Everworld

Proof of Concept – The Puzzles of Everdome

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Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

Every once in a while I get an idea for a novel but I’m not sure how well it’ll transition from brain to page. So I take the story out for a test drive. I call it a Proof-of-Concept and wrote about it here.

My family has been doing digital escape rooms for a while and I got an idea while writing Elizabeth 5, about a combination of an escape room and a dungeon dive but as a reality TV show.

Since I’d already written a book as a reality show, I figured this would be the perfect concept to re-visit Everdome.

It’ll probably be a long while before I get to it, but I’m excited to go back.

She stood on the highest hill in the Grey Havens and looked over the fields of the dead. Despite the vanquishing of the Corrupter, this dome still writhed with undead horrors. Mostly shambling corpses that projected illusions of loved ones, but there were darker things hiding in the golden cities. Vampires, necromancers, and the last of the great beasts.

Just the idea of Thincas, the beast of two faces, sent a shiver down Queen Jasmine’s spine. She put her hand to her sword and felt the comforting weight.

“That’s not going to help you against the dead,” Kathryn said glibly.

“This isn’t any ordinary blade. It’s been blessed by twelve priests, the Sisters, and Myrddin himself. Since this is as much your fault as it was the old gods, I think you should be less flippant.”

Giving a withering look toward the Queen, Kathryn said, “Child, I have lived and seen things you have no concept for. I watched as Everworld exploded and became Everdome. I was there when this dome turned from gold to grey, and I have been trying to find a way to fix it since. I have travelled the realms and universe. If swords, honour, and military arrogance could fix it, it would have been done by better sovereigns than you.”

The Queen advanced toward the other woman, both the only splotches of colour other than the golden ruins. Their warm brown skin seemed to brighten the area. The Queen’s armour shone bright silver and Kathryn’s purple coat seemed to mirror the difference between them.

“Oh for fuck’s sake. I thought travelling with women meant I could avoid the pissing contests.” They turned to the shorter woman with wild brownish red hair. She was dressed in brown leather armour and had more weapons than most people could count. “You’re both idiots and you’re both right. We can’t do this without Kathryn, and we can’t do this without Jasmine. Get over yourselves and get along or we’re not just going to die, we’re going to become like them.” Es’Sem the warrior queen of the Wild Nations said, and the other women stepped away from each other and looked suitably cowed.

The three companions walked in silence while the sun rose, or more accurately the clouds became less black and more grey. The smell was horrific; a combination of sickly sweet and rotting. They each sucked on a strong mint candy to avoid gagging.

They approached the walls of the city of the dead, feeling the warmth radiating from its golden glow. There was a small strip of wildflowers and grass that grew along the walls. The walked as close as they could without trampling the only life they’d seen in three days and reached the great gates.

The city had been Everdome’s greatest mausoleum, where kings and heroes were laid to rest. It was also the site of a yearly patronage to honour the dead. When the Corruption had taken the land, smaller versions of the mausoleum had been created in all the domes.

When they reached the gates, all three women swore. They were sealed and had a large inscription, “The way is shut. The city was made for the dead, and the Dead keep it, until thirteen more heroes come to our aid.” Below the inscription was the sign of Elric the Mad.

“Elric, that plagiarizing ass! I regret ever loving that man or letting him read my copy of Lord of the Rings,” Kathryn spat. “What does it mean by thirteen more?”

Queen Jasmine shook her head and answered, “It seems we, again, need help from Earth to save Everdome.”

You can learn more about Queen Jasmine, Es’Sem, Kathryn, the Great Beasts, and Everdome in:

Birth of the Aetherverse – Chapter 12 (Finale)

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The End of the Beginning

I fully intended to stay in Fay. I knew my leaving would be bad for the realm. Especially if I left at the same time as Randi. After a few hundred years of blissfully ruling my small kingdom and making sure my children were well taken care of, I was visited by a human woman.

The crier introduced her as, “Iman, Guardian of Aether”. The woman who entered was old, fragile looking, but her eyes still glowed with power. 

“Iman!” I said and stood to meet her, “My old friend.”

“Old is right. How have you not aged? Bah.”

I bowed and said, “It’s been less time here than on Earth and I’m immortal, I think. At least, no one has told me different yet.”

“Well, I’m a hundred and twenty-three and I need your help.” She spat the words out as if they hurt her.

“For you, anything.”

She cocked her eyebrow and said, “Oh, you must feel like you owe me. Or I’ve lost my senses.”

Nodding, I said, “Yes, I owe you and the Aether for my violation. I should not have used it as a dumping ground.”

“Fine, fine. I want you to train my grand-daughter. I’m dying and I don’t want her dealing with the same uncertainty I did.”

