The Watcher Key

by Troy Hooker

  “I can’t imagine,” Emma snickered as he finally got the door unblocked from the pile of junk on the inside and let them in.

  “Who’s the ODA?” Sam whispered to Gus as they followed Emma through the door and past the piles of strange-looking mechanical parts and abandoned inventions that were designed for who-knew-what.

  “Office of Descendant Affairs. Not quite the PO, but they also receive reports from the Seer Chamber regarding internal activities in Lior City,” he whispered back. “Never been much of a fan myself.”

  Immediately upon entering Sam realized why Lillia liked it here so much. There were flashing, mystical lights coming from strange machines everywhere in the huge, cluttered room—moving parts with robotic arms, contraptions that buzzed on the tables and even some that whizzed silently through the air about the room.

  Lillia was draped over a hammock with a pair of strange looking gloves on, tiny blue images projecting from her fingertips that danced and moved while she wiggled her fingers. She nodded nonchalantly as Gus, Emma, and Sam made their way through the buzzing workshop.

  Sam glanced to the tables of whirring and buzzing objects, noticing one small urn that burped a concentrated smoke-like blue light that drifted lazily upward, dispersing itself slowly throughout the room.

  “It’s a Lazuli diffuser,” Gus held his hand in the next puff of light. “It turns Lazuli into a gas to dissipate throughout the room. It is supposed to make everything that uses light more powerful … but I think it just makes him crazy.”

  Sam caught a glance of a lighted medium-sized box with a slowly spinning dial on the front. Then, the sides and the top of the box began to collapse inward, and suddenly the box morphed into a perfect circle, it’s exterior glowing a faint blue.

  “A device that transfigures based on what shape first enters the person’s mind closest to it,” Bogglenose said gleefully as he clumsily twisted and adjusted the lenses of his goggles while peering out the window in front of him. “There is so much you can do with light!” the inventor shouted. “Capture it and shape it into whatever you choose! Hold it in your hand like putty! People don’t get it, no! They are too closed-minded, those buffoons. They wouldn’t understand progress if it smacked ‘em in the face!”

  “Yeah, but why would a person need a thing that changes shape?” Sam stared out the window at the imaginary thing that captured Boggle’s attention.

  “It works!” Bogglenose squawked so loud that the little shape-changing box suddenly melted into a puddle on the counter. “Look through here boy. Oh—I didn’t realize there was a new member to your group. What’s your name? Never mind! It doesn’t matter. Here look through these.” He shoved the goggles into Sam’s arms.

  Sam put the goggles on his head and peered out the window. At first, nothing appeared but the shoreline below. Then, to the left of the pathway to Bogglenose’s cliff house, he noticed a thin wisp of black smoke lazily drifting up from the ground and being swept into the breeze over the cliff to the sea.

  “I see smoke.”

  Bogglenose punched him square in the arm.

  “See that? Now take the glasses off.”

  Sam obeyed.

  “I don’t see it now,” he said. “That rock is in the way I think.”

  “Exactly! That’s a long-range Darkness detector, that is!” He punched him in the arm again. “What did you say your name was again? Oh, wait! Don’t tell me. I am going to try—to—use my light foreteller.” He fumbled around the long counter for a small device he slipped inside of his ear. “Your name is…L-A-S…TEA?”

  “Um, no. It’s Sam,” he said.

  Bogglenose crinkled his nose and dug in his ear for the device. “Trash! I knew this thing wasn’t worth a pile of duck squat.” He tossed the device on the counter.

  Gus cleared his throat loudly from where he and Lillia lounged on the hammock as buzzing contraptions circled around them.

  “Bogglenose, we are looking for a way to get to another place in Lior rather quickly, and perhaps without being seen,” he said before the old inventor’s attention was diverted elsewhere.

  The man twirled his increasingly frazzled hair, looking very thoughtful.

