Chapter 54 – Summons.

Ueana lay on Callisto’s back, staring up at the starry sky, a warm breeze teasing her bare feet. The moon was at its quarter face, providing just enough light to see by but still leaving her cloaked in the darkness, the rustling of the leaves of the garden’s plants and the occasional noise of a night animal providing a pleasant backdrop for her thoughts. She had escaped her guest quarters in the temple complex for some solitude in the garden, Callisto quite happy to accompany her, his rhythmic breathing under her peaceful and comforting. She ran her hands along her body, stretching herself out, and gave a contented sigh.

It had certainly been an interesting day. The start hadn’t been that great, exploring the palace gardens got rather boring after the third day, and while she understood the requirement that she stay within it’s grounds, being from a foreign kingdom and all, she really had wanted to get out and explore the city. Or do anything else really. It was likely that she would have ended up doing some more sparring with the other hatchlings, or even the morbid sister from the Southern Peaks, but that only passed a few hours.

She wasn’t entirely sure why she had been selected for this mission. She wasn’t the most talented of the hatchlings in her nest, and there were others that were better suited, as well as those who had wanted to go. Avaraline held a lot of significance as the first of the six kingdoms that had been settled since the Shattering, and it was rumoured that were a lot of secrets within it, especially since the Dawn Angel’s pulse had originated from there. Tales of the defeat of the Demon King, and the strange disappearance of most of their clan also also surfaced. A few demons had reared their heads in the years that followed, a challenge for the brood to deal with, but they had always managed. A few of the Lady Knights suspected that there were more than they knew about, but someone else seemed to be dealing with them.

The delegation had been arranged in a hurry, and Ueana had been told on the morning of its departure that she was going along. In fact the entire team had been a strange collection. Fleur had only been with their nest a few months, and while they were good friends, Ueana wouldn’t have thought her a good choice either. Coorie was talented, but mostly kept to herself. The only factor that she could think of was that perhaps they felt the disturbance more keenly than other riders.

Queen Alysia had summoned them all to the audience chamber just before they had felt the presence of the prime dragon fly past. Or Prime-Alpha as the Queen had decided to label it. An uncanny coincidence. Something about wanting to collate observations with some new reports that she had just received. Ueana had quickly tuned it all out. Then it had been lunch, followed by some meeting with Guild representatives that she had summoned to the palace. Even the now familiar gardens were preferable to having to sit through those sorts of conversations, so Ueana had conveniently taken a wrong turn and made herself scarce. She had wandered the gardens a bit before seeking out the company of her familiar. Then they had turned up, coming out from somewhere deeper in the gardens.

From what Queen Alysia had said at the start of the introduction, Ueana suspected that Myne and the Deep Dragons had intended to leave that day. However there had been an almost universal insistence that they tell them about the Outerlands. Heck, even she had been curious, none the wiser as to what lay outside the Circle Sea, though not nearly as enthralled as the Lady Knights and the Prince. A second lunch had been arranged, and the entire delegation had sat in the presence of the dragon familiars as they were told of the Outerlands. While it was all three initially talking, Crystal had wandered off part way through to pet the familiars some more, saying something about not likely getting the opportunity again any time soon. The dragon familiars certainly weren’t complaining, and seemed to be really enjoying her attention. By the time the final questions had been answered the light was starting to fade, and they seemed to resign themselves to the fate of having to stay the night.

Carlos had raised the question of the Alpha-Prime again, but was told it would have to wait till the morning. Ueana was fairly certain that one of the small dragons that was with them was the Alpha-Prime. It fit with what the Queen had said, but even so it still confused her somewhat. That would mean that it’d have to be able to shift forms, which wasn’t something that familiars could do. Normally. But there was nothing normal about that group. That wasn’t the only mystery either. While she was certain that they hadn’t been lying, the Deep Dragons also seemed to be hiding aspects of what they talked about. Some of what they talked about they did so with clarity and certainty, while other aspects were a lot vaguer, as if they had only recently been exposed to it. She wasn’t sure though if any of the others had noticed.

