The Redemption, Volume 1

by Clyde B Northrup

  “Too close,” Thal agreed, and both of them started moving to where Blakstar still lay on the ground.

  The kortexi rolled onto his back but did not rise, groaning with the effort.

  “Better get will-giver,” Klaybear noted, kneeling beside Blakstar and placing his green-glowing hands on the kortexi’s forehead.

  Thal nodded once and moved off even as Tevvy stopped and glared down at Blakstar, Tevvy’s face a storm cloud about to burst.

  “Nice waiting for me,” Tevvy quipped, and there was suppressed rage behind his sarcasm.

  “They saw no wards,” Blakstar responded. “I reckoned it was time to move.”

  “It’s a good thing,” Tevvy said, sarcastically, “that you have a scout to go before you and make sure the area is clear of traps, so you don’t end up in a pit filled with poisoned spikes, or a pit that is the lair of some ravenous creature who’s been waiting for its dinner, or to discover the ponkolu hiding under the bushes and leaves!”

  Blakstar shrugged. “Klaybear said he, and others, had been all over this hill before, and no one had ever fallen into a pit.”

  “How do you know,” Tevvy said, “that the triggering of the appearance of this building did not also set a number of traps, like the explosion that killed everyone?”

  Blakstar looked puzzled, now reclining on his elbows. “I survived,” he said, “that’s how I know there were no traps.”

  “Besides the huge ponkolu, who nearly slit your throat!” Tevvy shook his head. “I meant when you stood up to walk over here,” he said. “How did you know it was safe?”

  The kortexi sat up and pointed to the building in front of them. “The same way I know there is a fountain of the Waters of Life somewhere inside that building,” he replied, “I could feel that it was right.”

  “And did you feel the ponkolu hiding in the bushes?” Tevvy asked, not concealing his anger.

  Blakstar shrugged and climbed slowly to his feet, brushing off the grass and leaves. “The ponkolu would have crushed you the moment he grabbed you,” he noted calmly, “so it was better that I walked past him first.”

  Tevvy shook his head and turned away. “What am I doing here?” he asked himself. “I could be somewhere else, making a profit, rather than being abused by a kortexi.”

  “You are one of the chosen,” Klaybear said, “you are meant to be here, even as we are meant to be here,” he turned and glared at Blakstar, “you both would do well to remember that.”

  “I do remember,” Blakstar said.

  “We each have necessary labors to perform,” Klaybear went on, looking from one to the other, “so we should recognize that fact and stop fighting with each other.”

  “I will if he will,” Tevvy said, turning back to glare at Blakstar.

  “I haven’t started fighting,” Blakstar retorted, glaring back. “I just saved your life!” he hissed through clenched teeth.

  “Only in your . . . ,” Tevvy began hotly, but stopped when Thal and Klaybear both burst out laughing.

  Tevvy and Blakstar stopped glaring at each other to look at their laughing companions.

  “What is so funny?” Tevvy asked, now angry at Thal and Klaybear.

  Both had trouble controlling, let alone, stopping, their mirth. After a few moments, Klaybear managed to speak. “If you could only see yourselves,” he said between laughs, “you look like a pair of boys on some playground, glaring at each other over the sandbox.”

  “It is quite amusing,” Thal added, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

  Neither of them looked amused, but they did stop glaring at each other.

  “If you two can get control of your laughter,” Blakstar said, sounding slightly perturbed, “perhaps we can get on with our jobs.”

  “Sorry,” Klaybear said, putting one hand on the kortexi’s shoulder.

  “My apologies,” Thal said, bowing to each in turn. They turned to look at the front of the building. A porch about six feet deep sheltered the front, which was ornately carved. The green light was at the center of the front, part of the symbol of the kailum. The symbol of the kortexem was carved to the left, the symbol of the white maghem to the right, the crown symbol above it, and the symbol of Tevvy’s order beneath it, but there was no sign of a door. On the stone floor in front of the symbols were carved the words:

  “What does that say?” Tevvy asked, pointing to the words carved into the porch.

