Chapter Sixteen

Visions of Forever

 

Suhuy left the study, muttering. With a sigh, I turned to his scrying pool and gazed at the water to see if had anything to say to me. Letting my mind run on white noise, I stared at the clouds in the water, and willed them to show me something I may need to know. I tried very hard to keep specifics from my mind.

I concentrated on the clouds, bringing them into focus. I tried pulling the lcouds apart. I started seeing a vague outline in the clouds, a vague humanoid form. I concentrated on it, trying to get an identity. After a time, it became clearer, and I saw Lothos, Scourge of Shadow sitting on a throne. I sighed. Apparently, there was no getting away from this guy.

He seemded to be in intense concentration, or just holding very, very still, staring at something intently. I changed my focus to see what held his attention so raptly. From over his shoulder, I saw what appeared to be a hazy pink wall, that seemed to be semi-translucent, though it was almost impossible to see anything through it. As I looked around, I realized that there were 4 walls around him, all made of the same substance, and the floor and ceiling as well. He had nothing of any note with him, just the throne he was sitting on, in this pink box. Ohhhhh-kay.

I moved forward, passing through the was. Outside the walls, there was total blackness and nothing else. Behind me, I could see the pink cube I had just exited. I surmised that this must be the prison that Lothos had escaped from.

I moved back into the cube and looked at him again. He looked no different, and had not changed or moved at all. Outside the cube again, I examined the darkness carefully. I could discern nothing, no light, movement or anything. I could find no crack or fault in the cube. Hmmm. I thought perhaps the pool wished to show me how Lothos had escaped, but I guess not. Maybe he really hasn't? I watched for a while, to see if anything happened or changed.

After a time, it began to break up, and the image was getting disrupted. I frowned, and it deepened as I felt the ping of a trump contact. I wrestled for a moment, then tried to open a vaguely shielded contact, to see who was calling.

Hundreds and hundreds of Timtallagay swarmed in front of me before they managed to coallese into a single version. I shook my head, clearing the multi-smeer. The image in the pool fell apart completely, and I let go.

"What?" I ask TimT.

"Can I come there?" s/he asked brightly.

"Where are you?" I wanted to know. The room behind Tim came into focus. S/he appeared to be in a cluttered cave full of lots and lots of stuff, but in no immediate danger, which was part of my question.

"I can't really bring you here Tim" I said. I figured bringing Timtallagay to the Courts again might consitute ME getting barred from returning.

"Yes you can" s/he informed me. Heh.

"No" I explained patiently, "I'm at the Courts."

"He said you could" Timtallagay protested. He? Who is this he?

"Who said I could, Tim?"

"Dworkin. He gave me your trump" Tim explained. DID he. I guess Suhuy gave him a few dozen. This really has to stop. Hmmm... I'm sure Dworkin loves the idea of Tim at the Courts...

"They don't like you here" I protested.

"He said I should go to you!" Timtallagay insisted. I sighed and surrendered.

Apparently I was getting disturbed whether I wanted to or not. Besides, I was not in the mood to argue with Dworkin. Extending a hand, I reached out to Timtallagay, who happily jumped through. It occurred to me about then that Dworkin didn't want to be disturbed either and was pawning Timtallagay back off on me. Ah well. Thanks a lot Uncle.

Timtallagay wandered about, so I returned my attention to the scrying pool. Gazing into it's depths, I reached with my mind to bring back the clouds, while deliberately trying to think of nothing. This is harder than it sounds, but one can learn to do it easily after years of practice in concentration.

I tried to float, letting the pool take and guide me where it wanted to, seeing if it had anything to show me, anything I needed to know. I was fairly sure that was the best way to receive inspiration from it...

The clouds began to form, and within the swirls I began to see shapes. Two large dark-robed and hooded forms appeared in the clouds. They stood opposite and facing each other, though their faces weren't apparent because of their dark, draped hoods. Their hands seemed to be tucked into their robes as well, so no part of them was showing to identify. In some way that I could sense but not fully grasp, their attention seemed to be turned downward, towards a vaguely spherical object between their feet. The object was dark and seemed sort of fuzzy.

I willed myself to move and perceive this closer. As my point of perception drifted nearer, I noted that the object was not really spherical, but more a tapered oval, seeming to look like one of Tekvar's infamous footballs. There appeared to be little figures and objects at the ends, on the top and moving across it's surface.

"What the...?" I thought.

Perplexed, but with curiosity piqued, I decided to look closer still. The two large figures were mirror images of each other.

I moved closer to the fuzzy football, coming in from the side at eye level with it. It looked like a multitendriled creature of some sort; lots of extra limbs and pseudopods. It seemed to have a semi-bulbous head, and reminded me of a wispy octopus of sorts. Now I was totally confused.

I moved to yet a different angle, and realized that the shape seemed to also be moving. One end would elongate slightly, then retract as the other end pulled out. I got the distinct impression that the big boys in the robes were having some sort of psychic tug-o-war with the octopus and were causing tides of influence that made it flow one way or the other. Looked like an interesting game to me.

I looked back up at the hooded figures and the whole image began breaking up. My vision flooded with red, blood red, and I felt a brief surge of panic and vertigo. I began to back off, but soon realized this was a new image, not the ending of the vision.

I concentrated on looking through the red. It began to thin out, and concentrate itself in pools and depths of shade. Slowly I realized I was looking at a huge battle ground. The first new vision was the overwhelming input of the spilled blood of hundreds of millions of combatants. The largest epic battleground ever to grace the multiverse spread out below me in mind-numbing horror and glory. Never before and never again could such a host gather. I was silent with awe.

