The Barrier (Amrocar 1)

From where He floated on the thousand degree air currents at the top of the lower world He could just see the edge of the upper world. It looked insignificant, not worth the trouble He and His kind had gone to to try and re-subjugate it. But as unbelievable as it might seem, for thousands of years the residents of the cold blue upper world had beaten back His kind. He had never gone personally, of course. Those who left never came back. Shimmering in the air between Him and the cliff edge of the Pit was the reason why. The distortion was the Change Barrier. Where the Fusion Layer above met the Fission Layer below, the interaction created a veil of widely varying entropy. Anything passing through it was sure to be affected in one way or another, and the longer an object or being was within, the more they changed. In addition, every time something passed through it the Barrier distended, growing thicker at the point of passage and for some distance around. So passing any kind of force through it intact was nearly impossible. The beings of the lower world were limited to sending in small groups one at a time and hoping that they would be able to assemble into a coherent army. However, roving patrols from Amrocar soon caught most of them.

Amrocar was the Shining Nation, a thorn in the side of the lower world since the Demon Wars. It was those warriors, the famed Paladins of Amrocar, which He had been watching this day. Reputedly knowing no fear, the Paladins came to throw the corpses of those they had vanquished into the Change Barrier, to dissolve in the Fission Layer below. Almost nothing could survive the downward trip. When heading upwards, the lower worlders were already resistant to the Fission Layer. They would be then changed in the Barrier and the changes made permanent in the Fusion Layer. On the downward trip, they would be further fused, and then Changed, then ripped apart, with little or no protection or malleability left. So going to the upper world was pretty much a one-way trip.

There were only two passages between the upper and lower worlds, even through the Barrier. The Pit was the easiest if you were looking to get to habitation, but had the problem of Amrocar’s Paladins. The Abyss, directly across the world, was surrounded by impassable mountains, impassable ocean, and almost impassable desert filled with insane nomads with sharp swords. And so the lower worlders were kept quiescent. In the past some of the upper worlders had come to the edge and made deals with those below, to give one or a few of the lower worlders aid in escaping the Paladins, in return for aid against their enemies. He had hoped to find one such, despite the improbability, but with Paladins around, there was no chance whatsoever. No mortal dead-walker or mindleech would dare a Paladin camp.

Even as He thought of leaving, however, He felt a pull from above. Startled, He stopped. What was this? A trick? But only those with great desire and will could call to the depths. Quickly He focused his own great will and sent back the thought of His presence. Communication through the barrier was affected as well, and it was best to keep things simple to avoid misunderstanding. He tried to convey a measure of his power with the message, but in effect it was merely a great mental shout.

“I AM HERE!” he thundered to the Barrier, and from somewhere above He was answered.

“come to me…” The voice seemed small, but He reminded Himself that the Barrier would be altering it, perhaps unfavorably.

“WHAT CAN YOU OFFER ME?” he cried, and there was silence for a minute. But the answer, when it came, stunned Him to His very core.

“you will be…joshua!”

He floated, unmoving, for long seconds as His mind tried to weigh the possibilities. A Name! He was being offered a true Name! It was a gift both weakening and empowering. Those with the capability to grant a name to one of the lower world, who had no Names of their own, gave the lower worlder an unparalleled ability to cross the barrier. A Name was like a touchstone upon which the lower worlder could draw to keep their form from being as badly affected by the passage. With a swift enough transit, there would be almost no warping at all! In addition, the Summoner could impart some of his own powers to the demon, in addition to the demon’s own. And sometimes the fusion of powers was considerably more powerful than either alone. The disadvantage was that the one who gave the Name to some extent set the form and personality of the one who would bear it. However, for the ever malleable lower-worlders, who were used to many different bodies and styles of thinking over the ages of their lives, this was little bar. He realized then that he had already accepted. In fact, His major concern was merely if He had enough time to make the crossing before His form became unsuited to flight, leaving Him to climb up the cliff face and thus spend too much time in the Barrier, to His detriment.

He felt the changes beginning inside him and He had not yet started moving. In a heartbeat He spread his great batwings and clapped them together beneath His suddenly hurtling form. Faster and faster He flew, until the very air compressed around Him like a second skin and a huge noise echoed behind Him. He no longer had the ability to change direction, but in this, speed was more important than finesse. In a second he had entered the Fission Layer, and He felt the burning of entropy, but then He was into the Change Barrier. For one horrible second everything in existence seemed to be inside him. He struggled to chant his Name, and everything seemed to recede slightly. Then he was through into the Fusion Layer, and He felt His body calcify, no longer the fluid and malleable form He was so used to, but instead becoming something new, something set. Something called Joshua.