Silver Stars (Guardian of Aster Fall Book 8), page 16
A flicker of attention diverted half of his avatars from their work on the fortresses and within seconds they teleported into the dimension and began erecting a dimensional scaffold to separate the area into different laws.
The instructions and necessary runic enchantments poured in from his avatar in the Void, who had plenty of time to study the best method.
He didn’t change too much of it. He just created a stable space for Keros to arrive, a space of pure Fire, another of pure Earth, and then a mix of the two.
After that, he established a series of areas with different levels of force that proceeded from calm energy to the original wild force of the star.
It was done in less than two minutes.
He raised his hand and an oval portal of dimensional energy appeared in the room. The other side radiated with magma and elemental flame, releasing a wave of heat that roared out.
Neither he nor Keros was affected by it.
“Will this work?” he asked as he pointed at the portal.
Now that Silverguard had been upgraded to a Divine artifact, it was easy to open a stable portal from here for other people. The fortress had enchantments to support it, the same as the city he’d just upgraded on Aster Fall.
He intended Portal and Silverguard to work together for travel to and from the world in case he wasn’t around to teleport people.
“What is this?” Keros’s eyes were wide, but he studied the portal with interest. The flame inside reflected from his crystalline skin. “I can sense it’s separated from this dimension, but I can’t follow all of the energy patterns.”
“It’s one of the subdimensions nearby,” Sam explained as he indicated the portal. “A star left this energy behind when it exploded, so it’s full of higher laws of the Void. The energy will eventually return to the main dimension, but not for a while. It will leak out into ore veins and other sources first, or fall into the grasp of another star.”
He raised his hand again and a plaque made of astral metal appeared on it. The surface was carved with a field of silver stars surrounded by a band of intricate runes.
It was a permanent artifact, a badge for his old ally. It would help him to link with the enchantments of Silverguard.
“This will bring you back when you’re done,” he said as he handed it to Keros. “It will also act as a communication array to reach me or Silverguard. If something goes wrong, you can use it to signal me and I’ll come after you.
“But you should be able to step back at any time, as well as to keep track of those five with it. Just use it to open a portal when you’re ready to return. The dimension isn’t going anywhere soon, so you can come and go as you like.”
Keros studied the plaque for a moment before he took it.
“It might take a while for me to find the right insight,” Keros said slowly as he held it in his hand, “even with a place like this. But I can’t turn down the chance you’ve offered. I don’t know when something like this will come again.”
He glanced at the five emissaries and then nodded.
“Will you make sure that those five get back home?” he asked. “Except for Solis and Jesra, they’re likely to get into trouble otherwise. You could ask them to help with other things, but it’s probably best to send them back directly.”
He paused as he looked at Sam. A smile quirked at his lips.
“And I get the feeling that you no longer need their help.”
“They were important in the battle against the Vos’Rekan,” Sam said politely, although he agreed with the sentiment. “It would have been riskier without them. But I plan to send them back as soon as they’re done here.”
He was thankful for their arrival and how it had accelerated the hunt, but if he’d had his wishes, he would have called others to help or waited for Keros alone.
There was no need for more discussion, so Keros gave him a nod as he stepped through the portal.
The following silence in the hall was pleasant.
He was used to his Silver Nagas and his family, but he preferred the expanse of the Void to idle chatter. He checked on the emissaries’ progress as he waited for them to finish.
Fortunately, the work his avatars were doing kept him from becoming impatient. He was making good progress and this would be done soon enough.
A few minutes later, a message from the World Core appeared in his awareness.
Builder, the trace of an Outsider bloodline has been detected in one of the visiting emissaries. He is descended from a mix of local and invasive forces. The origin is very distant, at least a thousand generations.
The words caught Sam’s attention and his eyes narrowed.
“Which one?” he asked as he looked across the table.
Berim, the Archalis.
Sam turned to look at Berim.
He was mostly hidden by the silver field, but it didn’t stop Sam from seeing through it. The Archalis was smiling at something only he could see.
Do you wish to eliminate him?
He considered the idea, but then he shook his head.
“No,” he said. “He has not shown any signs of betraying us. There are bound to be some descendants from the First War still remaining. The Outsiders were prolific and it fits the nature of his people to experiment.”
His own family had an Outsider bloodline, so he couldn’t judge Berim on that basis alone.
He wouldn’t be surprised if Berim’s ancestors had jumped at the opportunity to see what mating with Outsiders was like, followed by taking copious notes on it.
But he still filed the information away for later.
It wasn’t the first trace of Outsiders in the galaxy he’d seen, and Berim was not the only one with a trace of their blood.
Asenya’s homeworld had that prison on it, and Aster Fall had some real ones who had escaped from the seal.
Even with the Titans watching them, they’d spread far and wide.
