{"id":5830,"date":"1976-11-06T14:09:03","date_gmt":"1976-11-06T19:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=5830"},"modified":"2017-11-06T14:39:59","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T19:39:59","slug":"quantum-quest-chapter-3-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/quantum-quest-chapter-3-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Quantum Quest, Chapter 3 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter Three: A Message from the Void<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He blinked away his stupor, even the darkness seeming overwhelmingly bright.\u00a0 His head throbbed, and even in his muddled state, he considered how different it felt waking up from that trip than from the comfortable bed earlier that morning.<\/p>\n

When Rhys sat up, he was overcome with a sense of vertigo.\u00a0 He gnashed his teeth together, and shoved the heel of his hand into his temple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t good,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 When his vision steadied, he realized that he was no longer at the entrance of the dungeon.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t tumbled down the steps, as far as he could tell, either.\u00a0 Walls closed in around him except for a solitary opened door on the opposite side of the room.<\/p>\n

Grumbling, the man climbed to his feet, and braced against the wall closest to him.\u00a0 \u201cThis really isn\u2019t good,\u201d he adjusted.<\/p>\n

Rhys leaned against the walls leading out to that door until he arrived before it.\u00a0 Looking down the long corridor that was just outside of it, the uneven feeling came back to him.\u00a0 It stretched further than the main road that went through Verna, he supposed, and more doors were situated across from each other at even intervals.<\/p>\n

The traveler steadied himself in the doorway, taking a breath before proceeding down that strange corridor.\u00a0 He winced when the first pair of doors shut beside him upon reaching them.\u00a0 Growling, he was able to at least commend himself for not tumbling backward once more.<\/p>\n

As he proceeded further, each of those doors slammed shut on their own, even as he sped his gait.\u00a0 That journey down the corridor led him to one final door on the far end of the hallway, which remained open.\u00a0 Even from afar, he was able to see the odd presence inside\u2014a familiar, ominous sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Void,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n

Black and violet mist roiled in the next chamber, static electricity illuminating the floor.\u00a0 That miasma stopped at the open door, as though it had struck glass and rolled back over itself.<\/p>\n

Rhys was reminded of how his tragic journey began.\u00a0 Desperation guided his hand back then\u2014or what it forward in time?\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t begin to make sense of any of it, except for the regret that stung more than ever in that moment.\u00a0 If he had been willing to let the past remain untouched, he would have been in his own time, able to protect his people, instead of cast out into the world of Tellest like a vagrant with no concept of where or when he was.<\/p>\n

Without realizing it, he drew away from that frightening chamber.<\/p>\n

Before he could draw too far, though, the mist separated just enough for him to see another familiar face.\u00a0 On the other side of that room, Virgil had his hood pulled down.\u00a0 Without any of the villagers there to see his face, there was no reason to hide.<\/p>\n

Rhys growled, knowing that he couldn\u2019t allow his friend to encounter the Void alone.\u00a0 Against all of his instincts, he rushed into that room, leaping over the plume of otherworldly mist, and setting his powers at work.\u00a0 He hovered in that room and the miasma filtered around the attuned field of gravity.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay over there, Virgil,\u201d he bade.<\/p>\n

The golem did as told, but Rhys learned that he had no choice in the matter.\u00a0 A pane of glass did<\/em> exist in that room, separating the chamber into halves.\u00a0 Virgil leaned up against that glass, and though his mouth moved, no sound was heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Virgil?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cannot hear you,\u201d a vaguely familiar voice echoed within the chamber.<\/p>\n

Rhys froze as he considered where he had last heard that ethereal voice.\u00a0 It was otherworldly, caught somewhere between soothing and frightening.\u00a0 He adjusted his hold on gravity so that he could spin about.<\/p>\n

She was even more haunting than he could remember.<\/p>\n

\u201cNyrshia,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t send your henchman to come after me this time?\u201d<\/p>\n

The churning miasma flowed back toward that divine being, wrapping around her from the bottom of her robe to the top of her feathered headdress.\u00a0 The smoke made those amber eyes glow all the brighter, and she gazed at him with a look that he was not expecting from her.<\/p>\n

