Gorinthians (22 page)

Looking cautiously around
the room, Ferrich began searching for anything out of the ordinary.
He had never been in this room with light, having been required to
sense it with his
yar
. The room seemed much smaller to his physical eyes, as they
were limited to three-dimensional sensory. The granite chair that
sat next to the wall to his right looked like a rough hewn piece of
rock, rather than an object that he and some of his more dedicated
predecessors had been taught to mold into a comfortable sitting
chair with their
yar
. The four dimensional pictures that sat in niches on the wall
seemed like nothing more than odd sculptures that had been created
by a crazed mind, yet Ferrich knew that feeling these four
dimensional pictures with your
yar
produced many of the sensations that common art
did, only to a much greater extent. The first picture in the wall,
known as a Froghnedian, was an intricate detailed reflection of the
bond that flesh and spirit shared. The sacredness of life that it
inspired and the majesty of existence left the senses reeling in
awe. The rest of the room was very plain and unfurnished. Radroc
had always insisted that serious training could not be conducted in
a room full of clutter, especially when your
yar
would sense everything around
you, enhancing the bombardment of foreign objects.

The floor felt cold beneath
Ferrich’s slippers, a sensation that he was not used to in this
room. Frowning in thought, Ferrich began pacing between the door
and the opening that led deeper into Radroc's chambers. He had
never been in there, having been forbidden by Radroc with the
warning that any intruder entering would cease to live the moment
that they crossed the boundary. Trying to puzzle out what had
happened, Ferrich tried to think of who might want to do this to
Radroc. The other Department heads came to mind immediately and
left just as quickly. As cold and calculating as they were, they
still would not have been able to bring themselves to learn enough
of the Arcane Arts to do what had been done to Radroc. Ferrich
could not see them dealing with another person with the ability
either; their hatred of the Arcane Arts was too strong. As renowned
as Radroc was, he must have had some enemies. He had talked
sparingly about those he had referred to as the Enemies of Life
that had ended the Great Civilization and Ferrich had been more
interested in the use of
yara
at the time, having just been admitted to the
lower levels of the Pit. Cursing himself for nine kinds of a fool,
he tried to think of what Radroc had said. Something about a Return
as the planet healed. Ferrich had assumed that he was speaking of
something in the distant future, not an event that would began to
occur within the next year.

He stopped pacing, staring
into the inner chambers. He could not just leave them open for
anyone to wander into, innocently or not. Reaching out with
his
yar
, he
immersed his awareness into the faint trace of
yara
that emanated up from the planet
beneath him. As his
yar
took dominance over the passive
yar
of the planet,
Ferrich delved into the stone around the entryway to the inner
chambers, and began changing the properties within the stone into a
clay-like substance, and molded a solid wall that completely sealed
the inner chambers. As he began transforming the now supple earth
back into hard stone, a small light appeared in the center of the
wall that he had just created. Heart beating wildly, Ferrich backed
away from the newly formed wall, readying his
yar
for whatever attack might occur.
The light in the wall intensified, spinning into a square that
appeared to be a real life picture of a small clearing in a large
forest. In the center of the clearing stood a tree stump that was
as large as a small house. The picture wavered and winked out,
leaving the wall blank again.

Ferrich stood gaping at the
wall in astonishment. Did I do that? he thought in confusion.
Glancing around the room uncertainly, Ferrich backed slowly toward
the door. There did not seem to be anything different in the room.
He turned to the door and peered out into the blackness at the
bottom of the spiraling abyss. He could hear sound echoing from
above him. He looked up the enormous stairway and gasped in
surprise as he saw at least twenty pinpricks of light that gave off
the orange glow of torches. Torches were absolutely forbidden in
the Pit, disrupting the balance that had been created. Fire caused
a disruption in other objects
yar
, making any attempt at serious
study impossible.

Wondering if the intruders
were friend or foe, Ferrich looked around himself frantically,
trying to find a way out, knowing that there was not. He had never
been good at confrontations, always freezing up when he should act,
or acting where he should freeze. In this case, Ferrich froze at
the base of the long descent, watching the lights draw closer like
a moth to a flame. He did not think of himself as a coward, he had
just never had anything to be courageous about, and so he was
unsure what occasion truly demanded courage. As the figures drew
closer, he recognized the captain of the royal guard leading a
detachment of soldiers.

The captain was a large man,
slightly gone to seed in his later years from more paperwork than
actual physical duties. Ferrich had always rather liked him, being
a man of learning that was more interested in doing things right
than just what he was paid to do. They had spent many a night
talking of life, philosophy, women and many other things during the
man's time as a Lieutenant in the royal bodyguard. Just the same,
Ferrich felt a worm of doubt writhing in his belly as he watched
the old captain draw closer. Why was he down here? Had something
happened at the palace?

The guard detachment split
into two columns as they reached the bottom, one filing past him to
into Radroc's rooms, while the other line made a small circle
around him. Ferrich decided that the situation was definitely
taking a turn for the worse.

"Captain Kerns," Ferrich
began in a puzzled voice, "what's going on?" Trying to keep the
anxiety out of his voice, as well as from his face, Ferrich studied
his old friend carefully. Kern's face was blank, his eyes flat as
he watched Ferrich dispassionately. He did not answer Ferrich,
looking past Ferrich where the other soldiers had gone into
Radroc's chambers. Ferrich looked over his shoulder as a soldier
emerged from the small enclosure.

The soldiers face was grim
and his eyes were tinged with disgust. "He is in there all right.”
Turning his head slightly, the man spit as if he had a bad taste in
his mouth. "Hanging by his guts from the ceiling. Something's been
done to him so that we can't touch him."

