The Fenimeldiyaan: Displaced Time - Chapter 3

River was wandering the house blankly, in the vain hope that she could find some way of escaping. There were only two guards at the main entrance, so certain they were of their prisoners’ helplessness. And the unfortunate part was that they were right. River could find no escape. Without her book, she didn’t want to converse with anyone. It was too difficult. Also, she didn’t know Apollo very well at all.

The girl was wandering near one of the side doors, which had wards on it to keep people from leaving. She stared at it, wishing she could break it down with sheer force of will, but the collar prevented her from even using her sorcery skills.

The door opened. River’s eyes widened as the sickliest-looking man looked at her. “Girl,” he said urgently. “I’ve come to get you out. Where are your friends?”

River glanced behind her and shrugged. The man reached in and grabbed her arm. “Come with me. I’ll come back for the others,” he insisted.

River tried to tug away, indicating the door. “Opening the door from the outside broke through the wards. Please! I can take you to someone to help your friends. I’m a friend of Judaas Fendor, you know him, don’t you?”

River nodded, hoping against hope that he was telling the truth. She let the man pull her through the door, and they hurried through the grass. It was only when they were out of sight of the house did Yozev press a cloth soaked in some foul-smelling substance over River’s mouth and knock her unconscious.

It would be much more difficult to convince the other two to come out of the house.

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“Knew ye shouldn’t’ve attacked her,” Gerald muttered to Veerna, glancing at Maas. “Though ye did bring that man here, so it twasn’t all for nothing.”

Veerna scowled at him. “I still say it would’ve worked, if Ma over there hadn’t been a filthy sorcerer,” she muttered.

“Ye don’t like magic?”

“I don’t like things I don’t understand,” Veerna retorted. “And I don’t understand magic. None of it. It’s a waste of my time. It’s not like it’s traditionally from my corner of the universe.”

Gerald shrugged, looking back at Maas. The name “Selonicus” struck him as familiar, and it was only a few minutes later that he realised why. He started laughing, unable to control himself, and Veerna turned to him with a confused look. “I know why he seems familiar!” he chuckled. “He be Anwyn’s first husband.”

“Andreas Cesario’s wife?” Veerna’s eyebrows shot up. “One of these days, I need to meet this guy. His lack of respect for the law is incredible.”

“He does what he thinks right,” Gerald said. “And most of the time, he don’t fail.”

“Then how’d you end up here?” Veerna asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Twas me own fault,” Gerald admitted. “I failed me wife. Something happened. I dunno what.”  The docks. Elsa, in front of him.  A heavy weight in his hand …

He shook off the thought. “Tis nothing.”

“You’re crazier than me, Gerry,” Veerna muttered.

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Elsa staggered, clutching her head. Something wasn’t right. Last she knew, they’d been translocating, then … nothing. She reached out and grabbed a nearby building, her stomach churning uncomfortably. There were people around her, and the atmosphere was colder than she would’ve liked. She drew her cloak closer around her, wishing she was back home in Vordelle with her twin and Gerald.

“Stupid translocation,” Elsa muttered under her breath. She looked around, trying to find telltale signs of the others. “Morgan? Elaine?”

There was no response, and a cold hand clutched Elsa’s heart. Had she really been cast adrift? “I should’ve punched him when I had the chance,” she growled. Andreas had been the one to effect the translocation.

She kept walking for several minutes, not really sure where she was going, unaware that she was being followed. At least, she was unaware, until a hand clamped over her mouth and another wrapped around her arms, pinning them in place.

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“Where’s Elsa?” were the first words out of Elaine’s mouth when they translocated to Kashmir. “She was with us before!”

Andreas was frowning. “The translocation malfunctioned,” he said briefly. “Sent her to a different area.”

“Oh, she’s going to love that,” Daren muttered.

Morgan looked around, his eyes wide. “I think … I think I felt something,” he mumbled, before setting off at a run.

“Morgan?” Anwyn said.

“Go look for Elsa!” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll find you, don’t worry! I’ll be back!” With that, he continued running off.

Daren put his head in his hands. “This can’t end well,” he whispered before turning to Andreas. “Where shall we start?”

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Rachel was surprised when Apollo came back into her room, looking incredibly frazzled. Her eyebrows shot up. “Something wrong?” she asked.

