Veilbinder - Chapter 19

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If there was one word Illona could use to describe the past week, it would be “conflicting.” On one hand, the barrels of metal shavings from the Earthen ship’s retrofit brought with them numerous opportunities for study. The metals they used were of a purity, lightness, and strength nearly unheard of save for the products of some of the most prestigious dwarven or elven forges and smiths, and even then that was a rare thing. What’s more, with the amount they were using to pay with, they could have afforded to refit three or four ships of the same size or purchased a small fleet for themselves.

On the other hand, as with most metallic objects, proper care meant that some oil was needed to stave off corrosion and whatever infernal substance they had devised absolutely refused to be cleaned off. As it was, she and ten others had spent the last week meticulously washing batches of the razor sharp shavings with some of the harshest available alchemical solvents that wouldn’t potentially eat away at the metal itself, though it seemed as if whatever oil they used had somehow impregnated the shavings. Only through lengthy and repeated soakings and agitation would the washes eventually run clean. Additionally, they were forced to wear treated leather gloves to keep their hands from picking up uncountable metal splinters or getting cut to ribbons.

She sighed as she finished the final washing of the shift, doffing her gloves and tossing them into the small kiln that had been quickly assembled just for their purposes. The gloves would be incinerated and any leftover metal recovered and rewashed before the batches were sent to the academy’s on-site smithy to be smelted into small quarter-ingots for storage.

As she and the others broke for their midday meal – much later than she would have preferred – she passed by the guards posted at the door.

“Good tidings, Ran, Leo. We should be back within the hour.” she greeted them with a polite nod to each.

“You too, my lady. Enjoy your meal.” Ranult replied, leaning back against the wall. “Oh! You may want to stop by that floating fortress. I heard they’re having some kind of culture celebration with the last of their food stores.” he said, loud enough for all the departing assistant scholars to hear.

Illona paused for a moment as she thought before giving Ranult a beaming smile and starting off again which only served to drive a needle of guilt into his chest. He hadn’t lied, but for a little extra insurance for what he was about to do he wanted to give them every excuse to delay their return.

He waited until they were all out of sight before turning to his partner.

“Alright, I’ll do the rounds.” he said with a yawn.

“Why? It’s not like there’s ever anything to find.” Leo replied.

“You know how the sergeant’s always on about ‘constant vigilance’ and all that toss.” Ranult said with a smirk. “Besides, we’ve been standing here for two hours, I need to stretch my legs.”

“Eh, fair enough. You know where I’ll be.”

“Yeah yeah, ya lazy prick.” Ranult quipped with a laugh. “I’ll be right back.”

He entered the now empty room located in one of the Imperial Academy’s secondary buildings. Methodically, he made his way around the vacated workbenches and wash basins, checking to make sure nothing was out of place. Satisfied, he walked over to the kiln, propping open the lid slightly to see the numerous discarded leather gloves slowly carbonizing in the intense heat.

Finally, he meandered his way over to the troughs that were being used to hold the now dry and cleaned shavings. Glancing at the still open door to make sure no one was going to wander in, he was apprehensive as he produced a small empty coin pouch and skimmed a minuscule amount of turnings from each of the troughs as quietly as he could.

It wasn’t much, just a small handful of glittering ribbons from each trough was all that was needed and he would be handsomely compensated. It wouldn’t even tip the weigh-scales in any noticeable way.

The deed done, he took a breath, re-centered himself, and cinched the pouch up tight. Once he was confident his expression wasn’t betraying his anxiety, he started moving back towards the door.

---

Xander sat cross legged in a small clearing overlooking the city. His hands rested on his lap, palms up, fingers interlaced, and cradling his aurite. He had spent the last twenty minutes with his eyes closed as he breathed slowly and cleared his mind. Rasklin sat similarly across from him a few feet away. While he had his suspicions about Xander’s aetheric sensitivity, it had been confirmed during their conference with the lance commander a few days ago. He was now directing Xander to focus his attention on the sensation while he channeled a trickle of magical energy through Xander’s aurite.

