She braced herself and jumped into the unknown.
Five centuries ago, humans denounced technology in favor of the newly found mechanism Magic. The humans also left Earth.
They were pressured to do so by overpopulation and a global war that threatened to destroy all of them. Wars back on Earth did not have as few deaths as on the planets she knew. They disposed of their weapons, annihilated the internet (which by now had become the world's only database), and lay waste to everything they had discovered in the past three centuries.
Wind whipped viscously in her ears and her hair flew wildly as she fell.
They of course would not have accomplished any of this were it not for a mysterious leader, Ascenair, who had given them magic in the first place.
A shadow suddenly hid the sun as an eagle scythed through the sky.
The force of free-falling opened up her thin jacket, and, too late, the string with the peridot amulet flew off her neck. “No!” she screamed.
Nothing remains of Earth's past but the books and sparse relics, which the humans had taken with them on their arduous journey to settle new planets. But it is enough. The Language of the Elites has been passed down, the language in which all magical rites and ceremonies are said in. So has the secret of the peridot.
The eagle swooped through the air with a flash of tawny wings. She caught sight of fierce orange eyes and a curved cruel beak before its talons closed over the magical amulet. “Come back!” she yelled hopelessly as it took off again.
From these documents we know much of our history on Old Earth, but many inventions are lost such as computers and radios, and plenty of weapons. After she read a handful of newspaper article copies originally published on Earth in History class, and shifted through the many wars that had occurred, that seemed like a good thing.
Panic drowned her as she fell far enough to see the looming world beneath. She had planned on using the peridot to conjure a charm to slow her down. Her death was rushing up to meet her. She closed her eyes as fear made her chest hurt.
Each separate country colonized a different planet, or moon, often light-years apart from one another. Even with technology the humans could not have possibly stayed in contact.
The bird was coming for another round. The eagle swelled from a pinprick in the glaring blue sky to a feathered menace catapulting towards her with outstretched claws, the stringed stone still dangling in its grip. Up close the eagle was enormous, its wingspan reaching about fifteen feet, three times longer than her height. Its harsh head seemed to focus on her leather glove for a second before launching onto it.
Salvation came in the form of Stargate, an interconnectable pathway buried deep inside a star, Earth's sun. The reason this proved to be so useful to our ancestors was the fact a community half a universe away was possible to visit within minutes. We still use the Pathway today.
Its massive wings beat twice before she realized she was hanging midair. She always wore those gloves for as long as she could remember, thick and indestructible, with short black metal poles attached to the side of the wrist opposite the palm. They were thick in diameter, easily three to four inches, but hollow and light. The eagle’s front three claws awkwardly grasped the pole on her right glove. Up close she could see those ebony talons could measure a foot long when spread flat.
No one understands what the chant means, for it is a fragment of the Language of the Elites, but each syllable rings with power. It is a mystery, as well as many of the magical rites and banes we have inherited. Our entire society is built upon technology compromising with magic.
Her eyes swept the landscape, taking in a mass of emerald fuzz, a carpet of green unwavering trees that reached out into the horizon. It was some kind of forest. Every second she anticipated her outstretched arm to separate with the leather garment. It didn’t. It was like it had become a second skin. In fact, she couldn’t feel the glove at all. It was like it wasn’t even there.
But the most absurd thing was her dangling in the sky with her arm held far above her head, where the bird – so big that it blocked the sun – cast its shadow over her like a tent. The eagle flew with certainty over forest to the east until a mountain range gradually appeared. Her arm ached. There was nothing to think about but her hair blowing into her eyes, a giant wing occasionally clipping her body – which hurt – and the brief but intelligent glares from her captor. Its eyes were twice the size of a human’s and just as calculating. In vain she gazed up at the amulet tangled in the pole. She couldn’t reach it.
Some say Stargate was Ascenair's gift to the people. Others say it was the leader's sacrifice.
