was conceivable.

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These side routes are worthy of investigation, Reth agreed. This opinion wassensible enough, given that they were. But the fact is, they are out of our way and will

probably put us in contact with the evil elves. Well, there was that.I agree, added Talitha. I doubt we are all that the Cabal is going to send. The

others can investigate the tunnels. But this did bring up an interesting question. Where

were the dark elves who were supposed to be here, on and around the Other side of theEthereal Wall?With Talitha and Reth in agreement, there was nothing to be done. None of them

investigated the tunnels, though Torral still thought it a worthwhile exercise to do so. Nothing else of note happened until they reached the breach. For that, they did more than pause.

The tunnel widened abruptly just short of the breach, allowing an expansive viewof the devastation wrought by the mad tiefling his companions had interviewed. It waslike looking at an injured animal.

The Crystal Wall was placid and smooth, normally. It glinted in myriad colors inthe dazzling and rainbow light of the sun. It was clear and deep, like a mountain spring. It

was both unmarred and unbreakable. It was beautiful.The gaping wound in front of them writhed and twisted tumultuously. It gleameddully, like lamp oil on water, but it was hideous to see, especially without the sun to

provide purer light. It was clouded and its true shallowness, only a few yards deep, was plain to see from the rent in its center. It was torn down the middle, the sides of thewound in its side undulating rapidly. It was hideous.

For all the fluctuation in the size of the thing in front of them, the size of the holewas consistently large enough for the three of them to walk through it together, side byside. But they stood, watching it, for several minutes. It was revolting, but its roiling wasalmost hypnotic. Torral never wanted to see anything like it again in his life. But he couldnot look away. Apparently, neither could his companions.

They stood like that, immobile and awestruck, until Talitha, no longer concentrating on the glowing sphere floating over her hand, allowed it to wink out.Having ones illumination abruptly stripped away was not a pleasant way to be jerkedfrom a reverie, but it was an effective one.

It only took a few moments for Talitha to conjure the light up once again, but thespell of the broken wall was broken. When they moved, cautiously, carefully, through the

breach in the protection that they knew would remain constant from childhood, they wereslightly nervous. Or at least, Reth was. It seemed bizarre that they had not made contactwith the elves thus far. That could very easily be a bad thing. Something that could drive

people as hard as they seemed to be in to hiding was a dark thing to face indeed.Still, what he was afraid he would find paled in comparison to what he actually

found.The cave that they entered was vaulted and had a variety of intriguing mineral

formations dangling from the ceiling. Several tunnels branched out of this main cavern, but a large, well-used table that seemed to be composed of black iron marked this as thecenter of operations, an impression augmented by the high-backed chairs that surroundedit, the narrow and easily guardable entrances, and the convenient location of the nearbyspout of water that jetted from the wall.

But Torral did not have eyes for any of that. His attention was all focused on

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It took hours for Rachel to find the flaw in the programming, for her to find the zero that was out of place. When she fixed it,

she realized that the problem was deeper than a single variable.The bug was far-reaching. Perhaps it was a virus. Subroutines in

the program were altered in various ways, and this resulted inseveral unpleasant changes to the world, bizarre events without

explanation, changes in the norb (our nickname for the pseudo- people of our program), and occasional collapses of the program

in to chaos, once again. But there were no far-reaching consequences. To the cultures of the world, perhaps, but not our

underlying cosmology or the path the world was taking. This shiftwas merely a bump in the road.

C h a p t e r I X

A pile of corpses. Men, women, and horribly, children lying in a neatly

eviscerated pile. It was revolting, horrid, and made Talitha want to empty herself thenand there. It was also, in its own way, as hypnotic a sight as the breach in the EtheralWall. Apparently, these elves were darker than she had suspected. And apparently, theyhad had time to perform a massacre before they left. To hide the secret of this breach,

perhaps?That any people could be so amoral in their logic filled her with wrath and anger.

But it was particularly disgusting that the people in question were elves, if dark skinnedand subterranean one. She had always believed elves to be among the wisest, the mostdevoted to nature, and the noblest of people. She felt almost betrayed by this revelation.

