The trip down the Aether Stream was exhilarating. Aether was the Gaussian ethereal substance that swaddled the Caeli. The Aether Stream was a fast moving river of Aether that connected the Well of Origin in Alva Home to the home of the Creator, the Point of Origin. Along the Aether Stream’s banks were all the Caeli (a type of self-contained universe and all its permutations born of a single thought of the Creator) of Creation.

Anastasia thrilled in surfing of the rapids of Aether as evidenced by her acrobatic displays. Abigale was less exuberant about the journey, but she too tested her skill at surfing the Aether Stream.

“There it is!” Anastasia called back to Abigale. “That is the Caelum where Machina Village is located. Hurry up slow poke!” Anastasia reached out and latched onto the Aether Sheath that protected the Caelum from the Aether Stream. “Hurry up! You have the Adonite Port and ARC key!”

Adonite was an extremely stable and incredibly dense element that had a natural resistance to Aether. Adonite Ports were tiny squares that the Alva would use to puncture a hole in the Aether Sheath protecting a Caelum they wished to visit. Using the Adonite Resonance Catalyst Key, the Alva would expand the square to create a portal into the Caelum. Once inside the Caelum the Adonite Port would close, but be left in the Aether Sheath. When the Alva wanted to leave the Caelum they would use the ARC Key to reopen the Adonite Portal. Having returned to the Aether Stream they would remove the Adonite Port from the Aether Sheath.

Abigale latched on the Aether Sheath and pulled up next to Anastasia. The Kinetic General fished the Adonite Port out of the satchel she wore slung across her torso. Pulling the port free from her satchel, Abigale levitated the Adonite Port to the Aether Sheath and pushed it into the Sheath with her mind. The Aether Sheath resisted being punctured. Its job was to protect and it almost had its own consciousness. Abigale had to coax the Sheath to let her insert the Adonite Port; her steady persistence rewarded when the Sheath accepted the Port. Abigale inserted the ARC Key in to the center of the Adonite Port and moved back as to keep from being drug into the chaos of the Portal opening before it was stable. The Adonite Portal grew at irregular rates and angles until it stabilized into a large enough opening for the two Alva to enter the Caelum.

Stepping through the portal Abigale and Anastasia paused to adjust to the particular Resonance Frequencies that made up the Caelum. Every Caelum was marked by a unique set of energy frequencies that were the signature of the Creator. The ability of any inhabitant of a Caelum to manipulate the local Resonance Frequencies to their widest range was known as Magic or Technology. The Alva alone had the power to manipulate Resonance outside of their Caelum.

It took a bit to acclimatize to a new Caelum even for a veteran of traveling the Caeli. Being their first Caelum entry other than Alva Home the two were overwhelmed and thrilled by it all. Once they were comfortable with the Caelum’s Resonance Frequencies, Abigale summoned the ARC Key and the pair watched the Adonite Port shrink from sight. The ARC Key would guide them back when they were ready to leave. Deactivating their Aether boards caused the oblong metal sheets to shrink to a size that would fit in the palm of their hands. Abigale stowed them along with the ARC Key in her satchel before she fished out notes and maps they had taken from Mordan’s Chronicles

All the while Anastasia surveyed the Caelum below them. “One billion Blocks of Timelines. A million Timelines to a Block. And we just have to locate the one Timeline where Mordan spent most of his time.”

“Admittedly these notes are antiquated; the number of Timelines to splinter off since Mordan wrote them is astronomical. Fortunately, I believe the Timeline we are concerned with is one of the Original Timelines. So it should be in the First Block.”

Anastasia let out an exaggerated sigh. “Perfect! Only one million Timelines to hunt through.”

“Let me get close to the Frist Block,” Abigale absentmindedly replied returning the maps to her satchel. “I think I can search out the Resonance of the Staff of the Creator to track it down from there.”