  “I don’t know if I can help you there, that is, unless you have access to my Lightway. The PO took away my key after I tried to retrieve my invention when they wouldn’t let me use it, those controlling Poppincorks! Can you believe it? Not even able to use my own invention!”

  Emma leaned over to Sam.

  “Bogglenose used to work for the Council, making inventions. Some say they canned him because he almost killed the Chancellor when one of his prototypes exploded.”

  “Of course I don’t have the resources here to make another Lightway, nor do I have the coordinates to be able to line them up,” Bogglenose shrugged.

  “It’s okay, Boggle,” Emma hopped off the hammock with Lillia. “We would appreciate if you didn’t let anyone know we were planning to go somewhere, please.”

  Bogglenose snorted.

  “Those pompous monarchs? Not a chance! Oh! I do have something you can take with you when you go.” He dug around in one of the larger armoires lining the wall, then produced a small box.

  “What is it, Boggle?” Lillia was suddenly interested, popping off of her hammock to get a better look.

  “Watch,” he said, opening the box and pulling out a small silver disc.

  He rubbed the center of the disc and held it in front of him. Suddenly, the disc glowed bright blue and grew to the size of a small surfboard, right in front of them. Boggle dropped the disc and it immediately began floating above the floor, blue Lazuli light holding it up in mid-air.

  “I call it, affectionately, a Lightboard!” he said giddily. “Hop on this little gem and you will be—how does the human say—surfing? Yes, land surfing wherever and whenever you want.”

  Emma whistled low.

  “Wow, you have been working while we were away.”

  “You would be correct, Miss Sterling. Got five of them. You can take these four.” He pressed the center of the floating surfboard and it immediately returned to its original shape. “They aren’t easy to learn, but once you do, no one will catch you! Except of course for the quicker of the leviathan species who tend to rip apart their prey starting at the throa—”

  “Thanks, Boggle,” Emma said quickly.

  Boggle smiled awkwardly.

  “I don’t suppose you could tell me where you will be going?” he said.

  “The old city,” Emma said quietly, quickly regretting telling him from the looks she received from the others.

  “Whoa. I suppose everyone has to meet the Creator sometime,” Boggle snorted, making Emma squeak and cover her mouth. Then he turned and fumbled underneath his countertop, tossing boxes and objects onto the already littered floor. “Here, take these too.” He handed Gus a velvet satchel and snorted once again. “Just press and hold the button, and throw. Best not to be too close when it goes off!”

  “Do you have any information about the Watcher Stone, Boggle?” Gus ventured.

  For the first time since arriving at his shop, Boggle’s face grew solemn as he took a seat on his swivel stool.

  “Yes, yes, it is a curious artifact,” he said. “Created by the Watchers themselves to keep the Darkness from hiding …”

  All four listened intently, Gus writing down notes in his journal.

  “It was found by some researchers deep in a cavern long ago, and it was thought that a child prophet led them to it, believe it or not! But the Stone is said to have properties embedded by the Creator himself, designed to be a sign of His eventual return! Imagine! But …” he stood once again and walked toward the window, “it is also said that it will be a time of great danger for Lior. Suffering, sadness, a time of division. The Darkness will be most powerful during that time.”

 
“The Last Battle,” Gus whispered.

  “Didn’t you study the Stone, Boggle?” Lillia asked.

  “Never got a chance to!” he said loudly. “Was supposed to be transferred to my lab but—”

  “Your lab in the old city?” Emma interrupted. “Where is that?”

  “The library, of course, which is highly secured, of course!” Boggle snorted suddenly. “My assistant Jules kept all the records of my most valuable research, Oh! Poor Jules! Shame that he didn’t make it out of the City! Wish he was still here to help me now! Such a good boy …”

  “So you can’t get us into your old lab?” Sam was careful not to offend the old inventor.

  He shook his head sadly.

  “I’m afraid I don’t remember the codes … all of which were changed suddenly to ensure security as we fled the City … oh what a horrible day that was!”

