Vexyna was losing track of time. How many days had it been now since she had been forced from her village?
There was a polite knock at the door. It opened to reveal Cateran, who was already dressed in her usual coveralls. “Good morning,” she almost sang.
Vexyna looked at her through heavy eyes and croaked, “Morning.” She cleared her throat, blinking several times. “That’s better,” she said. “Are we all set to hit the trail?”
Cateran helped herself to the fresh rolls that had been placed in a wicker basket on the green marble table in Vexyna’s chamber. “I haven’t seen Meen,” she said between bites.
“You won’t unless I want you to,” Phantasmine said as she materialized between the two girls.
“That’s a little invasive, isn’t it?” Vexyna demanded. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Not long,” Phantasmine replied. “I came in with Cateran and was about to announce my presence anyway. Where do you think the rolls came from? Do you think I came in earlier just to watch you sleep?”
“It does sound a bit silly, doesn’t it?” Vexyna admitted. “Sorry, I guess there are quite a few things I have to get used to in the world beyond my village.”
“Me too,” Cateran chirped in. “I had no idea the world was filled with so many wondrous things.” She was finishing her third roll and eyed her fourth. She asked Phantasmine, “Were you up all night baking?”
“Some of the physical food machines are still functional. Simple technologies always stand the test of time,” Phantasmine answered. “It is simple to turn grains and vegetables into whatever food dish is desired.”
“Whatever it is, it works for me,” Cateran said while stuffing yet another roll into her mouth.
“Are there any of those left?” Vexyna craned her neck to see from the bed.
“Yes,” Cateran said indignantly with mouth half stuffed with roll.
“If there are not enough rolls, I will process more,” said Phantasmine. “It will take no time at all. Once we are on the road, I will not be able to offer you such services.”
“We understand the machinery necessary for food preparation is stored, and will remain within the castle,” Vexyna assured Phantasmine.
“I have no need of food,” Phantasmine continued. “Vexyna, please carry my crystal in one of the pockets in your cloak. I will be able to project myself from there.”
Cateran was a bit confused. “Aren’t you coming with us? You’re just sending a crystal that can show us a picture of you?”
Vexyna tried to explain the situation to Cateran. “Phanta is not sending the crystal with us just as a remembrance of her. The crystal is Phanta. The personality that inhabited the physical body of a woman named Phantasmine is dwelling within that crystal.”
“Well put,” commented Phantasmine.
“Oh,” Cateran said in a small voice. She was trying to absorb it all. She munched slowly on a roll.
“Would you two mind giving me a little privacy while I get dressed?” Vexyna asked.
“Not at all,” said Phantasmine. She brought her right arm up swiftly and a change screen appeared surrounding the bed. “Will that do?”
“Yes, thank you,” answered Vexyna.
Vexyna noticed her freshly laundered clothes. They smelled lightly of lemons. The clothes had been neatly folded where she had left them in a pile the night before. They were still slightly warm, as if they had only recently been taken from the fire that had dried them. It gave Vexyna a warm, cozy feeling to slipped into them.
“Okay, let’s go,” Vexyna announced as she stepped from behind the screen.
Phantasmine led them down the stairs and out into the main chamber containing the passageway to the empty castle courtyard. Before they stepped through the shimmering hole, Phantasmine stopped and said to Vexyna, “Please take the red crystal on the third pedestal from the left and place it in one of your cloak pockets.”
Vexyna cautiously slipped the crystal into her pocket. “It should be safe in there,” she reassured Phantasmine.
“I hope so,” replied Phantasmine. “That is my life you are holding.”
“I’ll be careful. Which way is the exit?”
“This way,” Phantasmine said, pointing.
The road looked just as they had left it: dry, dusty and barren. The hoppers were still lounging about the meadow next door. Apparently, it had provided them with sufficient nourishment and shelter to make them stay.
“What luck!” exclaimed Cateran. She sang to the hoppers.
The hoppers’ ears perked up and they came over to see what the noise was about.