Mind you, she had had her eyes on them the entire time. There was something about them. It was an understatement to say that they were both gorgeous and alluring, and when Crystal had gone to play with the familiars she’d had to split her time between the two Deep Dragons instead of being able to watch both at once. It was pretty obvious that she had been staring at them, but she didn’t really care. Beauty was to be admired, as she had unashamedly done so, even if she may have missed some of what had been said. She had definitely paid attention when they had talked about Channellers and technology. Even with the apparently lack of powerful magic, the Outerlands definitely had its own forms of power.

Dinner had been a light affair, the table talk likewise. As soon as the meal was over the delegation had disappeared to their quarters, the Queen wanting a private word with Myne and the Deep Dragons. Being in a shared room with the other hatchlings, Ueana had been restless, unable to settle with the memories of the days events hot in her mind. So once she had been sure that the others had dozed off she had sneaked out of the room, the guards apparently indifferent to her late night excursion.

A gust of wind blew around her, the moon temporarily blocked from view as another dragon settled down beside her, Fleur jumping over from the back of Lily onto Callisto, straddling her with a grin before she sat down between her legs facing her, Fleur’s legs over own.

“Couldn’t sleep huh?” Fleur asked, staring up at the stars.

“No. You neither?”

The answer to that one was obvious of course, given that Fleur was now sitting with her. She was certain that she had been asleep when she’d left, not that it mattered.

“Myne’s scary,” Fleur stated, looking down at Ueana. “In the untouchable, powerful and been through something soul destroying kind of way.” She paused briefly. “The other two though, they certainly are something. Beautiful doesn’t even cut it. Especially the red-head. Watching her play with the dragons does things to you.” There was desire lacing her voice.

Ueana nodded absently. She may have fantasied about Crystal earlier, though any evidence of that should now be gone. Granted she still didn’t have her armour summoned, but then neither did Fleur, her Skeon glinting in the moonlight.

“Do you think that they’re Deep Dragons has anything to do with it? Because we’re Riders, we’d find their kind desirable no mater what? So, it’s like a magical attraction instead of a natural one?”

Fleur raised a good point, one that she had been thinking about herself.

“Perhaps,” Ueana replied, as images of them played through her mind, warmth going through her body again. They were powerful too. She wasn’t sure why, but she could feel their magic, and it was intense, unlike any other she’d met. That of course may also be adding to their appeal. “Does it matter though?”

Fleur chuckled. “Do you think there will be male ones too, or only female, just like us?”

Ueana shrugged, not really caring if there would be or not. If they were in anyway related to the Dragon Rider magic then they’d be exclusively female, but that had its own set of issues. She was pretty sure that the Ancient or whatever that had created them wouldn’t let them go extinct however. There’d be ways. She didn’t think that she’d have any interest in males ones though.

Fleur shifted herself, bring her legs back between hers, before then leaning over Ueana, arms stretched out on either side keeping her up, her long hair draping over Ueana’s face and tickling it, her breath hot upon her face. Ueana heard Lily stretch her wings, before giving a yawn and tucking herself up as she stared up at Fleur.

“I know why you came out here though,” Fleur said, her voice husky. “You could always pretend that I’m one of them.”

Ueana only hesitated for a moment before she reached up, pulling Fleur down to her, kissing her deeply, Fleur returning the passion. It wasn’t the first time they’d done this, though there wasn’t actually anything between them, at least from her side. Right now though, she needed it, especially after that conversation. Fleur too she suspected. Callisto rumbled her approval as she ran her hands down Fleur’s back, her mind wandering.

It was short lived however, the movement of the other beings suddenly piercing her senses, the strongest that she’d ever felt it. Whatever they were up to, its effect was close. So very close. Ueana bolted upright, dislodging Fleur who gracefully landed in the ground beside Callisto.

“What the...” Fleur started.

“Can’t you feel it?” Ueana asked, standing up as she summoned her armour to her. Even now it still felt a little weird as it formed, but it always help focus her senses.