Sydira was seated on a stump nearby. As with every member of the Silverlight Order, she was already well versed in this particular exercise. Rather than interrupt the other two, she spent the time enjoying the early pre-dawn air and observing the waking city below while paying only cursory attention to the goings on nearby.

At first, Xander could only feel the familiar pull on his attention. While he had been doing his best to live with or even outright ignore it up until now, with Rasklin’s instruction he was focusing as hard as he could on both the feeling and on the opalescent white sphere in his hands. In an absence of other distractions the minutes slowly ticked by and as they did it became progressively more difficult to keep his mind from wandering. He had asked Rasklin what to expect, but the light gray werewolf had purposefully not given him a clear answer.

Twenty minutes became thirty, thirty became forty and the sun had started cresting the rim of the caldera which cradled the city. The nerves in Xander’s fingers had long since acclimated to the light pressure of the aurite resting atop them but as Xander’s attention started to drift there was a shift in his perception. Unnoticed by him, behind his closed eyelids, swirling phosphenes had gradually faded to nothingness. However once they disappeared completely they were quickly replaced by a small pinprick of faint white light. Now alert, he focused on the glow which slowly grew until it was the size of a small marble, though in his mind’s eye the light felt so faint that it would disappear if he wasn’t paying constant attention to it.

A smile started to play across his face as his limbs were imbued with a sudden restlessness. He tried to will himself to stay still but too late. It wasn’t much, a single involuntary twitch of his leg, but it was enough break his concentration and give his mind something else to focus on as the vision faded.

He swore quietly as he opened his eyes, his aurite occupying the same place in his view as the marble of light did in his mind’s eye.

“Shit, I had it! I saw it! I- I- Can we try again?” he pleaded, gesticulating as he looked up to Rasklin.

A stifled giggle off to the side drew his attention and he turned to see Sydira hiding a grin behind her fist.

“What?” Xander asked bemusedly.

“It’s nothing.” she laughed, “I just didn’t expect you to sound like such a child.”

“Damn right! This is [freaking] magic we’re talking about. Of course I feel like a kid again! So, Ras, can we…” he rattled off before being cut off by a loud growl from his stomach.

Rasklin huffed in amusement as he stood. “Before we continue further, what did you see exactly?”

“It- it was like this little ball of light… I didn’t get much more than that…” Xander answered hesitantly, his enthusiasm tempered somewhat.

“What color was it?”

“White? I think? Like, the same color as this.” he said, pointing to the magical pearl.

“Hmm, I see. How about anything else? Additional colors or shapes perhaps?”

“N-no? Should I have?” Xander replied warily.

“No.” Rasklin answered plainly much to Xander’s relief as he extended a hand to help him up. “However, it would have been astounding if you did. Frankly, I’m a little surprised this worked at all considering your home plane’s lack of aether.”

Still in thought, it took Xander a moment to notice Rasklin’s outstretched hand, though once he took it the Silverlight lifted him easily. “So what does that mean exactly? Different colors and shapes?” he asked as he dusted himself off.

“Come, we have a busy day ahead in case you’ve forgotten.” Sydira said with a hint of exasperation, hopping off the stump, “Talk while we walk. I’m hungry and I’m sure you both are as well. The dining hall should be ready by the time we return.”

“But I- Yeah. Yeah, alright.” Xander relented, feeling his stomach once more preparing to protest its emptiness. Rasklin simply grunted in agreement before they set off back down the trail.

For a while they walked. The only sounds accompanying them being the soft crunching of gravel and dirt underfoot and the chirping and buzzing of nearby birds and insects. Down below, a light haze clung to the city, slowly yielding under the encroaching morning sun. Despite being well into summer, the altitude and proximity to the lake meant the air was cool and clammy enough in the mornings to cause their breath to appear in thin gouts of vapor as they breathed.

“So? Shapes and colors?” Xander asked after a few minutes. He had his fingers laced behind his head as he walked.

