Cynthia's funeral is beautiful. The villagers have wrapped her corpse in silks and clean linens. They have spiced the cloth so that a powerful scent of flowers wafts behind her as she is carried into the forest. The entire village follows. Stephen and Derek accept Kinewyn’s warning not to ask the villagers to carry Cynthia. He explains to them that the people of Eramyl believe that once a person has passed their body cannot be touched by family or friends. Doing so reminds the fallen one of their connection to Thrycion making it more difficult, if not impossible, to leave their loved ones.
The village elder sings a sonorous message of sorrow and loss to the night. The women of the village, having never met Cynthia, cry quietly. Stephen realizes that many of the people here have lost members of their families today. Fathers, brothers, sisters, and yet they honor Cynthia because they believe her to be a hero, an adventurer like Kinewyn’s band members.
Stephen is surprised when Max steps forward to speak. "People of Eramyl - thank you for this ceremony for Cynthia. You did not know Cynthia, so I will tell you about her. Cynthia was a girl who had dyslexia," Max falters, thinks of a way to explain to people who did not know the young gamer or her world. "Cynthia became confused when she read. We were students together when we were children and I watched her struggle to learn what other children picked up easily. She began to hate books. I'm sorry - I mean scrolls or tomes. She grew to hate the written word because it made her look foolish to her fellow students. And Cynthia was not a fool, she had a brilliant imagination. She could think through problems that others gave up on. Well, Cynthia's confusion went away because of one special tome - a book about your world, Thrycion. This tome (which me and my fellow Plane Walkers thought of only as a game) became a precious gift to Cynthia. She struggled through the first reading and then the second reading went faster. She read that tome a dozen times before three double scythe moon's spans had passed. Cynthia then read through all of the tomes written by Korbach, a Plane Walker who traveled to Thrycion decades ago, and then read them again and again. She did not set out to become an avid reader but it is what happened, because of Korbach's tome that detailed Thrycion. Thank you, people of Eramyl, for this tribute to a fallen hero."
Max walks back to his place near Stephen and Derek. The villagers lower Cynthia into a deep grave and men come forward and shovel dirt over her corpse. The village's wisdom, bowed and grey with age brings a paper lantern to Bryong. The paper lantern is simple and rest in the crook of a forked branch. The flame inside the lanterns glows bright white, absent of the oranges and reds of a normal flame. As Bryong holds the lantern the wisdom reaches into pouches in her tattered cloak and takes out a vial of honey. She dabs the honey on thick around the edges of the lanterns top.
"What is she doing?" Derek asks Stephen.
"I’m not certain. I’ve never seen anything similar to this in any of the B&B source books."
The villagers begin to proceed back. Bryong stands at the start of the path back to Eramyl. As each villager passes her she casts a spell, recreating in her left hand the branch and the burning lantern in her right hand. The villagers each take the lantern and hold it high as they proceed down the clear path through the forest. Stephen and Derek queue up and receive their lanterns. Stephen has to look around before finding Max talking to Kinewyn far back near the last of the villagers waiting to receive a lantern.
The trees are a dozen yards back from the path and Stephen looks at the night sky. He is disappointed to see that there is cloud cover. No moons or stars can be seen. Stephen wonders if he would have been able to make out any constellations. The path is easy to follow and Stephen settles into the silence of those around him. He is startled by a screech from above and behind. He turns to see a patch of dark activity in the sky behind them. The screech is echoed by other creatures and Stephen lowers the lantern and steps back as he realizes a swarm of blue-black bat-like creatures are descending on the villagers. Derek's alarm is evident as he drops his lantern and throws his backpack to the ground to dig for his Glock. The villagers around the two simply stop, turn and hold their lanterns high. The blue-scaled flyers, each a meter in length from clawed wing-tip to clawed wing-tip, swoop down screeching and snatch each of the lanterns from the villagers hands. Stephen's lantern is held low and the fast, adroit flyer going for his light has to dip and dig talons into his shoulder to snatch the lantern and bound away.
Stephen curses and wipes at the blood on his shoulder. Derek puts his hand on top of Stephen's head and turns him to view the sky. A river of swirling lights weaves its way into the starless night. The lanterns bob and twinkle as the flock of scaled bat-creatures soar out. Stephen forgets the pain in his shoulder as he witnesses a luminous ceremony of memory conducted by creatures of Thrycion.