Fleur paused as she also summoned her armour. “They’re moving again aren’t they,” she then said in realisation.

Ueana focused on the feeling. She wasn’t at all surprised at the direction from which it felt the strongest, panic filling her. She had no idea what had happened for all the other movements that she’d felt, but given what little they’d been told, they all seemed to involve Crystal and Rachael. Dropping back into a sitting position on Callisto’s back, she leaned in, her familiar reacting to her and taking flight. With Fleur close behind they raced over the gardens, Ueana all but leaping off the back of Callisto as they reached the front entrance of the palace.

She paused as she got to the door, the sudden change stark and prominent. The air felt heavier and thicker for some reason, her movements now a little sluggish. Like she was wading through water which flowed both around and through her. Something that she would think on at another time though, other concerns more pressing in her mind. The guard for the door, a young wolf Feral whose name she had never learnt, lay slumped against the side of the door. Ueana reached down, checking to see if he was alive, relieved to find that he was so. Out cold, but still breathing and no injuries. There was no obvious signs of an attack or anything, so as to what had happened to him she had no clue. Callisto gave her a strange coo, looking at her with concerned eyes as Fleur and Lily walked up beside her.

“Stay here, okay,” Ueana said to her familiar, touching her forehead against Callisto’s, as she stroked his neck. “And watch him just in case,” she added, pointing to the guard. Callisto gave an affirming rumble.

“Are you coming?” she asked Fleur, her movements looking to be even more effected than her own.

Fleur looked at her with worry in her eyes. “I...” She paused, then collected herself. “No, I’ll stand guard here, since he’s down. Why aren’t any of the others here?” She then questioned. “They would have all been closer...”

“They didn’t feel it?” Ueana shrugged. They should have though, given its potency. Perhaps it wasn’t quite enough to bring them out of their slumber, or they didn’t see the need to investigate. Either way she was here, and she was going to.

Ueana turned, and pushed against the front door of the palace, which swung open silently. The interior was bathed in a soft yellow light, the antechamber empty of any other life. Soft red carpets lined the floor, heading up the central stairs, vases of beautiful flowers decorating the beginning of the bannisters. Numerous doors also led off to the sides, the waiting and audience rooms among them, but she doubted that was her destination. Not that she had any clue where the guest rooms in the palace were in the first place. While the Senator and Prince were staying in the palace, all of the riders had been allocated rooms in a section of the temple complex beside it, and there was no way that the Queen would have put the Deep Dragons anywhere near the others.

The density of the air was slowly getting stronger however, and that seemed as good a trail to follow as any. Ueana bound her way up the stairs, for a given slower speed of bound, and then along the west wing corridor, before stopping at a partially obscured passage and heading up another small winding staircase.

The palace was a maze, an absolute headache to navigate. She knew that it was large, but she found little rhyme or reason to its layout, as if different people had all decided to make their own additions and changes to it at various points. The architecture and decoration style regularly changed, some passages leading to dead ends and forcing her to backtrack and try a different route, hoping that it also lead where she was trying to go. If it hadn’t been for the density trail she would have been hopelessly lost after only a few doors.

She could see the faint lights of the city below as she travelled along a glass corridor that ran along the outside of the palace, four levels up. Little glass statuettes of woodland animals were situated on pedestals every meter along it, the shadow of a dragon seeming to hang over it.

You came, young one.

Ueana stopped in shock. The voice was all around her, and yet also nowhere, deep, gravelly and draconic in nature. She took a step back, frightened.

She is fine, she has been summoned for an audience.

However you may not be.

Be warned.

If you continue on, there will be no going back.

The changes cannot be undone.

“Who are you? What do you mean?” Ueana’s voice echoed around the corridor, silence the only reply.

Something about that voice carried weight, and she knew that whatever she chose to do next would have a significant impact on her future. What exactly that entailed she had no idea, but there hadn’t been any malice nor tenderness to the voice. Just a finality and certainty.

