Yes, this disclaimer is pointless. Does anyone read this anyways? I don't own the Tortallan series. Wow. To think if I didn't put that I could be sued for all I've got and more. Pathetic really…
Please read, enjoy, and review!
Just because I love you all so much: you get two chapters at once! Aren't you lucky? And with chapter twenty, we break the +60,000 words barrier! Isn't that wondrous?
I'm alo going to say that this is likely the chapter you've all been waiting for, some more patiently than others. Remember to review and tell me how I did.
Providence Smiles
By LGR
Part III: No Longer Just a Dream
Dashing through the Layers of the Divine realms, Gainel crossed the threshold of his own domain in a flat out run, his vision changing from inversed swatches of colors representing the many dimensions of the universe, to the sunshine, and cool breeze of Dream.
There was a Chaos-vent he knew of very close by. He could easily gain access to Chaos from there, and the strain of the journey would be lessoned by Dream's proximity to the other realm.
Suddenly he stopped running, cocking his head, eyes wide in surprise and near denial at what he was sensing as he examined the dream-pools more closely.
She was there. Lynn's mind was there in Dream. He would recognize her soaring thought-patterns anywhere, especially in his own realm, where he had listened for them anxiously nights upon end, just to catch a glimpse of her in a dream.
She's asleep? What a stroke of luck he'd been dealt! Nearly in tears from this unlooked for gift, he felt as if Providence and The Balance must finally be on his side. This must be to make up for all anguish and heartache he'd experienced recently, it was only fair that something good happen to him after so many unlucky events.
Searching out Lynn's conscious and feeling her mind's tie to her body, Gainel knew he didn't have to bother with using a Chaos-vent now; he could materialize directly where her body slept, which frankly relieved him to no end. Though for Lynn he would gladly trudge through the shifting, unknown territory of Chaos with no clue where he was going or where he'd been, if there were a better way, he'd take it without hesitation.
And this was certainly better.
With her body's position locked in his mind, he pulled, commanding it to change it's location.
There was a terrible shaking and an explosion of sound as the barrier around Chaos rocked and strained to keep him from pulling Lynn through to the safety of the Divine realms.
Gainel was strong, but the Barrier was made to hold against Uusoae and all her minions combined. Sweat appeared on his brow as he fought to pull her through using the magic spell, but the barrier wouldn't budge in the least. The spell snapped, and back-lashed into him, with a shock that would likely have killed a mortal.
Damn it, what a time for the barrier to actually WORK! He thought at it angrily, gasping from the force of the broken spell. Healing the damage, Gainel had the distinct impression the barrier was snickering madly at him, despite the fact it was undoubtedly inanimate.
Gainel didn't find it at all funny and he told it so, feeling tricked and cheated.
Why couldn't something be easy for a change? Why was nothing ever simple? He'd thought he'd had her only to have one more obstacle placed before him, and it was an obstruction created by none other than the Great Gods themselves. As soon as one barrier was broken another rose in its place, even more unassailable than the last; it was maddening!
Once again his hopes dropped to near despair. Are we meant to never be together? Are we always to be separated by some barrier of emotion, law or magic?
Shaking off his depressing thoughts, he thought of what other options were open to him.
He still had the tie to her, he could follow it to her exact position. This was dangerous there was no telling what the situation would be when he arrived, but at this point he didn't care: it was the fastest, most reliable way of getting to Lynn; the only trouble would be getting back out.
I don't have to get her out necessarily; he realized, I just have to stall Uusoae until Apfel and the others arrive; they won't be too long…I hope. If they come at all, was his next thought, but he refused to see that as a possibility. They would come; or likely the realms and all that lived within and without them would perish and cease to exist, swallowed by chaos in its hunger to engulf everything that was, is and would come to be. Its nature demanded it do naught else.
It was worth the risk, he decided. Uusoae couldn't kill him by the Laws that governed the Gods, and hopefully she'd heed them until she was assured of her precedence in the Living Realms. Only then might she have the power to stand against Mother Flame and Father Universe for even the briefest of instances.
Concentrating, he drew once again from the connection between Lynn's body and mind, but this time, instead of pulling her through to him, he locked her position firmly in his mind for a second time, and aligned himself to her.
