Darklight: The New World

Part 32: Distraction

Soran found himself hitting a barrier and re-materializing high in the air over the coast of Utopia. He was unprepared and fell like a stone to the docklands below. His reflexes kicked in before he impacted the ground and a cushion of air slowed his decent rapidly as he hit the ground with an uncomfortable thud on his side. Grunting, Soran got up.

This wasn’t right. He was supposed to be in Eresmai. He should have teleported directly into Eresmai’s control room. What could of gone wrong? 

Soran looked out over the sea, closed his eyes and held out his hands as if to feel something, anything. He slowly moved his hands horizontally. He didn’t really understand why he was doing this, but he knew that he had to. The voice then chirped up again inside his head.

Feel your way. The Arcane Fields that contour the planet. Sense the disturbances.

The Arcane Fields? Thats what caused the Transport to crash which hurtled Soran back through the time stream. He still didn’t know what caused it. Were the anomalies orchestrated? 

Then he felt it. His hands stopped, being blocked. There wasn’t a physical block, but his sensing of the Arcane Landscape couldn’t do any further than the Utopian coast.

“Something’s blocking the Arcane Fields” Soran said aloud.

He turned to face back towards the city and once again felt along the faint and delicate lines of the Arcane Fields that flowed via the planet’s Crystalline Matrix. The fields were converging on a central point within Utopia. This was usual - the Temple Of The Three, a focal point for the Matrix. But the fields were bending unexpectedly towards the focal point where they shouldn’t, just as if magnetic lines suddenly changed direction for no reason.

What did this mean? Soran wasn’t sure. But there was a gulf now between Utopia and the rest of the planet, and Arcane Energy could not now enter or leave Utopia. That’s why he was stuck here.

The only route forward was towards the Temple Of The Three.