Abigale and Anastasia began the careful trek through the void between the mazes of Timeline Blocks. The Timeline Blocks were not arranged in a single file. Since Timelines splintered when creating new Timelines, subsequent Timeline Blocks radiated away from the Original Timeline in what could be described as a snowflake pattern. (No two Caeli shared the same pattern of Timeline Blocks; just as they didn’t share Resonance Frequencies.) Abigale and Anastasia’s undertaking was a matter of tracking the splintering Timeline Blocks back to the Original Timeline; a skill that the Alva developed over eons of exploration, observation, and research. Those who were experienced Chroniclers learned to read the pattern types quickly and could find any Timeline Block they wanted. Having never visited another Caelum before was giving the pair another disadvantage as Abigale and Anastasia had to stumble about before they could find the First Block. It was a process that frustrated the pair.

“Finally!” Abigale sighed, stopping before a Timeline Block in the center of the Caelum. “The Resonance in this Timeline Block is more pure.”

“So do your thing. Figure out which of one million timelines we need to visit. I am giving you three chances for error before you’re fired.”

“Let me concentrate.”

Abigale focused all her energy on the Timeline Block. She reached out to connect to all the Resonance in the Block; sorting through the Frequencies to find an irregularity that could possibly be the Staff of the Creator. It was a new sensation for Abigale. She had been connected to a wide array of Resonance before, but this was like riding the blood stream of a reality she never knew. So much humanity and history rushed past her and filled her with emotion. It was awe inspiring.

After combing the Resonance Frequencies twice Abigale frowned. Anastasia was quick to pick up the downturn of her friend’s countenance. “Did we get the wrong Block?”

“Maybe. Still there is something not quite right about that Timeline. I want to investigate it.”

“We don’t have time. “

“Anastasia it is the most likely candidate in this Block. We have to check it out before we move on.”

“After you.”

Abigale locked onto the Resonance of the Timeline in question and beyond that searched out the planet and location Mordan had specified. She then reached out to grab Anastasia’s hand. Focusing everything on the location of the irregularity Abigale attempted her first Other Caelum Spatial Displacement Resonance Projection. The Alva had learned how to displace themselves from the void between the Timelines, projecting themselves to the place in time and space they desired to visit. Abigale had practiced it in the Alva Caelum, but the idea of traversing a new Caelum was daunting to the Kinetic Wunderkind. She was almost afraid to open her eyes when the pair slowed. To her great relief the two stepped into their desired Timeline at the appointed time and space.

Looking down from their aerial vantage point above the surface of the planet, Abigale and Anastasia found themselves hovering over a confused landscape. Tall gently rolling hills covered in an ancient forest mixed with meadowland glittering with crisscrossed streams painted a perfect pastoral landscape. However, many of the hills only gently rolled up and were sheared off into deep ravines of exposed rocks; the effect turning bubbling brooks into roaring waterfalls. All the ravines seemed to radiate from a central canyon that gave off an eerie light. The landscape closer to the canyon was more defined by unnatural free standing rock formations between what could be best described as wasteland.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it looks like you have been doing some redecorating around here,” Anastasia remarked.

“I am ignoring the jibe, but you are correct. Something about this land isn’t natural. It is faint but I can almost sense the Resonance has been violently disturbed somehow.”

“So we found the right Timeline after all?”

“Still too soon to tell; unnatural doesn’t mean supernatural. The inhabitants of every Caelum are capable of distorting their Caelum’s Resonance to a degree. Now give me a minute to search out that anomalous Resonance I was sensing. Make yourself useful and see if you can pick up any local chatter that might give us some clues.”

Abigale started tracking the Resonance of everything below them and Anastasia let her mind wander through the minds of the planet’s inhabitants searching for clues as to where Machina Village might be located.

“Machina Village? Why would I want to go to the heart of the Forsaken Forrest?”

Anastasia tuned into the man’s voice. Strangely she couldn’t hear the thoughts or the verbal response of the person to whom he was talking.

“A tree? A tree that shouldn’t grow on this planet? You are crazy!”

“Abigale, look for a tree. It should have a totally different Resonance from this planet.”

“I think you mean this Caelum! There that rise in the middle of the forest that is the disturbance I was feeling. Somehow there is a foreign Resonance Signature from a completely different Caelum. Only an Arch Alva or an Elder could transplant something from one Caelum to another. Wait, how did you know to look for a tree?”