“Mmh,” Sydira grunted before Rasklin could respond, “That’s easy enough even I could answer it. Those sensitive to magic can see the flow of aether in and around beings or objects. It’s a valuable talent as you can imagine and most members of our order are able to do it to some degree. If you haven’t worked it out, that little ball of light you saw was the aether being given off by your aurite.“

“But with your currently limited perception,” Rasklin continued as he absentmindedly played with one of the knuckle studs on his right glove, “that was all you could see. With more experience you should be able to discern other sources of aether from greater distances and with less effort. It becomes second nature to most magic users though aids are also available if needed.”

“Oh, like those glasses the kid had me use when we first arrived?” Xander asked.

“Or those viewing ports in the door to your hospital room, yes.”

Xander unlaced his fingers so he could hold up his aurite and contemplate it from its place around his wrist. “Cool.” He muttered in English before tucking his hands into his pockets as Rasklin continued

“Colors are more complicated. In the most basic terms, the color of aether is determined by its aspect and that can be influenced by many things: where it comes from, from what element it is drawn, how it is stored, how it is used and who used it and so on. The debates between scholars who study the field of aetherochromatics can be both incredibly heated and spectacularly petty.” He said as he rolled his eyes.

“Didn’t you have a book about it?” Sydira asked to which Rasklin grunted an affirmation.

“Wait, how bad are we talking about here?” Xander inquired.

Rasklin tucked in his lower lip in contemplation before exhaling forcefully. “Like a flock of preening fowl competing for a mate, only it’s robed men and women much to old to actually be doing that. They almost always result in bouts of name calling and flashy aetheric displays over the most inane differences of opinion. Often, it devolves into outright brawls. Some consider it a spectator sport and I’m inclined to agree.”

“I’d pay to see that!” Sydira exclaimed while Xander cackled at the mental image.

“Some actually do.” Rasklin revealed. “There haven’t been many academic gatherings of that sort in these lands in recent times for obvious reason but… we should attend one of these debates once things have resolved themselves, provided we have the time of course.”

“Sounds fun!” Sydira said while Xander hummed in agreement.

“Actually,” Xander said, “speaking of having time to do things, do either of you have any idea what the Keepers want to do with me today?”

“No,” Rasklin replied, “But if I had to wager a guess they would likely cover the basics of magic use, similar to what we were just practicing.”

He was only half right.

Keepers Leander and Miri had volunteered to provide him with private tutelage until they had determined he was at a sufficient magical aptitude. While the they did indeed want to focus on getting Xander familiar with the basics, today’s lesson never even reached the point where he would be putting anything into practice. What awaited him was an hours long lecture providing an overview of magical theory and cosmology. Despite his newfound childlike enthusiasm he found his eyes starting to glaze over near the end until his tutors unfurled a diagram that visually depicted the cosmology of the universe as was commonly understood. He was only half listening as he scanned the diagram until his eyes shot open as they landed on the lower quadrant. His hand shot up, cutting off what Miri was saying.

“… and as you can see, the Tempest surrounds the four primary domains- Yes?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

Xander shot out of the desk so violently that it threatened to topple over before slamming back down as the small sheaf of papers he had been provided exploded into the air . He marched up to the two of them so intently that both were caught off guard as he jabbed a finger onto the diagram, tapping at the labels written in Cadonian Vilsirin script.

“There!” he exclaimed. “That has to be where my ‘plane’ is! Right?”

It took a few seconds for the two of them to regain their composure and actually look at what he was pointing out. Leander was the first to speak.

“Erm, that’s quite impossible. To our knowledge, nothing can visit or return from the Diminished Realm. Moreover, nothing should exist there.”

“What? Why?” he demanded almost indignantly.

“W-well, that region of the Etherum is severely lacking in-” Leander started to explain before Xander cut him off enthusiastically.

