The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (26 page)

“Boy, it is good to be here! You have a
beautiful city!” Gyan said and several people cheered or clapped.
“There are two important reasons that have gotten me out of our
realm’s capital. Both of them revolve around the turbulent weather
and quakes we have been having. The torrential rain last night was
just the latest. I want to talk to you about any questions and
concerns you have and to share with you things that I have learned
from the Ancient’s archives. Now there are quite a lot of you and I
want to get to as many questions as I can. So everybody can have a
chance to be heard, I would like you to raise your hands. I’ll call
on you to hear what you have to say. Okay?”

A man near the back pushed his hand in the
air the fastest but there were several raised. Gyan pointed to him.
“The man with the striped shirt.”

“The weather is bad and has caused all kinds
of problems. You may be the Great One, but what can you do about
it?”

Gyan smiled, “A very good question right
away! There is something we can do...” “Killing the witches that
caused it?” yelled a voice near Drune. Several comments about
witches and disparaging comments about the quality of the Great
One’s management overlapped in a belligerent confusion.

Gyan looked at the man in the striped shirt
and said. “You did as I asked and raised your hand but with your
permission I would like to answer both questions at the same time.
Is it alright with you?”

The man was surprised the Great One had asked
his permission. “Okay.”

“Please let’s hold any more questions and
comments until I have answered these two.” He said as he looked
over the crowd.

“The facts are that the weather and quakes
are caused by the planet’s geomagnetic energy. That is a fact. The
story that has been erroneously circulating is that it is caused by
characters in a children’s story. It’s a fact that there are no
such things as witches. It’s also a fact that the witches would
have to be pretty foolish to cause all of this upheaval: the winds,
exceptionally heavy rains, the numerous quakes, the perfect
breeding conditions that have brought on the exploding populations
of vesi, bugs and mice. They would be profoundly foolish because
all of that would affect them also. I have been many places in the
realm and this turbulence is everywhere. Folks, there are no
witches. The story was started by man named Bure.”

There were several people in the massive
throng that gave a start of surprise to hear Gyan say the man’s
name. “Bure, and his kin started killing people in early August but
the storms and the quakes didn’t start until mid-September. Let’s
get the timing on this perfectly clear. They killed people they
called witches. THEN six weeks later the storms and the quakes
started. Folks, the ‘witch’ story was made up after eight people
had died to justify preventing a problem that hadn’t even happened
yet. Bure, Targ and Wras murdered nine people, and when they were
caught they had a list of several more.”

“Now one more point, then I want to give you
the true facts as to why all of this is happening. Bure, his
brother Targ and their little sister were raised by their Aunt Ru.
She already had a son, Wras, but she welcomed her brother’s
children and raised them as her own. When her husband was lost at
sea, she moved the entire family to a little place outside of
Sherroton and did her best for them. The very first person Bure
killed was his aunt. He later laughed that he knew that she wasn’t
a witch but she was asking questions about what he was working on.
Now, would you believe a man like that to be truthful to you?”

A voice yelled out from the crowd. “You’re a
liar! You’re a stupid Great One! Bure would have been a better,
smarter leader! There are witches. We need to protect our families
by killing ‘em!”

Gyan looked at the man and said in a voice
that carried to all corners of the crowd, “No, Wras, you are wrong!
You personally killed three people: Hormis and Thera from the
Sherroton area and Auntie Jes from Morraton. You are so crazy with
guilt that you keep spreading your lies in an attempt to justify
what you have done.”

The security men had been moving through the
crowd, converging upon Wras’s position as Gyan had been speaking.
“Folks, Wras was sentenced to banishment for life in Obsidian for
his crimes. It is the same sentence any of you would receive if you
had decided to murder. There was a rock slide in Sidetel Pass and
we had believed him killed along with several others who were
transporting him. That sentence was just delayed. He can now join
his cousin, Bure, in Obsidian.” The security men had surrounded a
struggling and screaming Wras and had subdued him. He was hauled
away as Gyan was speaking.

“I promised to tell you about what was really
causing the storms and quakes.” and Gyan nodded toward the man with
the striped shirt. “We scoured the Ancient’s archives in Aerie and
learned from that very intelligent race that the weather and the
quakes are caused by geomagnetic energy in our planet, from the sun
and our two moons interacting.” He smiled at the blank and baffled
looks he was getting. “Let me put it to you this way. We all deal
with batteries. Whether you use wind, solar cells, water or
geothermal, each one of us runs our homes on the power stored in
our batteries. Right?” Everybody nodded. “What would happen to our
glow stones, fans and such if we had a loose connection or a
corroded wire between our power source and our battery?” He was
silent, waiting for an answer.

A woman in front nervously raised her hand
and Gyan called on her. “They would stop running because the
battery would run low of stored power.”

Gyan beamed. “Exactly! The battery would lose
power with the demands put on it and no fresh power replacing what
was used!” Heads were nodding throughout the crowd. Drune and Erin
were both smiling because the crowd was open and listening.

“In essence, that is what happened to our
planet.” He received several baffled looks. “There were three
reasons why our founder cities were located where they were. Who
can tell me the three?”

A man raised his hand and Gyan pointed at
him. “I know two. There were geothermal vents here for energy and
the rock and cliff formation was good for housing many people
comfortably.”

“Great! Does anyone know the third, because I
have to tell you that I hadn’t been aware of it?” People were
shaking their heads.

