Looking south, Celiath could not see the southern bank of the Rylrinmar as clearly as she had before. There were only hazy cliffs visible that morning. The north bank was more easily seen. Celiath thought she saw a city there, but was not certain because of the fog. She headed down to get her pack, remembering to stop at Ista Kaderyi.
The ship, Celiath remembered, was going to stop at each of the five major islands that hovered around the mouth of the Rylrinmar. As the ship stopped at the northernmost island, Celiath could feel something pulling her south like a magnetic attraction. Then, as it continued to the next island, the feeling only got stronger. It certainly did seem like Celiath was meant to go to Ral Mirean, but she was still wary.
The ship stopped at the next island, and Celiath felt the strange force dragging her off the ship. She stumbled as her feet touched the ground, but made sure to hang onto her belongings this time.
"Are you all right, child?" a Kacheek asked her.
Celiath nodded. "Yes, thank you." She rose and looked around the island. "Good day." Celiath continued walking to wherever the magnetic force was pulling her. She looked at a castle on the island and seemed to walk up the uphill street faster. Though Celiath was getting tired because of the uphill climb, she could not stop. Then she finally reached the castle door and followed a Poogle inside. Celiath did not know what was inside the castle, only that she had to go there. She ascended still more stairs to a room that looked like the library of the castle, with a wall that looked just like that in Briata's library and also like the one in Crescent's attic back home. Celiath snapped her fingers. There it is! Now, I just need to find the key, change into my old clothes, and I can be back home. Celiath turned around, convinced that the key was there. Then she saw a familiar shape.
"Stelakar?" she asked the purple Eyrie in front of her. It was her twin, wearing her "Dark Faerie" T-shirt, jean shorts, and purple sneakers, her straight brown purple-streaked hair cropped to about chin length. "How did you get here?"
"I tried to follow you," her twin replied gruffly. "Instead, I found this crazy guy who wants me to save his kingdom and has kept me imprisoned here like one of those damsels in distress that are constantly appearing in the faerie tales. Apparently he's waiting for you."
"And you have arrived." A spotted Aisha strode in carrying several large books and dumped them on a table. "Thank you for coming, Celiath."
"Who are you?" Celiath asked, staring into his brown eyes. She could feel a shiver running over her skin at the sight of him, and her eyes were tingling. There was something strange about the way he looked…but no, the Aisha appeared completely normal.
"Riensi Emarla," he answered, inclining his head slightly. "You may have heard of me. Sorry if it's a little cold. The castle gets like this in wintertime." So there was a rational explanation for the cold. Celiath remembered learning that about castles now that the Library Faerie had found some books on Meridell.
"So now that Celiath is here, are you going to talk?" Stelakar asked angrily.
Riensi sighed and Celiath smiled slightly. Knowing Stelakar, she had been after Riensi about this for a while.
"Would you happen to have the key here somewhere, Riensi?" Celiath asked calmly. "It's white but has a silvery glow, and has these strange inscriptions on it. Stelakar and I need it to get home."
"It's not that easy," Stelakar said. "The guy wants us to save his kingdom for him." The purple Eyrie rolled her eyes. "You know how it is, Celiath. You've read the stories in the NT."
Riensi responded: "Yes, I have the key. I created it to bring the two of you here."
"Why us?" Stelakar said.
"I set a few strict limitations on it," Riensi said. "I wanted two people closely tied to each other. As you are twins, it satisfies that condition. Second, you both had to have either some latent ability for magic or one of the commonly accepted powers, but not the ability to use it. It makes things a little easier."
"Celiath has healing magic," Stelakar said quickly. Celiath recognized her direction and hoped for a moment that Riensi would let them go home because she had healing magic. Then she raised her eyebrows and let them fall again. He's probably talking about real magic, like the Yin Kador type that brought us here. And none of us have that.
Riensi's voice turned cold. "Young Eyrie, that does not affect things the slightest bit. I assume you know that there are different types of magicians. I speak of the first and least common type, those with a full Yin Kador's powers. The other three types have not been banished from Ral Mirean, if they have enough sense to keep their powers under wraps. Who would support Queen Fierrey's declaration if she exiled all the healers from the island?" He shivered.
