The Weaving of Wells (Osric's Wand, Book Four) (30 page)

Before her stood a small hill covered in lush green grass, an array of wildflowers, and two small stone chimneys protruding from its top. Only a small patch of bare soil the size of a large shield stood out from the otherwise grass-covered hill. She stepped forward and seven symbols lit up above the grassless space.

As she watched, the soil began to fall inward, far too regularly and orderly to be natural. It swirled to the right in a circular motion, slowly expanding from the center as a hole grew and the earth faded. When the opening had completed its transformation, a dark oval-shaped opening stood welcoming her.

She stepped through the entrance, and candles began to light themselves along the walls of an expansive, round marble chamber. The room was far too large to fit inside the small hill she had stepped inside.

Along the outside wall of the chamber, the floor sank into large steps spiraling downward. She walked down the steps as candles continued to spring to life lighting her way, and when she reached the last step she sat down and gazed around a smaller circular chamber. Across the room from where she was seated, she noted a pedestal with a candle, a magnifying glass, a quill, a bottle of ink, and an open book sitting atop its flat surface. In the center of the room was a round depression in the stone floor, about three paces across, but from where she was sitting she could not tell how deep it was. As she stood up with the intention of examining the artifacts on the pedestal, she found herself again in the library at the barracks.

“Well, did anything happen?” Gus looked up at her.

“It’s like remembering a dream,” Chanda said, “but yes, I saw a great deal.” In short order, she relayed what the vision had shown her and then looked at her questioning companions. “I’m not sure it’s all that helpful. I didn’t see any identifiable locations or markers. But I do remember the symbols above the entrance.”

“You remember them? I can’t say we expected that.” Eublin nodded, impressed.

“The symbols were clear in the vision, but that’s not the issue. How are we going to find the well from what I saw?” Chanda looked up at faces that showed no concern. She felt as though there were something she didn’t understand hidden behind the eyes of everyone looking at her.

* * *

It felt wrong to search for more wells without Serha, but finding them was the first step in defeating Dredek. Osric knew that somehow they would play a part in their victory, yet the role they would play eluded him. How could relatively small fountains of magic scattered throughout the landscape of Archana help him overcome a man who would be tapped directly into the Well of Strands? It was a question that consumed most of his time these days.

He let go of Chanda’s hand as she inhaled deeply with disbelief. It was a risk to let her bring him to the location using the traveling spell, so they brought nobody else the first time out. The shock of being transported instantaneously to an unknown location was plain on Chanda’s face. The physical toll of the magic might have injured her greatly if the distance had been too far, but she seemed only mildly fatigued, so it must have been relatively close to their former location.

“This is the place, but how did we get here?” Confusion was more evident on her face than was the fatigue of the spell.

“The words you spoke as you pictured this spot in your mind, they were a spoken spell. The spell brought us to the place you envisioned. You no doubt feel tired now, but that will pass. If my gift had shown any ominous portent, I wouldn’t have let you bring me here to begin with. That spell is dangerous if done improperly. We both could have died if there was a wall, a tree, a mound of dirt, or any other obstacle in our way when we appeared.” Osric steadied her and helped her to sit in the grass.

He looked at the landscape surrounding them. Grass was scattered across the horizon, but over the ages the lack of tending had allowed weeds to slowly overtake it. Rolling hills littered the landscape, and atop every mound two small stone chimneys stood tall. Though some of them had toppled and been scattered by wind and rain, their purpose was clear. Stepping closer to the hill they had faced upon arriving, Osric could sense the power growing stronger with every step. Then a thought occurred to him.

“These were homes?” Osric questioned Chanda.

“I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “This was all I could see in the vision.” Chanda motioned to the hill on her left.

“Well then, let’s get back.” Osric held out his hand.

“I don’t think I can do that again.” She shook her head in protest.

“No doubt, it would probably kill you. But I can take you back quite easily, so let me help you up.” Osric helped her to her feet again.

