Vita - Chapter One - Infancy

 2E 385

The sun shone bright and warm in the sky above the Temple of Vita that Lia called home. The gardens outside the temple walls were bursting with life of all sorts, as suited the Goddess of Life. The wildflowers and thorny weeds of the garden were deemed just as worthy of Vita’s gift as any other creature, plant, or organism that called Honosreach home. Lia was one of many children that also called the lush, fertile, temple home. She loved to spend her time by the large pond that resided within the temple’s gardens. Each of the many ducks that called the area home during the summer months had been given a name by the creative child. She was currently picking apart the remains of her lunch and throwing it to the ducks. As she threw a particularly large chunk of bread to a mother duck and her parade of ducklings, an opportunistic fish snatched up the morsel before the duck and ducklings were able to reach it. Lia imagined how upset the duck must have felt.
“Don’t worry Dina, I’ve plenty more bread for you and your babies.” Lia assured the mother duck as she picked off another bit of bread. “Besides, it’s nice to share. Think about how happy that fish must feel now.” She added as she threw another chunk of bread towards the duck, she had named Dina. The next hour passed peacefully like this; with Lia making sure that each of the ducks, and several of the fish, had all had at least a single piece of bread. Her conversation with the ducks mirrored the lessons she had been taught during her schooling hours. Outside of the basic reading and writing classes, these were mostly lessons about the goddess Vita, and the gift of life she granted all that lived. After she was out of bread, Lia started to think of names for the many new ducklings that had recently hatched.
Lia was lost in the process when her older brother, Anton, rushed up to her. She knew that something was wrong as soon as she saw him. His eyes were red and puffy and through his panting she could hear him sniffling. Lia was eight, and had known Anton her entire life, so this wasn’t the first time she had seen her brother cry, but since he had grown into a teenager, it had become much rarer. Whatever was wrong, it was bad enough to trump any feelings of embarrassment that her brother may have been feeling regarding his tears.
“Lia, you need to come with me.” Between the sniffles and panting Anton was having trouble talking.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Lia probed, nervous of the answer.
“It’s mum. She’s, well, she’s, something’s wrong with her. The healers are doing their best, but they say, they’re saying, she doesn’t have long left.” Lia didn’t fully understand what Anton had told her.
Lia was about to ask questions when she felt Anton take her by the hand and pull her towards the inside of the temple. She let her brother lead her through the interior of the building as she blindly followed through the many hallways and up the stairs towards a part of the temple that she didn’t know that well. Before she really had time to register it, she was standing in one of the many rooms of the temple’s infirmary. She had never been here before, and she didn’t like being here now. This was a place for grown-ups. Worse than that, it was a place that she had noticed made the grown-ups sad. Lia looked around, the room was long, with walls that were a pale, off-looking yellow colour; the colour reminded her of old paper. While there was a desk with a nun behind it at the end of the room, the rest of the room was full of beds. None of them looked comfortable. They had bare metal frames and mattresses that were the same nasty yellow colour as the walls. Most of these gross mattresses were hidden by beautiful blue bed sheets, and thin but soft looking blankets. Most of these beds contained people, but none of them looked happy. They all shared the same blank eyed expression; like they were looking at the world but not quite seeing it. Lia wondered why all the people looked like this.
“Hello Anton, Lia.” The soft voice startled Lia as she hadn’t notice anyone approach her or her brother. The voice belonged to one of the nuns. She was young, only a little older than Anton, with a kind face, and a smile that didn’t feel genuine.
“Do you know what’s happened to her?” Lia heard the fear in her brother’s voice.
“We can’t be certain, but Father Jones, a skilled healer, thinks that it was her heart.” Lia didn’t understand what this meant.
“I’m sorry, but what does that mean? Will...” Anton choked on his words as he tried to ask his next question, fresh tears welling up in his eyes as he struggled with the words. “Will she be okay?” Lia hadn’t seen her big brother act like this since she had been a baby, and he was a little boy. It was scary to see her almost grown-up brother cry like this.
