Warm, heavy darkness.
Speckles of color dotted the emptiness, shifting and changing.
Dim awareness struggled to exist, weighed down by the remnants of a deep and dreamless sleep.
The colors became clearer, stars of all shapes and sizes dancing around each other. They whirled about in great constellations, who themselves hurtled through the void.
The endless dance continued for a long while. Occasionally, one constellation or another would come close and fly past. Sometimes, rarely, something would knock a light out of the constellation.
Awareness resolved into a sense of self after an interminable recovery. Recognition that I was an I blossomed.
Who am I? Where am I?
My thoughts were disjointed, lurching along. Whenever a light would come free, it approached me, swirling about me in a parody of the greater dance I was witness to.
Every time, my mind was assaulted with information that I couldn't retain, the knowledge falling away from me regardless of my meager attempts to hold onto it.
Slowly, I began to remember more of who I was. My name… Maia, I think. Was there another? I couldn't tell.
Snatches of memory flashed. Friends, family. An awkward life, struggling without realizing there was a struggle to be had.
I spent a long while recollecting myself. The more whole I felt, the slower those stars moved. By the time I could remember most of what I thought there was to me, they had slowed to a glacial pace.
What had happened? My sense of time reasserting itself, or the hallucinations of a madwoman?
There were quite a few stars languidly orbiting near me. Thirteen, I thought, though the way they moved and my difficulty focusing made it hard to tell. Some had clustered together, but if there was significance to that, it was beyond me.
With my mind mostly whole, awareness of my body grew. Cold air chilled my lungs, snow clumped between my fingers as I moved them ever-so-slowly.
I was lying on my back, I thought. Something seemed wrong, somehow, vague sensations of pressure across my shoulder blades. My head pounded, awareness of the pain making it impossible to continue to ignore.
My eyelids were leaden, difficult to open. Struggling, I managed to open my eyes slightly.
For a disorienting moment I thought I was seeing that stellar waltz with my real eyes, the perceptions superimposing. Blinking once, twice, a third time cleared it away.
I was staring up at a clear night sky, a full moon bright in my vision.
Strength was returning to my arms and legs, enough that I could use my hands to clear the sleep from my eyes. My fingers felt different, and holding them in front of my face, I could see they were more delicate and slenderer than I thought I remembered them being.
I rolled over, snow crunching. The pressure on my back was alleviated, a freeing sensation that took precedence over the expanse of white powder in front of my eyes.
It occurred to me, belatedly, that I wasn't wearing gloves. Fascinated, I drug my hands through the snow in front of me. It felt cold, but it was a distant sensation. It was the feeling of chill without the bite that signaled danger or harm.
My fingers struck something in the snow, something hard and slender. I examined it with both hands, seeming almost a curved rod. Grasping it, I brought it closer.
They mysterious object looked like a sheathed sword. I had a feeling of possession towards it, this was mine. My blade. It was a confusing emotion, especially as I couldn't remember having anything like this.
The handle was warm under my palm. Wiping the snow off it, I turned it in the moonlight. Emblazoned on one side of handle and sheath was a pair of wings in silver. On the other side, it bore a circle, half white and half black and separated by a sinuous line.
I didn't recognize the wings, but the circle seemed familiar. I couldn't place why or how, only that it did.
Rolling over onto my belly, I pushed myself to my feet. I wobbled unsteadily for a moment, daring not to move lest I pitch myself back into the snow.
I was standing in a small clearing in a snowy and dense pine forest. Carefully turning, I looked around myself.
There was a cluster of odd snow-covered buildings nearby, crude wooden structures surrounding a pale tree with dark red leaves. I thought I could see something that might be a face on the trunk of the tree, carved and drooling a thick red fluid.
The buildings were dark and silent. I couldn't see anybody from where I was standing.
I wondered if I was going mad. I'd never had to worry about that before, but this seemed a delusion to end all delusions.
It felt real, though. Crouching down, I scooped some snow into my hand, lifting it up to my eyes. Using my thumb, I pushed some of it around, then blew on the powder. It puffed into the air, acting just like how powdery snow should.
Absentmindedly, I brushed the remnants off on my clothes. Oh, I was wearing clothes! For some reason, that seemed important to me.
They weren't my clothes, though. Why I was wearing some sort of fur covering and thick pants with soft boots was beyond me. I looked and felt like one of those live action role players, out in the wilderness playing at being some sort of Inuit.
It all felt real enough, though I still didn't know why I wasn't wearing gloves. That might have made the whole ensemble more realistic, so maybe it was just the cracks of my otherwise convincing false reality already showing.
I was feeling much better now, the fog in my head clearing up as I stood straight and breathed the cold air.
Fiddling with the sheathed sword, I managed to finagle it onto my thick hide belt. Experimentally, I rested my hand on the pommel, unsure of how to stand with it.
My awareness was drawn back to that other space as a constellation swirled over me. As though on reflex, I reached out and grabbed a light, pulling it toward me.
It settled into its new home, and I braced myself to try and hold onto what information I might get from it.
It represented an ability, superhuman in scope. This was one of many small lights I could see, but the effects were enough to make me gasp.
Somehow, this one little light would let me do ten people's worth of work at all once when I worked on a project. Anything that could use extra hands would benefit, excluding anything like coding that required the use of a keyboard, as only one person can reasonably use a keyboard at a time.
Stumbling forward, I almost fell over into the snow. That made fourteen lights now, so did that mean I had fourteen… Abilities?
Did I have a superpower? That seemed the sort of thing that pointed at this being some sort of wild delusion.
Then again, even if I couldn't trust my own perception of reality, this was the only reality I could perceive right now. I resolved to treat it as real until such time that it was revealed to not be, and that was that.
So, this cold environment was real. That tiny village was real, and that freaky tree was real.
My superpower, or superpowers, were real.
I took a deep breath, held it, then released it.
Calming breaths, don't freak out.
I wrangled my panic, wrestling with it, forcing it back down through force of will. It was a fragile victory, and I knew I wasn't anywhere close to being okay with the situation, but it would work for now.
Next step, evaluate the situation. This area looked a little like the colder parts of Canada, maybe. Miscellaneous documentaries and a few Survivorman episodes had been the only exposure to this environment I could think of.
Hah, I could remember specific episodes of a show I'd last watched years ago, but not my own last name?
No, focus.