“Because someone was just asked to find it.”

Abigale stared at Anastasia with an unreadable expression. “What? Someone was talking about the place we are looking for at the exact moment we were looking for it?”

“It is a little too coincidental for my tastes. But I will take the help anyway. We had better stay on guard. I get the feeling someone knew we were coming.”

~*~

“Anastasia?”

The pair of Alva stood in the middle of black scorched overgrown ruins that were once a thriving city. The ruins were not those of neglect or age but of violence and destruction. Where time and nature often lend beauty to a fallen city, the colors in Machina Village seemed to remain dull and drained; the plant life was more brown and withered than green and thriving. Decay seemed to cling to the dark places. There was almost no discernible wildlife within the crumbled outer protective walls.

Anastasia had remained unmoved as if in a trance for an extended period of time. Abigale calling her name seemed to bring the Path Prodigy back into her present time. As she turned face Abigale, the Kinetic was caught off guard eyes being uncharacteristically dark gave them a smoky quartz hue. Anastasia’s voice was could not achieve more than a whisper. “This place is haunted. Do you have any idea what kind of pain and fear had to permeate a place to leave such awful echoes for this amount of time?”

Abigale nodded and placed a hand on the wall nearest her; her mist shrouded ocean blue eyes brimmed with  tears. “The Resonance of places can have memory, too. These walls cannot tell me what they have seen, but I can sense in them the twisting of Resonance from whatever destroyed this village wrought.”

Abigale shook off the overwhelming melancholy and took to the air to observe the layout from above.

“This place is far larger than anything I would have expected from someplace name Machina Village.”

“I doubt it was more than a village when it got its name,” Anastasia returned Abigale’s mental mode of conversation as she entered what was left of one of the larger buildings. There were only telltale signs of the building’s original purpose in the form of scattered piles of cogs, rusted springs, and a forgotten tool that had lain hidden under a piece of furniture now long rotted away. “According to Mordan’s notes the brightest minds on the planet found their way to this place. The things created here were revolutionary in practical application and for simple decoration. They favored steam power and clockwork. Mordan’s sketches of their inventions were beautifully detailed. It seems that aesthetic was as important as functionality. The last of his notes celebrate that they had developed machines that could fly.”

Anastasia jumped as Abigale brushed past her. She hadn’t noticed her friend had also entered the ruinous warehouse.

“Why are you staring at that wall?”

“Because there is something hidden inside it.”

Abigale ran her hand along the far wall. She stopped and ghosted her hand through the wall withdrawing a thick leather bound folio. The folio was locked with an intricate lock of interlocked moving parts.

“It is beautiful!” Abigale sighed in admiration.

“I can’t believe it survived all this time,” Anastasia breathed, reaching out to trace the elaborate gilding. “Or did you help it out?”

“Leather is amazingly resilient. And it was being kept in an impressive safe. But . . . I admit to having reconstituted it somewhat.”

“This gilding along the edges, is that writing?”

“I think so.”

Abigale touched the gilding in one corner of the folio; radiating from the place where she touched the gilding returned to its original brilliance.

“We will die before we give up our secrets. But I cannot stand to think our secrets will die with us. Forgive me.”

Anastasia took the folio from Abigale to more closely inspect it.

“Mordan’s notes said that Machina Village had no political allegiances. They believed that science’s only allegiance was to itself and its only cause was to serve all mankind equally. Perhaps that is what happened here. Someone wanted science to have a political allegiance.” Anastasia continued to marvel at the masterful artistry of the folio. “The intricacies of the lock alone are astounding. I can only imagine what is held in side. Only someone skilled in puzzles and cypher could open that lock.”

The gears and parts began to spin on their own.

“Or an Alva Kinetic.”

“It has its perks,” Abigale smirked at Anastasia; wresting the folio from her hands. The Kinetic walked to place the folio on a large flat chunk of the building that had lain in the floor for centuries; washed clean by recent rain.

For several minutes Abigale and Anastasia perused the contents of the folio; schematics, notes, and illustrations by the score. A few seemed to interest Anastasia more than the others. Her careful scrutiny did not escape Abigale’s notice. “What is?”