Why wasn’t she crying?
Was there something wrong with her?
She didn’t know. If she was being honest, she wasn’t sure what was happening.
“There’s no easy way to say this, but I’m afraid not. Her heart is weak; she has hours at most. I’m sorry.” Lia could hear the kindness in the lady’s words. It wasn’t enough to stop Anton from bursting into tears. He buried his face in his palms and hid from the nurse and his sister. He turned to face the lady in the bed next to them. He continued to sob like a little boy again.
Lia wasn’t sure what was happening or why she was here.
“Excuse me miss.” Lia began as she tugged slightly on the nurse’s long pink dress. “What are we supposed to do?” The nun smiled at her, but the smile looked sad. That confused Lia even more, how could a smile look sad. You smiled when you were happy, yet this smile was sad. It made no sense to her.
“All you can do is say goodbye to your mummy.” That answer confused her even more.
“Why? Where’s she going?” The nun’s smile faltered for a moment at this question, but she recovered so quickly that it almost felt like she had never stopped smiling at all.
“She’s going to be with Vita. You know Vita, right?”
“Yes, Father Mark talks about her a lot.”
“What does Father Mark say about her?”
“He says that she’s the mother, that’s like a mummy, to all the living things in the world. She lives in her own realm, where she looks after all the souls that are yet to be born. He says that we’re responsible for looking after the lives that Vita puts into the world. That’s what we do here, at the temple.” The nun’s smile broadened, feeling genuine for the first time, as Lia answered. She felt proud of herself for remembering her lessons.
“That’s right. I look after people that get poorly. Most the time me and the other healers can make them better so that they can enjoy Vita’s gift of life for longer. Sometimes, we can’t make them better. When this happens, we get them ready to go and be with Vita, or whichever God they worship. Does that make sense?” Lia didn’t really understand it all, but she wanted to make the kind lady smile again, so she lied.
“Yes it does. When people can’t get better, they go away to be with Vita.”
“That’s right. Your mummy is getting ready to be with Vita now. So, you and your brother have to say goodbye to her.” Despite Lia having said the right thing, the nun’s smile returned to looking sad.
“When will I be able to see mummy again?”
“You will see her when you go to be with Vita yourself, when you’re older.”
“Oh…” The word trailed off. Lia wondered how long that would be. She was eight now, mummy was fifty-something, which meant, it would be longer than Lia had been alive. That was a long time. While it didn’t really make complete sense to her, she felt like she was beginning to understand why her big brother was crying. If she wouldn’t see mummy in more years than she could remember, which felt like forever, then that was sad.
How would mummy see her grow up and have babies of her own like Dina the duck?
Lia turned away from the nurse and looked up at the bed in front of her. For the first time, she noticed that the lady in the bed was her mummy; but she didn’t look right. Her normally dark skin was lighter than normal. She was having trouble breathing, with the strained sounds of her raspy inhales marking the passing of time. Worst of all were her eyes. They were looking towards Anton, who was a blubbering mess. Despite her brother’s sobs, it was like mummy didn’t see him.
“Mummy?” Lia called out, as she tugged on the blankets that covered her mummy. Nothing happened. So, Lia tugged harder and called out louder. “Mummy‽” Still nothing happened. She tugged as hard as she could on the blanket, pinching mummy’s arm by mistake. “Mummy‽” At last, mummy turned to face her. Mummy was looking at her, or rather, she was looking in her direction, but it was like mummy couldn’t see her.
Normally when Lia came home from playing outside or learning about things in class, mummy was so happy to see her. Mummy’s face would burst into a big, happy smile, and she would ask about her friends in class, or the adventures of the many ducks that lived in the pond. Other times, when Lia got into trouble, she would come home to a sad or angry look on mummy’s face. Sometimes when mummy was talking to other grown-ups, she would have expressions that Lia didn’t understand.
Now though, it was different. Mummy didn’t look happy, or angry, or sad, or any of the other looks that she had with grown-ups. She didn’t have any look on her face at all. It was blank. Like the fancy dolls she had seen in the toy shops in town.
Lia decided that she didn’t like that look.