“Wait. Don’t we need to inspect the interior of this one to see if it is anything like my vision?” Chanda pulled away.

“No need. We have the location as well as the way to access the chamber if we need to. And we know that there are no obstructions to hinder the traveling spell you just demonstrated. We know all we need to know for now.” He held her hands reassuringly.

“But what are we going back for? Haven’t we done what we were to do?”

“Not even by half.” Osric smiled. “We need to see what else the book can show you.”

He took her hand, and after a few words they appeared back in the library with everyone exactly where they had been when they left.

As soon as they appeared, Eublin excused himself politely and walked quickly from the room. He had been gone a few moments and no one had asked if they had been successful in finding the well.

“Is he all right?” Chanda asked.

“He’s fine,” Gus said. “He drank too much rulha and he’s been squirming in his seat since you left. He’ll be back in a moment, and then you can tell us all about your trip.”

“Why didn’t he just go while we were away? What if it had taken us a long time to find and explore the well’s location?” Chanda was confused.

“There could have been danger that demanded an early retreat, or any number of other things that could have brought you back at an unexpected time. We have lost men from the use of that spell, so we take every precaution to keep things exactly the way they were when someone leaves. It makes it far more likely that someone who is scared or injured can successfully return with the traveling spell if they can just think of the room as they last saw it. Besides, it was funny to watch the brilliant little guy squirm.” Gus shrugged playfully.

“You’re one to call me little. I could still step on you with little effort, if the mood so inspired me.” Eublin slipped back into his seat, and Gus jumped slightly at the sound of the gnome’s voice.

“Ah, see. There he is now. We were just saying how much we missed you, Eublin, since we had to await the arrival of your empty bladder to hear about the well.” Gus smirked, and Eublin’s cheeks colored a pale pink.

“I apologize for the delay. How did it go?”

“We found it, just as I saw it in my vision, but we didn’t go inside.” Chanda sounded a little disappointed.

“She did a great job, but we have a great deal more to do before we can attempt to enter the wells that we find. Let’s see if the book shows her any more locations.” Osric held a hand out, indicating Chanda should sit back down and flip through a few more pages.

She sighed and sat down, still showing her weariness from the trip to the green hills. As she began flipping through the pages, Osric stepped out and brewed her a cup of tea. Bridgett had mixed the herbs specifically to aid in her recovery from travel fatigue. She sipped the hot beverage slowly and turned the pages of the book with renewed determination. Once past the place where the first vision had occurred, it took several moments before she found a second trigger. She sat silently for a short time, obviously occupied by her ability, before she sighed and returned her focus to the group of people in the library.

“What did you see?” Gus stepped forward with a great deal of curiosity on his face.

“This was much different than the last. There was no building or any ruins, just a large hole in the ground. There were no symbols or anything, but there was a long walkway that spiraled down into the hole.” Chanda looked at the expectant eyes all focused on her, worried that she would disappoint them.

“We can’t expect everything to present itself to you without a puzzle to solve—that wouldn’t be realistic. It’s obvious they hadn’t finished constructing this one. Let’s go and see how far down the walkway goes.” Gus shrugged.

“There is ominous portent in letting her take me there, but not in my leading the way. I need to know if there is a way for me to see what you witnessed in the vision.” Osric stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Is there a way you can show me?”

Chanda looked at her trembling hands, fatigued by the use of her gift and of the traveling spell. She looked at him and winced. “I don’t suppose you have a large water dish?”

“A water dish?” Gus frowned.

“I use a small basin of water to show people what I have seen in their futures.” She paused, casting her eyes downward and pressing her lips together as guilt flushed her cheeks. “At least I did before I met Serha.”

“Let’s get this lady some water!” Osric shouted.

He smiled as several nooks and shadowed corners throughout the library erupted with movement. It didn’t take long for five young Aranthians to come back bearing small vessels full of water, all of which were set on the table in front of Chanda. She pulled the largest vessel toward her and smiled at the rapid response to her request.

