Norani Llahalor (3)

Despite how severe these rules appeared to be, not a single person present dared refute them. The residence of the only Light Faction Pseudo-Sage was a tightly guarded secret, just as the Dark Faction did with theirs. Sages are considered much rarer than deities by nature of creation: a deity, with a single exception, is born to their status, while a Sage is chosen. Though there was some rivalry between the Deities and the Sages, they both cared about Andor deeply, so they did not truly fight. Also, Sages are mortals prior to being chosen, while deities are already immortal at birth. This means that Sages can walk the earth without relinquishing power as deities must do to descend. A Sage's word and a deity's word both hold the same power, exceeding any mortal ruler, and a Sage can single-handedly alter the fate of an entire nation with a word. As such, protecting a national trump card such as a Pseudo-Sage, the closest being to becoming a Sage, was a no-brainer.

Of course, the Four Sages of Magic held no allegiance and supported all mortals equally, thus using their words to assure both factions of the safety of their Pseudo-Sages, who they treated as potential juniors. Such being the case, even if one wanted to refute the rules of the Sovereigns, they could not refute the words of four of the most powerful Sages in history, especially since two still lived.

Once everyone present agreed to the mental probing, each person, by Norani's indication, lowered any mental defences and allowed her power to enter their minds. Aside from great pressure that threatened to break their minds if allowed to roam uncontrolled, the sensation was not painful, only uncomfortable since it was a foreign entity invading one's mind, voluntarily or not. It was very short, taking no longer than a minute per person, totalling less than 6 minutes overall. After each person was examined, they swore the oath that Norani passed to them via telepathy. "I swear unto the Heavens above that no information of what occurs hence, in the case of Norani Llahalor and her abode, shall pass to any unsworn persons without consent. I willingly allow Norani Llahalor to seal the memories of said following occurrences and understand that I shall die should I speak of them to another or should my seal be tampered with."

As the final oath, telepathically spoken via Norani's aid by Arcturus, was completed, the figure in the painting began walking to the bottom right corner of the frame, at the end of the balustrade. Then, it stepped out of the painting, acting akin to Peter Pan's shadow by climbing over the frame and dropping to the ground, all while it appeared stuck to the wall. At the bottom of the baseboards, the figure knelt and reached between the barely existent space between the baseboards and the wall, taking a second to find, though it was impossible for the others to see, a similarly painted lever at floor-level, angled at a 45-degree angle. First, the figure pushed the level down to 0, then pulled it to 145, back to 90, then all the way to 180. As the lever clicked into place, the painting's frame and canvas expanded until it was the size of a doorway, with the painting's design changing into a three-dimensional portrait of a silver hallway ending at an arched doorway of Ancient Elven design.

The painting's figure stood up as the baseboards disappeared, replaced by the frame until even that slid beneath the floor. It walked through the hall, appearing to grow bigger due to perspective until it reached the doorway, where it turned awaited the guests to enter. Nesine went first, as she had experienced the magical painting's transportation method before. She walked without pause at the wall, evenly spacing her steps as she appeared to collide with the painting. Instead of a collision sound and Nesine falling backward, no sound came as she appeared to walk directly through the wall. Inside the painting, continuing at the same pace as before, was a painted version of the High Elf Queen, giving the five other guests quite a surprise.

After Nesine demonstrated the proper entrance method, Rhonin and Gethras followed suit. Luca and Arcturus came next, with Arthur bringing up the rear. In the painting, the figure pushed open the doors and bade them welcome. On the other side of painted hallway was a silver wall, though this one was a true, physical wall with a painted arched doorway upon it. After the painted doors opened, Nesine's painted form stepped out from the two-dimensional wall and into three-dimensional reality. She sighed, rubbing her arms with her hands, "Such a novel experience. Still doesn't quite agree with my body though."

The painting was actually created from the Dreamwalker's magic, which she had imbued into the form of art. As it was also Divine magic, it could directly influence reality, making two flat surfaces into a three-dimensional pathway from one side to another. As it altered one's body and by extension, their perception, due to the transition from a corporeal form to a semi-corporeal one, then back to corporeal had an odd sensation that just couldn't be explained without experiencing it. A close approximation would be the sensation of being flattened, but without dying from being flattened, then being stretched back into a normal body, all within a few seconds.

As the last of the guests exited the painted hallway, the doors closed silently, leaving them to take in the surroundings. Around them was a large platform, big enough to house a field up to FIFA standards, with six silver cords stretching off from the edges to link with an enormous silver metal frame shaped like a sphere. The sphere, based entirely on a guess by the visitors, had to have a circumference of at least five kilometres, as the large platform took up only a fraction of the total area despite being placed close to the top of the stationary globe. In some places on the platform, the floor could be seen through, and far below was silver-blue liquid, as opaque as molten metal, filling two-thirds of the globe's space.

As they took in the sights, a familiar voice came from nearby, "Stop standing around like fools." All six turned to see a High Elf woman of ambiguous age, save for her pure white hair that was allowed to flow freely, with irises with the same colour as the liquid below the platform, seated in a silver chair. Even among the beautiful elven races, she easily stood atop them all, looking like the epitome of elven beauty. With one leg crossed over the other, one hand on her lap while she leaned upon the other casually, she appeared almost one with the world despite being clearly in front of them. With a mild curve in her lips, she spoke again, "Welcome to my abode, my young guests. I am Norani Llahalor, former commander of the Thirteenth Cyelume Battalion and last of the High Elven heroes of the Andorian War."