“In aether! It doesn’t have any aether and aether doesn’t exist where we’re from! That whole region is covered by the Veil! I- we and everything we had was covered in the Veil after that portal brought us here!” Xander’s voice was nearing a shout as he gestured wildly at the simplified diagram depicting an arrangement of several rings, some of them nested within others and each containing a blurb describing a particular region of metaphysical space.

Miri placed a taloned hand on Xander’s shoulder and gently guided him back a pace, her black feathers settling back down after involuntarily puffing up at Xander’s earlier approach. “Xander, like Leander has said, that isn’t possible.”

“But what if it was!?” he hissed, fists clenched as he refused to relinquish what he saw as the first definitive clue as to the mystery of their arrival after months of almost nothing.

“As far as we know, it isn’t. Nothing can pierce the Veil, and even if we could, we would have no way to navigate the Diminished Realm.” Leander stated flatly.

“B- but,” Xander stammered desperately as he lost momentum, “Y- you have records right!? Isn’t there any mention at all of someone trying something like that!?”

“Well, it’s not something we’ve ever had to-” Leander tried to placate him, looking decidedly uncomfortable with Xander’s sudden shift in demeanor.

“O-or maybe it’s not possible now, but maybe it was possible before or something? Who knows what weird time shit happens with portals? May- maybe something happened a-and we were sent to the future or maybe… I know our deal was with King Lucen but- but if- if-” Xander rambled more to himself than anyone as he started to spiral and his voice started to waver.

He could feel his composure crumbling as the momentary reminder of the nature of his presence dredged up the insecurities and concerns he had been repressing with more immediate issues. Current predicament aside, there were his two near-death experiences, the grisly image of the dead arcanist, and the very nature of time itself. The days and weeks were longer here and though they had easily adapted, it had been too easy to forget that nearly half a year had gone by back on Earth even as only three months had passed here. Their lives were also comparatively shorter compared to those native to the realm so there was the ever present worry that they’d either all be dead before a way back was found or they’d return only to find themselves long forgotten.

“Xander.” Miri said, trying to get his attention. “Xander!” She shouted again when he didn’t acknowledge her, this time startling him as he whirled around. He was hyperventilating as he fixed her with a wide-eyes stare. He didn’t yet have the perception to notice the aether within both his body and his aurite fluctuating just slightly, an unconscious result of his newfound awareness, but both keepers had.

Miri’s voice softened. “I can’t promise anything. Pre-Sundering records aren’t something we have in abundance here and it isn’t exactly our area of expertise but… we can look. We can also file an official inquiry to see if anything comes up here or with our fellow keepers in Ocera. How does that sound?” She asked slowly and deliberately. Stunned, he blinked a few times as he tried to process what she had said.

“That- that sounds… yeah…” he finally mumbled as he softly bobbed his head up and down, his gaze downcast. “Thank you.” he whispered.

Behind him, Leander gave Miri an inquiring look to which she responded by simply dipping her head in deference to the still dejected looking Xander. After a moment, he replied with a quiet sigh and a nod. Neither of them could know that he was mentally berating himself both for losing his composure and for how suddenly it had happened.

“I… think it’s best we stop here for today.” Leander said as gently as he could despite his discomfort.

“What? No. I can- I didn’t-” Xander stammered quickly as he looked up still trying to regain his composure.

“Xander.” Miri said, her hand still on his shoulder, “You aren’t in the proper state of mind to continue. Take the rest of the day to center yourself while we prepare our inquiries.”

“Besides, we were nearing the conclusion regardless. It’s nothing that cannot wait until tomorrow. If you would like an assignment… might I suggest you continue developing your aethersight? As you may have noticed, it has much in common with meditation.” Leander added.

“Yeah… yeah, good idea.” he mumbled as he ran a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose. A part of him couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the crew back in Aestrahd had had similar realizations and if they did, how they had reacted. One he returned to the desk he let out a quiet string of expletives from between gritted teeth as he gathered his belongings.