  Thal looked at it for a moment, then frowned. “It says, Go in as if a child else you will leave a,’” he stopped and looked at Klaybear. “What do you make of those last two words?”

  Klaybear looked at theme a moment. “Well the last one,” he replied, “is spirit or breath, but the one before that, not-body, it means literally.”

  “Bodiless,” Thal said, “bodiless spirit. So the whole must be, Go in as if a child else you will leave a bodiless spirit.”

  “That sounds like a threat,” Tevvy concluded.

  “It is,” Thal said, “but not to us, since we are supposed to enter here.”

  “You did not mention any exception for the chosen,” Tevvy noted.

  “That must be why Rokwolf threatened to knock me out,” Blakstar noted.

  The others shot quizzical looks at him, but Klaybear spoke.

  “My brother threatened you?” Klaybear said, eyebrow rising.

  Blakstar nodded. “He said that your Headmaster told him not to allow any of us to fight anyone we met, because we had to enter the tomb without any experience.”

  “That is what the first part means,” Thal said, “to enter as if we are children, which is to say, children in our orders, and that is certainly true.”

  “Why?” Tevvy asked.

  They shook their heads. “No idea,” Thal said. “Did Rokwolf say any more about it?”

  “No,” Blakstar said looking back at the building. “So how do we enter?”

  Klaybear started to move forward but stopped, looking at Tevvy. “Any traps on the porch?”

  Tevvy answered by squatting in front of the porch and examining it closely. “No traps,” he said after a moment’s inspection, “and no door.”

  “I have an idea about that,” Klaybear said, stepping onto the porch and lifting up his kailu symbol. He placed it against the green light glowing at the center of the larger version of his symbol carved into the white stone. The green light flared brightly, then winked out suddenly. A section of the wall, door-sized, started to move. Tevvy moved forward and squatted in front of Klaybear, carefully examining the floor just inside the door. By the time the door had opened completely, Tevvy had stepped into the well-lighted interior, stooping to examine a new section of floor. As he moved forward, Blakstar followed, unsheathing his sword. Klaybear handed Tevvy’s pack to Thal, taking out his staff and the mace hanging from his belt, then followed the kortexi inside. Thal looked around, sliding his rod out of his belt with his free hand, then followed Klaybear inside.

  Chapter 8

  There are many possible dimensions beyond that which we currently inhabit, many of them nearly identical to ours. Further, we believe it possible to create slices of a single dimensional reality, slices dominated by a single elemental force, giving us the opportunity to study the inner workings of each elemental force. Besides study, it seems to me highly likely that we can find other uses for such dimensional slices. . . .

  from Annals of Melbarth, Eighth Series, Early Lectures of the Hierarchs

  Lecture by Sedra Melbarth

  The square interior of the white marble building was lit by magluku floating in the four corners of the room. At the center of the room was an altar, also of white marble, square and ornately carved; in front of the back wall they saw the same statue as they had seen in the square of Kalbant, the twelve-foot-high figure of Shigmar. As they moved forward, following Tevvy as he searched the floor for traps, they saw words carved into the flat surface of the square marble altar:

  “What does it say?” Blakst
ar asked.

  “Shigmar, kailu of the One,” Klaybear replied and pointed to the first word, “that is how his name looks in ancient.” His voice was hushed.

  Blakstar pointed to the surface of the altar, over Shigmar’s name. “That looks like the place in the wall of the sewers, where I put my sword to open the door. Do you think it opens a door in here?”

  “It must,” Thal said, “since I do not see a staff anywhere.”

  “Or any other way to enter the tomb,” Klaybear said.

  “I thought this was his tomb,” Blakstar said.

  Klaybear shook his head. “No, this is only the entrance to the tomb,” he replied. “The tomb is somewhere below, after we pass through whatever protects the tomb and staff.”