“There is something familiar about these.”

“Familiar? How so?”

“I can’t put my finger on it. But there is something about them that is familiar.”

“More than likely Mordan had similar illustrations in his notes. He seemed obsessed with the work they did here.”

“Maybe you are right,” Anastasia sighed and let her gaze wonder off into nothing. “We should take this with us. We can ask Elder Penelope to put it with Mordan’s observation chronicles. This treasure deserves to be restored to the memory of those who created it. For now we should go. We have tarried too long here. The tree we are looking for is just outside the city walls.”

The Alva gently placed everything back into the folio. Abigale caused the lock to spin back into place then stowed it in her satchel. The pair walked through the ruined streets in silence; each lost in her own thoughts. This was their very first place to visit outside the Alva Caelum. It struck them deeply that they found an abiding sorrow they had each endured in their own way so far from home.

Without having to put it into words, Abigale and Anastasia hit upon the truth that drove every  Alva to explore and inspired them call all other inhabitants of Creation known as Dimie, meaning younger siblings; in the end experiences are different and peoples diverse but happiness is happiness, sorrow is sorrow, and fear is fear. In the end those who had lived in Machina Village were no different than the Alva. Had they met even one survivor of the day that brought Machina Village to ruin they would have been able to sympathize with their pain; that was a powerful revelation.

Pausing only to inspect the fallen city gate that had once been an enormous version of the lock on the folio, the Alva carefully picked their way through a field strewn with remnants of what was once a great wall. A broad gently sloped hill rose to left of the city. Rows of perfectly straight grave markers stood their weary watch over the dead in the shadow of an enormous tree growing at the crest of the hill.

“Is that an Everbloom tree?” Abigale seemed surprised. “Those are from Tulesan in our Caelum. I’ve only ever been to the Everbloom forest once. I remember them being breathtaking.”

“They are. The Everbloom Forest was Thayer’s favorite place to visit. He would take me there with him often. Many times with Kisho and Kane. And occasionally Mordan.”

“Mordan’s betrayal must have been so shocking to them.”

“Mordan was Thayer’s hero. He looked up to him. Wanted to be like him. Mordan broke Thayer’s heart before he crushed it. I felt both keenly.”

“You still miss your brother very much. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Those times in the Everbloom Forest . . . I felt as if I had three brothers rather than one. And now, thanks to Mordan . . . I have to fight the idea that I may have none.”

Abigale placed a supportive hand on Anastasia’s shoulder. It was a rare occasion that Anastasia spoke so openly about her feelings and fears. The subject of Thayer was almost taboo. The Kinetic need not say nor even think a word of comfort, Anastasia knew it was offered. Abigale knew Anastasia would accept it only if she wanted to, so she didn’t push issue. Instead Abigale left Anastasia to look at the tree which seemed to grow as a giant ever blooming flower for one of the graves while the Kinetic investigated the rows of grave markers. Each bore a name and a date. The date was the same on all the markers.

“Everyone in this graveyard died on the same day,” Abigale thought to herself. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to bury the dead and mark their graves. There are so many. But we need only find one grave.”

Abigale stood still as she connected to the Resonance of the ground; seeking out any anomaly that would tell her which grave they were hunting. There was nothing.

“Anastasia, The Staff is not in any of these graves.”

“Did you know Everbloom trees were hollow?” Anastasia asked, nonplussed by Abigale’s discovery. “They can grow to be massive by growing new rings every Voyage of Mharie or so, but they start out like bamboo. They are hollow and as their rings expand so does their hollow core.”

“You think the Staff of the Creator is in the Everbloom Tree?”

“It’s brilliant right? You were hunting for foreign Resonance and found the Everbloom Tree. If the Staff were dormant, wouldn’t the Resonance of the tree mask that of the Staff?”

“Those two clever. . .”

“Well ghost in there already!”

Harmonizing her Resonance to pass benignly through the outer rings, Abigale ghosted into the heart of the Everbloom Tree. Expecting the core to be pitch black Abigale was startled by the bright lightshow the tree put on for her. There was something bioluminescent in the cells of the tree and its glow reminded Abigale of the nights when all three moons of Alva Home were full.

