A Dance on the Edge of Sanity



Westim ran his hands lovingly over the smooth wood before him. He had made many ships before, and yet he knew that this one was the best of them all. It was a long, sleek craft built of very dark, fine grained wood. It was nearly black, until the sun hit it, showing the red tones of the wood. Westim stood back and admired his ship. Like all Kailinese ships, it was built on lines and angles, with no rounded edges to cover it's beauty. It's main sail rose in a red crest like a lady's fan. When the sun hit Westim's ship, it shone through the sails and turned everything red as the sunset. He loved the ship; it was like his child.

"You're destined for the Empress, little one," he whispered to the wood. "She and her mages have great plans for you." He smiled. "But no ship may sail without a name. You shall be Coi Serke. Named for your red color, my love. You are the life blood.



~


Windstar woke up to the sound of birds singing outside her open window. She had had another one of her strange dreams. She was standing at the edge of some great void, with beautiful colors and lights streaming past her into darkness. She wondered what it meant. She had that dream almost every night, and had for as long as she could remember. She knew it meant something, but she didn't know what.

She sat up in bed, looking around her. The paper screens hid her bed and the space around it from view. She and her parents had found that there were closets and shelves built into the walls, hidden from view behind more paper screens. Why the Kailinese kept so much hidden from view was still a mystery to Windstar; she had vowed to find out more about these people before she left their care.


Looking out the window, Windstar found that it was rather late in the morning. Her parents must have left her to sleep in, she supposed. 'That's good,' she thought. 'After last night's magic practice, I probably would have slept in even if they had tried to wake me.'


True to their promise, Windstar's parents had started truly teaching her how to use her powers. She had already learned basic shielding; last night they had hammered her shields to make sure they would hold. They had, but Windstar had been thoroughly exhausted after the exercise. With no ley lines or nodes to replenish herself, she would be drained of magic for a day or so.


Having no ley lines or nodes did not seem to bother the Kailinese, though. Windstar had heard her parents talking of the spells that were commonly used in Kai-ling that should not have been possible with magic scattered the way it was now. She had also been watching, and she had noticed something. The mages of Kai-ling always carried staves, or charms, or some artifact that did not seem to have an immediate use. When she looked at these artifacts with her Mage-Sight, they did not seem to exist at all. While every other thing Windstar could think of had some kind of magical aura, the mage artifacts had none, and she wanted to know why.


Climbing out of bed, she opened the cabinet that held her clothing. Choosing a pair of her beloved riding breeches she struggled into those. She then surveyed her tops. Anything would go well with her tan breeches, she thought, but her Valdemaran clothing was all long-sleeved, and it was terribly hot outside. She looked at her wardrobe. She did have one of the strange sleeveless vests the Kailinese wore. Royal blue with red and yellow embroidery all over it, it had been a present from Pae-kim. She pulled it on. 'If only Mirian could see me now. She'd yell at me for going out wearing so little.' Windstar laughed. If only Mirian knew that her father's people had public springs where they wore nothing at all!


She pulled back the screen separating her bed from the main room. She found some fruit, some bread, and a cold glass of milk waiting for her on the table.


'That's strange,' she thought. 'How do they keep the milk cold? Yet another mystery.' Grabbing the milk and some fruit, she walked out the door to the gardens and balcony. She saw Mero resting near the edge, looking wistfully out to sea. Windstar crept silently up behind him.


"Boo!" She yelled. Mero started, his head swinging around to look at the youngster in front of him.


:Will you kindly not do that?: He said. :I was trying to think.:


Windstar sat down next to him. "About what?"


Mero looked out to sea again. He sighed. :I miss the open fields. It is lovely here, but I want to run.:


Windstar eyed him over the orange she was eating. She held out a section of the fruit to him. "Orange?"


Mero looked at the fruit in her hand for a moment before taking it from her and eating it. Then he looked to the sea again. Windstar put down her fruit and put a hand on his neck. "I wish I could miss Valdemar like you do, Mero." She whispered. Mero turned back to her.


:Do you not miss your home, Windstar? You are braver than I, then.:


She shook her head. "I'm not brave. I just don't miss it." Windstar paused, her eyes now fixed on the sea. "It's never been home to me, Mero. I don't fully belong to Valdemar."