"Please, just explain," Celiath said. "I don't know if Stelakar even knows where this is. I managed to avoid the local police force just by luck. There's some sort of huge plot going on, and I'd like to know what it is."
"All right," Riensi said. He took a few deep breaths, then began. "Just so that you know, Stelakar, this is the island of Ista Kaderyi off the coast of Larkani." He paused significantly.
"That tells me nothing."
Riensi turned to Celiath. "You know where you are, I hope?"
Celiath thought about what to say for a moment, then answered. "I do not know where this is in relation to our home, but I have traveled here from Thora Mountain."
"Thora Mountain?" Riensi asked. He looked surprised, and Celiath figured that the spell had gone wrong. No spellcaster with any sense would drop her in the library of someone like Briata. "All right. Now, the kingdom to the south of Larkani is called Cairhel."
The name tickled slightly at Celiath's memory, but she couldn't place it.
"So Cairhel is the enemy."
Riensi looked at Stelakar. "Yes. Very good, Stelakar. Cairhel is quite jealous of Larkani, because they believe we have something of theirs that they want back. Not that I know what that something is, Stelakar." His words were growing more and more pinched. "They declared war on Larkani a while ago, but we defeated them. Now it seems they have a new king who has decided to conquer Larkani again." He looked at Stelakar again to cut her off. "They're not going to cross the border and try to fight their way in quite yet. They decided to weaken us first, it seems."
"And they did that by inciting dissent against the Yin Kador," Celiath said, starting to catch on. "They probably have various spies and agents here." This was definitely beginning to sound familiar. It wasn't quite like NeoQuest II, but there were enough similarities to the fall of Al Mikai that Celiath was wondering again if she had fallen into the game. "I'm just wondering, how do you know that Cairhel is behind it?"
Riensi considered for a little while. "Larkani," he said slowly, "is bounded by the Western Ocean, Cairhel, Minyarad to the east, and Shiganse to the north. The Empress of Minyarad is having some difficulty managing her empire right now, and Shiganse is fighting a war against Dresvin. I see no other explanation. The Cairhellin have always been tricky, and I wouldn't put it past them. They want their treasure back, whatever it is."
"Celiath," Stelakar said, "can I speak to you in private for a moment?" She took Celiath by the arm and led her out of the library, into a hallway. The purple Eyrie was silent for a few moments, then said, "Celiath…you seem to know more about this place than I do. Can you explain things to me?"
"I'll tell you what's happened," Celiath said. "I found myself in a library in the city of Thora Mountain that belonged to some crazed noblewoman. A servant told me what was going on and where I should go. I escaped from the noblewoman and from the local police, got on a boat headed for the capital, then got here. What Riensi is saying seems to fit with everything that's been going on since I arrived. I'm wondering how long it's going to take for the police here to find me. And…Stelakar, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I think we might have fallen into the world of NeoQuest II. There are similarities. I'm not sure about it, though, and I'm trying to treat it like a separate place."
"What makes you think that?" Stelakar asked.
Celiath raised her index finger. "First: There are people here who either have names like the people in the game, play similar roles, or both. Second: The situation seems rather similar. The kingdom is falling from within, like Al Mikai probably was. Third: Someone took my notes. I don't know how they would be significant to anyone…"
"Someone took your notes about NeoQuest II?" Stelakar asked. "Which ones?"
"The most recent ones," Celiath answered, "and the ones I'll probably need to finish the game. They concern the gate of Erala, the first inkling of the big trouble, and some further information I was just taking down when Crescent called me to help Kimtaya find her history project."
"So if anything else," Stelakar said, "we need to get the notes back." Stelakar eyed the library. "About him…I'm not sure what to think. Why would he keep me in this castle like some silly damsel in distress if he needs me to go to this city, whatever it's called, so much? It's frustrating. I know there's something odd about Riensi, but I can't think of any rational objection to the way he acts." Stelakar began to pace. "When I think about how he's skipped around the edges of the explanation with us, my brain answers that he's only trying to save his kingdom. It's like he' s put a spell on me. I really don't like it."
