The stunned immobility lasted only a few moments. Teldin could "hear" Speaks First's explanation that the "not-People not-Other" was a guest. As he'd figured from the outset, Speaks First had to be the equivalent of a clan leader.
Cloakmaster come [pride] be seen by People. Speaks First's mental voice rang clearly in Teldin's head. The trilateral creature made a beckoning gesture with a twice-trifurcated tentacle.
Slowly, Teldin advanced into the clearing, hands open to show he was unarmed. "I mean you no harm," he said as calmly as he could manage, hoping the cloak would inject a reassuring note into the mental message it was broadcasting. The smaller, immature People dashed into the shelter of full-sized adults as he emerged from the forest. The adults themselves, however, exhibited no obvious signs of fear. More fascination than anything, he told himself. Several of the trilaterals were showing the same behavior as Looks Around, rotating about their axes to examine him with one eye after another.
As Teldin approached, Speaks First indicated one of the trilaterals standing nearby. This one [reverence] Message Bearer, the creature's mental voice stated. Message Bearer [respect-honor] memory of People, tell Cloakmaster of past [awe] of Others.
Teldin looked at the one named Message Bearer. Its skin was slightly grayer than that of the others-drier-looking, almost dusty. Its eye, too, appeared slightly different, the Cloakmaster thought, with a duller yellow tinge to it instead of the bright gold luster of the others'. It's old, he told himself. The aged storyteller? It had to be. "Greetings, Message Bearer," he said with a slight bow.
Message Bearer moved closer, stopping a man's height away. Even at that distance, Teldin could smell the creature's odor-sharper and somehow more sour than that of Speaks First. The creature's oddly shaped pupil expanded and contracted, its size changes slower and less precise than those of the younger creatures. This [distaste] not-People, it "said" sharply.
Teldin took a breath to speak, but Speaks First was already communicating with the older creature. Not-People not-Other [respect] Message Bearer correct. Yet not-animal [awe], yet from beyond suns Cloakmaster comes [certainty]. Cloakmaster has questions. Message Bearer [respect] answer [petition-order], Message Bearer speak [order-petition! of Others.
The aging trilateral pivoted to examine Teldin with another eye that looked even more faded than the first. For a few seconds it remained mentally silent, and the Cloakmaster thought it was going to refuse. But then, Cloakmaster [resignation] ask, it answered. It widened its stance slightly, apparently taking up a more comfortable position. To Teldin's surprise, a little squeaking creature-a trilateral analogue of a rat, he guessed-scurried from the edge of the forest carrying a fist-sized yellow-green fruit on its back, steadied by three tiny upper limbs. The creature stopped next to Message Bearer's foot, waited calmly while the trilateral reached down with a tentacle to take the fruit, then bounded off again to disappear into the undergrowth. Message Bearer reached up underneath its cylindrical body, and the fruit disappeared.
What did I just see? Teldin asked himself. He had the unshakable feeling that something important had just happened, but that he simply wasn't grasping the significance. Cloakmaster [impatience] ask, Message Bearer repeated. Teldin took a deep breath and schooled himself to calm. "Tell me about the Others," he requested. Then, "Please," he added.
Message Bearer paused-reflectively, Teldin thought. Others [reverence] gone, it "said" at last. Long ago gone, gone [sadness] forever. Left behind World of the People, left behind Mind of the World.
"Where did they go when they left?"
Gone [certainty]. Gone only, nowhere.
Teldin frowned. "What were the Others like, then?" he asked. "Were they like the People?"
Like the People, the Others [reverence], yet not like. As People are like not-People animals of World of the People, yet not like. People learn of Others through Mind of the World [reverence-awe]. Long ago gone, the Others [sadness], before People see world and think-together.
Teldin nodded slowly. If he was interpreting Message Bearer correctly, he could well have been right in his guess that the People had risen to intelligence and what level of civilization they had after-perhaps long after-the Juna's disappearance.