By the sound of the monotonous beating she made up her mind to act. She needed that amulet. As long as she had it she had a chance of surviving. And if that eagle had to be killed in the process, so be it.
Her eyes snapped open. Now she had a living opponent, all her worry dissolved into rage. Don’t ever show your fear to your enemy, her mentor had told her. You can be afraid, but don’t ever show it. Better yet, don’t be. Have resolve in combat. She unsheathed the knife with her right hand, which was always kept in her pocket. If she was going down, that eagle was going down with her.
She stabbed at its massive neck and opened up a red wound. It let out a shrill high-pitched twittering in outrage.
She at first felt satisfaction at its pain but froze when realization struck that she could understand it. Do not harm me, was what the cry loosely translated into. Put away talon.
She obliged, sheathing the weapon into its case as fragments of memories of this creature settled in. There was a time when she was a young child and she had leaned precariously out of an open window. It had been a windy day and the crimson curtains had been billowing when a pair of eaglets came gliding in out of nowhere, startling her, making her jump back in. One of them had dropped gloves onto her head, then small to fit her tiny fingers. Even then they had the poles but they were only the size of charcoal pencils.
Where is your brother? She mentally thought in eagle screeches, directing the telepathic message at the shadowy creature above her.
The fiery eyes seemed to go sad and solemn. The confident wing beats faltered. We were Summoned. Human waiting for us, the one whose name means lion-in-the-stars. Attacked by his Guardians. Great fight. Brother hurt badly, falls to the One. Trapped. I fly away.
Now that she noticed, there were ragged scars running down his neat rows of feathers as though from a previous battle. Her throat tightened.
I need to go down. I need stone, she answered, refusing to think that Fury was captured.
The eagle shrilled in defiance. Stone bad. Sick. But stone strong. Make me strong. Help me carry Master. Master too heavy for five Guardians. Must keep away evil stone. A pause, then, Will fly down into forest.
She needed that amulet. Without it, she couldn’t do magic. She would be stranded in this strange world, maybe permanently. To take her mind off the incoming tide of worry, she asked, My Guardian, do you come when I am troubled?
Yes. Now much trouble, much storms coming for Master.
Suddenly, the eagle went into a sharp descent, one that left her flinging through the sky like a real pendulum, the amulet swinging crazily and mocking her attempts to grab it. As he soared towards the earth, her legs flailed towards the sky, body resisting the new direction of motion. The brunt of the cold wind slapped her in the face.
His long broad wings, effective for soaring, had tapered feathers at the end that helped with bumps of turbulence. The talons, made of keratin, were lethal. The eagle had a magnitude of precision when flying. This Guardian, who seemed to be her servant, would be a great ally.
The woods hurtled towards them until the jumble of trees became sharper. Distinct branches became visible as the ground came up to annihilate them. Suddenly the eagle launched into a horizontal path between forest and atmosphere and she was being carried awkwardly once more. The ground was two feet from her feet when her Guardian let go of the pole. She jumped onto the soil and crashed onto a log, knocking it over and exposing the underside. Grubs could be so disgusting.
The world was green. The damp forest was teeming with life; lush stalks of foreign ferns crowded the russet soil, and mist lingered in the air, silvery and pretty. Light filtered through the leaf canopy, melting dancing shadows within the undergrowth.
She faced her Guardian directly for the first time. He had a blackish-brown back and breast, the tail and head subtly white. Even with wings folded back – they were tawny with a few bright red feathers – he was remarkably massive: five feet long. The peridot was gripped securely by his yellow beak.
I must go now. Must rescue brother, he screeched one more time before dissolving into a burst of fire. The amulet vaporized with the smoke.
“Farewell, Estun.” It came out in a whisper. She had no idea how she knew his name, but she was sure in another language it translated into flame.
This planet, so far, was peaceful. There were no beasts, no immediate dangers prowling around, nothing except for birdsong. She sighed with relief. So those stories Irena was telling her of travelers being constantly killed by viscous wild animals. She placed a palm near one of the trunks and was relieved that the air surrounding it wasn’t chilling, which meant it did not host ghosts inside their sap.
