As Savier locked the door, he nodded. “I am.”
“Has Alusin lied to the Kaval?” Galarth demanded.
“I do not know. Has he? Did you know the true status of this world? No? Then, yes, he lied.”
“Why?”
“Only Alusin can answer that.”
“He is our brother,” Shenendo said.
“He was my brother first.”
Scrubbing at his beardless face, Galarth asked, “How long has he been in that sarcophagus?”
“He entered it during the Era of Dancing Suns.”
Shenendo gaped, and Galarth lost all trace of colour. “How old are you?”
Savier shrugged. “Close to Suns.”
“Alusin too?” Galarth whispered.
“Indeed.”
“Gods, we’re talking ancient Valleur time here.”
“I was born when the Valleur on Akhavar were around and Danaan was populated, and thus this world belongs to the same time frame. No one knew of us, however. He saw what happened to those striding through the same spaces as the Valleur, and thus kept us hidden.”
“He is the Original Teighlar of Grinwallin spoke of.” Galarth covered his face. “This will definitely turn the universe inside out.” He peeked through his fingers at Shenendo. “Shedo, I’m out of my depth here.”
“We need Tristan,” Shenendo whispered.
“Except the monster in the coffin has Tristan.”
Savier lurched forward. “He has captured Tristan Valla? No!”
“He has Alusin as well,” Galarth informed.
The Kemir stiffened. “Consequences. By all gods.” Closing his eyes, he bit out, “Bring them all here. Everyone! There is only one path now, and it lies with the weapon we used in Dancing Suns to contain him. Go! Fetch them.”
Galarth stared at the pale Kemir. “You stuffed him in a box. He’s fucking furious. You did this!”
Savier gave another of his cold smiles. “He stuffed us in a box too. Go. I will explain more later.”
With a flourish of his staff, Savier vanished.
Blinking, the Kaval men looked at each other, and then as one dematerialised.
Somewhere
EVEN IN PAIN-wracked fever, she smiled.
Welcome to the fray, Savier. Too long have you held onto your myopic mind-set. How right you are. There is only one path now, but beware what you regard as a weapon. All is not what it seems.
Perhaps there was still time enough to reach for freedom before her body failed her.
Hurry, Gabryl!
Chapter 16
Gods do not trust other gods. Why would you do so?
~ Tattle ~
Petunya
Frond
The Chateau
THE SIX WERE overjoyed to hear escape was possible, even likely, and Lunas apologised profusely for his previous outbursts.
Then it got real, for Jala asked the how of it. How would they create a passage? And that was the question needing an answer.
Without looking at Alusin, Tristan said, “I will open it and Alusin will keep it open.”
“How?” Fleur prompted.
“That sounds too easy,” Macki added.
“Won’t be easy and it will hurt,” Tristan said without inflection.
“How, for pity’s sake? What can we do to help?” Dash asked.
Tristan finally looked at Alusin, one eyebrow raised. “Your territory, Kemir.”
Giving a mirthless laugh, Alusin stood, pushed his chair in under the dining table, and commenced a slow and measured pacing. “While I have no personal experience with this solution to our problem, I am aware of myths and legends the Kemir told in days long gone.”
“Myths?” Jala muttered. “How does that help?”
“Let him talk,” Tristan said. The edge to his voice was blatant.
“There were no daetal in those tales, but it may be because we knew the creatures by another name. The descriptions fit, however …”
“Funny you didn’t mention this when we hid in the trees watching them consume two men and their horses,” Tristan interspersed.
Alusin shrugged. “Tales we heard as kids, Skyler, barely remembered. At the time I had no idea. May I continue? Thank you. According to those myths, grey breath felled them. Grey breath, I assume, refers to mercury or its equivalent in ancient time. The breath concept was recently confirmed for us.” He gestured at Tristan, but did not mention Caballa’s input.
“Wait a minute.” Tristan lifted a finger, frowning. “Bear with me; I seek to understand something here.” He glanced at Jala and the others.
Fleur inclined his head in acknowledgement on their behalf.
“Sabian and Michael were Kemir descendants, you said, right?”
Alusin nodded, halting to watch the fair man.
“Have you heard the tale of how they came to Kinsail and why? Their forbears escaped a planet in death throes, yet here you are, born to that same world. Doesn’t compute, brother.”
“Either I was born after those death throes, or I was born before, which makes me a lot older than even you suspect.” Alusin sighed and moved towards his seat.
“Stay on your feet, and talk,” Tristan snapped. “Do not distract me with inane actions.”
Alusin’s lids lowered and his chin lifted. “I was born before.”
Silence answered that statement.
“The term ‘before’ is an issue, though.” The white-haired man resumed his pacing. “What does this ‘before’ refer to? What happened to send a few men and women into the stars in the hopes of finding a new home, eventually to crash on Kinsail, a world that had already been through time and was about to lose its sun? How is it that space craft were around even then?”