---

Light played across Aldren’s face as he passed the vaulted windows which decorated the passage out of Lord Kaitellus’ office. Having just finished presenting his lord with the latest developments per his informants in the Alvarian capitol, he was feeling unusually contemplative as he spared a glance out to the square below. He observed as the First Legion finalized preparations to depart for the mountainous border which separated Styllani and Estyran lands. They were the first of three, each consisting of some 3,000 legionaries. The First and Second legions would establish a staging grounds on their side of the Estyran border in preparation to move towards the Limnal city. Once the First and Second legions were underway, a diplomatic envoy would be dispatched towards the Alvarian Empire along with the Third Legion close behind.

Neither he nor Lord Kaitellus wanted a war with the southern nation now if they could help it. Their conflict had only ever been Estyra, at least as far as he was aware, but the old pacts were still in place and took time to break. Kaitellus was evidence of this, he was much older than he seemed and had been gently directing the politics of the Styllani Theocracy since before he was born. Regardless, neither of them even hated the Estyrans in the same way their people had been guided to, Aldren was simply indifferent while for Lord Kaitellus they were a resource, a necessary component for his experiments.

Reports from Aestrahd confirmed that the outrealmers, Earthlings they called themselves, were in fact a people and not the now ex-Marshal Jorgen’s imagined Veilspawn. He sighed, in hindsight it had been a mistake to send him and his cadre down to the south, not that it mattered much now. If the man had a character flaw, it would have been that he had a bad habit of using zeal to make up for a deficiency of patience and now everyone else was paying for it. By acting before thinking they had driven the Earthlings right in to the Alvarians’ arms and definitively slanted the Alvarian’s opinion against them where they had been content to look the other way before, so long open warfare with Estyra was avoided. Moreover, according to information slowly stitched together from various sources in Felhaven, the Earthlings’ purported arrival onto their plane coincided too perfectly with Lord Kaitellus’ most successful experiment up until that point for there not to be a connection. That they were apparently contaminated with the Veil to no ill effect and that his lord’s experiments also involved the Veil only served to reinforce that conclusion. Additionally, it seemed to be an open secret that their overarching goal was to find a method of return to their home realm. If their origins were as his lord suspected, then their objectives and Lord Kaitellus’ were one and the same and the next course of action made itself obvious.

They needed the Earthlings, as peers, subjects, or specimens it mattered little, and to temporarily mend relationships with the Alvarians. For the latter, a formal apology from the council would be presented and reparations would be offered with interest. Gold and territory would be freely given for this delaying action. For the former the situation was more precarious. Despite his small network of informants operating in Alvarian lands, he still had no idea how far along they were with fulfilling the Earthlings’ ambitions of returning home, meaning the sooner the diplomatic envoy arrived, the better. If their goals were as aligned as they seemed, all he had to do was offer them a chance to benefit from Lord Kaitellus’ work, a chance that they themselves made possible by the very nature of their arrival.

If they agreed then everything would proceed as planned. If not, then their timetable would be moved up and the Third Legion would be called to action as even now preparations were already underway in the capitol.

---

A/N: Some worldbuilding info:

Tyrum is slightly larger than Earth with a circumference of ~40,960km.

A second as recognized by most Tyrian scholars is about 0.8 Earth seconds, a minute is 80 seconds, an hour is 80 minutes, and a day is 20 hours. This works out to 28.44 Earth hours for every Tyrian day. One week consists of nine days and a month is roughly five weeks. A Tyrian year is 11 months long, or 53.9 weeks, or 485 days. A Tyrian year equates to about 1.57 Earth years.

A standard Tyrian human will natually live to a mean of about 80 years, or 126 Earth years. By the time of Veilbinder, which takes place in the mid 2080s, the average human life expectancy is about 93 years, or about 59 Tyrian years.

The current date is 6.455.5.21 in the Tyrian calendar. The Sixth Age, 455th year, 5th month, and 13th day. The UNS Bornholm was transported to Tyrium on 6.455.2.15. They have been on Tyrium for 140 days or approx. 166 Earth days.

Thanks for reading!

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