It was a short drive back to her Mother¡¯s house. Jan got a kick out of watching Zafiri climb out of her little Chevy. It was something one had to practice. It was so low to the ground.?
¡°This is your home?¡±
¡°My Mother¡¯s house. I was born here. I came home...not so long ago.¡± It still hurt, the loss.
The blue mage marveled over the whole package, from the entrance to the rooms, the kitchen and she almost fainted when Jan showed her the refrigerator.?
¡°This is true magic, special.¡±
¡°Actually it is not. It is science. A whole different beast. I¡¯ll explain things as we progress.¡±
She showed her the shower and how it operated. The shampoo and soap she used and how to use it. She gave her a fresh towel.
¡°You want some fresh clothes?¡±
Zafiri sorted through the large closet and dresser. After some consideration and some suggestions from Jan she picked out a black jumpsuit with short sleeves and plunging neckline that would certainly not be official military grade.?
Zafiri showered. It seemed to take forever. She finally appeared in the old outfit, it had been her Mother¡¯s from a couple of decades ago but it was in stellar shape. In a pair of black flats she looked bad ass. Some kind of gnarly tattoo ran up the side of one shoulder and disappeared down her back.? Her hair was combed and held a new luster.?
¡°Wow,¡± Jan said. ¡°You look great.¡± She led Zafiri to a full length mirror in her bedroom. The alien looking female had a fantastic body that made Jan jealous. The tail was a problem with the Jumpsuit. In the end Jan ended up cutting a hole in the back just below the band. It was fluffy enough to hide the opening, hopefully. It twitched and quivered under Jan¡¯s soft touch and she wondered just what kind of feeling it was giving the blue women. Touching her that way made goose pimples rise on her arms. It was very erotic, unexpectedly so. Zafiri said nothing and gave no indication of any kind. Good enough, Jan thought. Up close like this she felt giddy. It made little sense. She wasn¡¯t into girls all that much. Despite old habits she longed to touch the women again. She had to fight to restrain herself.?
Zafiri glared at her reflection but seemed mollified by Jan¡¯s constant barrage of compliments.?
¡®I can wash these things and get them back to you later?¡¯
Zafiri considered it for a moment then agreed.
She let the blue mage watch some old National Geographic vids on her terminal while she went to clean up.??
She looked at herself in the mirror. ¡°Saul¡¯s Ghost!¡± She looked like the living dead! Before she took her shower she grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of her bedside table. These were the only solution for now. She looked like a pissed off instructor.?
Later, dressed in her normal jeans and flight jacket she entered the living room to find Zafiri gone!
¡°Oh shit!¡±
Jan didn¡¯t move or breath for a heart beat. She just closed her eyes and felt around. Zafiri was outside near the flower garden. It was badly tended. Jan wasn¡¯t nearly the green thumb her mother had been. But years of gardening didn¡¯t evaporate the little darlings overnight. The flowers had almost gone away with the advent of fall but today they were making a strong comeback with the warm air coming from the west.
A shadow crossed her mind like a blanket. She blinked her eyes open. What the hell was that? Was she going insane?
She made a quick meal for them. A soup and a salad with lemon tea. Zafiri made faces but seemed satisfied after it was over.?
¡°Thank you for your hospitality,¡± Zafiri said.? ¡°You¡¯ve all been rather kind, not to mention generous, but I don¡¯t understand why, and your conveyances¡these buildings¡who are you people?¡±
¡°I can explain our position relative to your situation. We were seeking the cause of a fire. I¡¯d determined that, or guessed that we were no longer physically located in our world. Our new core, a circle I think about 20 miles give or take in diameter was transported to your world. We didn¡¯t really feel it.¡± Jan paused, well she had but that was different.?
¡°We moved to investigate the fire. We found a family being attacked, raped actually by some moronic men in uniform with muskets or blunderbusses. Shortly after anialating those dick heads we noticed you incoming with Dragons on your tail. It seemed at the time you were the ones being persecuted so we intervened.¡±
¡°Yes¡those men¡mercenaries under the command of Lord Marshall Aiden Turriq,¡± Zafiri nodded.? ¡°They¡¯ve come up from the South, as part of Ispaara¡¯s efforts to conquer and pacify the Northlands.? They recently sacked the city of Masden not too long ago, and now their forces are spreading out through the countryside.¡±
Burning villages¡she could still smell the nightmarish stench.? She remembered having to hurry through. Even in villages, she had to be careful, as people wanted to avoid ¡°tiefling corruption¡±.
The news that they were not of this world was astounding, though not out of the bounds of reason.? Rahal da Carta, Master of the Many, had posited the concept of other worlds and realities, some of which were inhabited exclusively by the Gods, some not.? She owned a rare copy of da Carta¡¯s Naturalis enim ordo codice, where he discussed this and other metaphysical concepts.
¡°And, as promised, it¡¯s your turn,¡± she said with a slight smile.? ¡°What¡¯s your question?¡±
Jan studied Zafiri and inconspicuously her tail. ¡°Well, the men we killed were just men but you, you are of some other humanoid category. You also don¡¯t seem natural to this world, at least that would be my first thought. How many more here are like you?¡±??