"Were the Others always here?" he asked. "Did they evolve here?" He wondered how the cloak would handle the word "evolve."
Not [certainty] always here, Others, Message Bearer answered firmly. Others from distant world come, [reverence] from Egg come with all life to World of the People, long before People see world and think-together.
"The Egg. What is the Egg?"
Is [surprise] the Egg. Cloakmaster [suspicion-doubt] not know of Egg? All nonanimals must know of Egg….
Doubt and emerging distrust were emanating from the trilateral in waves. "Maybe we call it something different,"
Teldin said hurriedly. "Tell me about the Egg, and I'll tell you what we call it."
Message Bearer seemed to think about that for a few moments. Then its mental voice continued, Egg is [reverence-awe] the Egg. All life came from Egg, [wonder] everything came from Egg. Egg hatched, and [certainty] everything then was.
"The Broken Sphere…" Teldin murmured under his breath.
This Broken Sphere [anticipation] Cloakmaster's name for Egg?
"Yes," Teldin answered. "So the Juna-the Others-came from the Broken Sphere?"
So this one [certainty] has said, Message Bearer confirmed.
Teldin felt excitement flare in his chest. "And where is the Broken Sphere?" he asked breathlessly.
At the center [certainty-awe] of all things.
"And where's that?"
At the center, is all.
"Where is the center?"
[puzzlement] At the center, between the pearl clusters. Beyond the suns.
Teldin sighed in disappointment. He shouldn't have expected anything else, he told himself. After all, what did he think Message Bearer was going to do, pull out a star-chart and give him precise coordinates? These were racial myths that the creature was reciting to him, using terms and concepts that the People could understand. He shouldn't have expected a meaningful answer, and he shouldn't be disappointed. But he had, and he was.
"Do you know anything about the Spelljammer!" he asked. "A great ship the size of a world?"
To his amazement, he felt a wave of comprehension from the trilateral. The Spelljammer [surprise] is what Cloakmaster calls the Wanderer? Message Bearer asked. Memory of the People [reverence] knows the Wanderer [awe].
"Did the Others build the Spell… the Wanderer?"
What build [shock]? Message Bearer spun again to scrutinize Teldin with its third eye. No build, [outrage] Wanderer is. Wanderer and Others [reverence] together traveled from hatched Egg. Others to World of the People came, Wanderer [awe] throughout creation traveled then, [certainty] travels now.
Teldin sighed again. Once more he realized he was listening to myths, which might or might not have any connection to the truth. Even though he knew it was hopeless, he asked, "Do you know where the Wanderer is now?"
Wanderer is [certainty] where Wanderer is.
Well, that was predictable, wasn't it? Teldin thought with a wry grin. "Does the Wanderer ever come here?"
Beyond the suns [surprise]? Any thing beyond the suns [certainly] driven away, or destroyed. Mind of the World [reverence] makes it so.
That was the third time Message Bearer had mentioned the "Mind of the World," Teldin realized. Just what was it? A magical "watchdog" left behind by the Juna, perhaps? The artifact or group of artifacts that controlled the magical forces that had attacked the Boundless? Teldin had concluded that the People definitely weren't behind the attacks on the ship.
"Where is the Mind of the World?" he asked.
Where [confusion]? Message Bearer echoed. Everywhere is where [puzzlement]. All of world that is not People is Mind of the World. World of Cloakmaster has [skepticism] no mind?
Teldin paused. Communication gap, he told himself. I'm surprise
d we've avoided it this long. "Where is the Mind of the World?" he asked again. "I wish to see it."
Look around [certainty], was the only answer.
He stroked his beard, thinking. "What is the Mind of the World made of?" he asked, deciding to try a different tack.
Everything [certainty-reverence], Message Bearer responded at once. Everything but People. The creature raised a tentacle, used several delicate tendrils to simultaneously indicate different objects around the clearing, [pleasure-acceptance] Ground is of Mind, tree of Mind, fly-flutter of Mind, fruit of Mind. Mind of the World is everything [certainty-wonder], everything is of Mind.
