Topic: To The Woods

Toby · Date: 2013-04-10 09:27 EST

It had been some time since that conversation in the Bar. Toby had dimly remembered Murelle GreyMantle from his youth at Star's End, but they had never really met. When she asked him his opinion about the type of weapons that might be necessary to kill a 'dark creature', well... that got his attention.

He'd overheard some of the subsequent conversations between Murelle and Xenograg, enough to pick up the salient details. A distant land called Eldicor (the same one that yielded up that really excellent Tea), a forest within it, and a creature who had been responsible for the death of Murelle's husband years before.

The whole thing had the marks of a great adventure to it - but it was her next question to him that had really altered his perception of the entire event. How exactly did one protect against a creature that could invade your dreams? For Toby and Tabitha, who had not so long ago dealt with the disappearance and subsequent rescue of their youngest child Selene from the dream world, the question had particular relevance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had an element of surreality, he thought as he walked along the streets of Rhydin in the evening. Not so long after the family had returned from the visit to the Galactic Core, he'd gotten a message from Xenograg, briefly outlining the preparations that were being undertaken in Eldicor to deal with this creature. And asking if he would mind coming along to meet the Queen of Eldicor herself, to see what he might be able to help with in terms of weapons.

It was not an exaggeration at this point to say that Toby was feeling frustrated. Despite everything he'd tried, every place and every resource he'd sought out, Tabitha's condition was not improving. Now it was to the point where she just could not leave the cabin, and rarely got out of bed. Toby had made arrangements for a live-in nurse to stay with them, to help care for her. And all the while, he felt more and more helpless as he watched her seem to slip away more and more every day.

So when the message came from Xenograg, Toby agreed immediately. It was a strange impulse, for someone who normally steered far clear of 'events', these days. Toby had withdrawn from the chaos of Rhydin more and more ever since the incidents with Lorelie seven years before; they'd soured him (forever, he thought) on involvement with the troubles of others.

Truth be told, Toby had tired of the feeling of helplessness. The impulse to DO something, to make a difference, outweighed his desire to keep out of 'happenings' - and that, along with his friendship with the older man, saw him arriving at the gate of the Dojo that night.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-01 11:46 EST

After meeting within, and exchanging greetings, Toby followed Xenograg down a series of secret doors and spiral stairs, to the most interesting mirror he'd ever seen. A dimensional gate of some kind, as he watched Xenograg activate it and pass through - when they arrived on the other side, the old man gestured outward. "Welcome to Sawrey, in Eldicor, which is on the southern coast."

The place was different than anywhere he'd ever been. Accustomed to either the familiarity of high technology, or the simplicity of his cabin in the woods, Eldicor was an experience of another kind entirely. When they met Queen Teleperien herself, Toby felt almost a brief sense of deja vu. Tall and willowy, with white blonde hair and a gentle but solemn manner, he was sharply reminded of Wyheree.

The opening exchange spoke eloquently as to the natures of the three.

"Majesty, I present Toby St. Germain."
"I am pleased to meet you, and glad you have come."
"Howdy."

That said, Toby didn't indulge in his usual sense of humor nor his irreverent manner. Over his lifetime he'd met many people of authority, and thought little of most of them - but the Lady of Eldicor was one of the few he thought he could respect.

After the offers of tea, Toby struck right to the heart of the matter, talking of his conversation with Murelle about the creature, about weaponry, and what might and might not work.

Teleperien described the thing rather succinctly as "black, red eyes, and when it moves, it's like fluid. Much like the tar one uses on the roof."

"Then a sword's not going to do a thing to do it," Toby replied, with Xenograg nodding in silent assent. "If it didn't live in a forest, I'd suggest the obvious answer. 'When in doubt, kill it with fire.'"