  Instead of pursuing Boggle’s aging memories of the day of the invasion, the four thought it best to leave it be for now, and they weren’t even sure they could count on the information he gave them to be accurate anyway.

  Boggle made sure to give them a few more odds and ends for their trip, then he shooed them out the door as he was certain the ODA would be stopping by once again.

  They thanked him and headed out the door, having acquired some helpful gear but still not answering the question of how to get to old Lior City, or his old lab.

  “Wow, he’s … quite a guy,” Sam said as they squeezed around the iron gate of Boggle’s property after saying goodbye to the unconventional inventor.

  “There’s nothing wrong with him. He may be socially backward, but he’s brilliant,” Lillia said defensively.

  “I wasn’t saying anything,” Sam said defensively. “He’s great.”

  ***********************

  Instead of heading back toward the cabin, Gus suddenly made a turn toward the City Center in town.

  “I think I have the answer to our problem on how to get to the old city,” he said, drawing quizzical looks from the others.

  They followed Gus past the Thalo hall and into the City Center’s Main Street entrance. When the guards let them pass, Sam discovered that they must have entered the Center’s administrative offices, which looked curiously like a small eighteenth century gaslight town with it’s quaint porches dotting the interior of the vaulted lobby.

  Gus led them past a number of offices with large picture windows down the cobblestone street, where he abruptly turned into one of the small shops that said “Office Of Research” on the plaque on the door. Inside, there were large tables with scrolls, strange looking artifacts, and many dusty books that littered them. Standing over the tables were robed individuals who glanced up briefly at the sight of the four teens and then went back to their work.

  “Do my eyes deceive me?” A plump, older woman with deep blue eyes came rushing to the door. “Gus? Lillia? Emma? How are you?” she said, ruffling Gus’s hair and pinching Emma’s cheeks.

  “Good, Mrs. Yarns. How are you?” Gus said in a muffled voice as she pulled him into her extra-large chest and squeezed him tightly until his cheeks flushed bright red.

  “Oh you all just grow so quickly. Oh dear heavens! Good thing the Mr. isn’t here. He’s having an especially hard time with the garden this year, and you three were his best workers! He’d have you out picking parsnips if he saw you—” she stopped. “Ooooh, and who’s this handsome boy you dragged in?”

  “His name is Sam, Mrs. Yarns. He’s … new to the City,” Emma said carefully.

  “Well well, I hope you are enjoying your time here. Are you here long?”

  “Yes ma’am, I hope so,” he said.

  “Well that’s good news!” She clapped her hands around Sam’s cheeks and squeezed until he thought there was no more blood left in them.

  “Sarah’s in the back. Why don’t you grab some homemade root cakes I brought in and come on back and visit?”

  “We can’t stay long, Mrs. Yarns. We are heading back to the cabin soon,” Gus attempted to say but was ignored, a large plate of round cakes being shoved in his face.

  “Nonsense. You can stay for a bit. There’s teacups in the fourth cupboard on your way back.” She then turned and motioned something at a young man with jet-black hair who was trying desperately to get her attention.

  They obeyed, grabbing a few cakes from the plate Gus was holding as they walked into the back room. Miss Karpatch was bent over, her face inches from an old map. Her face lit up when she saw them. Mrs. Yarns returned with four chairs and a teapot, which she used to fill their cups.

  “I knew you would figure it out.” Miss Karpatch turned and pulled off her glasses, putting them into her robe pocket.

  Mrs. Yarns closed the door to the front room, throwing a kiss to them as she slipped out, then warned in a muffled voice in the next room to the staff members that the “Chief Researcher” must not be disturbed for the next few moments.

  Sam, Emma, and Lillia were still clueless as to what it was they were supposed to figure out, and that Gus apparently already had, so after digging into more root cake and tea, they waited for Gus to fill them in.

  “I remembered that you had special access to use the Lightway for your research projects,” Gus said finally with a grin, which was met with immediate sighs of realization from the other three.

