by Dean Cadman
Although Arlo had already repaired the damage to the floor caused by Ryuu’s recent visit, he had purposely left the area that Lusam had tried to fix untouched. He insisted on using it every day as part of his meditation training, and assured Lusam that it would be a good visual indication of his progress. Lusam, however, suspected that it was more likely to be a new a form of entertainment for him, seeing a different uneven surface at the end of every day after he had failed.
Arlo didn’t limit his tuition to only meditation techniques either, he also instructed Lusam in other forms of magic, as well as their relevant uses. Some of the new forms of magic he would never have imagined existed, let alone thought to use. But he had to admit, it was his favourite time of the day when they went down into the basement to practice together. He found his father’s training techniques challenging, but fair. And his sense of humour both intoxicating and infuriating in equal measure. One thing remained constant, however, and that was how exhausted he was at the end of each day.
Weeks turned into months, and still, he felt no closer to achieving his goal. His understanding of magic had progressed far beyond anything he could ever have dreamed of, yet nothing he had learned seemed to help him where it mattered most. Arlo tried his best to reassure him that it was only a matter of time, and that it would eventually come naturally. But ‘eventually’ seemed far too long to wait, especially given how long he had already been away from Neala.
Neala had occupied his thoughts for many days now, and he soon began to realise that it was having an adverse effect on his progress. It wasn’t as if he had a lot of spare time to himself, but when he did find himself alone for an hour or two at the end of the day, he often found himself pining for her. He knew that he needed something else to occupy his mind. Something that would help him achieve his goals, not hinder him. And the following day, he found the perfect thing.
He had seen the large leather object several times in the storeroom whilst retrieving various items for his father, but he had never known what it was until now. And it was only because he inadvertently revealed the lower half of it whilst trying to reach a container that he actually realised what it was. Before him, covered in a thick layer of dust, was the largest saddle he had ever seen in his life. He knew instantly that it belonged to Ryuu, and couldn’t help imagining what it must be like to soar through the sky on the back of a real dragon. Then with a sudden surge of giddiness, he realised that he would probably find out as soon as they returned to their own world. His father had already said that they needed to be as far away from the portal as possible when their presence was detected, and he couldn’t think of a faster way to travel than on the back of a dragon. The only problem was, the saddle was made for a single rider. He wondered for a brief moment if he could squeeze in behind his father, and then his heart sank when he remembered Neala.
There was absolutely no way that he was about to leave her behind on the island after being away from her for so long, and especially not in the depths of winter. Nor would he consider abandoning her on the mainland, or even sending her back to Fairport with Captain Waylon. Not that she would have allowed him to do any of those things anyway, he thought, smiling to himself. He had to take her with him, and to be able to do that he needed to create a new saddle capable of carrying three people. Although it wouldn’t be an easy task, he was still confident that he could do it, given his new heightened understanding of magic. Besides, no matter how difficult the saddle’s construction ended up being, it would still be far easier than convincing Neala that she had to levitate all the way to The Rift, he thought, with a wry smile.
Lusam didn’t feel it necessary to ask his father if Ryuu could carry three people, as he was quite sure that he knew the answer already. If he could carry a dragon heart inside a wooden crate to Irragin, he could certainly carry an extra two people to The Rift. He did, however, feel it necessary to ask him about using a stack of cured hides that he’d found in another storeroom. When his father asked him what he wanted them for, he told him that he wished to practice manipulating their shape, just as he did daily with the floor surface in the main chamber. His father had frowned and suggested that he use a block of stone instead, as it would be easier to rectify any mistakes that he might make. But when Lusam said that he wanted to make Neala something useful for when they returned, his father relented with a grunt and a nod, and Lusam trotted back to the storeroom with a broad smile on his face to begin his work.
***
The next several weeks passed by incredibly slowly for Lusam. Day after day his lessons continued, with little or no evidence of improvement. His attempts at creating a new saddle had also fared little better, and all he had to show for his efforts was a pile of ruined hides in the corner of his sleeping cell.
He rolled over in the darkness and his hand brushed against his latest ruined hide. He had been working on it prior to falling asleep the night before, and it was still on the bed next to him. He had given up trying to make anything useful out of them days ago, and was simply using them to occupying his mind until sleep finally claimed him.
He propped himself up on one elbow and looked over the side of his bed, only to see the first signs of light starting to appear inside the crystal orb that his father had given him. It mimicked the sunrise and sunset of his own world, and indicated that it was almost time for him to get up. Lusam groaned and slumped back into bed with a resigned sigh, dreading yet another day of failures ahead. He closed his eyes and brushed his fingers over the soft fur of the ruined hide, whilst imagining the strengthening light of the crystal orb. He could feel the imperfections that he had caused the night before with his fingertips, but in his mind, he still imagined it as it once was. He began to feel a strange air of tranquillity as his hand gently brushed over the soft fur. His breathing became soft and shallow, and he found himself questing out towards the hide with his mind. A faint image of the once proud creature formed in his mind. Its perfect glossy coat shimmering in the early morning sunlight of some ancient forest clearing. He could sense the faint memory within the hide of what it had once been, and without really thinking about it, he overlapped that image with his own memories of the hide from the day before—and something just clicked into place in his mind.