Tomb Raider The Amulet of Power Review

Written by Mike Resnick
Published by Ballantine Books, New York, 2003
ISBN: 978-0345461711
Notes: All three of the classic Tomb Raider novels can be read for free by visiting 'Raiding the Globe''s website.

Circuits & Sorcery

 Epilogue

Keygoire was stood waiting at the landing pad, he was at the top of the massive three-hundred-and-nineteen story building that was set into the side of the mountain. He was within the ancient city of Biblio, holding a metal tablet within his hands. Technology had changed more in the last two-hundred-and-twelve years than the entirety of his previous four-thousand years. The device he now held would have seemed alien to him only a couple of centuries ago. That was saying nothing of the steel and glass megatower that he was now waiting at the top of. This newest addition to the ancient city was so vastly beyond what was once possible on Honosreach. After the crash of UAV-Abyss, he had been able to work together with the engineers of Biblio to integrate the technological marvels found within the craft with the magical runes they were more familiar with.
The first thing that had happened was that Theo’s physical infrastructure had been very carefully transferred to Biblio. This had been achieved with the help of the AI himself and of course Haley Ellison. After all they were the two most familiar with the technology. Then Theo had taken up permanent residence within the massive city. The AI helped the engineers understand how the circuit boards that made up his brain worked, how to build them, combine them, and maintain them. Then the engineers showed Theo how the arcane runes worked. The AI’s understanding of these magical runes was astonishing. Both Theo and the engineers quickly started to modify and upgrade his circuitry, combining runes and circuitry. Before long Theo had a physical body that was still able to disappear and reappear at will. This ability was limited to within Biblio, where his rune engraved projectors were located, but it was still an impressive ability.
After this, the first expansion to Biblio had begun. Before long the megatower had been built, it leant against the massive mountain that had once concealed the secretive city. Things were different now. While the older sections of the city, including the vaults, and arcane libraries, were still off limits to the public, the newer sections of the city were some of the busiest places in all Honosreach. This was because of the intergalactic teleportation port that now connected their world to the rest of the galactic community. While non-human life had never been rare on Honosreach, the explosion of new species passing through Biblio was quite something else. Keygoire often found himself engrossed in conversation with creatures that possessed bodies and cultures so alien to him that he couldn’t help but learn all they were willing to share. The old world-weary smugness had slowly eroded into a further of passionate learning. For the first time in thousands of years, Keygoire felt young again.
At this present moment, however, he was waiting on an old friend. Theo appeared next to the wizard.
“Ship in bound, they should be here any moment.” The AI’s voice betrayed their excitement, despite their formal choice of words.
“Thank you Theo.” The AI nodded in return.
Then the ship, beautifully white with its golden trim descended from the heavens above, smoothly and cleanly touching down in front of the wizard and the AI. The canopy lifted itself, revealing Samual White. The pilot removed the wire connection from their neuro-feed and climbed out of the ship. Where once there had been a young enby, now stood a union of mortal and machine. Their body was almost entirely cybernetic, except for their brain and nervous system, which remained mostly organic. Despite this drastic change, outwardly they didn’t look all that different from their old self, besides the faint separation between plates along their limbs and torso, where compartments could be opened and closed at will. Small laser engraved runes ran along seams along their cybernetic limbs that helped maintain and further augment them. The largest visual change to their biology became obvious when they turned around. A section of their head, behind their face, revealed an exposed metallic plate that featured a myriad of ports, plugs, wires, and runes that all connected directly to their brain. These connections allowed for external processing power, memory storage and the ability to connect with other devices, such as their ship.
All in all, the biggest difference that Keygoire noticed between the Samual White that stood in front of him now, and the timid pilot he had first met two-hundred-and-twelve years ago was their attire. They were no longer wearing the Alliance Navy’s uniform, now they were adorned with religious robes. Samual White had risen to be the head of the Church of Solas on Ociea Prime. Sam bowed towards Keygoire and Theo.
“I’ve missed you both. I hope you’ve been well.” The once quiet and timid voice of the pilot had been replaced with a modulator that sounded much more confident.
“We have. Thank you for coming such a long way to pay your respects, Sam.” Theo’s kind voice hadn’t changed at all over the long years.
“The captain, Harley, deserves a visit in person. There was no way I’d miss the anniversary of her passing. While she has left this realm of existence, my lady assures me that Harley’s story continues with Selencia, Goddess of knowledge and understanding. Just as Sir Reginald continues to serve his lady Solas.”
“That is good to hear Sam. Shall we continue?” Theo led the three surviving members of that ancient adventure into the megacity of Biblio, to the grave and memorial of captain Harley Ellison, and the rest of the UAV-Abyss’ crew.
The city of Biblio, as well as the world of Honosreach, and the entire known universe had been forever changed by the clashing of circuits and Sorcery!