At exactly the hour mark, the silver fields around the emissaries faded away.
They hadn’t gone through an Evolution, only a revision of their Path, so they looked the same as before, but he could sense their changed potential. Their auras were deeper and more promising.
There were also traces of energy that swirled around them in different patterns. The Traits and Abilities they’d gained were settling into their meridians.
The World Core had fulfilled their wishes.
They were coming to their senses and studying their notifications, so none of them spoke.
Perhaps one day, the galaxy would see five new Sixth Evolution heroes from this group, but he had a feeling it would take a while. They felt too immature to develop their law to the necessary height. Perhaps the memories of the battle would help.
“Congratulations,” he said, breaking the silence. “Our agreement has been fulfilled. Do you have any other requests?”
The emissaries looked at each other and then at Solis, who shook his head.
“We’ve been strictly instructed to return once the threat was dealt with,” the crystal flame elemental said. “The council just didn’t expect that it would be over this quickly.”
He paused, his head tilting to the side with a half smile.
“Well, forty years of travel wasn’t too quick, I suppose,” he added, “not to mention the return will be the same.”
“Is there a chance to see more of the Deep Wild before we go?” Rohne asked suddenly, looking up from his notifications. “The battle was glorious, but I feel like we shouldn’t leave without making a few more memories.”
“My instructions were the same as yours,” Tenal replied, shaking his wings in irritation. “The longer we spend here, the more time passes at home. My father is aware of that, as is the council. That is the reason we’ve been ordered back.”
“We have gained a great deal from coming here,” Jesra added quietly. “We should not ask for more. The chance to battle a Vos’Rekan and consult with the World Core is something that every elite would jump at, even if they only had a thin chance of survival.”
“Time is moving quickly at home,” Berim said as he tapped his notebook with a stylus. “As much as I would like to stay, my family has demanded I return so they can study my notes.”
Seeing as there was no objection, Sam called out the traveling platform that had brought the team here. It appeared on his hand as a tiny disk.
As he looked up, the roof of the great hall disappeared, leaving the view open to the Void. He tossed the disk into the sky, where it expanded into its full traveling size and hovered above an open field on the island.
Then he stepped forward, bringing the emissaries with him. The group reappeared in a flicker of silver flame on top of the platform.
A few quick instructions to the enchantment in the disk reset its route for the settled galaxy and the world they had come from.
“When you reach your home,” he offered, “look for me there. I will send an avatar on my own path to speak with the council. Aster Fall has been left alone in the Void for too long. We will work toward a better understanding of one another, so that dangers cannot threaten the world’s stability so easily.”
“Will the Titans return to the galaxy?” Solis’s eyes were wide.
“I am here,” Sam replied with some humor. “But I am working to call some others back from their research. Things have gone unattended for too long.”
A flicker of amusement passed across his face as he looked at Berim.
“Like the Archali, a Titan’s curiosity is great and we wander far in search of answers. Aster Fall was once the launching point for a very important question.”
He waved at the traveling platform.
“Works like this and others much grander still support the council and keep the worlds connected. The greatest of them is called the Path of Stars. It oversees the major teleportation gates between the worlds, among other things. If you need to speak with me, you can ask the Path of Stars to carry a message.
“Simply ask aloud near a teleportation hub or a high-level Evolutionary Node on any central world. They are nearly all connected to it, and those that are not are monitored. The Path also speaks to the council at times. That is how this platform was called for you. You might not receive an immediate answer, but you will receive one. If I am not available, the Path of Stars will tell you that. You can share that with the council.
“Remember what you have seen here. It will shape your path forward. You know now what some of the true threats to the galaxy are, and why fighting amongst the worlds matters so little in the face of them.”
When he finished speaking, his eyes settled on Jesra, but then they moved on.
He’d originally intended to ask her about the history of the Ice Sylphs and how she was connected to them, but the Path of Stars had already filled him in, so there was no need to delay.
He would speak with Siwaha about it instead.
“Fare well on your journey,” he said as he activated the enchantments of the traveling platform. “I trust that your futures will be bright.”
As soon as he stepped off, the outer shield rose around the edge of the disk, securing the five emissaries inside, which ensured that they couldn’t escape even if they wanted to.
He nodded at them through the shield and then he rose up to his full height until he towered over the disk.
He called the platform up to his hand, and then he gathered streams of astral energy from all around until a twisting vortex of force roared behind the platform.
Then he bent back and launched it with a crack of sound that roared across Silverguard, echoing from the towers and the mountains.
Space around the platform warped, turning it to nothing but a silver speck in the distance.
Sam folded his arms as he looked after the speck, making sure that nothing happened as it continued to move away.
With the Path of Stars controlling the platform, they wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble, but until the World Seal was repaired, he didn’t plan to take any chances.