The Cloakmaster stared at the dull-eyed trilateral with dawning comprehension. Is it saying… ? But, no, that's impossible, isn't it? "Are you saying," he said slowly, "that everything alive on this planet is part of the Mind?"
Everything [certainty] alive, Message Bearer confirmed flatly. Ground alive, trees alive, animals alive. All [reverence] part of Mind.
It couldn't be much clearer than that, could it? Teldin asked himself. Everything around me, all part of some great, single consciousness? It sounded impossible…
But, then, hadn't traveling beyond the moons, away from Krynn-so unimaginably far away-sounded impossible not so very long ago? And it wasn't as if he'd never heard the concept discussed before. In The Philosophers' Rest on Star-fall, he recalled, that had been one of the theories that a handful of elven metaphysicians were arguing over in an alcoholic fog: the possibility that an entire world could somehow become alive, merge into one single, planetary intelligence. At the time he'd dismissed the idea as foolish, as meaningless as the old argument over how many spirits could dance on the point of a sword. Now, however,…
He looked around him again, this time trying to reach out with the extended awareness that the cloak somehow gave him. For an instant, he thought he detected a pervasive sense of awareness, coupled with an echo of the strange feeling of belonging he'd experienced while walking through the forest. Then it was gone without a trace, so suddenly that he couldn't be sure whether he'd really felt it, or whether his mind was playing tricks on him. Search for something hard enough, and you'll find it, he reminded himself, whether it's there or not.
He looked back at the trilateral. "Are the People of the Mind?" he asked quietly.
The People [sadness-acceptancel not of the Mind of the World, Message Bearer replied. Others [reverence] started Mind to protect the People. People not of Mind [loneliness], People free to follow destiny alone. Mind of the World protect People, Mind [serenity] cherish People.
Things are starting to make a little more sense now, Teldin told himself. He remembered how the little ratlike creature had brought the fruit to Message Bearer. The trilateral hadn't had to issue any kind of mental order-the Cloakmaster would have "heard" it if it had. Instead, the trilateral had presumably felt hunger, or maybe just a desire for a fruit. The planetary Mind had somehow sensed that need or desire and had sent part of it forth-in the form of the rat-thing-to satisfy it.
Did it go even further than that? Had the rat-thing picked the fruit, or had the plant-being part of the world-Mind itself-just let the fruit fall? The possibilities were almost endless…
And quite frightening. A human was more intelligent than a rat, largely because a human had a larger brain. A dragon was-arguably-more intelligent than a human, again because it had a larger brain.
What about a brain the size of an entire planet… ? Teldin felt his fear like ice water in the marrow of his bones. "Do you… communicate with the Mind?" he asked. "Do you 'think-together' with it?"
The incessant motions of Message Bearer's tentacle tips slowed. Teldin could feel the creature's sadness like a palpable pressure against the fringes of his mind. Mind of the World [loneliness-melancholy] not think-together, it "said" softly. People try often [sadness], never succeed. Mind of the World not made [isolation] for think-together with People, Mind cherishes People, Mind protects People. But not [despair] think-together.
"Protects? "Protects how?" the Cloakmaster asked, suddenly sure he knew the answer. "Through magic'"
People [puzzlement] not know magic.
"By lights in the sky, by lightning strikes from the ground… ?"
By [undemanding] making the suns move, yes, Message Bearer's mental voice cut him off. This [curious] magic?
"It must be," Teldin confirmed.
Message Bearer's pupil tightened down to three fine, intersecting black lines. The sense of scrutiny, of speculation was undeniable. This magic [doubt], the reason [suspicion] why Cloakmaster to World of People come?
"If you're asking what I think you're asking, yes," the Cloakmaster told the creature. "Your Mind of the World almost destroyed my ship, almost killed my friends."