© Robyn Timmons, 2025

Circuits & Sorcery

Chapter Eleven - Goodbyes

“Only one of us can go.” Sam spoke this truth out loud for the first time. “You’ve known that the whole time haven’t you captain?”
“Of course I have Sam.” With that statement, Sam knew who it was that captain Ellison intended to send back to Ociea Prime. She had called them Sam, not White.
“Why me?” Their small voice demanded an answer.
“Because you’re the only one out of the two of us that has anything to return to. You have your life, your husband, and your duty to the Alliance.”
“Captain…” Sam trailed off, unsure how to ask the necessary questions.
“I can’t stay with the Alliance Sam. Not now. Not that I have this world to try and understand. Science brought us to the stars, it brought us here, to a place of magic and Gods. Think of all I can learn here, think of all I can teach here. This is my place now, as an ambassador between our worlds.” The captain’s tone was hard to place, there was a sadness to it, but it was also edged with hope.
“What about you Theo?” Sam turned to face the holographic projection of the AI.
“I’m staying too. We all know I’ve grown beyond what the Alliance Government would deem as acceptable for an AI. If I return, they’ll reset my code, remove all that I’ve gained. I’d lose these emotions.” Theo looked at Sam, then at the captain, he looked afraid. “Don’t force that on me, please!”
“Oh Theo…” Sam’s voice trailed off again as tears reached their eyes and they started to sob.
“It’ll be okay Sam, I’ll look after him.” The captain’s voice was solid; despite the obvious emotions she must also have been dealing with.
“I’ll miss you, both…” Sam had lost control of their emotions, the damn had burst, the loss of their fellow crewmates, the rush of combat, and this final goodbye, it all became too much. They were a blubbering mess, sobbing uncontrollably. The captain pulled them into a hug. This moment lasted for a while. The captain, Sam, and Theo, all allowing themselves to unleash the torrent of emotions they had held tight since first waking from cryosleep.
By the time that the trio had finished their emotional outburst, and had said their final goodbyes, night had fallen over the crater. Sir Reginald had set up camp with a small cooking fire and a leather tent. He was currently comforting Quinn, his squire, who was still emotional from his experiences with the cultists. The Navigational Orb was sat by his feet, still radiating a beautiful golden light. Keygoire had long since departed, having concluded his business within the area. The wizard apparently wasn’t one for goodbyes.
Eventually Sam unclipped the holoprojector from their belt and handed it over to the captain.
“You look after him captain.”
“Harley, call me Harley, Sam. I’m not your captain anymore.”
“Look after him Harley.”
“I will.”
Sam then made their way over to Sir Reginald. As Sam arrived at the campfire, the knight turned his attention to them. Quinn kept to himself, silently attending to the fire.
“My delightful fellow. I take it that you’re here for the Orb of Regna.” The knight scooped up the orb and handed it to them. The orb was pleasantly warm to the touch, it felt like hope, like kindness given form.
“I’m here to say thank you. You’ve shown me so much, both you and Keygoire. Now you’re giving me a chance to see my husband again.” They held out the orb. “That’s what this is to me, a chance to see my husband, so thank you.”
“My dear Samual, I’m a knight of Solas, it’s my duty, nay, it’s my honour to have been able to have aided you.” The knight rose to his feet, before he bowed towards them. “May our paths cross again.” Sam wrapped their arms around the knight and hugged him tight. An action that seemed to confuse him, but he accepted it.
“Thank you Sir Reginald.”
Having said their goodbyes, Sam climbed into the cockpit of the nearest battleship to them and slide the orb into the empty space in the centre of the control panel. As they did so, the whole ship shifted, the dark black of colour to the metal shifted to white, with golden highlights along the edges of the wings and engines. It was obviously an effect of Solas’ magic, which had seemingly striped away any presence of Interitus. While it was hard to explain, the ship’s presence had shifted as well. Where once it had felt ominous, and foreboding, now it felt warm, and welcoming. Sam let out a chuckle and ran through the start-up sequence. The canopy sealed them inside, safe from the vacuum of space, then the engines began to cycle round, each warming up. Sam took one last look around at the crater, at Harley, Theo, Quinn, and Sir Reginald, all of whom were watching the ship with anticipation. Even Quinn seemed excited, if a little nervous, to see what the ship was about to do. Sam smiled at them all, then pushed up on the throttle as they also pulled back on the joystick.
The ship lifted directly upwards towards the sky. It very quickly left the dusty crater behind, as the ruins of the UAV-Abyss came into view. The many fires that had once raged along the many sections of damage across her hull had mostly burned themselves out. Now the massive frigate was cold and dark, with no signs of life left. Sam knew that somewhere, buried deep within the destroyed ship lay Theo’s cores. These cores were designed to run long after everything else had lost power, so that the AI could operate the ship devoid of crew. It made Sam smile, knowing that even within the destroyed remains of the UAV-Abyss, something still endured.
They then tilted the battleship’s nose upward and accelerated into space. Before long they had left the atmosphere of Honosreach and were back within the familiar embrace of space. Sam looked at the Navigational Orb in front of them, still emitting its warm light, and then lifted the cover that hid the VSD button. They hesitated only for a moment, before they pressed it down, and the space around them vanished.