Teleperien didn't seem overly thrilled with the prospect of a fire in the forest, to which Toby could hardly blame her. He'd be loath to start one in his own home woods, after all. But as the conversation went on, it seemed perhaps not so impossible after all. He explained to them the type of plasma weapon that could do the most harm to the creature, and the steps they might take to limit the collateral damage it would cause. He still had the old plasma launcher he'd built years before, and was reasonably sure he could replicate at least enough to arm a number of the people going into the hunt for this thing.

When the conversation shifted casually to the subject of the creature's mental connection with Murelle, and possibly the threat it might pose to the others... Toby found himself quieting. The need for help on that front seemed obvious and clear enough, but technology could only help so much. Such a battlefield was the province of the realm of psionics.. a world that Xenograg knew Toby's connection to quite well.

The topic was carefully couched in technological terms, but Toby never really took that aspect of it too seriously. He knew deep within himself what it would really entail... and found himself simultaneously annoyed with Xenograg for broaching the concept, cognizant that the older man left him with an 'out' BY couching it in technological terms... and grateful that he had kept Toby's confidence regarding the whole matter.

But once they had passed out of Eldicor, Toby wasted little time in pointing out the obvious. "You know the technology to shield a mind from psionic attack is still in its infancy, and unreliable at best. Every mind is different, technology can't keep up with the complexities yet."

Xenograg's answer was solemn. "I was not going to betray your confidence of course. You see why I am taking your offer of aid as far as possible."

"I do. But what you're asking..."

"The choice is yours. Decline without fear of judgment, by me or her."

Toby's smile was deeply wry. "There'd still be someone judging me for it."

Himself, naturally.

(Adapted from live play with Xenograg and QueenTeleperien.)

Toby · Date: 2013-10-01 12:07 EST

Toby stood outside, on a beautiful fall day. On the northern boundary of the great clearing, was a smaller clearing, almost completely circular, surrounded by those great trees. A small path wound south towards the cabin, but in this little space nothing could be seen but trees and sky.

He waited there, with his eyes closed. The wind was cool and bracing, up here in the northlands. It set the leaves of the trees rustling, the entire woods was a blaze of colour this time of year. Slowly, a scattering of leaves broke free from the branches, spiralling down into the clearing to join their fellows on the grass.

They seemed to freeze in mid-air, a moment caught in time. From the ground below, a rush of more fallen leaves soared upwards, to join their newly shorn fellows in the air. The great cluster of leaves slowly began to rotate around him, guided by invisible hands, each leave spinning on its own within that great orbit.

Within the orbiting melange, Toby stood in silence. It had all started, long ago, with a single leaf and an instruction: "Make it stand on end." Fitting, now, that when he felt the need to meditate, to seek out a decision within himself, Toby would fall back on that ancient exercise and do so with multitudes.

What do I do? I can't do what they're asking of me, I just can't.

The voice within was joined by another, of softer timbre.

Of course you can. The ability is not in question here. What you doubt is your control. You are not incapable, you are afraid.

The two voices were then joined by a third, this one strong and intense in tone.

You're still afraid of me. You've been afraid of me for years, since Lorelie. You won't even consider helping them, because of me.

The reply was immediate and sharp.

Because I know you. I know what you are, I know what you want, and you wonder why I won't turn you loose again? Have you forgotten what happened?

I forget NOTHING!, the darker voice thundered. But you always blame me, as if I took control of you. YOU did those things, you set me loose on those miserable old men. I just gave you the means to do what YOU wanted to. Don't try and make me your scapegoat.

There was silence for a time.

You're wrong. I don't blame you. I did those things, I took responsibility for it then, and I still take it now. Not a day goes by that I don't still hear their voices. I AM afraid, but not of you.

Feh. Who, then?

Who else? Myself. If I let you free again, who's to say I wouldn't do something even worse?

Who's to say you would?

More silence. The leaves turned in their slow, languorous orbit around him.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-01 12:17 EST

You fear becoming the worst aspects of yourself again.

Yes.

You fear becoming a worse threat than the thing they go to destroy.

......yes.

