Edge of Chaos

by Des Pensable

  ‘We cannot accept this demand.’ said one of the rats using mindspeak. ‘We have a blood oath with another which binds us.’

  ‘So you have.’ He replied.

  Moments later six small vials of blood appeared in Aquitain’s hand.

  ‘Thank you Astaria.’

  ‘This is the blood that binds you.’ and Aquitain dropped them on the floor and smashed them with his heel.

  ‘You are no longer bound. Now do we have a deal?’

  The rats talked among each other for a couple of minutes then one said. ‘There are certain job conditions we would like to negotiate.’

  He listened to the conditions and finding them reasonable agreed after which the rats agreed to continue their job on Astaria under the new gatekeeper’s control.

  ‘Well Asterix, what is your answer?’

  ‘It seems that your blood is not here so I can’t remove your blood oath. But I can’t leave someone here that I can’t trust.’

  ‘I knew that you’d cause trouble when you came here but in truth this place needed a shakeup. I will work for you and Astaria if you make this place live again; if you bring in people and give Astaria a heart. It’s been too long since I heard the laughter of children and saw a pretty woman’s face.’ replied Asterix.

  ‘I will agree to that condition but I think it may take us a while to get there and what about the blood oath.’ said Aquitain.

  ‘Oh that. I found the blood vial ages ago and destroyed it.’ he said with a smile. ‘Bloody nuisance those oaths. You won’t tell your father will you?’

  ‘Of course not, Asterix! We’re both Astarians aren’t we?’ replied Aquitain with a wink.

  ‘Yes my Lord, we are.’

  ‘Good then, don’t ever try to fool me again! Now, can you please remove all this wizard’s magic items and leave them in the hole in the floor here in case he has something I need. Then leave him loose here. Can you rats keep him occupied until we want to let him go?’ asked Aquitain.

  ‘Yes boss, as long as you like. It’s time we had a bit of fun. Come on boys. Let’s prepare a few surprises.’ Their legs were released and off they went chuckling among themselves.

  ‘How did you work out about the rats.’ asked Asterix still astounded at what had just happened.

  ‘It wasn’t that hard.’ smiled Aquitain..

  ‘This maze isn’t big enough to challenge a smart person for too long, so there had to be someone changing it continually so that even the smartest would be fooled. The rats are small enough to hide but there are also enough of them to watch several parts of the maze at the same time to ensure that if any members of a group get separated they would still know what all the group members were doing at any particular moment.’

  ‘Is Llanlorian really dead?’

  ‘Yes my Lord, as far as I’m aware. You are now the sole Gatekeeper and Lord of Astaria.’

  He pondered on that for a minute or two.

  ‘Okay, let’s get into action Asterix. I’m going to find out what they needed a specialist for. There’s still something wrong here somewhere and it’s got something to do with pathway five. By the way when all the items are in the hole just tell it to close will you.’

  ‘Er. Alright my Lord.’ said Asterix noting that the Gatekeeper had seemingly gained absolute control over the whole of Astaria.

  Aquitain returned to the small room at the end of pathway five and finished unsealing the small doorway into the pathway then swung it open and flowed through it, pulling it closed behind him. He created a cloud of eyes adjusted them for sensitivity in the dark and moved towards the other end of the pathway where there seemed to be a yellow glow.

  As they floated down the tunnel they saw what at first looked like a large fire in the middle of the tunnel. Moments later it spotted his Zenostruct body and began moving towards it so they stopped, wondering whether it would be hostile.

  ‘Hello. It’s about time that you turned up. I’ve been waiting here for several hours now and I’m really worried that unless we do something soon there could be a catastrophe. Wait a minute you’re not who I was expecting!’ it said using mindspeak.

  ‘Er. No I was asked to come here at the last moment as the other fellow had some problem.’ lied Aquitain.

  The fire elemental said something that he couldn’t understand.

  ‘Could you repeat that in common, I didn’t understand what you said.’ asked Aquitain

  ‘Obviously.’ said the fire elemental. ‘That’s because you’re not a Mentarin.’

  ‘Let’s see who you are.’ it said.

  ‘Ah. You’re the new Gatekeeper. Well, well. Isn’t that interesting, I can see why you’re here. You want to look after the interests of both the dragons and Astaria at the same time. We don’t want the place blowing up do we?’

  ‘Er, No.’ said Aquitain.

  ‘Can you run through the problem with me so that I can see how I can help.’

  ‘Of course. It’s good to see you appreciate the gravity of the situation.’ said the fire elemental then it changed shape to that of a Newman wizard who held out his hand.

  ‘My name’s Ignatius Cogswell, I’m an engineer of sorts. What’s your name?’

  Aquitain changed to his Newman form and shook the fellow’s hand.

  ‘I’m Aquitain, Gatekeeper, friend of Astaria, and a problem fixer of sorts.’

  ‘Ha. Good reply.’ replied Ignatius. ‘I hope that you’re right.’