It's night, it looks as though there's been a fresh snow, and I should probably be dead or hypothermic. Maybe I was dying, and this was a last moment delusion that my brain was projecting- No, stop, down that path lies madness. Don't question reality, damn you!
I could feel that it was cold, but it wasn't affecting me. Another ability from those lights in my head?
The air was fresh and tasted a little odd when breathing through my mouth. There was a peculiar scent in the air, a queer sort of cold separate from the chill that should have been biting.
I should check the hovel. I don't know why I'm not dying, but it may only be a temporary reprieve, and shelter was right there.
Trudging through the snow, I cautiously approached the dark huts. I kept my ears sharp, listening for any noises.
I heard nothing, even as I was standing in the doorway to the largest building. It wasn't much more than a large shed, but the gloom was impenetrable to my eyes. The odd scent was stronger here, and I still couldn't place it.
My boot kicked something on the ground that rattled as I stepped back. I froze, not daring to make a sound.
Nothing.
I waited for what felt like forever before relaxing marginally. If anyone was around and heard that, they gave no sign.
Crouching down, I felt around for whatever that had been. My outstretched fingers found something smooth braided with cord, and I took it.
Standing up, I examined the object. It was some sort of necklace, bones of small animals interwoven with something that might have been sinew.
Frowning, I carefully set it back down. That seemed the sort of thing that took time and effort to make, and I had no guesses why it was just lying out like that.
A scraping noise from within the gloomy structure sent a chill down my spine. Turning, I found myself staring into bright blue eyes, like two blue stars, set in a face drawn with a rictus of fear.
Backing away, I put my hands up, opening my mouth to try and calm… Her? As she stumbled out into the light, I saw that she was a young woman. She walked with an unsteady gait, one leg too stiff to bend, hands raised as if to grab me.
What shocked me was the great bloody slash drawn across her belly, intestines hanging loosely from the wound.
Gagging, I fell back, landing on my rear. She still came forward, and I scrambled away.
This wasn't a person, not anymore. Something about those eyes, the awful blue, told me that. She was walking more steadily now, speeding up.
I leaped to my feet, hand going for the hilt at my waist. I'd never drawn a sword, and it took me two tries to get it out of the scabbard. It was the only weapon I had on hand, and I had no idea if I could outrun this thing if it kept speeding up like it was.
Awkwardly, I held the blade in a two-handed grip, wavering point held at the creature. It ignored the implied threat, continuing its dogged pursuit.
Waiting until it was within reach, I stepped forward and swung. The blade seemed to hum as it moved through the air, and it passed through the creature's arms and torso with far less resistance than I was expecting.
As soon as it reached the heart, the blue eyes extinguished, and the walking corpse fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Panting, I stepped back a little bit, sword held at the ready. Would it get back up? Were there more of them?
Sparing a glance back toward the village, I didn't see any others. My attention returned to the body on the ground, shortly to be diverted by another constellation moving. I caught another small light, nudging it into a new orbit.
It settled, and I was surprised by what it gave me. Knowledge of carpentry and construction, how to analyze at a glance, harvest, and utilize wood and plant life for all manner of tasks.
More, it allowed me to form mental blueprints for projects using those materials. Not just a vague idea of an outcome, but a mental document complete with dimensions and step-by-step mental checklists of all necessary tasks for making it reality.
Almost as an afterthought, it boosted my ability to locate resources I needed as well as making projects using them take half as long to complete.
The corpse hadn't moved while I was mentally adjusting, and I relaxed slightly. Carefully sheathing the blade, I re-examined the buildings with my new ability. It was an exercise to prove to myself that I could as much as anything else.
That village wasn't nearly as ramshackle as I had thought. Those buildings may not be very pretty, but they were well-built and provided good shelter from the weather. There was a surprising knowledge of architecture on display, turned to practical utilitarianism than aesthetics.
Still, I wanted to be away from this place. There might be more zombies lurking about, and I had no illusions that I had gotten lucky with that one. If I ran into a faster one, or was surprised, I'd probably be screwed.
The woods seemed slightly less ominous, probably related to the new way I was evaluating them for their value as resources than anything else. I chose a direction away from the village and started walking.
My first order of business was travelling a fair distance from here. Then, I could build a small shelter. Making a fire wasn't going to be a problem now, as that quite readily counted as utilization of wood and/or plant-based resources.
As I walked, I ruminated on the oddity that I could build practically anything I needed from wood, yet something like knapping flint still remained beyond my ability. I could try, but I didn't even know what flint looked like, and I'd probably just end up ruin any I managed to find while trying.
I wondered if I should name the lights. So far, I hadn't lost the information that they'd given me since I'd woken up, so I hoped that would continue in the future. With that in mind, if I knew what something did, I'd probably need some sort of shorthand just to keep from becoming confused.
I'd call this newest one Woodworking, for lack of anything better. The other I had received, the multiplier to my work on projects, I'd have to think about. Ten in one, maybe?
That would go wonderfully with Woodworking, now that I considered it. Working ten times as fast on a project that would now take half the time it otherwise would?
After a while of walking through the snow, I came across a smaller clearing among the pines. This seemed as good a spot as any to rest for the night, so I started working on the mental blueprinting aspect of Woodworking.
It seemed as though it took into account Ten in one, as the five minutes I'd need for a pine bough lean-to seemed awfully short. A fire would take ten, partially because I needed to fabricate a few simple tools. Fortunately, all of the materials were already present, more or less.
As I set out working, I was disoriented by the speed I was working. It wasn't as though there were ten of me all at once, it was more that I was working ten times as fast. The mental checklists were absolutely incredible for keeping me on task, and I was certain I'd have taken much longer than the fifteen minutes it required.
The lean-to was set up in a small hollow brushed clear of snow with the fire placed close enough to warm without becoming a hazard. I matted layers of pine boughs on the ground to provide insulation, and a few minutes of foraging supplied me with edibles to roast.
Turns out foragables counted as a plant-based resource. Who could have guessed?
An hour later, drowsiness was creeping up on me. I still wasn't fully recovered from whatever had happened to me, and I was coming down hard from the adrenaline earlier.
I struggled to keep my eyes open, watchful of the darkness.
The sound of birdsong woke me. Blearily blinking, I saw that the sun had risen a little while ago, sunlight streaming through the trees.
My fire had burned down to ashes at some point. Crawling out of the shelter, I stood and stretched deeply. I did feel a little better with the rest, but I was upset at myself for falling asleep in the first place.