Celiath sighed nervously. "I didn't really consider that. I just thought that here's information and the guy who made the key, so go get it." She felt slightly embarrassed that if there was a spell, it had worked for her and not Stelakar, who had less experience with magic. Of course, it could just be Stelakar's attitude. The Eyrie often tried to get into adventures but did not seem to enjoy the ones that she finally found.
Celiath spoke again: "One of the rules that I've operated under here is to take advice from anyone I can, but to listen warily. It doesn't seem to me like Riensi has any motive other than to save the kingdom, which is something he can't do at the moment. Makes me think of the god Rimor, only he was a lot more direct than Riensi…"
Just then, Celiath felt that magnetic pull again. The force jerked her through the doorway before she could think to control her feet. "What…" She could see Riensi put a magnet down and enter the library.
"Sorry about that," the spotted Aisha said amiably. "I just had to get your attention."
Celiath narrowed her eyes. She was starting to understand Stelakar's position. Then, she realized something. "How do you make it work, Riensi?" Celiath asked. "The summoning."
Riensi walked into an adjoining room and came out holding something, which he gave to Celiath. She took a magnet from him that looked a lot like her. "I see," Celiath said. "So you used this to bring me here. It makes sense. How did the key work?"
"Well, I made it so that it obviously would not fit any door," Riensi said, looking like he was finally starting to do something he enjoyed. "The symbols on it are the specific parameters of the spell that I put on it. I made it by enlarging one of the spare keys to this castle, in hope that the spell would bring you directly here, but one of the symbols that I used had some double meaning that might have implied Thora Mountain. Magic is a tricky thing sometimes, and there is a lot of magic in that city."
"Why is it called Thora Mountain if there are no mountains around it?" Stelakar asked, walking into the library.
Riensi looked thoughtful. "A trick of the language, I suspect. It changes in some odd ways."
Stelakar seemed to accept that answer, but Celiath knew she was turning it over in her head and looking for some way she could get more information.
"To get back to the subject, can you help?" Riensi asked. "I have a few contacts in Ral Mirean who can help you blend in at the Court and give you a place there…"
"Court?" Stelakar asked, looking absolutely horrified. "With the frilly dresses and the gossips and the constant scheming and intrigue?"
"Where else could you go in order to get close to Queen Fierrey?" the Yin Kador asked, slamming his paw down on the stack of books and causing red violet sparks to fly from them. "She spends all of her time in the Palace! Would you like this mission to succeed or not, young Eyrie?"
Stelakar opened her mouth, but closed it again. Celiath smiled slightly, guessing her twin's mind. Stelakar did not care about Larkani, but she had always wanted an adventure. Celiath found that she had come to care about the kingdom, because of Saemine, Elsu, and the people and places she had seen while going downriver.
Riensi turned the corners of his lips up in a tiny, satisfied smile. "All right, then. I shall arrange for my contact, Kierre Aronkela, to meet you as soon as you get off the boat at Ral Mirean. Celiath, this is for you." He opened a box next to the pile of books and handed her a silver charm bracelet. She took it and spun it around in order to see the ten charms on it: a mirror, a mask, a raindrop, a hummingbird, an empty circle, a hand with an outstretched finger, a rainbow, an eye, a book, and a key.
"Thank you," Celiath said as she examined the charms.
"And this is for you, Stelakar." He took a wand out of his pocket and handed it to her. It was made of bronze and studded with small amber gems. It looks familiar, Celiath thought. Then she snapped her fingers as it clicked. It was yet another connection to NeoQuest II; this time, it was the bronze wand that required a tiny amber. Celiath had used that wand a long time ago when she was playing the game. Her bracelet was made of silver, and silver was the second wand she had used. It represented Life Magic.
What do the charms mean? I suppose the mask would be for disguise, the hand with an outstretched finger would identify someone, the book is for knowledge, and the key is the way back. But what significance does an empty circle have? And there are ten of them. One for each key.
Celiath shook her head. The coincidences were piling up onto each other in staggering piles. If this was not the world of NeoQuest II, it was a very similar place…Try to ignore them! The game did mention Larkani and Cairhel, I suppose. Lemirka and Caeridyl. But maybe it's a series of coincidences, and I could make assumptions that are wrong.