Rhuna- Black City

by Barbara Underwood

  “It is foolish, of course, when he is offered the assistance of several skilled and powerful Atlans,” Damell said with a grunt of disapproval.

  “I don’t know what will happen,” Rhuna said with a heavy sigh, and then remembered her unsummoned vision. “That’s what the Dark Master was thinking, too!”

  “Tell me about your vision,” Damell urged.

  “He had been working on various ways to see the future – I mean, to see our time, but he couldn’t and got very angry about it,” Rhuna said as she described the images she saw in her vision.

  “We may therefore conclude that he is intent on seeing the results of the seeds he has sown in the distant past,” Damell surmised.

  “Yes, and it’s very important to him,” Rhuna added as she recalled the many subtle thoughts and feelings that accompanied her intense unsummoned vision.

  “Did you experience anything else?” Damell asked.

  “Yes. The first image I saw was looking out of a window of a tall building and seeing the Black City outside, and a courtyard below filled with the Mages all wearing black cloaks and hats.”

  Damell thought for a moment. “He has already amassed a considerable army of followers in the short time since his arrival in the past time period.”

  “All he has to do is make a demonstration of his powers like Goram did today, and he would have instant and loyal servants,” Rhuna concluded with a tone of bitterness.

  “Sadly, it is so,” Damell agreed.

  They both sat in silence for a short while as they pondered the day’s events.

  “Shandi could see Goram’s aura when we couldn’t see him at all,” Rhuna stated. “I didn’t know she could see auras,” Rhuna continued. “Maybe there’s still more about her abilities that we don’t know yet.”

  “No doubt she has many of which we yet know nothing or very little,” Damell agreed.

  “I wonder…” Rhuna began, thinking of her small daughter’s ability to see auras.

  “…whether you would see the same aura colours around Goram when accessing The Infinite,” Damell finished.

  “Yes!” Rhuna laughed happily, and Damell smiled mischievously.

  “Let us commence,” Damell said as he placed the large cushions behind them so that they could recline in the ideal position for the release of the Extended Consciousness.

  Rhuna closed her eyes and breathed rhythmically several times until she felt light and detached from her physical body. She willed her Extended Consciousness to rise up and out of her body, and the release occurred almost immediately. After the usual brief moment of disorientation had passed, Rhuna directed her Extended Consciousness to observe Goram at the pyramid, and instantly she saw him from her viewpoint above the pyramid, slightly to the side of its pointed tip.

  Goram placed each flat paving stone inside the hole underneath the pyramid, moving slowly and deliberately. Rhuna noticed that she could perceive the interior of the pyramid at the same time as seeing the outside, and then she became aware of the warmth and brightness of the sun above and the energy current coursing through the ground underneath the pyramid.

  “Focus on Goram and what he emanates,” Damell instructed. Rhuna sensed her father’s thought and knew that his Extended Consciousness hovered next to hers above the pyramid. She turned her attention to Goram’s form in the pit at the base of the pyramid, thinking of the personal energy he radiated.

  Rhuna was thrilled when she began to perceive flashes of colour emanating from Goram as he worked at the pyramid. The colours of his aura changed continuously, moving from deep red to orange, mingled with pulsing undertones of purple. At times the orange aura appeared to be on the surface and over his upper body, and then the purple rose from beneath and took over the orange. Then Rhuna noticed a very deep red from underneath the layer of purple, and she instinctively knew that this throbbing red aura represented Goram’s deep anger.

  When she had observed Goram’s aura sufficiently, Rhuna decided to return her Extended Consciousness to her body.

  “It’s just as Shandi described it,” Rhuna said when she opened her eyes and saw that Damell’s Extended Consciousness had also returned.

  “Yes,” Damell said with a slight frown. “So much anger deep inside,” he remarked.

  “I hope it won’t lead to any rash actions,” Rhuna replied.

  “Usually it does,” Damell said gloomily.

  Rhuna enjoyed the following calm days of warm sunshine and colourful blossoming flowers as everyone eased into their routines, balancing chores and personal recreation. The trade route beyond the sandy hillock outside the inn was quiet and empty of traffic for several days, giving the new innkeepers a well-earned break from their duties.