  “As Chief Researcher, I am the only one with unlimited access in Lior,” she smiled at them. “And thanks to Cooley when he oversaw the department, he made sure there were no restrictions on Lightway travel, and very few that monitor us.”

  “But we are leaving Lior and may be heading near Metim-infested areas,” Emma reminded them.

  “True, but I have spent the last few days plotting out a course that should avoid the worst areas.”

  Emma still looked concerned.

  “Miss Karpatch, you would really help us do something like this? Isn’t it kind of, well, devious?” she said.

  “I have been planning this with your father, Emma. In fact, there are a few of us who have pulled quite a few strings to make sure this was possible.”

  Lillia half-laughed.

  “You seriously already knew we would go, didn’t you?”

  Miss Karpatch nodded.

  “I am a researcher, you know.”

  Emma looked bewildered.

  “Wow. You are good, Miss Karpatch.”

  She smiled.

  “If only I was as good at teaching as I am at research.”

  “I think you are a good teacher,” Sam said awkwardly, surprised at his own words.

  Miss Karpatch raised a surprised eyebrow at him, then smiled.

  “Well then, let’s get you to old Lior City.”

  After finishing their tea and cakes, Miss Karpatch let her staff know she was going to be out for a few moments. She led the group up to the fifth floor of the building, where she used a light key to open a thick metal door, then led them up a long set of circular steps. At the top, they stepped into a tower room much like the one where Sayvon took Sam, except this one had a large cannon-looking device taking up most of its interior. The device pointed a long telescoping barrel out of the other side toward the forest.

  “It’s the most complicated of the Lightbases to operate,” Miss Karpatch said when they were assembled inside the tower. “I am assuming that none of you will have to use this alone, but better to learn it now than be sorry later.”

  “How does it work?” Sam asked.

  “Well, the Lightway isn’t just like jumping in and pressing a button. You have to put a key into the Lightbase and use the correct coordinates, but I am assuming you three,” she pointed at Emma, Gus, and Lillia, “have done this before.”

  “Actually, none of us have,” Emma answered for all of them. “The Lightway at Jester’s Pass is always broken, it seems.”

&n
bsp; Sam reached his hand out and thought he could feel a slight hum coming from the metal tube in front of them. Suddenly, a small light began to glow in a circular glass globe on the top of the Lightbase. Sam quickly put his hand down and stepped back.

  “That’s strange,” Miss Karpatch placed her hand on the glowing globe. “There are no incoming waves. I wonder if this one is acting up?” she said.

  “Might be a Light spike,” Gus offered.

  While Miss Karpatch examined the base, Sam looked out the window at the forest in front of them, and behind them, the mountains. It was spectacular, like all of Lior was. It reminded him of what he used to daydream about when his foster parents were boozing it up at a snobby political party. Even though they weren’t truly his parents, it still hurt to see them so wrapped up in themselves. He even remembered the day he vowed he would never touch alcohol because of what it reminded him of.

  “I can’t figure out why it started up. Let’s hope it doesn’t quit on us before you go,” Miss Karpatch scowled.

  “Dad says there have been some problems with the Lightway system lately. He’s not sure why, but he said one guy from the mountain regions of Nais ended up in a wave that got stuck for two hours.”

  “They are temperamental on occasion, but I must say, it is one of Boggle’s better inventions,” Miss Karpatch said laughingly. “Anyway, I had these made for each of you.”

  She handed them each a necklace made of leather with a small blue stone embedded in the band.

  “It will help concentrate the Light in the Lightway so it will flow easier. It’s not an Eben, but it has Lazuli in it.”

  All four immediately put on the necklaces, tucking the stones under their shirts. Sam immediately felt the warmth creep into his body as the Lazuli touched his chest.

  “Now, let’s learn how to use this properly,” Miss Karpatch instantly resumed her teacher role. “Just in case you are separated, you all need to know how to dial up where you are meeting.”

  “We couldn’t just dial in Lior City?” Emma wondered.