It was possible that she was misreading the situation, that this deed was performed by whatever had chased the elves off, and the people were there by accident, or because

the elves couldnt get everybody away.It could have been that, but Talitha doubted it. If the elves were innocent, theywouldnt have suggested to the tiefling that murders would be an effective way to cover his tunnel. If the elves were good, they wouldnt have let the madman free at all. So itseemed that they were evil. She sighed. There wasnt much to be done.

It seems a rational intention to investigate thiscitadelfurther. Staring at a pile of corpses is not productive. I would suggest burying them, but the ground is stone,which is not sufficiently malleable. Torrals words broke through her reverie.

Ill break the ground for you, she offered, and began to cast a spell. Vineserupted out of the ground, their roots breaking it into sand. She concentrated on their growth for a few minutes, and then made a sharp cutting gesture. The vines molderedaway into nothingness. Torral looked impressed, but Reth looked disgusted. He wasslightly paranoid of magic, it seemed. He was not unique in that regard.

There were more efficient spells for breaking down rock, but her area of studywas plants, and outside of the cantrips that every novice learned, virtually every spell sheknew tied in to them. It wasnt the most applicable area of study, but it was an interestingone, and if she was clever, she could use even the strangest spells.

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The ground was reduced to soil, but Torral still headed for the shelves and passages of the area. Where are you going? Talitha asked, frustrated. It took energy tocast spells, and she didnt like squandering them.

To find a shovel, he replied. Oh. It was difficult to dig a pit without a shovel.While searching for one, the three of them discovered some very interesting things.

There were no lightsources on the walls, except for some crude torches in thekennels that they discovered to lie under the area. Apparently, these elves could see in thedark. The accommodations were meager and low quality, so either these were elves of limited resources, which did not jive well with keeping slaves, which the tiefling saidthey had; or this was an outpost that elves cycled in and out of. That seemed far more

probable, especially since there was nobody there at the moment. The place wasnt largeenough to be a city anyway. But this was the least of what they learned.

There were hints about the culture of these people. Few books, but a small altar decorated every room; and there were instruments lying around that required skill andartistry to use. Cloaks left carelessly beside fireplaces, as though the wearer wasunworried about burning; rooms full of mushrooms that glowed in the dark. Oddly, they

were forced repeatedly to walk through cobwebs. The corpses in the front were fresh;there hadnt been enough time for cobwebs to form.There was an ornate engraving of a black skinned, white haired and red-eyed elf.

Hearing about the appearance of these elves was not nearly as strange as seeing it. Andnow that she was looking in this area, she realized something else. There were tile frescosthat displayed what looked to be a romanticized history of this people.

The first showed various elves in a forest glade. They had vacant, smilingexpressions. Not exactly what she had seen of elves, though she acknowledged that shehadnt met many. The second showed the same glade, rent by fire, with some elveshiding under a tattered book and others hiding in the arms of a giant spider. The nextfresco showed some elves, with a spider emblazoned on their chests, routing other elveswith no sigil at all. Then a horde of humans showed up and drove the spider elves into acave. While all this was happening, angels battled with elementals overhead. So. First or Second Elemental War? The next scene made that abundantly clear. The spider elveswere trapped underground by a large wall made of crystal. And the next several showedstronger elves with progressively darker skin, lighter hair, and redder eyes. There wasmore, but it seemed to degenerate into portrayals of vicious battles over some spider-leadership title, so Talitha didnt look too closely.

Reth whistled beside me. That, he declared soberly, Is a vicious people. He pointed to a picture of one elf stringing up their rivals and hanging them in front of their underground city. Talitha was still thinking about these strange, rebellious elves. Shehadnt even been aware there was a schism. The elves must have guarded this secretclosely.

Torral shook his head. This is disgusting. I found something far more interesting.Follow me, he said, and turned on his heel, walking confidently into a room Talithahadnt explored yet. She stopped suddenly. This was the strangest thing that they haddiscovered in a very strange place. Despite the tales she had heard about the Other Sideof the Crystal Wall, Talitha had expected nothing like this.

The adventurers were staring at something Talitha knew from her studies to beimpossible. The edges were veiled in mist, but it was clearly a portal to someplace else.

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Judging by the panoramic view we could see through the portal, the someplace else wasa panoramic tropical island.

Portals couldnt exist. There were parallel dimensions, the Ethereal Sea andMaelstrom, but their geometry was not sufficiently different from ours to allowteleportation. Accelerated travel was possible, but not teleportation. And a good thing,

dream of the red star

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