A week went by before I ultimately settled on a place to go next. Silky, though not completely on board with the plan I had set before us, was satisfied with knowing that I knew - or at least had some idea of - what we were doing next.
"Why would you want to go to Minueta?" One of the villagers asked me.
"I think if I'm there I'll have a fair chance of getting to Sonatum, and there I'll speak with Lord Rust," I explained.
A few of them paled at the name Rust. I didn't realize that he was so feared.
"Lord Rust," one of them echoed.
"He's a good man," one of the elders stated. "But his general and personal bodyguard is terrifyingly powerful, I dare say he is stronger than Lord Rust."
I said nothing.
"We should go," Silky said, jumping into the air and vanishing. "Minueta is a shifty place. Best to get there during the day."
I nodded.
"Here." One of the village people handed me a basket of food and smiled up at me. "Thank you for protecting us and our home."
I blushed and smiled. "Of course, and thank you for your kindness."
They all nodded and waved goodbye as the air rippled around me and I vanished.
Teleportation. Within the Rift there are four methods. Gateway Teleportation, Jumping, Forcible Reconstruction, and Forcible Movement. Each is good for something different and most are effective.
Gateway Teleportation makes use of the idea of spatial warping, folding the rift, if you will, so that point A and point B are touching. This creates a Gateway and thus it was named. This method is particularly good for transporting a number of people at once, but, it is also kind of slow.
Jumping is visualizing the place you want to go and transporting yourself directly there. This is quick, and is common in battles and individual travel. But it is not so good for transporting multiple people.
Forcible Reconstruction is the oldest form and the most dangerous. It uses elements of Jumping and Gateway Teleportation to deconstruct the world around you and then reconstruct it into the place you want to be, transporting you there. It is still unclear how this works, and has been banned because of the threat it poses to the flow of time. It was revealed that it reconstructs the place you were attempting to get to as you remembered it. However, there were instances where it would've changed drastically, creating what some thought to be an illusion but later realized to be a new timeline.
Forcible Movement is the best troop movement method, forcibly dragging your desired destination to you in a matter of milliseconds. However, you can relocate whole cities if you are not careful about using it.
Why I remembered all of this but not my name is beyond me.
In any case, I used Gateway Teleportation to move from the village to Minueta. Minueta was the Capital of Industry. Trading out the skyline for a wall of factories, smokestacks, and shipping containers.
I stepped onto an elevated platform with floating vehicles and machinery whizzing by behind, underneath, and above me.
"Lord Scribe," one of the guards greeted. "I'll inform the Trade Leader of your arrival."
"Very well," I said, naturally taking on a more refined tone. "If you don't mind bringing me to him as well, that would be most appreciated."
He bowed, lifting his spear and moving to the guard station in the center of the platform.
I moved to stand beside the door.
While I was standing there, I examined the sorry state of my clothes. Up until now, I hadn't payed them any mind. But now, not doing anything, I saw that my jeans were ripped and torn badly, as was my shirt.
I snapped my fingers and the melted away as an all black captain's outfit took its place. I was confused. I didn't remember this outfit. But I didn't remember a lot of things.
The guard poked his head out of the door. "Would you like to see him now, or later?"
"Now, preferably."
He nodded and shut the door again.
I stuck my hands in my pockets as I waited another five minutes.
Finally, the guard emerged with a key to one of the floating vehicles and told me to follow him. I did so and climbed into the cab and we took off.
"So, Lord Scribe, what leads you to see the Trade Leader?" The guard asked, probably just to try and lighten the tension.
"I need to have him open a gate to Sonatum," I explained. "I have business to attend to there."
The guard cut his eyes across at me. "Surely you must have some other business with the Trade Leader?"
I shook my head.
He didn't respond.
We descended lower and lower into the depths of the city. I began to feel that something was amiss.
"Soldier," I said.
"Yes sir?"
"We should be going up."
"No sir, we are going where we need to be going," he responded.
I looked over at him, he was sweating.
I looked down and saw how shifty everything was beginning to look.
"Soldier, take me up, that's an order."
"I can't do that sir," he refused. "I'm already under orders."
I landed the aircraft and stepped out, leaving the unconscious man there to wake up. I walked into the building we had been moving toward and saw that most of the guards were already out cold. The one who wasn't was rocking back and forth muttering some nonsense about a black wolf. There were no black wolves here. There were no wolves at all.
I walked into the building and immediately smelled a stench like no other. I covered my nose, I knew what it was.
I continued until I reached a makeshift throne room wear there was a pile of corpses burning.
I looked at it, slightly horrified at the gruesome sight. Then a voice spoke behind me.
"What would you do without me, Lord Scribe?"
The voice was muffled like there was something over his face. The aura this individual put off was intense. I couldn't move. But was it fear? Or some external power?
I finally managed to turn around and saw there a figure dressed in a black waistcoat with a black shirt, combat boots, pants, and gloves standing there. And what I had thought about his covered face was absolutely correct. They were wearing a black wolf mask, with gleaming white teeth that protruded from under the lip at the corners of the mouth and a white mane. Behind the mask his hair was also white.
His name popped into my head like I had known all along. Or at least, what counted for a name.
"Hello General," I greeted. "Was this your doing?"
He was silent for a moment. "No I stumbled across it and just happened to be under the impression that you would soon arrive." The sarcasm dripping from his voice was painful.
I glanced at the pile of corpses against and then back at the General. "This seems a little excessive."
He was silent as he walked toward the burning heap. "I was ordered here in order to assist you, Lord Scribe," he said. "These people were under orders to kill you, and while I doubt they could've succeeded, they needed to be punished regardless."
I sighed. "I don't approve of your actions here," I admitted. "However, I agree they needed punishment. All of that aside, I need to get to Sonatum."
He turned back around to face me. "Very well," he said and opened a gate next to him. "This way." And he stepped through.
I felt kind of bad, as I was originally heading to see the Trade Leader, but then I shrugged. It was what it was. I stepped through the portal and onto a beautiful bridge that led into the city of Sonatum.