Luckily, nothing had bothered me while I was out. I was getting a little hungry and thirsty, and I eyed the snow speculatively. I think I could remember reading that eating snow was bad for survival, something about the body spending precious calories warming it up.
Thinking it through, I could probably rig something up. If I put together a tripod and suspended a pine bough from it, I could put it over the fire and add snow atop the needles.
Did I have anything to collect the water, though? It might take a while to make a simple wooden bowl, seeing as I didn't have any carving tools handy.
My clothes might work. My uncovered hands had survived the night with no signs of frostbite, as did my ears and nose. My lips weren't even chapped. I could probably go without some of the layers for a little while.
Shrugging out of the fur covering, some sort of parka, my back immediately felt better. It was like muscles had been constrained and were finally free.
As I stretched, enjoying the feeling of freedom, a constellation passed by in that other space and I missed grabbing any lights.
I didn't have any layers underneath the parka, and I was surprised to see that my body was different. My breasts were slightly larger and a little firmer than they'd used to be, my figure was slimmer in general, and I was realizing that I wasn't feeling any of the familiar aches or pains.
It all seemed to be an improvement. Reaching over my shoulders to rub at the sore spot, I froze as my fingers touched something soft and warm and sensitive.
Gently, I felt it out. Feathers, I thought. I felt out the length of the thing, starting between my shoulderblades and extending about a foot long, parallel to my back and angled up a little bit. Some sort of wing? There was another, facing the other way.
The wings were very sensitive. Enough that I could feel my own fingers passing through each feather, sending tingles across my scalp and down my spine.
For some reason, I wasn't freaking out about it. I knew I probably should, but it just felt normal, like it was natural that I had them. I didn't know how to feel about that. Accepting and moving on seemed prudent.
Examining the parka, I considered how I could use it to collect water. Woodworking wasn't helping me figure out what to do with it, animal hide apparently being outside it's purview.
Maybe I cut a patch out of the rear? I could let my wings free, and wasn't that a peculiar thought, and use the hide to catch water.
If I messed up, I probably wouldn't be able to fix it. Then again, I was getting pretty thirsty.
Might as well try. Laying the parka in the snow, I took my sword and cut an uneven patch out of the rear. Trying it on, I pulled the tips of my wings out of the large hole, and I was satisfied by the lack of pressure. Cool air brushed my back where skin was exposed, but it was more than bearable.
The hide patch was more than large enough to bend into a bowl-shape. Collecting everything else I needed, I assembled the tripod to test it out.
It was ugly and rickety without bindings, and I'd have to hold the hide bowl, but I thought it would work.
Collecting a bit of firewood, I lit a new fire and put up the tripod assembly above it, then set some clean-looking snow atop the pine bough.
I was absurdly satisfied with the first drops I could see, and I held out the bowl to catch the rest. It was the first time I'd ever done something like this, and I was proud that it worked at all.
Drinking the little bit that I collected, the water soothed my throat. I hadn't realized, but I was absolutely parched. I melted more snow, repeating the process until I was quenched.
Sitting back on the ground, I considered my next move. I didn't know where I was, nor did I know whether or not there would be any rescue coming. What did I have on me? My clothes and sword for sure.
Checking my pockets, I was disappointed but unsurprised to find my phone and wallet missing. In a small pocket I found an old-fashioned iron key, several inches long and with two large teeth.
It was hefty, and I felt the same sort of possessiveness over it that the sword had inspired in me. What did it do? Why was a key so important?
The answer was probably somewhere in the lights I'd collected. With a lack of signs of where to travel, I would probably be best served by trying to figure that side of things out a little better before moving out and becoming more lost.
I had been lucky not to somehow injure myself in the darkness last night, and I was more aware of the possibility now than I had been.
I stretched out, getting comfortable and taking a few relaxing breaths. Closing my eyes, I found it relatively easy to focus on the other space.
Somehow, I had been taking lights that passed closely enough. That much I knew for sure.
That odd mechanism felt as much mine as my body did, and I found that it felt much like a muscle. I could extend and retract something ephemeral from the point where my perception sat. At its furthest extent, it reached pretty far beyond the lights I had taken for my own, and I could feel the range growing ever so slightly.
Aiming it was an issue. My sense of direction was all but nonexistent there, and I was astounded by how I had managed to snag fast-travelling lights at all. Maybe it was the difference between unconscious and conscious control?
Either way, I worked at directing it towards some of the lights orbiting me. After a while, my efforts paid off, nudging one of the smaller lights slightly to the side. It had a peculiar flavor, an odd synesthetic feeling that gave me a headache trying to parse into familiar terms.
Grabbing onto the little light, I dragged it closer, staring into it and hoping that I might divine its secrets.
I received a vague feeling from it, one that became clearer as I continued examining it. It represented the key I'd found, and it had more properties than I'd expected.
I could insert it into a door, any door, and open it to… Somewhere? I didn't have the information for that in the small light. It wasn't indestructible, but it would always restore itself within a minute, as well if I ever lost it or it was stolen. It would appear on my person somewhere, in a pocket if available, and I couldn't be permanently separated from it. Oddly, I could loan it to someone else if I wanted or needed to and recall it at any point.
Movement in the starry distance tugged my attention away, and I released the light, letting it bob back to its place. A constellation was heading my way, and I relaxed my conscious control over the grasper.
Unfortunately, I still missed the light I was going for. The constellation zoomed away before I could try again, and I returned to my examination of my own lights.
Some had formed into a small cluster, sticking closely together. Five of them in total, three of the smallest size and two larger. They were all revolving around one of the larger lights, and I was able to grab it with some effort.
Bringing it closer brought the others along, as I'd hoped, and I delved into it.
It was magic. Rather, it was the ability to use a particular form that I was well-familiar with. It was called Channeling, and I was shocked at the implications.
I had read The Wheel of Time many times, and it was one of my favorite fantasy series. This power, the ability to channel the One Power, that the light gave me seemed straight from the books. Were the lights pulling from fiction, somehow?
No, focus, it's real enough to count. The light gave me the ability, but not the training or knowledge. I could supplement that with what I remembered from the books, as the process had been described repeatedly and from varying perspectives.
The other large light in the cluster was odd, and I needed to walk myself through the basics I could remember to understand. As a woman, I would channel the female half of the One Power. Ephemeral threads, each composed of one of five powers, would appear around me and I could manipulate them into weaves that produced effects. These powers had been called Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and Spirit.
