Experience Tumblr Like Never Before
Shallan grimaced as Pattern formed into a sword in her hands. She still wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of wielding a sword, but it was what needed to be done, so she would do it. She, Navani and Jasnah were running experiments on the portals at Urithiru, trying to get a second one open. Prior to Jasnah's return, everyone had been completely stumped, but between the knowledge Jasnah brought back from her time in Shadesmar and her abilities with the transportation surge, she brought new energy to the project. Their current working theory was that they would eventually need Jasnah and Highprince Kalinar working together to permanently reopen a portal, but they wanted to make sure they had things right before Kalinar bound it open. If this worked, Shallan would use the portal to briefly visit Jah Keved and then promptly return to Urithiru. Jasnah was physically sitting in the tower, but was mentally in Shadesmar monitoring and guiding the portal. Shallan slid Pattern into the sword slot and was excited to feel the portal unlock – finally, actual progress! She rotated the fabrial and, as expected the stormlight in the lamps faded. That, however, is where her expectations broke down. As the lamps faded, the room itself seemed to fade until she seemed to be floating in a black void. Once she got past the initial shock she called out “Oh storm it! Pattern, are you still here? Something seems to have gone wrong...do you have any idea where we are?”
Shallan closed her eyes against the overwhelming darkness as she lost her self in the contemplation of what to do next. What would Jasnah do in this situation? She sighed. Jasnah would know how to navigate Shadesmar, and that wasn't something she could do. As Shallan pondered this, she felt a tapping on her shoulder, startled, and whipped her head around hoping to be able to see something in the inky blackness. She was relieved to see pattern glowing gently, “Mmmm, didn't mean to startle... you were getting lost...”
“Well, yes, when we think hard on something we can get lost in those thoughts.”
“Yes. Dangerous here. Lost in thoughts in Shadesmar is lost entirely.”
Shallan considered this. “Pattern, I'm not sure what you mean.”
“Mmmm... Thoughts are Shadesmar... A lie, but a good lie. If you get lost in thought in thoughts you are lost.”
Shallan shook her head. “I'm still not sure I follow, but I'll try to be careful. Do you have any suggestion as to what we should be doing next? How can we get back to Roshar?”
“Look. Your truth is what you see.”
“Look where? Pattern, the only thing I can see is you...”
Pattern took her hand and pointed with it. As Shallan squinted in that direction she could make out... something. At least it wasn't pitch black. “Ok, how do I get there?"
“Mmmm... Lightweavers aren't for traveling... Lie? The best lies become like truth...”
Shallan looked over at Pattern with eyes narrowed in thought as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Do you mean that I just need to be sufficiently convinced that I am already there and then I will be?”
“Mmmm.... not sure... perhaps?”
“Well I guess I don't have any better ideas...” Shallan took a deep breath to center herself and tried to focus on believing that she was at that point in the distance that was something other than inky blackness. She quickly realized that as long as she could see that she was still surrounded by darkness, she was not going to be able to truly believe it, so she closed her eyes tightly and tried to block out her skepticism.
Suddenly, she felt herself fall and land on...something...she didn't recognize. When her brain caught up that things had changed and she was once again in a new situation, her eyes snapped open and she quickly sat up. As she looked around, her eyes grew wide – where on Roshar was she? She was definitely outdoors and seemed to be on the ground, but it wasn't any kind of ground she was familiar with. For one thing, whatever vegetation she was sitting on didn't seem even remotely inclined to retreat back into the rock...which...didn't exactly seem like rock, it was too soft. There did appear to be large rocks standing around though... Did she end up somewhere in Shinovar? Shallan knew that they at least had plants that didn't retreat, and maybe this soft stuff was the soil she had read about... She reached into the bag of supplies she had packed in case something went wrong to pull out her sketchbook. Drawing often helped her make sense of what she was seeing. As she did, she thanked the Almighty that her bag hadn't gotten lost somewhere in her unusual journey. That thought reminded her of her traveling companion. She looked around, but didn't immediately see him and, as her heart started racing in panic, she called out, “Pattern? Did... Did you make it here as well?” She was highly relieved to her a sudden buzzing above her and to see Pattern's tangled mass of lines floating down as she looked up.
“Mmmm... still with you... still don't know where here is. Here is a nice pattern though.”
“A pattern?”
“Mmmm... big rocks all around in a circle with rocks on rocks, but maybe some missing.”
Shallan raised her eyebrows as she carefully stood with her bag and sketchbook and began to slowly walk around in wonder investigating the area she had so unceremoniously landed in. She didn't know as much as she wished she did about the Shin, but this seemed like something that might have been sacred to them at one point. It also seemed abandoned and was impressive enough that she should have come across it in her studies. “Pattern... Either we have discovered some long lost sacred site in Shinovar, or...” here she took a deep breath, “or we aren't on Roshar anymore.”
Whrrrrrrrrthwick! Whrrrrrrrrthwick! Whrrrrrrrrthwick! Whrrrrrrrrthwick!
Dumbledore looked up from his desk and frowned at the little silver device that had just started going off. He had many similar devices in his office to alert him of strong magical disturbances at key locations. This one suggested that something significant had just happened at Stonehenge. Thankfully it was just whrrrthwiking - if it had been shrieking that would have meant dark magic and likely that Voldemort had decided to come out of hiding. This, however, was just intriguing. He glanced back down at the paperwork he had been filling out and shrugged. It could wait. He looked over to his phoenix, “Fawkes, my dear old friend, would you be up for a visit to Stonehenge?” Fawkes chirruped and cocked his head. “Something seems to have happened there, and, beyond the fact that I am curious, it would be prudent to investigate.” Fawkes stretched his wings and trilled as flew over to Dumbledore who stood reached out for his tail feathers. They vanished in a flash of fire.