Then you're a fool. You have grown in the intervening years, you have changed, but you refuse to see it. In those years, you have made peace with your actions. You've found love, a love that turned you from the darkness that might have been. You had a choice, the darkness or the light, and look what you've chosen. A home, a family, friends.

And I've kept the temptation away by not using it. If I change that now?

The darker voice broke in again, sarcastic. Not using it? You've indulged me, even if you delude yourself into thinking it was harmless. Every time you've shown off with those spheres, it was me who flung them into motion. Every time you acted to protect your family, your friends, you leaned on ME. You fear me, but you NEED me. What would you be without me?

The first voice had no answer.

You tried to give him up once. To renounce him. And you found, to your dismay, that you cannot be split in twain. For good or ill, we are both a part of you, and only together are you whole. If I am the love and the kindness that make you the good man you are... , the soft voice began.

Then I am the strength and the power that makes you the protector, the strong husband and father. I am your sword AND your shield. I am the Destroyer, but I am also what makes you the Guardian. You fear me, but you are nothing without me.

Still the first voice said nothing. The soft voice and the dark voice spoke then as one, blending together in an echoing answer. Fear is good, it keeps you honest. It keeps you from being foolish. But it is time you stopped letting it blind you. Accept your fear, accept that we are all one. And move forward. Only then is your decision clear.

The leaves went motionless, hanging in the air. Time itself seemed suspended, even the birds went silent in the woods beyond.

There was a silence, a profound silence.

If I do nothing, people might die.

They might do that anyway.

If I go, I might die.

All things are possible. But you know in your heart of hearts, that if you go in fear, with half-measures, then you go in weakness. It comes down to this - what do you fear more? Doing nothing and living with it? Going merely as a builder of machines, and facing the enemy unprepared? Or do you cast out fear and bring us all together at last? It's time to decide who you really are. So what will you do?

The moment swelled, frozen in time.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-01 12:32 EST

Then I'll do what's right.

The voices combined, echoing in the mindscape like thunder.

TOGETHER.

The leaves fell en masse, a rain of colour from the sky. When the last one fell, the clearing was empty.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-05 22:56 EST

Night had fallen outside, but the glare of fluorescent lights kept the laboratory on board the ship as bright and clear as day. Music blared from the speakers mounted above the workbench, deliberately loud enough to keep chasing sleep away. He had little enough time to get this done, and in any case sleep only brought dreams. And lately, they weren't happy ones.

On the bench, his old plasma launcher sat half-disassembled. Technology he hadn't even thought about in years, was now back at the forefront and he had to remind himself exactly how it worked. Even with Toby's memory, things inevitably were shunted into the background, after all. He'd gathered the parts that he needed, and had spent most of the last day crafting a series of miniaturized plasma cores. The aperture work would be kept till last, as that required a level of precision he didn't trust himself to achieve this late. In any case, one more part was needed for the focusing assemblies.

On the rack behind him, four assembled pistol bodies sat waiting, needing the cores, the trigger assemblies, the focusing assemblies and the power packs that would transform them from 'parts' to handheld engines of destruction and fire. They lacked perhaps the artful design and even beauty of the original, but he could perhaps be forgiven that. Given the short time and the urgency of the situation, functionality was going to have to overrule aesthetics this time.

The design was simple, but that's what made it potent. The weapon was fairly short range, the plasma bolt it generated would not travel a great distance before losing containtment. But in that short distance, anything it touched would be disintegrated, burned beyond recognition. It was as potent as a lightning strike at that range. And yet it wouldn't cause great splash damage, exactly what the Queen feared.

Simple to operate, easy to wield. And even as he slowly pieced them together, Toby's mind was on something more sobering that 'mere' technology. The darkness that waited.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-24 21:07 EST

(The soundtrack for this scene is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbS-Zhz31CA )

The evening of the second day, Toby approached the back bedroom's door quietly, peering at the half-lit room beyond. Tabitha was a slender shape under the covers, and to his eyes she seemed frail, almost gossamer. Always such a lush and healthy woman, it seemed to him as if she was just fading away bit by bit, like a dandelion in the breeze.

