She looked towards Aldrec, her expression hopeful. "Do you think it was the elves in Skainhart? Do you think they saw through the potion's illusion?"
"No, it wasn't them," he said.
Of course not. It would not have been elves, Mericlou thought, and felt silly for having even made the conclusion. Elves would never do something as petty as use the imse ether to harass another. This was the work of humans. There was no other logical conclusion.
"But I … do know what caused it," Aldrec said.
"You … know?" Mericlou asked, caught completely off-guard. "What was it, then? And why?"
Aldrec turned away, and started back towards the doorway. Strangely he seemed to grow taller and more majestic. "Come with me," he said, not looking back.
"Mericlou followed behind as he opened the door. They both stepped into pitch-blackness as Aldrec uttered the word, Ereimul. The same in the old dwarf building in Skainhart, a magic sliver of light expanded and intensified until it the entire room was lit.
"Where are we?" Mericlou said. Like the bedroom, this chamber was also made of wood. It was completely circular and bare on its walls, floor, and rooftop, with the exception of a raised platform in its center.
"I call it my 'silence room,' Aldrec said, approaching the center platform. "It's where I get all my information for history."
"What do you mean by that?" Mericlou said, not understanding a word he had just said.
"You know how I once said that I didn't need a video ether or an orb?" Aldrec said, as he stepped onto the platform.
Mericlou nodded.
"This is why."
Mericlou started to follow him, but Aldrec stopped her, warning to stay where she was. For extra caution, she stepped back, and watched as Aldrec took his place at the platform's center. He closed his eyes and stood perfectly still, like a statue.
The same petals of sparkling light that she had seen floating into the bedroom through the window not but a few moments ago, began to appear in the room -or more specifically, directly over Aldrec, falling like fluorescent snowflakes.
As the tiny shower of light began, he opened his eyes, and stepped down from the platform. He then turned around to face it: a brilliant column of swirling, sparkling rain.
He reached out and placed his hand directly into it. The moment his finger touched one of the petals of light, the others vanished, and that particular sparkle enlarged into a perfect square. This square contained the familiar face of Somiir Neska, the head anchorman for Republic Daily News.