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The Three Realms The Three Realms (Book 6: The Eternal Age of Unity)

3 Realms 6-27

Crysna DID take the older Steam Engines’ advice. Yes, she had her accidents, but she learned from them and took steps not to repeat those mistakes again. She made friends with the Steam Engines and was Dulna’s best friend on the Railway. Reb never understood it. “Why, in all the Realms,” she grumbled, “are they becoming friends?! Crysna’s CLEARLY a more efficient engine! She’s stronger, faster, more maneuverable, and she doesn’t produce as much crystal waste! Her type of engine’s going to replace those steam engines you DEARLY love!”

“Non-Mechanica Steam Engines, yes,” replied Rikuna, “and there WILL be Mechanica Crystal Engines that will be so puffed up that they think themselves superior to Steam Engines, but they’re gonna be dealt with.”

“My dear Rikuna, conflict between the old and the new is the DREADFUL name of survival. That is what kept my crew going.”

“It KEPT your crew going. These days, that needs to exist only among non-Sentina animals.”

“If you say so,” grunted Reb, not fully believing it.


There was another person who took Reb’s views to heart, Tophan’s grandson, Charluth. For some odd reason, he took a dislike to Crysna. He was a known troublemaker. The reason for this was because he tried to haul freight cars that were going to be scrapped and tried using Henurya to pull them and add them to Jarnathu’s train. Henurya tried to tell Charluth, but he wouldn’t listen. When Jarnathu collected the cars already arranged and got through to Charluth, the young man became the laughingstock of the railway. Tophan didn’t like that his own grandson was disobedient and fired him for it. Ever since, he tried to cause trouble while his grandfather wasn’t looking. His attempts failed in the past, but he had a feeling his new plan would work. One day, he spoke to the railway workers at the shunting yards. When he approached them, the workers started laughing at him. “Hey, look!” said a Centaur woman. “It’s the driver that can’t tell old freight cars from new!”

“Let’s sing him his favorite song!” called an Elf man.

“One! Two! One, two, three, four!” counted a Slime man. The song echoed through the yard.

Charluth is no help at all!

Thinks he’s very clever!

Says that he’s the greatest of us!

That’s the best joke ever!

When he tries to haul freight cars

Ready to be cut up

Just stand aside and watch him flop

The goofy little Charluth!” Everyone laughed and laughed. Their laughter died when they realized Charluth was laughing with them.

“I see you’re still a merry band!” he said. “That joke will NEVER get old. I laughed and laughed when I heard it! Crysna told me one about Dulna! I’ll whisper it!” He leaned in and imparted a secret.

“…No, you’re lying!” accused the Centaur woman. “Crysna would never say something so crass!”

“…Oh,” Charluth looked pained. “You mean…you DON’T find it funny?”

“No!” said the Elf man. “And she’s right, Crysna’s too much of a good worker to say something like that!”

“Oh dear,” gulped Charluth. “That explains why she whispered it to me.”

“You mean…she told you this?!” asked the Slime man. “That can’t be true! …Can it?” Doubt invaded the workers’ minds and Charluth grinned as he left them to discuss whether it was true or not. His plan was running like clockwork. Unbeknownst to him, however, Gornula was nearby, giving Arsha and her group a tour of the yards. They heard everything.

“What did I tell you, my BELOVED darling?” Reb said to Rikuna. “Old against new.”

“Not on this railway!” snarled Gornula.


Gornula met her fellow big engines at the sheds and told them about what she and Arsha and her group overheard. “It’s unimaginable!” she fumed.

“Unthinkable!” agreed Jarnathu.

“Unbelievable!” confirmed Henurya. “We have to stop his nonsense!”

“And we gotta tell Crysna about this!” suggested Jarnathu.

“Well, here she is!” called Crysna as she parked herself on the turntable. “What can I do for you?”

“Crysna, a known troublemaker is spreading rumors about you that you said something rather insulting to the railway workers,” explained Henurya.

“What?!” protested Crysna. “Why would I do that?! They’re just as important as us!”

“We figured those rumors are unfounded,” said Jarnathu. “But we need to get the villain caught.”

“Well, I’m open to suggestions,” offered Crysna.


While they were talking, Melgem saw the whole thing. He told Reb what he saw and stunned his wife. Rikuna, on the other hand, had a triumphant smirk on her face. “Told ya!” she said.

“But that can’t be true!” protested Reb. “That is not normal behavior!”

“Reb, why are you so adamant that it’s a Dog-Eat-Dog world here?!” snapped Rikuna. Reb sighed.

“Because that’s how the Rojam family survived,” she explained. “The strongest of the children survived while the others were absorbed into other families. We ALL had to fight to make sure we carried the family legacy. It was rare for someone like my mother to give birth to just one child.”

“Forgive me for saying this,” remarked Rikuna, “but that doesn’t sound like a mother to me.”

“Then tell me, what DOES it sound like?”

“Old Orc training.” Reb snarled at that remark. “What you’re telling me is that your family saw how the Orcs raised their young back in the Savage and First Ages and thought that was the best way to ensure the survival of the Rojam family. But the Orcs abandoned that kind of thinking for a reason. It was actually killing the race as a whole, keeping them stuck in a nomadic existence and forever making them jealous of races that settled areas. Once they abandoned the nomadic existence, they became stronger.”

“Oh, so the Forsorna Family is jealous of Civilized people?” snarked Reb.

“Well, they DID say they want a place to settle. Right now, the Realmgate people are trying to-”

“I was being facetious!” interrupted Reb. “Are you telling me the Forsornas ARE looking for a place to settle?!”

“An entire Realm they can call their own, if you can believe it,” confirmed Rikuna.

“So, what, wandering the Realms weakens a person?!”

“Tell me, don’t you have a place you call home? A certain STRONGHOLD?” Reb was stunned at Rikuna’s counterargument. “I thought so. And you fought to get it back. By the Rojam Family’s logic, you ARE weak. But you don’t feel weak, do you? Reb, I’d suggest you examine yourself for a little bit and THEN decide what to do.” Reb couldn’t come up with anything to say in response.

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