“Yes! Something’s very wrong!” Apollo cried, agitated. He breathed in slowly, trying to calm himself. “It’s River. She’s missing. I’ve looked all over for her and there’s been no sign of her.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes. “Maybe she’s escaped.”

“Impossible. The wards around the building prevent that,” Apollo said. “I can think of only one thing that’s happened to her.”

“What?”

“I think she’s been kidnapped. Again,” he said.

“Why would someone kidnap an enslaved child?” Rachel questioned with a scowl.

Apollo shook his head, mystified. “I don’t know, but I do know we need to talk to Gyul. Fast. I don’t want to know what River’s captor wants to do with her, and at least she’ll be here with us if he manages to get her back. Come on, I’m sure the guards can summon him here!”

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“You say that both the prisoners spoke the same language?” the Governor asked after reading Ekedryna’s report.  His cold pale eyes bored into her.

She knew that the question was some sort of test so she worded her reply with great caution. “Not at first, Comrade Governor.  However, after a while, Citizen Vold started talking to Citizen Hunt.  That was what enabled myself and Communications Officer Lowenstern to decipher their language.  As I stated in my report, they speak what is known as the Common Tongue of Meldin.  That’s where Citizen Hunt comes from”.

“And Citizen Vold comes from Voldinia”.  Dieter finished for her.  “I must find out more about these unknown worlds before I make my report to Command Headquarters.  There is something very suspicious about those two.  No unauthorised vessels have been detected in orbit, so I can only deduce that they were brought here via some other means.  Command will not be happy about that and it will reflect badly on all outposts here in Varicharenzo.  I should see these troublesome prisoners for myself.  You will be required to translate”.

She nodded in acknowledgment and saluted her commanding officer.

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Maas had already sent a telepathic warning to Gerald and Veerna, alerting them of the Governor’s arrival.  Gerald sat on his bunk while Veerna stood close to the bars of her cell, staring at the Governor and his guards in a hostile manner.

Keeping his distance, the Governor fired questions at a rapid pace, with Ekedryna translating.

“I’ve already told ye, I don’t know how I got here” Gerald insisted.  “I can’t tell ye something I don’t know”.

Veerna refused to say anything, which only served to anger the Governor further.  He barked orders to his guards.

“What were he saying?” Gerald asked, standing up and moving closer to the bars.

“He is instructing his officers to assign you to the induction program and work details.  You will be put in dormitories with the rest of the internees”.

“By internees ye mean prisoners” Gerald ventured.  “Given Veerna’s temper, I reckon ye’d best be preparing yer medical facilities to receive injured people.  She won’t take kindly to being put on yer work details”.

The Governor growled something to Ekedryna and the pair of them left, while the guards remained behind to move the prisoners.

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“Boss don’t like strangers hanging around his streets” a rough voice spoke in a Carpathian dialect similar to that used by Andreas and Anwyn.  Elsa wanted to bite the hand over her mouth but it was clamped so tightly that she could not get her mouth open wide enough to sink her teeth in.

He continued dragging her along until he came to an older style house which looked in need of repair.  He unlocked the door and shoved her inside, keeping himself between her and the door.  Seizing the opportunity, she lashed out at him, hoping to barge past him and make her escape. However, he evaded her blows and managed to lock the door before she could get out.

Another man appeared in the hallway, having heard the commotion.  “What be going on here?” he demanded in an imperious tone.

Elsa started to speak but her captor covered her mouth again and held her securely.  The other man took hold of her legs and they carried her further inside the house, depositing her on a chair and binding her to it by her hands and feet.

A third man appeared, better dressed than the other two, with his hair slicked back in a tail.  “I hear ye’ve been trespassing on me territory.  Ye didn’t even ask me entryman for permission”.

“I didn’t know I had to ask anyone’s permission” Elsa retorted.  “I wasn’t even supposed to be there.  You can blame Andreas Cesario.  His translocation went wrong”.

“Never heard of him” the man sneered.  “I be Lord Ambrogino Auguiste and I own all the streets in this district”.  He frowned and stroked his stubbled chin.  “Translocation, ye say?  So ye be talking about a Carpathian with powers of sorcery, eh?  Ye must be an important personage to have a Carpathian translocating ye.  Who be ye and what be yer business in this city?”

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Andreas sighed and fiddled with his hair.  “Lot of unusual emanations around.  Must have disrupted the translocation.  Anyways, we need to find Elsa afore she gets picked up by the State Police or one of the gangs”.