The trilateral didn't respond immediately. When it did, its mental voice was slow. Mind of World [doubt] protects People from harm. Not [sadness] cause harm to not-People not-Others not-animals [regret]. Wrong [decision] is.
I get the feeling that was an apology, Teldin mused wryly. Then another thought struck him.
"Do the People regret the harm that was done to me and my ship?" he asked.
The answer was as immediate as it was unequivocal. Regret, yes.
"Then," the Cloakmaster pressed, "if the Mind of the World really responds to your desires, I think you can help us out…."
*****
Teldin stood beside the smashed hull of the Boundless, flanked by Message Bearer and Speaks First. After leading them back to the clearing, he'd steered them on a stem-to-stern tour of the crippled vessel, pointing out the critical damage inflicted by the magical blasts from the surface. As other members of the crew looked on, gaping openly, he'd shown the trilateral the fractures in the keel, stressing repeatedly that the damage prevented the ship from ever lifting back into space.
Throughout, he'd sensed their emotional reactions, "eavesdropped" on their conversation between themselves. While they'd been puzzled at first by the ship's design, they soon came to understand its purpose and basic structure. He could easily detect their surprise and dismay over the fact that the Mind of the World, in protecting and "cherishing" them, could mete out destruction to "not-People not-Others not-animals" such as Teldin Moore.
At last he finished his explanations. He gestured around to the crew lining the deck rails-including Djan and Julia, both of whom quite obviously wanted to know just what was going on. They can wait until this is over with, he decided. "That's the situation we find ourselves in," he concluded. "The Mind of the World did this. Can the Mind of the World undo it? It's up to you, I think." And then he stepped back, reaching out with whatever extended perception the cloak saw fit to grant him at the moment.
If he'd been hoping to be able to detect a moment of decision, to sense the interaction between the two trilateral and the planetary mind, he was disappointed. He sensed nothing.
For a long moment, he thought nothing was happening. But then, in his peripheral vision, he saw movement.
From this spot, on the soft "grass" of the meadow, he could see through the great rent in the squid ship's hull, into the bilges. The light from the speeding mini-suns shone down through the open cargo hatch, then through the hole blown in the cargo deck itself, illuminating the smashed keel. In the yellow-orange light Teldin saw the wood of the keel shift-saw it flex slightly, watched as the individual wood fibers interwove with one another, knitting themselves back together.
He felt the almost uncontrollable urge to recoil from the sight, to deny it, to refuse to accept that such things were possible. But with a titanic effort of will, he forced himself to watch the process through to its conclusion.
It didn't take long. Within three or four minutes, Teldin found he couldn't tell anymore where the breaks had been. Under even the closest scrutiny, the thick keel looked like one solid piece of wood again. He reached in through the hull breach, ran his hand over the smooth wood. Under his fingers, the only evidence of the damage was that
certain regions were slightly warmer than others.
Major damage [satisfaction] undone. Ship [expectation] function with other damage?
Teldin turned to face the two trilateral. It was Speaks First who'd "spoken." He glanced up at Djan, at the rail above. "It wants to know if we can fly with the other damage," he relayed.
The half-elf shrugged dispiritedly. He hadn't seen the miracle in the bilges, Teldin reminded himself. "The only thing that matters is the keel," Djan replied. "We can fix everything else while we're underway, but without that keel…"
"Be careful what you ask for. You might just get it," Teldin said with a quick grin. Djan stared at him for a few moments as though the half-elf thought the captain had lost his mind. Then the first mate's eyes widened with surprise, and he disappeared. Teldin heard his friend's running footsteps thundering down the ladder into the cargo deck. With a smile, he turned back to the trilaterals.
"The other damage doesn't matter," he told Speaks First. "Thank you for our keel."
The creature waved its tentacles-dismissively, the Cloak-master thought. Then Cloakmaster [certainty]should from [impatience] World of the People, it "said" firmly. World of the People [decision] not for the Cloakmaster, Mind of the World [detachment] not for the Cloakmaster. And with that, the two creatures strode away for the edge of the forest.
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