First Comes The One Who Wanders (23 page)

"Anhj?" said Leilas aloud.

"By Anhj, you are a quick learner. Now, if you can just keep your questions to yourself." Garabaldi rubbed his hands in delight.

"Wasn’t Anhj one of the four who were with the Creator in the beginning?"

"He gave us the Crystal Caves of Anhjou," replied Garabaldi, nodding his head.

"The master of Land," mused Leilas.

"There is so much for you to learn," fretted Garabaldi.

"And so little time, so you said," retorted Leilas. "But why does the watcher need to learn these things and why so little time?"

"These are questions you must answer for yourself. I can only help."

"And you think I might find some answers in the great hall?"

"Yes. Perhaps not answers you'll find comfortable, but answers you need." Garabaldi scurried on ahead. "This is the only lesson I have to teach you, learn it well.

Leilas let her thoughts stay with his and she began to manage the tunnel better. The great hall was a meeting place it seemed, where creatures of this dark city met to discuss the business concerning the city. Anyone who was anyone was already there and had been since the morning to get the best seats. Garabaldi had waited until now to ensure that they wouldn’t meet any unfriendly characters along the way.

"This is a special meeting of the Council. Not only will business concerning Crysalis be discussed, but the masters of the School of Land will also be here. They have news."

Leilas wasn’t sure how wise it was to be anywhere near the Masters of Land. Almost assuredly, with their power, they would be able to detect her immediately. But it seemed this was Garabaldi’s intent.

Leilas’ hand slipped to the hilt of her short sword. Fingering the weapon, she wished for a few more weapons to complement it. It wouldn't be much defense against a room full of armed enemies. Veering to the right at the next cross tunnel, Garabaldi led her to a stone staircase that led up into the darkness.

As they neared the top of the stair, Leilas could hear voices, and light began to filter onto the stair. Holding his finger to his lips in warning, Garabaldi slipped onto a dark runway that circled around the stadium about ten feet above the last row of seats. Below on a platform in the middle of the stadium, twelve chairs were placed in a circle. Leilas recognized the formation. This was similar to the master’s council in Dirth. She was surprised the dark masters were so organized, but then again, in a way it made sense. If she thought about it, the dark powers would be structured in a way to balance the light powers.

"Excellent, excellent," remarked Garabaldi gleefully. "I knew you'd see. You are indeed a quick learner. Perhaps there is hope."

"Hope for what, Garabaldi?"

"In due time, Chidra." Garabaldi avoided her question. "One lesson at a time. We're here to listen to the Masters of Land tonight."

"Why have they come here? This isn't the School of Land. The masters of the School of Sky always meet in Dirth."

"What makes you think this isn't the School of Land?"

"I saw it in a vision. It was above ground, with white pillars and books."

"There's a small portion of the school above ground, for show. Mostly the buildings house books. Nothing of importance is kept there."

Leilas remembered the vision she and Master Frey had seen in the mists. There was something of value kept there if it was a true vision. But she wasn’t going to argue with the gnome. She'd keep her own counsel for a while. She swiftly shifted the shroud she had around her thoughts. She thought she heard Garabaldi chuckle, but she couldn’t be sure. They were busy wending their way around to a dark alcove about a quarter of the way around the circle. While they were moving, Garabaldi was whispering a spell of concealment.

Most of the seats were filled, and Leilas was occupied for a few minutes with ensuring she wasn’t seen by those in the seats. She wasn’t sure what Garabaldi was playing at, but it was a dangerous game. Not many, if any of these people, would welcome her presence here. Even if Garabaldi was as powerful as he felt, he'd be hard pressed to protect her from so many. Once again, she wondered if her decision to trust him had been wise.

"You'll be safe enough here," remarked Garabaldi and Leilas wondered if he could still hear her thoughts. She would like to learn how he was doing it if he was. She was using every trick she'd ever learned to shroud them. But then, he'd been using all the tricks and she'd read his thoughts. How did you protect against thoughts that were air?

