{Immediately after leaving Adelia’s mansion}
Kaire found herself at one of the main ladder hubs in Eckvalonge. She looked around but couldn’t see Jono. In fact, she couldn’t even feel him.
How is my luck so bad, Kaire wondered? I’m finally set free to do an unwanted helper mission and I am instantly separated from the guy. Things have to go pretty wrong for this to happen. Adelia is going to be pissed.
[Excuse me Lady Adelia] Kaire
[Huh, Kaire, what’s going on? Have you found out what’s been happening to the heroes?] Adelia
She sounded surprised to have been called by thought link so quickly.
[Um no, I’ve kind of lost him and ended up at a tube hub.] Kaires
[No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening, summoning that freak was supposed to avoid this. Do you have any sense of his location or have any of the Special God’s abilities activated?] Adelia
[Ah, sorry, not as far as I can tell.] Kaires
[Seriously, I went to all that trouble and things have still turned out the same? I’ll put you through to Faiknowld, he probably can’t help though. You’d better hope that freak’s still alive or else you will wish you had stayed in that cell.] Adelia
[But I…] Kaires
Adelia had cut the thought link.
[Hello Kaires, it sounds like things aren’t going well. Are you in the quad axle tube hub?] Faiknowld
[Oh hi, yes I am.] Kaires
Finally I’ll get an explanation, Kaire thought, glad he had thought linked.
In front of Kaires was a mess of transit tubes that would make the pipe work of the most complicated brass instrument seem straightforward. It eventually split into four bigger express tubes that went to other hubs in the heavens of Eckvalonge.
Non-classed spirits in the area would use the Eckvalonge tube system to get to where they needed to go. There were a lot of blue and green type spirits moving around this administration of the heavens. Kaires had been demoted back to a green type.
The main class type spirit here was the iron skeletons. Their energy was silvery. Iron skeletons were efficient and overly logical. This actually worked okay when they worked in simple jobs. They were commonly assigned as security workers at high-volume areas.
[Do you have any other ideas on how I was supposed to be able to do something different to help this guy?] Kaires
[Um sorry, I don’t. I told Adelia I had contacted a diviner in regards to the disappearing hero situation. I actually used part of my research budget on a decent class information broker. You should be equipped to at least find Jono again.] Faiknowld
[Really?] Kaires
[Yes, with the last of my budget, I got help to re-imagine the summoning so that the resulting spell would select both a person who would survive and trigger the chain of events necessary to find a way forward for Eckvalonge.] Faiknowld
[Oh right, that is better than what people are often summoned for. I’ll look around to see if anything happens then.] Kaires
[Thank you and good luck.] Faiknowld
Kaires moved away from the round platform she had appeared on.
“Hey, nice sparkle,” a blue type complimented on her way past.
Kaire looked down to find that her energy was not clear; there was almost a glittery-like energy flowing through her, that typified a higher-rank spirit. Hey cool, I guess this wasn’t as much of a demotion as it felt like. Either that or Zhaundo has given me a serious upgrade.
“Thanks,” Kaire called, although the spirit was far enough away now, that she probably didn’t hear.
The portal Kaire had been diverted through was at the back of a round platform. It was protected by a little dome-shaped energy field that protected those inside from the cold, seemingly empty heavens beyond. It only had one exit tunnel. This had a scanner in it to detect undesirables that might appear.
Kaire walked towards the tunnel that led to a courtyard. The courtyard was tidy but only gave off a little light; it was definitely no VIP lounge. The tunnels from the courtyard wove messily around other tunnels before connecting, like weeds growing around roots. This area was clearly an addition that had been added on with as little effort as possible.
As Kaire walked through the tunnel, she couldn’t see any hints of where she was supposed to go. This was like a giant three-dimensional maze that linked into other giant mazes. How am I supposed to find him?
Suddenly, an alarm blared, “VARIANT DETECTED”. It wailed this phrase repeatedly, mixed in with horn-like blasts.
This can’t be happening right now, Kaire thought. Why would I trigger the detector?
Spirits from the portal area backed back into the dome and watched her. Those in the courtyard backed away from the tunnel and watched. Several groups of iron skeleton types had snapped their heads in her direction as soon as the alarm had sounded. Two were already running her way from a group in the nearest node.
Kaire moved a little further forward and the alarm quietened, but kept flashing. Things didn’t get any less stressful. What do I do, what do I do, ahhh what do I do?
Time seemed to slow and Kaire became panicked.
[Fear state has been detected. Place your hand on the shining handprint to activate escape.] Gift System
As Kaire’s vision darted between the dome she had entered from, the courtyard and the silver skeletons, she noticed a trail of sparkles. Following the trail of sparkles, she saw that they led to a sparkling handprint, just below her knee height on the tunnel.
Kaire’s gaze shot around the place one more time, then she lunged down to touch the handprint.
Instead of touching the handprint, she fell straight through the side of the tunnel and into the cold heavens beyond.
[Initiating visual guidance, please fly the specific route as closely as possible to minimise system assistance energy usage.] Gift System.
A thin sparkling visor spread over her face and she could see a route marked out as a sparkling trail in front of her. Wait, I know this feeling. How do I still have wings after being demoted?
“I’ve still got wings,” Kaire cried happily as she flew through the currents of the dark heavens. The darkness hid the strange currents, circuits and life in the open heavens. Luckily, the sparkly route seemed to guide her through with minimal turbulence.
As she flew along the route twisting through the cold heavens, it was starting to feel more and more like being thrown around in a violent sea.
After struggling a little more, the pressure eased and it only felt like flying through stormy skies. The glittery line finally pointed back at another tunnel. She flew in one final sweeping arc. Ah, back to a field maintained area.
Instead, there was a jarring impact as she collided with the side of the tunnel.
“What… no, why,” Kaire groaned in pain. She was stuck on the outside of the tunnel, like a fly smooshed into a windscreen.
Dezhanite Drafts 