The shape stirred, and her voice reached his ears, faint and shaky. "Toby?"

He shifted slightly. He hadn't meant to disturb her and yet this moment had to come. He put on that apologetic, boyish smile and moved into the room. "Hey sweet pea. You behaving in here?"

A faint smile creased her face, as she shifted up a little against the pillows. "Why, are you going to tell on me?"

"It'll be our little secret." As he said this, Tabitha's eyebrows drew down slightly, and she slowly tilted her head. "What?"

She looked at him, saying nothing.

"Tabi, you're giving me that same look you give the girls when they pretend they don't know who snuck cookies off the plate."

"Mmmhmm." She smiled then, tiredly. "So tell me what it is you're not telling me, then."

"Hey. I thought I was the telepath here." Toby slowly sat down. It didn't really surprise him, though. Tabitha had an unerring way of knowing what he was thinking, as well as the girls. He wasn't sure if it was a gift.. or just *her*. So he told her the whole story, of Murelle, of the Dark Forest, of the being of shadow, of his meeting with Queen Teleperien of Eldicor, of Xenograg's request. And he told her of the devices he built.

"If you've decided... why do you still look so lost?" She was weak, impossibly so, but Tabitha hadn't lost her perception yet.

"If I go... I may not come back. I want to do what's right.. but.. what if I don't come back? What if I leave you, like this.. and the girls? What happens then? I can't just leave my responsibilities to you... you all come first."

Tabitha waited with her usual gentle patience until he'd finished rambling, and then answered. Toby noted, though, that she was taking longer to draw the breath to answer. "You'll come back."

"How can you know that? What if I don't? If I'm gone.. and you're..." Toby's voice broke, he found himself unable to finish the sentence.

"But you will come back. It's what you do, it's what you always do." Tabitha took a moment to gather her strength. "You have to do what's right, Toby. You can't be any other way, you don't know how. And I'm no afr-," she paused, seized by a terrible coughing fit.

"I'm not afraid. You'll come back, and I'll be f-fine."

He looked her sadly. "I wish I could be so sure as you are. I have a terrible feeling."

"Oh, Toby. That's because sometimes, smart as you are, you really are a dummy." She looked so solemn when she said this, before the ghost of a smile crept over her face. Then Tabitha's face contorted again, seized in the throes of a coughing fit that lasted almost a full minute. She grimaced, drawing her sleeve over her lips, not noticing that it left a dark streak.

Toby did notice, but stifled his immediate reaction. "You need some more water." His hand shook slightly as he took her glass from the nightstand and headed for the kitchen. Behind him, her voice trailed out, shaky but with a teasing tone. "And maybe a new lung if you've got one handy."

He smiled as he refilled her glass, then his expression turned stricken as he heard her coughing again, this time mixed with a slightly panicky wheeze as Tabitha tried futilely to draw breath. He started back to the bedroom, his steps turning quicker as the coughing fit would not subside.

Mirali, the nurse, was already coming in from where she had been taking a few moments break. The sound of the coughing had drawn her, and she immediately set to work trying to assess the situation. It didn't take her long.

"She has fluid in her lungs, too much. She's drowning. We have to get her to a hospital, now." She was saying something else too, but Toby didn't even hear her. His thoughts, his perception, were drawn to his wife, and to the warm glow, the aura of her, that was such a central part of his life. But it had a new tinge to it now... a shadow. Toby was no doctor, but he knew what he was seeing.

Tabitha was dying. Right in front of him.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-24 21:24 EST

The mind is a funny thing, sometimes.

Everything that was going on, from the moment Tabitha had begun that panicky wet coughing, just seemed to slow down for him. Mirali's immediate concern, the sounds of the coughing, everything just seemed to come to a slow creep as he stood there.