"Exactly, Chidra. That's the gift. You only have to learn to pick and choose what you wish to hear and at that you are already a master."

Leilas couldn’t disagree with him. She'd spent most of her years in Dirth trying to avoid reading other people’s thoughts. A loud, hollow bang brought her attention to the circle of gnomes seated on the platform. The chittering and muttering began to lessen then ceased all together as the hammer was banged once more against the wooden table in back of the circle of gnomes.

One of the gnomes, dressed in official looking garb, laid the hammer aside, rose from behind the table, and began speaking. Leilas couldn’t understand the speech, but reached out with her mind and let the images in this man’s mind fill her head.

He was filled with self-importance at his role, and hoped to move up to a position within the circle. The speech he'd prepared about council business dragged on for almost fifteen minutes before he turned the meeting over to the lead council member.

Sinking to the ground, Leilas tried to find a comfortable position. It was clear this could take a very long time, maybe all night at this rate. Wondering what it was Garabaldi wanted her to learn here, Leilas listened as the council recounted old business, added new business and entertained disgruntled citizens.

Time seemed to have no meaning in these caves. The light from the lamps flickered endlessly. The dark was unchanging. The talk droned on. Whatever Garabaldi wanted her to learn was beyond her grasp.

Letting her thoughts move beyond the council circle, she began to touch the thoughts of others in the room, practicing what she'd just learned. Dark and disturbing pictures of ritual sacrifice, blood streaming from the lifeless victim, filled her head as she let her thoughts touch a human warrior who was there to hear what the Masters of the School had to say. Demons appeared, their names sounding foreign, worshippers brought tributes of animals and humans, as she touched the mind of the emissary from the Ranjuu. Men being hacked with axes and stabbed with pikes, the ground red with blood of light crafters and humans came flooding in next. This had come from the mind of a goblin. The exhilaration of the hunt and the kill rose up in her as she moved to the next person. Then there was a feeling of gleeful delight as she watched a wizened old gnome whispering in the ear of a king. He whispered words of knowledge, laced with evil intentions.

More mundane thoughts of family squabbles and daily life in Crysalis also floated past her consciousness. She felt the satisfaction of catching bats, rats, and grubs for dinner. She felt the dreariness of harvesting mushrooms and fungus to sell in the shops. Occasionally, she caught the thoughts of a guard thinking about the pleasure of inflicting pain on one of the prisoners. There were many prisoners here in Crysalis. Leilas’ fists clenched in impotent fury. If only there was something she could do to save those people locked in the dungeons of Crysalis.

"They're not for you to save, Chidra. Watch and learn," whispered Garabaldi in her ear. "The council is finally to the business we came to learn about."

Leilas brought her wandering mind back to the council. The gnomes who were occupying the chairs rose and moved to positions behind the table. Then, from out of a dark opening came the masters of the School of Land. Holding her breath, Leilas watched them file in one by one.

The first was a rock giant, the second a satyr. The third to enter was a werewolf. After those, came three humans. The seventh was a gnome, a good position for one with great knowledge. Dark elves entered and took the eighth and ninth seat. The last three seats were filled by a goblin, an orc, and a darkling. There were three other masters present, dark demon-like men, not men and yet not demons either. Leilas shivered. Whatever they were, they were powerful and they were evil. Interestingly, although all the other masters were full of dark power, she didn’t feel that they were evil.

These three demon-like men served their master exclusively. They didn’t bow to the Creator. Who was this master the three demon-like men served?

"These creatures are the spawn of Rengailai. All creatures and people fear them. There are only two who are immune to their power, Rengailai and the one he serves," Garabaldi answered her unspoken question.

The gong sounded twelve times, one for each master and then the council was seated. Leilas could feel the power emanating from them, it called to her, pulled at her, taunted her. She grabbed a railing nearby to keep from giving in to the urge to run down into the middle of the circle.