Cateran took out a piece of fruit from the front of her coveralls. “I was hoping I might be able to use this to win back our hoppers.” She took two bites and spat them on the ground. The hoppers approached and gobbled up the fruit gratefully. “We’re in business.”
The girls boarded their hoppers. Phantasmine created the illusion of a hopper for herself and climbed aboard.
Off they went bounding down the road silently for half an hour.
Phantasmine broke the silence, “Where are we going?”
“We need the Gargantuans in Ninim to remove the rocks from the entrance of my village,” Vexyna yelled over to Phantasmine.
“I don’t think it’s far to Ninim from here,” shouted Cateran.
“It is not far,” Phantasmine said. “You should be able to see it in another fifteen minutes or so. Then it will be less than an hour’s ride further to the center of the city proper.”
Fifteen minutes further down the road found the girls excited they could finally see Ninim.
Forty-five minutes later, they approached the main gates of Ninim and were not prepared for what they found.
Actually, there were no gates in the giant archway that faced the main entranceway into the city. The huge stone arch was fifty meters in height and towered over the people below. There were no walls around Ninim, simply an arch to guide people to the main road into town.
The girls were surprised to find little to no activity in the town.
They left their hoppers at the base of the main arch and started to look around for signs of people or animals. The main arch led to a long avenue of wooden buildings that looked as though they were in desperate need of a new coat of paint. Silence pervaded the street. Swirls of dust danced in the middle of the roadway between the two huge hedges running part way down the street. The hedges appeared to break into smaller sections further along the avenue.
“What’s going on here?” wondered Cateran. “Where are all the people?”
“I don’t know,” said Vexyna. “Let’s start looking in some buildings.”
There was a small yellow shack, which must have been white at one time, just off the street a bit, right beside the arch. They decided to check that building first.
The hinges of the dusty wooden door complained as they were forced to move. It took some effort for Vexyna to push open the door. It remained in the open position due to the excessive rust and grime in the hinge.
“I don’t think anyone has been in here for a while,” Vexyna said as she knocked the dust from the door handle off her hands.
“I am detecting high levels of ore dust in the hinges. The hinges are not rusty,” stated Phantasmine.
The two girls looked at Phantasmine. “I am able to see the vibrations of objects and can, therefore, tell the difference between various substances even on what you would consider a microscopic level,” she explained.
Inside the shack, the girls found a small desk. Over the desk, a sign was hanging by two thin ropes. It read, ‘Ninim Mining Information’. There were piles of leaflets on the desk. Under the leaflets was a desk blotter.
Boards on the walls read things like: ‘Outgoing Shipments’ and ‘Production Rates’.
“This must be where they keep track of all of the town’s industrial activities,” Vexyna concluded.
“From the sign over the desk, I would also conclude thi
s was the place the representatives from the other towns would come to conduct their business,” observed Phantasmine.
“Let’s see what we can dig up,” Vexyna said while rifling through the pamphlets on the desk.
“Chortux came from Ninim,” Cateran remembered. “He’s a member of my clan now. He got tired of mining and couldn’t decide what else he wanted to do, so we took him in as a craftsman of metals.”
“Did Chortux ever talk about Ninim?” asked Vexyna.
“Sometimes when he was creating different metal objects he would talk about his days ‘in the driest, death-like darkness under the planet’ as he used to call it,” Cateran reminisced. “This would be while he was making the clasp on a jewelry box or something.”
“What did he have to say about those days in the darkness?” Phantasmine prodded Cateran.
“Did he mention anything about the Gargantuans?” Vexyna asked.
“I think I recall him talking about beasts that grew up with the men and labored along with them in different areas of the mine and at different stages of growth. The younger beasts would go into the smaller portions of the mine, which meant they would be spending much of their time at the farthest reaches of the underground tunnels.”
“That would make sense if the size of the Gargantuans is of any consequence,” Phantasmine observed. “Gargantuans have been known to stand five meters from head to toe. Gargantuans are said to be covered in thick dark hair. They walk erect like humans and have considerable strength. They have no necks. Their heads sit slightly sunken between their shoulders. Their jaws are massive and when unhinged they open right down to their waists.”