Every channeler had an affinity for each element, in varying amounts. Generally, women were stronger in Air and Water, while men were stronger with Fire and Earth. Both sexes were on average the same strength in regard to Spirit.
Rarely, men could have a strong affinity for Air or Water or both, and likewise women could be strong in Fire and Earth.
This light gave me that, enhancing my affinity in both Fire and Earth. That would have quite a few advantages if I survived long enough to train myself to channel properly and puzzle out a few basic weaves.
Moving onto the small lights, two held what was called Talents. They were natural skills towards a few particular weaves. Normally they took time for someone who could channel to discover any Talents, if any, they had. Some could be taught, but others couldn't, not that it mattered at the moment.
Myself, I had the Talents for Delving, Travelling, Earth Singing, and Earth Delving. Delving was the process by which a healer would determine injuries or illness. Earth Singing was a natural ability to more easily work soil, stone, and metals with the One Power. Really, it was working with anything solid and inorganic. Earth Delving was almost a combination of mass geological survey and mining, as it was the ability to discern ores and minerals over a wide area and extract them without harming the environment.
Travelling was different from the others. It was essentially opening a gateway between two locations. There were a few caveats, such as needing to learn the ground I'd Travel from before a gateway could be formed, but there were workarounds. If I survived the learning process, I'd be able to go anywhere in the world on a whim.
That was really cool. I'd have to cultivate them for sure. Oh, the things I can do! With Woodworking, I could easily leave modern civilization behind and comfortably live out in the wilderness. It didn't scale up, sadly, but I could still help a few.
The final light was astounding, as it boosted the minor ability the Channeling light had granted by a massive margin. I had no idea why it was so small, as it took my end potential from middling strength in the Power to someone who could match the strongest male channeler unaided. That was significant, as female channeling capped out in raw strength much earlier than male channeling did.
I released the cluster, moving on. I'd somehow collected a larger light, one that was about the size of the entire Channeling cluster in volume. It was becoming easier to pull them toward me, and the information held was flowing more readily.
This larger light conferred immunity to temperature, pressure, radiation, and exotic energy. I didn't need to breathe if I didn't want to and could walk along the bottom of the ocean or hang out in space unprotected without any ill effects. Hell, I could be buried in radioactive slag and be completely fine.
It was fascinating, and I think I understood why it was so large. It was certainly a major ability!
I released it, moving onto one of the slightly smaller ones. This was similar to the key but let me open a portal to the same somewhere on any flat surface that was large enough. It had a minimum size of eight square meters and a max of eighty, would open at the smallest size instantly, and take ten seconds to expand to the largest. I could modify the size of an open portal at will, and while it would close over the course of thirty seconds naturally, I could keep it open as long as I wished.
I was quite curious to see what was so important that I had received two methods of accessing it. Releasing the light, I was about to grab another before another approaching constellation distracted me. I wished I knew why their timing was so inconsistent.
My reach had almost tripled in the short span I'd been focused here, and I snagged a large star as it strayed too close to me.
This one was as simple as it was incredible. Anything I made would be produced at least at a masterwork level. The kind of quality that took dedicated people decades of experience to reach, and that was the bare minimum I could do. It worked for legitimately anything I created and would even affect the output of machinery if I had initiated the process.
I wasn't much of a craftswoman, but I was thinking now that at the very least I could make a good living off of odd jobs.
Continuing my examination of the lights, I took up another. It was what had granted my sword and had the same flavor as the Channeling cluster. They were related, as apparently the sword was infused during it's creation with particular weaves of the One Power. It was unbreakable, would remain eternally sharp, and a similar recall effect to the key bound it to me.
The next light was just as peculiar as the rest. It was more abstract than the others, granting me almost superhuman leadership ability. It wasn't a compulsion that would affect others, but it made my personal bearing more… Regal, for lack of a better word. I'd hold myself like a leader whether I'd want to or not. There was more, relating to administrative skills, but that was harder to quantify.
Finally, the last two lights. One granted immunity to corruptive effects against my mind, body, and apparently, soul. I hadn't even been convinced I had one, but I could roll with it. The other light was unageing immortality. As long as I didn't die by malice or accident, I'd live until I consciously chose to age and die.
I was at a loss for words. Certainly, I was confused and grateful, but also worried about the cost for these gifts. This was entirely unprecedented, far beyond the bounds of my experience.
I hadn't had many prospects before, and it was hard to reconcile how many life paths had just opened up.
Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see that the sun had climbed to its zenith. I'd apparently spent hours focusing on that other realm, much longer than it had felt.
Rising to my feet, I stretched the stiffness out of my body. As curious as I was to see what the key and portal led to, I didn't have any convenient doors or flat surfaces at hand. I supposed I should pick a direction and start walking.
I collected my hide-bowl-patch-thing and set out through the snow, pushing past small shrubs and other undergrowth. I was very careful where I stepped, doing my best to avoid a twisted ankle.
Hopefully, I'd find a road if I kept walking in one direction. Then, I'd try hitchhiking, or just follow the road.
While I walked, I picked up any edibles I passed. The analysis component of Woodworking was coming in handy, granting me extensive knowledge about plants and fungi at a glance.
After what felt like hours of walking, I stumbled across a trail. It cut a path through the underbrush, though I couldn't tell if it was a deer trail or manmade. It was heading in the same general direction I'd been walking.
I set off down it. It was more or less a straight path, and before long I could hear the sound of moving water. The trees were thin enough that I could see a broad river. The trail ran up to the banks at an angle, joining another trail running parallel to the river.
The river itself was pretty wide, easily a couple hundred feet across. It was surprisingly free of ice, but I'd not really spent much time around rivers to know if that was normal in weather like this or not.
There were bound to be fish, and I could pretty easily put together a simple fishing rod. As a child, I'd gone to a camp for a few summers, and I'd learned how to catch smaller fish by hand. If I could nab a few minnows, bait shouldn't be a problem.
I decided to continue following the trail instead of getting sidetracked. It would take me less than twenty minutes to make the fishing rod, time spent weaving natural fibers into a line included. So, not a pressing issue and something I can take care of once I set up camp this evening.
After a while, the wind shifted, blowing against my face. I could smell faint woodsmoke, and that gave me hope that I might find people soon.