After what seemed an eternity, one of the shadow creatures stood and began to speak in a hollow, bone-chilling rasp. Leilas could feel the fear he exuded reach out and grab the hearts of all those who were assembled there. "The masters of the School of Land have been gracious enough to call this meeting so we could speak. We have come from the Master, Dredrac. He has this to say. The balance is beginning to fail. Soon, it will be time to take up arms and fight for the Dark Lord Dredrac against the champion of the Creator Jovan. The prophecies have foretold this day for centuries. We consider it an honor to die for Dredrac. No able man will be exempted from the fight. If we fail in this battle, all will be lost."

The Masters of the school squirmed uncomfortably. Leilas couldn’t help but think of the tale Solein told her. If the forces of darkness prevailed in their battle all would be lost. The Chasm of Ceryk would remain open and all the creatures of the Dark Lord would be destroyed.

Suddenly, it became very important to Leilas that this didn’t happen. Shaking her head in disbelief at her thoughts, Leilas turned to leave. Garabaldi reached out to stop her. Pushing his hand away, Leilas headed back down the corridor they'd used to arrive. She could hear the master talking still, but she'd heard enough. All she wanted was out of this darkness and to see the sun again.

It wasn’t long before Leilas realized that she'd made a wrong turn somewhere. She wasn’t heading back down the tunnel she and Garabaldi had traversed to arrive at the great hall. Nothing about the tunnel she was in seemed familiar.

Stopping to catch her breath, Leilas debated with herself about what she should do. Turn around and retrace her steps back to the great hall, where she didn’t want to be. Or, continue and hope this tunnel led to the surface eventually. She didn’t have any food other than the half-eaten loaf of bread and a half-filled water skin.

Despite the nagging voice telling her she was being reckless and should turn back and find Garabaldi, Leilas chose to continue in the direction she was headed. What was the worst that could happen? She would end up as one of those prisoners she saw in the guards’ minds.

Shivering at the picture in her mind, she let her hand drop to the hilt of the only weapon she had. Wishing that she’d had time to pick up a few more in Rengailai’s dungeon, she placed her other hand on the damp wall and continued forward. The dank, musty smell told her that this corridor wasn't used very often, but it didn’t answer the question of whether that was good news or bad. How often did these creatures of the dark go to the surface? If the answer was almost never, then it was a good sign the tunnel was seldom used. Deciding she would use that as her premise, Leilas shuffled on in the dark as quietly as she could. She wasn’t willing to risk a light. It was draining to keep it going and she wasn’t sure how long she would be wandering around down here. She didn’t have much food to replenish her energy. Also, she wasn’t sure who she might encounter along the way. Trying not to let the fact that the tunnel was definitely dropping discourage her, she followed the turns of the passageway.

The passageway seemed to go on endlessly and the darkness distorted all sense of time. Leilas tried counting her footsteps to keep some account of how far she'd traveled. But after a while, she lost track of the count. Each step took her down and with each step, she questioned her decision to continue. For all she knew, this tunnel could go completely under this mountain and emerge on the other side, a journey that could take several weeks. A journey she wasn’t prepared to take with only a day’s worth of food and water.

Stopping once more, she debated with herself again. Once more, continuing on seemed a better choice than going back and facing thousands of dark creatures and those demon-men who were also powerful crafters. If she ever met Garabaldi again, –she vacillated between throttling him for bringing her to that chamber and apologizing for not staying and learning what she needed to know.

Thinking of the gnome, she sent her thoughts out to see what she could hear. Sending them as far as her power would let her, she found nothing. Taking a breath in resignation, she began her downward trek again.

The sound of her boot hitting against metal was deafening in the eerie silence. "Blood and guts," said Leilas, catching herself against the walls, barely avoiding a fall. Drawing her sword, she poked at the ground to investigate what she'd inadvertently found. Her sword clanked, but also gave under her probing. Reaching down, Leilas touched the metal with her hand. Feeling the metal breastplate on a still chest, she withdrew her hand quickly. Pressing herself against the wall, she listened for the indication of people coming to investigate the noise.