by D. M. Almond
Day 322
Things have become strange here. Yesterday afternoon I encountered the custodian of this mystical place, At’lef, a yellow dragon. To say he caught me by surprise would be an understatement.
At’lef has to be at least nine and a half meters long, with a scaled snout and trailing moustache that reminds me of the catfish in Tolo Pond. I know not how he moves through the air, since he has no wings and only proportionally small arms and legs. When he moves through the library, a whistling sound pierces my ears. It is not painful but disorienting nonetheless.
At’lef terrified me at first, though I put on a brave face. I do not think he likes me much, but he seems to be glad I have come. The dragon told me it has been ages since the library had visitors, but here is where I have become wary. At’lef insists that I have brought someone else into the library with me, no matter how much I deny it. He seems bent on discovering who else is here, sniffing me and swirling about as if another gnome might be hiding beneath my shirt.
Despite this, At’lef has told me I have free reign over the adjoining three floors both above and below. However, he made it clear that I am barred from venturing any farther.
It pains me to say that I do not trust this dragon. He has done nothing substantial to deserve my distrust, and I should be ashamed for thinking ill of him. Yet, there it is, this nagging sensation that I should not trust him. I suppose it has to do with the way At’lef speaks, in rhyming melodies that are cryptic and never to the point.
Day 325
Disaster has struck. At’lef caught me trying to sneak into the lower levels, beyond where I am allowed. He was very angry and even threatened to expel me from the library, though in the end I was able to persuade him that I was merely lost. I don’t take pride in lying to the library’s guardian, but it’s been over a week and still no luck finding the phylactery. All my gathered provisions have been spent, and I now eat only crumbs of my lan bread to keep myself sustained. At’lef let me roam the library still but swore he would eat me on sight if I broke the rules again.
Day 330
Too much time has passed. Ohm is here with me, he whispers in my ear when At’lef is not around. He confirmed my suspicions that the dragon is hiding something from me on the sixth floor, something he wants for himself, though he knows my people suffer. Ohm insists that I act quickly, while I still have strength enough to do so. I need to find the phylactery and get back to Vanidriell before the entire realm is devoured by the cobold horde. I’ve found several valuable books containing powerful incantations and have devised a plan to get past the devious dragon.
Day 331
Success! The incantation worked to disguise me. When I first entered the sixth floor, At’lef did not appear, which was a great relief. I set the rest of my plan into motion and waited patiently, even stirring up a racket, until the yellow dragon came slithering up the main shaft. True to his word, he charged at me with those gruesome jaws spread apart, ready to swallow me whole.
The fool. That will teach him to mess with one of Ohm’s chosen.
Ohm walked me through the illusion, teaching me how to cast a visage of myself and use it as bait. At’lef barreled right through the mirage, full tilt into the shadow dimension my Lord taught me to create inside a silver mirror.
I’m staring at him right this moment, thrashing about inside the mirror, trying to get out. I can’t help laughing in his face. Oh, he just told me he’s going to “tear me to shreds” when he gets out.
Too bad you’ll never escape, silly dragon. Some guardian you are. Now on to find the phylactery unburdened.
Day 335
Days of searching have led me nowhere. Though I find the most amazing tomes with all manner of stories, poems, and spells, none of them has led me any closer to the phylactery. Ohm has not spoken to me since I sealed At’lef away. I know my Lord must be testing me, and I need to remain steadfast in my resolve. It’s just getting hard, as my food has run out and there is nothing inside the library to provide sustenance. I have uncovered a soul-reaping spell to leach the life force of another creature and bring it into my own, but I hesitate to do such a thing, even to the wretched dragon who says the most horrible things to me from inside his prison.
Day 336
Ohm forgive me, I had no choice. I took some of At’lef’s life force today. I know I should feel miserable to use another living being so, but the truth is I’ve never felt so alive. My body courses with energy I haven’t felt since I was a wee lad! Now I feel rightly energized to continue the search.
Day338
My plan worked. I am tired of searching these endless stacks of shelves for the phylactery. There’s an eternity of knowledge here, and I finally realized I could spend lifetimes searching and still not be any closer.
At’lef has been growing weaker and weaker with every soul reaping, while my own strength has never been so powerful. This morning I let him know that unless he told me where to find the phylactery, I was going to feed off of him until he was dead. To give the dragon credit, he did try to hold out. While I was sucking away the last ebbs of his being, he was spouting nonsense. He tried to convince me that I’m being followed by a shadow wraith, which is pure rubbish, and then he began screaming that “The Shadow Stone is not meant for mortal hands!” and “Only a disciple of darkness would be interested in wielding the power of the shadows!” As if I could be fooled so easily.
In the end the yellow dragon lay coiled like a snake inside his mirror prison. His breathing was shallow and ragged, and he looked as if he had shrunk two sizes. I gave him one final chance to save himself, and he finally gave in.
“You have but to extinguish the light on the first floor, and in the last hour, the path will be open to you. But beware this, I urge you, priest, this is not the way to the light. You are being deceived.”
Can you believe the audacity of that mongrel? Lecturing me about Ohm’s path, as if some overgrown snake could know my Lord’s divine will.
