How to pass the time when you have to hole up

What can I say? The first day at the hideout was my most relaxing time so far in Liyúra. Despite Lily’s hellish training routine! The thing was, it helped to prevent me from getting bored. Luckily I wasn’t susceptible to cabin fever, but all I could do otherwise was reading novels, watching some (few) downloaded movies or listening to (also downloaded) music (a few more titles than movies; music doesn't need as much hard disk space!).

There was of course no access to the internet and its endless distractions like youtube, netflix, amazon prime and so on. I haven’t missed it so far, but without anything else to do I would have fallen for it again, …provided I’d have access to it and without Lily’s rigorous training regime of course!

After that I now regularly enjoyed warm baths in Reeza’s bathtub, which I also used to thoroughly wash all my clothes. Nearly a quarter of one of my two pieces of soap were used only for that!

Of course I still pestered the girls for information about Liyúra, but tried to refrain from being too obnoxious!

“Can you tell me how big Liyúra is?” I asked Reeza on the evening of the first day during our supper.

”Nearly one hundred thousand miles.” was the short answer between two bites.

I nearly choked on my piece.

“One.Hundred.Thousand.Miles?” I repeated in an incredulous whisper.

I caught strange looks from all sides.

“Why are you so shaken?” Reeza wondered.

“Do you mean diameter or circumference?” I asked back, just to be sure.

“Circumference of course! Diameter!” she answered, sounding somewhat indignant.

Well, one hundred thousand miles in circumference was still an awful lot, but somewhat believable. Diameter would’ve been obviously ridiculous!

Later, when I made some calculations based on that information, I met an unexpected challenge: The numbers just didn’t add up!

Based on Reeza’s information Liyúra is what astronomers have labelled a so-called ‘super earth’. Those are planets with a similar composition and same physical properties as planet earth (consisting mainly of metals and rock), but bigger and more massive.

Liyúra now seemed a veritable specimen of that planet class, having a diameter more than two and a half times of earth and more than six and a half times of its surface area. All life here had much more room than back at home!

What didn’t add up was its ridiculously low density, based on my measurements back in the lava cave. There I'd measured a gravitational acceleration of about one quarter higher than on earth.

Based on that, Liyúra could only have a mean density of almost exactly half of that of earth! And that was practically impossible with such a huge body!

The next morning I talked with Reeza about my findings. She listened intently and then said:

“And what is your problem now exactly?”

I pondered how I should best explain it to her.

“You see, the larger a body gets, the more it compresses its interior. Because all the rock piling onto each other weighs a lot. Also heavier elements are sinking downwards easier than lighter elements and are concentrating in the center. So basically it’s a common rule that bigger celestial bodies of similar consistency are denser than smaller bodies. But the overall density of Liyúra isn’t any more than that of common granite. Rocks like marble or basalt couldn’t even exist here in larger quantities because they are too heavy!”

She frowned.

“And how exactly did you calculate all that?”

Sure, it wasn’t very comforting getting confronted with a seemingly fundamental flaw with your world! But at least she listened.

I showed her the formula, and she stood there and looked at it.

“I recognize most of the numbers,” she said, “but what is this?”

She pointed at the bottom of the fraction.

“That is the gravitational constant.” I explained. “This number is a universal constant and applicable everywhere in the universe where it comes to gravity and its effects.”

“Ah!”

She nodded.

“And how was this number found?”

I tried to explain what little I knew about the old experiments of Cavendish and at Mount Schiehallion back in the 18th century, where scientists measured the miniscule attraction two masses had on each other, but my memory was a little bit hazy. Despite that she listened and asked at the end:

“Are you sure you are still in the same universe as your homeworld?”

This simple question shocked me quite a lot! Of course, how could I know? But I recovered quickly and shook my head.

“Possible, but not very realistic. Gravity would have to be even weaker here than in ‘my’ universe, and then stars like your sun couldn’t form. Their radiation would blow them apart.”

“Really?” she countered. “But that would only apply if the radiation would have the same strength as in your universe.”

We exchanged some more arguments but abandoned the subject in the end, because we had no means to compare direct measurements from Earth and Liyúra.

“Are there places with serious deviations in weight?” I asked finally, because another theory had formed in my head. Unfortunately it shattered immediately, because Reeza shook her head firmly.