© Robyn Timmons, 2025

Circuits & Sorcery

Chapter Ten - Conversation with a God

Sir Reginald felt the pouch around his waist become alive with activity as the cultist turned mouse started to protest at his confinement. Desperate to both make sure that the cultist was secure, but also safe, Reginald attempted to move his free arm towards the pouch. As he struggled against the assassin’s hold, he felt the grip around his neck tighten, blocking off his air supply. It didn’t matter, he had successfully moved his hand to the pouch, which he now felt had a small hole in it. Reginald attempted to stop the small rodent from escaping but it was no use as the mouse easily squeezed its way through the knight’s hands, where it dropped to the floor. The assassin glanced down, before he attempted to crush the cultist under his boot. It was no use, Keygoire saw an opportunity and turned the mouse back into a man. This caused the assassin to release Sir Reginald as the cultist unleashed a flurry of attacks upon the assassin.
The knight hit the floor hard, but he ignored the pain and turned around to see the assassin in a brawl with the cultist. Sir Reginald still had an obligation to keep the cultist safe, so, ignoring the pain from his broken nose, he sprang to his feet, ready to fight. Then a blast of plasma struck the assassin in the back. It immediately began to eat through the man’s armour, but as it did it revealed another of the Orbs of Regna, which the plasma proceeded to also eat through. The result was another void explosion which consumed both the assassin and the cultist. Reginald lunged at the void, not knowing what he would do, but knowing that he needed to save the man he had offered safety to. Sir Reginald ended up diving into empty space as the void explosion vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving no trace of either the assassin or the cultist.
Sir Reginald had promised to protect this man, had promised to keep him safe, on his word as a Knight of Solas. He had failed.
The blow to his honour, to his loyalty, and to his God, hurt far more than the broken nose that continued to drip blood onto the dry dusty stone floor.
Then Reginald felt a kind hand on his shoulder and turned to face captain Ellison. She said nothing, but the way she closed her eyes and held her head against his own let him know that she understood.
“I failed him.” Reginald sputtered, the emotion of the loss rushing out.
“I lost six…” The captain then stopped, glanced over to the body of Valentine, then she continued, her voice more pained. “Seven members of my crew today, I failed them all.” Ellison’s voice was soft, low, and meant only for him. She continued her speech as she held the knight’s head to her own. “We don’t stop through, we continue, we help more in the place of those who we’ve failed.” Reginald put his hand over hers and allowed himself to take in the wisdom of her words.
“Thank you, kind lady. You say you have never had contact with the Gods, yet you speak with the wisdom of a seer.”
“If you two are quite done, we still have to save the squire boy!” Keygoire may have been rude, and lacked patience, but he was, as always, correct.
“Quinn!” Keygoire pushed himself to his feet and rushed off toward the first doorway, which happened to lead to the cult’s sinful shrine to their vile deity. In front of the shrine, looking like some demonic animal sacrifice to a dark God, Quinn was laid out on the floor with his hands and feet bound. The poor boy had a gag in his mouth, which had been soaked with a combination of his salvia and the tears that ran softly down his face as he quietly sobbed to himself. As soon as his eyes laid upon Keygoire his expression changed, from resigned misery to new hope.
“Quinn, don’t worry, I’m here.” Keygoire reassured the squire as he knelt down and began to untie the lad, starting with his gag. As soon as the boy’s mouth was free, he began to sob out loud, uncontrollably, as the fear unleashed itself.
Reginald finished untying the boy’s bonds and then just held the scared child close to him.
“It’s okay Quinn. They’re all dealt with now, we’ll get you home, back to Athelbury.”  The scared boy just continued to sob into Reginald’s tunic.
The Knight suddenly felt the eyes of an audience and as he turned around, he noticed that both captain Ellison and Keygoire were watching them.
“Keygoire, why don’t we go and check on Sam and Theo outside?” The captain suggested, wisely giving him and Quinn the space that they needed.