She could just turn around and make her way back out of the palace, and leave it at that. She wouldn’t know exactly what had happened, beyond what she’d just been told, but the voice was telling the truth in that Crystal was alright. But on the other hand, she wouldn’t have verified it for herself. She’d always be left with the what if, and she knew, just knew, that if she turned around now, she’d never get to see the Deep Dragons again. She didn’t want that. Perhaps it was selfish, driven by primal desires that would never be fulfilled, but she had to see them again.

Steeling herself, decision made, Ueana continued along the corridor, gritting her teeth as she pushed at the suddenly denser atmosphere, her pace was slower than she would have liked, more of it feeling like it was passing through her now than before. The corridor led to another spiral staircase, this one also all glass, and then out into another corridor that seemed to head directly into the heart of the palace, paintings of various people, probably previous members of the royal family she guessed, staring down at her as she walked along the lush green carpeted floor. Or perhaps they weren’t. Some of the faces looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place them, her mind starting to get a little hazy.

She turned a corner to find Myne and Queen Alysia standing beside a door, a strange warm glow emanating from inside the room, the little silver and ash grey dragons sitting on Myne’s shoulders. Just like Myne, she could sense immense power from them. They were definitely the Alpha-Primes. How she hadn’t noticed their power before she wasn’t sure. A pity that Callisto didn’t have a size changing ability like them, as he was too big to make it up here with her. Ueana stumbled a bit before catching and straightening herself. Tiredness suddenly started to claw at her, the day obviously catching up with her.

The changes take their toll.

Rest,

Child of Dragon,

Daughter of Pyre.

“Oh,” Myne said, looking at her, an amused smile on her face, her fangs showing. “I didn’t think any of you would actually make it up here, with all of the leylines currently surging at this point.”

“Are they alright?” Ueana asked, the effort of moving forward now very taxing. “We could feel the Ancients moving again, the strongest it’s ever been.”

“They’re fine,” Alysia said with a chuckle. “Better than fine probably. Come see for yourself, it’s the reason you came up here after all?”

Ueana finally reached the door, turning to face into the room. There was only the one large bed in it, Crystal and Rachael lying on it, naked, the bedding strewn on the floor around them. She felt herself blush something chronic as she stared at them, unable to tear her eyes away, not that she wanted to. They were intertwined, Crystal’s face buried in Rachael’s chest and her arm draped over her, Rachael’s legs wrapped over Crystal’s. She could see the mana flowing around them, as if they were floating in the middle of a lake. Rachel’s horns were glowing softly. Crystal’s on the other hand were shinning very intensely, not with the brightness of light, but a more confusing magical glow, illuminating but not blinding.

‘Are you alright?’ Callisto sounded worried and concerned. Her voice though was so soft and comforting. And warm. She’d never ever heard it before, after all, familiars couldn’t talk.

‘I’m just tired,’ Ueana managed, the thoughts slipping out from her mind as she collapsed to the floor, unable to stand any longer. Sleeping here wouldn’t be so bad, especially with the Deep Dragons nearby. She’d probably have to apologize about it in the morning though.

A happy smile played on her face as she her thoughts drifted and sleep took over.

Crystal opened her eyes, the twin moons greeting her, a tapestry of stars blanketing the sky behind them. One was a pale yellow, the other tinged an aquatic blue. She was back here again, where ever here was. Testing her connection with Rachael, she could feel her right up against her, just as they had been when they had finally fallen asleep, and yet also not. The exact strange sensation as last time. Violet roses bloomed around her, their scent pleasant, speaking of secrets and power. She certainly wouldn’t mind something like that as a perfume. Unlike last time, she was lying on the ground, the earth cold beneath her back.

Sitting up, all she could see where flowers all around her. She appeared to be in the middle of a bed of the violet roses, a rainbow of colours and varieties stretching out before her, all unfamiliar to her. It was quite beautiful, all things considered. Off in the distance she could see a large temple, spires reaching into the sky.