Thrycion, ERAMYL VILLAGE - 7 HOURS AFTER FOOTFALL
"You should get some sleep, Stephen," Max comes over and sits at one of the logs surrounding the bon fire the villagers have made.
"What were you talking with Kinewyn about?"
Max smiles and nods at the two young villagers sitting a few logs down from them, "Earth. Kinewyn is very interested in our world. You know all that time we spent roleplaying in this world, looking for something interesting, and it turns out Earth is as interesting as Thrycion any day. That old elf thief was amazed to hear that books are so plentiful on Earth that most towns have multiple libraries. He was quite intrigued when I told him about airplanes and speedboats and television."
"You shouldn't be telling him those things, Max."
"Why not? You wanted to tell him?"
"No, because there is no sense in telling him about things he will never see," Stephen picks up a long thin branch at his feet.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that were going back to Earth soon and were not coming back to Thrycion again."
Max looks surprised, "Why?"
"What do you mean, why? Isn't it obvious? You shot someone before you were here even two hours-"
Max laughs, "Well, you taught us 'always alpha-strike the mage'."
"This isn't even remotely funny, Max. That Golon broke bones in you, didn't he? Cynthia is dead and I’m lucky that wisdom had a poultice to cover the half-inch slashes that bat-thing put in my shoulder. There has been nothing but violence since we arrived and we haven't even been here eight hours."
"Stephen," Max places a hand on his shoulder and draws it away as Stephen winces. "Listen, I am sorry I doubted you. I thought you were crazy but I came because I’m your friend. And you know what, friend; this is all going to work out just fine. We are going back to Earth and guess what? We and probably half the B&B players on Earth are going to millionaires, some of us billionaires. Stephen, do you have any idea what you have done. The discovery of Thrycion makes Christopher Columbus' trip to America look like a boys scout earning his hiking badge. The governments and corporations of Earth are going to be lining up to do business with every kingdom on Thrycion and who has the knowledge of Thrycion's people, creatures, locations, magic, treasure? B&B roleplayers, that's who. Being a veteran B&B roleplayer is going to be the hottest skill set on the job market for the next two decades. Earth governments and corporations will be recruiting B&B roleplayers left and right, at top dollar. And you, Stephen, are now the gatekeeper. You have the key to the only portal between Thrycion and Earth."
Stephen snaps a length off of the long thin branch and casts it into the fire in front of them, "Let's count the way's you are wrong. One - the portal in North Carolina is not the only portal to Thrycion from Earth. Two - no one is going to get rich serving as a guide from Earth to Thrycion because Three - I am not going to be the door man for Coca-Cola and WalMart to setup shop in Thrycion. You were right about one thing. In this case, I am like Christopher Columbus and look at all the good he did the “New World". The difference between me and Christopher Columbus is that when I go back I can make sure no one else follows, in either direction."
"Well, I think that is a pretty ugly way to look at the situati
on. Stephen, you loved the B&B roleplaying game because it allowed you to share this special world with people. Now that you find out that this world is real, not just a product of Korbach's imagination, but a world as rich and vibrant as our own you don't want to share it?"
Stephen is silent for a moment. "It's a good point, Max. I would like to share Thrycion with people, but I don't think it is possible. When we play B&B I have control of all of the non-player character's actions and the player characters are run by people I know, I like and I trust. If I let people starting coming and going between Thrycion and Earth in the numbers you are talking about, I will not be able control the situation. Even at that, I’m ashamed of my own actions since I came here. It was stupid of me to give that Glock to Kinewyn. I just wanted us to be close to a real group of adventurers, to see for real what we had pretended to be all those hours at the table back on Earth. I'm cursing, too."
Max laughs, "Stephen, you really are funny. Cursing. Come on. You have to admit your faith as an evangelical Christian is pretty laughable now. I respected your religion on Earth because I didn’t know if Jesus really died on the Cross to save mankind. I watched you live your life and honestly, there were days were I thought, hey, maybe Stephen is different because he has been reconciled to God through his belief in Jesus Christ. You always said that sin separates us from God (and, yes, I have felt separated from God) but that acceptance of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross could reunite us again to God because our sins would be paid for. But now, Stephen, now we know that even if Christ was resurrected, it meant nothing. Here resurrection is a commodity, bought and sold. Why would it be different on Earth?"