  On one such warm and windless day, as the sun began its final descent and made the inn’s stone blocks glow creamy yellow-gold, Rhuna decided to visit everyone individually. She ascended the stairs to the upper level and entered the room where Kiana watched over Shandi as she napped.

  “What are you making now?” Rhuna whispered as she sat beside Kiana in front of the wide open window. She glanced at Shandi who was sleeping soundly on her cot nearby.

  “Another blanket, for the cold nights,” Kiana answered softly without interrupting the gentle rhythm of her knotting sticks. Rhuna touched the unusual thread Kiana was forming into a thick blanket with an intricate pattern of knots.

  “It’s unusual fibre,” Rhuna remarked.

  “Goat’s hairs,” Kiana answered. “Those traders from Farsa gave us some,” she said, pointing with her chin towards a nearby sack filled with furry tufts of goat’s hair. “I had to twist them into threads first.”

  “That’s a lot of work,” Rhuna whispered.

  “It’s good to keep busy,” Kiana replied.

  “You always say that,” Rhuna said with a smile, and then looked at the blanket that emerged from Kiana’s knotting sticks. “It looks small.”

  “It’s for Lozira’s baby,” Kiana answered, still moving the knotting sticks and her fingers in a regular and mesmerizing motion.

  “You know?”

  “Of course,” Kiana said. “She often helps me in the food preparation rooms, and I saw the signs.”

  “Oh,” Rhuna said, understanding. “I didn’t think anyone else already knew,” she added.

  Kiana shrugged her shoulders and stopped her knotting because she had come to the end of her ball of thread.

  “Him out there will never even notice,” she said gruffly, pointing a knotting stick in the direction of the pyramid behind the inn’s buildings.

  “She hasn’t told Goram yet?” Rhuna wondered.

  “Nah,” Kiana answered with a sigh.

  Rhuna left her mother to prepare another ball of goat’s hair for the blanket, and made her way to one of the smaller buildings of the inn. She peered through the first open doorway and saw Yarqi seated on the floor facing the window. Rhuna stepped into the room and looked over Yarqi’s shoulders to see what she was doing.

  “Oh, it’s you,” Yarqi said, surprised to have a visitor in her private chamber. “Is something wrong?”

  Yarqi’s dark eyes seemed to sparkle in the light of the descending sun.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Rhuna quickly assured her. “I just came to see what you’re doing.”

  Yarqi spread out the textile that was in her lap so that Rhuna could see an elegant dress of silken fabric. The main colour was a reddish purple, and the sun’s warm rays highlighted the deep red of the dyed cloth as Yarqi moved it. The changing colours instantly reminded Rhuna of Goram’s aura.

  “I am making a dress from this fabric,” Yarqi said, showing her the seam she was working on.

  “A dress for whom?”

  “For me,” Yarqi answered a little uncomfortably.

  “Oh,” Rhuna said awkwardly. “That is colourful material, and you always wear black,” she added.

  Yarqi nodded. “I felt it was time to change that.”

  Rhuna sat down and
thought about Yarqi’s statement.

  “Is it because of something that has happened?” Rhuna wondered.

  “Yes, I suppose,” Yarqi began, turning to gaze out of the window. “Just being here, feeling good and comfortable…most of the time.”

  Rhuna smiled. “I know. I feel the same way.”

  Both women sat in silence for a moment as they looked at the shiny red-purple dress in Yarqi’s lap.

  “What do you think will happen?” Yarqi asked as she looked up to gaze out of the window.

  “I really don’t know,” Rhuna answered honestly.

  Yarqi sighed deeply.

  “I wish he would agree to let the Atlan representatives go with him to fight the Dark Master,” Yarqi said, her voice resonating with frustration and distress.

  “Yes, that would be the logical thing to do,” Rhuna agreed.

  “Otherwise, it would be such a waste, if the Dark One wins,” Yarqi continued. “Such a waste of Goram’s great skill and power.”

