The Diaries of Cordelia Chan

Tor 6 Teron Foo'Pil : Elysium

Sorcha, the Unicorn, and I have been here for 4 days now and are just starting to get the hang of the place. I've managed to furnish our rooms and part furnish the Great Hall, where we've taken to eating and spending our evenings. We could have used one of the smaller rooms, but it wouldn't be the same.

Sorcha's pregnancy appears to be progressing far quicker than is natural and she's started suffering with morning sickness. Today we were joined by the others although some of them only briefly.

In many ways today was the day we were all dreading although in actuality its been quiet since this mornings rush. I suppose I'd better start at the point things happened, the 13th Hour occurrence which should have occurred and midnight last night.

Sorcha had gone to bed around 22:00 and I'd stayed up as I was want to do. I'd actually forgotten the 13th Hour was due and had left my armour in my room, although my sword was on the table in the hall. With no one around I'd taken to exercising naked again and was well into my routine when I heard the first chime that announced the start of the 13th Hour. This time however the world didn't freeze and the chime sounded different, more vibrant and more real. They also didn't fade as they usually did so that by the fifth stroke the world was grey and frozen. This time they kept striking and the world seemed to shimmer and shudder, before it reverted to apparent normality on the 13th stroke. By that time I was three quarters of the way to my room.

By the time I'd donned my armour, gathered my trump deck and binoculars, and reached the roof of the gatehouse it was gone half past. I scanned the horizon. There was nothing moving I could detect. I summoned the pattern and repeated the exercise. Still nothing although I now noted the slight difference in the structure of reality, and extra sliver of time had appeared, making each day an hour longer.

I returned to the hall and pulled out the trump deck. Dealing from the bottom I checked each of the cards for the family I knew to be dead. No Change. Then I went through the living until I got to Brands card. I set that aside and checked the rest of the deck. Everything appeared normal. Now I had a decision to make. If he was still alive then any uses of his card, even a gentle skim to check on his status was likely to alert him to my presence - assuming he wasn't preoccupied with anything else.

There was only one way to find out. I picked up the card and regarded it, slowly extending my perception. There was the signature of trump and and .... it didn't go completely cold as it should have done had he been alive. There was something there but I wasn't going to risk finding out what. I went to replace the card in the deck.

The next thing I remember I was lying on the floor, trump cards scattered all about me. I gathered them together, rearranging them into the familiar order with Deirdre's card on top, and placing them onto the table. I then sat on the floor and invoked a trance. Examination of my mind revealed nothing out of the ordinary. I examined the memory of recent events carefully. I had managed to get the edge of Brand's card into the deck when there had been a surge of trump energy. the force had thrown me backwards scattering the cards and knocking me out. I had been unconscious for perhaps a minute. I examined the memory again, this time paying particular attention the the energy surge. It had been aimed not at me but at my sword.

Carefully I placed my hand on its hilt. It felt as it normally did. I looked harder. There was something there now something hiding in the spell rack, but I couldn't get enough focus on it to determine what. Every time I tried to examine it it slipped away as if coated in liquid silicon. If it didn't want to be examined I would have to leave it and hope it wasn't hostile.

I returned to reality to find nearly two hours had elapsed. It then occurred to me if Brand was dead or at least out of the picture I was free to contact the others, but first I needed a drink.

I pulled Allagahn's trump from the deck and initiated contact. There was a brief pause and his mind was wide open. I resisted the urge to fry it- he really ought to get some training but until he asks for it I'm not going to volunteer it.

He had managed to retrieve Alfred and they were on their way to Elysium. I offered to transfer them via Trump gate and he accepted. I widened the link and pulled Alfred through - he was barely wrapped in two old horse blankets. Allagahn followed. I let them absorb the changed vista and then pulled Charity's trump.

The contact this time was more measured - her skill appears to be developing, and I needed to identify myself before she accepted the contact. It seems she's on her way back to Elysium with an army - the serpent apparently sent her to fetch it. This doesn't bode well, but after the attack at the carters residence I'm not surprised. I explained that I'd retrieved Allagahn and Alfred, and that Sorcha was pregnant, she asked if Allagahn was prepared to go to her and take over bringing the army in as she wanted to go and talk to Habukuk to see if she can get some additional troops.

I let the contact hang, generally a dangerous thing to do as your mind is open but you're not concentrating on the person on the other end, and turned and spoke to Allagahn. He was agreeable, and Charity opened the contact to form a trump gate. Allagahn stepped through and she broke contact.

I turned my attention to the waiting Alfred. He looked really silly in his blankets, and the early morning light wasn't doing him any favours. We descended from the roof of the gatehouse and made our way to the courtyard. Alfred wanted to go and see Deirdre so I directed him in the direction of the tower. I watched him climb the steps to the base and then made my way across to the hall. I wondered where Charity had got to but given the hour the thought of a comfortable bed was more engrossing.