I had a request for another AoL interlude and I was in the mood for one even though it was outside the planned updates, so here we are.

As usual all speech in italics is in the Old Tongue.

Interlude XXIX - The Golden Core

A few years before the War of Power

Taija tried to keep track of where Nerina was, her niece seemed to be practically bouncing off the walls. "You didn't feed her sugar before we came did you?!"

"No, she's just excited to be out with you and Tel." Her mother laughed, "far too much energy that girl. You were much quieter at her age, although you had your moments too. Why I remember when you first started channeling..." She saw the expression on Taija's face and hurriedly continued. "Anyway, thank you for offering to take her out, it'll be nice to have some peace and quiet for the day without her rocketing around bothering me."

Her words didn't seem to bother Nerina who'd started jumping up and down on the spot. "Well, I'm sure we'll have a great time." Taija did her best not to look dubious and studiously ignored the way Tel was silently counting out Nerina's jumps. "Come on Tel, Nerina, let's go."

Nerina was out the door in a flash and as they made their way down the stairs to the outside street she barely stopped talking, "so are we going to Travel there? I've only Traveled once before and it was so cool."

"I know, I made the gateway." Taija ignored Nerina's stuck out tongue.

"Can Tel make the gateway this time? Is it different when he makes it?"

Tel laughed, "no it's just the same, but anyway we won't be Traveling."

"What do you mean we won't? How will we get there then? I know where the Golden Core is, it's near Paaran Disen and if you don't Travel that takes," Nerina thought for a second, "a long time."

"Who said anything about a Golden Core?" Taija carefully kept a straight face. "I thought we could have a nice bus ride to the library and do some reading."

That was met with a horrified silence for a few seconds. Then Nerina was all hurt dignity. "Is this one of your jokes Auntie Taija? It's not very funny."

"But I thought you liked reading? Mum was telling me all about how you'd been enjoying the Adventures of Detective Suello."

"It's not the same." Nerina folded her arms and pouted. They stopped at a bus stop and her eyes widened. "You were joking weren't you…?"

"Well you got such good grades in school this year that the library seemed like a great reward."

Tel gave Taija a disapproving look, "don't be cruel."

Taija laughed. "Well, what did I tell you about Traveling safely last time?"

"Traveling can be very dangerous, because gateways can cut through anything, including people and so you should only Travel to and from specific, safe places." Nerina recited the words after a moment's thought and Tel's eyebrows rose.

Taija shrugged and ruffled Nerina's hair, ignoring her niece's attempt at avoiding it. "She's a bright girl! So, where might we be getting the bus to?"

"A specific, safe place?" Suddenly Nerina's excitement was back in full force. "I knew you were joking! Golden Core!"

=======

An hour or so later, Taija, Nerina and Tel reached the entrance gates to the Golden Core. Nerina had been briefly disappointed that Tel's gateway looked the same as Taija's, but actually listened to Taija's explanation of the differences in how men and women spun gateways.

Neon lights flashed around them, illusions of planets, spaceships and fantastical creatures whirled overhead and from inside the towering walls they could hear the sound of happy screams and shouting. It was an impressive entrance for Paaran Disen's newest theme park and, as Nerina had informed them several times on the way there, the best one in the world.

Getting in was a matter of moments, Tel just scanned the pre-bought, fast-track tickets on his phone at the gate and they were through, lifted up on an invisible platform over the walls and skipping the hours-long queue that stretched outside. There were advantages to dating a rich celebrity. There were also disadvantages Taija noted slightly sourly as a group of young women nudged each other and pointed at the three of them.

"Can we go on the Dragon Riders of Pren first Uncle Tel?"

Nerina had clearly decided which of them would be the softer touch. Tel caught Taija's eye over Nerina's head.

Taija shrugged, "she'll know what's good, she's probably read the website all the way through, twice."

"I have!" Nerina proudly agreed.

"Well," Tel grinned, "then we can hardly say no. Where's this Pren Dragon ride? Since you know all about it, you can navigate us."

Nerina didn't hesitate, dragging them over to a giant display board with a map of the park, little animated figures moving to show the rides' locations.

She had an impressive sense of direction, at least when they were going somewhere she wanted to. In no time at all the three of them found themselves at the ride, again able to skip most of the queue. As they waited in the underground tunnel leading to the ride, dragons flew across the walls and ceiling, breathing fire at strange creatures, twisting and twirling as they battled through the sky.

Nerina was staring intently at them, practically vibrating with excitement and oblivious to the other two. Her distraction at least gave Taija the opportunity to chat with Tel. "So I've managed to get the day booked off next week so I can come and see your match."

"You know you don't need to do that, I'm well aware fencing isn't your thing." Despite his words he had a hint of a pleased smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

"Nonsense, you'll be defending your title. It's important and I want to be there." She shot a glance at the still distracted Nerina, "and you know I enjoy watching you." Taija's grin turned a little mischievous.