Stephen looks directly at Max, "Well, I am most pleased that at least you listened when I presented the Gospel to you, even if you don't remember the verses. You need to hear them again. Problem! 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. Solution ! 1 Peter 3:18; For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. Response! John 3:36; Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Until believe you need a savior and ask Jesus Christ to save you, you are destined for Hell. You need to understand Max, my faith in Jesus Christ is not shaken by seeing resurrections here on Thrycion. It is strengthened. There is sorcery on Earth, just as there is sorcery on Thrycion and these people are in no less need of a Savior to give them everlasting life than the people of Earth. I wish we could stay so I could study resurrection here on Thrycion and determine why God allows it, but I am convinced we need to leave right away. Kinewyn set Coveark on first watch and he has some of the villagers spaced around us. I think its safe to sleep but we need to leave and go back through the portal first thing in the morning."
"Whoa. That is awfully fast. Kinewyn wants to go with us. Is it fair that you give him that little time to put things in order to leave with us?"
Stephen throws another length of the branch into the fire, "He is not coming with us. It's too dangerous. Aaaarrg - you frustrate me, Max. Why did you call yourself a Plane Walker when you spoke at Cynthia's funeral tonight? We are going to be remembered here on Thrycion. Every word you say matters."
Max shakes his head, "Yes, every single word matters. Every action we take matters. I called myself a Plane Walker because that is exactly what I am. You, me, Derek and Cynthia (and she gave her life to do it) walked across from the plane Earth exists in to the plane Thrycion exists in. That's what we are now, Plane Walkers. We have been on two planes."
"What makes you think that Thrycion is on a different plane than Earth, Max? I think Thrycion is in the same universe as Earth. These are just two planets separated by probably billions of light years."
Max laughs, "You are way out of your area of expertise, Stephen. The fact is we don't know how or why Thrycion is here. But you should understand now that you have seen it that Thrycion is simply a world that Korbach traveled to. He did not create Thrycion whole-cloth out of his imagination."
Stephen shifts, he is sweating because of his weight and his proximity to the fire, "You’re right about that, Max. We won't find our B&B characters running around on Thrycion. These are real people, real kingdoms, real dangers. I know that now. B&B is a game and Thrycion is real."
"Stephen, I am sorry I shot Bryong today. I was scared and I panicked. I will accept your decision to leave and go back through the portal to Earth in the morning if you will think about letting Kinewyn come through with us. Please just think about it. Think about the heroism he displayed today, on behalf of the people of Eramyl and on behalf of each of us. When you realized there was a whole new world to explore here in Thrycion, you couldn’t wait to get here. Kinewyn is an adventurer that now knows that there is new world to explore. He is excited and I think he deserves a chance to see Earth. Please think about it."
"I will, Max. I will. I have to go check on Derek. I haven't seen him in almost two hours."
"No worries. He is keeping watch with Azor."
Stephen tosses the rest of the branch into the fire, "Azor is a Golon. He doesn't need sleep. Derek does."
"Stephen, Derek is talking with an extraterrestrial life form. I don't think he is ready to sleep right now. We are each going to process this whole thing in different ways. Let him enjoy Thrycion while he can. You go get some sleep so we can start out early tomorrow morning."
Stephen nods and makes his way back to the tent Coveark set up early for the gamers. He waits to close the flap long enough to see Max head over to Bryong's tent. He wants to stay up and watch Max but weariness takes him and he falls asleep with his shoes on.
Thrycion, ERAMYL VILLAGE - 7 HOURS AFTER FOOTFALL
Stephen is sore from sleeping on the ground. His clothes, slept in and three-days worn, are rumpled and rank. He stuffs his B&B BladeMasters Guide into his backpack and comes out of his tent. Fifty feet away toward the forest surrounding Eramyl, a fire roasts a brace of fowl. Kinewyn is serving boiled eggs to Coveark and Bryong. Derek and Azor sit on the other side of the fire, talking. Max is nowhere to be seen.