Crystal stood up, dusting herself off as she carefully made her way out of the flower bed and onto the grass path that wound between them all. At least she hadn’t squashed any of the flowers. Whoever was caretaker of this place had obviously put a lot of effort into the gardens, and the last thing she wanted was their wrath for harming their plants. Crystal started walking between the flower beds before she froze as the realization hit her. Everything was in focus this time, as clear as the real world. Sure, she could still see the ebbs and flows of mana around her, but there was no hindrance to her vision. So it wasn’t quite the same as last time.

She was also naked.

Calling the armour to her didn’t work, not that she was surprised. She was in this weird place yet not. Ah well.

Manifesting her wings and tail she tested their utility here, rising a few feet off the ground. She could feel the other presences around her, but this time none of them buffeted her around. None had said anything at all. It was almost as if this time she was welcome. Happy that she hopefully wouldn’t be blasted off in a random direction she started to fly slowly in the direction of the temple, concentrating, not wanting to make a fool of herself.

The temple was larger than any that she had seen, towering over her as she reached it. A series of stained glass windows took up over half of the front side of it, depicting scenes that made little sense to her. A figure standing in a nexus of rivers, two mighty armies clashing, a dragon erupting out of a temple, an orb surrounded by a multitude of woman, and so forth. Seven spires reached up into the sky, each a slightly different design but all of the same height. Statues of warriors lines the front of the temple, all winged, all female, weapons of all varieties. The temple itself was made from stone, almost black at the base but lightening in colour as it rose, till it was a deep grey at the top of the spires.

Crystal landed near the entrance, a figure emerging from the entrance as she did so. She was beautiful, brown hair flowing down her back, friendly green eyes and a smile on her face. She was dressed in a simple but elegant white silken dress, hugging her tightly from the waist up and flowing down loosely around her legs. It’s form and the splits along both sides left little to the imagination. Her right arm was covered with pulsing intricate golden tattoos, as was some of her visible chest. She knew instantly who she was, the connection between them leaving no doubt. Velvet. Dawn. Suddenly feeling embarrassed and exposed, she folded her arms across her chest, not that it achieved much.

Velvet chuckled, amused. “You’ve nothing to be ashamed of. You’ll just need to learn how to create your own garments. It’s not too difficult.” The air shimmered in front of Velvet as a white minidress very similar in design to her own armour materialized. “Here.”

“What’s this place?” Crystal asked as she gratefully accepted the garment and pulled it on. It fit her perfectly, though it showed off more than what she was used to. She was pretty certain that Rachael would like it though. It also seemed to accommodate for her wings and tail, not that it was be necessary given their nature.

“This an aspect of the Shadow Realm, which we could loosely call the home of the Ancients. That’s not entirely accurate I have discovered, but it suffices. Getting you here was a joint effort. Even though time isn’t really a concept to most of them, some of them are getting a bit impatient, and the success of the last attempt just adds to that. You two have been doing well by the way.”

Crystal blushed a little.

“Why am I here then? And why just me?”

“Because the bond between you and me is the stronger of the two. We may have more in common than you realize.” Velvet gave her a knowing smile that just left Crystal confused. “As to why, well I did say that I was leaving Avain in your hands, but we need to get her back across the Tempest first, and I’m not confident that she’d survive the journey well. So, we’re going to shift you all back, and it’s much easier to initiate it from here. As to the others, they’re more interested in the side effects. Flexing their muscles and influence again. Agersdene City sits on a nexus as well, so there is plenty of potential available, and as Rachael so happily demonstrated earlier, you too are capable of manipulating them, more so than what Channellers can manage.” Velvet motioned for Crystal to follow her as she turned around and headed into the temple.

Crystal followed, debating for a few moments before she spoke up again. While they had planned to harass Angel for it, she wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity. “Can you teach us the shift array? It would be insanely useful...”

“Possibly not as useful as you think, but yes, I will. You will still have to do a lot of your travelling via other means. It is rather power hungry, more so if you intend to move eight plus people, especially if they all have significant power of their own, such as your current group of companions. You’ll need to have visited the location beforehand, unless you’re Myne, and you will need to activate it from a mana dense location, such as a leyline nexus or the Tempest Storm.”