He swung around, having attained the far corner of the dining chamber. “Space craft is more easily answered, for we are both now aware of the Danaan and their technology in ancient eras. That precedent thus already existed, although the explanation remains unsatisfactory.” He swung again. “The homeworld was never in ‘death throes’, but there was civil war on a scale such as few can now comprehend. Most died. A few chose to start over elsewhere, among them Sabian’s ancestors. Those of us who remained behind, we commenced the rebuild. Our world still offered all it had until that point, but our cities were laid to waste.”
“Sabian’s home language was the common tongue. It came with them from the stars, he said.”
Alusin offered a smile. “I cannot say how that came to pass, but the common tongue, as we know it now, is a human invention and came much later.”
Inhaling, Tristan understood something he had not grasped until this point. “Eurue was never abandoned.”
“Eurue is fertile and glorious to this day.”
“You lied.”
“Yes. Every Kemir lied when in the wider spaces. We needed to protect our world.”
“From what?”
“The Original, Tristan.”
Absolute silence reigned. In it, the six locals looked from one to the other, but not one dared say a word. While this unfolding truth was not their concern and they certainly did not understand the underlying nuances, they realised it led, ultimately, to escape from Frond.
To his credit, Tristan held onto his calm. “The Original was real, and not even the sentience in the Valleur Throne knew of it. This being came to Danaan, and that is why they called their god Eurue, for world and being was synonymous.”
“Synonymous for others, yes, the Danaan among them, even the ancient Valleur, but as for the Kemir? Our world is Eurue and the Original has another name. I dare not speak it. He was contained and remains bound, but many claim he is both dead and alive simul–”
Alusin paused there, an expression of terrible enlightenment overcoming him.
Hissing through his teeth, Tristan stared at him, as floored.
Nerveless, Alusin sank into the nearest chair to clasp his face in shaking hands. “This is my fault.”
“The Original is Gab
ryl?” Jala whispered.
Swallowing convulsively, Tristan could only nod, his attention with the white-haired man at the end of the long table. Then, having cleared his throat, he asked, “How is it your fault, Alusin?”
From behind his hands, he responded with, “I gave my allegiance to you.” Lowering his hands, he raised his dark blue eyes to meet Tristan silvering orbs. “I broke trust with an oath older than the Valleur Throne.”
Closing his eyes, Tristan asked, “How old are you?”
“Almost as old as that oath.”
“Nemisin’s time?” All intonation was absent from Tristan’s voice.
“Not quite, but close enough. I was born in the aftermath of Torrullin, as Lord Sorcerer, and the havoc he created for Nemisin. My grandfather walked Nemisin’s time.” Alusin inhaled, exhaled. “I am not the last of my kind, and I am not alone, although I chose absence from Eurue more often than not.”
“You lied about everything.”
“Not about you.”
Snorting, Tristan hurtled up. “How can I possibly believe that? You went through the same time as Torrullin did. Chances are you were dreaming about him.” Snarling, he twisted around and left the chamber.
Alusin did not move.
“Were you there when your Original was bound?” Fleur asked, sounding hopeful. Having done so before, Alusin could do so again.
The Kemir shook his head. “That happened before even my long ago birth. Truly those myths I mentioned are myths to me also.”
“Do you know how to get us out of here?” Lunas whispered. “Please say you do.”
“I do. I now know which runes will work.” Carefully Alusin rose to his feet, as if age had suddenly caught up with him. “We leave here an hour after dark. Be ready for that.”
As carefully, he walked away.
Chapter 17
Tighten your masks, revellers! Tonight’s fun requires anonymity!
~ Tattle’s Blunt Adventures ~
The Dome
JIMINI AND KILA had just returned from Beacon, ill-gotten gains in hand, and even Belun was laughing about their antics there, when two ogives chimed, and Galarth and Shenendo hastened in, both obviously in a state.
“You’re all here, thank the gods,” Galarth gasped out.
“Saves time,” Shenendo added.
The truth was, in those moments, every member of the Kaval present shuddered as if something yanked at the energy signatures in the spaces.
Belun gave voice to it. “Eurue is not abandoned. We are needed there.”
Plonking his wiry self on the edge of the marble slab, Shenendo nodded. “We ran into someone called Savier. He is Alusin’s brother.”
Silence was first and then Jimini said, “Fuck, this will change everything, especially for Tristan.”
“That’s not the worst of it. We ran into someone else,” Galarth said as he took a seat beside Chaim on the far end. “The bound form of a man akin to a god, a man both alive and dead.”
Belun lowered his great head. “Gabryl.”
“That is the name he uses now, yes.”
The Centuar looked up. “Tell us what you know.”
WITH EVERYTHING shared from all parties for the benefit of all present, Belun took to the console. As he approached it, he muttered, mostly to himself, “How did Alusin fool the lights?”
Kila answered what was a rhetorical question. “I’ve wondered that too, and think I know how he did it.” When everyone, including the Centuar at the helm, looked at her, she continued. “As the most recent entrant to the Gatherers’ Circle here, I believe I remember more regarding the test.”
“True,” Chaim murmured. “Ours was quite a while ago.”
“It’s the Communion light. The others test for talents, but Communion asks the questions. It happens in an instant, I know, but when you pull it apart that’s how it works.”
Belun waved a hand signifying agreement, curiosity evident in his expression.