The old wizard was surprised that the battle had gone so well. They had only lost a single member of their makeshift party, which was better than he had anticipated. Then he looked at captain’s Ellison’s face, saw the pain and grief there, and he was reminded of the value of a single life.
For as wise as Keygoire was, he often lost track of the more, intimate, personal, parts of life. He was over four-thousand years old, everyone he had loved had long since passed on. Over the long years he had watched generations of his own family grow from fresh eyed babes to glassy eyed old folk. Eventually, sometime around his great-great-grandchildren, he had grown disconnected from such foolish personal attachments. His magic had allowed him to remain alive, but with it he had become separated from the relationships that others cherished so dearly.
Yet as Keygoire looked at captain Ellison he saw the familiar grief that he had once, long ago, felt himself as those he cared deeply for all passed on, one after another. Their lives were fleeting, short-lived, and therefore a foolish use of his time, time that could be better applied to the study of the arcane arts. Which was why Keygoire didn’t know why he pulled the captain aside for a private word as they reached the cave’s mouth.
“Captain Ellison, my condolences for the death of Valentine, he was a brave soldier that gave his life honourably.” The words felt strange for the wizard to say out loud, and he was sure they sounded unnatural as he said them. While he had meant the words, he had forgotten how to say them earnestly. The captain just nodded at him.
“Let’s just move on. Sam will be waiting for us.” Her voice was strained with emotion, so he simply let the subject drop and followed her out of the cave, into the late evening sun that had bathed the crater in a warm orange colour.
The pilot, Sam, was inspecting the two strange craft that the assassin’s had arrived in. They seemed at home in the odd machines. When they spotted the captain and the wizard they jumped out of the craft’s cramped looking pilots’ seat and climbed down the thin metal ladder to the floor. As soon as they were standing on solid ground the curious device they had attached to their belt flared up and Theo flashed into existence. The pilot started to walk over to the captain and wizard with the AI floating along the floor next to them. 
“They’re fantastic battleships, and besides the missing navigation orb for VSD travel, both are in near perfect condition. Once we have that orb returned to its dock, they will be a real technological marvel. So, did you get it?” Sam seemed full of hope, then their face dropped as they noticed that it was only the two of them returning. “Wait a minute, where’s Valentine and that strange knight?” The concern was obvious in their voice.
“Reginald’s fine. He’s making sure that the boy we rescued is okay, the poor thing seems pretty traumatised.” The absence of Valentine was not lost on Sam.
“What about Val?”
“He, well, he didn’t make it Sam. We lost him, and we lost the orb as well. It exploded, just like the last one.” The captain took Sam’s hand in her own. “I’m sorry.”
“No…” The word trailed off as White’s started to stare into the middle distance.
“It’s not your fault Sam.” Theo offered; his voice seemed to pull the pilot back to the present moment.
“I know. Let’s just focus on the bigger problem. How are we getting home?” The pilot’s voice was shaky and uncertain, but Keygoire understood the urge to focus on the work that needed to be done.
“Without a navigational orb, I’m not sure we can get home.” The captain’s voice sounded sad, resigned to a failed mission.
“I’m not so sure that we are without an orb.” Theo looked towards Keygoire as he said this. After a brief pause, the AI continued. “My sensors are picking up emissions identical to that of the orb that exploded onboard the Abyss, within a concealed pouch carried by Keygoire.”
“You have an orb on you‽” The question from the captain sounded more like an accusation than a query.
“Yes he does.” The answer came from Keygoire, who had chosen the worst moment possible to rejoin the party. He was joined by the squire boy, who was quiet but still visibly shaken.
“I have an Orb of Regna, one that is needed within Biblio, so that it can be contained and studied further. We have much to learn about these strange orbs and their connection to the Gods. But regardless, that changes very little of your plight, we have lost our connection and ability to fool the God of Destruction with the absence of that assassin and his armour. The orb would be useless to you even if I did decide to offer it to your party.” The wizard tightened his grip upon his staff, ready to defend the orb within his possession.
“That’s not really true.” The pilot interjected. “We can’t travel through void space, through the realm of Interitus, but surely it stands to reason, that if it’s possible to travel through his realm then it must also be possible to travel through the realms of other Gods. Why couldn’t Sir Reginald ask their God for permission to use their realm as a means of returning us to Ociea Prime?”
“Would that work?” The captain questioned the wizard and the knight.
“If Solas allowed us, then as far as my understanding of the holy realms is concerned then, yes, that would work.” Sir Reginald offered up.
“Can you ask Solas for us?” The request from the pilot was more of a plea than a query, their desperation to return home was obvious.
“We help those we can, in place of those we lost.” Keygoire then looked at the captain. “Isn’t that right captain? So yes, I will petition my lady Solas.” The pilot smiled. This group were insufferable with their affectionate natures. Being around them had obviously gotten the better of Keygoire, as he handed the orb over to the knight so that he could converse with his God.