Tabitha was dying. Such a simple realization. Such a simple phrase, and with it his entire world was threatening to come to an end. It was like watching himself watching her, from someplace else. It was something happening to someone else, a movie or a vid that he was watching of events somewhere else, far away.

He thought of his girls, Maurin, Reinette.. little Selene. They were upstairs sleeping now. Lost in the dreams of little children, they had no idea that their mama was slipping away from them.

He saw the next morning, when they would come downstairs as they always did, to pile into "Mama's new room" and wake her up with kisses. He turned away, unable to watch what came next.

The world turned grey, a church in the rain, a crowd of solemn friends and adopted family. Three little figures standing next to him, unable to understand. Tears on their cheeks, tears on his... all but lost in the rain.

A little space in the corner of the clearing near the cabin, four flowers laid side by side by the new stone. And a statue, set at the head of the space, of a woman smiling down at them. A beautiful statue, but cold and unchanging, that had nothing to do with Tabitha St. Germain.

And he saw his life, equally cold and grey, even as he forced himself to go on for his daughters. No more laughing, no more smiles. No warm presence when he opened the door, no teasing laughter that washed away the problems of the day. No soothing presence that calmed the rampaging tempest within his mind, the storm that had tortured Toby since he was old enough to perceive it. A storm that had abated only when he'd met her... his other half. His sanctuary from the chaos.

Cold. It was a good word, it suited every aspect of this future memory. It suited him, he could feel that coldness spreading through his heart even now. The scene around him was almost frozen now, as if he'd stepped outside of it to see this terrible future laid out.

In another moment, or in another lifetime, she would be gone. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to the girls, it wasn't fair to those who loved her.

It's not fair to me. It's not fair!

It's not FAIR.

Toby · Date: 2013-10-24 21:35 EST

Toby saw that cold and grey future stretched out for him, laid out as sure as a map carved in stone. He saw what was about to happen, what must happen. It was a mathematical certainty, and he of all people understood the inevitability of mathematics.

Tabitha was on a path that had only one end, her end. Whatever was killing her, was going to do it long before they could figure out how to cure it. There was no time to save her, pure and simple.

No time..

Anguish gripped him, regret and recrimination - what if he'd taken her to the Core sooner? What if he'd searched wider for someone who would see what was killing her? What if he hadn't taken so much time in useless 'wait and see'?

No time..

Maybe if she could hang on a little longer, the answer would come to him. Maybe he could find the one doctor who would see the truth of it. If only he had a little more time.

More time..

Toby shook his head fiercely, bitterness in his thoughts.

You can't leave them..

You can't leave me...

Please... please, don't go... I just need more time...

More time...

He could see back over the six and a half years they'd been together, and all the joy they'd lived together. All that time, and it had run by so fast... where had it gone?

Time..

Toby · Date: 2013-10-24 21:55 EST

The word echoed in his thoughts, mocking him. Time.. you always think you have a lifetime's worth, and then it's all gone. Suddenly you realize you don't have any time left at all.

He saw all of this. And he saw something more. She was on a path with no forks, it could only end in one place. A river with no dock to paddle to, nowhere to stop. She could no more stop herself than a leaf on the river can fight the current.

She couldn't. But ..

"No."

The word came with difficulty, as if he had forgotten in that interval of inner time how to speak. Or maybe he had finally found the word he wanted, after a long search. In the real world, Toby remained motionless, frozen. But here, in the space between, that cold darkness in his chest had continued to collapse in on itself, building up, and feeding on itself. And he realized in the space of one heartbeat that he... could.

He couldn't change her path. But he could do something else.

Toby had only that one heartbeat to decide. And in the end it was no decision at all. He reached out, and held her. Held her to him. And her path, still unbroken, became an unending loop of those last few moments.

Even as the decision was made, he heard Mirali finishing her sentence.

"-put her on a breathing machin-... wait.. what in God's name..?"

Toby finished the blink that he'd begun seemingly ages ago. He turned slowly to look at the nurse, who was staring in confusion at Tabitha. "What is it?"