“I believe Alusin told it the truth. Eurue as world and people isn’t simply protecting itself from outsiders, but is also protecting all of us from what lies in that black coffin. Alusin asked for understanding and was given it. He lied to us, but not to it, for the console understood his was, point of fact, a noble purpose.”
“He swore allegiance based on a lie,” Jonas blurted.
“Yeah, and that’s what dumped us into this crap, but he did so for the best reasons.”
“We do see the best in people,” Jimini smiled.
Kila sent her a grin. “Makes worlds turn.”
Belun huffed under his breath and then called for attention. “Right, so we will be attending this Savier as a team, while you, Jimini and Kila, use that thing you stole to get Tristan and Alusin out. Join us on Eurue after. Agreed?”
All there acknowledged him.
“Suit up. Proper battle gear for everyone.”
“That excludes you three Centuar,” Jonas grumbled, standing. “You just whoosh yourselves into battle state. Unfair.” He ambled towards the elevator leading to the accommodations overhead.
Laughing, the rest sprang into action.
Petunya
Frond
The Chateau
Outside
BEYOND THE ESTATE, in a thickly wooded forest, Jimini shifted into a likeness of a daetal.
Kila stared at her. “Man, that’s twisted.”
“Hush. Do your thing with the talisman.” Jimini’s voice emerged disembodied, causing Kila to shiver.
She pinned the little brooch to her belt, for the lightweight scaled armour they now wore to cover their upper bodies did not allow for piercing. Touching the beryl and copper piece, she murmured.
An instant later she vanished and reappeared as a daetal.
“Wow,” Jimini whispered. “How long can you keep it?”
“An hour or so.” Her voice sounded as far away. “Now, if they see us, we will look like this, but the talisman will hopefully hide us from sight as well.”
“Let’s hope for that.” Jimini rolled into action, zapping between the trees in the chateau’s direction.
Kila followed.
Night would blanket Petunya in ten minutes; they needed to stay alive until then.
The Chateau
Inside
“WHERE WILL YOU take us?” Jala asked as they gathered in the study with backpacks on, bows and arrow pouches slung over shoulders.
Night was just covering the land. All breathed easier already.
“I suggest our Dome initially,” Tristan murmured, “but if you have a safe place in mind, we can do that.”
“I say Stalk’s Grunway Hall,” Dash suggested.
“Stalk?” Tristan lifted an eyebrow.
He studiously ignored Alusin at the doors, although the man looked their way. After the Kemir told him about the runes, he did not again go near him.
Macki grinned. “Frond, Stalk and Root, Petunya’s three continents.”
Tristan chuckled. “I like it. Have any of you been to this Hall? We will need a clear image of it.”
“I have seen it, but I haven’t been inside. Is that enough?” Dash queried.
“Once sat in the antechamber for two days,” Fleur muttered. “I know every crenellation there.”
“Good enough,” Tristan nodded. “We’ll use both images when we’re at that point. Start thinking about them.”
He turned his head to check on the light. Faint beams still clung to the treetops. The daetal on the perimeter had shifted into spherical form in preparation of darkness. They would vanish with the last of the light.
Flexure. They were indeed curved form created via folding.
Eight circles rotated from a central axis, to become an incomplete sphere. One sensed movement, and as it gathered momentum, it would become a sphere, for swiftness of action would negate the separation. It folded. Flexure. The otherworld kind.
That author had been on the mark in his description.
The spinning s
pherical state was also a sleep state. Hopefully, Tristan mused, when they released their links for the waking state they would find themselves released from this burden. He wished them well and hoped their hive would find a way to reintegrate them and overcome the evil perpetrated here on Frond.
He glanced at Alusin. The tell-tale outlines below his dark cloak spoke of the small rectangular box containing the vials of mercury they found in the cellars. Alusin had chosen to bring it with them; clearly the man believed they would need it. By all gods, here was a man able to create antimatter.
Tristan scrubbed at his face, putting that aside for a later time, and again checked on the light.
The last of it winked out.
The daetal vanished.
“We give it an hour …” Tristan began, but Alusin’s hiss halted him.
“I still see two beneath that massive tree,” the Kemir said.
“Impossible,” Tristan blurted, and strode nearer.
The six glanced at each other in despair. Was this a new trick? Was escape a mere dream? When Tristan suddenly snorted laughter, they flinched. How could he laugh about this?
“One of those is Jimini,” Tristan said in amusement. “Luckily she has cold blood, for no shape shift would have protected her otherwise.”
He stepped out and waved.
Outside
THE ‘DAETAL’ ignored him.
“Jimini, it’s safe!”
A curse sounded and soon two female forms appeared. Kila’s red tresses were unmistakable. Laughing, they approached.
“Don’t step over the barrier,” Tristan warned when they were near enough. He pointed at his feet where the silvery line caught the light from the study doors in flickers.
They halted, both smiling. Two pairs of eyes then shifted, to Alusin coming up from behind him, and those smiles dissipated.
They knew, Tristan realised. In the Dome they had stumbled into what Alusin had now revealed to him.
Eurue- The Forgotten World Page 13