  ‘Well this is the problem, as you are aware we pump magic essence through the pathways of Astaria from Mudrun to Moonmist. Now the dragons on Mudrun that do all the collecting and moving the magic essence from the collecting stations on Mudrun have not been doing their job properly. They were supposed to convert 98% of the magic energy into heat on release at the gate station under the volcano near Mentar but I have discovered that they have been converting only 90% to heat leaving a full 10% to absorb into the atmosphere there for at least the last 20 years.’

  ‘Why haven’t we detected it earlier, you say. Well it turns out that adjacent to the volcano is a large shelf of quartz crystal probably covering about a league squared and ten paces thick. This has been soaking up most of the excess magic essence like a huge storage reservoir. The essence not absorbed has been the main cause of the increase in free magic in the atmosphere that we have noticed over that last twenty years. The damn stuff has been slowly seeping through the ground over such a large area we didn’t spot it.’

  ‘The problem is that the quartz shelf is just about saturated with magic essence and this has reduced its melting point. The whole damn shelf is liable to turn liquid. If any part of it suddenly broke through to the surface it would create a magic fountain that will spew out so much magic essence into the air that we will have catastrophic magic storms similar to those on Mudrun but this time on Moonmist. It could wipe out all surface life on Moonmist.’

  ‘By the Powers, that doesn’t sound too good.’ said Aquitain so awed by the immensity of the problem that his mind almost froze, but he managed to mutter ‘What do you want me to do?’

  ‘That’s the spirit I like to see.’ said Ignatius. ‘Positive thinking!’

  ‘What I want you to do is to talk to those bloody dragons and convince them to stop transferring magic essence to that station for a while, so that we can work out some way to bleed off some of the magic essence without causing a disaster.’

  ‘Why don’t you go to talk to them.’ asked Aquitain suddenly suspicious.

  ‘Er. We go back a long way. I was involved in catching them. I don’t think they will cooperate with me. They may listen to you. At least they shouldn’t kill you on sight.’ said Ignatius.

  ‘And why wouldn’t they kill me on sight.’ asked Aquitain.

  ‘Well you are half elemental dragon, that should count for something.’ he replied.

  Aquitain was happy. There it was again. Someone had confirmed what Glammer had said in just three words. He was half elemental dragon. His father
was an elemental dragon, the rarest and most powerful dragon type and his mother a Newman. If what Aquitain had been taught about them was correct. Elemental dragons were never known to cross breed with any other type of dragon let alone Newmans. They were arrogant and aloof as they believed that they were the first creatures to be created by the creator.

  Everything fell into place, his protected upbringing, his strange aura, his unusual powers, his lost Newman body, the manipulation, the power game, why they made him Warden of Moonmist, why Llanlorian made him a gatekeeper, why he could change shape so readily, why he had crystal sight. The list went on and on.

  Finally the voice of Ignatius broke through.

  ‘Are you all right? I didn’t mean to make the job sound impossible. I really think you of all people should have a fair chance of convincing them to stop for a while.’

  ‘You’re right.’ said Aquitain. ‘If anyone has a chance then it will be me, that is why I am here. How do I get to talk with them?’

  ‘You need to open the gate at that end and go through.’ said Ignatius.

  ‘Okay. Sounds simple, but before I do I want to know how the transfer process works, so that I can understand the whole process. I wouldn’t want to make a mistake would I?’ said Aquitain.

  ‘That’s difficult. The fellow that designed to process is missing, possibly dead. You see he went through to the dragon’s side and hasn’t been seen since.’ said Ignatius.

  ‘Thanks for telling me. What else should I know about.’ asked Aquitain.

  ‘Once I stayed in this tunnel and watched what happened. First the gate at the dragon end opened and a couple of dozen fiery orbs about an arm span wide came through. They lingered around that end of the pathway for a couple of minutes then moved to the centre of the pathway tunnel, waited some more, then moved to the Moonmist exit end and waited again.’

  ‘The gate opened and they all went through released their load of magic essence and then proceeded back through the gate at the dragon end lingering at the same spots again. It was almost as if they were some type of timed process. Makes sense I suppose from an engineering point of view, although how you get a bunch of dragons to act so mechanically I don’t know.’

  ‘But you said they were fiery orbs not dragons.’ said Aquitain a little confused.

  ‘Yes I did. I don’t expect a couple of dozen adult dragons would fit into this pathway, so I expect they take that form for practical reasons.’ said Ignatius.

  ‘Are you sure that they’re dragons?’

  ‘Yes of course. Just look at their auras and the designer of the process always referred to them as dragons.’ said Ignatius.

  ‘They seem to behave more like constructs.’ replied Aquitain.

  ‘Now that you mention it, they do don’t they.’ said Ignatius.

  ‘When is the next lot due to pass through?’

  ‘In a few hours’ time.’ replied Ignatius. ‘Do you want to watch the process yourself?’

  ‘Yes.’ said Aquitain ‘I think the best way to see the dragons would be to tag along when these spheres return. If I can mimic them, then at least I’ll get in without drawing undue attention.’

  ‘What a good idea.’ replied Ignatius. ‘I can see that you’re the right person for the job. Now since we have a bit of time before they come, why don’t we have a look at the problem at the Moonmist end.’

