Beyond?

“The Great Shaman's coin is one of the most powerful divination artefacts in existence.”

-The writings of Dwem.

***Dwem, Capital***

***Azir***

The elevator's doors open and Ivy appears, pulling the huge memory mirror into the room. Seems like she refused the guard's help once again. Is she trying to train her body? Finally she arrives in the middle of the room. “Done!” She pulls a towel from a pocket of her skirt and cleans the mirror dutifully.

I walk over to the mirror while the Dwemer are watching the mirror with suspicion. “You were fast, Ivy.”

She smiles and places her hands at the sides of her hips. “I rewired the stepper plate in our house to teleport directly from there. That way I saved some time.”

The Great Shaman comes closer and looks at the mirror without touching it. “So this thing can show someone's memories?”

I nod and touch the mirror. “It's not hard to use at all. You touch the mirror and concentrate on the memory you want to show.” A scene of Ghost appears while he is hunting our gardener. “Whoops... that's my pet, sorry. Of course you have to concentrate really hard, or something else from your subconscious might show up.” I steady myself and try again. This time it's my point of view from the night when the Dwemer's mansion got attacked.

“Having no sound weakens the show a bit, but it was hard enough to get the thing to the point of showing pictures. Some people might think that it should be easy to access sound once you can read images inside someone's mind, but that's not how the brain works. Sound and pictures are processed in different ways and therefore it doesn't necessarily mean that you can easily access both at the same time. I could've pepped the thing up to add the sounds on its own, according to the user's imagination. Though that would've enabled the user to betray reality. This mirror only shows what the one who is touching it experienced himself.”

The Great Shaman scratches his chin with his totem. “Those images are awfully detailed. I am proud of my memory, but even I can't call up such detailed memories. Are you directly accessing the soul's memories?”

I shake my head. “It would be much too hard to read the information directly from the soul. If I knew a way to do that, I could access all the memories of my soul's entire existence. No. This device only reads the lingering electromagnetic effects in your current body's brain. Everything you ever see or hear leaves an echo behind. That's what we call a memory. If the echo is strong enough you can access it and remember something. This device filters this echo and amplifies it. In other words, it can only show what you really experienced with your body.”

The Great Shaman nods and gestures for a soldier. “Try it.” The soldier does as told, calling upon a memory of him drinking something in a bar. The soldier testifies for its accuracy and the Great Shaman orders a few others to test the device, even telling them to imagine something which didn't happen. On those cases the mirror either showed nothing, or something which happened.

After a few experiments the Great Shaman touches the mirror himself and I get to see a scene of him handling some feathers and beans. The scene switches again to his point of view, looking down on us from his seat. He throws his coin and catches it again, showing tails. A skilled flick of his thumb turns the coin to the head's side.

“I knew it! The stupid coin never gave you the right answers! It's all a trick!” The old man who seems to be the Shaman's aide shouts from his seat.

The Great Shaman lets go of the mirror. “Ahem. It seems like this device is working accurately.” He turns around and shakes his totem at the old man. “And never, ever doubt the coin's answers! The coin knows everything! It's just hard for it to share its knowledge since it can't speak. Of course the coin's revelations aren't always easy to interpret. It's the questioner's job to come to the right conclusion.”

Then he faces our group. “Please take turns to show me your side of the events.” One by one we get to see how everyone experienced the night in question. Ivy kept staying beside the mirror for the entire time, guarding it like a watchdog.

When it is Eliot's turn the unimaginable happens. His eyes flick towards Ivy and a problematic scene appears in the mirror. It's Eliot's point of view while he is lying naked on his back. The huge rack of a well endowed girl fills his vision while her hips move in a certain rhythm back and forth. Eliot hastily lets go of the mirror and the image disappears. “It isn't what it looks like!”

The Great Shaman says nothing while he is staring at Eliot. The silence within the room is complete and Eliot looks like he wants to die on the spot. After a while the Great Shaman points at the mirror. “Try again.”

Eliot turns to the mirror and this time he succeeds and lets out a sigh of great relief. The Great Shaman only scratches his neck in a disinterested manner. “Tch! I wanted to see her face.” Then he shakes his totem at Eliot. “Boy, from now on you visit my tower every day!”

Eliot turns pale. “It was just once! And I'll regret it my entire life! Please spare me!”

The Great Shaman looks surprised. “Only once? And I thought that I had found a formidable teacher. Well, even if it's like that... persuading such a nice girl only once is more than I ever achieved. You'll teach me how you managed that feat!”

The dwarf turns to Saana and Triz, then he gestures with his hand and the vines and roots which are holding them. The roots move them closer to the mirror and let go of Saana's hand. The Great Shaman gestures at the mirror. “Prove your story.”

Saana looks at the mirror with an expression of dismay. She touches the mirror, but nothing happens. After a few moments of strained staring new images start forming. A hooded man is standing above her and Triz. A strange red glow is coming from a magical circle around them, but that's not what piques my interest. He is holding a very familiar amulet with a hexagon. The amulet is glowing and the man gives instructions to Saana and Triz.

Saana lets go of the mirror and the picture vanishes. Her eyes show a crazed expression. “I failed my master!” She tries to claw at the Great Shaman, but the roots catch her free hand and secure it.

I click with my tongue. “I guess they were bound with enslavement magic.”

The Great Shaman grumbles. “That amulet. The symbol stood for the emperor...” He turns to the guards. “Take them away! They are tainted. Secure them and make sure that they can't harm themselves!” Then he faces me. “I think the southerners have a lot of explaining to do.”