Once he was satisfied, he turned away, looking at the fortresses floating around Silverguard instead. They would be done soon and he could set them around the world.
He turned toward Aster Fall and then he disappeared in a streak of silver light.
When he reappeared, it was on Caelus, the Moon of the Elements.
It was the home of the teleportation gate Caerlon built that connected to the main half of the galaxy.
Now that he’d reached the Fifth Star, he should be able to activate it.
His avatar in the Void was useful, but its time differential was only around 100. It was increasing slowly, but if he could get this gate working, he could send one to the settled galaxy instead, where it would be 215 times faster than Aster Fall.
It would also open up other options, including contacting the nagas’ home world.
The idea of unleashing a horde of enthusiastic Silver Nagas into the World Seal and letting them hunt the Outsiders made him chuckle.
They would love it.
Now he just had to see if it worked.
Chapter 15: Titan Gate
Caelus was a bright blue moon. Crystalline waves of its aura washed across the surface as Sam arrived above the teleportation gate.
The entrance was on the side opposite Aster Fall, which hid it from casual view. It looked like a valley between two mountains, a feature no different than many others on the moon.
Even to his senses, there was barely anything there, just a trace of old astral energy that could just as easily have been left behind by starlight hitting the surface.
After the hint in Asenya’s records, it had taken him a while to find this place, but the Will of the Path had eventually helped, once he managed to unlock its memory of the location.
Caerlon had sealed the records during the First War to keep it a secret, since the gate was one of the major strategic advantages of their side, allowing quick access between Aster Fall and the settled half of the galaxy, which allowed the Titans to reinforce the world quickly and to gain the advantage of time compression for their work.
Even with it to help, the war had been difficult.
It was secret enough that not every Titan had known about this location, just those most central to the war.
Even with how important it was, only a couple hundred of the Titans had participated in the war, about fifteen percent of their total number.
There had been barely 3,000 of them in the entire galaxy and they were a far-walking race. Even with the Path of Stars to connect them, not all were able to come back so easily. Others had been engaged in pursuits they thought were just as important.
It made him wonder how many other powerful artifacts were scattered across the Deep Wild or in the dark beyond the stars.
The others probably would have stepped in if the war had spilled over to the rest of the galaxy, but the most intense part had been fought near Aster Fall.
Caerlon and his allies had managed to contain it. The Three Demons had been blocked here and the Outsiders who reached other parts of the galaxy never made much headway without them.
Sam shook his head, but then he dismissed the thoughts as he stepped onto the surface at the base of the valley and looked around.
Caelus was different from the other moons, smaller and older. Its aura had a feeling of great age even against the backdrop of the Void. The Titans had brought it here from somewhere else and it made him wonder where it had been before.
Like the other moons, it was a carefully chosen natural law to counter the influence of one of the Three Demons. Shattered Skies, in this case, but she was long dead.
Now its aura helped to balance the elemental energy of Aster Fall, keeping them from clashing with one another.
He looked around the area, studying the valley for traces of the gate. To his regular senses, there was nothing here, which showed how well Caerlon had concealed it.
Only with his law could he see the entrance. Faint runes floated at the edge of his vision, appearing from the stone wall of the mountain to his left.
It was a remnant of Caerlon’s law, which he had used to hide the wards. He had channeled a trace of chaos to rewrite reality.
It was an interesting thing to see.
Studying the runes told him that they had been designed to conceal the entrance, but Caerlon had taken things a step farther and made the stone absorb their energy, turning it into the moon’s own natural aura.
The stone farther away was different, but he could only tell by seeing how the runes avoided it. There was a line where they met and the runes curved back.
If his law had been something else, he wouldn’t have been able to see it, but it was close enough to Caerlon’s to let him.
He finished studying the design as he raised his hand. A field of astral energy appeared around him and sank into the stone, targeting the ward keys that he knew were there.
They didn’t feel like anything at first, just regular stone, but as he continued to pour energy in, he felt a reaction as his aura suddenly took hold of the enchantment inside.
Five points of silver light began to burn within the mountain.
A dry voice rang out in his mind, its words brief and quiet.
Authorization Requested.
There was a moment of silence.
Authorization Recognized.
Runic keys detected from Asenya and Cerei.
Connecting to the Path of Stars.
Updating gate information.
Caerlon not detected.
Titan signature confirmed as present. No enemies detected.
Contingency activated.
Codename: Stragglers.
“You are late, but not forgotten.” A voice rang in Sam’s awareness. It was deep, authoritative, and kind. “Come and find us. There are so many new things to see.”
He recognized it instantly as Caerlon.
The titan’s voice disappeared and the original voice took over again.
Caerlon’s Key granted.
Titan Gate system access granted. Connections are active.
Gate opening.
The stone shifted, flowing into the shape of a gate with pillars on either side, and then the entire side of the mountain began to change.