The effect of the spell was instantaneous. There was a blurring and fizzing of the air around him, and a flash of white exploded before his eyes as he was rushed at a speed faster then the momentary blink of an eye. The air was forcibly removed from the area with an audible bang, as he manifested himself, at his destination.
The first thing that hit him was the chilling cold and near complete darkness, but his eyes and senses adjusted as he investigated suspiciously through his surroundings expecting imminent danger—
—To find nothing of the kind. All was quiet, and there were no energy disturbances as a result of a living presence in the area. Most everything within the realm was much too far away to notice him, gathered together oddly in a single area.
Save for Lynn.
Just like her mind, the energy signature was as unique as a fingerprint, and he'd recognize hers alongside thousands. But right now, he didn't have to, because she was right there. Right there in front of him.
His breath caught as he saw her, firelight from a source he had yet to examine flickering across her dreaming form.
And this was real, not a meeting in dream or an idle fantasy. Even such imagination and reality mimicking powers as he and the realm of dream possessed combined, could not duplicate the physical meeting of two souls in its entirety; seeing someone in Dream was not the same as it was in the waking world. Though it might seem identical to the less sensitive, in the end, a dream would disappear as if it had never existed. And there was nothing that could change that.
One's subconscious always knew the truth, and meetings in dream never had the impact of the real thing. And he wondered now how he had ever contained himself in her presence; even in dream. Because at this moment every edge seemed harder, every color bolder, every thought, emotion and sense sharper, as if till she'd appeared, he'd been living a dream, and now he was finally awake.
"Lynn?" he asked softly, almost hesitantly, as if the moment might disappear as soon as his hopes were highest.
Lynn's body, half in shadow, half in firelight shifted slightly at the sound of his voice. He could see that her face was tight and pale from exhaustion and energy loss, and there were evidence of wounds inflicted upon her from the state of her clothes. The cloth covering her knee was saturated in blood and many areas showed signs of bruising.
Whoever had done this to his Lynn was going to pay; he stated, in his mind; they would pay dearly.
Her long, black eyelashes fluttered open to reveal gray-blue eyes, slightly bloodshot and having the glazed look of someone whose body was awake but whose mind hadn't quite caught up yet. She took a deep breath as her eyes locked onto him, and he saw the moisture condense from the chill of the air, coming out as a puff of wispy, white vapor. Shivering from the cold, she sat up stiffly, not taking her eyes off of him.
Lynn had been dreaming that Gainel had come to see her, but even as she dreamt, a small part of her subconscious told her it wasn't really him, it was a phantom conjured by her own mind. Gainel was trapped, maybe never to be free, and she was here to either die or to be used by Uusoae, then be swallowed by Chaos along everything else.
But through that dream, she heard something that was real; although when she opened eyes, she wasn't so sure.
It was the Master of Dream, standing before her looking somber and worried, just as she remembered him; black on white, with his sable hair and clothes, blending into the shadowed background, stark against the paleness of his skin tone. His eyes were hidden by a shade, and she couldn't guess his thoughts, as she sometimes could with others.
"I…I'm not dreaming," She said confusedly, her voice barely audible and sounding horse and strained, "but you can't be real…I couldn't get you out; I failed you…you needed me and I failed you…" her face took on a pained expression and tears formed in her eyes.
In the dunes with Uusoae and while being taken into the darkness by Discord and then again when she escaped and found her way to the gate, Lynn had used all her strength to keep going, and she just didn't have any left, even after that short escape from reality while she dreamt.
She was tired of trying to show a strong face when her subconscious told her she was a weak mortal trying to meddle in the affairs of the Gods. Gainel deserved better than her, and she let it out not having the strength to do otherwise.
"I couldn't do anything!" she stated, almost pleading with him, "I was just inches away and I couldn't do a thing! I can't stand up to anything! I'm worthless, less than nothing—!"
Gainel couldn't take Lynn talking of herself in such a fashion. Before he knew it, he was crouching by her side and flinging his arms around her in a tight embrace, his own eyes stinging as well, as he contradicted her forcefully saying, "No, no! You're everything, everything to me!"
The shadow disappeared from his eyes and they were once again swirling pools of color, crimson and gold with bubbles of violet and black, they seemed even more vibrant than usual, everything about him seemed more a live and she knew he wasn't hiding or holding anything back.