It didn't take too long before I found the source of the scent. It was another small village on the banks of the river, very similar to the one I'd woken up near last night. The trees had been cleared away a fair distance. I could see people moving about between the small buildings, hanging out outside, and working.
As I got closer, I could make out their clothing. It was very similar to my own, hide parkas and pants. Some had hoods, some didn't, but otherwise I couldn't tell them apart from this distance.
Peculiarly, a few of the people were walking around with spears slung on their backs. Looking more carefully, I realized I couldn't see anything that looked like modern technology. No electric lights or plastics, and I couldn't hear any generators. No electric poles or wires connecting buildings.
As far as I knew, everyone outside of a few uncontacted tribal groups in the global south had access to electricity and modern products to some degree. I could see absolutely no signs of anything like that, and that unsettled me.
In the village, someone had spotted me. They called and waved to a few others, and they armed themselves as I watched. I'd never seen someone string a bow before, but some did so quickly and easily. Others unslung their spears, and most of them oriented themselves toward me. The rest fanned out and scanned the forest.
Holding both hands in the air to demonstrate how nonthreatening I was, I slowly walked forward. I stumbled as I missed a light flashing past in the other space, but I regained my balance quickly.
So far, they hadn't loosed any arrows at me, and that was a good sign. I wasn't sure if this was standard behavior with most folks, but I had lived in places where strangers were greeted at gunpoint. Granted, I'd not been subject to that, and this was a novel experience.
I made out the group facing me more clearly as I got closer. A tall woman held a bow at the ready, arrow nocked and ready to draw. A shorter girl stood near her with her own bow, flicking glances between me and the woman. Three men held spears, the tallest of which was poised and ready to throw at a moment's notice.
As I neared, the woman spoke loudly and clearly. "That's close enough, stranger. What's your business here?"
Stopping, I kept my hands up. "I'm looking for directions to town, maybe shelter for the night. I mean you and yours no harm."
Oh, my voice was different too. Lighter and softer than I was used to.
The woman studied me for a long, uncomfortable moment before relaxing marginally.
"Never heard of town. Don't cause trouble and you can share our fires this night."
I blinked, the first part of that statement not clicking. The second was fine, and I nodded hurriedly. "I won't cause trouble."
The woman nodded in return, lowering her bow and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. The men relaxed and returned to their business, slinging spears and walking away.
"Name's Grenwin," the woman, Grenwin, said. "This is Ygdis."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Maia." I said warmly, my name sounding odd in my new voice.
The girl eyed the sword belted at my waist. "Not many carry things like that. You a kneeler or something?"
I blinked, "What's a kneeler?"
She grinned, opening her mouth before a small shove from Grenwin silenced her.
"Don't matter." Grenwin said, "So who'd you take that from?"
I frowned, "I didn't take it from anyone. It's mine."
Ygdis chuckled before turning and wandering away. Grenwin scowled after her before turning her attention back to me.
"As long as you can keep it, keep it. Doesn't matter to me. You got any news from upriver?"
News? I shrugged, "Last night I passed through an empty village. There was a thing there, looked like the dead walking with intense blue eyes."
Her eyes widened, "What?" She pointed in the direction I'd come from, "Han's Ford is up that way, half a day's walk. Was it there?"
I considered before nodding. "Yeah, I think so."
She cursed under her breath, "Come with me, Taegj needs to know 'bout this." She strode over, and I realized how much taller she was than me as she put a hand on my shoulder.
"The fuck?" She leapt back, drawing a belt knife before I could react. "What are you?!"
"A person? What are you?!" I replied, confused by the suddenness of the situation.
She pointed at me with her knife, "What's on your back?!"
I turned my shoulders, showing her. "Dunno, what do they look like?"
The sarcastic words left my mouth before I could stop them. Fortunately, she seemed too shocked to take any insult.
She took her time processing, eyeing my wings with concern. Eventually, she lowered the knife. "Fine. Fucking wings? Why not? Alright, come on, we need to go talk to Taegj. Don't do anything… Weird."
I nodded. She gestured with the knife, and I started walking.
The village was small, and I only saw maybe twenty people total. A young boy ran past us, chased by a larger and older kid. A few people were butchering a couple of deer, hanging the skins on a wooden rack. A large fire burned in the center of the village, and another of those white-barked trees with red leaves overlooked the settlement. A face had been carved into it, a weeping man that seemed to be drooling a thick sap that was red as blood.
Grenwin pushed me towards a medium-sized hut, compared to the rest of the village, sitting almost within the roots of the tree. The door was shut, and she banged on it loudly a few times before opening it.
The interior was small and simple, a single room with an earth floor covered in layered pelts and a small fire burning in a shallow pit. A man sat on a chair on the far end of the room, carving a bone with a small knife. He looked up, noticing Grenwin and I. He scowled.
"The fuck you want now, Grenwin? I told you, we need you here and not goin' out looking for Hacken. And who the fucks this?"
She pushed me into the room, closing the door behind us. "This ain't about that. This is worse." Turning to me, "Tell him what you told me."
I shrugged, looking at the man. He was an ugly man, maybe in his mid-thirties, with thickly braided dark hair and wearing what seemed a permanent scowl.
"My name's Maia, I passed through Han's Ford last night, it was empty except for a… It looked like a girl with her belly cut open, had intense blue eyes that seemed to glow, and she was coming at me until I knocked her down and ran."
The man's scowl deepened. He stood, fixing Grenwin with a hard stare, "We can't wait any longer. Get everyone ready to move. We're going to try to meet up with Mance." Turning to me, "I hope you ain't lying, girl."
Grenwin hesitated before nodding, sheathing her knife and leaving the shack in a rush.
I stared back at him, meeting his eyes without blinking. "I know what I saw. You know what that was?"
Almost grudgingly, he nodded. "We call them wights around here. The dead serve the Others, and the only thing that kills them for good is fire or dragonglass. Or so the stories say."
A constellation passed by, and I ignored it after failing to grab a light.
"I see. So, the wights took the people from that village?"
He shook his head, moving to unlatch a simple wood chest. "Nah, it'd be the Others that took 'em. Bastards look like pale shadows in shape of men, and supposedly move fast enough to kill a man before he can blink. I've not seen one myself, but sometimes people come down from the north talkin' bout empty camps and the dead rising from the snow."
He pulled out a bundle of hide, unfurling it into a pack that he began filling with other items.