It was as if he had opened his eyes for the first time in his life, and now he could truly begin to see the world around him. Gently, he let his magic wash over the damaged hide, but this time he didn’t try to repair or change its shape by forcing his own will upon it. Instead, he allowed the memory contained within the hide to guide him.
Fifteen minutes later Lusam opened his eyes. The room had grown a little brighter, but he knew that he still had a few minutes left before he had to be in the main chamber. He created a small light orb of his own and sat up in bed to inspect the hide. He hadn’t doubted for one moment that he had done it, but seeing it for himself almost brought a tear to his eye. The hide was perfect. Even better than when he had first acquired it from the storeroom.
Although he felt confident that he could repeat what he’d just done, he felt that he needed to know for sure before joining his father upstairs. He was also aware that repairing an item was one thing, but changing its shape or characteristics posed an entirely different set of problems. But he believed that he knew how to overcome that problem now, too.
He quickly slipped on his shirt and trousers, then retrieved himself another ruined hide from the corner of the room. He stared at it for a moment, wondering what exactly he should do with it. He didn’t really have enough time to create anything too fancy. He just needed to know if he could repeat what he had already done, as well as change something about it. A moment later the answer to his problem became clear, and he sat on the edge of his bed ready to begin.
Achieving the required mental state seemed relatively easy now that he knew what to do. He quickly recognised the faint memory contained within the ruined hide, but instead of allowing it to control the eventual outcome as he had done before,
this time he imprinted a slightly different image on it first. It was nothing too dramatic, just a slight alteration to the spacing of the black stripes. But if it worked, it would be enough to prove that his theory was right.
Less than ten minutes later he had finished, and when he opened his eyes he couldn’t help smiling to himself. It had worked perfectly. Not only had he repaired the damage that he had caused earlier, but he had also successfully manipulated the location of the markings on the hide. It had taken him months to master, but he had finally done it. He had achieved the state of mind necessary to read the Guardian book.
Lusam could barely contain his excitement as he pulled on his boots and headed off to meet up with his father for breakfast.
“Good morning,” Arlo said, in his usual chirpy manner.
“Yes, it is,” Lusam agreed, walking straight past him towards the damaged part of the floor. He knelt down on one knee and placed his right hand over the uneven surface. Then without pause, he quickly attained the mental state required and began his repair of the floor. It was a little strange at first because the floor held many faint memories of the various shapes it had taken on over the past several months. But it was simple enough for him to imprint a new memory of what he wanted, and a few moments later he removed his hand to reveal a perfectly flat surface.
The most difficult part for Lusam was keeping the smug grin off his face as he turned and made his way back across the room. Arlo raised a single eyebrow and watched him swagger back to the breakfast table. But before Lusam could sit down, the two large entrance doors crashed open and Ryuu appeared in the doorway. Lusam turned to face his father, expecting to see him cringe as Ryuu walked across his pristine floor, creating massive gouges in his wake. But to Lusam’s surprise, he found his father smiling instead. Ryuu lumbered across the room to the spot where Lusam had worked only moments earlier and sniffed at the ground. Then without saying a word, he simply turned around and left again—but not before leaving a fresh trail of devastation behind.
Lusam turned just in time to see his father’s grin being replaced by a feigned look of innocence.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Lusam said, scowling at him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Arlo replied innocently, with a shrug.
“Of course you don’t,” Lusam replied, sarcastically.
“Well, look at it on the bright side,” Arlo said, stifling a grin, “At least now we’ll know if your first attempt was a fluke or not.”
Chapter Forty-Five
The day had finally arrived for Lusam to read the Guardian book, and as he followed his father down the steps into the basement, he felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation. He was no longer sure that eating a hearty breakfast had been such a good idea, and hoped that he wouldn’t regret it later.
The basement was an exact replica of the one at Coldmont. The only difference he could see, was that the walls didn’t glow to his mage-sight due to the lack of a dragon heart. Not that there would have been any point in having magically shielded walls anyway, as there had never been any monks or priests there to practice their magic.
Lusam followed his father in silence along the long corridor leading to the book room. He knew where the Guardian book was being kept, but had not yet seen it for himself. He had stood outside the large stone door on several occasions since arriving there, staring at the five-pointed star carved into its surface, but he had never attempted to open it. Even the five indentions carved into the walls, ceiling and floor were there, but he knew they were nothing more than decorative copies of the real thing.
Arlo stopped outside the massive stone door and turned to face Lusam. The concern that he felt was evident on his face, and it did little to calm Lusam’s already frayed nerves. He took a breath to speak, then hesitated as if he couldn’t find the right words.
“If anything goes wrong…”
“It won’t,” Lusam interrupted, “And if it does, I won’t blame you for it. I want to do this. I need to do this.”
Arlo smiled and nodded, then turned back to face the stone door.
“But if something does go wrong and I don’t survive, I need you to promise me something,” Lusam said, quietly.
“Of course, what is it?”
