Asgard Awakening 2, ch 21

What is going on?  Yaakova angrily sent.  She was using the communication device Trav had made for her.  The enchanted gadgets only allowed a small number of messages per day.

Don’t waste your messages, Trav sent back.  I will explain after we regroup.

Yaakova gave him a look but made a small nod and looked forward again.  Hravalin must have noticed and understood that there had been an exchange because she nodded too.  Their group was silently leading their horses, following one of the Elders.  They’d been walking for a couple miles now, and had left the swamp.  Finally, Trav could see what they’d been moving toward.

In the middle of a clearing there was a grey shimmer in the air, almost like light being refracted through dirty water.  Harpies in royal guard uniforms stood nervously around it.  Trav noticed signs of digging, fencing, sandbags, and other evidence that the guards were building a permanent or semi-permanent guard location.

Trav understood why.

The Elder finally spoke.  “This is the Veil-overlap.  It appeared two days ago, but the auguries let us know it would be here ahead of time.”

“The other Guides will be going through different locations?” asked Hravalin.

“Yes.”  The Elder pointed at a group of packages and bags.  “Those are your provisions.  Use them well, and use them sparingly.  They are all you will get.  In the overlap, food spoils quickly, so everything here has been warded.  It should last for at least a week.”

Hravalin acknowledged, “I understand,” and without being told, everyone began loading up their horses with the precious food.  Trav was expecting the worst, maybe faulty preserving magic, or poison, but he had ways to deal with either problem.  The important thing now was to get into the overlap and discuss matters with Hravalin, Bravoosa, and his valkyries.

After lining up their group, the Elder carefully and methodically touched a magic tool to all of their arms.  When she touched Trav, he examined the symbol that the tool had left, and carefully poked the residual energy with his magical senses.  Like the other tools he’d seen from the ruling class of harpies, they were very likely using old magic, far beyond their ability to replicate now.  Trav was actually impressed by the workmanship of the tool, and wondered how old it was.

The horses shied away from the overlap, instinctively terrified of it, but all the avian Kin were inhumanly strong and easily controlled them.  When Trav passed through the boundary, he felt cold and dry.  He shivered.

Once he was on the other side, Trav walked forward with his horse and scanned the area.  Everything was dead, which he had half expected.  Luckily, his surroundings were flat and he didn’t see any movement or signs of immediate danger, just acres of dead, brittle grass and leafless, lifeless trees.

The moment all of Bravoosa’s Pinions were on the other side, Trav commanded, “Everyone get on your horses and follow me!  Scouts, mark this area as our entrance, but we need to make distance.”

“You heard the Commander!” Hollered Bravoosa.  “Get your asses in your saddles and form ranks!  Make it three wedges.  Move!”

The entire group thundered forward, and Trav felt extremely fortunate for his magic.  Without it, the horses likely wouldn’t last long, since the water would have been prioritized for soldiers, not mounts.  

After about twenty minutes, Trav signaled a halt to Bravoosa and she slowed, then stopped the company.  Trav hopped out of his saddle and called over two Pinions.  “Get out your shovels and dig a big, wide hole,” he commanded.  “Get some others to help you after it’s big enough to make room for more diggers.”  The harpies saluted and immediately got to work.

Yaakova and Hravalin dismounted, their expressions strained.  “What is going on?” asked Hravalin.  “Even for you, this was sudden.”

Trav nodded, glad that the Guide had trusted his judgement.  “We need to have a strategy session, immediately.”  He used Hex to make a large dome out of the soil.  It would have been helpful if Tiffany had been there to soundproof the structure, but she was at least relatively safe back in the East tribe territory, watching over Rahim.  Sebastian and Jang-mi were both guarding her.  Trav had thought this would be enough before, but now he had a small, persistent worry about her safety.

Nothing I can do about it now, he thought grimly.

Hravalin, Bravoosa, and his valkyries followed him inside.  Once they were all in the dome, Trav opened a hole to the sky and sealed the doorway.  He turned and said, “Yaakova, you’ve figured it out by now too, right?”

“Yes, New One.”

“Want to tell your sister?”

“Not really, but I will.”  Yaakova smoothed her feathers and sighed.  “Based on what Trav said, about how the Elders appeared to him before, they are on our side.”  She turned.  “New One, do you still think this is true?”  After Trav nodded, Yaakova continued, “The Ancient and the Senechnal are opposing us, though.  Also, the entrance to this dead place was guarded--the other entrances that the Guides used probably are too...but we’ve already been told there are likely others.  We were all tagged with magic so everyone will know if we leave, but what if assassins are sent in the other entrances to eliminate us?”

“I knew there was something strange about that,” muttered Narnaste.

“That’s not all.”  Trav frowned.  “Do you know what a Veil-overlap is?  None of the Elders really explained it.”

“I think so,” said Ysintrill.  “Before I was imprisoned I heard a group talk about it.  I thought it was common knowledge among harpies based on the way the Elders just skimmed over it and nobody asked questions.”

Yaakova and Hravalin both shook their heads, and Hravalin said, “No, I assumed everyone else knew, and everything happened so fast…”

Trav made a grim expression.  “All of this is very strange, the way that the announcement was rushed, the way it was made, and even the trial.  I still believe the Elders are supporting Hravalin, so now I wonder if there is another group in the palace that actually set all of this up.”

“What do you mean?” asked Yaakova.