“Not that I know of. Of course, magicians can manipulate their weight or the weight of specific objects, but never over a large area and for a prolonged time. That is simply not possible.”

“As impossible as summoning somebody from another world?”

She sighed.

“Look, for something like manipulating weight you have to drain mana from manærite, you know that, right?”

I nodded.

“So what do you think happens, when you have drained all the available mana?”

I shrugged. How should I know?

“The manærite decays.” she answered. “But even before that happens, your concentration would falter and your mental energy’d be depleted. So even if somebody would have the capacity to alter the weight over a large area - and we are talking millions of square miles here! - it would ultimately destroy all the available manærite there. That’s what I meant when I said it’s impossible.”

Well, there was no arguing here. I was wondering, into which elements the manærite would decay to and suddenly saw huge analogies to certain nuclear elements on earth. Oh, there had to be so many more questions to be asked!

Sadly a strange incident later that day, that nearly disrupted our little group, impeded further research for the time being.

It started when I asked about the music culture on Liyúra, what instruments they used and what kind of songs they sang.

The girls looked at each other and Illyára then suggested, she could sing an old tune for me, called “Lost and Gained”, if it was all right. Obviously I was delighted and highly expectant!

I was not the only one, as Reeza and Lily also looked with anticipation at their companion.

We gathered on deck of the ‘Ice Wallow', the ælven girl stood by the central mast, cleared her throat and began to sing:

What you think that you possess,

You already have lost,

And what you think that you have lost,

Is only what you truly can possess!

You just have forgotten

What treasure lies beneath

Your thoughts, your concepts,

Your perceptions and ideas.

All of that you have to lose,

To gain what's truly yours!

And when you’ve gained,

What you have lost,

And lost what you’ve thought

That you possess,

Maybe you’ll realize:

It's much, much more,

Than only yours!

The whole world will be your gift,

As you will be hers too,

And only then will close the rift,

That's kept you isolated,

And hurt you night and day

For, ach, so long!

All will be healed

When you will find,

What you think

That you have lost,

And lose what you believe

Was always yours.

Lose your thoughts,

Lose your tongue,

Lose your heart,

And lose your mind!

Discard just everything,

You identify as You,

Or I and Mine!

Only then will heal,

What your selfishness has hurt,

From the time it had awaken,

At the dawn of your kind,

A long, long time ago.

Only then you will be born anew,

Forgotten your old hull,

Discarded, decomposed, recycled.

But you will stretch your newfound wings,

And soar into the sky,

To jubilee and celebrate,

The moment of and in eternity,

In stillness, peace and joy!

Words can’t describe the unforgettable impression the beautiful ælven girl left on me, standing in this empty, icy hall, her sweet, multiphonic voice floating in the air, filling every corner with its harmonies. Yes, Illyára could sing chords, like some birds on earth with an incredible range and emotional depth, I had never ever heard even from highly professional opera singers back at home.

The melody was seemingly simple, but she interlaced it with microtones and polyphonic counter voices no human singer would be capable of. Sometimes she sounded even like a professional quartet, when she began to use overtones, but always she returned to the simplicity of a solo voice.

I was also deeply moved by the mystic, a little bit cryptic text, even if I couldn’t understand it completely at that time. But it moved me on an instinctive, almost primordial level I could only feel deep down in my chest, in my heart.

Tears stood in my eyes, when I silently hugged her, completely at a loss of words, when she joined us again. The other girls were also visibly moved, but not so deeply shaken, as they already knew this song and the old poem it was based upon.

I now wanted to return the favor and introduce some music from my world. Mozart seemed to me a good starting point, so I searched in my database for the famous slow movement from his piano concerto in C major KV 467.

I turned on the bluetooth box and let the music play. Its beauty was different than Illyára’s song, richer in sound, harmony and colour, but of course it was just a recording, and you know: nothing beats a live performance!

Reeza and Yára both listened with closed eyes and tender faces, their bodies gently swaying with the soft rhythm. I leaned back too and relaxed, diving fully into the mellow mood.

But the peaceful atmosphere was brutally shattered by a terrifying, piercing roar that gave me an icy shock, instantly freezing me. It was Lily, charging at me with a crazy look on her distorted visage, dangerously clawing with her paws through the air and maniacally screaming: “STOP THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW!! THIS INSTANT!! YOU HEAR ME?!! THIS! INSTANT!! OR ELSE!!!”