"Well, I'll do my best to put on a good show, maybe you can have an autograph afterwards too."

"Oh you're too kind, I'm beyond honoured…" Taija was cut off by the man behind them in the queue.

"Tel Janin Aellinsar? By the Light it is, sir it is an honour to see you here." The man's cut-glass Paaran Disen accent contrasted irritatingly with Taija's harsher Adanza tones. "Your last match was true genius, I am very much a fan of your work, the final exchange was pure artistry."

"Ah well, thank you for your kind words, but…"

The man was not to be discouraged. "I would not have thought that a man of your stature would be here queuing in a theme park though," his eyes flicked down to Nerina. "Oh an excursion with your… daughter perhaps? How sweet and her nanny?"

Taija was about to say something before Tel exploded when Nerina piped up, clearly having chosen this moment to start paying attention again. "She's not my nanny, she's Tel's girlfriend. He's super nice."

"I see…" The man gave Taija a sceptical look out of the corner of his eye, ignoring her raised eyebrows. "Well I shall not bother you any further then."

Before any of them could say any more the queue moved forward taking Taija, Tel and Nerina along to board the ride.

Taija was grumbling to herself after that and she could see Tel was in a bit of a sulk too, repeatedly glancing behind himself in irritation. That was until Nerina hit him on the arm, "stop sulking!"

"Nerina!" Taija gasped. "You can't just go hitting people."

"Tel told me I could hit him whenever I wanted though." Taija gave Tel a look that promised words later.

"Nope, you can't just hit people, what if you hurt them? Tel is setting a terrible example and you mustn't listen to him."

Tel laughed, "she's not going to hurt me."

"That's not the point and you know it."

"But look, he's stopped sulking!"

As they bickered good naturedly a teenage attendant strapped them into their seats with a warning not to try to get out until they were released. Taija heard the physical restraint click into place and felt the forcefield settle around her torso too. She quickly looked over Nerina to make sure she was properly secured too and then reached over and grabbed Tel's hand. The obnoxious man was now forgotten, Tel looked almost as excited as Nerina to be there. It was cute really, sometimes he was just a giant kid. A moment latter Taija felt Nerina's smaller hand grab hers from the other side. She met her niece's excited eyes and gave her a grin at the same time as she squeezed her hand. While she could think of things she might rather do than go to a theme park, at that moment there was nowhere she'd rather have been.

Then, with a roar, the ride started. Their seats were on a platform shaped to be like a dragon's back and with a shudder it started to move. Huge wings appeared to each side of them and the snake-like neck of a dragon ahead. The whole platform shook and the domed roof above them vanished. Finally, with a jolt that forced Taija back into her seat, they were launched violently into the air.

It was exhilarating as they shot upwards, the giant wings beating on each side of them to the sound of the dragon's roars. They climbed almost vertically, going hundreds of metres above the huge theme park before their momentum ran out and the dragon rolled over into an almost vertical dive.

Nerina and Tel whooped with joy while around them people screamed. Taija just happily held onto their hands, she might not have been a screamer, but that didn't mean she wasn't enjoying it.

Then Taija's composure was broken and she let out a shriek of her her own as a burst of flame blasted over their heads and another dragon passed them. She'd actually felt the heat from that and its huge beating wings buffeted them as it flew by, more screaming riders on its back. Their own dragon roared a challenge and suddenly snapped into a tight turn, pursuing its rival and blasting fire at it. What followed was a stomach churning aerial dance over the theme park, culminating in a steep climb and dive with the two dragons spiraling around each other, blasting out flames.

All too soon it was over, their dragon landing back in its dome, the roof folding closed over it, and young attendants coming and unstrapping them. Despite having enjoyed it, Taija felt a bit unsteady on her feet as she staggered away. Tel and Nerina on the other hand looked completely unphased chatting happily to each other as she tottered behind them.

"Then when it dived like that, it was sooo fast, just zoom!" Nerina made a diving, chopping motion with her hand to accompany the words.

"I know, and the fire was so close, it was lucky our dragon was better!" The worst, or maybe best, thing was Tel wasn't even really humouring Nerina. Taija was quite sure he was pretty much as into it as he was acting. He was into anything high adrenaline really, she had no idea how he'd survived into his second century.

As Taija shook her head affectionately at the thought her mind went onto how the ride's designers done it. Some combination of technology and ter'angreal, of course. It had probably cost an absolute fortune, she'd winced when she saw how much Tel had spent on the fast-track tickets. Anti-gravity generators would have done the job for getting the two dragons into the air. Then…

Nerina interrupted her thoughts, "Auntie Taija you don't look very happy. Didn't you enjoy the ride?"

Taija quickly pulled herself back to the real world. "Oh no, it was great fun, very exciting! I was just trying to figure out how it worked. You see, you could use anti-gravity generators in an array under the platform to generate the lift, then a ter'angreal with a bit of programming for the wings and head. The real question is what they were doing to get the movement like that. I think maybe if you applied webs of air, I suppose from a ter'angreal, in the right way you could…" She blinked at Nerina's outraged face. "What?"

