The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2 novel Chapter 113

Part 17

“So right now, your thinking is as advanced as it was when we were all Linked and holding all that power?!” Yazadril asked, flabbergasted at the thought.

“No.” Val responded with a shake of her head. “For one thing, even with all the safety measures we came up with, I think it’s too dangerous to keep that much extra energy in your brain all the time. But it’s all automated, so if I’m trying to figure something out and I’m not smart enough to get it, the spell will charge my brain up until I get it done, then release the extra charge when I don’t need it anymore. It works really fast too, so we won’t notice it happening, we’ll just be as smart as we need to be whenever we need it. The other thing is; the benefits of the Link can’t be duplicated. No one can be as smart by themselves as we all were together, not with the kinds of brains we’ve got.

“So. Can we go?” she finished.

“There’s only twenty minutes left until the Assembly will be called to order.” Nemia said as she soothed Yazadril’s impatience. “There’s no use having these young ones make all their big announcements twice, is there?”

“I suppose.” he admitted. “Somonik, if you’d be so kind?”

“Certainly.” The ancient white dragon nodded as he clicked his claws together, and then they were all elsewhere.

PART 18

The space they arrived in appeared in many ways to be the Hall of The Just Alliance. It was constructed of the same white marble, they’d arrived beside the same low, round podium at the center with the Truthstone of Falgaroth embedded in it, the floor sloped gently upward from the center of the room in all directions, and it was lit by the same sourceless white light. But this was much larger.

“Damn, this is big.” Mark quietly muttered as they all looked around.

He’d seen some big rooms, including the one in Kraka where the council of dragons had met before they’d abandoned the city, and The Stadium of The Empire in Verzaclon City, which was built to seat eighty thousand giants plus thrice that number of gnomes. Zarkog’s Hall in Serminak had been most of a kilometer wide, before it was destroyed. But this dwarfed them all. It was so big, none there could even estimate it’s size without measuring. Mark thought it might be less than a kilometer wide and less than three hundred meters high, but he wouldn’t have bet so much as a copper on it.

There were several renovations beyond the increase in size.

About a sixth of the room appeared to be walled off with glass and two-thirds filled with water, both of which were supernaturally transparent. At first glance it seemed the same as the rest of the room, and only the slightest reflection on the clear wall’s surface, the rippling line at the water’s surface, and the sight of Selkies, Mer, and other beings swimming around in it showed it for what it was.

There were glowing blue Translocation circles of every size scattered about all over the vast floor space. They were marked with glowing blue letters in Trade Common in the air above them; either Incoming, Outgoing, Privacies, or Facility Staff Only. The latter were busy with a constant stream of Xervians carrying trays or pushing carts laden with food and drink for the attendees.

An area along a third of the room’s vast perimeter and a hundred or so meters deep appeared to be filled with dense tropical forest.

“May holy Amirgath preserve me.” Kragorram softly marveled.

“Why yes, I may, since you asked.” Amirgath stated as he appeared beside them, then chuckled like an avalanche at his own joke. After a moment to adapt to the surprise and the novelty of the situation, his joke got them too, and they chuckled along with him.

“So, you like the improvements we’ve made here?” he asked as he looked around.

“It’s very impressive, thank you.” Somonik nodded, and indicated the forested part of the perimeter. “I take it that the woodland area was provided for the comfort of the representatives of The Hidden Nation. Very considerate of you.”

“All of us gods co-operated on it.” Amirgath explained. “It didn’t require us all to do it, of course, but it’s meant as a tangible gift from the Pantheon of Kellaran to the rest of The Just Alliance, so we all helped a bit.”