“The Gargantuans were congenial workers who co-existed with the people of Ninim for many years,” Cateran continued from her memories.
“Are the Gargantuans native to this region?” Vexyna enquired.
“No. I think they’re from an island far north of this continent. The story goes that they ventured here from an island that had a giant primordial forest with trees so enormous they had locked together to block out the sun. Under this wooden dome, the snow and ice gathered in the darkness. The Gargantuans evolved in that cold, dark climate. Their necks eventually disappeared into their bodies due to them constantly holding their chins in to guard against the cold.”
“That’s an interesting story to explain a few things about the Gargantuans’ physical makeup,” Vexyna commented.
“Gargantuans are supposed to have incredible vision in the darkness,” Cateran said.
“How did they get here?” Vexyna asked.
“Chortux said he heard there was a massive lightning strike that ignited the dome of trees covering the icy island. The whole island was engulfed in flames and raging waters. The Gargantuans grabbed hold of whatever pieces of floating material they could and drifted out to sea. Eventually, they made their way to this continent.”
“Where are they now, I wonder?” Vexyna mused. “Let’s check further down the street. We may need to go as far as the mouth of the mine.”
The girls left the little yellow shack and walked down the street between the two huge hedges.
Phantasmine stopped to examine one of the hedges. “Vexyna,” she said. “Please come over here. I need to be closer to analyze this shrubbery.”
Vexyna walked over to the apparition of Phantasmine and noticed the image becoming more solid. “What’s so interesting about a bush?” she asked.
“I do not think it is a plant,” Phantasmine informed her.
“What is it?” asked Cateran, who had followed Vexyna over to the hedge.
“It is breathing,” said Phantasmine. “I believe these are not so much roadside greenery as they are animal matter of some form.” She appeared to stop and consider the bush. It was really just for show. Phantasmine merely made her image appear to be looking thoughtfully at the hedge. She was, in fact, sending out scanning vibrations from the crystal in Vexyna’s pocket. “Yes, these are definitely animals.”
“What kind of animal?” Vexyna wondered.
“Yeah,” breathed Cateran. “Whatever they are, they’re huge!”
The image of Phantasmine looked at Vexyna. “Gargantuans?”
“Why would they be lying in the street like this?”
“Afternoon siesta,” Cateran offered.
Vexyna gave Cateran a look that said ‘ha ha very funny’.
Cateran put on a silly grin.
“How can we communicate with a Gargantuan?” inquired Vexyna. “Do either of you know?”
The other two girls shook their heads.
“Let us see if we can find its face,” Phantasmine said.
“It might be hard to find through all this hair,” Cateran commented.
Phantasmine’s image appeared to pop out of existence, only to reappear again far back from where the other girls were positioned. “Hmm,” she said as she gave the appearance of biting on her thumbnail. “The one you two are in front of is five meters tall. The head is pointing toward the main arch. Its face is turned toward the buildings closest to it. There is another Gargantuan at its feet and so on down the avenue.”
“I thought they were really dark hedges,” said Cateran.
Phantasmine snapped over to where the other two girls were standing. The image of her standing across the street appeared to stop momentarily in place while the images of her walking across the street behaved in a similar fashion. This collection of images seemed to ‘snap’ back together at a spot near Vexyna and Cateran.
“Real people don’t do that sort of thing, you know,” Cateran chided Phantasmine.
“I shall endeavor to present as real a facade as possible whenever we are in the company of unknown persons,” Phantasmine advised her. “I was not really across the street, nor did I need to appear to be across the street. My image is merely for your benefit. In point of fact, I could not scan the creature from such a great distance.”
“It was pretty cool, though.” Cateran grinned.
“Did your scans reveal anything else?”
“The breathing of the creature is shallow. The ebb of its vibrations is low. Its vital signs are low, but steady. It is as if it does not have the energy to move.”
