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“To make it short,” the Master said, “This world is not always as we see it. The point of view is also important. And thus, I’m not convinced the world we live on is the only world in the universe. Of course, there are the three other worlds, the ‘restless stars’ from ancient times. And the second moon, discovered only a score of years ago. But these are only objects from our own dimension, from our own point of view.” “So, where are those other objects then?” Madel asked. “In out thoughts?” The Master shook his head. “It will be better to show you.” He placed a piece of paper on the table, and drew nine dots on it in a symmetric figure. A square with a dot on each corner, a dot halfway each line, and one in the middle. He looked around, and then took two dozen long needles from an embroidery set standing in a corner of the salon. Embroidery was popular in salons, but regarding the layers of dust on it, Count Yzabrân didn’t seem to care about it. “Try to connect the dots with the needles,” Master Elaud said. Madel took the needles and put them on the square, horizontally and vertically three needles, each connecting three dots. “Can you do it with less needles, General?” the Master asked. Madel looked at the pattern . Wynn was faster and took away one needle, the one in the middle. “Now there are only five,” he said. “It can be done with less,” the Master replied. He looked towards Yzabrân. “I can do it with four needles,” the Count answered. “But the way you put it makes me think it can be done in even less.” Yzabrân took four needles and put them in a starlike pattern, only crossing each other on the dot in the middle. “Yes, you are right, I can do it with less,” the Master said. He took all needles from the paper, took the paper and folded it solemnly. Then, he took one needle and stung it through the paper. “I can do it with only one needle,” he said. He gave the paper with the one needle to Madel, so she could check the trick. She unfolded the paper and saw the needle had gone right through all nine dots. “Imagine,” the continued the Master, “Imagine our world and everything around it is not flat like the paper, but folded in a strange way? Weird connections can exist between worlds that seems to be far away, so far away we never see them the normal way. Imagine, one of the dots is our world, or our sun and its planets. Imagine you can travel over the needle. That way, other worlds come much closer....” “Do you think the portals are like a needle?” Samber asked. He listened intensely, trying to understand. Now he had seen the example with the needles, he understood what Elaud had explained that evening. “It is a possibility,” Master Elaud said, now not so sure. “I expect the New Poorters are travelling on the needle to our world and back, and that they know how to use the needle, and the portals.” “What about Arlo Paran? Did he know about the theory with the needles and the portals?” Yzabrân asked. He looked at Paran’s book, still laying unread on a side table. “Paran had his thoughts, but he had the spirit of his time against him, so he never published them. But I do think Paran knew about the possibility of travelling through the portals to other worlds. At least, most cultures have legends pointing in that direction. People come to Daleth in strange ways and others leave this world in an evenly strange way. Not only cultures, but also individuals, living beings, even things appear and disappear. Thus far, those appearances and disappearances are only accidental, confusing and without any evil meanings. I think most first Poorters didn’t realise what happened to them. But the New Poorters, they are different... very different...” Kalle frowned. A shiver ran along his spine. “Your stories frighten me. I don’t dare to see the New Poorters straight in the eyes now. You are saying they came with other than peaceful thoughts?” “I don’t dare to say anything like it,” Master Elaud said, on his guard again. By doing so, he frightened the others even more. “I’m going to bed,” Madel said. “I hope I can sleep after these stories.” Wynn took her hand. “When we were young, we could say that it were only a fairy tale,” he whispered to her. Kalle overheard this, and felt uneasy about it. He asked if he was needed, and after he was dismissed he also went to his bed. The Secret Palace was a relatively save place, but after Master Elauds explanation it felt as a save place no more. He could -right here, in this room, in his warm bed- be stung by the needle, and getting connected to another world. What kind of world? What kind of world could be expected, so far out of view? Even the restless lights, close to Airtha in the night sky, even they were unknown in their appearance. Master Elaud had also mentioned the dark second moon. That moon, named Twabaírhtei, was a strange thing, Kalle thought. The normal moon, Lukarna, was visible, and had faces - so sometimes you couldn’t see it because you saw it’s dark side. But Twabaírhtei only showed his dark side and was so small and far off, it stayed unknown for hundreds, thousands of years. The thought made Kalle so uneasy he got up and walked towards the upper hall. From there, he could see the glass dome, and see the stars through it. Stars, sparks... they drifted in an unknown darkness - Riqiz, as the Naglani called it, the Darkness, the Nothingness. |