  “You really admire Goram,” Rhuna stated.

  “Of course.”

  “There’s still a lot of time before the pyramid is ready,” Rhuna said. “Maybe things will change until then.”

  Yarqi nodded and smiled at Rhuna’s hopeful comment, and then returned her attention to the dress. Rhuna left Yarqi’s room and walked farther along the corridor to another doorway.

  “Hello,” she said as she paused near the entrance.

  “Oh! Come in, come in!” Mohandu chirped happily.

  Rhuna stepped inside the room and looked down at the array of unusual items on the floor in front of Mohandu. “What are you making?” she asked.

  “Oh, nothing important, nothing important,” he chuckled with embarrassment. Rhuna sat down on a seating cushion near Mohandu and looked at the funny little shapes on the floor. Then she saw the shavings and a carving tool and realized what Mohandu was making.

  “Is it a game?”

  “Yes, yes,” Mohandu nodded. “I saw these knuckle bones in the disposal area, and I was reminded of the game we played as children.”

  “I’ve seen children play with them in Safu and also in Varappa,” Rhuna commented. “It looks like a good game.”

  “Yes, yes,” Mohandu nodded again. “In fact, I thought…I thought maybe Shandi would like to play with them when I am finished carving them and rubbing them smooth.”

  Rhuna was surprised and delighted.

  “She would love that,” she said with a bright smile.

  Mohandu smiled and nodded.

  “Tell me, is it a custom where you are from to always nod your head so much?” Rhuna wondered.

  Mohandu smiled and nodded some more. “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is,” he chuckled awkwardly. “In Varappa many use this head gesture, and I do it without knowing. I wish I could stop it because it annoys people.”

  “No, it’s not annoying,” Rhuna assured him.

  “You see, people from my part of Varappa use hands, head and arms to express their feelings,” he prattled.

  “It’s a good way to express feelings,” Rhuna said convincingly.

  Mohandu’s head began to wobble sideways.

  “What is it?” Rhuna prodded.

  “I feel useless, like a coward,” he confessed with a sigh. “I sit here making toys when I should be thinking of ways to stop the Dark Master and the Mages of the Black City,” he said as his head wobbled even more.

  “You don’t have to feel bad about that,” Rhuna said. “Most of us aren’t doing anything to stop him because we just can’t,” she reasoned.

  “We could help Goram,” Mohandu replied. “He is actively working to stop the Dark One, yet I cannot help him…and he will not let us help him!”

  “Did you speak to him about it?” Rhuna wondered.

  “Yarqi and I told him we want to go with him into the past time period and help kill the Dark Master, but he would not accept our help,” Mohandu said, shaking his head in dismay.

  “He’s determined to do it alone, but maybe we can still convince him to change his mind,” Rhuna said.

  “Yes, yes, I hope so,” Mohandu said, nodding in his usual manner again.

  Rhuna left Mohandu’s room and walked further along the corridor to see if anyone else was in the small building. She was startled to find the small room at the end contained a sack of clothing and other sundry items, and stepped inside to look. Sitting on the bed was a gaunt Atlan man with ragged grey hair who had once been her husband.

  “Tozar!” she said with surprise. “I didn’t even know which room you had chosen. You manage to stay in the background so that no one even notices you.”

  “That is my intention,” he said quietly.

  “May I join you?” Rhuna asked, suddenly respectful of his new lifestyle of solitude and quiet.

  “Of course.”

  Rhuna sat down on the threadbare rug on the floor and looked at the changing colours of the sky through the small window.

  “Have you spoken to Lozira again lately?” she finally asked him.

  “Although we have only exchanged a few words, I have endeavoured to be near her as often as circumstances allow,” he answered in a level and controlled voice.

  “Sometimes that’s already enough,” Rhuna answered.

  “Is she very troubled?”

  “I think so,” Rhuna began as she remembered her last conversation with Lozira. “She is pregnant again, but I think this time she hasn’t taken the herbs for termination.” She looked at Tozar to see his reaction but saw none.

  “Does he know of it?” Tozar merely asked flatly.

