The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1)

by R N Skye

  “Thanks for understanding. Just promise me that if time allows and it looks like I’m about to attempt something stupid try and talk me out of it.”

  Both of the older men chuckled.

  With a yawn Shane kicked off his shoes and said, “If no one needs me for anything I have a long dream of instruction coming up on automation so I’m turning in. Since I’m the youngest I’ll take the sofa.” He went to the armoire and grabbed a spare pillow and quilt and after changing out of his clothes he was soon asleep on the sofa.

  Roger looked at Ari who was back to his engraving. “If your niece feels about him the same way he feels about her he’ll fit right in with her family. Does he know the real family business that he is marrying into?”

  Ari commented without looking up, “I doubt it; but I doubt it will matter either. You saw him in the bar fight. He wasn’t mad he wasn’t angry, He was thinking the entire time and the little scamp was having fun doing it. I wouldn’t miss this for all the rice in Luion.

  “I agree, the stories we’ll tell.”

  Ari said nothing, he just continued with his engraving.

  The morning was still dark as the autumn days continued to shorten when Shane awoke. Roger was snoring and Ari was still asleep; he must have stayed up late engraving in order for him to out sleep Shane. Shane’s nightly instruction was fresh on his mind as he climbed off the comfortable sofa and went to the kitchenette and pulled down a complimentary can of instant roasters that the hotel provided to those affluent enough to afford a suite.

  Not wanting to rummage through the pile of boxes and cases for his cup he located a glass pitcher and filled it with water from the sink. Using mastery he visualized the glyphs to heat the water. After the water was hot he grabbed a hotel mug from the cupboard mixed in the instant beverage powder and was soon sipping on the flavorful drink.

  Next he went to his pack and retrieved both of his scribes. From what he had learned in his latest dream tutelage he discovered the basics for recording and copying glyphs using automation. The first practical application to that that came to mind was to add a feature to his scribe so that he could scan existing glyphs then have it automatically write out what it recorded. If this worked then it would save an incredible amount of time in engraving the scroll glyphs on Ari’s instructor.

  He was just finishing the rough draft of the glyphs that he would need in his notebook when Roger sat up and sniffed the air. “What is that wonderful aroma?” he declared in a voice that Shane felt was entirely too happy for that early in the morning.”

  “It roasters, there’s fresh water in the pitcher on the counter. Be careful it’s hot.”

  Shane turned back to his notebook reviewing the glyphs for the scribe again. Satisfied he pulled out his first scribe and using the second he hunched over the small device and began to add the new glyphs one at a time. The process involved making the glyphs nearly as small as the scroll work glyphs in order to fit them on the limited area of the pen like device. He also needed to add two light emitting glyphs that would indicate when scanning was occurring and when scanning was complete. When he finally finished he straightened up with a sigh and saw that Ari was still asleep and during his concentration Roger had showered and dressed and was calmly watching him over his shoulder sipping another fresh cup of roasters.

  “Well,” he held up the scribe to show Roger, “Should we see if it works?”

  “What does it do?”

  “I’ll show you” Shane opened his notebook to the page that he had written down the enchantment for hot and cold and he took the scribe and pressed a dot on the upper side next to a glyph with a dash through it. A red light on the side of the scribe illuminated and a small square projection of something that resembled one of his instructor’s screens hovered in the air beside it. The word ‘title’ flashed on and off in the center. Shane said, “’simple hot’.” The flashing ‘title’ was replaced be the words ‘simple hot’ the words press scan button to begin appeared below it. Shane then held the scribe above the glyphs on the page and pressed the button on the side of the scribe once more, a beam of red light emitted from the point of the pen and projected onto the paper. Shane then moved it across the glyphs until he came to the end of the row. He then pressed the button again and the scribe read recording complete. Next Shane took the scribe over to the pitcher that was now tepid now that Shane was no longer maintaining the glyphs to keep the water hot. He pressed a button below the first. This time the projection popped up and the words ‘simple hot’ were listed and a message of ‘press button when ready to write’ showed below it. Shane pressed the write button and this time a blue light projected on the side of the pitcher; he move it along the side of the container until the last of the enchantment was finished being etched onto the glass. With a thought he applied lumen to the new glyphs and activated it. “Ok Roger, check the water in the pitcher and tell me if it’s hot or not.

  Roger dipped his finger into the water, “it is warm not hot.”

  “Now go ahead and press that icon,” he indicated a picture of a cup with steam coming out of it. “Then rest the water again.”

  The Luionese did as he was instructed and then dipped his finger again; he quickly jerked out and blew on his finger to cool it. “Ouch. It appears successful, the water is very hot.”

  A voice grumbled from across the room, “Any chances you guys can keep it down some of us are still trying to sleep.”

  “It is morning monsieur we have a lot to do today.”

  “I’m retired I’m supposed to get up after the sun now.

  “There’s a hot mug of roasters over here,” chimed in Shane.

  “Finally someone says something worth listening to.”

