The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (33 page)

Since Lor had specifically said that Erin
would need to use what the pouch contained she was very interested
in seeing what was in it. Drune and Erin joined Gyan in his tent to
examine the contents. It was a small bag and when Gyan emptied it
on the floor of the tent there was a palm-sized black granite
object and a piece of paper. The paper was a note from Lor.

This information we found when searching for
‘wild henge’ clues. The instructions from the ancient, said that a
sage empath with skills in clairvoyance and telepathy could locate
specific lost ancient-made artifacts. As far as I know Erin is the
only one with that combination. To locate the site of the ‘wild
henge’, Erin needs to hold the disc that you intend to bury. She
must walk to the area with it in her hands. It will strongly
vibrate when she is above the center. That is where it must be
buried. Mark the site but allow her to expand from that point.
There will be six spots that will cause the disc to pulse. Those
are where the posts belong.

As for locating the posts, I’m hoping they
are nearby. They are made of very tight grained black granite,
unlike the other two at Jes and Ree’s which were carved of brown
granite and looked wooden until you examined them. They are very
heavy. The small object enclosed, is of the same stone as the
posts. Erin needs to hold it in her hand and mentally call to the
posts, like she would one of her companions. They will answer, in a
fashion, and you will be able to follow their voices to their
location. May the ancients be with you! -Lor

“Well, that helps. I was wondering how we
were going to find the precise location.” Gyan said. “Now let’s see
if he has found the answer about the eclipse and if a sage needs to
be living here at that time.” Gyan took a deep breath, and letting
it out called to Lor. ‘Lor have you found the missing piece?’

There was exasperation in Lor’s tone when he
answered. ‘No, and we have been over the library three times
looking for that embossed pattern!’

‘Are you looking at the book face and the
bindings?’ Gyan asked.

There was a pause. ‘No we were looking only
at the face of the books, we didn’t check the bindings. The pattern
would be smaller. You’re right, some books have an emblem on the
bindings. I should have thought of that.’

‘Lor, we couldn’t have acted on it right away
anyway. We just got to the general area. Mikl caught up with us
today so tomorrow will be spent searching. Get some sleep so you
can be fresh when you look tomorrow. I’ll talk to you then.’

“I’m going to try one more you two, so stay
with me.” He closed his eyes and prepared. ‘Ree, I need to pick
your brain.’

‘Hello, Gyan. I am assuming you are on the
final phase of your quest. What do you need?’

Gyan smiled. His old friend got right to the
point not wasting time. ‘Ree, there are a total of three henges
like yours. They are granite spirit posts, made and set in place by
the ancients. They’re bonding points between sages and Ose and are
suppose to have a sage living there. Jes’s home and the ‘wild
henge’ are the other two.’

‘My question to you is this: Were you at home
when there last was a total eclipse and was there anything
memorable about that occurrence?’

‘I have lived here a long time and have seen
three total eclipses, though I am not sure if I have lived here for
all of them. Hmm. I wasn’t here for the first one. Catri lived here
before me but I was in residence for the other two. There’s almost
a humming energy around the place during the eclipse. It’s a little
disconcerting to be in it, like briefly knowing every bug, bird,
plant and rock around my home. It was like the henge was affirming
a bond with me and I was part of the place, right down to the
insects here. After the eclipse is over I felt charged with energy.
The lesser eclipses are hardly a ripple compared to the total. I
had forgotten about the bonding aspect. It makes sense.’

‘Ree, I realize this would be conjecture but
do you think it is necessary for you to be home for one?’ ‘Well,
Gyan, I didn’t really know in advance that there was going to be
one. It was pure coincidence that I was here. As I remember it
would help the planet bond, but that it wouldn’t necessarily be
critical if all other indicators were strong. With the planet the
way it is, my guess is that it would be important for the sage to
be home. So when should I expect the next one?’

Gyan nodded. It was an answer of sorts.
‘Somewhere within four to six days. We have constructed from
ancient schematics a device that will tell us. It is basically
calibrated but they won’t be sure until the eclipse happens, then
they can do their final fine tuning. So that’s as close as we can
guess right now. We are on the Pastarham prairie right now trying
to locate the wild henge. I’ll be back to you when I have a chance.
Thanks for the information.’

He nodded to the two young sages. “What do
you think?” Drune answered. “Without Lor finding the end of the
statement we won’t know for sure but I think Ree was probably
correct. The problem is how are we going to find the place, set up
the henge and build a house in four days?”

Erin nodded thoughtfully. “We could throw up
the rudiments of a shelter and have the sage move in, as long as it
was in the henge’s sphere of influence and where the permanent home
will be. That could do it in the crunch we are in. We can only do
what we can do. Could we though, increase our manpower by taking
Terresville up on their offer?”

Gyan smiled. “Mikl could ride there tomorrow
while we concentrate here. You better turn in. We will be searching
for the site as soon as there is light.”

Erin and Drune walked back to their tents
together. Drune broke the silence. “Erin, do you have a
preference?”

“Yeah, I do. So how do we share with each
other our choice without influencing the other?” Both thought for a
moment.

“Drune, I’ll write in the dirt the place I
would like to live. You do the same. Then we’ll change places and
read what the other wrote. That way we’ll know if we have to arm
wrestle. Okay?”

“I like the way you think, Cos!” They went
over to the dying fire and took two sticks. Then going to the
opposite side of the fire and facing away from each other they both
knelt and wrote.

“Done.” said Erin.

“Me too.” They both stood up and switched
places. Both of them started to grin.

Drune burst out laughing. “That works!” he
said.