  “Not yet. And she didn’t tell him the first time either because she was afraid that having a child would distract Goram too much from his important work.”

  “Hmm,” Tozar said in response.

  “We talked about it a short time ago, and I suggested that if Goram succeeds in entering the past time period and doesn’t return, then at least she will have his child,” Rhuna told him.

  “Would he pursue his plans, even with knowledge of the child?” Tozar wondered.

  “He has an obsessive ambition to be equal or better than the Dark Master, and nothing else seems to matter,” Rhuna said with a deep sigh of dismay.

  “Nothing else seems to matter…” Tozar echoed.

  “If only she wouldn’t put him first, above her own needs and desires all the time,” Rhuna lamented.

  “She is still so young,” Tozar remarked.

  “Maybe things will still change before the pyramid is ready,” Rhuna said, trying to sound hopeful.

  “The course of one’s life often takes unintended directions,” Tozar observed, and Rhuna wondered if he was thinking of his own life. She slowly stood up to leave when Tozar cleared his throat.

  “Inform me of Goram’s progress with the pyramid and time portal,” he said in a clear and decisive voice which surprised Rhuna.

  “Yes, I will,” she promised as she left Tozar’s room.

  Rhuna pulled open a small wooden door in the corridor outside Tozar’s room and wondered whether it had been opened since their arrival at the abandoned inn. She stepped out into the warm glow of the descending sun and walked across the garden to the other building in which she had met Goram in the upper level to acquire knowledge of the Great Secrets. She entered the lower level corridor and heard the familiar scratching sound of Goll’s quill on parchment.

  “Hello,” she whispered, suddenly reluctant to disturb the scribe’s fervent writing. Goll jumped slightly as he spun his head around towards the doorway. “I just came to see how you are doing,” she said apologetically.

  Goll placed his quill on the low wooden desk in front of him and turned around on the seating cushion.

  “How I am doing?” he repeated as if unaccustomed to answering such a question. “I am very satisfied with my new surroundings,” he answered, gesturing at his comfortable room, desk and writing equipment. “Yet I have been suffering from tiredness and he
adaches.”

  Rhuna stepped forward and sat down in front of the white-skinned man from the Land at the Top of the World.

  “I can give you some herbal remedies,” Rhuna offered. “Your symptoms are probably only the stress of change,” she said, wondering whether she should examine him as a Healer.

  “Yes, I believe so, too,” he said.

  “What are you recording right now?” Rhuna asked, glancing across at the parchment in front of Goll.

  “It is a personal account of my experience of change,” Goll answered. “The change of leaving the Depository of Archival Texts and making this journey with you to the Black City and now residing here at the inn.”

  “A personal account? Not an historic record for the Depository?” Rhuna asked, puzzled.

  Goll laughed very briefly. “It is unusual, I admit. Yet I am unable to do anything else.”

  Rhuna felt bewildered until she remembered that Goll had spent his entire life in the Depository of Archival Texts.

  “Maybe we can help you learn to do other things, such as how to tend the vegetable garden,” Rhuna offered.

  “Yes, that would be nice,” Goll answered with uncertainty. “Yet I do enjoy writing my personal account,” he added with eager fondness.

  “Then maybe you should just do what gives you the most satisfaction,” Rhuna concluded as she stood up to leave.

  “Wait,” Goll said urgently.

  Rhuna stopped and looked at the scribe expectantly.

  “My knowledge of languages in this and nearby lands gives me greater insight into certain matters,” he began carefully. “Such as the name Sula-tana.”

  Rhuna felt uneasy at the sound of the name she had been given, and she immediately thought of its connection to the Dark Master.

  “What do you know about that name?”

  “This name does not harmonise with the Ling-Yu language,” Goll stated with conviction. “It is much more likely that the name Sula-tana originated from the language of the people from Farsa.”

  Rhuna thought about Goll’s words for a long moment.

  “We think it originated with the Dark Master,” she said.

  “No doubt,” Goll nodded. “Perhaps he initiated the concept of a peacemaker with the Farsa traders when the Black City first became established along this famous trade route.”