The nurse didn't seem to recognize the calm tone that had come over him. She looked at her scanner probe in disbelief. "She was choking to death, right before my eyes. Now.. it's like she's settled down. But.. "

"But?"

"Her vitals.. they're... *wrong*. I can't tell if her heart rate is skipping, or what, it's like it starts to beat, then there's a sharp irregularity and then it's normal again. It's repeating, too. Almost... cyclical. Her breathing starts, then it also stops... and then normal again. It's almost like..."

Toby's voice was strangely patient. "Almost like what?"

The nurse turned to look at him. "Like she's in a holding pattern. I know it sounds insane, but..."

"She'll be fine for now." The nurse did stare at him now, at the almost unnatural certainty in his voice. He kept talking, ignoring her looks. "Go make sure the girls are sleeping soundly, would you please? I just want to be alone with her for a few minutes."

Mirali couldn't seem to find the words she wanted, but under the calm royal blue gaze she finally nodded and left the room. Toby turned and knelt at his wife's bedside, his voice becoming a gentle whisper.

"It was so simple. I should have seen it before, but I wouldn't open my eyes, kitten. You were right, you know.. sometimes I am just a dummy." He looked at her, and he almost smiled, his expression heartbreakingly sad. "But I know the answer now. I just need more time. And until we figure out how to make you better.. you have all the time in the world. Sleep and dream of me... of them... and I promise I'll come for you when I can."

"I love you, Tabi."

His hand rested on Tabitha's forehead, and he gently closed her eyes. His eyes, too, drifted shut, and he murmured inaudibly to her. Tabitha's lips moved in quiet response, and a ghost of a smile drifted over them before she went still.

Mirali came back downstairs as Toby was walking out of the bedroom. He looked at her, expression solemn. "You've been a great help, Mirali. I don't know what we'd have done without you. I need to take care of something tomorrow morning, I should not be gone very long. I've asked someone to come over and help take care of the girls till I get back. Please keep a close eye on Tabitha... take good care of her."

The nurse nodded slowly, unsure of what this strange calm meant. "How will I reach you if her condition changes?"

She stared after him as he walked to the loft stairs, confused by his quiet reply. "It won't."

Toby · Date: 2013-10-24 22:17 EST

Epilogue

Toby paused at the door of the girls' bedroom, hearing and feeling the questioning little presence from the middle bed. "You should be sleeping, princess."

Reinette's little blonde head peered at him from between covers and pillow. "I heard you talking. Can't go to sleep till you do, Daddy."

Toby smiled in the half-light. "I'm going up to bed now, Rennie. You cuddle up nice and snug, and have some sweet dreams.

" 'k. Love you, Daddy.."

"I love you too, princess."

He paused, her voice catching him as he turned away from the door. "Daddy? Is Mama sleeping now?"

Toby swallowed hard, unable to answer for a moment lest his voice break and betray too much to his middle daughter.

"Yes, sweetheart. Mama's sleeping now."

Toby · Date: 2013-11-07 14:36 EST

There is a moment, a single space of time, between the last waning wisps of night, and the ascension of the sun. It has no sound, it has no fanfare, and yet it pierces the soul of anyone watching for it.

Dawn comes, like the last and first tick of the clock as the hour changes. The eye of the sun comes over the horizon, and the world holds its collective breath for just that one moment.

He stood on the porch of the silent cabin, watching over the trees to the east. Below him, at the base of the hill, the lake lay cold and silent, reflecting only the stars overhead. He didn't remember how long he'd stood there, waiting. Time didn't seem to move for him, it just seemed to jump forward when he thought about it. Until that moment came, and light broke through.

Without a sound, he turned and walked back into the cabin. Just inside the door, a large and heavy canvas bag sat there, waiting. Within it, a collection of a dozen plasma throwers, hurried and unglamorous imitations of his own lovingly crafted weapon. But they were solid, they would work.