Crystal’s face fell a little, but to be honest with how the array had gone for them thus far she wasn’t that surprised. Not to mention that someone as powerful as Myne didn’t know it either.

“If you’re using it to just move yourself,” Velvet continued, “then it could be activated anywhere in the Innerlands, and a small scale movement is even easier. I have a similar concept that I use in combat, but it works differently.” Velvet disappeared from in front of her and reappeared beside in an instant. “Like so.”

That definitely piqued her interest. It’s potential in combat would be staggering, especially when combined with flight. Not to mention the knowledge of how to utilize it was already there floating in her instincts thanks to Warrior.

They walked along the halls of the temple, all lined with more statues of people, intricately carved, stunning and beautiful. Warriors, scholars, servants, some with wings of various styles, while others had the animalistic features that she’d seen on Touched and Ferals, tails and ears the most common. Paintings of landscapes bathed in the dawns light adorned the walls, the scenes artfully bleeding in each other. The colours were vibrant, though she didn’t recognize any of them.

The halls opened out onto what Crystal assumed was the central chamber of the temple, moonlight illuminating it through large skylights in the roof. The statue of a large dragon dominated the outside of the chamber, his body curling around it three quarters of it, eyes watchfully looking over the rows of statues that lined two of the walls. Most of them seemed to just hold a humanoid shape without any features at all, while a number at the ends were intricately carved like the rest of the statues in the temple. There was something familiar about them, but she felt her gaze almost forcibly drawn to the statues in the middle of the chamber.

There were five in total, two small ones sitting of either side on either side of the three larger ones that dominated the presence of the chamber, all five arranged on the outer points of a pentagon and facing towards the middle. The pair of larger statues sat adjacent to each other, their features and family resemblance unmistakable, both stunningly beautiful. One of the two was definitely of Velvet, there was no way that Crystal could miss that with her standing beside it. The other, Velvet’s sister, with four wings stretching out behind, and while Velvet’s statue had a soft kind look, this one had a more serious and hard look. Velvet’s statue had her dressed in the mini dress and armour like her crystal statue had, while the sister was dressed in a long elegant flowing dress similar to what Velvet had on at the moment, but taken up a few notches on all levels.

The other large statue, on the opposite point of the pentagon, looked to be a cross between the two, dressed in the minidress, four wings stretching out behind it, its features a perfect merger of both sisters. A statute of both of them and yet neither.

“It carries dangerous connotations...” Velvet replied as Crystal looked at her questioningly.

On the remaining two points, on either side of both the pair and the solitary statue, were the two smaller statues. They were a perfect resemblance, of her and Rachael, right down to the clothes and armour that they normally wore.

“Champions of Dawn, Champions of Arcane,” Crystal muttered, everything suddenly making sense. She pointed at the sister statue. “That’s meant to be Arcane, isn’t it?”

“Yup.”

“Why does she look similar to you? That whole Human, Ancient disconnect...”

Velvet gave her an uneasy smile. “I am not what I once was, and neither is she. She will need a form, and that is what she has chosen.”

Crystal turned and looked at the largest of the statues again. She wasn’t going to ask. She didn’t need to, she already knew the answer. There was a reason that she was letting her see all of this.

“Oh.” Her eyes opened with surprise as they finally wandered to the statues lining the wall. She recognised almost all of them. Clocky, Fairweather, Vorsce, Saylin, and Abigail were all grouped together, all looking just as she remembered them being, even down to the flames dancing on Fairweather’s ears. Beside them stood Myne, though Myne’s statue was very hazy. At the other end of the row were statues of Dudley, Alison, and Ueana, as well as one of a lady that looked familiar but couldn’t be right, features present that definitely weren’t when they’d last met. Behind Ueana’s statue was an impression of Callisto, and then there was also something different about Ueana that she couldn’t quite place.

“Interesting, isn’t it?”

Crystal nodded, turning back to look at Velvet. That was one way of putting it. There was other implications there as well, if it meant what she thought.

“They’re all people that we’ve met. Some that we travel with. But not all of them,” she mused.