Once the five Aranthians had melted back into their previous positions in the library, Chanda took a small vial out of a side pouch and dropped a single drop into the water and looked into Osric’s eyes.

“Sit down and look into the water.” She had a serious expression on her face, as if she were in her element.

Osric did as instructed.

Slowly the ripples in the water faded and an image of a forest surrounding a large opening in the ground came into focus. A faint outline of the bottom of the hole could be made out, so it wasn’t too deep. Circling the interior was a circular ramp that led to the right, directly in front of his feet, in a shallow decline to the bottom. He was disappointed by the simplicity to the vision as he found himself back in the library.

“Well, that one won’t prove too much of a challenge. The issue is arriving at the right location because there were trees all around it. But I think I know just where to go.” Osric recalled a large patch of dirt on the opposite side of the hole. It was no larger than his bedroom inside the Aranthian habitat, but it was the best location he could see from the brief vision. He grasped Chanda’s hand and checked for portent as he whispered the words that would take them anywhere they chose.

Upon arrival, Osric could see the danger in letting Chanda utter the spoken spell. In the location that they would have appeared across the chasm, there were several new, young trees. It would have been a fatal mistake to appear where the trees now stood. The location he had chosen was only a year or two from yielding the same result to new arrivals—not from new saplings, but from dirt collapsing into the hole before them. It would have been a long fall, and only a few Aranthians knew how to keep their wits about them when in freefall.

However, from his new vantage he could see a trail that the vision hadn’t offered to them. That would be the point of entry for any future visits, and he could feel the power emanating from the bottom of the hole. Osric looked over at Chanda with a smile.

“If we come back to this location, all future arrivals must choose that path as their arrival destination. Let’s make sure they choose the open patch right there.” Osric pointed to a location across the opening.

“Is this another danger to the traveling spell?” Chanda inquired.

“Yes. If you appear where something else is, then you’re likely to be impaled on that object,” Osric answered.

“Before this day is over, I may become a bigger fan of horse and cart.” She shook her head.

Osric smiled at her, noting that her emotions indicated curiosity and excitement as well as mild anxiety for the spell’s dangers. He suspected that she would be using the spell regularly, with just a healthy respect for the risks, in no time at all.

“Stay here for a moment. I want to see if I can identify anything more about this location.”

Chanda nodded and Osric glanced around for a potential vantage point. He was surprised at how cold the air was after the mild temperatures of the fall weather in Stanton. He assumed they must be pretty far north, but there was nothing significant about the forest to indicate its location.

The trees were dense around the small clearing where the hole had been started for the well, and Osric could see no hills or cliffs to give him a better view. He couldn’t use the traveling spell, but that didn’t keep him from wanting to see the surrounding area. Finding a tall, sturdy tree that had lost most of its leaves for the year, he climbed carefully high into its branches. Soon, Osric could see over the tops of most of the other trees nearby, and he was both disappointed and impressed with the view. The forest stretched as far as he could see in every direction. He thought he saw the smoke of a few small fires, or perhaps an inn along a seldom-used path, but there were no towns or other landmarks in sight. It was an immense, flat sea of trees, but the beauty of the forest did little to dull the ache of disappointment about still not knowing where the well was located. He wondered if they were even in the Human Realm, and something at the back of his mind made him doubt it. He frowned and climbed quickly back to the ground, shrugging when Chanda looked over at him expectantly.

“No luck, but we should probably get back before any full bladders take issue with our absence.” Osric took her hand and spoke the spell. “Eo ire itum.”

“It’s about time.” Gus responded to their appearance from the top of a low bookcase next to their table. “I chased off several curious Aranthians who weren’t here to read. I was tempted to banish them for spying.”

“Don’t do that.” Osric looked over at the prairie dog. “They came in handy when we needed these.” He motioned to the cups, bowls, and small basin full of water.