“What could’ve caused this? And where are all the humans?”
“Questions, questions. Always questions.” A voice came from behind them. “Problem is, you didn’t stick around to get any answers.”
The girls turned to see a stubby old man coming towards them. His beard was no more than a day’s worth of growth. The soot of the mine was so well blended into his skin that it almost made one believe it was his natural skin tone. Wisps of white hair encircled his crown. His thick-soled boots beat the ground heavily as he walked.
Cateran was the first to speak. “Where did you come from?”
As the old man neared the girls, he explained, “I was in the back office of the Information Office.”
“Back office?” Vexyna asked.
“Where people go to be alone with their thoughts,” prompted the old man.
The girls still looked puzzled. “You have a place of meditation adjoining your office?” queried Phantasmine.
“No, no,” said the now slightly agitated old man. “The reading room.”
“Library?” Vexyna ventured a guess.
The old man was getting even more agitated by the girls’ lack of success in grasping the concept he was trying to convey. “Forget the books and think about sitting.”
“Right here in the middle of the street?” Cateran was as confused as the old man was upset.
Cateran’s response pushed the old man over the edge and he blurted, “I was stuck in the washroom, okay? Can you understand that or should I draw you a picture?” His face was beet red and tiny bits of drool flew from his lips as he spat out the words.
“Well, what were you doing in the wash…?” Cateran started, then looked down at the ground. “Never mind.”
“Why does this town give the appearanc
e of being empty?” asked Phantasmine.
“Just because the streets aren’t crawling with people don’t mean there ain’t nobody here,” spewed forth the old man as he wiped his brow with a large red handkerchief.
“So, where are they?” Vexyna demanded.
“Most folks are in the mine,” the old man explained. “I was minding the Information Office.”
“We’d like some information,” Vexyna said.
“Come back into the office,” the old man said as he turned back toward the yellow shack.
The girls walked three abreast just behind the old man. When they reached the yellow shack, he held the door for the girls.
“There are chairs hereabouts, so make yourselves comfortable,” offered the old man.
Each of the girls said thank you as they found seats. Vexyna took the swivel-chair with the big feather pillow in the seat. Cateran plopped into an overstuffed chair surrounded by books. Phantasmine opted for the wooden straight back chair. This chair did not move, so it would be easiest for Phantasmine to maintain a realistic projection of her image.
“Anybody want coffee?” asked the old man.
The girls shook their heads.
“All we want is some information,” Vexyna said.
“Then you’ve come to the right place, because this is the Information Office. My name’s Clod Loam.” He got up from his seat again and shook each of the girl’s hands in turn, getting their names. He sat back down again in his seat behind the desk with a thud.
“Clod,” Vexyna asked, “what’s wrong with your Gargantuans?”
“Sickness, some kind of Gargantuan plague,” explained Clod. “This gang came to town a while back and demanded we ship everything we mine to this one location.”
“What did the townsfolk tell the gang?”
“We told ‘em to stuff it,” Clod shot back with a wry grin.
“I take it that did not go over well with the gang,” Phantasmine observed.
“No, it did not,” Clod replied. “They started making threats and talking about their all-powerful leader, some woman named Din.”
“Din again,” Vexyna said flatly.
“When we refused to comply, the leader of the soldiers sent three men down each of our streets waving these strange incense burners. The stuff they were burning sucked the wind right oughta the Gargs.”
“Gargs?”
“It’s short for ‘Gargantuans’,” explained Clod, then he shrugged. “Dangedest thing I ever saw.”
“What is being done about returning the Gargs to health?” asked Vexyna.
“Trouble is we have no idea where to begin,” Clod said. “The Garg doctors have looked ‘em all over and they say the Gargs oughta be fine.”
“From what Mr. Loam was saying, I would surmise the method of distribution of the illness to the Gargantuans was the smoke from that incense,” Phantasmine theorized.
“They inhaled it?”
“Inhalation is one possibility,” Phantasmine concurred. “Absorption through the epidermis is another.”