"You're ruining it! It was a dragon, dragons can fly and it was cool."

"But…"

Tel put his hand on Taija's shoulder. "Of course it was a dragon, silly."

Nerina sighed and put on her most knowing tone. "I know you like explaining things Auntie Taija and you can tell Uncle Tel all about it once you're home, but I don't want to hear it, I want to think about dragons."

Taija gave her a look and then relented. "As you command. Tel prepare yourself for when we get this monster off our hands."

"I can't wait."

======

By mid-afternoon even Nerina was flagging. They were queuing for 'the Spaceships of Tarrack', which promised to take them through the mysterious hyper dimensions between worlds as they fought off asteroid pirates. Luckily Tel had given her a look before she'd started explaining to Nerina why that was unrealistic. Even Taija could admit that Nerina didn't really need to know much about dimensional physics. Not yet anyway. Anyway, if she had started, no doubt her niece would have given her an exasperated look and told her she knew it wasn't real but she wanted to enjoy it.

The young woman in front of them kept glancing back, another Tel Janin fan no doubt. Taija sometimes wanted to suggest he walk around under an illusion, but then that might cause problems with some of the identity checking systems that were up in places these days. Light knew what the world was coming to when the government needed to be watching for criminals and terrorists like that. Also, she liked looking at him. She sighed internally as the woman seemed to gather her courage and turned round. She could feel Tel stiffening slightly too.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, but are you Taija Kosola Miranen?"

Taija's irritated train of thought came to a crashing halt. "Uh, yes?"

"Oh! I thought so, I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say what a fan of your work I am. I lecture in physics in M'Jinn and your work is truly inspirational. I use your lecture series on esoteric particle detection as part of the material for my core classes."

"I uh, thank you. I'm honoured." Taija really had no idea how to deal with this, this sort of thing was Tel's job.

As if sensing her discomfort the woman spoke quickly. "Anyway you have a beautiful daughter and partner, you're a very lucky woman. I'll get out of your hair, I just wanted to say how much I appreciated what you do." With that she turned back to her own group. Leaving a stunned Taija, an amused Tel and an oblivious Nerina behind.

======

At the end of the day Taija and Tel returned to her mother's apartment with an exhausted Nerina. Not that Taija had all that much more energy after wrangling her all day. Tel on the other hand seemed to have boundless energy and had sat her on his shoulders when she started grumbling about being tired. She was too big for that really, but he was more than strong enough to haul an adult around easily enough, Taija knew that from experience.

Once Nerina had been successfully returned to her grandmother, they headed away, hand in hand.

"She's such a handful. Can we maybe do something a bit less energetic tomorrow? I don't want to keel over at work on Monday."

Tel grinned smugly, "well I need to train in the morning…"

"Yes I know I'll be there too." Not that she could keep up with him, but it was still fun joining in and he avoided the more violent training when he knew she'd be along.

"…but I've got a nice surprise for you in the afternoon," Tel smoothly continued as if she hadn't interrupted.

"Oh a surprise. I like surprises. Tell me, what is it?"

"It won't be a surprise if I tell you."

"Ok I hate surprises. Tell me." She poked him in the side. The hard muscle made it feel like poking a wall.

"Nope."

She poked him again harder. "Ow, try to be more pokeable, also tell me."

"Nope, it's a surprise."

======

The present day

Taija groggily opened her eyes and pushed herself back up. She must have fallen asleep at her desk. Of course it had just been a dream. All that was gone. She took in her office's plain, stone walls. Painful memories that she tried not to think about until her sub-conscious made her revisit them, but now she wanted to grasp at them, hold those vividly happy moments close to her for just a little longer.

Tel's surprise had turned out to be some kind of exclusive luxury resort. They'd finished up the day lying in their own private infinity pool, pressed against each other and watching the sunset over a forest that stretched across the horizon. He'd even listened to her theories on how they made the rides work. Another perfect moment with him in a long series of perfect moments.

With a growl Taija dipped her pen into the ink and turned her attention back to her paperwork. It hardly mattered, it was all gone now. The Golden Core was ashes, being next to Paaran Disen it had no doubt survived the War, not like Adanza, just to be destroyed in the Breaking. Perhaps one of its ter'angreal had survived as a wonder to be preserved in the White Tower and somehow used to abuse their novices. There were no infinity pools or exclusive resorts anymore either. Tel had helped make sure of all that. Why couldn't she just ignore him? Why couldn't she just move on and be happy?

She started to write a note on a supply report, scratching out the words with the shitty third age pen she was forced to use. What had she even done to deserve this? The man she loved dangled in front of her every day, a reminder of everything she'd lost and everything she wanted. All while she knew full well what he'd done to end it all.

Taija wiped a tear off her cheek. Fuck the world, the pattern and everything that had brought her here. She would do her duty, but she still wished she hadn't survived.