Kinewyn smiles and sets down the small pan he is serving from and helps Stephen with his gear.
"Break your fast, Stephen. Eat with me and mine."
"Thank you, Kinewyn. I accept your hospitality as the woods accept the wind."
"An Elven thanks. Your friend Max was correct, you are knowledgeable of Thrycion and its peoples."
"Max told me that you wish to come to Earth with Derek and Max and myself."
"This is true, Plane Walker."
"Why do you wish to come to Earth?"
Kinewyn sits with grace, "I am concerned about the wizard that Korbach met on Earth."
Stephen is stunned.
"Surely, you understand that a Thrycion wizard on Earth is a concern for both our worlds, Stephen."
Bryong nods in agreement with Kinewyn, "I am one of the most powerful freecasters on Thrycion. I consult with wizards, sorcerers and mages in nearly every city Kinewyn’s band travels through. I have never heard any wizard, sorcerer or mage describe the wonders of Earth that Max told us about last night. I think the wizard that traveled through the portal before Korbach came here is still on Earth. We should find him."
Stephen places the wooden bowl containing his breakfast down, "I - I never even considered what it meant that there is a Thrycion wizard on Earth. I was so intent on coming here that it just never processed in my head what that could mean. Yes, it would be good to find that wizard. But Kinewyn, you need to understand some things before I will even consider taking you and Bryong back with us to Earth. One - I believe Bryong's magic will not work on Earth. The only cases of magic being displayed on Earth like exist here on Thry
cion are in the Bible, an important book on my world, but those accounts are two-thousands years old and magic is not a part of every-day life on Earth. Two - I am the only one who has the key to the portal between Thrycion and Earth and once I go back I do not intend on returning. I have seen the chaos and loss that I have caused here in less than a day and I do not think Thrycion and Earth should be connected again. If you came to Earth then I would expect you to stay there."
Kinewyn looks at Bryong and she shakes her head. The old elf turns again to Stephen, "Even if I did not intend to bring Coveark and Bryong, I would not stay on Earth forever. Thrycion is my home. You have stayed a single day on Thrycion and there has been chaos and loss just as you have said. Stephen, I can assure you that chaos and loss occurred on Thrycion before you arrived and it will occur after you leave. Let Coveark, Bryong and myself come to Earth for one single day. If Bryong's magic does work on Earth than it is possible we will be able to find him in even that short amount of time. I do not believe our presence on Earth will not be catastrophic and it will mean a great deal to each of us. We have adventured to farthest corners of Thrycion, but we have never Plane Walked. As an act of friendship between Earth and Thrycion before the portal is closed again, please let us walk for one day on your world."
Stephen shifts, not used to sitting on hewn logs, "One day on my world, staying with me each moment, you will return to Thrycion, without question?"
Kinewyn looks Stephen in the eye, "I will."
"I believe you, Kinewyn. Let me get something in my stomach and we will be on our way. Derek, come on over, were going back directly after we break our fast."
Derek leaves Azor and comes over to Stephen.
"I am staying here, Stephen. I am staying with Azor."
Stephen places his bowl of food down again and listens as Derek continues.
"Stephen, the weekly B&B games were the best hours of my week every week. Now I have a chance to live in that world and the chance to be something that I don't think I ever would have been on Earth."
"A fighter?" Stephen inquires.
"A hero, Stephen. This can be a new start for me. Azor is continuing on to Grenfell to warn the clan leader Brugon Slace of King Trajon's plans to steal their regions timber. Azor is taking care of Kinewyn’s tasks while he’s gone and I am going to stay and help him."
"Derek, I don't intend to retu-"
"I heard every word you said. I don't intend to return to Earth. Thank you, Stephen. You gave me something special on Earth and something priceless on Thrycion. I will miss you, Friend."
Stephen stands and embraces Derek. Derek returns to where Azor sits, grabs his backpack and brings it to Stephen. "All my gear, including the Glocks, is in here. There are three envelopes in there as well. Each contains a key to a locker at the following international airports - Philadelphia, D.C. And Atlanta. There is at least $75,000 in each locker. Give one to Cynthia's family and do whatever you wish with the rest."
Chapter 10