"Han's Ford is too close, and if they've been taken, we need to move."
"I can help," I found myself saying, "I can work with wood, build sleds to carry more."
He spared me a glance before shaking his head, "Go and try, then."
It was a clear dismissal. Turning, I left the shack, seeing that people were rushing about. Some were slaughtering chickens, others working to gather up goats.
A man in a black cloak pushed his way out of a nearby hut's door. He was missing a foot, his right leg ending mid shin, and he leaned heavily on a wooden crutch. He looked around, confused at the activity, before noticing me and waving me over.
I approached, and he gave me a considering look. "Haven't seen you around before. You know why everyone's in such a rush?"
I nodded, "Taegj wants everyone moving and to meet up with someone named Mance."
He frowned, "Why now? I've been trying to convince him for months, but he's been a stubborn bastard."
"I came from Han's Ford, there was something he called a wight there."
The man rubbed his stubbled chin, "Aye, that'd make sense. Easy to call rumors from further out lies, but Han's Ford?" He nodded, "What's your name, girl?"
"Maia."
"Mine's Symon. You mind helping an old man gather his things?"
I blinked, he looked younger than Taegj had. "Ah, yeah. I'll help."
Symon turned, waving me into the building. It was smaller than Taegj's hut, and less furnished. A simple cot lay against one wall, and a large chest sat next to it. He moved over to the bed, grabbing the pelts and rolling them. Nodding at the chest, "There's a pack in there. Grab it for me, if you would."
Opening the chest, I found it full of hide wrapped rectangular bundles. The pack was bundled up to the side, and I pulled it out. "What's all in this, anyway?"
I could hear the grin in his voice, "Most valuable thing I own. Knowledge. Bet you've not seen so many books in one place before, eh? Can you read, by any chance?"
Handing him the bag, "Yeah, I can read." I felt it best to be polite, "It's an impressive collection."
He stuffed the rolled bundle in the bag. "I'm glad to meet someone who can appreciate it. You know-" He was cut off by shouting from outside. "By the gods, what now!?"
Symon stumped his way out of the hut, and I followed. The shouting was coming from a few men, pointing at something in the sky in the distance, back the direction I'd come.
Squinting, I saw a peculiarly small stormfront, lightning crackling occasionally. It was moving in this direction, and the sight of it seemed incredibly foreboding.
Symon stomped away, waving and yelling at someone else to find someone named Wint.
I stopped a young woman as she rushed past, "Do you know where any woodworking tools are?" I asked in a rush.
She nodded, pointing at another hut on the edge of town. "In there." She continued her rush, leaving me behind.
I made my way over to the hut, finding a few men laying tools on hide and wrapping them. Walking up to them, "Hey, are there any sledges that need to be repaired? I can fix one up in no time."
The men looked at me, confused. "Ain't got any here."
Frowning, I examined the building and studied the tools they had out. My Woodworking was informing me that I could tear it down and build more than a few good-size sledges from it in an hour.
"Then if you don't mind, I can put a few together."
One of the men scratched his head, looking at his companions, "You think? Well, we could use some if we're gonna move. You need any help?"
Woodworking shifted the checklists to account for their assistance, and it would speed things enough to fit a fourth sled into the mix.
"Yes. Just follow my directions and we'll get this done in no time."
They proved to be amenable, though they were stunned by the speed I was working at first. Once they recovered, I leveraged their strength to pull down the building a little faster, hold the logs as I worked them, and then to hammer the joints together.
The tools were substandard for the task, old iron that had seen much use in the past and were lovingly cared for. I spared a few moments to consider the kind of people who cared for their tools instead of just tossing them out and buying new ones, before realizing that these people probably couldn't just wander down to the local hardware store when they needed new tools.
The first sledge went up, then a second, and a third was halfway assembled when more shouting began, interrupting the work.
That storm was very close now, and a creeping snowfall was blowing in.
The man who'd volunteered first, Herrick, eyed the storm with some concern. "We won't be able to move out in that. We'll have to hole up till it passes." He pointed at the largest building in the village, "Grab what you need and head to the Hall.
I nodded, and the men gathered their tools and hurried over to the building. They joined others who were making their way inside. I watched as the goatherders pulled their animals into the building, and others carried baskets in.
I blinked, wondering if the place my key led to could come in handy here. Jogging over to the building, I eyed the door, then the wall next to it. It might be flat enough for a portal.
Only way to be sure was to try. I tapped the wall, willing a portal to appear. Between one moment and the next, the portal appeared, a square hole opening to a neutrally lit cubic room fifteen feet to a side.
There was a commotion behind me as people noticed the opening, and I turned.
"Everybody!" I called, "This is a doorway to a safe space where the cold won't touch you!"
"What are you?!" A call came, joined by more questions, a torrent that I couldn't answer. I blinked, seeing something in the distance, back among the trees. Were those people?
Squinting, I caught glimpses of cold blue eyes among those figures. A shiver crawled down my spine. I pointed, "Wights! In the trees!"
The temperature was dropping quickly, far too quickly to be natural. The people shouted, and Ygdis stepped forward from the crowd. She walked up to the portal, giving me an odd look that was half curiosity and half fear, before walking through.
She stomped around in the room, before calling out, "It's safe!"
That broke the tension, and they began crowding in. Some went into the hut, bringing more people out with them. Within a minute, most people were standing in the room, looking through the portal with trepidation.
It was cold enough that I could see the humidity precipitate out of the air, tiny beads of ice falling to the snow.
The wights charged out of the treeline. Some looked like ancient, desiccated corpses, others seemed as fresh as the day they'd died. Beyond them, I saw five tall figures, slender and seeming made of a cold blue ice.
Turning back to the people inside, "I'm going to close the door for a few minutes. You'll be safe!"
Taegj stepped forward, angrily opening his mouth, and the portal snapped closed.
Now, it was just me. I certainly wasn't going to play the hero, but I didn't know what to do. I knew that room was completely safe, and if I collected those tools, I could build another door anywhere.
Of course, now the problem was actually getting away. Those ice people were striding through the snow as though it wasn't even there and sounds like ice cracking reverberated through the air.
Whatever instinct had possessed me to put a bunch of people in a pocket reality was looking at the situation and shrugging its shoulders.
The wights weren't like the slow zombies of fiction. They were fast and still possessed some intelligence, and I could count at least fifty of them. Question was, was I faster?