Lynn's silent tears turned to heart-wrenching sobs and she cried on his shoulder as she embraced him back, even tighter than he had her. She didn't know why he would care for her, but right now she didn't care, she just wanted to hold him…
"Rikash said but—I was so scared that you—please say you love me!" She managed to splutter between sobs, her back jolting as she tried to suck in air enough to continue.
"I love you, forever," he promised, his heart beating almost dangerously fast, all he could hear as the blood pounded in his ears. Without thinking, he kissed her on the cheek once, then again, and the third time her lips were there to meet his. There was a feeling like lightening through his spine, as he smoothed her hair, she grabbed him by the shoulders. The next kiss was deeper and the physical tension was getting to him and he began fumbling at her shirt, but she didn't seem to mind, his coat was already half-unbuttoned by her quick hands.
They were in the middle of another kiss when she broke it off saying, "Wait, wait, wait!" her breath coming out as a frosty puff.
"What?" he asked slightly irritated, gasping for lack of air, the pause making him want to scream from the pressure.
"For one thing, I don't have a pregnancy charm. Aren't gods awfully…er, potent? It only took one time for my Grandma Sarra to have my Ma—" she reminded him, red with embarrassment at what she was saying. It had taken all she'd had to interrupt; her body had emotion on its side, as opposed to her brain, which only had reason. In fact, her body and mind were still so exhausted that she didn't know how either of them were managing to function at all.
"Well, I ahh—," Gainel stuttered unintelligibly. He really hadn't been thinking at all; she was right.
"And look where we are, we should focus on getting out of Chaos first." She said rationally, but he could see that stopping before they'd even begun was tearing at her as much as it was he.
Damn it, she's absolutely right, he thought slightly ashamed for not thinking of it himself. Gainel was the god after all; he was supposed to be responsible for her safety, which included getting her and him out of chaos before they did anything else. He needed to be thinking with his head and not his, er…male-specific organs.
He took a deep breath to clear his head, than gave her a smile and a nod, and she beamed up at him, bringing warmth to his heart. Oh, he thought he would do anything to keep that happy expression from fading away.
Now that the passion had worn off a bit, there were so many questions to ask her, so much to speak about but they could wait. Instead, he took a look at where they had been about to make love. If he were one to blush, he might have at that, but luckily for him he had enough control of himself now that he could keep it from showing on his face.
It was a circle of ground domed with some sort of miasma of shadow, and in the center, was the Gate. He frowned at its entwined copper and iron rods gleaming from the light of twin lamps to either side of it. Fluttering around the lamps were giant, moon-white moths. Why wasn't anyone there guarding the gate? he wondered.
He hadn't realized he'd spoken his thoughts aloud until Lynn answered by saying, "Discord was taking me to the gate, but I got away," then she sighed with chagrin, "only to end up here anyways…it wasn't that far though, she should be here by now really…"
Lynn got away from Discord? Not only was he extremely impressed, he was very proud of her. That was his Lynn; she wouldn't let anything get in her way, not even a Goddess.
"Oh, really? So you escaped, did you?" he said with false skepticism, his black eyebrows up quizzically, prompting her to tell him more, but Lynn lifted an eyebrow of her own.
"Are you teasing me?" she drawled, looking at him through lowered eyelids.
Was he teasing her? "…Maybe." He said cryptically, and she rolled her eyes but he saw a smile on her face as she did so, and he couldn't help but smile back.
"Well, if that's the case, I think I'll just keep that little bit of information to myself; just to spite you." She said smugly, as he felt his expression turn to something akin to shock.
"Please? You have to give me something." He pleaded, "That is just too cruel, after we had to-to—" he stammered and her face took on a malicious grin at his discomfort.
"After we had to what?" she asked innocently as he frowned at the enjoyment she was getting out of this. Not that he wanted to deny her enjoyment, but did she have to take it at his expense?
"After, er- you know…" Gainel alluded, trying to work around having to say what he had been thinking. Vaguely he felt the presence of someone coming near, but it turned away a moment later and Gainel forgot about it just as quickly.
"Really? I don't think that I do, why don't you remind me?" Gainel's cheek was twitching, and he had one eyebrow lowered in irritation as Lynn burst out laughing. It pleased him that she wasn't afraid to laugh at him, despite the fact he was one of the Great Gods, but that didn't make it any more bearable.