He walked past them, to one of the doors along the right wall. He did not go in, merely looked quietly at the bunkbeds, and the sleeping little forms within. Rowdy and resolute Maurin, always so tough even at nearly five years old. And delicate little Reinette, three going on 30 years old sometimes. He watched for a little while, drawing strength and peace from the sight of them, safely asleep in their beds.

In the next room, two-year old Selene was curled up in the corner of her bed, the tall rails providing her with a backstop. She was always so restless in her sleep, unable to escape into dreams anymore. He smiled a little as she made a murmuring sound, before rolling over once again.

One last stop, at the back bedroom. He knew nothing would have changed, but he still had to see her one more time. Nothing more to say, he'd done what he could. He lingered one more moment, before walking back out into the living room.

"Max. Come here, please."

There was the faintest subharmonic hum, and the stirring of the air behind him. Toby didn't turn around, didn't even pause in his final preparations. He continued his adjustments to the cyber-gauntlet on the table even as he spoke.

"We have someplace to go. This is a direct order, you are to temporarily supersede primary directive with directive One. For the duration of our trip, directive One remains in effect." He paused, eyes half-focused on the gauntlet. "When we arrive, they will not be prepared. Not for me, certainly not for you. There will surely be weapons drawn. You are not to react until I give you orders to do so."

Toby pulled the gauntlet up onto his right hand, testing the fit. Behind him, there was silence.

"You are not to leave my side unless I give you a direct order. And when the time comes to enforce directive One, you will take care that no harm comes to any humans, or elves, or anyone in their care. Do you understand me?"

There was no visible or aural response, but he seemed to be satisfied nonetheless.

"We have one stop to make. And then it's time to go."

Toby strode forward, picking up the straps of the canvas bag. A few moments later, the front door closed behind him.

Toby · Date: 2013-11-20 11:06 EST

(Cross-posted to Realm of Eldicor)

Star's End Bar was quiet this morning. There were a handful of dedicated drunks and desperate cases here and there, and the serv-bots were doing their thing, but nobody he recognized. So much the better, really. If this really was the last time he'd see the place, Toby wanted it to be quick. I don't like long good-byes, he thought.

The message chip sat in his locker, blinking quietly. The transmitter it was attached to would sit there, waiting, for exactly three days. If he had not returned to deactivate it, it would drop his last message into the electronic mailboxes of his boss, Mr. Kane, and those of his fellow barkeeps. Helix.. Sissy.. Dex.. Noira. It was a crappy way to say goodbye, after all, but he didn't know if WAS goodbye. Maybe he'd just reappear when it was all over, and no one would have any clue what had gone down. Better that way, he judged.

There was a similar device sitting back in the cabin, which had his final recordings for his children, his few other close friends, and a last will and testament. He'd updated that over the years, ever conscious that capricious fate could intercede at any moment. This was just another one of those moments. That way, everything would be taken care of.

Now, standing in the small lot behind the bar, Toby closed the hatch of the small sleek craft and locked it. Lady, the AI, would fly it back to the ship in the same three days if he didn't return for it. The big canvas bag slung over his shoulder, Toby checked one last time to be sure he had everything.

He nodded to the silent shape behind him. "Let's go."

