Going_North_cal

Calano looked up right as Bookwyrm stepped through the portal. "Wait, don't-" But Bookwyrm was already through the portal, and it was gone. "Oh no."

The voice left, and Calano just sat there numbly.

I know.

Well... this is... interesting. My username a while ago, and the main character in a book I wrote was named Theldragor. Everyone called him Thel. How funky. Other than that, this is very cool, and I love the way you've hinted at the world's magic. Everflake, Bonding, Snowlord/Snowpair, I get the feeling it's very winter and cold based and I love it. It's very well written and paced. Applause to you, my friend.

"Not my fault... It is my fault. No!... I could've... I should've...."

My turn? ok :shrug: Hmm... The clans of Ilsador and Valorma get into a border dispute, and the High Clan of Lunoma begins to make slow research into better material for weapons. There, hope that works.

Calano grimaces, and his legs fail him. He falls to his knees, gripping his head. "Shut up," He mutters, "Shut up!"

Calano whirled on the eavesdropper, and immediately teleported in front of them, grabbing them by the shoulders. "Talk. Now." He said firmly and loudly.

Kerbal Launch Program Announcement: Due to an absence of faculty in the Mission Control Center, launch of the next mission has been postponed until early Saturday Afternoon. The rocket will be moved back to the VAB for last pre-launch checks and any required maintenance before being rolled to the pad early Saturday morning. Weather reports say that ideal weather conditions are 80% GO.

"There was a looooot more trauma after no one came. But we eventually got this going, and then the whole Emma-Nethergrim stuff started."

Calano reopens the vision. Young Calano, Wizard, and Emma step through the portal into a blank expanse. Emma's mother follows them through, then brings out a similar cylinder to Calano's father, but with yellow stripes, and clicks a button. The portal closes. "Children," She says, kneeling down, "This will be your safe haven until it is safe to return to the World. There is a... Scourge underway, and we don't know when it will be safe to return. You must remain here. It is your own pocket dimension, and you may do with it as you please." Emma and Wizard stare at their mother, dumbfounded, but Calano stares at where the portal was. Emma's mother hugs her and Wizard. "I love you both. So, so much." Then she turns to Calano. "You have power, Calano. You were born with it. It will guide you in tough decisions. Your father loves you, and your mother would have loved to see the brave young man you've become." Calano begins to cry. Emma's mother brings him into a hug. "Don't cry, Blackbird. It'll be okay. Your family and friends love you. You'll be safe here." She stands, and clicks a button on the yellow-striped cylinder. A portal appears. She walks up to it. "Remember what I said." She says, turning back. There are tears in her eyes. "Trust your instincts." She steps through the portal and disappears. The portal vanishes. The children stare. Then they sit. And they weep. The vision ends. Calano closes the vision. "She left us here. And she went back to the Scourge. We never saw her or our parents again. We don't know what happened."

"It's been centuries since the Scourge. Almost a millenia. How long must we wait here until we can return?"

Calano moves the dot a fraction forward, and the vision appears again. Calano's father ushers both Calano and a young Wizard out the back door of a house. Rushing across the yard, a roar echoes from the front of the house, and then Emma's mother and Emma appear. Calano grips his fathers hand as the roar sounds again. Calano's father kneels, and looks him in the eys. "Calano," He says, "Blackbird, go with Wizard and Emma. You can survive. I love you." "Father," Calano says, "Where are you going?" Calano's father does not answer immediately, but instead draws from his pocket a small cylinder, with blue stripes. He points it at the air and clicks a button. "I'm staying," He says as a portal appears. What's on the other side, no one knows. "But you must go through." Calano looks at the dark portal, then back at his father. "But... What about you?" He asks. "Shh," Calano's father says, ruffling his hair, "Don't worry about that, Blackbird. I love you, but go with Wizard and Emma. Go with their mother, she will help you get settled, and then return." The roar sounds again, much closer, and Emma's mother ushers them to the portal. Calano's father shouts, "Go! Now!" Before dashing back into the house. Emma's mother guides them into the portal, and the vision ends. Calano stares at the vision. "I haven't seen these memories in years. They aren't fun to think about. I know so little still."

Calano stared at where the vision had been. "I have so many questions," He said, "Where did they go? I don't remember much after they left. I knew they came back, and then they vanished a little while later."

GIVE ME YOUR BONES

Scene #66: Funny Flash Fiction, not really a vignette. Scene #67: Little Poem

Calano's father curses softly, and clicks a few buttons on a pad in his hand. "Three centuries working on this, and we're missing the one thing we need to finish it. We're so close." Emma's father looks up. "If this works, Emma, Wizard, and Calano will be safe. Safer than they could ever be." Calano's father nodded, and looked at his wall, where there was a picture of a young Calano, his face covered in dirt, his black hair matted and chaotic. "Yes, they will. Get a plan together. If we don't find the Artifice, we're screwed. We have to get it. Fast." Emma's father looks at the picture of Emma, and reaches out to touch it. "I'll keep you safe," He whispers, "You and your brother will survive. I promise." Calano's father walks to the workshop door. "Come on, we have to prepare for the journey." Emma's father walks over to join him inside, and the vision ends.

The timelines touched, and wove together, creating a gold and black woven thread, with a shimmering bead of onyx and gold in the middle. "Have at it then," Calano said.

Calano waved his hand, and the timeline got a lot closer to Emmas. The vision of his father and her father vanished as the proximity between the two timelines decreased. "What's your idea?"

Suddenly, something clicked in Calano's mind. He looked down at the picture. Then up at Emma. Then down at the picture again. Then back up at Emma. "Emma... I think that's you. Why else would it be directly in the line of sight of your father?" He looked back down at the scene, at his father showing young Calano all the things he and Emma's father were working on. "I had always wondered if someday I would meet that girl... I had a lonely childhood. It was me and my imagination. I thought that maybe, at some point, I could meet the girl in the photo, be her friend." He looked back up at Emma. "Now I'm more than that."

And so the balance shifts