Captain Kerns face finally
showed expression. His eyes creased with grief and he shook his
head in disbelief. "I had hoped that your father was wrong." He
looked deeply into Ferrich’s eyes, as if there were an answer in
them that he could not find elsewhere. "Why?" he asked quietly.
"Why did you do it Ferrich?"

Ferrich gaped at him
incredulously. "Wait a minute! You think that I did that?" Kerns
just stared at him, his eyes filled with regret. "I came down here
and he was already like this. I swear it! Kerns, you believe me,
don't you?"

Captain Kerns looked away,
shaking his head slowly. "When the king told me that his son had
killed the head of the department of Arcane Arts, I didn't believe
it." Kerns looked back at him then, his eyes hardening. "Yet here
you stand, right outside the door where your father said you would
be. Whom do you want me to believe?"

Ferrich shook his head
vigorously, trying to shake some of the confusion from his
thoughts. His father had sent them to arrest him? How had his
father known that Radroc was dead? Ferrich was not certain that he
wanted to know the answer to that. "Why would I kill Radroc?"
Ferrich demanded. "He is...was my friend."

Kerns continued watching him
silently for a moment, his eyes still hard. "That is what we intend
to find out. We were commanded to take you to the Tower of
Judgment"

Ferrich staggered backward a
step with a gasp, and one of the soldiers behind him grabbed his
shoulder in a grip like a vice while another soldier bound his
hands. A moment later and the soldier gagged him as well, with
Captain Kerns explaining that they could not take the chance of him
casting a spell on them. Before Ferrich knew what was happening, he
was walking up the steep stairwell and on his way to the Tower of
Judgment.

---

Morindessa stood in front of
the Fountain of Life staring at the odd procession that was
trooping down the street toward the royal palace at the end of the
wide street. The captain of the royal guard walked purposefully at
the front of twenty armed soldiers that were herding none other
than the king's eighth son, Ferrich, with his hands bound behind
him and a gag in his mouth.

Brushing a stray lock of
midnight black hair back from her stunningly beautiful face,
Morindessa wondered what Ferrich had done to earn his father's
displeasure. She liked Ferrich more than she liked the king’s other
sons. He had an innocence to him that intrigued her. Innocence was
a foreign concept to Morindessa, growing up in the streets of
Shalilayo where crime was just another part of life. She often
wondered where she would be today, had she not been left behind in
Shalilayo while her parents were selling their farm produce to the
local shop vendors. She had snuck onto their rickety two wheeled
cart that had been filled with potatoes, onions, beats and glar
fruit, hiding on the underside of the back that she had spent the
previous evening making a little pouch that was just large enough
for her to slip into. She had wanted to see the city, and something
as small as an order from her mother to stay on the farm and do her
chores was certainly not enough of a deterrent to keep her hoeing
the lettuce patch. She had always had a very casual acquaintance
with rules, only following them when they did not interfere with
her own interests. Rules did seem to interfere with her interests a
little more than the average person, but she had a philosophy that
if the rules were never broken, people might forget what they were
for and everything would turn to anarchy. In reality, she was doing
the civilized world a favor.

When she had been unable to
find her parents after she finished exploring the city, she had
been terrified. With tears streaming down her face she had been
unable to keep in, she had wandered the streets of Shalilayo
searching for her parents. Several very ugly men had tried to
beckon her into a small alley, or doorway in the apartment
buildings that were attached to the larger shop buildings lining
the street, but she had moved quickly away from them even as some
of the women passing through the street shook their heads warningly
at her. For the next month, she discovered that large cities were
anything but grand. On her second day walking the streets on an
empty stomach, she had watched a darkly garbed man stick a knife in
the back of another finely dressed man while the street was
relatively empty, pulling him back into the narrow alley that he
had stepped out of. She had screamed when it happened, running the
other direction as fast as her legs could carry her. Rounding a
corner, she had run into an enormous pair of legs, causing her to
rebound onto the hard pavement. Looking up at the giant that she
had run into, she had gasped in surprise. In front of her was one
of the most beautiful women that she had ever seen. True, she was
larger than any man she had ever seen, but she was proportioned
perfectly, with her long black-trousered legs meeting a slim waist.
Her white blouse seemed to glow it was so white. Her long blonde
hair spilled down her shoulders to mid back. Her eyes made
Morindessa gasp again; they were deep lavender with slitted pupils
like a cat. The irises seemed much larger as well.

The giantess had reached
down and lifted her until she was dangling in the air at eye
length, looking her up and down with pursed lips, pausing to study
her face. Her gaze was so strong that Morindessa had felt a tingle
go through her body as those peculiar eyes scrutinized
her.

"Are you lost?" the
beautiful titan had asked in a gentle tone.

The gentle tone had been
enough to make Morindessa begin weeping again. With tears streaming
down her face, she nodded. "I didn't mean to," she said between
sobs, "I ju- just wanted t- to see th- the city."

"What is your name?” the
lady asked quietly, her eyes full of compassion.

"Mor- Morindessa,” she
sobbed. Suddenly she felt a wave of well-being pass through her.
Slowly, her sobbing had subsided. Looking into the cat-like eyes of
the giantess, Morindessa knew that she could trust this person.
"What's yours?"

"Riah," she answered,
smiling encouragingly down at her. Pulling Morindessa into a close
embrace, she whispered into her ear, "And don't you worry. We'll
find your parents."

"What in the two moons is
that?” a harsh voice demanded behind her, and Morindessa had
twisted in Riah’s arms to look back at the darkly garbed man that
she had seen knife the other man in the street.