"Is my discomfort really that amusing?" he wondered aloud, "I'm not used to this sort of situation."
She stopped laughing, looking sheepish and said "Sorry…"
"It's alright." He told her.
"I'll tell you what happened later; shouldn't we be trying to find a way to leave?" she asked him.
"Actually, there isn't any way for us to leave on our own."
She looked at him blankly and said, "You're joking, right?"
He wished he could say yes, but that would have been a lie. "Unfortunately…no, no I'm not." He told her and winced as she shot up from her place on the ground, stomping over with a scowl.
"You mean to say, that you came harrowing off after me when you knew that there wasn't a way to get back!" since the obvious answer was 'yes', she didn't wait for him to give it, but forged on ahead ignoring his attempts to interrupt her, and lectured him on the responsibilities of his position (of which knew quite well, thank-you-very-much), and how he couldn't be putting himself at risk over her expense, and finishing it off with a soliloquy on the faults of the male species, be they God or Mortal.
"I don't see what is wrong with you people! Men never have plans for anything! They just rush in and hope everything turns out all right! And then women have to bail them out!" she expounded, pacing in the small space that wasn't taken up by gate, lamps, or strange clouds of darkness.
He didn't bother to disillusion her, scolding him seemed to be helping her relax, but by now she was shivering again, and the symptoms of exhaustion were showing themselves.
For her own part, Lynn just wanted to go back to sleep, but that was impossible, her heart was still beating too fast, and her mind had decided it was fully awake; she couldn't see herself falling asleep again. She didn't even know how she'd managed to in the first place. She was in Chaos. Anything could jump out at them at any time.
Realizing this, her eyes widened and she frantically searched the area with her eyes and other senses, only to find nothing. Obviously, Gainel would have noticed if someone were here, she realized.
Gainel stood up; his clothes somehow miraculously still black, crisp and clean. She scowled; it wasn't fair that gods had so many useful powers, like somehow keeping their clothes tidy through anything. She was also self-conscious of the state of her own clothes: they been through transformations, phasing, dunes and a busted knee and they looked like it, too. He walked over and took her hands in his, rubbing them together to warm her up; she thought she might swoon.
"You're cold, and tired." He declared, shaking his head, as if this were unacceptable. Until that point she hadn't known that she was shivering, and her muscles not stiff just from her unfortunate decision to sleep on the ground, but from the cold thickening her blood.
Gainel gave her hands one last rub then let them down and started unbuttoning his coat. She wondered at how they had come to be buttoned again after their shuffle, she knew for certain that she'd had that coat nearly off before they'd stopped. For some reason, Gainel was grinning and shaking his head, as she frowned at the buttons.
I'd have had that coat ALL the way off, if it weren't for those infernal buttons…she complained silently.
He took the coat off and she tried not to stare at his bare chest, as he placed the coat over her shoulders. Lynn immediately started to feel warmer, and her energy was being restored at an unnatural rate. In fact she could almost half convince herself that she felt almost half normal.
"Mithros and The Goddess get magic shields and spears, and you have a magic, healing, coat…" she said dryly and Gainel smirked at her silly statement. "That's just said, seriously, how is that fair?"
"Yes, well the Balance has a lot of things to answer for," he said.
"Like sticking you with a coat? Not that I don't like the coat—!" she stammered hastily.
"That, among other things." Gainel said, the whole situation involving Lynn at the forefront of his mind, "I like the coat, also." He added as an afterthought.
"Yes, it's a nice coat and it heals; I mean who thought of that? Whatever, it doesn't matter; a coat is a coat." she supposed, then mumbled under her breath, "Although I like the coat better off you than on you…"
Gainel covered his smile with his hand, trying not to let on that he'd heard her. He supposed he was fairly high-up there in the looks category, even as gods went; it hadn't really mattered to him before, but right now he was feeling rather smug about it.
"That reminds me, how did you escape from that…whatever it was." She asked him curious.
"Oh, I don't know…" he said, teasingly, until she gave him a significant look, " 'tis a tale for another time, it's only fair, you wouldn't tell me how you got out, after all."
Lynn sighed slightly, resigned. "Well than, have you any clue how we are supposed to get out of here?"