  Thal pointed at the altar. “There are two other holes in the surface,” he said, “one next to Kailu, and a smaller one next to Eli. The larger one looks about the size of a staff, and the smaller, the size of a rod.” He looked at Klaybear, face wrinkled in surprise. “How can we enter the tomb to retrieve that staff, if we need sword, staff, and rod to open the door?”

  “We don’t,” Tevvy said from the floor behind the altar, “there is a catch here, at the base of the altar that, when released, allows the entire altar to slide back. There is probably a ladder descending into the tomb beneath the altar.”

  “Then,” Thal said, “what function do these openings serve?”

  Blakstar reversed his sword. “Let’s find out,” he said, sliding the sword into the slot above the first kailu’s name.

  When the sword slid into place, both the altar and will-giver’s pommel stone glowed brightly with an unearthly light. Pieces of light gathered over the surface of the altar, forming into the head of the figure whose statue looked down upon the altar. The head constructed of light opened its eyes and spoke:

  “Chosen of the One, although the words I speak sound strange in my ears, I know, by the power of the One, that you will understand me, speaking out of what will be your distant past. I greet you, knowing that you are well-prepared for what lies ahead, and that you have come here seeking one of the three keys, my staff. It lies below, and I’m sure your klitodweri has already told you how to move the altar and open the door. As you have been told, to succeed in passing through the elemental realms below and to retrieve my staff, you must be inexperienced in your orders, as opposition to test you is placed below according to your experience. Melbarth created the ‘proportion,’ as he called it, so that the more experienced one is, the opposition is that many times more experienced than the one who entered, so in your case, inexperienced, opposition will be equal, or also, inexperienced. It does not make any sense to Karble or I, but Melbarth assures us it will prevent Gar from entering the tomb, or sending anyone into the tomb to steal the staff. Perhaps your maghi can understand what Melbarth has done, but I wander.”

  They looked at Thal, who only smiled and nodded.

  “Only the three key holders, along with your klitodweri should enter my tomb. The Fereghen and Feragwen, and the bane of the Fire Queen, three of the younger order, and the beloved opener, the second chosen of my own order, would not survive the test, dooming your quest before it begins. If any have insisted on coming with you, he, or she, can safely remain here until your return. However, knowing, as I do, the workings of the One, I’m nearly certain that only four of the chosen are here listening to me.”

  Again, they exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

  “This building, now that you have entered and closed the door, will no longer appear in the material world, but any of the chosen may use one of the keys to enter here directly, the method learned from your kortexi. As your maghi has probably already surmised, there is more than one message stored here, information that will aid you in your labors at the appropriate time. Chosen, use your weapons well, sing your ortheks boldly to the One, and you will find what you seek. May you be cradled in the hands of the One.”

  The light filling the altar winked out along with the pommel stone of will-giver; the pieces of light forming Shigmar’s head separated and faded from view. Blakstar withdrew his sword, resheathing it with a familiar steely hiss.

  Klaybear turned to Thal. “So, do you understand what Melbarth meant?”

  Thal nodded. “I think so,” he replied. “If we converted our level of experience to a number, say one, and you raised that number, one, to the same power, the answer would be one, making the opposition equal to us, or, as inexperienced as we are. If, however, the number equivalent of the person’s experience who entered was, say, five, then you raise five to the fifth power to determine the number, or experience level, equivalent of the opposition placed in the tomb, which would be,” Thal thought for a moment, “three thousand, one hundred and twenty-five.”

  Blakstar and Tevvy were completely puzzled by Thal’s explanation; Klaybear was silent for a moment, thinking hard.

  “So, what you’re saying,” Klaybear said slowly, “is that if Gar sent one of the ponkolu into the tomb, it would face opposition thousands of times more powerful?”

  Thal shook his head. “More like a million, or maybe even a billion, times more powerful, depending on how you fixed the experience level of the ponkolu who entered.”

  Blakstar was shocked. “Now I can understand why Rokwolf threatened to knock me out if I tried to fight.”

  Thal nodded. “Even equal opposition will be difficult, for we have no idea how long the test will be.”

