Page 95 of A World Enough

The sound of laughter echoed around the tunnels. “If that’s you, Vorka, I’m going to take all your secrets, the Map Keeper’s plan to hide away from us, where all the rebels are, their secrets. I’m going to end your people.” He shouted and ran, trying to run down whatever that humanoid figure was.

The figure didn’t obey him. She’s playing with me, Davor thought.

He slowed down from his run and saw a small chamber to his right that didn’t go anywhere. It was safe enough to go in and look.

On the wall were the moving images of a child and its parents, then a teenager. It moved on to images of a young woman being inducted into the order of Danu.

These must be the memories of Vorka, Davor thought.

It might be worth watching her memories. It would show who she was connected to on the outside world.

He stood and waited as it flicked through Vorka’s memories. Then it came to the part where a baby was handed to Vorka.

As it got nearer to her elder years, a humanoid figure he could almost see through, with a silvery-blueish glow around their edges, stood in front of the pictures, then blew the dirt and gravel to block the pictures. The debris turned into a whirlwind that knocked Davor over.

Davor found himself on the dirt floor again. It was impossible to see any pictures any more. It occurred to him what was happening.

“This is you, Vorka, isn’t it? You know what I’m here for. You’re alive inside here. You’re trying to put up obstacles against me, aren’t you?”

Davor managed to roll out past the whirlwind. “I will get the information I want. So give me your worst, Vorka.”

He walked forwards and looked around. Davor needed light, but there were no torches on the wall. Davor engaged the power on his hand, and a glowing ball of light appeared. The light was powered by a unit inside his wrist. To anyone else it looked like power only a god could have.

He used the light to walk further into the cave system. “Come on, Vorka, give me the answers I need. You know I’ll find them anyway.”

Davor came to another opening with bars across the entrance and fire blowing out the now red-hot bars.

“Is this where my answers lie? And you protect it with a simple fire? You think I can’t get past a fire? You can’t cause pain in your mind and mine. It’s impossible.”

With the energy weapon in his mind, he thrust his hand into the fire to bring it down.

Almost immediately a searing pain raced down his arm. “Argh!” Davor screamed.

He dropped to his knees, trying to regain his breath. The pain started to dissipate slowly.

He looked at his arm, and there were no marks on it at all. She can make pain in her mind? Davor thought.

Vorka had more power than he gave her credit for, but he also had more than she knew.

The pain began to recede when the sound of gravel hit his ears. He turned around slowly and saw Vorka sitting on a rock, looking down to the ground, with her wooden stick in front of her.

Davor stood up straight and tried to shake off the pain. “So you finally show yourself, madam. Have you had enough of playing these silly games?”

Vorka looked up and gave Davor a shock. She had glowing green eyes.

“What are you?”

She pushed herself up on her stick, then threw it aside, surprising Davor. But he supposed she wasn’t real. This was Vorka’s mind.

“You would call me a witch. I would say I’m a child of Danu, a line that has descended from the First Ones.”

“There’s no room for two gods in this realm,” Davor said.

“I am not a god, Davor, and neither were the First Ones. Nature just gave them gifts, after they evolved from humanoid to omnipotent being. And in turn the First Ones seeded our planets with some gifts,” Vorka said.

Vorka walked over to him and said, “They were allowed that gift because they left greed, wars, and oppression behind, something you will never have. As for me, I’m a descendant. But your people were barbarous warmongers, so the First Ones agreed that you didn’t deserve gifts of nature yet. Instead of learning how to do better, you wanted to emulate them with technology.”

“Well, I don’t see these First Ones coming to your rescue.”