“Well?” Anastasia spoke into her partner’s mind.

“You want to use my eyes to see I take it?” Abigale grumbled mentally in response. “It is so creepy.”

“I didn’t have to ask. Hey, there isn’t much space in here and I don’t see the Staff. It can’t be hidden any further could it?”

Her eyes having adjusted to the unusual light, Abigale made out what appeared to be a stand that was the perfect for holding the Staff of the Creator, but it was empty. A ribbon wrapping around the stand held a medallion in place. It was oddly familiar to Abigale, but she would have to inspect it further in the sunlight. She took the medallion and hung it around her neck. Looking and sensing everything she could Abigale came to a terrible conclusion; the Staff of the Creator had been there but it was there no longer.

“It’s not here.”

Abigale became aware that Anastasia had severed their mental link.

“Anastasia!”

Abigale was hit with the strongest sensation of vertigo she had ever felt. Her stomach found its way to her throat and her heart raced uncontrollably. She felt as if she would collapse; only she couldn’t find which way was down. Fighting the rising panic as she had trained for years to do, Abigale barely managed to find her way out of the Everbloom Tree. The sight that met her was horrific. Dozens of hideous creatures surrounded the Alva.

“What are these?” Abigale barely managed to stammer even in her thoughts.

“I don’t know. They are insects, reptiles, and humanoids all wrapped into one. I am fairly certain they aren’t friendly.”

The mental connection between the two Alva was poor and garbled; each had to infer half of what the other was thinking. Anastasia’s bow was already in her hand with an arrow nocked. Abigale drew her swords but worried that she would not be able to keep her feet long enough to use them. Whatever the creatures were, she was certain they were causing her vertigo.

The creature’s number grew incrementally as if they were replicating. Their movements were agitated like a swarm of bees waiting for the order to attack. The Alva braced themselves as best they could. As the Zwarm grew, the Alva found it harder to keep their feet. When the grave yard was completely infested, a group of creatures charged the Alva. Anastasia let loose an arrow at an incoming creature. To both Abigale and Anastasia’s surprise the arrow missed. Anastasia never missed.

Abigale forced herself up right and swung at the closest creature. The Alva were appalled when Abigale’s blade was repelled before it even got close to the creature.

Anastasia let fly several arrows- each unable to find their target. Abigale tried to pull the ground beneath the creatures out from under them but could not get a mote of dust to move. Not to be deterred Anastasia stowed her bow and drew her own katana to take a swing at another of the creatures; the result was the same as for Abigale.

“Our weapons are useless!”

“I can’t get a lock on their Resonance either. It is so twisted it is acting as a force field. I can’t find a way around it. Anastasia! Your nose!”

Anastasia’s nose was bleeding. She wiped the plum rivulets of blood away. “I can’t get in their minds. But I can feel them in mine trying to claw their way from the inside out!”

“We have to get out of here!”

Abigale reached out for her partner. Their physical contact gave them enough energy to shoot skyward. Leaving the creatures below, the Alva immediately started to feel better.

“I didn’t think there was anything in the Caeli that could render an Alva unable to access Resonance!” Abigale mentally shouted; trying to communicate through the continuing static in their connection.

“We’ll talk about it later, those things have wings!”

Anastasia pointed below them to the swarm of creatures rising from the forest floor. The Alva tried to put distance between themselves and the creatures, but their pursers somehow caught up. The closer the creatures got the more the Alva were unable to stay aloft. It wasn’t long before Abigale and Anastasia crashed into the valley floor below.

Surrounded and helpless, Abiagle and Anastasia tried to merge their powers as a last ditch effort to flee. However, the creatures ceased their advance.

“They are toying with us,” Anastasia snarled.

“I think they are testing us. Didn’t you see that only a handful attacked us while the other justwatched to see what we would do?”

“I hate feeling like this! Why not attack already?”

“Something is happening.”

The Zwarm’s ranks parted and one creature larger than all the rest strode forward. He, if it was indeed a he, was clearly the leader.f“Youzzz arezzz powerlezzz againzzzzzt ze Walgzz. Youzzzz muzzzzt notzzz havezzz zez ztafzzzz.”