This planet even seemed to be in the correct dimension, a miracle. She had slurred the Access Chant in her haste to fly into Stargate, a star. It didn’t burn her, but instead delivered her into the Pathway. If you altered the smallest words in the entire elaborate ritual, you would still be able to access the portals, but that world would be… changed.
On New Year's Day, many colonies celebrate the creation of Stargate, which is traditionally thought to be on January First, the beginning of Earth's calendar. Because each colony has a different year length, some take part in the Festival of Ascenair more often than others. The more barbaric colonies don't recognize the holiday at all.
Once she fumbled and as a result all the colors were inverted. The sun had burned midnight black. The grass had been crimson. Later a thunderstorm had arrived, signaling it was about to release a torrent of rain by the stark white clouds. Over the years, people realized that if you knew what exact phrase to alter, you would reach the dimension you desired no matter what. A popular thing nowadays was the Shadow Dimension, where all the living things you brought back to your own plane could change from being a two-dimensional shadow to a solid animal at will.
It was believed the dimensions were breaches into parallel universes bordering this one, which contained worlds almost identical to the ones here, but for a few perplexing variations. Meanwhile if you completely messed up the chant and went into Stargate you would no longer be immune to its wrath. You would be engulfed by the nuclear reactions.
She paused on what to do now, and then decided to go in the direction where it was lighter.
Neighboring pines were coated in trembling droplets. A dead tree added brown to the green elegant mass, a group of slender silhouettes. She brushed her hand tenderly over its empty husk, before walking swiftly out of the forest. Perhaps the tree was struck by a fatal bolt of lightning, shattering its life force. It did not matter now; delicate ivy had long since crept up the deceased trunk, spreading tendrils through the branches that would grow leaves no more. For now the ivy had blossomed small white flowers. She could imagine rich berries beading through its foliage instead come summer, promising a new generation of seeds.
The trees gave way to a yawning chasm, opening between two rock formations. They allowed various vegetation to span the length of their weathered faces; a frothing spring flowed gracefully from the hurtling cliffs, spraying a cool, vernal cloud of arched rainbows, and providing the moisture for the chain of verdant meadows below. Carpets of brilliantly hued wildflowers flourished, vividly contrasting against the granite profile of the mountains. A dramatic sunset domed above, tinting the skies with a muddy violet.
She always had a fierce devotion to forests, but this one was the most pristine yet. There was a tantalizing quality of having a beautiful landscape coupled with untouched woods. The spraying natural fountain springs cheerfully to kiss the land and that pale, feathery green canopy of trees mingles with the aching color of this exotic blue sky. She was used to an emerald sky.
Meadows sprawled like jewel-capped eyes dotted with violet, pink, yellow and white wildflowers. Dainty grasses swayed idly in the breeze. A shifting patchwork of clouds weaved through the sky, framing a brook hosting hordes of frogs and other aquatic life. Fish darted through the rippling water like darts of silver, providing the sufficient entertainment for a cub playing in the rapids. He kept obediently close to his mother bear.
They glanced curiously as she passed but quickly lost interest in the human in their midst. This ran a shiver down her back. A person had never stepped here before, because they were unafraid.
That meant this planet wasn’t frequently visited, if at all. No one to help her. She smacked her forehead in frustration.
To check, she rummaged through her small backpack and took out her book, "The Coherent Guide and Map to the Universe" and searched for this planet's identification code (which had emerged on her palm in enchanted ink) in the index of registered planets. Not there.
She hadn't been allowed on the Pathway. No one was permitted to open the vortex into Stargate except for certified officers. But they taught the Chant in school as part of the curriculum. Anyone could access it, really. If you could get past security.
This morning she had woken up feeling confident that she could do it. Looking back, that certainly seemed insane. And yet somehow, that feeling proved to be correct. No magical detectors picked up that an unauthorized person was entering.