Erin went over and gave him a hug. “Good
night. We start putting this place together tomorrow!”

Erin was up almost before anyone else. She
got several breakfast rolls and went to Gyan’s tent. “Gyan, good
morning. If I understand it correctly we could be at or near the
site. Is that accurate?”

“That’s it exactly. Ready to go?”

She nodded. “Could I have the disc and
someone to walk with or in front of me with the compass.”

“You’ve got it. Bast, have you eaten?” He got
a nod and a wave from across the camp. “Good. I’d like you to take
the compass and walk with Erin. She is going to find the site.”

Tempo joined them and they began walking due
east. They hadn’t gone more than five hundred yards and she felt
the beginning of a pulse. “We’re near, Bast. When I find the center
you need to run back for a shovel. We’ll have to remove the turf to
mark the spot, then I will find the spots for the posts. Okay?”

He gave her a big smile. “When you find the
center I’ll call men with shovels and I will stand on the spot.
That will hurry things.” She continued forward slowly. It was
harder than she would have thought. She must have missed the angle
all together because the disc remained quiet. Erin back tracked and
tried to find the pulse again. There shouldn’t be any reason why
she would need to find the center first. She missed again and tried
another tack. Finally she felt the pulse again! Moving in tight
concentric circles she isolated one post point.

‘Tempo, could you sit here while I try to
find a second? Once we have two points it ought to be easier to
figure the angles.’

‘No problem. Here?’ asked Tempo, as he sat.
She brought the disc over again and nodded. ‘That’s great.
Thanks’.

Changing her course she walked back and
forth. She repeated the change of course again and again. She had
learned that the pulse was not really strong and could easily be
missed. One frustrating hour had gone by when all of a sudden she
stopped. “I’m doing this all wrong!” she said and returned to
Tempo. “Bast, do we have any twine, long string or rope?”

“I’m on it!” he said as he ran back to camp.
In the meantime Erin started walking around Tempo in ever widening
circles. It wasn’t long when she stared to pick up something. Bast
was back. He tied one end of the rope to her belt and walked back
to Tempo keeping the line fairly taut. She walked back and forth
for a bit until she had the strongest pulse. Bast had brought a few
men back with him. One ran to Erin’s position and with a shovel
loosened the turf all around her feet. Once that was done Erin
stepped off of the spot and slowly walked the arc, keeping the rope
straight from Bast’s stationary point. The disc began to vibrate.
Soon it was so strong that it was hard to hold on to it. “Here!”
she called to Zar, who had a shovel. He came and loosened the
ground around her feet. “This is the center.” She thought a moment
about how Yvon had done it. “Bast, keep your hand on the rope
exactly where it is but come here. We need to figure the midpoint
in the stretched length. As soon as they found the middle of the
stretched rope he moved his hand there then stepped to the second
post position. Erin walked away from Tempo’s position in a slow
circle and quickly the disc pulsed. They had found a third post
place. When it was marked and the men were busy removing the turf
in the circle, Erin rotated toward Tempo and a fourth post spot was
located. Now they were getting somewhere! The men had, by now,
loosened the ground around four posts and the center. Tempo moved
out of the way and Bast stood in the skunk’s spot as Erin moved
toward the center and out. The fifth post position was identified
and dug, then the sixth. Soon the shape was clear and the men dug
the center out and buried the disc. Chai brought lunch and the camp
moved to the henge location.

Erin’s hands were shaking. Gyan came up and
rubbed her shoulders. “Mikl should be at Terresville by now and a
work crew will be here, hopefully no later than midmorning. While
you call the posts the men will be moving the rocks from the stone
hut to start the structure. Who shall we ask about the layout?”

She looked up at the Great One, “Speak to
Drune about that.” and gave him a smile. He returned the smile and
seemed delighted.

When she had finished lunch she felt
stronger. Gyan came over and gave her the small piece of black
granite. Erin walked back to the hexagon. She had been thinking
about the positions of the posts and whether it made a difference
which post went where. On a hunch she stood in one post hole,
opened her mind and called. At first she didn’t know what to expect
so she didn’t know what to listen for. She called again, in a mind
shout, for the post that belonged where she stood. Gyan had a
couple of men on horseback standing by. She ‘heard’ a deep sound,
sort of like a man singing bass from inside a mountain. It had a
dense but sleepy quality. She pointed in the direction she heard it
and called again. This time she asked the post to keep speaking to
her so she could find it. It complied as it spoke of its slumber in
the grass all of these years. She kept talking to it as she
followed the sound only she could hear. It spoke of the men who had
pulled it out of its place. She reassured it that that had been an
error as the knowledge of the post’s importance had been lost. But
now they knew and the post would be protected.

It had a name. It was Bonl. The voice of Bonl
got louder in her head until she knew that she was standing over
him. There was a small piece of black stone jutting out of the
soil. ‘Bonl, there is a man who will be getting the soil off of you
so they can get you out of there and back to your spot. Please
don’t confuse him, he’s a friend. I will send your sage to you.
You’ll be free soon.’

Erin called to Drune and directed Omin where
to dig. She passed Drune on her way back to another post hole. “His
name is Bonl. Let him sense you.” and she gave his surprised
expression a sunny smile.

The second post was closer. It had a similar
story. It had taken several ropes to pull him out of his hole. His
name was Twis and he was very much looking forward to being in the
air and doing the job that the ancients had set for them: anchoring
the center of the realm. Erin stayed with Twis until a shorn Byan
could come with a shovel and Drune could come to meet him. She then
returned to Bonl to see how things were coming and to make sure
that Omin knew which was Bonl’s place in the hexagon.