The creature’s voice had the quality of nails grating on metal and sandpaper on rock.

Abigale and Anastasia exchanged silent questions. How did these creatures know about theStaff of the Creator? How did they know that the Alva didn’t have it?

“Dozzz Youzzz knowzzz whozzz hazzz ze ztaffzzz?”

“We have to get out of here,” Abigale pleaded mentally to her partner.

“Even if we get off the ground again they will just drive us back down.”

“I’ll blow up the field to buy us time or something.”

“Didn’t you already try that? I don’t think we are getting out of this one Abigale.”

ZZZZZZAP Boom! A ball of green lightening spiraled toward a clump of the creatures vaporizing them on impact. A second ball of green lightening whizzed into another clump as a shadow fell over the outer ranks of the Zwarm. Looking up they saw a mighty airship approaching them guns blazing.

“Whatzzz izzzz thizzzz? Dozzz theyzzz hazzz ze ztaffzzz? Getzzz ze ztafzzz!”

The Zwarm took flight but they had little success getting anywhere close to the ship. Anastasia and Abigale marveled at the tactical capabilities of the incoming vessel. The main body of the ship resembled a classic seafaring vessel and was suspended between three massive rings where its masts would have been; the Main-ring was the largest, the Mizzen-ring midsized, and the Fore-ring the smallest. The top and bottom third of all three rings had tracking for mobile guns to move along; splitting the thirds up evenly between three guns a piece. Each of the guns had a large range of motion and fired the same strange green lightening balls. Between the nine guns aloft and the nine guns below there was no chance of approach from any angle without risk of getting shot to oblivion. Spanning the distance between the Mizzen-ring and Main-ring and the Main-ring and Fore-ring on either side of the ship were four great ballasts that kept the ship aloft. It would have been an egregious weakness if there had not been jointed armaments encasing the ballasts. The ship was nearly untouchable.

“Now is our chance to get out of here!” Abigale thought to Anastasia.

Anastasia drew her katana even though it was useless; she just couldn’t bear to feel utterly defenseless. Abigale tightened her grip on her scimitars for much the same reason. Slowly and as quietly as possible the pair tried to back away from the Zwarm leader who was overseeing the attack on the approaching airship. They had not taken two steps when the sound of sheering metal surrounded them.

“Youzzz mayzzz notzz knowzzz aboutzz ze ztaffzz, butzz wezzz arezzz hungryzzz. Wezz needzzz yourzzz zoulzzz. Youzzz won’tzzz getzz awayzzz.”

“They are hungry?” Anastasia flabbergasted.

“Our souls?” Abigale was equally appalled. “What are these things? How can there be something that can eat Alvian Souls?”

“They aren’t eating ours without a fight!”

“Our weapons are useless!”

“Well I haven’t tried my fists yet!”

Anastasia wiped the flood of plum blood that continued to flow from her nose and drew all her strength to stand and challenge the Zwarm leader. “Hey bug boy! If you want to eat our souls you better be prepared to part with a few of your own!”

“Youzzz canzz barelyzzz stanzz.”

Abigale took her cue from her partner. “That hasn’t stopped us before. We are our most dangerous when we are backed into a corner.”

“Ze Tavalzzz zaidzz zame thingzzz. Wezz eatzz themzzz allzz.”

“This is what happened to the Taval!” Abigale forced her horror into her thoughts so as not to be expressed outwardly.

“Kisho! Kane!” the Alva Generals thought in unison.

That became a rally cry that shot energy through every fiber of their beings. Without their noticing they had begun to merge their powers into a single being just as they had done the time they had faced Mordan at the Rift cave on Hollisoar.

“Such exquisite beauty should not be spoiled by the touch of such creatures as you lot. Allow me to aid you ladies by escorting these abominations to the underworld of the damned.”

The deep rich voice came from above. Looking up the Alva saw ropes had been thrown over the sides of the airship and a party of men were descending; sniping members of the Zwarm with firearms that seemed to possess on a smaller scale the same green lightening as the airship’s larger guns. Several men landed in a circle around the Alva separating them from the Zwarm. One of the men in a burgundy suede jerkin and breeches landed just in front of Abigale and Anastasia. He turned briefly to the Alva.