The Companion examined the girl before him. :Where then is your home, child?: He asked. Windstar shook her head. "I don't know, Mero. Maybe I don't have a home. Maybe I don't belong anywhere."


Mero nudged her with his nose. :That may be, Windstar. Perhaps you will never belong anywhere. But I am sure you will belong with someone or something.:


Windstar nodded, her eyes still fixed on the distant shore. She pulled her eyes away by sheer force of will. "You say you miss the fields, Mero. There's a great big field not far from here. Captain Neroshi showed it to me. Do you want me to take you there?"


Mero stood up. :That would be wonderful, Windstar. Will you stay with me? We can run together, if you want.:


"Of course I'll stay with you, you silly horse." She said, lightly smacking his head. "Just let me get my spurs...."


:Oh no you don't, little fiend. Horse my tail. Let's go, I can't properly tackle you here.:



~


Lyra sighed. She wanted nothing more than to put her head down on the table and sleep. Instead she listened to more droning from the Kailinese some officer or another. She thought she had never heard a more boring voice in her life. Just as she was about to forget courtesy and put her head down, the door opened. The officer mercifully stopped droning as he looked to see who was walking in the door.


A white haired wrinkled little man had just walked in the door. The officer of something or another looked vaguely startled before he inclined his head to the newcomer. "Master Lystai, welc-"


"You may go, Gynir. I thank you for your time here."


The officer, who Lyra now remembered was a sailor captain of some sort, looked very relieved. He got up hastily and bowed his way out the door. The old man who had replaced him walked to the chair Gynir had just vacated and carefully sat down. He looked at the three foreigners. "Please forgive Gynir," he said. "He is quite the enthusiastic sailor, and he knows his field well, but he was not the best choice for a diplomat. I hope he has not bored you enough to drive you away?"


Lyra was surprised. In her time in Kai-ling, only Captain Neroshi had been so direct. The rest of the Kailinese seemed to believe showing what they thought of matters would cause some sort of terrible damage.


"You are no doubt surprised by my direct approach. Please do not be offended, I simply see no point in wasting time with verbal fencing." Again, the old man was very direct.


"We are not offended at all, sir. We have grown rather tired of verbal fencing ourselves. May I ask who you are?" This was Elspeth, who seemed to have pulled herself out of the stupor induced by Gynir. The old man grinned.


"A direct one, you are. That is good. I am Master Lystai. I'm sure that means nothing to you. I am the Empress' closest advisor and chief of her mages. I am truly sorry I have not met you yet, but we needed to make sure you wouldn't try to kill us or anything likewise unpleasant."


Elspeth and Darkwind exchanged a look. Lyra suspected they were silently debating what to do next. They turned away from each other to face Lystai. Elspeth spoke first.


"Many others would be offended by such a statement as that, Master Lystai, but as we have seen our share of backstabbing, I think we can understand. Are we to assume we are trusted, then?"


Lystai smiled again. "While generally I do not encourage assuming anything, yes, you may assume you are trusted. Now, if we can get on with serious talk of alliance?"


Darkwind nodded. "That would be nice."


"I am sure you are wondering what good an alliance with us would do. As we live many, many leagues from your homeland, we would not do you much good, yes?" Lystai looked at them. "It takes roughly a month to travel from your lands to ours, correct?"


Elspeth nodded. "It took us a month, and we were riding Companions, who are faster than any horses. I had wondered why you would seek an alliance with us. I do not believe we have much to give you."


Lystai looked at Elspeth. "Nor do you see much of value that we can give you. Come out and say it, child: you think an alliance with us would be a waste of good paper."


Darkwind spoke up this time. "Not a waste, surely. Just, not useful in any ways now apparent."


Lystai smiled. "No, not in any apparent way, I suppose." He looked around the room. "I hear your people are having difficulties recovering from what you call the 'Mage Storms.' I think we might be able to help you with that. We have always had a slightly different way of working magic."


Elspeth leaned forward in her seat. "Different how? We have noticed that you have spells up and working everywhere we have seen. How, when there is no ready supply of magic from nodes?"


"The nodes were not the only sources of magic, child. They were only the most apparent."


Darkwind's eyes narrowed. "Not blood-"


"We are not bloodmages, hawk child. We would not sacrifice our people for something we could live without."


"What then, Master Lystai? What is the secret?"


