Broken Lands

Sophia vaguely knew that her oldest living relative, Senkovar Et’Tart, sometimes visited the old Asuryan homeworld. That probably meant it wasn’t truly dead. Despite that, Prelate Varthas had a point; no one lived there now, so “sorrow and destruction” were definitely present.

“We closed that Way and have held it closed ever since,” the Prelate continued as if he hadn’t heard Sophia’s whisper. “So imagine my surprise when I feel the ancient bindings creak as something moves past them. Something far stronger and faster than anything else I’ve felt, far closer and more directed. It comes to the World Tree, where Ways cannot be opened, and then it is gone before I arrive. All I see is the four of you, and three of you smell of the Ways between. So tell me: what, exactly, is going on here?”

“Not whatever you’re imagining,” Leo said firmly before Sophia could shift her focus from the ancient Asuryan homeworld to the actual question. He moved forward until he stood next to Sophia and a little closer to the Prelate than she was. His form shifted suddenly, bringing his head from below shoulder level to slightly above Sophia’s.

Sophia blinked as she took him in. Leo was taller than she was now, if not by much. He also looked quite a bit older than she remembered. His purple eyes hadn’t changed, but his horns were no longer silver; instead, they were some sort of crystal with a colorful interior that managed to glow with white light, very much like his draconic horns. Sophia knew that he could manifest wings in his human shape the same way their father could, but he’d chosen not to.

“I came to see my sister, that’s all,” Leo said as if that answered the Prelate’s question. “So what?”

When the lightning sketch of a bird that was Prelate Varthas looked from Leo to Sophia and back again, his extremely long beak made the movement obvious. His gaze eventually settled on Leo. “You smell the strongest of the Way, but it is weakening where the others’ scents do not change. The Guide says you are a newly hatched child, which I do not believe, but the Guide says that of those who have stepped through the Way from places it cannot reach. None of that explains … no. You must explain, not I. We can do so inside.” The Prelate turned towards the inn they’d just left and tilted his head.

Sophia was suddenly certain that he was not pleased about it as a location for their discussion. She couldn’t read that in his posture, so it probably came from the Lifeweb. “We can go somewhere else if you have a place in mind. We were talking about looking for a library anyway, but maybe we could trade questions instead?”

“A library? Hm. I do not think that would be a good idea; we need to talk far too much. A tea house, perhaps? The Gardens would require flying … what is on this level …” The Prelate thought through his options out loud.

“We can all fly,” Sophia informed him. “But are you sure a garden is the best place to talk?”

“Not a garden, The Gardens,” Prelate Varthas said as if that made the distinction clear. All it really told Sophia was that there was a place called The Gardens; from the context, it probably served tea. “If you can all fly, The Gardens is a good place to talk. Follow me; it is not close.”

Prelate Varthas could fly a lot faster than any of Sophia’s group. As it turned out, Leo was the slowest flier of them all, at least in his human form; while his wings were enough to direct him and he had the common draconic ability to fly as much through magic as physical effort, he couldn’t move faster than a walking pace. It was enough to get them where they were going, but it took a while.

The Gardens was on the second level of the Moonlit Branches, situated far away from any of the public markets that might have made it hard to hear. It was a tea house, at least in that there was a building where tea was made, but it was nothing like any Earth tea house Sophia had ever heard of. It was literally a series of gardens, small places filled with different types of plants separated by walls and warding spells that prevented noise and voices from carrying from one Garden to another. There was also a fairly large communal garden between the private walled gardens and the building in the center where you reserved a private garden and made your order for tea or food.

Prelate Varthas checked in at the tea house just long enough to be told that his usual Garden was available and that they’d have his tea sent to him when it was ready. He then headed across the common garden to one of the smaller garden enclosures.

It wasn’t what Sophia expected. She expected something with paths and maybe a neat bed with well-separated plants and this was definitely not that. There was a path, sort of, that led from the entrance to a circular courtyard area with a table and a half dozen stools. The paved area was surrounded by two levels of circular concrete, like short decorative walls or maybe a seating area with a footrest. Flowers were planted in the space between the two levels, which made Sophia guess that if it was supposed to be a seating area, it was for Archons who weren’t human shaped.