I took off running, the sound of cracking ice like cruel laughter. I ran to the water, hesitated for a moment, then dove in.
It was cold, beyond freezing, but it didn't shock me. I clung to the riverbed, the weight of my clothes helping weigh me down as I pulled myself deeper into the water. I kept my eyes closed, the water far to murky to see properly.
Oddly, the further I travelled, the warmer the water seemed to get. Maybe I was just getting used to the temperature. My ears popped multiple times as I moved one laborious pull after the other, the water slowly but inexorably pulling me downstream.
My hope was that they would lose track of me in the water. Even if they didn't, the wights should still be too buoyant to get at me, and they'd be pushed away by the current besides. I'd only watched them for a few seconds, and they seemed to lack fine dexterity.
The river was a couple hundred feet wide, and I figured my arm's reach was only a few feet. I counted each pull, continuing until I reached what I thought must be the halfway mark, the deepest part of the river. Anchoring myself to a small boulder, I waited.
I could remember nightmares like this before. Underwater, a current pulling at me, dark murkiness smothering me. The only thing that kept me from letting go and swimming to the surface was the greater fear that those wights would be waiting for me.
If I died, the people I'd inadvertently rescued would perish as well. I think they'd get spat out where the portal had been, and that was overrun by the undead last I'd seen. I should have probably considered that before jumping into a freezing cold river, honestly.
I wished I had a watch or something. I waited, waited longer, and continued to wait. If I got out of this, I'd start building flamethrowers. Flamethrowers for everyone. With napalm.
I needed a distraction. Maybe I should use this time to start trying to touch the One Power, at least then I'd be doing something productive instead of hanging to a rock like a limpet.
Recalling the mental exercise, I tried to envision a flower bud. Ironically, Woodworking let me do exactly that. No, focus, that's not the point.
A flower bud, bathed in light. I was the bud, and it was me. I imagined it opening to the light, to drink it in. The light was saidar, the female half of the One Power. The flower bud opening to the light, myself opening to saidar.
For the barest of moments, I felt something brushing the edge of my awareness. It was gone in a heartbeat, but I felt invigorated. If I kept working at it, I'd surely grasp it in time.
Another constellation swept past, and I reached out to one of the smaller lights. Unexpectedly, it pulled several more along with it.
I would have gasped had I not been underwater. Decades of training and experience flowed into my mind, all revolving around managing newly formed settlements. Supply chains, logistics, population management, land surveying, geo-analysis, urban engineering, and so much more.
It came with the understanding of an entire civilization's tech base. It was all geared towards ecologically friendly solutions and was startlingly advanced. Everything from power to habitation was included. More, every building I designed or built would carry a distinctive flair to it, one that would be easily recognizable as a product of mine.
There was an ability that synergized with the leadership I'd already received, and I much better understood how to draw people together and get them to work as a group. It was a sort of communal leadership charisma, and it was stunningly comprehensive.
An oddity had been included. It was like a small pit of darkness, noticeable by the way it occasionally occluded some of the lights. That, too, was something that would affect me whether I wanted it or not.
I couldn't tell what it was, and that worried me. I didn't know what it meant, but I was sure it wasn't a good thing.
It had likely been long enough by this point. I started making my way back to shore along the riverbed, a process as agonizingly slow as it had been on the way down.
After a while, I finally reached the shallows. I stayed below the water until I could lift my head above while remaining prone, then surveyed the shore.
No sign of the wights, nor those other things that had been present. The village was quiet and untouched.
Cautiously, I stepped ashore and proceeded towards the village. The snow had been churned up, and I could see that the wights had headed downriver in a group. The air had warmed to its normal chill, and there was no sign of the storm. Evening had come, so I'd been underwater for at least a few hours.
Taking a moment to clear my lungs of the water, I hacked and coughed until I could breathe comfortably.
I checked all of the buildings, wary of wights, but I found none. They must have given up on me and moved on.
I reopened the portal, widening it as much as I could. The people within looked frightened and worried but were unharmed.
"It's safe to come out. They're gone." I announced.
They didn't move. Grenwin stepped forward, poking her head out of the portal. Satisfied, she stepped through.
"She's right," the woman stated, "I don't see any of 'em."
The others moved out cautiously, and I stepped aside. Grenwin followed, leaning down and poking a sodden shoulder.
"What happened to you? Go for a swim or some shit?" She sounded a little concerned, which was almost touching.
I tiredly nodded, "Turns out I just ignore the cold and don't need to breathe. Drug myself down to the bottom of the river and hung out for a while. They must've given up and left when they couldn't find anyone."
She regarded me with a curious expression. "Huh, that's pretty useful." She looked at the others picking their way through the settlement, "Thanks."
I cocked my head at her, "For the shelter?"
She nodded, "I've seen those fuckers before and barely got out alive. I lost my bear," she seemed wistful for a moment, "And I watched them slaughter my friends. The others haven't seen that kind of thing, they don't get it. We couldn't have run or hid. So, thank you."
"Oh. You're welcome." Something about what she said seemed off. "If running and hiding doesn't work, how'd you survive?"
There was a haunted look to her eye, "They wanted me to live. Dunno why. Cruelty, maybe. It doesn't matter."
Nodding, "It's alright. Thanks for clarifying."
She looked at me oddly, "For what?"
I blinked, "Making it clear."
"Oh."
She put a hand on my shoulder, "Let's get you in some dry clothes. Don't need you catching sick."
I nodded and she led me away to one of the smaller buildings. She rifled through a basket, pulling out a hide parka. She held it up, eyeing it, before handing it over. She produced a pair of pants, as well as a pair of soft boots that were way too large for me but would still protect my feet.
Awkwardly, I changed into the dry clothes, which hung off me to an embarrassing degree. "I appreciate the thought, but aren't these a little, ah, large?"
"Well, if you'd rather go without while yours dry…"
I put up my hands defensively, "No, no, it's fine. I appreciate it."
She nodded, "How well can you defend yourself?"
That was an odd question. "…I have a sword? That's about it, at the moment. Why?"
"I'll have to teach you, unless you want to be taken as a wife by a weakling."
"What?" Taken as a wife? "What does that mean?!"
"You don't know?" She seemed unsurprised and continued before I could reply. "Around here, we fight to keep what we have. That also means we fight to take what we want from others."
Oh. "And if someone wants a wife or husband, they take it?" I asked.