Was it sympathy?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is beyond Vedas,\u201d the Keeper of the Void spoke.\u00a0 \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t have been able to find this place if he tried.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place?\u201d Rhys echoed.\u00a0 \u201cSo you know where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed,\u201d Nyrshia said.\u00a0 \u201cThis dungeon is fueled by the same thing as the Void: the essence of time and space.\u00a0 When you neglected to travel through the portal, the dungeon seized that opportunity, and came through instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow was I supposed to know?\u201d he grumbled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t have,\u201d she conceded.\u00a0 \u201cEven I couldn\u2019t have been.\u00a0 This dungeon\u2014and the one who controls it\u2014lie out of my purview.\u00a0 I\u2019ve long known about this place, but I\u2019ve never seen it.\u00a0 It\u2019s always remained shielded from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhys arched his eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cThen how are you able to be here now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fragments of the orb that are in your possession,\u201d she reasoned.\u00a0 \u201cThey represent a strong enough thread in the loom of time.\u00a0 Had you not been here, I might not be either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d he uttered.\u00a0 \u201cIf this place also travels through time, could we use it to get me back to my time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nyrshia sent a disarming smile his way.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t presume to know much about this place.\u00a0 I know that it is unpredictable, vast, and evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it\u2019s beyond time that we escape from this place.\u00a0 We\u2019ll get out, and let the people of Verna know that it\u2019s no longer safe in their village.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat won\u2019t be necessary,\u201d the deity said.\u00a0 \u201cOnce you and Virgil arrived here, it continued its journey to another time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A visage of understanding washed over Rhys.\u00a0 \u201cWe were brought to the time the portal would have brought us to,\u201d he surmised.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, as always, you have a task to unravel before you can move on and complete the repairs to the orb.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll go fetch Vir\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Rhys to notice that his companion was no longer on the other side of that glass.\u00a0 He moved along to the right side of the room.\u00a0 For the first time since they arrived there, the traveler noticed that a passageway had been opened.\u00a0 Virgil\u2019s natural curiosity already had him moving in that direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirgil, what are you doing?\u201d\u00a0 Rhys asked as he followed along the glass in that direction.<\/p>\n

He kept moving along until that corridor grew wider, and opened up into a large, circular room.\u00a0 The glass still halved the room, but something existed between the two halves: a large, swirling portal, like the one Rhys should have stepped through, pulsed on both sides of that room.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the portal,\u201d the traveler said.\u00a0 \u201cWe can move along just like you said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is no portal,\u201d Nyrshia protested.\u00a0 \u201cAt least, not in the way you describe it.\u00a0 That thing is the engine to this place, the arcane magic that is letting it travel through time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why can\u2019t we use it?\u201d Rhys asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat thing would rip you apart if you tried to use it to travel through time.\u00a0 Do not approach it.\u00a0 There must be some way for you to escape this crypt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhys found himself nodding in agreement.\u00a0 Perhaps if he\u2019d considered Nyrshia during their previous encounter, he wouldn\u2019t be lost in time.<\/p>\n

He was reminded that when he was in the Void, it was a spur of the moment choice that sent him barreling through different points in Tellest\u2019s history, and across the vastness of the planet.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a choice, he recalled, but a necessity.<\/p>\n

That same necessity drove him again when he saw his companion, the infinitely curious golem, drawing nearer to that churning portal\u2014the engine that powered the dungeon, as Nyrshia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirgil!\u201d he cried.\u00a0 \u201cStay away from that thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as before, his words were lost beyond that glass.\u00a0 The golem didn\u2019t acknowledge him in any way, and Rhys found himself sidling along his half of the room in an effort to gain his friend\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cRhys,\u201d Nyrshia warned.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t need her caution in order to understand how hazardous the situation was.\u00a0 He could feel the pull of that vortex, and heard the pulsing wind thrumming in his ears.<\/p>\n

\u201cRhys, the orb fragment,\u201d the Keeper of the Void said.<\/p>\n

He looked down and noticed that the pouch he kept on his hip was lifting from its secure spot on his belt.\u00a0 A violet glow was visible through the leather material, and it was only by happenstance that the traveler brought his hand down before it tore through that pouch.\u00a0 The fragment of the orb shined as brightly as he had ever seen, and it pushed toward that vortex hard enough for Rhys to feel it cut into his palm.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet away from there,\u201d the deity said, though her voice sounded so distant then.<\/p>\n

Even if she was right beside him, he wouldn\u2019t have been able to focus on her.\u00a0 When cracks started forming on that fused shard of the orb, he couldn\u2019t pay attention to anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot again,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t do this all again!\u201d<\/p>\n

Another bright light glowed from the other half of the room.\u00a0 Virgil still drew nearer to that vortex, though it seemed he struggled against its grasp.\u00a0 He held his iron hands against his head, shielding that shard of the orb of time in his metal skull.<\/p>\n

Rhys looked again to the piece of the orb in his own hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Rhys,\u201d Nyrshia spoke.\u00a0 She was already aware of his thoughts before he had the time to consider them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I do nothing, Virgil will die,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime will be shattered more than it is now!\u201d Nyrshia shouted.<\/p>\n

That loud urgency was not lost to Rhys, but he couldn\u2019t let anything happen to Virgil.\u00a0 For the first time since he discovered the golem, he saw something he did not expect: fear.\u00a0 Virgil understood that he was unsafe.<\/p>\n

Despite the risks, and the dangers, and the very chance that he had at finding a way home, Rhys flung himself into the vortex to save his companion.<\/p>\n

The portal pulsed with tremendous power, and ripped the fused fragment of the orb into pieces.\u00a0 The portal expanded at a tremendous rate, then, engulfing Rhys, Virgil, and even Nyrshia.<\/p>\n

Rhys felt that terrible sensation that he hoped he never would again.<\/p>\n

He was being ripped apart and put back together again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter Three: A Message from the Void   He blinked away his stupor, even the darkness seeming overwhelmingly bright.\u00a0 His head throbbed, and even in his muddled state, he considered how different it felt waking up from that trip than from the comfortable bed earlier that morning. When Rhys sat up, he was overcome with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[1578],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/QQ-Vaulen-and-Darris.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-1w2","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5831,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5830\/revisions\/5831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}