At the outside of the garden was a wall covered in ivy with other plants that clung to it periodically that was easily ten or fifteen feet high. The section of wall opposite the entrance was an archway into another garden, but it was filled with a glowing ward, visible to ordinary sight as well as Sophia’s magical vision.

The garden itself was slightly surreal, filled with plants in a wide range of colors and shapes. Sophia recognized exactly none of them, though many of the smaller flowers looked like something that might be found on Earth. The larger flowers looked almost like things that might be seen underwater, anemones or something like that, along with a handful of giant mushrooms and a number of flowers that looked almost like plants with long colorful leaves rather than actual flowers.

It was quite a sight and Sophia could understand why someone might visit a place like this. She might well come back on her own at some point. It would make a nice place to relax or a beautiful if slightly surreal setting for a moonlit dinner with her boyfriend.

It wouldn’t surprise Sophia at all if the common area was a place to be seen while the private gardens hosted polite meetings; that was how the Emperor’s Court on Imperius worked in her home universe. It wasn’t in open-air gardens, at least not usually, but there were similar places. She knew about the maneuvering, but her father’s empire wasn’t a part of that empire, so she was a significant step removed from it all. Thankfully.

Prelate Varthas landed on a stool that was higher than the others and waved his beak across the table. “Find yourself some seats and we will trade answers.” He chuckled, then added, “You followed me here, so you may go first.”

After a quick discussion with the others, they settled on a question that felt like a softball to Sophia, as much because it was something they’d forget to ask if they didn’t ask it now as because they thought some of their other questions might be answered incidentally by the Prelate without needing a question. “We ran into some birds made of water at the beginning of the second area. They came out of the floodwaters of a storm that filled a bunch of canyons. When we killed them the first time, the water formed a larger single bird after it landed back in the canyon. We’re a lot stronger than they were, so I was able to just tear its enchantment apart. How do other teams usually handle that?”

The Prelate snorted. “Not the first question I expected, but all right. I know the birds you’re talking about; they’re fairly common in desert areas, once you’re past the first upgrade. They’re easy to deal with; you just fly away from them. They won’t follow you once you’re out of the desert and into scrublands. You can also kill them enough times to get rid of them if you need to stay in the desert, but normally it’s better to fly away and wait for the flooding to pass. They’re gone after that.”

Sophia nodded. That was more or less what they’d expected, but it was good to have confirmation. The fact that they were common made sense, too; after all, you were more likely to run into things that were common than things that were rare, though the best odds were that you’d run into some of each.

“As for my question,” the Prelate continued. “I do not have one that is as easy, but perhaps this is a good place to begin. Why do three of you smell of the Way when one of you does not? I know you traveled through the Ways when you came to Arcatiz, but the Gateways of the World Tree are well protected and do not taint travelers.” He seemed like he wanted to add something more, but settled down with a posture that Sophia translated as expectant.

“We’re from another universe … well, two other universes. Leo and I are from the same place, but Dav didn’t. We came through the space that lies between universes, the Origin … I think that’s what you call the Way.” Sophia bit her lip, then decided that she hadn’t given him quite as much information as he’d given them, but at the same time her next question would give the information away anyway. “We want to get home. Do you know how we can do that?”

Prelate Varthas shook his head. “Not you. A Way may not be opened to your home. That is the closed Way. It must stay closed. You do not seem touched by the dangers of that Way, but we must not give either of the known dangers a way to affect Arcatiz. For your companion … perhaps. I suspect it will be allowed, but creating the Way is another matter. For all that I am High Prelate of the Way, I cannot open one; that belongs to the Architects. I believe you are already on your way to meet one, and no, I cannot carry your request to Issvako. She does not permit her test to be skipped so easily.”

“How do you know we’re headed to see her?” The question slipped out before Sophia realized it was a bad question; it simply wasn’t important how the Prelate knew. Clearly someone told him.

“I went to see Architect Issvako while your Patron was there trying to convince her to listen to you. He did not have much of a chance to speak before the Lady rejected his request, for you at least, but it was enough to know what he asked.”

Sophia could only stare at the Prelate for a long moment. “Our Patron? The Wanderer? He doesn’t …. He didn’t say he was going to ask…”

The lightning bird performed a whole body wiggle that was definitely an amused shrug. “Revanos knows Issvako. He knew the best he’d get was a promise to listen to you when you arrived, so that was what he wanted. I suspect he was also going to promise payment, but he didn’t get that far.”