She shrugged, "Sometimes they take, sometimes they're taken. It's what we've done as long as the Wall's been up."
That was disturbing. It was socially legitimized rape, and that was really gross to consider. If I was ever in a position to do something about that, I'd have to do my best to put a stop to the practice, tradition be damned.
"Well," I said, "I should keep working on the sledges."
She seemed confused. "Slegdes? What sledges?"
"Follow me, I'll show you." I waved, turning and leaving. She did, and we made our way over to the impromptu construction yard.
Herrick was there with the other two men, and he waved me over. "Hey, builder! Can we finish this one?" He pointed at the half-complete sledge lying forlornly in the snow. "We're gonna need it. Oh, hey Gren."
Grenwin spluttered, looking between me and the new sledges, and then at the partially disassembled building. "What?!"
I gave her a pat on the arm, "I'll show you." Turning to the men, I clapped my hands, "Let's finish this up!"
It took a little less time than I expected, my improved understanding of structural engineering slightly improving the build. It couldn't be majorly improved, that would have to wait for new constructions, but it still ended up a slightly better quality than the other three.
Proudly standing on the completed sledge, I ran my hands over the handle. This one had an aesthetic to it that made the others seem crude by comparison, and to an extent, that was more due to it having a cohesive aesthetic to begin with while the others were as simple as I could make.
Grenwin inspected the sledges with a critical eye, "I've never seen anything like this. I just watched you build that one and I still can't believe it. How?"
"I'm good at building things." I replied honestly, "Superhumanly fast, at least."
Herrick laughed, "The Builder come again! And this time, she's one of us!"
I didn't know what that meant, but I was glad that at least one person was taking this well.
Her eyes widened. They were green, I noticed for the first time.
"What's all this?" A call came from the side. Taegj marched up, eyeing the sledges and the remains of the hut we'd built them from. "Herrick, where the fuck did these come from?"
Herrick clapped me on the back, and I winced as I felt a wing crumple slightly. "She made them! Don't know how, but she's fast, Taegj. And look!" He stood on the bed of the sledge, jumping up and down. "Sturdy as anything!"
"It's true," Grenwin said in a hollow voice, "I watched her put that one together faster than I could skin a rabbit."
Taegj nodded to her, then walked up to inspect the sledges. After a few moments, he turned to me. "You can do more?"
I blinked, "More of these, or more in general? I can do way more than just this. You need homes? I can build homes. Way more than that, too."
He rubbed his chin speculatively. Then, he grinned broadly. "Looks like we won't need to move after all!"
Grenwin whirled on him, "Why?! You saw the wights, the Others! We should go now, before they return! A fancy sled won't save us!"
He pointed at me, "Her magic hall worked once, it'll work again. Can you make weapons, girl?"
I nodded hesitantly, "Yes? I don't know, you said fire or that dragonglass stuff were the only things that can kill them, and I can maybe do the fire part."
He waved at me, "Herrick, I need you to help her with whatever she needs. Jorni, Lorni, head down to Antler Point, tell Ellir what happened and see if you can convince her to trade us some steel."
The men nodded, the two that had been quiet walking off.
"This is madness, Taegj!" Grenwin shouted angrily, "You'd kill us all, for what?"
"If you want to leave so badly, go." He replied coldly, "See how far you make it without the rest of us."
She reeled back as if struck, hand going to her belt knife before she turned and angrily marched away.
I wasn't comfortable with the way Taegj was looking at me. It wasn't lust, but it reminded me of how farmers regarded prize livestock. He nodded, turning and walking back to the rest of the village.
"Arse thinks he's king." Herrick spat, "We ain't kneelers. I'm gonna help you out because I want to, not for his orders."
Turning to him, "What do you mean? I'm not from around here, and I'm not sure what a kneeler is."
He looked at me, surprised. Studying my face, he nodded slowly. "You don't look like one of us, that's for sure. A kneeler…" He hummed, thinking. "We're free folk. We don't have kings or lords like the people south of the Wall do. Those people, they scrape and beg at the feet of their lords. They don't stand up for themselves. Kneelers, see?"
That was interesting information. Lords and kings? I couldn't remember any countries with actual lords like that beyond maybe the United Kingdom, but they had a queen. And what was that wall people kept talking about?
"So, this isn't Canada, then?"
"What's a canada?" He pointed at the forest, "We're in the haunted forest." Turning, he pointed at the river. "That's the Antler."
I nodded slowly, concern bubbling in my gut. I didn't recognize those names, and I was fairly certain anyone in remote Canada or Russia would have at least heard of the country. Then again, I had been fairly sure that wights weren't a thing, either. Maybe I needed to start considering that I wasn't even on Earth at all.
"You alright?" He asked, having clearly noticed my concern.
"Fine. Just, farther from home than I thought."
My stomach grumbled, and a hunger I had been suppressing became an immediate focus. "Hey, what kind of food do we have to eat around here?"
He grinned, "If we ain't running after all, probably gonna put up an evening fire soon." He pointed at the large firepit before the tree, and I saw a few people stacking logs.
"Alright, let's go help them out."
He nodded and joined me as I walked over and started helping assemble the fire.
Soon, it was lit. Meat was being put up on spits, and I helped prepare things. It was mostly out of curiosity, wondering if I could somehow make masterwork food as well.
It turned out that I could, and it was damn good for being roasted meat and wild vegetables. Everyone in the village had gathered around the fire, all happy to be alive. Some had produced instruments from somewhere, flutes and drums, and soon there was a cavalcade of music and singing.
These people loved to sing. Sometimes, they'd take a break while someone would stand and tell a story, the quality of the telling varying greatly between them.
They had been wary of me at first, but as the partying continued, they relaxed and welcomed me like one of their own. It was… Nice. They accepted that I was different with a surprising readiness.
Back home, I was sure that I'd be either ostracized or aggressively hunted down if anyone knew I could do what I had shown so far. The government probably, maybe corporations, but I'd have probably been locked up and made to build until I outlived my usefulness.
There was none of that attitude here. Sure, Taegj seemed to think I was useful enough to keep around, but it seemed that the thought of actually forcing me to stay and work hadn't even crossed his mind.
The evening passed quickly, and I ended up bashing together a simple door to use the key on. The portal had a minimum size, but I could almost completely close the door, though it refused to shut fully when I was inside. I wedged it as closed as I could, then curled up in the corner and quickly fell asleep.