  Klaybear shook his head but did not speak.

  “What did he call me?” Tevvy asked, after a moment of stunned silence.

  Thal looked at Tevvy. “It was, I think, klitodweri,” he replied.

  “What is that?” Tevvy asked.

  “Well,” Thal said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “the last part of the word means ‘door,’ the first part is more difficult, as it has probably been contracted from something longer, probably the word that means ‘to listen to,’ so we might translate the word as ‘one who listens at doors.’”

  Blakstar snorted. “A spy,” he noted.

  “Not exactly,” Thal said. “In the prophecy we read, Shigmar called you the ‘cunning mouse,’ and what we have to understand about all language is that it is metaphoric,” he said, and seeing their confused faces, added, “symbolic, meaning that the words we use stand in place of the things we refer to. Let’s take a relevant example,” he said, pointing to Blakstar. “His order we name kortexi, which has been contracted from the original, koro-teks-na-eis, which means, literally, ‘the maker, or craft, of holy war,’ expressing something of what Blakstar does, and what he represents, a holy warrior in service of the One.”

  “So,” Tevvy began, speaking slowly, “he did not mean that I am someone who simply listens at doors, but someone who gathers secrets and information, in the service of the One,” he finished, his face lighting with delight.

  “A thief by any other name,” Blakstar mumbled to himself. He looked away, toward the statue. “Shouldn’t we be moving on,” he said in a louder voice, “since we know how to enter the tomb?”

  “Right,” Tevvy said, smiling. “I’ll release the catch, if you will slide the altar that way,” he pointed toward the statue, then stooped. “Push now,” he said after a moment.

  Blakstar bent over the altar and pushed it toward the statue. It slid smoothly over the floor, revealing an opening with steel rungs driven into the stone wall of the square shaft, on the side nearest the altar. Tevvy moved over to the side with the ladder and started to climb down.

  “Do you need a light?” Klaybear asked.

  Tevvy paused and looked up; he shook his head. “I can see better without the light,” he noted, and he started down again. “Give me a moment, then follow.” He disappeared into the darkness below.

  Blakstar set his foot on the first rung.

  “Hang on,” Thal protested, “he said to give him a moment.”

  “I’m just getting ready,” Blakstar replied sheepishly.


  They saw a flash of light, illuminating for a moment the passageway, which was about thirty feet deep, but they saw no sign of Tevvy. Blakstar started to climb down quickly; Klaybear followed, with Thal bringing up the rear. While Thal waited for Klaybear to begin climbing down, he spoke the word and sent a glowing magluku down the vertical shaft. It hovered near the bottom, and Tevvy’s face came into view, looking up while shielding his eyes from the light.

  “I’m okay,” Tevvy said. “There is a strange doorway down here,” he noted as Blakstar reached the bottom and Thal started to climb down. “I did not want to get too close to it, so I tossed one of my sling bullets through it: that is what made the light.”

  “What exactly happened,” Thal asked as he climbed, “as it passed through the doorway?”

  “It sort of hung there,” Tevvy explained, “pausing for a moment in the doorway, light flashing around it, then it flew through to the other side. The odd thing,” he added, brow wrinkling, “was that I did not hear it hit the ground; it is very solid and heavy.”

  Klaybear reached the bottom, followed shortly by Thal. They stood in a hallway-sized passage, going southward about fifteen feet until the arched doorway.

  “The hallway is clear,” Tevvy said, “so you can safely approach the doorway.”

  Thal stepped up to the archway, his magluku following him, and as he approached it, the stones forming the arch began to glow softly with purple light. He stood for a time simply looking at it, then ran his hands carefully over the stones of the archway, his hands glowing with white light. After having moved his hands over the entire arch, he turned back to the others. “It is a portal, but it does not move a person from one place to another, as I would expect a portal to do, at least, I don’t think it does. I think it ‘reads’ whatever passes through it.”

  “It reads?” Tevvy asked, surprised.