“I will do my best—” I was cut off by a portal opening and five people walking through. It was the other Guardians. “What’s going on?” I asked, annoyance painting my voice.

“Forgive us, Lord Robin, but we need all seven Guardians. Our universe is under attack,” Merlin looked much too calm for the declaration.

“Mulciber?” I asked, knowing that the great steel serpent would break through eventually.

Merlin wasn’t the person to answer. Instead, it was a man who I didn’t recognize, “No. It’s something much older and much hungrier.” He paused and then added, “Sorry. I’m Clause Johnson, Guardian of Chaos.”

I looked over at Randi and she nodded.

When I followed them into the portal I expected to go to Everworld, the Aether, or someplace else, but we went to Earth. We were in a city and it took me a long time to recognize it. San Francisco had changed over the past hundred years.

“What’s the year?” I asked.

Morgana smirked, but something about her looked younger than before. “It’s 1906. Last time you were here, a few young women disappeared.”

“Fay brides are given a boon for their service and it’s always their choice.”

The ground shook and the world swam as a large tendril of purple energy escaped from the earth. The people screamed and ran, and the battle began.

I don’t remember much, but when it was over and we had won, the city was in ruins and Kishnar and Iman had died.

“She was brave,” said Morgana as I wept over the man I didn’t know and the woman I had briefly known. “They—” She collapsed on the ground. 

Merlin caught her and touched her neck, then her head, “Her pulse is faint. There’s something wrong with her mind. I can’t get in to help.” His words were sad, angry, and impotent. It was hard to see a great wizard looking so helpless. 

I leaned forward and touched her head. I felt resistance as I entered her mind, but pushed through it. Her mind was a glorious place with an overwhelming amount of information. She wasn’t just the Guardian of time, every moment of existence lived inside her mind. Every decision and what-if.

I focused on the smaller details and saw a small cloud of purple. Our enemy had hidden a part of itself inside her. I hunted it down and destroyed it.

As I pulled out of her mind, she grabbed my arms and I saw the futures, all of them. It was horrifying. 

“How can you function with all that in your head?”

She smiled, “How do you function with so little inside yours?” Her laughter was a little wild, but contagious. 

I returned home and my dreams were plagued by what I saw. I saw three great wars and what would happen if I were there.

The first was another Fay Civil War. It would reduce our population to nearly nothing if I were involved and last a century. If I were not, it would last a year with minimal casualties.

The second was the inevitable invasion by Mulciber. If I were there, we’d win with plenty of casualties including myself. If I wasn’t, Mulciber would claim our universe.

The third was a war on Earth fought between great wizards. If I were there, Merlin and Morgana would live. If I weren’t, they would die and all of existence would unravel.

I needed to survive the second war in order to be at the third.

I thought about this and stayed up late until I dreamed of the solution. I needed to increase Fay’s armies and people in order to ensure we had the troops to survive the second war. I needed a hero who could rival me to take my place. Or better yet, a family of them.

I made my plan and it was simple. My Fay brides’ boons would apply to their children, and I’d need to find the perfect bride to spawn the perfect champions. I needed someone kind, who was also clever. 

It took a few years, but I found the perfect woman. Denise Lance was a woman with a strong sense of right, a clever mind, and plenty of imagination. When she asked for Luck, I knew my champions would be perfect. I just hoped they’d be enough. As a bonus, I found Kathryn Lami who asked for Power, and Margery Door who asked for Cleverness. The three of them would give me heroes who would be better than I could be.

When they left, the Civil War started, and I knew what I had to do. I had to escape in order to let my people live. I took a hundred thousand of my descendants and hid them in stasis within the heart of Fay.

Then Randi and I entered the Deep Realms and I prepared a test that only a worthy mind and heart could pass. When that happened, I’d be released, just in time for the third war.

Merlin and Morgana are pillars that keep our reality from collapsing and I am going to make sure I save them.

Robin will return in Elizabeth Investigates 4: The Mystery of the Dancing Lights (Fall 2023)

While you wait for the next story, check out the previous serial stories:

Birth of the Aetherverse – Chapter 11 (Serial Story)

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 11: Planting trees and travelling the realms

“Be warned,” Randi said as she handed Titania the rainbow glass ring. “Anyone who succeeds in freeing him will take his place.”

Oberon, Titania, Randi and I stood in an offshoot of the Maze Between the Worlds, a creation of Merlin’s that would allow anyone with the will to travel between Everworld, Earth, Fay, and someday Albion.

In the small dead end was an angry tree that used to be Melchior. 

“Maybe someday he’ll have learned his lesson and deserve a return to Fay life.” Titania sounded hopeful.

“What do we do now?” asked Oberon.