“Connections,” Velvet elaborated. “They’re all people that you two share important connections with, for one reason or another. In this realm, and for the Ancients, connections are rather important. Dangerously so. As my Champions, this place reflects all that.”

“Why Ueana though?”

You’ll work it out next time you see her,

Pyre.

Crystal wasn’t sure if she should be worried or not. There was no malice to it, just a certainty. That voice was vaguely familiar, though it wasn’t warrior. It was deep, and gravelly, like that of a family member.

“What is this place then?” she asked.

“This was once the Temple of the Dawn, a very long time ago. Why it was reflected here, in this realm I’m not entirely sure though I can guess. Not that it matters much, it has become my home while I’ve been here. While they happily share some things, in their own way of doing so, other things they are rather cagey about, especially when it comes to the Demon King. Their understanding of humanity is also rather skewed, differently for each one, but that is to be expected.”

“Warrior doesn’t seem that off,” Crystal observed. At least from her experiences of her.

“She may well be a special case. You do have her armour after all, be it by luck or fate.”

Velvet stretched, her eyes glowing like the dawn as her hair turned a fiery golden colour.

“We do only have a limited time though,” she then continued. “All that extra power from the leylines will start to have adverse effects if we leave it too long, not to mention that it’ll exhaust you both, given that you are the ones that are currently pulling it all up. I’ll provide you with a semi permanent copy of the one that is used so that you can study it. That’ll be the best way for you to get a firm grasp on it. As a side effect of being both our champions, you should pick up on it quickly enough. We can hide it in one of your numerous gems.”

“Umm, sure. That works.” She then blinked, clicking on to the unsaid but very much implied portion of it. “Wait, we’re doing it now, while we’re asleep!?”

“Indeed.”

“But, we’re naked!”

“That’s an issue? You have your armour, and I’m pretty sure given all the magic that Rachael has put into her clothes that they’ll be bound to her now as well.”

Velvet did have a point there. It did still mean that they’d wake up naked, and definitely not in a bed. Not to mention that the Senator wouldn’t get to see the full form of Ashling, though that would be an issue for the Queen. However she didn’t really think that they actually had a choice, and if she wanted to learn the array this was her chance.

“Fine, fine,” she mumbled. “Do I get to keep the dress?”

“That’s a product of this realm unfortunately. I’m sure between you and Rachael you’ll be able to make it again.”

Crystal sighed, and then watched with fascination as a series of arrays formed around the room. She recognized one of them, the relay, which flowed over to her and vanished, as the others began to light up, transitioning from a soft blue to a deep warm yellow. She could feel the pull of them, both here and on her physical body, and it wasn’t small.

“No one random is going to get dragged into it?” she queried, trying her best to absorb the nature of the arrays, most of it still confusing to her.

“No, not unless you specifically target them. Part of the reason that it’s so complex,” Velvet answered, as segments of one of the arrays changed, till there was eight pulsing sections of it, among them two linked pairs, the remaining four all linked in one chain.

“This ones going to give me a headache isn’t it?”

“Probably,” Velvet replied with a grin. “So, how much of it is still foreign to you?”

“All of it,” Crystal mock wailed. She was probably going to have to spend a lot of time studying it.

The arrays steadily got brighter, the pull intensifying, till Crystal felt herself slip from the realm, Velvet and the temple disappearing from view.

mogust

I really like Ueana as a character, and I have plans for her. As to whether or not those plans involve her appearing in the main story again or as side chapters I haven't quite decided yet. We shall see. She is important, but what happens to her isn't directly tied into the current plot arc (subject to change(TM) of course).

And Crystal finally gets to meet Velvet properly, for a given value of properly. Velvet certainly has matured a bit in the last decade, not that she's had any choice in the matter.

Lots of interesting information and hints hidden within the chapter (and blatantly stated as well ^^).

I don't think I said it, but Avain was on the bed with the deep dragons when Ueana looked in, in case anyone was wondering ^^

As always, thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome.

The next chapter (55 - Arrival: Odinsphere) will be up later this week.