“Tis best I look for her” Anwyn volunteered.  “Given her dislike of ye and the messed up translocation, she won’t be very well-disposed towards ye.  Elaine, with me. I’ll need ye to calm her down when we find her”.

Elaine nodded.  “Of course.  But the misfired translocation could have sent her anywhere.  What if she’s not in this city?”

“She will be” Anwyn stated.  “The anomaly were localised.  We’d best get going while her energy trail still be fresh.  Twill start to fade soon”.

Both women moved off.

“We’ll go after Morgan” Andreas said to Daren.  “Tis likely that he mistook one of the stray emanations for Apollo’s mind signature”.

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Gyul listened while Apollo and Rachel explained about River’s disappearance.  His pale face remained unreadable but his voice carried a hint of annoyance.  “So you be saying that someone has managed to infiltrate one of my safe houses and stole a valuable item of stock without anyone noticing?”  His hands clenched into fists and his pale eyes flared with arcane energies.  “And I have to hear it from you two”.

“Could it have been a rival trader?” Apollo theorised.  “A sorcerer perhaps?”

Gyul shook his head.  “None of my rivals have pet sorcerers in their employ.  No, this theft wasn’t the work of a trader.  In any case, tis none of your concern.  I shall have to bring in extra security though”.

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River opened her eyes and gave a silent groan.  Her head felt fuzzy and she could not remember what had happened after the sickly-looking man had taken her away from the safe house.  She was laying on a sagging couch in a dingy room with shabby furnishings.

Sometime later, the man returned.  “Ah, good to see you awake, my dear.  Sorry I had to sedate you, but it was the only way to remove the electronic tracking device which Citizen Khrychyt implants in all his merchandise.  It wouldn’t do for him to recapture you after I’ve gone to so much trouble to rescue you.  Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Doctor Yozev Kandlin, a renowned medical practitioner and lawyer”.

River could not help thinking that he looked very ill for someone claiming to be a healer.  Using her forefinger like a pen, she mimed writing.

He nodded.  “Ah, of course.  That’s the other thing.  I believe I may be able to reverse the damage done to your vocal cords.  Tis a highly experimental procedure, but there’s a good prospect of giving you your voice back”.

He got up and retrieved a notepad and pen from the desk in the far corner of the room.  Giving a smile which looked more like a grimace, he handed them to her.  “Perhaps you could start by telling me a little about yourself.  I already know that you possess great powers”.

River positioned the notepad on her lap and began writing.

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Morgan had been so sure of himself when he had run off.  The energy trail which he had followed seemed so familiar to him that it had to belong to Apollo.  It beckoned to him, drawing him away from his companions and leading him into a narrow backstreet.  That was where the trail ended.  He could sense nothing, not even the merest hint of sorcery.  He was lost in a strange city on a dangerous planet and he did not even know how to speak the local language.

He looked around for any clue as to the name of the street or district.  However, there were no signposts to be seen. What he did notice was the writing on the walls.  All around him he could see splashes of spray paint forming arcane symbols and images.  One symbol seemed more prominent than all the others.  It was a rough depiction of a sun — an orange circle with wiggly yellow lines radiating from it.  He touched the centre of the circle, sensing energy emanating from it which he had not felt before.  It seemed that the physical contact had triggered the latent energy held within the symbol.

“Apollo?  Is that you?” he whispered.

When he tried to take his hand off the wall, he found that it was stuck there.  He took a deep breath and pulled harder, but all he managed to do was strain the muscles in his arm and hand.

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Elsa struggled against her bindings, trying to reach her knife. Before she could, Ambrogino reached forward and plucked it from the sheath, holding it closer to her. “Who be ye?” he repeated with a dangerous tone.

Elsa raised her chin in a defiant manner, a steely glint entering her silver eyes. “I am Elsa Silvereye-Hunt, wife to Gerald Hunt. I am under the protection of the Inner Circle and they will stop at nothing to find me.” Even if she had little faith in their methods.

Ambrogino motioned to one of the men, who produced one of those strange windows that showed other things — a tablet, Andreas had called it. The man looked up with a grin. “She be a wanted thief. There be a bounty on her head,” he said. “She already attracted the attention of Ursula Cadogan, twould seem.”