I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I replied by saying, “Randi has taught you the ritual to strip powers called the Mireinio. It will turn our children into regular Fay, or if they’re half human, they can choose human. We must each agree to do so by their tenth birthday.”

They all nodded except Oberon who added, “I meant about the rings?”

Randi replied this time, “We keep them secret and safe. No one needs to know.”

“We know. What if one of us gets power hungry and decides to conquer?” Oberon looked at Randi suspiciously.

It took all my self control to not burst into laughter. 

Randi’s brow furrowed but her eyes were filled with the most delightful mischief as she replied, “I swear on Fay itself that I will never try to conquer, coerce, or capture any of the four Fay rings of power of which I have no claim.” Swearing on a Fay is binding, the realm itself would ensure she kept her promise.

Titania and Oberon stood mouths agape, even Melchior the tree was quiet. I repeated the oath myself with ease; I didn’t want to be a king, god, or leader.

It took them a long time, but eventually my siblings followed suit.

“We must help clean up the mess our son created. Fay still needs leadership,” Titania said and looked at me expectantly.

“I think I’d be more interested in visiting Earth and establishing ties with Everworld.”

“Fine. Someday you’ll need to grow up and take responsibility for our world.” 

That was the last time I saw or spoke to my siblings. They went on to rule Fay for generations, setting the framework for the nine kingdoms and then they disappeared. No one can tell me where they went or what happened. One day, they got up and rode into the Deep Realms and never returned.

I took Randi’s hand and she smiled at me sadly. “I can’t travel with you this time.” When I looked confused, she said, “I have to return to the fissure in the Deep Realms and sew it closed.”

“I can go with you,” I offered.

“You are the Guardian of Imagination and one of the original Fay. Your magic wouldn’t work and would disrupt what I need to do.” I knew she was right, her magic was of pure chaos with the flavour of nature. She was the wind that changed, I was the story explaining where the wind came from. My presence would distract and undermine hers as she closed the fissure between our universe and the other.

She was gone that first time for fifty years as I travelled the Earth and met its people. Humans have such capacity for stories and imagination that I found myself falling in love. I never acted on it and I confessed the second night of her return. She laughed at me.

“Of course you love the humans. They are chaos, imagination, and stories all wrapped into flesh. The Fay reflect an aspect of your power, they are your children, but they are too much the same.”

“You don’t resent it?” I asked, surprised.

“Do you still love me beyond all others?”

I answered without hesitation, “Yes!”

“Then don’t worry. Love, but remember Mireinio.” We conceived our first children together that night on top of mount Olympus.

Over the years, I met and loved many humans. I was father, and mother, to more children than I could count. 

It was after I’d left my friend William with a great idea for a play that Randi and I decided Titania was right.

My children and descendants were many and I was tired of not giving them a place to live. Travelling between Earth and Everworld was great, but I needed a home.

My brother and sister’s disappearance had destabilised the Fay kingdoms and from that strife had risen powerful leaders whose magic was more than a regular Fay. They rose to power on their strength and ruled.

Just because they had power didn’t mean they were good rulers and I chose the cruellest lord and settled into his kingdom. I made myself a nice home and with my children. I had a wonderful household. It had been long enough since I’d been back and my siblings disappeared that we’d faded into myth. So much so that it had become a trend to name themselves after one of us. 

It wasn’t long before the Fay lord became angry at my prosperity and declared me an enemy. I made it clear that I would pay fair wages and protection to any that would join me.

The lord found himself with a dozen loyal courtiers and a few soldiers while I took over his kingdom.

The kingdom thrived, as did Fay herself. That’s when I discovered that while I was gone, plagues, pestilence, and marauding creatures from the Goblin Markets had enveloped Fay. It had become a dark and dangerous place. 

The longer I stayed, the better the Realm became, as if my presence was its fuel. That’s when I vowed never to leave Fay again, and I wish I could have kept that vow.

Read Chapter 12

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:

Birth of the Aetherverse – Chapter 10 (Serial Story)

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Chapter 10: Rings, Family, and a new Tree.

We’d trapped Melchior on Albion as the realm went dormant. It would fade from existence until its Enaid, or soul, died. If Albion was returned to its glory, the Sisters would be reborn over and over again for eternity. If it remained dormant when they died, the realm would fade into memory.

Unfortunately, Melchior had been absorbing magical energy and that made him powerful enough to break out of the makeshift prison. We’d only bought ourselves a few days at most.

Merlin had helped me, Randi, Oberon, and Titania transfer our power out of ourselves and into rings. This sealed it away from Melchior and stopped him from using that power.