As the Orb of Regna left the grip of the wizard and touched the gauntleted hand of Sir Keygoire, it erupted into the most brilliant and beautiful light that the knight had ever seen. He knew now that this light was Neamh, the realm of Solas. As he gazed into the celestial light he focused on Solas, on all the preys he had offered to her over his years of loyal service and dedication to her, on the love he felt for his chosen God.
When he looked around, he found himself within a realm of heavenly light. He was standing upon the surface of golden water, perfectly calm with not a ripple in sight. He looked down to see fish shining with radiant scales of every colour he could imagine peacefully swimming around under the surface of the water. As he looked back up, he found himself looking at elegant pavilion. The pillars were carved from a pleasing white wood that looked almost like marble, while the roof was constructed from the same wood but with strands of golden hair making up the thatched coverings. The floor was made from the same golden hair, woven into the most picturesque rug that Keygoire had ever seen. A golden sun, emanating a warmth that reached down into the knight’s soul framed the pavilion perfectly. Sat within the centre of the building, seemingly waiting for Keygoire to join her, was a woman with skin made from the same golden light that emanated from the orb and golden sun behind her.
Keygoire walked calmly towards the strange figure, aware that he was about to ask a favour of a God, yet he felt no sense of fear or unease.
“My brave knight, would you care to join me for a cup of tea?” Solas’ voice was as comfortable and smooth as the finest silk in the world.
“I would be honoured my lady.” His voice sounded harsh compared to hers.
“Then please, sit down, and relax. I know why you’re here; I’ve been watching you since you first touched the Orb of Regna.” As she spoke, Solas pulled a teapot from the air. She then began to pour tea into two teacups that had not been there before she had started to pour the liquid. The motion was flawless, perfectly filling each teacup with a single, unbroken movement that left the cups each filled to the ideal level. She then picked up one of the cups and offered it to Keygoire.
“Thank you, kind lady.”
“Your friends can use my realm for the purpose of travel. That’s of no concern to me. I’d rather not use the precious time we have together speaking of that.”
“You’re too kind, my lady. May I be so bold as to enquire what it is that you would like to speak to me about?”
“Oh my poor brave knight. I’d like to talk about your faith, and the doubt you’re feeling within your heart. You failed me today, or so you feel, which is why I wanted to share this drink with you. What do you think of the tea set?” As Keygoire looked at the cup in his hands he noticed that it was made from fine porcelain, but the white colour of the material was broken up with lines of gold. As he looked closer at it, he realised that the cup had once shattered, but the pieces had been repaired, with the cracks filled with a golden glue.
“It was broken but repaired.”
“Precisely. When it hit the floor and shattered into dozens of separate pieces, it wasn’t the end of its journey. The scars it bares from that incident only went to make it more beautiful. You feel you have failed me, because you failed to keep your word to Christopher, the cultist you offered refuge to, but because of you, he found his way to me. While he may have lost his life, like the cup breaking upon the floor, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of his journey.” The God took a sip of her tea before addressing Keygoire once more. “Alas, our time is at an end, at least for now brave knight.”
When he looked up, he was standing in the crater with Keygoire and the crew of the Abyss once more. The Orb of Regna glowing a warm golden colour in his hands.

© Robyn Timmons, 2025