“I need you to promise that you will leave this place and attempt to close The Rift by yourself. I know it’s a lot to ask, abandoning your home and leaving the Guardian book unguarded, but if the world outside is destroyed, what will be the point of all this anyway?” Lusam said, then before his father could reply, he quickly added, “And one other thing. If for some reason your attempt fails, I need you to promise me that you will bring Neala back here where she will be safe.”
Arlo met his eyes and nodded. “I give you my word that if I am able, I will do the things you ask. But you should also know that there are no guarantees. As you know, I may not survive the transition between worlds. And even if I do, there is no guarantee that Driden won’t choose to simply kill Ryuu and myself the moment he becomes aware of our presence.”
“I don’t understand. Why would he do that?”
“Because we tried to steal one of his dragon hearts. Because we were complicit in the theft of four others, which were then used by humans to further their own power. Or at least that’s how he’ll see it. And last, but not least, because Ryuu disobeyed him, and didn’t return back to his own kind after The Rift was closed.”
“But surely Aysha wouldn’t allow that to happen?”
Arlo shook his head. “I don’t think she would have any choice in the matter. Ryuu is Driden’s creation, therefore he is able to deal with him however he sees fit.”
“But not you. He couldn’t kill you too, could he?”
Arlo met his eyes wearing a pitiful smile. “If he were to kill Ryuu, my heart would already be dead, Lusam. But, yes, he could kill me too if he chose to. And I believe for that matter, he could also kill you as well. You see, Guardians may be human, but we also carry the blood of dragons in our veins, as do you, Lusam. And unfortunately, that makes us as much Driden’s creation, as it does Aysha’s.”
“Oh, I see,” Lusam replied, more than a little shocked by the revelation.
“But enough of all that. We shouldn’t be discussing such things right now. You need to maintain a clear mind for what is to come, not cloud it with such things.”
Arlo turned back towards the stone door and placed a hand on it, before speaking a single word of power. A vibration reverberated through the floor, and the massive stone door began to slowly slide open to reveal a room identical to the other three Lusam had already seen. Unlike the other rooms, however, Lusam could clearly see the outline of the book pedestal and Guardian book from the doorway. As he stepped across the threshold he half-expected a bright light to appear as it had several times before, but of course, it didn’t. Without a dragon heart to power the various spells and protections, it was no more than a normal room in which to store the Guardian book.
Arlo created a light orb up near the ceiling and increased its strength until it illuminated the entire room. One of the things that Lusam noticed almost immediately was the lack of words written on the book pedestal. Nor were there any green strands of power emanating from the pedestal like there had been in the other locations. Again, he knew that was due to the lack of a dragon heart to power them. But even if there had been a power source, he wasn’t at all convinced that the green strands of power would have worked here anyway. One thing that was there, however, was a name on the Guardian book, and this one was called, Honour.
“What does it mean?” Lusam asked, pointing at the name on the book.
Arlo raised an eyebrow at his question. “You don’t know what honour means?” he teased.
“Of course I know what the word means,” Lusam replied, with a huff, “but why is it written on the Guardian book? In fact, why are any of the names written on the Guardian books? Freedom, Absolution, Transcendence and now Honour… a
nd what about the writing on the walls in the main chamber back there? What does it all mean?”
Arlo met his questions with a wide grin, then simply said, “The final five created five. The five creates one. And one you must possess to seek the five, and then become one.”
“Yes, that. But what does it mean?”
“Maybe one day I’ll tell you. Or maybe one day you’ll work it out for yourself. But not today. Today you have more important things to worry about,” Arlo said, nodding towards the book pedestal. “You should keep your mind as clear as possible. It will be hard enough for you to absorb all of the knowledge from the Guardian book as it is, without cluttering up your head with such thoughts beforehand. Come, let us prepare. Step onto the pedestal, but don’t open the book yet. I need a moment to make sure that Ryuu is ready before we begin. It will take a great deal of effort on his part to buffer the information, and I wouldn’t want him plummeting out of the sky if he’s unprepared for the sudden onslaught.”
Arlo’s eyes appeared to go distant as he communicated with Ryuu, but after a moment he winced slightly.
“Problem?” Lusam asked.
“Nothing he won’t get over,” Arlo replied, with a mischievous grin. “He was hunting and had just flushed his quarry out of the forest when I contacted him. He gets grumpy if he misses out on his breakfast. But like I said, he’ll get over it.”
Lusam didn’t have to ask when Ryuu was ready. Less than two minutes later he heard the main doors crash open upstairs, and a roar echoed down into the basement. Arlo then produced a small block of stone from his pocket and placed it on the pedestal next to the Guardian book.
“Place your left hand on the stone and concentrate only on changing its shape, so that your mind stays free of all else. I will create a link to your mind, as well as stay in physical contact with you. When I’m happy that you’ve achieved the required meditative state, I will open the book myself. The knowledge will flow through you to me, and on to Ryuu, where it will be stored until your mind can reabsorb it later. You’re also likely to lose consciousness after the Guardian book imparts its knowledge to you, but that’s a good thing because it will allow you to reabsorb the information stored by Ryuu much easier than if you were awake. I’ll also do my best to repair any damage caused to your mind by the book, but I must warn you, once we begin there is only so much I can do.”