The amulet is a symbol for the emperor? I tap the mirror with my fingertip and concentrate on a certain scene. A black magician appears with a deformed black wing on his back. He is holding a very similar amulet to the one which we just saw.

The Great Shaman shakes his totem at the figure. “The same amulet! Who is that?”

I let go of the mirror and shrug my shoulders. “Someone I killed a long time ago. The amulet just reminded me of him.”

In the meantime the guards had taken Saana and Triz away, but we don't get to relax. The elevator's doors open and five new people enter the room.

They are clad in expensive, red tunics and jewellery is covering their necks and fingers. I squint my eyes and inspect them closer with my mana sight. The mana distribution in their bodies is somehow off, but I don't know why.

The lead figure steps forward. He immediately got my attention since his face and hands are covered in bandages. A slimy, red liquid oozes out through them and the stench is breathtaking. The man's voice sounds like he swallowed something and is choking on it. “I see that you got visitors...”

The Great Shaman gestures at the new arrivals and the summoned roots and vines encircle them in respectful distance. “Indeed. They brought me interesting news. News which question our alliance with the southern nations. I suppose you know what I am speaking of?”

I slowly slide away from my position and over to Stella's side. “Is there a sickness which can't be treated with magic? Why does he have those bandages?”

Stella shakes her head. “There are some germs which are problematic, but advanced, medical spells are able to heal almost everything. I never heard of something like this.”

The man finally decides to answer. “I see that you must've dealt with our little diversion. It's bothersome, but it won't change the outcome of this conflict. You'll only delay the inevitable.”

The Great Shaman points his totem at the men and shakes it. “So you admit it? Whom are you working for!? Tell me, or I'll beat it out of you.”

“Hahahaha!” Mr. Bandages laughs with glee. “I am sure that a small man like you would have a hard time in trying to do so.”

He spreads his hands and bows slightly in a familiar manner. “The Master is working hard to regain what rightfully belongs to him. We'll give you the chance to surrender now. If you offer us the princess as a little present, then we might consider to stop the barbarians from slaughtering everyone.” His eyes turn to Stella.

The Great Shaman shakes his totem and the roots shoot out in an attempt to spear the group of enemies, but an invisible force blocks them.

Mr. Bandages speaks disappointedly. “It's sad that you aren't as smart as everyone says.” He gestures at the Great Shaman and the small body is flung away and against the nearest wall. I immediately start gathering mana, these guys seem to be strong.

Suddenly everyone moves at once as the enemies disperse, taking targets of opportunity. One of them is coming right at us and I step in front of Stella while reaching into my pocket. There I search for the remote control for my drone. The man points his finger at me and I feel myself being lifted up into the air. Before he can use the full force of his telekinesis I anchor myself with fortification magic in my position. His ability tears at my body, but all he achieves is moving me a few centimetres.

With his attention on me he totally ignored Stella, who jumped him like a fury. She makes a somersault in the air and brings her left leg down on him, crushing his hastily raised arms. His fate is sealed once she manages to grab his forward leg. The poor guy turns into a club and Stella jumps at the one who went for Adala, glowing strengthening runes all over her skin and swinging her victim without care for his well being.

I decide to intercept Mr. Bandages, who approached the Great Shaman. Surprised, Bandages stops when I position myself between him and the Shaman. A flick of my wrist sends a series of arcane missiles at him, but the spells simply evaporate in front of him.

He spreads his hands to mock me. “You are still defying me? Don't you understand that your magic doesn't work? Didn't you realize that I am way more powerful than during our first encounter?”

So he is the same person after all. “I wouldn't be so high and mighty. Looks like you didn't get away unharmed. At least I know that a nuke into your face hurts you!”

His expression turns sour. “So the spell is called nuke? I admit that it surprised me. Such a powerful spell deserves a better name, I'll steal it for my master.” He points his open palm at me and I cast a barrier of the fourth order. The Great Shaman is safe since he is well protected behind me while everything around us gets shredded.

I grin. “So your ability is restricted to the physical world. I already feared that you have something like an ultimate protection spell.”

He snorts. “My protection was granted by the Master himself. Nothing can penetrate it, it is the ultimate defence. You were right to fear me!”

Somehow I can't believe that. “I wonder if it's really so impenetrable... tell me... why can I see you if your spell blocks everything?”

He turns flabbergasted. “What?”

I pull the remote control for my drone from my pocket and rule the regulator to the maximum. It's a highly effective communication laser. Probably I should have written a warning onto it. Don't point this at people's eyes or unprotected skin. As I do now.

Mr. Bandages screams as the ray of light sears directly into his eyes. The bandage starts smouldering and I smell burned flesh. Then he falls to the ground and starts crying like a little child. I switch the laser off and walk over to him, kicking him in the guts with all my might.

Somehow my shoe sinks into his flesh and he starts bleeding from his belly. “This is a more serious case of radiation sickness than I thought. I am amazed that you managed to survive the nuke.”

He spurts blood. “The Master will punish you for this! Our army will overrun Dwem and then Nict is next on the list. Your weird spells won't change anything!”

I reach down and grab his forehead, trying to read his mind. But before I can do so he shudders and lies still, he is dead. I wipe my hand and shoe on his tunic and get up to find the rest of the southerners defeated. They were heavily outnumbered after all.

Stella is still busily beating one of them, does she have personal issues with them, or is it just letting off steam?

The Great Shaman gets to his feet. “Such a shame! To be caught off guard by such a simple spell. Well, at least they showed us their true face.”

I nod, but somehow I am not happy with the outcome. “They were a little too sure of their victory if you ask me.”

.