Elsa’s fists clenched at the mention of Ursula’s name. Ambrogino turned back to her. “Why be ye here?” he asked.

“I am looking for my husband,” she said smoothly. “Nothing will stop me from finding him.”

“Twould seem her husband be a wanted mercenary,” the other man put in. “Her twin a thief as well, and a friend of hers be a sorcerer who likes to cause trouble. She and her husband have the biggest bounties on their heads.”

“I am no longer a thief,” Elsa said.

“The authorities seem to disagree,” Ambrogino said. He motioned to the second man, who stepped forward and gagged Elsa. “We will decide what to do with ye soon.” He and one of the men left, while the other stayed beside the chair Elsa was tied to as a guard.

Any struggling she tried was rewarded with a stinging hit to the head. Reluctantly, she was forced to abandon her efforts and hope that help would come, and soon. Any delay would likewise delay their search for Gerald. Frustration mingled with fear at what Ambrogino might be planning for her. And in that instant, she felt a connection, however brief, with Gerald — a similar fear and annoyance at being held prisoner. Gerald, where are you? she wondered, but there was no response. Just knowing he was out there offered her small comfort. However, frustration ate away at her for not being able to get the Carpathians to trace his mind signature.

She hated being a prisoner.

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Morgan jerked at the sun, cursing his foolishness at falling into the trap. He was now fairly certain that the trail had never led him to Apollo. The position was supremely uncomfortable, and what was worse, his palm was starting to itch. Groaning, he tried to channel some magic into his hand, but only succeeded in scorching the wall.

Frustrated, the mage slumped against the wall, careful to avoid more of the symbols. The last thing he needed was to get entirely trapped against the wall. “Apollo, my old friend, why won’t you call to me?” he asked softly. After Apollo’s first cryptic message, he’d heard nothing more from him. It made him terrified what fate had befallen the healer, and being stuck in a trap gave him far too much time to consider what could have happened. Slowly, he let himself drop as much as he could, without putting his arm in an awkward position. The confusing world around him made it impossible to find and communicate with Andreas. With far too many mind signatures around him, he would just have to rely on his old friend to come and get him.

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Daren trailed along with Andreas, alone with him for the first time. It was utterly peculiar to see the husband of the woman who had rescued him and his sister years ago. With Anwyn, he could barely come up with a sentence to address her with. That time had been so confusing, so dangerous …

“Andreas,” he said before he could stop himself. The Carpathian looked back at him. “Why is it that I met your wife, long before you’d ever met Gerald and Morgan?”

Andreas shrugged. “Time be a peculiar thing. Ye see, at the time that ye met me wife, I had already met Gerald and Morgan. Long before Gerald ever met ye. Portals to other worlds can be problematic. However the perp of that brought ye to Earth, he messed up somewhere and brought a much-younger version of ye and yer sister. Understand?”

“Mostly.” Daren laughed a little. “Magic’s always been beyond me.”

Andreas was watching him again. “It must have been distressing for ye to lose yer sister,” he said at last.

Daren stared down at his feet. “Ah. Yes. It … was. It helped that she finally faced up to her duty and … and sacrificed herself, but she is still lost to me. She’s lost to everyone. She’s in the demon realm now, and she’ll never escape it.” His voice was choked, but he cleared his throat before meeting Andreas’s gaze. “She sacrificed herself for Apollo and Gerald. Apollo intended to go to the demon realm in her place, but Gerald was badly hurt. If Apollo had gone, Gerald would have died. Cora went instead.”

“She were brave,” Andreas observed.

Daren briefly closed his eyes. “She had to be,” he said. “Otherwise … the things she did to prevent the dark wizards were … dark in themselves. She had to prove that she was a better Queen then she first appeared.”

After a long moment, he let go a breath. “How far away is Morgan?”

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Elaine walked with Anwyn, trying to occupy her mind from the worry she felt for both Gerald and Elsa now. This was the last thing she needed, she thought with a sigh. “Anwyn,” she said. “She’ll … she’ll be alright … won’t she?”

Anwyn smiled at her. “I feel sure she will be.”

“But what if she’s been taken by the State Police, or … or the gangs?” she pressed. “Andreas mentioned that could have happened. They won’t hurt her, will they? It’s just … Elsa … her child … I don’t want anything happening to them …”

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Once Gyul had left again, Rachel slumped back onto the bed. “Great,” she said. “Not only is he probably not going to find the child, he’s also ramping up security so we can’t escape too.”