  While Ari got out of bed Shane hurried and showered and shaved. While Ari took his turn Shane recorded the automation onto his updated scribe from his notes and quickly transferred it to the second one. He then went through his note book and copied his other enchantments onto both scribes; all except for the instructor glyphs.

  With Ari taking his time Shane called Roger over and said, “Can you give me a hand I want to see if you can make an artifact with my tool that you saw me working on.

  “But don’t you have to be a mage to do that,” Roger asked curiously.

  “Not if I’ve done everything correctly. You won’t be able to activate it but there is no reason that you cannot make it.’

  Shane used mastery to create another rod the shape of a scribe. He then laid it onto the table in front of Roger. Then step by step he walked him through the process of automatically copying the glyphs from the working scribe to the scribe shaped rod. When he was done Roger handed his scribe back to him and held up the new device that he had just etched the glyphs onto and admired it. “Does it work?”

  “Not yet I need to infuse the glyphs with lumen first.” With a thought Shane activated the new Scribe that Roger had made. “Now it is activated. Congratulations, Roger, all I have to do now is teach you how to use lumen and you will be a glyph mage."

  Ari emerged from the washroom in time to catch the tail end of the conversation. “Any chance I can use that on this instructor,” Ari asked.

  “I’m not sure. I’d like to think so but I’m not sure if the process has to be done by hand or if it can be automated. It may not work or bond properly if we take a short cut.”

  “Let’s give it a go, if it doesn’t work all we are out is the time it takes to get a new steel plate and the four or five hours it took me to get this far,” responded Ari.

  Shane shrugged, “Why not. Let’s see where you left off.” Shane looked at the plate and saw a very neatly engraved circle with the larger glyphs in three well-ordered lines inside. Above it was the finger diagram the activation circle and the intensity line. “You have a talent for engraving. You got a lot completed last night,” he said with a whistle. “Ok, set your notes out to the side and I’ll show you how to scan your notes and save them into the scribe.” Ari placed his
neatly copied paper next to the metal plate. “You’ve reviewed them with mine and they match exactly except for the corner that you are changing to reflect your… ahem… specific requirements?”

  “Several times,” answered Ari.

  “Since you’ve done all but the scrollwork glyphs we will scan only those.”

  Shane carefully talked Ari through the process and a slow carful few minutes later the glyphs were saved on the scribe listed as ‘Scroll Work Glyphs for Ari’.

  “Whew!” gasped Ari, taking out a handkerchief and mopping his brow, “that detailed concentration takes a lot out of you. I must be getting old; usually I can get by with a couple of hours sleep no problem.”

  “It’s not age,” Shane cautioned, “this enchanting stuff can take it out of you if you aren’t careful. The scribe tool is powered by the user so if what you are doing takes a lot of time, the energy it would have taken to do the task normally is taken all at once when done instantly. The first time I tried to create a rod for my first scribe tool I fell on my arse and blacked out for a second because I neglected to have a sufficient power source for the enchantment. It would have killed me except that I activated the enchantment from a piece of paper and the paper burned up destroying the glyphs cancelling the enchantment before it could completely drain me. So you have to be careful; this glyph magery can be dangerous if you’re not careful. I make sure I read and understand all of the foot notes now,” Shane laughed. “You should probably rest up or let me work a sun glyph into the enchantment on the scribe before you go on. It could take a while why don’t you and Roger go grab some breakfast and see about the wagon and a ship while I work on this,” Shane suggested.

  Ari and Roger agreed to the idea and were soon gone.

  Shane queried his instructor on the best way to power the scribe tool. The new glyphs required to add an external power source to the current function were complex and would require more room than Shane had space available. With a sigh he threw up his hands. This is spiraling out of control, he thought to himself. He was about ready to scrap the idea when he had an epiphany; do all the glyphs have to be visible.

  To test his theory he quickly took a piece of paper and wrote the glyphs to make it light so that it would float. He then rolled it up so that only the activation dot showed and glued the ends so that it wouldn’t unroll. He then added lumen to the glyphs and pressed the dot. He held the paper chest high and let go. The paper remained motionless. Shane released the lumen and the paper came unglued and unrolled as it fell to the ground.

  With a cry of triumph he gathered it up and put it with his notes. Returning to his instructor it wasn’t long before he found an enchantment that would allow him to create metal plates of varying thickness, Where was this when Ari was out looking for his metal plate for his instructor, he thought to himself.

  Using mastery he made a thin foil of brass almost as wide as the scribe rod was tall and as long as his notebook pages. Using mastery again he made another scribe shaped rod this time making the middle a uniform diameter and the point more pronounced so that it resembled a pen or stylus. He went back to his note book and carefully hand wrote the glyphs he needed to affect the changes he wanted as well as to make additional improvements of adding a scrolling menu and an erase function.

  When he was finished he used one of the older scribes and copied the notes then etched them neatly onto the foil. That completed he carefully rolled the foil tightly around the center of the new scribe rod so that the activation glyphs and indicator light markings were the only etchings visible. He then used mastery to glue it to the rod followed by adding lumen to the glyphs then turned it on.

  Nothing.

