Beyond?

“About the political and religious differences between the known countries:

As the former heart of the Empire, Nict is a strange mixture of contradictions. On one hand they don't have a religion, but on the other they worship their leaders like gods. To understand this, you have to look at their past.

The former Empire was led by an absolutistic ruler, namely the Emperor. After the civil war and Nict's downfall followed a time of great chaos and the country was ravaged by the marauding southern nations and rampaging hordes of nomads from the eastern plains.

It took the magical bloodlines a long time to form a new governing system, but it would've probably never happened if it weren't for the threats from outside. They agreed upon following the strongest clan and for a few generations there was a big, internal power struggle. Though in the end the Gejene decided this hidden conflict for themselves and became the ruling clan. A few challenges to their power happened over the years, but none succeeded.

There wasn't any faith in a higher power within the Empire, though the belief in the Emperor as the absolute, supreme, ruling being could be called their faith. The Emperor was worshipped like a living god. After the civil war, which should be called a war between the believers in the emperor and non-believers, this faith in the emperor was replaced by faith in mages as a whole.

The current rulers of Nict are regarded by the general population as something akin to living gods, though they are seen more like guarding deities. The big clans are protecting this faith in them since it guarantees their position of power. This protection of the faith in them takes extreme forms, which includes the public execution of mages who harm this faith.”

-The writings of Dwem.

***Dwem, Capital***

***Azir***

I touch my chest-pocket and shake my head. “No. It's mine and still edible.” Stella attempts to say something, but she gets interrupted by Ivy who appeared on the stepper disc.

“There are people converging on this position. I count about ninety individuals.” Ivy steps from the disc and looks around. After her, our guards start appearing one by one.

Tilting my head, I look at Ivy. “How do you know?”

She crosses her arms under her chest and puffs it up proudly. “I accessed your drone and redirected it to this city. I have a permanent uplink to...”

I kick her shin before she can end her sentence. Then I whisper. “Don't talk about the drone in front of the Dwemer!”

Stella decides to drop the issue about my property. “So what do we do? Is waiting and trying to talk to them a good choice?”

Adala nods vehemently. “They are surely either the city guards or the army. Maybe you could try to look a little less threatening? I'll do the talking in the beginning.”

My lips curl upwards. “And your suggestion on how to look less threatening is?”

Adala starts stammering and plays with her fingertips. “How about lying down while Eliot, Padma and I keep standing? That would at least eliminate the idea of us being hostages.”

Stella nods. “Though lying down makes us very vulnerable.”

I shrug my shoulders. “We are surrounded and heavily outnumbered. I guess it doesn't matter if we are standing, sitting or lying down.”

We decide to lie down on the ground and wait for the guards to arrive. It doesn't take long until the first ones appear, while using the trees and bushes around us as cover. A long, silent stand-off follows while they are obviously waiting for new orders. I guess they weren't prepared for the situation which was awaiting them.

Padma calls out to the guards, but gets rebuffed and ordered to stay at her place without speaking.

The minutes go by and our group waits in silent anticipation until a figure with authority appears. A middle aged man with many decorations on his uniform appears on one of the trails, walking towards us. His blue hair is in the process of turning grey and there is a scar running from his cheek down his neck and disappears under his brown uniform. He has thirty soldiers behind him and while he approaches us, the rest of the surrounding forces are coming closer until we are completely surrounded.

Stella grumbles at my side. “I am beginning to think that this was a bad idea. Why do I have to prostrate myself in front of soldiers?”

Ivy whispers. “It would be unwise to make an offensive move now. Being surrounded isn't a beneficial tactical situation.”

I can't help myself and answer with a smirk. “A wise man said that being surrounded is good because no matter in which direction you attack, you can't miss.”

Stella isn't convinced and whispers. “That guy was an idiot!”

Adala steps forward. “General Greywinter! It's good to see you! I hoped to find someone trustworthy and you being here is truly a blessing. We need to talk to the Great Shaman as soon as possible. Our allies betrayed us to force our troops into the wrong positions.”

Greywinter's eyes dart back and forth between Adala and us. “We thought you guys were dead. Would you care to explain the situation to me?”

Padma enters the conversation and gives the general a summary on what happened before and after the attack. After a little more than ten minutes she finally ends her explanation. “... and that's why we have to deploy all of our troops at the northern border.”

The expressionless general listened the entire time without saying a word and doesn't answer for several more moments after Adala is finished. Finally his expressionless mask falls and he knits his eyebrows together in deep thought. “These are disturbing news and if you are right, our security is compromised. For now I'll escort you and our visitors to the Great Shaman. I'll make sure that he knows what's going on.”

Since the situation seems to be resolved I stand up and stretch myself. “Finally. Any longer and I would've fallen asleep.”

Stella steps towards the general and bows slightly. “It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Stella Gejene, second princess of Nict. This is Azir Zait, my fiancee, and our servant Ivy and our guards.”

The general nods. “I must admit to find it strange that Nict suddenly shows interest in their neighbours. It is a huge gesture to send a princess with only a handful of guards into foreign territory. What do you gain by helping us?”

Stella offers Greywinter a dazzling smile. “To our southern border is a lawless conglomerate of small warring states and we get attacked by them at regular intervals.

The eastern border is threatened by unfriendly nomads who tend to attack any village without a huge fighting force. It would be very bothersome if the north turned into a spawning pool for conquest driven barbarians.”

Greywinter presses his lips together. “So you are only concerned for the stability of your own borders.” After a second of contemplation he shrugs his shoulders. “That reason is at least believable. Come, I'll escort you to the Great Shaman to tell your story.” Greywinter turns around and walks back the path he came.