They'd gotten off topic somehow. How did they always get off topic when she was trying to discuss something serious with him? Lynn didn't know, but she couldn't help being unsurprised at the fact.
"Actually…yes, yes I do." He answered, "However, it is rather circumstantial…"
"Circumstantial…that doesn't sound good, but let's hear it, I suppose." She said sounding awfully world-weary in a way that Gainel found amusing; it was comical how she dictated orders to him, despite the fact that she was the mortal and he the God.
"When the other Gods attack Uusoae, they will let us through the barrier."
"Well, when is that going to happen?"
"I can't be entirely sure, but I sent Apfel to convince them not too long ago, but they'll likely debate about it, until someone realizes there's actually a problem. They'll debate some more until such time as an event happens that makes up their minds for them and then they'll come." He said nodding sharply.
"Hmm, doesn't sound too different from the House of Nobles and House of Commoners back home: Debate for days and still nothing gets done." Lynn commented then realized what she was saying, "We're doomed!"
"I wouldn't say that." Gainel told her calmly.
"Well, what would you say?"
"I would say tha—" he began then blinked and tuned his head sharply to the left just as Lynn felt it too.
Someone was coming. Two someone's in fact.
"Discord and Violence." Gainel said troubled, and confirming Lynn's guess, "That was Discord I felt earlier, she must have noticed me and gathered Violence to help her attack us."
Oh, no, she thought, wondering if Gainel could take on two Gods at once, if it came to a battle. And likely Uusoae will step-in if it seems Gainel will win, she realized.
Gainel also knew this. And he had no delusions about his own power; he could easily defeat either Discord or Violence even on their own turf. However with them together, his chances plummeted, and even if by some miracle he managed to secure a victory while simultaneously trying to keep Lynn out of their hands, Uusoae could easily overpower him.
The only optimistic aspect of this situation was that it was exactly the sort of thing that that could convince the Great Gods to intervene.
"Should we run?" Lynn asked worriedly; she understood the danger of their condition as well as he.
Gainel shook his head, "They'll only follow us, and I've never been here before, I don't know where I'm going."
"Oh." Was all she said, and Gainel wanted to comfort her, but he wasn't sure what he could say that wouldn't be an outright lie.
Lynn, pulled Gainel's coat from her shoulders; the pinched, exhausted look she'd had before was gone, although it was now replaced with worry. "Here, I'm better now and you'll probably need it more; you'll be doing all the fighting, I'm no good against a God."
He accepted his coat from her and put one arm in the sleeve saying, "You're too hard on yourself. You do better than most."
"I suppose," Lynn said but she didn't sound convinced, "I'm fairly useless, really." She confessed, her face hidden in shame.
The look of contempt she wore for her supposed 'weakness' pained Gainel even the more so because he knew for a fact she was strong; and not just strong in power but in heart and in mind. Something even some Gods couldn't measure up to.
"Look at me." He said forcefully, and she pulled her head up to look into his eyes, "You are not weak, and you are not useless."
"But I can't do—," she argued but he interrupted her.
"Say it." he told.
Gainel didn't know why she couldn't see how courageous she was; or perhaps she was confusing strength with physical or magical power and ability, a mistake often made by those with a drive for perfection. She didn't know how sometimes, the one could take you farther than any magic spell or show of muscle.
"I-I'm not weak, and I'm not useless." She repeated after a moment of stubborn defiance, and he nodded satisfied, and kissed her on the cheek, taking her by surprise.
"Now," he instructed hastily, as his senses told him the gods were but yards away, despite their being hidden by the wall of Darkness, "I have faith in you. Stay safe whilst I am in combat with the gatekeepers. If something ever happened to you I…," he shook his head in trying to shake away the thought.
"And if you get hurt, God or not I'll find a way to kill you." She told him almost seriously, bringing an amused smile to his face.
"I shall do my best, fair Lady." He quipped, yet his tone was said otherwise.
Lynn sighed in false disappointment; "I suppose that is all a Lady can ask of a man…or a God." She said as an afterthought, as two figures stepped from the shadows.
One part of Providence's plan had finally been realized, but new worries were already creeping along the horizon and the being hoped the pair might yet be spared from these troubles, but it seemed they would not abate, as a danger drew near. The scales of The Eternal Balance swung fitfully, and it was impossible to say what the outcome of the future would be…