Lystai looked at Darkwind. "Two of your people hold the answer to that question, bird man. One is afraid of what it means, and the other seeks to use it to destroy the rest of us." The old man's eyes turned to look out the window to the sea. All of the rooms in the palace had windows looking to the sea or the river. "Magic is born in chaos, and it dies in darkness, only to be born again. The nodes where but reflections of true power, magic flowing into darkness to meet it's rebirth." The old mage turned his eyes back to Darkwind and Elspeth. "Your people call the darkness the Void. It is where you sent the magic of the Storms. Into darkness it goes, then into chaos, and finally it comes back to us, spread out across our world."


He took a pendant out of the front of his robes. It was a steel dragon, with a diamond eye. "Some things attract magic, meaning that when magic flows back into our world, it is more likely to go certain places. My people have learned to make it flow where we want it. We could teach you that." The pendant flashed in the light. Lystai handed the pendant to Darkwind, who took it cautiously.


He looked at it carefully, turning it every which way. He could not see anything special about it; it didn't even have a magical aura. He blinked. The thing seemed to be surrounded by emptiness.


:What is it, Darkwind?: Elspeth whispered into his mind. :I've never seen anything like it.:


:Neither have I, bright feather,: he mindspoke back. :It is as though magic does not exist around it.:


He looked more carefully at the pendant. He was startled suddenly when Lystai said:


"Don't look at it for the answer. Look around it."


Darkwind did as he was told. He looked carefully around the pendant, trying to notice anything out of the ordinary.


:It's collecting energy from around it, love.: Elspeth said. :Any magic that isn't currently being used is being drawn to it. But it only takes the magic excreted by other things.:


Darkwind looked at his lover. Was she mad? Then he looked more carefully at the pendant and it's surroundings. Sure enough, it was collecting the free magic floating around, the way a funnel would collect raindrops. But it wasn't holding the magic, just collecting it. Darkwind looked carefully at Lystai. Then he realized: the magic that was collected by the pendant was draining into Lystai. It was as though Lystai himself was a small node.


Darkwind could have smacked himself. How could he not have noticed this before? He had seen other mages here before, and they had all glowed with an energy too great to be their own. He felt very stupid.


Elspeth seemed to know how he felt. :Don't feel stupid, love. They glowed the same way all mages used to glow before the Storms, when we were all feeding off the nodes and ley lines.:


Darkwind nodded. It had seemed so normal to have mages glow with power.


Lystai smiled. "Do you understand now?" He asked. Darkwind and Elspeth nodded. "You were blinded from seeing it before because it defies all you know from before the Storms. We often refuse to acknowledge things that are different from what we know. The two of you and myself were trained in the old ways of magic, so this new way of collecting power seems impossible to us. It is much easier for younger mages to grasp. I think your daughter already begins to suspect that our mages carry magic collectors around with them."


Elspeth looked at him. "What makes you think that?"


Lystai smiled. "Currently, one of my mages is telling me she has been cornered by a little girl with white hair who is asking her why her staff has no magic around it. Do you know of any other little girl with white hair?"



~


"Everything has an aura! Why doesn't you staff? It has absolutely nothing around it! It's almost as though it's sucking magic away from it's surroundings......" As Windstar talked, she realized that that was exactly what the staff was doing. She looked at it carefully. It was collecting magic from around it and draining it.... Somewhere. 'Into the mage!' She thought.


She looked into the older woman's eyes. "How does it work, lady?" Windstar asked as respectfully as she could.


The woman smiled. "Hold out your hand, child." Windstar did as she was told. The mage placed her staff into Windstar's hands. Windstar felt some of the magic draining into her instead. She felt warm inside, all warm and fuzzy, but not quite right.


"Close your eyes, and focus on the staff."


Windstar did as she was told. She focused all of her attention of the smooth wood before her. She felt her mind slipping into the wood. She relaxed completely, and then suddenly, she was in the place of her dreams. She was looking into a great void of nothingness, so empty that it sucked everything else to it. She felt power ripping past her, power from all things, alive, not alive, good, evil, everything, and it all whipped past her into the Void. It did not matter what the energy was or from where it came; it all went to the same place. She observed the energy streaming past her, then she realized that not all of it was going straight to the darkness. Some of it was being pulled back into her world to be used by her people before zooming into the darkness. Windstar pulled her awareness back slightly, looking at the staff. It seemed the mage had connected the staff directly to the stream, allowing some of the energy to pool there where she could use it before it went on it's inevitable plunge into darkness.