¡°I and my father are Torquani,¡± Zafiri explained, ¡°although most people outside our kind call us ¡®tieflings¡¯, though we find it offensive.
¡°Our ancestors were of the race of men, like you long ago, and ruled a region once known as Torquan.? They were rivals to the Imyrrians of the north, and fought many wars with them. Finally, in a desperate bid to overcome their hated adversaries, their leaders made a pact with dark powers, and beseeched them to destroy their enemies.
¡°These dark powers¡they kept their promise, but at a terrible price.? The entire subcontinental mass that was Immyr was sunk beneath the waves, her people massacred.? It didn¡¯t stop there, though. Devastation the likes of which had never been seen were wreaked across the lands.? The area known as Torquan, once a lush rainforest, is today the barren desert known as Al Shafah. It is also why this continent, known as Ocillia, is called the Shattered Continent.
¡°And the people of Torquan, whether by the dark powers themselves or by the Gods as a mark of their displeasure, placed the mark upon them, changing them from men to what we are today.? We are often considered unwelcome in many places, and those places we¡¯re allowed, we¡¯re sequestered in ¡®Torquani Quarters¡¯ of their cities and towns. If there is a way to undo this transformation, no one has found it.¡±
Zafiri had decided that it didn¡¯t pay to be deceitful to these people.? They honestly didn¡¯t know anything about the Torquani or anybody else around here.? Besides, as an intellectual, it was anathema to her to lie about such things.
¡°This world, I¡¯d like a map of it with whatever knowledge about it¡¯s peoples and lands if you can. I expect we are here to stay and I¡¯m curious to the geography and habitation. Not to mention the Dragons. Are there more dangerous creatures that dwell on this planet?¡±
¡°There are plenty of dangerous creatures, though actual dragons are rare,¡± Zafiri responded.? ¡°What those men were riding are actually a breed of wyvern.? You can tell by the fact that it only has four appendages¡ªa pair of wings and two legs.
¡°As for a map, I can make you one, but it will take time.? I can tell you now though that you¡¯re in an area of Ocillia known as the Northlands.? This particular area is part of a province once ruled by the Duke of Masden, though I suppose right now it belongs to Turriq by right of conquest.¡±
Jan went to the fridge and grabbed two beers. She handed one to Zafiri before continuing.?
She opened hers first as a demonstration.?
¡°Anyway, it seems we are more advanced technologically whereas you have certain magical inclinations we are oblivious to.¡± She paused, that had been a mouthful.
¡°Yes, I¡¯ve noticed that your wondrous devices don¡¯t seem to use magic,¡± Zafiri observed.? ¡°Even if they were, I¡¯d still be impressed.? The idea that such things could exist without magic still boggles my mind.¡±
Jan nodded agreement. ¡°Upon sight of those Dragons I had the same feeling. Our people from where I come from developed technology recently. Over the course of our history technology is new like a baby. We were getting to the point where AI was beginning to create its own life. A dangerous prospect. AI stands for artificial intelligence. Basically machines started to think on their own.¡±
¡°A machine¡that thinks on its own!?¡± Zafiri blinked in disbelief.? ¡°I find that difficult to fathom.? Although¡I am familiar with stories of certain ancient wonders, like the Mad Golem, and the Infernal Machine of Torann the Tyrant.? No one has ever found these wonders, though.¡±?
Jan finished off her beer. ¡°How many of the inhabitants of this world can do magic?¡±
The young Torquani pondered the question and how to best answer it, taking the occasional pull of what Jan called ¡°beer¡±.? In truth, it seemed rather watered down to her. ¡°I cannot give you an accurate estimate, as I don¡¯t know the state of the entire world.? What I can tell you is that magic is common enough for everyone to be aware of it.??
¡°But being aware of it and having the Talent for it are two different things.? I have a strong Talent, while my father has a weaker one¡ªbut he makes up for it with his knowledge of the healing arts.? If one isn¡¯t born with the Talent, one can¡¯t do magic, though there are some exceptions to this rule.
¡°There is often a concerted effort to find individuals with the Talent, and you¡¯ll often find powerful wizards among the courts of the elite.? Less capable individuals might sell their services to warlords and the like. Every village probably knows of a hedge magician¡ªpeople with very small talents for magic¡ªwho use the craft to address certain woes, though their skills usually rely more on herbalism than actual magic.
¡°You won¡¯t find anything like an army of wizards or the like.? The closest to that comes from the Church of the Holy Twelve. In order to be at least a priest in their order, you have to be a Talent.? The stronger the Talent, the higher one can climb in the hierarchy of the Church, up to the High Lord Papal, who ranks as one of the most powerful wizards on the continent.¡±
She had largely abandoned the exchange of a question for a question.? At the moment, she was finding out quite a bit just from listening to the questions she was asked.? It was true what her father had once said: You can learn a lot simply by listening.
In english she said to Zafiri, ¡°Hospital...Father.¡± Then spoke to her in her own language. ¡®We return now to the Hospital and your Father, yes.¡¯
She handed Zafiri a fluffy blanket and a small pillow. ¡®This will come in handy later trust me.¡¯