Gyan smiled. “In front of every founder city
is a thin spot in the planet’s crust, sort of like our pulse
point.” He touched his wrist. “Only for the planet it’s an energy
spot and the ancients framed or focused that energy spot with six
posts in the shape of a hexagon. They call that focused area a
henge.” The crowd had gotten very quiet. “Yes, you guessed it.
Because the knowledge of the importance of the henges had been lost
over the centuries, people decided to change them. Oh, it wasn’t
just you. Yerra had taken a post down. Morraton had moved the posts
so the fountain could be in the center and you decided that you
wanted a rectangle. We haven’t been to Sherroton yet, so we don’t
know if they have changed their henge. Mayor Peyr will be moving
the posts back and installing very special glow stones, made to the
ancient’s specifications, atop each of the six posts. To further
focus the energy spot a carefully crafted disc will be buried in
the center of the henge. This all has to be in place when we have a
total eclipse in eight days. That eclipse will probably cause
quakes but it should also recharge the planet’s ‘batteries’. Are
there any questions, about that?”

A man with curly red hair raised his hand and
when he got the nod, spoke. “You said ‘should’. What if it doesn’t
settle down?”

Gyan looked at him solemnly. “I’m not a witch
or a fortune teller. I don’t have a crystal ball. But the documents
have been clear and I am putting my trust in the wisdom of the
ancients. That is why we have been working so hard and traveling
fast to get the devices to all of the cities in time.”

“We have covered the weather, the quakes and
witches. Before we go on are there any other concerns in these
areas?” Many people were shakings their heads and looking around
the crowd. Erin spotted Roos, to her right. She knew that he didn’t
believe in the foolish rumors, so she was very interested when he
raised his hand. Gyan nodded to him as if he had never met the
man.

“I’m a rancher and I have met several of the
people here today over campfires on the prairie. The man that you
have identified as Wras was there also. I don’t believe any of us
knew that he was an escaped murderer. One of the things he was
always talking about was witches’ evil familiars: skunks and owls.
The reason I am telling you all of this is because I think we need
to clear the air. So are skunks and owls bad?”

“Thank you for your honesty and for the
question. The short answer is no. Let me put this into perspective.
Do any of you like our current situation with the quantity of vesi,
bugs and mice around?” He looked over the sea of faces. There were
plenty of shaking heads and Gyan couldn’t see one person happy with
the pests. “Okay, folks, I want you to tell me what are the natural
predators for those varmints.” Hands went up and Gyan pointed as
people called out: “hawks, ottols, foxes, raches and snakes.”

Roos raised his hand and when Gyan pointed at
him he said, “Skunks and Owls.”

Gyan nodded. “Any more?” The crowd had gotten
the point and were quietly thinking. “Okay, I think you all
understand. Bure, Wras and Targ didn’t just kill people. They went
out of their way to kill any and all skunks they could find. They
did such a thorough job that they wiped out the skunk population in
Duluse and Pastarham provinces. Then the weather gave the pests
perfect breeding conditions and the nasties did just that. Breed.
Where were the main predators for them? The skunks were gone and
the owls were being attacked. How is that working for us?”

“Let me back up. There are no witches, and
people, there are no evil animals either. When I heard that you
were being over run with those pests, that they had contaminated
our stored grain, it concerned me. I activated some special
technology that the ancients left for Great Ones to use. I learned
that those provinces were empty of skunks. With the ancient’s help
I went to the skunks in my province and asked for some to move
here. Fifteen are in each province and are doing their best to
decimate your pests. You may not be crazy about skunks or owls but
I ask you to leave them alone and let them do what they do
best.”

Then Gyan gave the people a sunny smile. “I
don’t like snakes. They have a habit of of startling me by zipping
out in front of me. But I don’t mind lizards. Then I realized that
snakes were just long lizards without legs. Somehow that helped me
tolerate snakes. So if it helps, imagine skunks as short foxes with
a monochromatic fashion sense. Can you leave these animals alone
for the good of the realm?” There was nods and chuckling throughout
the crowd.

Gyan paused in thought. “I have a question
for you concerning henges. Does anyone know of a wild henge on the
Pastarham plain? It may have been taken down a long time ago. We
have to find it and put it back up. Anyone know of it?”

Roos raised his hand. “I’ve heard of it. He
turned to a few other men in the crowd. Cynt, Eagly, wasn’t it by
the old shepherds cabin?” The two men in question seemed to be
searching their memories. One nodded slowly. “If we come up with
anything we will let you know.” Roos said.

“Do you have anymore questions?” The crowd
was quiet. He was sure that was partially because he had given them
a lot to think about. “We need to get to Sherroton and learn what
they have done to their henge.” There was laughter. “Help Mayor
Peyr get this henge back in shape. If any questions occur to you,
feel free to ask him. If you stump him he can always pass them on
to me and I’ll take a try at answering ‘em. You’ve been great!” The
crowd cheered as he went back into the city.

Several of Gyan’s party strode back into
Peyr’s office. “Mayor, are you familiar with my security men?” Peyr
looked at the men slowly then nodded. “I would like you to keep the
prisoner Wras locked away and under guard. Within three days or so
these three men, Rin, Gast and Nar...” each man nodded to the mayor
as their name was said, “will be back with our wagon, driven by
Kennet. They will take Wras off your hands and transport him back
to Kunscap to await me. I would like you to not disclose these
plans to anyone and make the transfer as discreet as possible. Now
we must push on. Its eight days and counting! I will be in touch
with you.” So with a wave they left the mayor’s office and the
city. Gyan slapped Drune on the back and said with a grin, “Mount
up. We’re eating trail food while we ride!”