A Long Time from Home Ch. 00 - Prologue

Author's notes:

This is an Alternate Reality story, where Atlantis, which the inhabitants called Baylon, was real and inhabited by a powerful humanoid race called Baylons.

About half the story happens in the bronze age and I've researched a lot for this story. If you find anything that looks like a mistake in the story, please double check to be sure that you're correct and then PM me about it. :)

A slight warning: This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

P.S. I haven't gotten an editor yet, so any mistakes are mine. Interested editors are welcome :) Just be warned that this is a LONG story :)

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Prologue: The arrival

Another dimension

Magister Grande ex Magica, Flavia Porcius Dives looked at the energy flowing into the Power Matrix and exhaled slowly as she prepared herself to cast the single most important spell in her life... perhaps the most important spell ever cast by any magus.

That it would also be the last spell she ever cast, went without saying. No person could channel so much power and live to tell the tale, but that was a minor detail: If she didn't cast the spell, they were all doomed anyway and at least this way there was a small chance that her family would survive.

Looking around she made eye contact one at a time with every magus controlling the Points of Power in the Matrix. Some were smiling back defiantly; some had tears in their eyes or running down their cheeks and some just nodded to her, but all radiated the will to make this ritual happen even at the cost of their lives.

Closing her eyes, Flavia Porcius Dives knelt and placed her hands on the central Point of Power and sang out:

"Reality in my hands,

bend and stretch at my will.

Bend now, without breaking.

Stretch out through the oceans of reality

For the peace that once were

And for the peace that will come

The lights of power

Guide us through the darkness."

Power greater than any ever experienced ran through her and even as her body started to disintegrate, her mind channelled that power into the desired magical shape.

Magical energy split the air as reality itself was torn asunder and then slowly faded away, as the magic pushed everything around the dying Flavia Porcius Dives into another dimension.

Atlantic Ocean, circa 3500 BC

Unlike what was told later, the huge island did not arrive in the middle of a storm. Nor was the arrival followed by huge waves or impressive arrays of lightning.

In reality, it was a fairly non-dramatic event. The air shimmered with power for a while, as a vast island slowly faded into existence, where there had only been ocean before.

Mountains dominated one end of the island, but the landscape turned into lush rolling hills with proud forests, before plain took over. Rich and fertile soil where crops were being farmed.

A great circular city came into view, connected to the sea with a large canal. Built as a series of large rings surrounding a citadel in the centre -- almost like a cartwheel -- it was constructed of red, white and black rock, but every wall, roof and bridge was decorated with precious metals and when the sunlight reached the city, it glittered with silver and gold, while the citadel flashed with the red light of orichalcum.

On each ring was a multitude of houses, temples, pyramids, baths, schools and shops, but spaced between them there were luxurious gardens, filled with trees of marvellous beauty, providing shade for the visitors.

Between each ring of land, there were wide canals on which ships could sail and even dock, delivering their goods as close to their destination as possible.

The whole city was surrounded by a gigantic wall, making it secure from storms.

Then people started to appear in the city. They were humanoid, but tall -- around 6'6" on the average for the men, while the women were a bit shorter -- and while some were dressed in togas, others were dressed in simple kilts, trousers or skirts.

The last to appear was a small circle of people standing on a platform at the top of the citadel and when they had materialized fully, there was a shimmering in the air as a protective shield disappeared and with that, the island was part of the world, looking like it had always been there.

"Thank the Goddesses!" exclaimed one of the people in the circle. "We're safe!"

A bearded man nodded and looked at the ocean for the briefest of moments, before he turned towards the rest. "Sulla, send out the dragon-riders. We need to find the power-nodes and anchor Baylon, before the island becomes unstable and returns to our home dimension. Varro, make sure the magi are ready to perform the ritual as soon as Sulla's people finds the power nodes. We only have a week, and we need at least four anchors in this dimension or we're as good as dead. Maximus, scout the locals and see if they pose any threat to us. Fimbria, get the army ready just in case we need to defend ourselves. Galba, you do the same with the fleet."

The circle disrupted as people saluted and ran off to their assignments, leaving only the bearded man and two women on the platform. The two women wore long flowing robes and both held a double-headed axe in their hands, marking them as high priestesses.

When the bearded man turned to look at them, one of them smiled and walked to him. "Relax, husband and king. We made it so far. The Goddesses have not abandoned us."

"I know," said the bearded man and looked over the ocean again. "But what do we do now?"

The other priestess walked over to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "As we planned. We survive, make colonies and trade with the locals and if the Goddesses are merciful, we will find our way back home when the magical storm has passed."

The bearded man placed a hand over the woman's hand. "I hope so, wife. I really do."

Silence fell as they watched the sun go down for the first time in their new home world.