Windstar was awed. She pulled her mind from the staff and looked at the woman before her. "Teach me," she whispered.


~


There was a knock on the door. Master Lystai smiled at Darkwind, Elspeth, and Lyra and got up to open the door. A woman with tan skin and steel gray hair walked in holding a staff in front of her. Windstar slipped in behind her, looking awed and intimidated.

The woman bowed to Lystai and said, "Greetings, Master Lystai."


Lystai bowed back, saying "Master Moonistri, it is good to see you again. I trust your travels have not tired you overmuch?"


The woman smiled slightly. "Lystai, I am still perfectly capable of traveling, thank you. I would like you to meet this young woman." Moonistri placed a hand on Windstar's shoulder drawing her forward. "This bright little one got me in a corner and wouldn't leave until I explained my staff. Then she came right out and asked me to teach her."


Elspeth opened her mouth to apologize for her daughter's behavior, but the lady mage seemed to know what she was going to say. "Don't apologize, Lady Mage. I believe curious is the natural state for children, and I encourage curiosity in adults."


Lystai looked at Windstar, who still looked like she had been hit in the back of the head with a board. "Why don't you sit down, child? There are plenty of seats." Windstar twitched at being addressed, turning her wide eyes to Lystai. Noticing the pendant on his chest, her eyes grew even wider. She allowed her father to steer her to a seat in between him and her mother, where she sat down.


"There is no need to look so startled, my dear child." Lystai said. "It is only me, after all. Just a mad old man with eccentric ideas." The skin around his eyes crinkled with mirth.


Windstar blinked and shook her head. "You're not crazy, sir! You're a genius! I can tell by the pendant you wear."


Lystai sat in a seat across from Windstar and her parents. "I have two things to say to that, child of the North. First, never judge somebody by outward experiences. Second, the line between genius and insanity is a very thin one indeed. While many say I am a genius, many more say I am a mad old man. It is just a matter of perspective."


The old man leaned back in his seat, surveying the family before him. He turned his eyes back to Windstar. "You say you would like to learn our magic tricks, do you, Windstar? Yes, I do know your name, the Empress told me." He looked at Darkwind and Elspeth. "How do your parents feel about that?"


Darkwind looked at Elspeth, motioning for her to talk. "We would like to learn what you have to teach ourselves, Master Lystai. I have never seen anything like what you are doing."


Lystai closed his eyes, smiling. "And I would love to teach. So you see, there is something useful we can do for your peoples."


Darkwind spoke now. "Indeed there is. I fear there is nothing of sufficient worth we can do for you in return. This exchange may turn out to be fairly one sided."


"Oh, but there is something you can do for us, Master Darkwind," Moonistri said, speaking up for the first time since her entrance. She pushed herself away from the window where she had been standing. "You may have noticed that there are very few wooden artifacts in Kai-ling. All of the wood we are willing to take goes to our ships. Also, we have very little space for growing things. We fear that within a generation, the food output of our country will not be enough to feed our people. We could not help but notice that your peoples and those with whom you are allied have space aplenty for growing food. We would be very willing to trade our knowledge and for the natural resources we do not have."


Darkwind opened his mouth to say something, but Lyra beat him to it.


"If you don't mind my saying, it is very difficult for us to get to your land, and you to ours. I don't know how possible it would be to bring things from our country to yours."


Lystai stood up at this. "What you say is quite right, young one. It is very difficult to get from our land to yours. So now it is time for a little trip, to show you how my people plan to overcome this difficulty."


He walked to the door and opened it. "If you will please follow me?"


~


Westim looked the last time at his ship. She was held up by a complex wooden structure. She had been built further inland than was normal, but he knew that it did not matter how far inland she was. She would still sail. She was to be the first of the Empress' new fleet. The mages had been experimenting with retired navy ships before, and they had worked as well as hoped. Now was the time for the mages to try their tricks on a ship built especially for them.


"She is beautiful, Shipmaster," a soft voice said behind him. Westim whipped around and gasped, falling to his knees in a kneel. "Your Majesty," he whispered, looking at the ground. "I am honored by your exalted presence. I have done nothing to deserve-"


"Hush, Shipmaster Westim. There is no reason to be intimidated by me. Look at me, Westim."


