Author: Me!
Disclaimer: None of characters in this story are mine except Dirna, Aeriel, and T'Dier, Tab'r and Anrid. The world in which this story takes place is also mine.
Summary: Told in the eyes of Catherine, a dead woman has trapped Catherine, Atrus and a few Rivenese in a another world. Now each are dying out because of stories that the dead one has written. Will Catherine be able to stop it?
Rating: PG-13 for explicit language and adult situations.
I stand alone in a dead world, where memory gathers like dust waiting to be swept away. I hear the wind howling in the background. The wind has been here since the beginning of this nightmare; a subtle whisper behind my back or a fierce storm blowing and tearing at my red, wind-dried skin.
I wish to drop my pen and sleep with hopes that when I awaken, I will find that all of this has been a terrible dream. But I know if I do, then I will be next. For she has made this world and I know that if I am to sleep, then she will come. So, I shall continue to write. But the question is: What to write? For I have but one story to tell. Once I finish it, I shall depart from this world. But it seems that the one story I speak of is my only choice.
I don't know where to start, but there must be a place. A place before this hellish nightmare of a place. A place of love and joy. A place of hope and happiness. It was he who gave me the those things and many more. Yes, I will start with him.
His name was Atrus. Just Atrus. The D'Ni rarely gave last names and if he had one, he did not know it. Atrus, son of Gehn who was the son of Aitrus. The man who gave his life for his family. Atrus is the last of the D'Ni, a race incredibly far more advanced than my own.
My name is Katran. The only Rivenese to have escaped from the terrible destruction of Riven into another age beside Tay, the age that I created for the Black Moiety. I was dubbed Catherine by Atrus, as he had a hard time pronouncing my name with his D'Ni accent.
After fleeing from Riven, Atrus and I retreated to Myst. We stayed there for over six months while Atrus began to write us new homes. Our former ones had been destroyed by our sons, Sirrus and Achenar. But they got their comeuppance. They accidentally used Trap Books and were still stuck inside when Atrus burned the books.
During the first three months, I became homesick for my family and Rivenese friends. I told Atrus of my problem and he suggested I visit Tay for a month. I agreed and packed. Using the Tay Linking Book I had taken from the secret passage behind the old Riven Prison, I linked to Tay.
I materialized on a small dock. There was no boat, so I turned around to face the cave behind me. The one room was empty save for a statue and four glow-lamps.
The statue was of a man with palms side by side, face-up and outstretched. A Linking Book back to Riven used to lay there. But as the Riven no longer existed, the book was gone. Instead, a small, bright blue bottom lay within the left palm and a red one lay in the right.
On each button was a single Rivenese word in minute writing. I leaned closer and read the petite lettering. On the red button was the word Death and on the blue bottom was Call. I had no idea what "Call" meant, but I didn't want to try the red button either.
After I clicked the Call Button, a loud nasal wailing started from somewhere. I knew that I knew what the sound was, but I couldn't remember what it was. After a moment's thought I recognized it. It was the old Riven alarm for visitor/intruder.
The wailing stopped after a minute and I heard a voice yell out, "Kakar Kokiri Taga?" in Rivenese. Who are you? I knew the voice, but couldn't put my finger on it.
I moved out onto the dock. I was quite rusty with Rivenese, Atrus didn't speak it. But I was able to reply with, "Taga suzku Katran!" I am Katran! I squinted towards the great Tree that was the city and could make out a figure on the dock across the creek.
"Katran? Kia nos ea Katran!" Katran? I know of no Katran!
I tried again, "Katran est goha. Katherinenio tabaca!" Katran long ago. Catherine now.
"Catherine?" the figure said.
In an instant I recognized the voice. It was one of my oldest friends. One of the first members of the Moiety: Tab'r. "Tab'r!" I cried out.
The figure started and said, "Catherine! By the great god Dihilia!" Tab'r disappeared. A second later, I heard a loud humming of machinery and the water in front of me turned solid! That was something new. When I left Tay, they had used boats. Tab'r rushed across the solid water and embraced me.
"Catherine! It really is you! It has been so long! We feared we might never see you again! Come! You must see the city! We have added so much and made it far more advanced than Village Lake back on dead Riven."
I almost laughed. Tab'r always was rushing to show off something. I accepted the hand he offered me and we began to walk across the solid water. "Tab'r? What makes this water solid?"
Tab'r smiled and said, "There is machinery below this strip of water. It reconfigures the water's chemical breakdown until it is like Riven water. But much sturdier!"
"How does it know the compounds for Rivenese water?"
"One of the villagers grabbed a bottle of it before fleeing from Tay, wanting a souvenir."
We had reached the end of strip and were now climbing the stairs carved into the tree's bark. Above me, electric lights hung. That was also new. Before, the Moiety had used oil lamps. Tab'r nodded.
"All of the old scholars and guilds men helped to make this place better. It seems that Gehn's teaching finally helped to do good rather than destroy and rule. The entire city now has electricity running through it."
I started. The city was huge. "Where are you getting so much power?"
"Turbines below the water level and geothermal for back-up."
The Tay City truly was advanced. I tried to remember the first time I set foot here. It was right after I had finished. The tree had been empty of windows and stairs. There was no dock carved into it. The cave I had written in had been much smaller and completely dark. Now everything was brightly lit and the cave carved to a grander scale with electric components in it--
"Catherine? Anyone in there? Hello?" Tab'r voice shook me from my thoughts.
"Huh?"
Tab'r sighed impatiently and replied, " I said, do you want to go visit Aeriel?"
I cried out with happiness. Aeriel was my younger sister and another friend. She was the first I persuaded to join me and fight against Gehn's tyranny. I laughed and shouted, "Yes! It's has been too long since I last saw here!"
Tab'r smiled and led me to a wooden elevator. The inside was furnished with small paintings of me and Atrus. I smiled at the thought of him. On the other wall was lever and 10 notches. The lever was in the second notch.
"We're on the second floor?"
"No, the first. The first notch is the basement where the main mechanisms for the water bridge and city power is located. We're on the shops and schools floor. The third floor is where the guilds meet. The fourth through eighth are all homes. Nine and ten are where places like the storage and other things are kept." Tab'r moved the lever to the sixth notch and we moved up.