Armies stretched as far as I could see, could imagine, and beyond. The battleground stretched across a vast and unending blasted plain. Creatures, armies and tings from all of shadow stood shoulder to shoulder, spread across this vista.

Dominating the left were the shadows from the center to Amber, and among these hosts was Amber's Royal Family. They were scattered throughout, leading their own armies, bands and sections. To the left, I saw the hordes of Chaos and all the Houses of the Courts among the armies there.

I stared, dumbfounded. A physical tap on my shoulder startled me slightly, and a cloud swooped through my vision. Dimly, I heard Timtallagay ask if I was alright, but I ignored him. I moved in closer to see the faces of the Amberites among the still standing armies. Focusing in closer, I saw Dworkin, many years younger, his form not hunched or stooped. I gawped, and continued to stare around. I wondered at the timeframe. Using my memory of pictures of the dead King, I searched for Oberon. After a minute, I found him, also years younger. I wanted to pin down this time frame, and began scanning for Benedict, my theoretical great grand-dad. Benedict stood in a great battle he fought with about 40 or 50 he was personally fighting. Scanning across the field again, I found Brand as well. My breath caught in my throat, as I excitedly continued to search the battlefield, finding all of the members of the Royal family in turn, burning their images into my mind's eye.

I began to become aware of a pulling sensation, like a magnet was tugging me to them, into the battlefield. I felt the edges of alarm, when a trump contact began tapping at my consciousness, like an annoying gnat. I brushed it away, uninterested in being dragged away from the unfolding scene before me.

Suddenly, something from the physical world wrapped itself around me. Now alarmed, I thought they had been trying to warn me of trouble via trump, and began to draw myself back from the pool. An influx of strength panicked me almost out of my concentration.

"Corvina" I heard Timtallagay cry near my ear "I just know you need my help - here, have my strength!" Yuck.

Groaning at this apparently constant and determined annoyance, I tried to regain focus on the pool, ignoring Timtallagay.

Surprisingly, the image in the pool had not faded. The pulling sensation returned, stronger, drawing me to the Amberites in the scene. I panicked.

"Tim let go! Tim let go! Tim, Tim, Tim, let go!" I shouted, trying to pry it off of me. "Tim! Let! Go!" I closed my eyes just before I felt I would fall into the pool. Timtallagay released it's grip, and the falling / pulling feeling lessened.

I reopened my eyes, and focused on Brand's white charger. Oh, I wanted to speak with him so badly! So many questions... This was not the place...but then again, what if it were the only place? I agonized. What if this were my only chance? The only way? And what if I were trapped in this scene like those below me? But maybe they weren't trapped? Would I just fall back through time? Had this ever happened, or was it a representation of the basic battle of the multiverse? If I fell in, would I cease to exist in reality? But what if I would never get another chance to meet with the figures I was watching below?

No, I couldn't let myself believe that, and I refuse to credit Dara with a true, unvicious statement.

I pushed away from the pull of the pool, closing my eyes and turning my head. Instead of just pulling back, however, I felt like I was sling-shot to the far end of the field. Images of chaos rushed up, and I saw Uncle Suhuy look at me with open hands, arms welcoming. Did I have a choice to make, like my brother? Do I belong to both sides until I declare one? Swallowing hard, I pushed away from chaos as well, determined no to fall into the scene now. Pulling back, I approached the middle again.the center of the battlefield stood a scraggly, red-haired rastifarian figure, obviously Lothos, Scourge of Shadow. He stood in the center of the battlefield, very still, and I slowly realized that everything on the field from both sides was converging on him. Lothos stood there with a smile on his face. All the armies of the known multiverse converged on him and he smiled. Ok, maybe he really is totally nuts.

Far off in the distance overhead, like they were being viewed through an atmosphere, I could see the outline silhouettes of two distant, huge hooded figures. Interesting. Maybe this was the whole point of their game. More detail on them was impossible because of the distance away they seemed to be.

I glanced towards the battlefield again, looking for my brother on a sudden impulse, and a sneaking suspicion. I saw him, near to the center, but on the Chaos side. Heh. Guess even before he became King the Chaos pull was stronger on his double-sided blood. Curiously, I wondered if I had a representative self in this place after all. I looked for myself, and for the rest of the motley group I'd been travelling with, even including Prescott.

Oddly, none of us seemed to be there. As I watched, the ground gave a shrug and a ripple in different places, and it seemed to have a shifting effect, like it was being stretched or taffy-pulled. The strtching caused different individuals and groups to lose their footing and fall, but they got back up quickly. Wierd

Suddenly, I began to get a creepy tingle on the back of my neck. Years of dodging politics told me I was being watched. I stared around the field to find the source I knew must be there. Looking straight down, I saw Lothos looking up at me with a smile. My mouth went dry. He held up a trump card as I began mentally backpeddling. I caught a glimpse of the trump, a stick figure with a happy face superimposed over me, as I pushed the vision away and willed myself out of Suhuy's pool. To be sure, I jumped back, and threw my hand out across the water to disturb the images. I didn't know if it would help, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

I stepped back and considered what I'd just seen. Maybe the two figures were representative of the Unicorn and the Serpent. Perhaps this was the battle over the control of the multiverse. Did I perhaps glimpse the metaphysical representation of the final battle, of which we are some small part? Could that be why we were not represented on the field? What the hell WAS that all about? And what would have happened if I'd let the pull drag me in....would that have chosen a 'side' for me? Do we remain off the field until we pick a side? Are we being used for pawns BECAUSE we have no 'side' declared? Troubling thoughts...