“Epi-what?” Cateran was getting lost in Phantasmine’s words again.
“Epidermis,” Phantasmine explained. “The outermost layer, usually used in reference to skin.”
“Oh,” said Cateran. “Phantasmine, why do you always have use such big words? If it’s ‘skin’, why not just say ‘skin’?”
“I was endeavoring to be as specific as possible,” Phantasmine clarified. “That way, there can be little doubt about my meaning.”
Vexyna muttered, half to herself, “I wonder why the gang didn’t pull the earth-mover trick here like they did in Shojiki.”
“I have formulated a theory about that situation as well,” Phantasmine said. “It could have something to do with this being a mining town. Perhaps the ores mined here are too precious for a show of power that could jeopardize the mines.”
“Clod,” asked Vexyna, “what sort of minerals do you mine here?”
“Titanium mainly,” Clod replied.
“A strong ore,” commented Phantasmine. “It does not weigh much.”
“You said ‘mainly’,” Vexyna said to Clod. “What else comes out of the mine?”
“Potassium nitrate, sulfur and charcoal,” responded Clod.
“You cannot mine potassium nitrate and charcoal,” Phantasmine stated.
“No, but we can process ‘em from what we do dig out of the mine,” Clod explained.
“Why would anyone be after those?” wondered Cateran.
“Weapons,” Phantasmine replied solemnly.
“Weapons?” Vexyna, Cateran, and Clod all asked simultaneously.
“Yes,” answered Phantasmine. “Weapons. High velocity projectile weapons. They existed in the time before the Forgetting that occurred over two hundred years ago.”
“How would Din know about the creation of such weapons?” mused Vexyna.
“I am curious to know that myself,” Phantasmine admitted. “Where did she acquire such knowledge? Is she, as I am, from the time before the Forgetting?”
“That would make Din over two hundred years old,” deduced Vexyna.
“Wait just a minute,” Clod interrupted. “If that’s so, and you,” he said, pointing to Phantasmine, “said you’re from before the Forgetting, then you’d be over two hundred years old, too. How’s that possible?”
“Do you trust Clod enough to show your true identity?” Vexyna whispered to the crystal in her cloak.
Let me scan his vital signs while you ask him a general question about his life here in Ninim. Then allow me to scan him when you give him a question about Din and her activities. This will give me the opportunity to gauge his worthiness of my trust. Phantasmine spoke into Vexyna’s mind.
Vexyna was startled. Phanta! You can speak into my head!
Yes, replied Phantasmine. It is a fairly simple exercise after all these years.
Can you hear my thoughts?
Not exactly, answered Phantasmine. I can only hear your thoughts when I am paying attention and vibrating at your brain’s frequency. Thoughts directed at me and harmonized with my vibration will be perceived.
If I address my thoughts to you and you happen to be paying attention, then you’ll send your thoughts to me, Vexyna responded. Is that about right?
Yes, Phantasmine’s replied. Now ask Clod about his life in Ninim.
Clod and Cateran were waiting ever more impatiently for the image of Phantasmine to speak. They had all been sitting around in silence for the past few moments and the stillness in the room was growing uncomfortable for both of them. Their heads snapped in Vexyna’s direction when she spoke. It was an involuntary movement because they were focused on Phantasmine.
“Clod,” Vexyna asked, “is your family from Ninim? Did you grow up here?”
“Sure,” Clod said as he blinked rapidly. “I grew up here. So did my pappy and my pappy’s pappy.”
“How are the ores that are mined here usually used?” Phantasmine asked.
“We manufacture furniture and tools out of the metals,” Clod informed them. “Some of the materials we mine are sent off to other towns for manufacture into other items. You probably have some of our metal tools and furniture in your village. We ship them all over the continent.”
“That would explain how Din found out what is mined here,” Cateran offered.
“What do you know of Din, Clod?” Vexyna inquired.
“I’ve seen her,” Clod confessed. “She was right here in Ninim.”
“You’ve seen her!” the girls all exclaimed.
Chapter 6: Enter the Red Empress