Sorcha's Diary

Chapter 1 - A reunion with my mother

I sit and write this now, not in my native Phehemony, but in a strange room in what my mother informs me is the Tower of Lethe. She sits a few feet away waiting for me to finsh this. Some sort of ordeal awaits me, something which my mother informs me will either kill me or give me the tools to save not only my Kingdom, but Amber, The Courts, and possibly the whole of reality.
However I start this entry not at the begining but at the end.

The day grew long, and the sun sank towards the horizon. In the distance the feint outline of castle Kalus grew more distinct, until it faded into the darkness of night. As the roads turned familiar and my thoughts turned to memories of childhood, I heard the first chime of the bell. I turned to speak to the captain, but the world seemed to freeze about me, greying with each passing chime. As the world solidified once more into a grey landscape I caught the distinct signs of something approaching, a tall demonic grey something, different yet similar to the Ice Demons.

Instinctively I drew your sword. The demon circled verily then charged. I sidestepped, catching it a blow with the sword. Had it been an Ice Demon the blow would have been disabling, but the blade barely cut it. It came again more cautiously this time. Again I swung, catching it across its torso, but barely cutting it. Both of us now knew I had the upper hand. I stepped into it driving it back looking for a killing opening. When it came I took it.

As with drew the sword from its dead body, more demons appeared, three to be exact. This one had been tough, could I handle three,I wasn't sure.
Then I saw it, the purple tendril again, snaking its way through the grey towards me.
The demons charged.
I had a choice demons or tendril. The demons would get to me first. I readied yourself.

I had been wrong. The tendril arrived first. As I flashed skyward, the demons thundered through the space I had just occupied. What ever fate awaited me I would see shortly, for the tendirl held me immobile in its grip. I could not even change shape.

Some time passed, the world flashing about me in a strange matrix of swirling mists of colour. Slowly the swirling diminished and I found yourself travelling across a featureless grey plain towards a large tower, on top of which sat a blue prism. As I approached I realized that the prism was the destiation and braced for impact, yet the impact never came and the tendril drew me through its walls.

Inside a strange sight awaited me. A writhing shifting mass of purple occupied the centre of a pair of concentric rings on the floor perhaps 21 and 49 meters in diameter. In the centre of each 100m wall was a painting some 50m wide, 40m high, hung perhaps, 5m from the ceiling and 15m above the floor. As the tendril deposited me on the floor, it and the writhing mass vanished to be replaced by the image of my mother, unchanged from the image I remember from 12 long years ago.

"Hello, Sorcha. I've been waiting for this moment for sometime. Yet I fear that I have plucked you from one conflict to send you to another that may have far more reaching consequences that you can imagine. But before we discuss that, let us eat, and you can tell me of all that has happened since I last saw you."
She waved her hand, and tables of food and comfortable chairs appeared, the room even came to resemble the great hall of Kalus, save for the living paintings on the wall. We sat and we talked, uncomfortably at first and then with more ease. At last she came to her tale. How her brother, Brand had fallen into the Abyss, and dragged her in with him. How he had not died but struck a deal with the Kraken. How the serpent had saved her. How her brother had attacked Amber and learned of the Children of Rodian. How he had broken the seal of the Great Keep. How the Unicorn and Phoenix must be brought to this tower, how the pattern in Amber must be restored, and of the book of Selheim which is reputed to tell all that is required.

What came next is the strangest of all, yet I write this because I must face the ordeal she has offered me. As the living Logrus she has the ability to grant me great power at least as great in its own way to the Pattern of Amber, something I should walk when its restored. To do this I must merge with her, not in her human form, but in the form I first saw when I arrived.
This is not without considerable risk to me, for if I have not the fortitude or skill then I will die in the attempt. For my Kingdom it is a risk I must take.