“Sorry about that,” Kelly muttered under her breath, giving Alonnen a somewhat guilty, apologetic wince.
“Don’t be,” he murmured back, wondering what the redhead had to do with the loss of Mekha. He returned his attention to Serina. “What does the restoration of Portal abilities have to do with the threat of a demonic invasion?”
Nose wrinkled in disgust, Guardian Ilaiea scoffed, “Are you really that ignorant, boy? Who in the name of the Netherhells made you a Guardian, if you’re so stupid?”
Alonnen narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me for being uneducated, but if you haven’t noticed, Mekhana has been a death trap for mages for the last four centuries, with damn few mages able to get in or out without getting captured. Forgive us for most of our highly educated mages having their will suppressed by magical shackles and the weight of an uncaring, ever-hungering False God, who destroyed their minds and drained their magics to the very last drop. Forgive us for losing a lot of knowledge over the centuries under the oppressive rule of a False God who was just two steps away from being a Netherhell demon. Forgive us for—”
“Wow. You have a temper worse than mine,” Queen Kelly interjected, her brows lifted and her tone light, if pointed.
Forcing himself to relax, Alonnen muttered a very grudging, “Sorry.”
It was a bit angry, but it did smooth over the moment. It helped that Tipa’thia spoke up, seizing the awkward silence. “Regardless of how well-trained you and your local mages might be, Guardian Alonnen, it would not matter. This will be a new spell for everyone . . . and we will all have to learn how to apply it. Half of it was researched by my apprentice, Pelai, from forgotten knowledge culled from scores of ancient grimoires. Half of it has been updated and integrated into the aether-cleansing magics which Guardian Serina has been tirelessly researching and striving to enact.”
“Unfortunately, this will put back that aether quelling by at least two full years!” Serina argued.
Lost, Alonnen opened his mouth to ask what the two were talking about. Guardian Kerric got to it first, raising his hand. “Ladies, please. Guardian Serina, please cut through the side discussions and just outline what needs to be done and why, so that we all understand the necessity of it.”
She tugged on her long braid again, then released it with a heavy sigh and a brief mutter. “I need more vases . . . As I was saying, instead of calming the aether to reestablish our ability to create Portals, we shall instead temporarily agitate the aether. The resonances of normal, world-crossing Portals are very similar to, but not exactly the same as, the resonance frequencies used by the shorter, merely region-crossing mirror-Gates which are still usable in most kingdoms.
“By the same token, if you push things up higher, you reach the resonance frequencies not only in the local aether, but in what we call the Veil between Worlds. Depending upon the exact resonances, you can pierce the Veil into other universes entirely, where the rules might be slightly different . . . or you can pierce the Veil into the region of the Netherhells,” Serina explained. “Blood-based, violence-infused magic assists in piercing the Veil to the Netherhells, creating Portals to and from that realm. Mages can also use these resonances to summon and bind demons, which is what these ex-Mekhanan priests are attempting to do.”
Alonnen nodded, glad he was able to follow along in spite of his . . . lack of a perfect magical education. He really did not like Ilaiea. He did like Serina, however, even though both women looked very similar to each other. Serina paused before continuing, glancing to her right. A curly haired woman with richly tanned skin moved into the scrying mirror’s view, and the man with the ash-blond hair motioned for her to join him; when she did, he tucked his arm around her hourglass curves, snugging her against his side. For a moment, Alonnen wished Rexei were here instead of in town, meeting with her long-lost half brother, but this was more important than any spark of envy or undoubtedly misplaced mistrust.
“Everyone, this is Hope, my newest and last sister-in-law, who just married Morganen, there,” Serina stated, introducing the newcomer. “Two hundred years ago, she was the Duchess Haupanea of Nightfall, a Holy Seer of Katan, but the destruction of the last Convocation caused a tear in the Veil between Worlds, which caused her to be cast into another universe at a different point in time. She met Kelly in that world, who came across to join us in this one in accordance with a series of prophecies made by several Seers, not just herself. Hope, these are some of the various Guardians of the world.”
Hope raised a hand and fluttered it. Like Kelly, she was wearing an almost Guildaran-style buttoned shirt instead of the more commonly seen tunic, robes, or dress of the others, albeit in a cheerful shade of pink that contrasted pleasantly with Kelly’s light blue. “I was a poetic Seer, and according to the Gods of the Convocation, I’ll still continue to be a Seer, so we’re in the process of assigning a set of scribes to follow me around in case I start spouting pertinent bits of doggerel again. Based on what I’ve learned of recent history and what I found when I went through my old prophecy scrolls, it looks like there’s at least seven or eight prophecies of mine alone which tie into this whole Netherhells mess . . . which scares the willies out of me, as Kelly’s old people would say. But whatever the Gods send for me to say about this whole mess, I’ll make sure you know it.”
Alonnen decided he liked her, too.
“Welcome, Holy Seer,” Guardian Marton of Fortune’s Hall stated dryly. “I’m glad we have a scapegoat and a mouthpiece, but I want to know what, exactly, Guardian Serina has in mind regarding the resonances of the Veil and the Portals, and how it ties into thwarting the demonic invasion.”
“Well, you’re not going to like it,” Serina returned bluntly. “I don’t like it, either, since it sets back my work two-plus years. But we are going to have to agitate the layers of resonances involved in the deeper stretches of the Veil, where the borders between this world and the various Netherhells exists . . . and that will have an impact on the Portals that span the curve of this world.”
Marton narrowed his hazel eyes. “How much of an impact? Fortune’s Empire relies heavily on our intact Portals for cross-kingdom commerce and travel.”
Serina winced, clearly not happy with having to answer that question. “It’ll cut their reach in half at best . . . on a really good aether day.”
Both Fortunai Guardians, Marton and Suela, spat out near-identical, manure-based epithets, then started arguing about how this was not going to be well received by their governments, and how . . .
“Enough!” Alonnen’s demand cut through their mounting tirades. “You are Guardians, and you are comparing the piddling problem of putting up with the inconvenience of having to take twice as many luxurious Portals—which the rest of us would have killed to have access to, particularly my people in order to escape being drained to death—you are comparing all of that, to the destruction of this world. Either step up to the prices and the pains of your responsibilities, or step down from your Guardianships!”