Other Worlds Than These

[Aikanáro]

Rivailen thought carefully about this. Barufiniel was right about the dragon, to be sure, but the rest? That the dragon had not intended to appear here wasn't enough to prove that the circle was some kind of door.

Magic was far more likely. Elf-magic, if anything, and she gave Barufiniel a sidelong glance. Did she know more than she said? Did she know something other than what she had said?

'What manner of world-' she began, wanting to question her further, but her words were cut short by the sight of a figure falling suddenly from the circle and landing in the long grass beneath it.

Door indeed, she thought. Barufiniel knew what she was speaking of, and Rivailen regretted having doubted her. There was snow upon the ground, and the season for it had long passed. The person who lay there was dressed for coldest winter. She was not from here, at least not from now, that much was clear. And she had fallen from quite a distance. Rivailen hurried to her side, caution forgotten, and crouched down beside her. 'Are you hurt?' she asked loudly.

Above them, the lights of the circle began to fade, and the darkness of the sky to brighten in a slow and gradual fashion. The storm was passing.

~-~-~

Elsewhere...

One small step. That was all it would take. Step through that blinding light into the unknown. Ashkaio Mirat dan-Kazhrun stared straight ahead, willing his foot to move, willing that he would not fail in this, the first hurdle. He had seen others come through, and to step through the doorway was simply to retrace their path. The door was open, and he would walk out into whatever lay beyond and complete his task. The city depended upon it.

Had he not asked for this? Something significant for a younger cousin of House Kazhrun, something worth remembering. One ought to be careful what they asked for. He had said his farewells this morning. Halaevi-Saeihr's cheeks had been wet with tears, and he had embraced her for that, and called her dearest among his siblings, and made her take a solemn vow that she would not follow after him, even if he did not return. Particularly if he did not return. Ashkaio did not know how far to trust that vow. Of all his brothers and sisters, Halaevi-Saeihr was closest to him both in age and temperament. Even so, she had promised him. She would stay and defend Tathera, from the outer walls to the reaches of the spires.

'Be careful, Kai,' she had whispered before he left her. 'Whatever the outcome, come home to us.'

There had been no breach of the outer walls in all the time that House Kazhrun had held the city-state of Tathera. The thought came unbidden, and Ashkaio shook his head. That, to their dismay, was no longer truth.

He had been standing before the doorway now for a full minute. The others kept their distance, and he wondered how he must look to them. Halli had made him wear his best coat, the burgundy with the silver buttons. One ought to make an impression, especially when arriving as an emissary. An uninvited emissary.

Just step through, he told himself, and then he did.