We follow him in close proximity. Two of the guards are carrying the stepper disc, which is tolerated after a short explanation. Though Greywinter doesn't allow us to bring the disc into the Great Shaman's tower.

We are led through a mostly empty city. The general explains to us that he cleared the entire area for his troops. My unannounced appearance created a small panic and so the area was evacuated.

We walk between the high, towering buildings. The green glass makes them look like a work of art and combined with the strange mountain around us the place gives off a surrealistic feeling.

There are no carriages on the streets, but from time to time a magnetic train shoots by, making only a silent, buzzing sound. The few people who are still on the streets evade our group in respectful distance, or are forced aside by the soldiers from Dwem.

There are no street lights, but after a while I notice strange devices in regular intervals. They are poles coming out of the ground and they are about two metres high. On top of them is something like an antenna.

I concentrate on one of the machines and activate my mana sight. They are magically active and are influencing the passive mana in the area. A mana net, I suspected that their technology is higher than Nict's. I grin and activate mind magic to tap into their network.

At first I don't get immediate access, which is a little frustrating. After formulating a few new techno-charms a window pops up in my field of vision. I got access and they even speak my language. Looks like the empire did a good job in forcing the same language and writing system onto all of its vassal states.

I prowl through their form of the mana net until I find something akin to a news forum. There are various headlines from local news to countrywide ones. The biggest ones are a huge bummer to me. They read 'Nict silences our envoys. War imminent?' and 'Barbarian troops are advancing with yet another new weapon'.

I continue to sift through the information and finally decide to activate my secret weapon by tapping on Ivy's shoulder and whisper. “Are you inside too?”

Ivy nods. “The site and password are the same as at home.”

I blink and the chat window vanishes. While I was talking to Ivy and searching the net we arrived at a huge central tower. It seems like the structure reaches up to the peak of the mountain. I think my drone measured the mountain at about three thousand metres. The ceiling is high enough for clouds to form in this huge glass house. Actually comparing this mountain to a huge glass house is a good idea.

Anyway, the tower is vanishing inside those clouds.

Greywinter stops and faces us. “This is the tower of the Great Shaman. We'll allow five of you to accompany Adala, Padma and Eliot. Please leave any weapons behind.” He turns and walks into the tower. Adala and her friends follow him with Stella on their heels. I shrug my shoulders and signal for Ivy and two guards to follow. They hastily give their weapons to the other guards who stay behind to protect the stepper disc.

Inside the tower is a huge reception room, but Greywinter guides us further inside without caring for the receptionist. There are several doors which lead in different directions, probably to staircases and offices. At the other end of the room is a big door and upon pressing a button the door-wings swing open and we step into the small room behind them.

I chuckle upon realizing that I am inside an elevator! The door-wings close and I feel my weight increasing as the door disappears and is replaced by a wall. Other doors start passing by in rapid succession, we are accelerating towards the top. Stella steps nervously from one foot to the other; probably this place is like wonderland to her.

There is no need to worry though. I put on my brightest smile and look at her. She takes a breath, realizing that she didn't keep cool. Upon looking into my eyes she relaxes and gets her usual demeanour back.

After a while the elevator stops at a very extravagant door and it opens. We enter a big room with a setup like a coliseum with us in its centre. There is a single huge chair in an elevated position directly in front of us and five chairs in lower positions to either side of it. Several guards are lined up at the walls.

We don't have to wait long for three people to appear. There is an elderly man and a fat woman of the grandmother type. They take their seats on the lower chairs.

The third person isn't as old as them, but much smaller. He has a formidable beard and something like a totem in his hand. His hair is flaming red and a mask covers the upper half of his face.

The dwarf walks over to the chair in the middle, which is much too big for him. Then he struggles to get seated, but fails miserably. After several tries he sighs and shakes his totem, a gust of wind goes through the room and the dwarf floats up and into his chair. It can't be... could this really be...

“I am the Great Shaman!” The dwarf proclaims loudly from his seat. “Hereby I declare this meeting as opened.” He gestures at us. “You may speak.”

Adala steps forward and introduces us, then she repeats our story while being assisted by Padma and Eliot. The Great Shaman listens to everything without interrupting us, much like Greywinter did. At the end a heavy silence falls onto the room.

Just the sounds of the Great Shaman's fingers can be heard as he taps them onto the armrests of his chair. The rhythm is strange, but melodic at the same time.

Then the Great Shaman decides to speak. “Thank you for risking your lifes to bring me this information. If your story is true, then Dwem is in grave danger.” He gestures to five of the guards. “Bring them.” The guards leave through a door at the room's side.

The Great Shaman returns his attention to us. “I've just one problem now.”

The guards return with two people between them. It's an old woman and a man. I recognize both of them. Padma calls out and tries to run over to the woman, but one of the guards stops her. “Grandmother!”

Adala and Eliot are equally shocked. “Saana!” “Triz?”

The two whom we believed to be abducted as corpses are standing across from us, alive and healthy. It's the old woman Saana and one of the servants, apparently called Triz. He is a young man with brown hair and a slim frame. His face is lean and he looks tired, but nonetheless there is a strange fire in his eyes.

Saana smiles warmly and with tears in her eyes. “I am so happy that you are alive Padma. I thought you were dead.” Her eyes wander to Stella and me, then her expression turns vicious. “What are those treacherous murderers doing here!?”

Triz assists her in her emotional outburst. “Yes, that's right. If it hadn't been for the special forces team from the southern nations, we would be dead. They saved us just in time. Why are you even speaking to them, Great Shaman!? Nict can't be trusted!”

The Great Shaman leans back in his chair and looks at the ceiling. “My problem is... whom should I believe?” Once again he starts tapping his chair's armrests with his fingertips.

.