"Your Majesty, it would be disrespectful." Westim felt fingers lifting up his chin. He kept his eyes down. "Look up, Westim. I cannot have a Shipmaster who will not look me in the eye."


Westim looked up into the eyes before him. The Empress Shikomi stood before him, wearing none of her usual makeup. She was in a plain red kimono with her hair pulled into a lose bun at the base of her neck. She released Westim's chin, sure now that he would look at her. She gave him a small smile.


"Tell me, Shipmaster Westim, have you named this beauty yet?"


"I thought we could call her Coi Serke, Empress. For her color."


The Empress nodded. "Life Blood. That is quite appropriate, Westim. For her color and her function. She will be the first to make connections with other lands." The Empress turned. "Ah, here comes Lystai. Here is where our alliance with the Northerners will be born or killed. I hope Lystai knows what he is doing."


Lystai walked up to the Empress and bowed before her. "Empress, I have brought the Ambassadors."


Empress Shikomi inclined her head to the foreigners. She wondered why the girl was with them, then she thought that Lystai must have his reasons.


"Greetings, honored guests. I am glad you are here. What you are about to see will make all the difference in our geographical separation. Long have we looked for a faster way to traverse the distances between lands. We now believe we have found it. I would like you to see the Coi Serke, the first in a new kind of ship. If you will please board with me, you can be with us for this great turning point in our history."


Feeling slightly confused, the Valdemarans followed the Empress, the shipmaster, and Lystai onto the ship.


:Are they sane, Elspeth? This ship is sitting in the middle of a field. What exactly are they trying to do?: Lyra asked. She felt very out of it. First all the talk of magic, and now she was boarding a ship beached a mile from the sea. She wanted to go drink some tea.


:I don't know what is happening, Lyra. I am sure we will understand soon enough.: Elspeth answered. She didn't know what was going on any better than her half-sister, but she held her head high anyways. Her confused thoughts were interrupted by her daughter's mind voice.


:Mama, there are magic absorber things all over this ship. They all lead to that big one, next to the ship wheel.:


Sure enough, if Elspeth looked carefully, she could she the magic concentrated in the large crystal held on a pedestal in the middle of the deck. It was connected to other smaller crystals all over the ship; Elspeth could see crystals at each end of the ship, as well as on the mast. She walked over to the sails, and she could see that there were tiny crystals sewn to the sail as well.


Elspeth was really starting to wonder what was going on. Just as she was opening her mouth to ask a question, Lystai started talking.


"I'm sure you have noticed the magic gatherers all over this ship," he said. "They are what will lift this ship off the ground and let her fly."


Elspeth blinked. "Excuse me, did you say fly?"


Lystai smiled. "Yes, I did say fly. It needs only my activation spell, then it will be able to fly. That, and a captain to steer her. Good afternoon, Captain Neroshi." He said this as the Captain jumped onto the deck grinning widely. "Is she ready, Master Lystai?" He asked.


"She is. Are you?"

"Always."


Lystai looked at Elspeth. "If you would prefer to watch from the ground, we would understand. I assure you, though, it is perfectly safe here."


"We will be fine here," Darkwind said. "If it is safe enough for your Empress, than it is certainly safe enough for us."


The Empress laughed. "You have good logic, Master Darkwind. I would not be here if the idea was to kill you!"


The ship shuddered slightly. Lystai had put his hands on the largest crystal and was pulling all the magic out of it. Windstar realized this was how things were connected to the great energy flow towards the Void. The ship hummed as magic flowed from the great stream to replace what Lystai took.


"She's all yours, Captain." Lystai said, stepping away from the crystal. Neroshi stepped up to the wheel. He turned it slightly, and the ship moved to the left. "How do I make her go up?" He asked. "You pull the lever next to the wheel back towards you," Lystai answered. Neroshi pulled the lever back slightly and Windstar felt the ship rise up underneath her. She rushed to the railings to look over, and gasped to find the ground nearly thirty feet below. The sails of the ship caught the wind and the ship moved forward. Neroshi laughed; he seemed to be thrilled. "Where shall I take her, Your Majesty?" He asked.


"Why don't we take a look at the Palace and city from above, Captain. I should very much like to see the bird's view of my people."


As the ship turned out over the city, Windstar felt wonderful. She was far off the ground, above all the troubles of the world. She never wanted to come down.


~