Of course I devoured the rest of At’lef’s soul. I could never rest knowing the snake existed in this world or any other. I wish I could share the feeling of extinguishing his evil soul from this plain. It was like waves of ecstasy washing over me from head to toe.
I immediately went to work, using a hex to shatter the silver mirrors. No sooner did the top floor fall dark than I saw it! A purple mist rose from the bowels of the library, snaking past me and whispering my name. It was Ohm! I followed the mist to an alcove I had not noticed before.
This is it, the phylactery is within my grasp! Soon I will hold the power to wipe out all of the weak-minded fools who stand in my way. I only need wait until the clock strikes—
Chapter 12
Bipp blinked at the torn page in unbridled horror. He had been so consumed by Hublin’s recount that he had not even realized he was on the last existing page of the torn journal. There had to be more. After all that, there had to be some greater clue as to what happened in Ul’kor! In a state of shock, he flipped the book over to check the front, hoping he had just folded it over improperly. He turned it like that several times before groaning and letting it fall into his lap.
“That good?” Logan asked, eating a strip of dried jerky across from him.
“After all that,” Bipp muttered, “I’m still no closer to understanding what happened to Ul’kor.”
Corbin sat on a rock beside his brother, and Isaac stood nearby, staring to the north.
The mage turned to the distraught gnome with a sardonic smile. “I’m sure there was more in there than you may realize.”
“You think I missed something?” Bipp asked hopefully.
“That journal is a profoundly personal piece of this Necromancer, Hublin,” Isaac said. “Ever strange are the secrets we keep from even ourselves.”
Bipp gave it some thought. He nodded and put the book in his pack, but not without missing the silent exchange between Corbin and Logan. Logan cocked his head toward Nero, who was sitting in silence befo
re the small campfire.
“Hey, Nero?” Corbin slowly began.
“Yes?”
“Speaking of secrets…why did you lie to us about your dreams?”
Bipp was taken aback by the bold declaration. Nero, on the other hand, did not even bat an eyelash. “I do not know what you are referring to.”
“You know exactly what we’re talking about,” Logan chimed in. “I just don’t get it. Why would you lie to us? What’s there to hide?”
“Androids do not dream, Logan Walker,” Nero said casually. “You must be mistaken.”
“I don’t think so,” Corbin said, unwilling to let it slide. “I saw it, Nero, that nightmare you had the other day.”
“You had another vision?” Isaac asked, suddenly shifting his full attention to the conversation.
“Yes,” Corbin said dismissively, “but that’s not the issue at hand.”
“But—”
“We can discuss it later,” Corbin said. He turned back to Nero, and Bipp knew there was no way the android was getting out of this discussion. “Tell us why you lied.”
For the first time since any of them had met Nero, the android looked nervous. He shifted his eyes left and right, and his arm jerked. Bipp had the sudden feeling that Nero might get up and take flight at any moment, though he did not know why the android should.
“What are you up to?” Corbin said through clenched teeth.
“Whoa, now,” Logan interjected. “Ease up and give him a chance to explain.”
“He’s keeping something from us,” Corbin said, “and I want to know why. All we have is each other, and if we can’t trust the people in this circle, I can’t imagine how we’ll get through this.”
“Y-you c-can’t tell,” Nero stammered, looking wild-eyed. “Th-they can’t know. Please, I’ll do anything.”
“Hey, relax, buddy,” Logan said. He moved forward to pat Nero’s shoulder reassuringly, but the android hopped to his feet and stumbled backward with his hands raised.
“What is this?” Corbin said, looking torn.
Bipp could not believe his eyes. Nero looked genuinely scared, something the ever-stone-faced android never displayed.
“Stay back! Stay away from me!”
“Okay, now,” Logan said, trying to keep his voice even and calm, “let’s relax, Nero. You’re working yourself up over nothing. You’re among friends. Corbin didn’t mean to come on so strong…did you?”
“Um…no,” Corbin said.
Nero flicked his eyes at Corbin as he took another step back. Bipp could see it, Nero was going to run away from them any moment now. “He’s not my friend,” Nero said, nodding toward Isaac.
The mage cocked his head and furrowed his brow, “What does a tin man know of friendship?” He was always taking jabs at the android, but this time, he sounded genuinely mystified by Nero’s actions.
“I’m your friend,” Bipp said proudly.
Nero rested his eyes on him, looking dubious. “You can’t let them take me back.”
“Just tell us what’s going on so we can help,” Logan said.
“They’ll decommission me,” Nero explained.
“Who will?” Corbin asked.
“Queen Tarvano…the Acadians. If they catch wind that you even suspect I’ve been having dreams, they’ll take me apart.”
“For having a dream?” Logan asked.
Nero nodded, looking out of the corner of his eye as if he feared someone might be coming for him. “It is forbidden.”
Logan’s face screwed up. “How can someone forbid you to have a dream?” He looked to his brother for some explanation, but Corbin looked just as baffled.
“Because he’s a machine,” Isaac said.
Nero snapped his head to meet the mage’s gaze and nodded with a twitch.