And then, Toby just stood there. To anyone watching, he wasn't doing anything, just eyes closed and waiting for something. On the surface, then...

~~~

Consciousness reached out, touching the 'flavour' of this place. Every single place in space and time had its own aura, flavour, call it what you will. He filled himself with it, and let it expand through himself, remembering...

He remembered a room with a mirror, and the timbre of that tower in Eldicor. It had its own unique place in space and time, too.

An effort of will reached out, seizing reality as if it were a thing to be touched. He chose... no, demanded... that the center of all of it was right here, around him. It WAS him. The fulcrum, the pivot point. It revolved in that moment of non-time around him... and then it spun like a Lazy Susan the size of creation.

Bring me that room.

It seemed to occur in slow motion, though in truth it was all happening outside of time itself. The faraway land of Eldicor sped towards him, unknown lands in between speeding past like a grey mist. He ignored it, all of it, intent only on that familiar 'flavour'.

And then he was there... no. He wasn't there. *There* had come to him. It was a subtle distinction, but an important one.

Toby's eyes opened, half a heartbeat after he'd closed them in Star's End's back lot. But instead of the Mirror room, he found himself in a wide courtyard of stone, looking upon the utterly startled faces of tall, inhumanly beautiful beings with very sharp metal weapons. He stood there looking at them, as space/time rippled in uneasy protest around him, the vibrations spreading to any who could perceive them.

Huh.

Toby · Date: 2013-12-02 20:48 EST

(Cross-posted to Realm of Eldicor)

They moved very quickly, inhumanly so. That particularly obvious thought made him actually smile for a moment, but only just a moment. It didn't seem like a moment for levity, what with all the mistrustful and alarmed faces surrounding him in a slowly tightening circle. None of them had drawn weapons just yet, save one, who seemed to be in charge. He looked particularly unhappy, and just a tad threatening. Objectively, Toby thought, he could understand that. Stranger, sudden appearance in the middle of their castle, and such. But the sword pointed at his face wasn't helping Toby with his objectivity very much.

That's what you get for missing your ride, dummy.

Then the voice got really dangerous, and Toby's attention was fully given. "Who are you? ...Quickly!"

It wasn't clear if it was the sword's aggressive positioning, or the tone of voice, but a sudden subharmonic buzz rippled the air as Max rose up behind Toby to make his presence known.

Perhaps five and a half feet tall, Max stood nearly six and a half high when he floated up on antigrav repulsors. There was absolutely no mistaking what his function was - Max's entire design was intended solely to intimidate potential threats to his master. His chest was broad and sturdy, constructed out of salvaged warship armor and painted a bloody red. His 'shoulders' were broad as well, to support the triple arms that hung down at his sides. Each individual arm bore a different tool - be it a manipulator, a rotating tritanium blade, or a plasma launcher. Manuevering vanes astride his repulsor engine took the place of 'legs', keeping the menacing machine steady in the air. His head bore only a single wide red lens, which right now was glowing particularly malevolently.

And that pulsing crimson eye was staring straight at Gwindor.

Toby's own royal blue gaze was also fixed on the man. Silently he raised his left hand, a gesture to Max. Slowly, the hulking bodyguard stood down, though his red eye never wavered. "Enough, Max."

He turned to look at the man with the sword. "Captain Toby St. Germain. I appear to have made a slight navigation goof." He studiously kept his hand away from the plasma launcher strapped to his hip. They were still on their own home turf, after all, and he'd just crashed the gate. So to speak.

The man didn't seem impressed by the answer, and Toby kept motionless. This was starting to look ugly.

Right about then, the elves parted like grass before the wind, and the tall Queen made her presence known. A brief exchange with her captain (or so Toby assumed he was) saw the sword put away, and a flurry of surprise among the others. She turned to him, and if her expression was readable right then, Toby couldn't do it.

"Come, we have a room for you, we will speak soon. This is Borin, a worthy dwarf in my service. Borin, please escort our guest to his apartment."

Toby exchanged frank looks with the dwarf, who at least wasn't scowling at him. Well, that could have gone better, he thought. 'Course, it also could have gone a lot worse.

The dwarf gave him a bow, and gestured to the castle doors. Toby glanced around, and then started after him. A jerk of his head, and Max floated silently behind him, only that faint subharmonic intonation marking his passing. His squat head rotated as he moved, that pulsing red eye watching Gwindor until he disappeared into the castle with the Queen.

Toby · Date: 2014-04-03 08:56 EST

((Rather than Cross-posting everything, I am going to lock this thread and point it to the actual Eldicor folder, where the battle is actually taking place.

http://rdi.dragonsmark.com/forums/viewforum.php?f= 226

--BW))