Our rings held the power of Fay. Mine was an onyx ring with flecks of gold. Randi’s ring was a simple ring of copper and silver. Oberon’s ring was gold with diamonds and rubies. Finally Titania’s ring was made of some form of glass with a rainbow of colours inside it.

“Who should be the champion that will wield the rings and strip Melchior of his power?” Oberon asked. It was a question, but he obviously expected us to choose him.

“I think it should be Randi,” Titania offered. At the hurt expression on her husband, she added, “She knows the spell best.”

“What do you think?” Randi asked Merlin.

The old man smiled and the well worn lines around his face crinkled. He’d already seen a lifetime of joy and sadness. “I think this is a question for you to answer.”

“Why not give the rings to you?” I asked him.

The man laughed as if I’d told the greatest joke and said, “I couldn’t wield it. Only someone who is Fay, descended from Fay, or touched by Fay in some way could make use of those rings.”

I considered telling him that his sister became the Deep Realms and he had become the barrier that protects Fay from the aether, but maybe he didn’t need to know yet.

“My vote is that I do it,” Oberon said.

“I think Robin should,” added Randi.

That left me with the last vote. I was tempted to choose Titania just to be difficult, but I knew who was the best choice. I took my ring off and handed it to Randi. “You, my dear, are the best choice for this mission.” Between having created the spell that ripped away powers, she was also the least likely to be corrupted by the power of the four rings.

“I disagree and I’m not giving her my ring,” argued Oberon.

Sighing and taking my ring, Randi said, “Oberon, could you really stand there and strip everything that makes your son a Fay lord away? Do you have the strength of character and will to make him lesser?”

Oberon sputtered as if she’d slapped him and furrowed his brow. He looked frozen until he finally took off his ring and gave it to Randi. Titania also gave Randi her ring.

With the four rings on I could see the power emanating off Randi like heat from an oven. We’d either made her powerful enough to stop Melchior, or we’d created a great feast for him to devour.

We gave her our rings and Merlin gave her a necklace with a yellow gem. He said it would prevent mind control of any sort. Then we all waited.

I felt the loss of my power intently; like I’d been thinking about something and then forgotten. It was sort of freeing. 

“I feel lesser, like a human. It’s disgusting,” Oberon said. 

“Gee, thanks,” said Morgana sarcastically. 

“You’re a wizard, it’s not the same thing,” he snapped and walked away. 

Titania took it better. She simply chatted with whoever was around, desperate to distract herself.

“Do you feel any different?” Randi asked me.

I gave her a smirk and said, “Yes, but I’m sure I could still come up with some mischief if needed.” From inside my coat, I pulled out a beautiful jewelled sword.

“Is that Excalibur?” asked Randi with a chuckle.

“Yup. He doesn’t need it and I’ll give it back when he returns. How are you feeling?”

She sighed but it was with contentment. “I feel like I was listening to a song played by a duet and now I’m listening to the same song played by a full orchestra. It’s overwhelming, confusing, and utterly beautiful.” She cocked her head, fox like, and added, “He’s here.”

A second later, Melchior appeared in the middle of the group, hunched and angry. He growled, “That was unkind, uncle.” 

“I’m many things, nephew,” I spat the word out as if it disgusted me, “but kind isn’t one of them. Even if I were, you deserve no kindness from me or Fay. You insult existence itself with your childish delusions of grandeur.” I hoped I could get him nice and mad so that he wouldn’t notice Randi weaving the spell that would strip him of his essence as a Fay lord, leaving him with the power of a regular Fay.

“You dare speak to me like that?”

“What are you going to do? Tell your parents? Turn me into an ant?”

He smiled a wicked grin and said, “No. I’m going to turn you into a tree. You’ll be able to see and talk, but not influence anything around you. You’ll be so bored that you’ll beg every woodsman who comes by to cut you down.”

I stifled a laugh. “That’s inventive, I approve, but just me alone with my imagination and conversation of anyone who passes by? That sounds soothing to me.”

I felt him gather his power for an attack and I did nothing. I considered brandishing Excalibur, but it wouldn’t help. His attack would destroy me and everything on this side of Everworld. 

I saw Randi’s arms make a shooing motion and felt Melchior’s power flow back to Fay.

“No!” he screamed. “How?” What was left of his power would have been enough to destroy me in my current state and he threw everything he had at me. Merlin stepped in front of me and blocked the energy with a metal shield.

“A regular Fay is still pretty scary to us mortals,” Merlin said and then winked.

“What do we do with him now?” asked Morgana.

Trying not to seem like I was enjoying the irony too much, I said, “I think that Melchior has already given us a pretty good idea.” Turning to my nephew, I added, “It’s time you settle down and lay down some roots.” 

Read Chapter 11

While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories: