Shifting the Balance
Rachel and Rebecca appeared high in the endless blue sky, their gazes falling upon the continent of Sibba. The newly sanctified building below blazed like a beacon, and both women could feel the trembling threads of fate shifting throughout the realm. Its presence was throwing the balance of Trannisa into disarray.
The skies of Trannisa were never-ending, an ocean of depth that defied description. Its twelve continents rested within it as though nestled into a vast, unseen cushion. Though anchored in place, they were never completely immovable. From time to time, they needed to be shifted, adjusted, set back into harmony.
Rachel was about to do just that.
She looked eastward toward the continent of Jeuls, then west toward Playz. Her voice was calm but commanding.
"Stay here and be my anchor. Trust me—and don't move."
Before Rebecca could fully comprehend, Rachel was gone.
Rebecca's eyes widened. Anchor? Trust you? Don't move? The words twisted uneasily in her chest. She had learned by now that when Rachel said things in that particular tone, it usually meant trouble. She swallowed in nervous anticipation for what was to come.
And then she felt it.
A tautness, it pulled from the crown of her head, straight through the center of her being, extending out of her lower body like a thread drawn tight. She gasped, reflexively calling upon all her allies to steady herself. The thread kept tightening, minute adjustments pulling at her essence, as though her very existence had become the calibration tool for something immense.
Streams of rainbow light began to flood toward her from all directions. They wrapped around, and through, Rebecca, then they flowed through her like the anchoring tautness. Strands broke free from the rainbow tether and move about Sibba, as if to stabilize it during the move.
Then, slowly, Sibba shifted.
Rebecca felt the continent drop lower, then slide northwesterly, the pull resonating through her being. She hovered, centered, guiding the movement without truly moving herself.
She watched the rainbow strands vibrate and pulse with different spectrums and hues of color. The power was hot, intense, and consuming.
Rebecca's mind slowed as the process continued.
The realization struck hard. 'She's moving Sibba itself… and I'm the anchor.'
Her heart skipped. How can anyone have this much power? Then another thought crept in. 'Hasn't Rachel done this before? Without me?'
"Yes," Rachel's voice whispered, sudden and sharp in her ear. "But this way is easier. Quicker."
Rebecca jumped violently, clutching her chest. The tether vanished in that instant, leaving her breathless. "Jeeze, Rachel! First you use me to drag a whole continent, and then you nearly stop my heart!"
Rachel's lips curved into a faint, amused smile. "Maybe you'd notice my presence if you stopped daydreaming all the time."
Before Rebecca could retort, Rachel placed a hand on her shoulder. In a blink, they reappeared over Playz.
"Two more times," Rachel said simply. "Playz and Jeuls need adjusting as well."
She vanished again, but this time Rebecca braced herself, no longer panicked.
Playz was shifted upward into the vast sky, then nudged westward. Jeuls, meanwhile, was drawn southeast, its path altered without disturbing its balance. Each time, Rachel blinked across the continents, her figure appearing and vanishing as she monitored their distances, ensuring the three remained in perfect proportion to each other.
Power streamed from her in tiny rivulets, pinks of various shades and tones, all seeking out thr information she needed. She had been using knowledge magic for many years and this technique came as easy and normal to her as breathing.
The knowledge magic had swam around her in deep streams of pink each time. The stream pushing mists of pink into her being and information flowing into her like the streams that had carried it.
When it was done, she returned once more to Rebecca.
Rebecca stared at her for a long moment, lips pursed, then shook her head in exasperation. This woman. "Couldn't you have just told the continents to move themselves? Why do you always have to show off?"
Rachel tilted her chin, the smile returning. "First of all, that would've taken three days. With Sibba's new sacred site, the adjustment needed to be immediate." Her eyes sparkled with mischievous light. "Second of all… I like to show off."
Rebecca groaned. "Of course you do."
But Rachel's smile faded, her gaze shifting downward into the vast blackness below.
Rebecca followed her eyes and shivered at the sight of the Abyss—the dark unknown beneath all things. "What's wrong?"
"There's a problem in the Abyss," Rachel murmured, massaging the bridge of her nose. She exhaled heavily. "I'll deal with it later. For now, we need to check Sibba's underside."
Trannisa was divided into two vast expanses: the endless skies above, and the mysterious Abyss below. While the skies were infinite, the Abyss was not—and despite centuries of effort, little of it had ever been truly mapped.
Every continent had an underside, but Sibba's was unique: it was formed from a massive crystalline body, a fundamental balancing force of the entire realm.
When Rachel and Rebecca descended, the sight waiting for them was unsettling.
The crystal labyrinth below Sibba was dim, stripped of its brilliance. Its surface had gone opaque, its glow faint. Without restoration, it could fracture—and if it cracked, Sibba itself would be in danger.
And if Sibba was in danger that would lead to problems in Trannisa.
This was no mere artifact. The crystal was a living foundation, home to countless beings who lived and worked within its labyrinth of shining pathways, and a sentient being long allied with Trannisa, all it asked was to have all the rainbow magjc it could consume for an eternity.
This was no problem for Trannisa to provide.
Its vitality was essential not just to Sibba, but to Trannisa itself. It had grown into a symbiotic relationship. Trannisa now needed this entity to maintain its balance.
Rachel's eyes shimmered with rainbow light. Radiance poured from her, flowing outward, weaving into the crystal's heart. She spoke quiet words of power and set off several of her stored sorceric spells. Magic rippled, around her, poured, forth, then formed into great balls of magic and intent around her.
Each special had a specific purpose and she controlled them with calm and unhurried movements.
Slowly, painstakingly, the labyrinth brightened.
Within, people pressed to the crystalline walls, their faces tense. As clarity returned, their shoulders dropped, visible relief flooding them.
Rachel dimmed her aura slightly, scanning deeper. Honeycombed paths spiraled outward at the crystal's edges, leading into inner districts of buildings and dwellings. Everything appeared sound: no cracks, no weak points.
Still, she did not take chances. Several strands of knowledge magic drifted from her fingers, embedding themselves in the crystal's network. They would record and monitor every fluctuation, every whisper of imbalance, and report back when their task was complete.
Rachel finally turned to Rebecca. "Good. That's stable for now. Let's check on Anis."
Her hand brushed Rebecca's shoulder. The world bent—and they vanished from the spot.