“It was the only option available to me,” Apollo said with a sigh, slumping down and rubbing his head. “I don’t know what to do. I just don’t.”

Rachel stared at the wall. “I’d almost welcome getting sold,” she said sourly. “It has to be more interesting than this boredom.”

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Gerald clutched his head as the guards prodded him and Veerna along. One of them barked at him in another language and he forced himself to keep walking, despite the pain. “What’s up, Gerry?” Veerna asked, abandoning her silence.

“I felt her. Felt me wife. She be there,” Gerald mumbled. “Blimey. She be in danger. I can’t do nothing about it!”

“Well, think on the bright side,” Veerna said with a shrug. “You don’t have to put yourself in danger to save her.”

“How be that the bright side?” Gerald asked, staring at her and earning an impatient prod in the back from their guards.

“It would be for me,” Veerna answered simply before turning and tackling her guard.

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River finished writing out her doings in the Fenian Galaxy and handed it to Yozev. She had not included her royal blood in her explanation, or her connection to Andreas, although she detailed that she was from the Donovan Institute and that she had lost her voice when her powers first emerged.

Finally, as he read through that, she wrote a little more, asking him when she could be taken to see Judaas and back to the Don. After shaking out her hand cramp from writing so much, she added, “And can’t you take this collar off?”

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“I can sense him more strongly now” Andreas stated.  “I never imagined he could run so fast or so far.  Usually he don’t like doing anything physical”.

Daren gave a bitter chuckle.  “That’s true enough.  I guess the thought of finding Apollo again was enough to send him running off”.

Andreas stopped in the middle of the street and closed his eyes.  He remained in a trance for several minutes.  Although Daren knew better than to disturb a sorcerer when they were meditating, he could not help feeling uncomfortable and more than a little concerned.

“I’ve found him!”  Andreas sounded triumphant.  “This way.  Let’s go!”

He went off again, almost running.  Daren kept pace with him.  The wiry Carpathian led Daren along a maze of narrow backstreets.  It seemed as though the locals had made clumsy attempts to brighten up the place.  The crumbling brick walls had been daubed with all manner of symbols and images in many different colours.  Some were very primitive, little more than children’s scrawls, whereas others were far more complex.

“Graffiti tags” Andreas explained in answer to Daren’s unasked question.  “Street gangs use them for marking territory.  I don’t know the gangs who operate around here, but some of these symbols be Carpathian and others be Malvanian.  Very interesting”.

They turned a corner into yet another narrow street.  The sight that met their eyes was both comedic and disturbing.  Morgan sagged against a wall, a weary expression on his face.  His hand appeared to be stuck in the centre of one of the mystical symbols.

He perked up on seeing his two companions.  “At last!  My arm feels like it’s going to drop off!”

Andreas inspected the symbol.  “Tis no ordinary tag.  Tis a special trap designed to activate on touch.  Only someone with sorcery powers can trip it off”.  He sighed.  “Morgan, why did ye touch it?”

“I thought it was a message from Apollo, letting us know that he’d been here”.  Morgan’s face reddened and he looked down at his feet.  “I thought I’d found his trail and when I saw the sun symbol, I hoped it would lead me to him.  Can you free me?”

Andreas nodded.  “Aye, but twould take hours to undo the trap spell.  Tis very complicated.  Best thing would be to use a banishing spell and remove the paint.  Once the paint be gone, the trap won’t work anymore”.

The banishing spell caused the wall to heat up, but Morgan tried not to let his discomfort show.  Complaining when Andreas was only trying to help him would be ungrateful.  After about ten minutes, the sun symbol had completely vanished from the wall and Morgan pulled his hand away, inspecting it for damage. 

“We ought to join the women and help them search for Elsa” Daren suggested.  “I know they’re more than capable of looking after themselves, but I think it would be best if we stayed together from now on”.

“No need to labour the point” Morgan muttered in a sulky tone.  “I’m the one who knows Apollo best out of all of you”.

“Don’t worry, me friend”.  Andreas patted him on the shoulder.  “None of us be exempt from making mistakes.  I still feel guilty about the whole deal with Ursula Cadogan.  Not to mention what happened to poor Gremeldah Dowd.  We need to put it behind us and move on”.

Morgan managed a weak smile.