“My apologies ladies, but formal introduction must wait. Please stay behind my men until we have eliminated this scourge.”

“Youzz willzz diezz withzzz themzzz! Nozzz onezz canzzz defeatzzz ze Walgzzz!”

“We seem to be doing a fairly efficient job of it mate. Look around you. You and your guard dogs, bugs, whatever manner unholy monstrosity you are, are all that are left. “

Looking about the broader field for the first time Abigale and Anastasia realized the young man was right, only a handful of the Zwarm remained.

“And don’t bother sounding a retreat. No lizard bugs are going to leave this valley alive. You have the word of Nathanial Rosewood of the Gallimaufry on that.”

The crew made good on the word of their leader. They were well trained, organized, and extremely skilled with their strange fire arms. Watching with full appreciation of the assault, Abigale and Anastasia made note that though the crew were armed with a variety of weapons, they only used their green lightening firearms to assault the Zwarm. Unlike the large balls of lightening of the ship’s large guns, the firearms shot short bursts of highly focused green lightening. It seemed that whatever they were firing was unstable for long periods of use; every so often one of the crew would eject a cartridge from the fire arm and throw it like a grenade into a group of the creatures vaporizing them. They then would put another cartridge in their gun and continue to shoot at the Zwarm.

In a matter of minutes Nathanial Rosewood and his crew had systematically eradicated the Zwarm.

“Fan out and make sure no strays got away. If there are more of those things I don’t want them knowing where we are,” Nathanial Rosewood ordered before strolling back to Abigale and Anastasia.

The Alva had quickly hidden their weapons. Anastasia was quick to initiate infiltration of the crew’s minds to erase any knowledge that they had seen the Alva with weapons.

“Abigale, I don’t know if it is the residual effect of those creatures, but I can’t get a good lock on these men’s minds. I can’t conceal our armor and weapons.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Abigale focused on bending the light around the Alva. The light around them shimmered slightly concealing their true form and presenting the image of two women in unassuming dress she hoped wouldn’t draw any undue attention.

“Anastasia any time you can take over feel free to do so. Bending light takes an enormous amount of concentration and I too am still feeling residual effects of those things.”

Nathanial Rosewood’s immediate presence drew the attention of the Alva to him. He inspected them closely. His expression hinted that he was expecting somebody other than the two women before him. He shook his misgivings and flashed a broad charming smile.

“You lovely ladies must be terribly lost. This is the Forsaken Forest deep within the Forsaken Territories. The heart of the bravest and strongest of men quivers in fear from just the mention of their name.”

“We are indeed lost and far from home,” Anastasia spoke, trying to affect a similar speech pattern to Nathanial’s.

Abigale followed suit.  “And we are ever so grateful for your intervention. We could never have dreamed such horrors lived in these woods. You saved our lives. Our gratitude can never be rightly expressed,”

“It was our pleasure. We don’t often have the chance to come to the aid of beautiful ladies in distress. But, where are my manners? I am Nathanial Rosewood, Captain of The Gallimaufry.”

Nathanial gave a genteel bow and extended his hand to receive Abigale’s. The Kinetic General gave a small curtsey hoping that she had the correct custom. “I am Abigale.”

Nathanial took her hand and kissed it lightly, then turned and bowed to Anastasia. The Path General was less willing to give him her hand. Her hesitation was noticed but not acknowledged, so she finally imitated Abigale’s actions.

“I am Anastasia.”

“No sir names? No titles or residence? I suppose I wouldn’t give those out to a bunch of ruffians even if they did save my life. Miss Abigale and Miss Anastasia you shall be then. Now ladies I know she is probably more rough around the edges than you are accustomed, but would you do us the honor of joining us on our humble airship?”

Abigale went to protest when she was overridden by Anastasia. “The honor would be ours.”

“Anastasia! This goes against the Alva Code of Conduct! We aren’t supposed to make contact with Dimie!”

“It’s too late for that!”

“That doesn’t mean we should climb aboard their ship!”