  After several trials and errors he decided that it was the glue that was the issue and he need to weld it somehow to the rod so that it was part of the instrument itself. After a long discussion with his instructor he decided that he would have to invent several new artifacts to create the welding tool that he would need. At least he was able to gain the knowledge of the concept of welding and how the heat caused the metals to melt together. With a sigh he leaned back in the chair and soon he was day dreaming of how great it would be he could use lumen to weld the metals together.

  First he saw the lumen gather at the thin edges of the foil and the metal glowed white for a moment and then it was welded. In his mind he imagined a symbol; a glyph that he had never seen before. Feeling something hot in his hand he looked at the new scribe tool and almost dropped it. The foil on one end had welded to the shaft of the device. Excited he used mastery and concentrated on the new glyph and then imagined the other side welded as well. It worked.

  Enthusiastically he wrote the new glyph in his book and noted what it did and how it came to be then he picked up the new artifact and pushed some lumen into it and tested it once again. It worked; so did all the new features and it was now powered by a sun glyph. Shane immediately duplicated the process two more times and made two more scribes with the majority of the complex glyphs neatly rolled up into the device.

  He couldn’t wait to show Ava.

  Ava awoke in an unfamiliar room; after a moment she had her bearings and recalled the unbelievable experience from the day before. She had slept well, she sat up and stretched. The sun was at near mid-morning for the season as light filtered through the white semi-transparent curtains behind the open drapes. Next to the bed there was a fresh set of slacks, a blouse and small clothes folded neatly on a chair.

  Deciding that she probably should get up and get going lest her hosts think her lazy, she got up and padded down the hall to the wash room doing what she could to straighten her hair with only a borrowed brush and a comb at her disposal. Once she was dressed she put her laundry into a convenient hamper near the dresser and found her way to the kitchen where Laura was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of tea as she worked on her sewing hemming a dress.

  “Good morning sweetie, did you sleep well?” asked Laura with a smile.

  “Yes, thank you - and thank you for setting out the clothes.”

  “They were just some extra things I had lying around; of course I had to take them in bit; it was an easy thing to do. I hope I got the measurements right.”

  “They fit perfectly; you must have been up all night.”

  “Nonsense it only took a moment, Soaris had all of my things brought here after he rescued me and I’ve set up a shop in one of the spare rooms. It was but a few minutes work; no bother at all. Can I get you some tea? I also have roasters if you prefer.”

  “Tea would be perfect, thank you. ‘Roasters’ is a little bit too bitter for me unless I load it with cream and sugar. I rarely drink it unless its winter.”

  “Soaris loves the stuff but I prefer tea also; it must be a man thing,” she laughed “Shane always drank water, milk, or juice. On occasion he would have tea but usually only when he was not feeling well. I never knew him to be a ‘roasters’ drinker. “I’m sure that he probably picked it up in college.”

  “I never saw him touch it either, seems he always was drinking juice or water whenever we ate together,” responded Ava as she tried to recall if she had ever noticed him drinking the hot bitter beverage. “Maybe it was because he was in training for the ball team.”

  Ava yawned and stretched, “I’m sorry I slept so late I’m usually a morning person.”

  “Think nothing of it Soaris told me that the island that you were on is several hours different on the clock; if you understand how that works. In other words it’s about quarter to seven in the morning there but it’s nearly noon here. According to Soaris, Yllyan is almost twenty-three hundred milos east of Jehhet. That’s probably why no one has bothered anyone out here.

  “What does everyone do out here?” queried Ava as she accepted a cup of tea from Laura, “thank you.” she added.

  “Pretty much what we did back home; I sew, Yvette and Rober’ next door have started a grocery business, granted they don’t have much to sell yet. A lot of fami
lies are farming outside of town in the river bottoms, there are some that are trying to domesticate as many of the wild cattle, pigs, sheep and goats running around the hills and valleys, and we have a few magetechs that are going through the city trying to identify what artifacts they can and help people figure out how to make their lives the most comfortable.

  The city is already equipped with working indoor plumbing systems and every home has hot and cold water; it’s really quite nice. Most of us have clothes to wear but not a lot of variety. One of the magetechs found a building that has a few artifacts that are used in textile manufacture so we have been able to produce a couple of types of cloth; but so far they haven’t gotten beyond two or three cotton weaves. I’ve been pretty busy with what they have provided.

  As far as economy goes we haven’t really gotten one… we have no outside trade and no one wants to use the crown currency here so everyone has kind of chipped in and barters for now. No one charges Soaris me for anything as they all see this city is his; Soaris’ doesn’t charge them anything so they won’t let us pay anything either.”

  “What about you Ava, I know that you have only been here a short while but do you have any Ideas what you want to do?”

  “I was hoping that I could look around the city a little bit and perhaps do some research. Are there any libraries in town?” asked Ava.

  “None that I know of, you will want to speak with Edward Montfer; he seems to be the one heading up the magetechs. If anyone has found anything relating to a library it would be him. After lunch we can take a walk to Collet Avenue where all the big square buildings are and see if we can find him or one of the other MT’s.”