“An overlap is when two veils literally overlap one another.  It’s like an overlay of reality, a dimensional anomaly.  There are different types of overaps, and this one is obviously dead.  Basically, this is a dead world, and I believe whoever put this plan in motion knew about it.”

“What plan?” asked Hravalin.

“Like I said, I don’t know who, but what I do know is that just being here is extremely dangerous.  We have to worry about harpy assassins, maybe groups from other places on Asgard coming in, and whoever--or whatever--is in the veil that the Asgardian veil is overlapping with.  But that’s not the worst of it.”

Nobody spoke, they just stared and Yaakova spread her hands, urging Trav to continue.  Trav took a stick and drew two circles apart from each other.  “Veils are like eggs.  They have a shell.  As you know, a portal, which is sometimes also called a veil, is like a connection through the shells when they touch.”  He made squiggly lines outside of the circles.  “This is negative space, darkness...but things live here.”

Trav glanced up.  “Veil-Wraiths.  I don’t know much about them right now other than they are bad.  But what I do know is that sometimes during an overlap, the Veil-Wraiths can penetrate the weakened ‘shell,’ invading to feed.”

“Feed?  What do they eat?” asked Ysintrill.

“Everything.”  Trav messed up his drawing with the tip of his stick.  “This place is already dead.  Wraiths may have already been here.  But if they return, we are fucked.  Want to know the really fun part?  We’re kind of fucked anyway for two reasons.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” sighed Hravalin.

“First,” Trav said, holding the end of one finger, “since this is an overlap, and it’s dead, the normal rules of veil-hopping don’t apply.  The way Kin and others lose their power after crossing over to a different or incompatible veil?  That won’t happen here.  So normally if a powerful Kyvendi noble were to cross to another veil, they’d immediately start losing power, right?”

Ysintrill nodded.  “Yes, the more powerful a power is, the faster they lose power.  This is why invaders to Asgard are usually weak and don’t stay long.  And if they stay too long, they lose all of their power, like what happened to Jang-mi.”

“Exactly.  Now as far as I know, Bernacia doesn’t have any incredible powerhouses that could crush us all with a thought, but if this overlap has an access point in Kyvendi, like near a major city…”

“Oh,” said Narnaste.

“So what is the other thing,” asked Hravalin.

Trav grabbed the tip of the next finger on his hand.  “Second, veils die.  Nothing lives forever, even dimensions and forms of reality--”

“What do you mean?” asked Ysintrill.

Trav shook his head.  “Don’t go digging too deep right now, I don’t entirely understand all of this myself, okay?  I just know this is true.  Anyway, this place is already dead.  It doesn’t have energy left to sustain itself, which means it won’t exist much longer.”

“It won’t exist?”

“Nope.”  Trav shook his head.  “And you never know what might cause a chain reaction to create the collapse.  Like a stacked deck of cards getting hit by wind.”

Hravalin blinked before her eyes widened in horror.  “And we have limited food, and limited water, and anyone who returns with nothing will be disqualified, and the world itself may end…”

“You got it,” said Trav.  “And it’s likely that you all will just lose any internal energy you use until we get back to Asgard.  Someone is likely planning all three Guides to fail.  What would happen if all three Guides fail?”

“New Guides would be chosen,” muttered Hravalin.

“Maybe even your sister Greeda, right?”  Trav smiled without humor.

“Someone, or someones are playing the long game,” agreed Yaakova.  “There are multiple ways that someone could keep us from succeeding.”

“There is just one good thing about all of this,” said Trav.  

“What’s that, Commander?” asked Bravoosa, speaking for the first time.

“If there is a plan to knock out all three guides, the North or South tribe, or maybe both might be sending assassins to kill the other Guides too.  And more importantly, the other side doesn’t have valkyries.”

Yaakova’s eyes shined.  “I can finally transform again?”

“Yes.  Let’s leave this dome.”  Trav produced Hex and made an opening in the earthen building so they could leave before he collapsed it.  Then he moved to the hole that the soldiers had been digging and traced a simple rune equation in the air above it.

“What’s that?” asked Narnaste.

“In a few minutes, we will have a hole full of water,” explained Trav.  “The world is dead, but there is still water deep down there somewhere.  I’ve already confirmed it.”  Trav turned and said, “Yaakova, want to do your thing?  Get a good look at the area around us?”

“Of course!”  The harpy Valkyrie began to shimmer, and moments later, she took to the air after transforming.  Trav knew Yaakova was probably enjoying the way all the East tribe soldiers were pointing and gasping.  Bravoosa even fell on her ass.

Trav watched Yaakova fly with a critical eye.  One on hand, air superiority was going to give his team a massive edge.  On the other hand, someone might spot Yaakova easier since nothing else was moving in the sky, but Trav knew they had to take this risk.

He moved closer to Hravalin and muttered, “My job is to help you get the Royal tree, but don’t ever forget what a pain in the ass this trial was.  You’re going to owe me for this.”

Hravalin nodded in agreement, but was obviously distracted as she stared at Yaakova in the sky.  “How is she doing that?”

“If you think that’s good, you should see my transformation,” said Narnaste.  She grinned.

"I already have."

"Oh yeah."  Narnaste's frowned.  "You haven't seen me run, though."

Trav said, “Hold off for now, Narn.  But yes, I have a feeling that our enemies aren’t going to be very happy about some of the surprises we will have for them.”

Hravalin narrowed her eyes.  “Not for the first time, I am very glad that you are on my side.”