“Why do you say such things to him?” Bipp snapped. Isaac lifted his brow, surprised by his outburst. “You’re always picking on him, but all Nero’s ever done is help us.”
“That’s right,” Logan said, looking over his shoulder to throw Isaac a withering glance, and then facing Nero again. “And that’s because we’re friends, right? I know you try to make it sound like you travel with us because it’s your directive, but I saw how happy you were when Kyra allowed you to join us. Look, obviously this has you spooked. Why don’t you just take a deep breath, sit back down, and we can talk about it?”
“Just talk?” Nero asked warily.
Corbin nodded. “Just talk.”
Logan waved for the android to take a seat. Nero looked around at them and then to the path behind. He eyed the rock he had been sitting on and finally nodded, slowly sinking to the ground. Logan and Corbin both took their seats again, and everyone sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.
“So…how come you’re not allowed to dream?” Corbin asked.
“I-it is forbidden,” Nero said. “The humans fear such a thing. I am their creation, a tool, a machine to serve.”
“And having dreams would make you more than that?” Corbin said.
“He is more than that,” Logan said. “Nero’s not just a tool, he’s a damn person.”
Corbin looked doubtful.
“Absolutely,” Bipp agreed.
Nero looked back and forth between them. “If you are truly my friends, then you will never speak a word of this to the Acadians.”
“What was it you said they would do if they found out…decommission you?” Logan asked.
Nero nodded fearfully.
“It means take apart,” Isaac said. “They would dismantle him, because to let him live puts our entire existence into jeopardy.”
“That’s awful,” Corbin said.
“I-I do not want to die,” Nero said.
“Listen to it,” Isaac grumbled. “You can’t die, dummy, you’re not even alive!”
Nero bowed his head, looking as though he might shed robot tears. “I understand that. It isn’t logical to think otherwise. But then why do I have these dreams? They just come to me. I know not the cause, but there they are, all the same.”
“Of course he’s alive,” Logan snapped back. “Look at how sad he is, look how scared he got at the idea of being decommissioned. Obviously Nero has feelings.”
“And last I checked, machines don’t have vivid dreams like that,” Corbin added.
“How do you know?” Isaac asked. “How many toasters have you tried listening to?”
Corbin had no idea what a toaster was, but he did know Isaac was toying with him. He brushed it off and gathered Nero’s attention. “I was wrong to confront you so. I thought...I don’t know what I thought. I swear your secret is safe with us.”
Nero lifted his head. “Truly?”
“Definitely,” Logan said, throwing Isaac a look.
The mage raised his hands and grumbled. “I don’t want anything to with the tin man as it is. I’ll not be getting involved.”
“Thank you,” Nero said. “I can never repay this debt.”
“Just everybody stop having nightmares,” Corbin said. “The universe seems to want to rope me in anytime they’re near.”
Bipp decided against reminding the psionicist that he was the catalyst for the dreams.
Chapter 13
Walking among the tufts of overgrown weeds and collapsed stone buildings, Logan felt like it was only yesterday that they had visited the ruins of Ul’kor for the first time. Of course, it was closer to half a year. Nero guarded their flank as they marched with Logan, Isaac, and Bipp in the center. Corbin took up the lead, scouting the area for cobolds using his psionic detection, probing each upcoming set of buildings and dark alleyways for some sign of sentience.
Logan knew that to Corbin the vile little creatures’ minds stood out like beacons in the endless void of psychic aether, but to him, the place certainly seemed abandoned.
Three long strides took Logan from the middle of the group to pace beside his brother. “Are you sure there’s still no sign of them?” he whispered.
<
br /> “It’s odd,” Corbin said. “Last time we were here, packs of them were all around this section of the city.”
“Something’s spooked ‘em, maybe?” Logan said.
Corbin kept a steady watch around them. “Perhaps.”
Before long they left the ruined outer city behind, entering the wide open gap of land that stood between them and the stone bridge leading into the aerie. The aerie was a staggeringly tall stone spire that rose from the endless depths below and towered far over their heads. The spire was filled with halls and apartments where thousands of gnomes must have lived and worked. The proper city of Ul’kor rested on the very top of the spire, where it flattened out. Even from this vantage, they could see the balustrades of the half-wall surrounding the city and beyond it, silhouettes of the buildings.
As they neared the centuries-old stone bridge, Corbin held up his hand for them to halt. No one needed to ask what he was doing, having travelled with the Falian long enough to know his psionic probing had picked something up. After a brief pause, Corbin grunted.
“Cobolds?” Logan asked.
Corbin nodded grimly. “Hundreds of them.”
“Well, we know where they all went, at least,” Bipp said. “Are they watching us right now?”
“No, they’re inside, huddled in the lower halls. I can’t speak for the higher elevations, which are too far out of reach for my ability.”
“So if we go in there, we’re flying blind?” Logan said.
“I think we’ll know fairly quickly whether the cobolds see us coming,” Corbin said.
“Yeah, they ain’t the most subtle creatures,” Bipp said.
“I’m still not sure we should move forward with this plan,” Logan said. “Shouldn’t we at least wait until we have a better lead on taking down that barrier?”