  ‘You’ll need to change that Zenostruct body to mimic a Rock elemental. I had one of those bodies for a while. The hardest thing is to keep holding shape. I found that by splitting my mind into two I could get one to concentrate on holding the body shape while the other controlled moving around.’

  ‘I’m sorry I haven’t seen a Rock elemental so I don’t know what to change into.’ said Tina.

  ‘Really!’ replied Ignatius. ‘Easy peesy. Bit like being a fish really, except that you swim through the ground rather than water. I’ll give you the skill to change and with your dragon ancestry it should work without a problem.’

  Ignatius held his hand out palm upwards concentrating and a small crystal appeared in his hand.

  ‘Here you are. Swallow this skill crystal and you’ll know how to do it.’

  Aquitain was amazed. The magic technology that these Mentarin had was simply awe-inspiring. Aquitain activated their aura sight and had a close look the crystal. It actually wasn’t a real crystal at all but a container made of pure crystalline magic but inside it he could see some memory bubbles. Ignatius had somehow copied his own memory and reproduced it by pure thought.

  He swallowed the crystal and almost immediately knew how to change into a Rock elemental. So they changed. They looked like a large rocky mass hewn very roughly into a Newman shape. Aquitain tried walking and his huge rocky leg stepped forward and thumped down causing a shock that reverberated throughout the tunnel. There was a flash of light near them, they wondered what had happened and lost their concentration then poof they were a cloud of mist again.

  ‘I thought so.’ said Ignatius. ‘If you have a lapse of concentration like that underground, I hate to think what will happen. You better split minds like I suggested before.’

  ‘Er ... that’s something I’m not too good at. Last time I did it. The two minds argued and almost got into a fight with each other.’

  ‘Ha ha.’ said Ignatius. ‘It happens every time. You see both halves of your minds are not the same; they have individual strengths and weaknesses. Once you realize this you can approach a mind split a little more carefully. I usually have one that handles the action and one the thinking.’

  ‘I don’t know whether you’ve ever seen one of those giant lizards on Mudrun. I’m told they have two brains one for thinking and one for controlling their legs. I don’t know whether it’s true or not but it makes sense. If it’s good enough for the animals, I say it’s good enough for me.’

  ’Another good idea is to agree on a name for each half as if you have a friend with you.’

  ‘That’s a good idea.’ said Aquitain suddenly getting suspicious that this fellow was just a little too friendly but too curious to do anything about it. Okay let’s give it a go he thought and split his mind into two.

  Aquitain1 spoke first. ‘Hello. We meet again. We’ve had a chance to think about being separate again and this time I hope that we can do a better job.’

  ‘So do I’ replied Aquitain 2.

  ‘I have a suggestion for names for us.’ said Aquitain 1. ‘How about Qin and Qan these were the two heads of the mythical Quooka. One could breathe fire and the other cold. If you fought it you had to know which head was which so that you could shield against the appropriate attack.’

  ‘That sounds good to me said Aquitain 2. Which would you like to be?’

  ‘I’ll be Qin the fire head and you be Qan the ice head.’ replied Aquitain 1.

  ‘Would you like to be the driver or the one that holds us together?’

  ‘I have no preference replied Qin. You Choose.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you. Okay, you be the driver move us around and do any talking I will be the body and keep us together and put up defences if necessary.’ replied Qan.

  ‘That sounds good. I agree said Qin. So let’s get moving Qan.’

  Chapter 32 Elemental Oasis

  ‘Let’s get going.’ said Ignatius ‘I doubt whether you’ve ever experienced anything like being a Rock elemental.’ and he started walking down towards the Moonmist gate.

  As Qin guided his Newman shaped body down towards the gateway he noticed a purple cairn-like structure in the middle of the tunnel close to the gate that wasn’t there when he originally came into the tunnel.

  ‘What’s that purple cairn for?’

  ‘What are you talking about? queried Ignatius.

  This surprised Qin, so he projected a mental image of the object to Ignatius.

  Ignatius stopped for a moment then said.

  ‘That looks like a direction marker for the spirits. When a sentient creature dies its spirit cross
es to the spirit world. We believe that these types of markers are used to guide the spirits to their ultimate destination. All the worlds have them except for Moonmist. They’re usually just under the surface of the land and progress deeper down.’

  ‘So the spirits of the dead are directed downwards.’ said Qin.

  ‘Yes.’ replied Ignatius. ‘Think about it from an engineering point of view, creatures live around the outside of a spherical shaped world. If you directed spirits upwards they would disappear into the infinite sky in all directions. It would be very hard to keep track of them. However, if you direct them downwards they would all neatly converge at the centre of the world where they could be processed. Which is more likely?’

  ‘I suppose you’re right. So this marker must be to direct anyone that dies on Astaria to a collection point. I wonder where the collection point is?’

  They continued down the tunnel until they reached the gate and Qin opened it. The gate was unusually clear almost as if it was made of glass. On the other side of the gateway was a bubble shaped area with a spirit marker cairn set in the middle. What shocked him was that he could clearly see red hot larva down there.

  ‘Looks great doesn’t it? said Ignatius. ‘The gate at that end is set inside a permanent force bubble. About two thirds of the bubble is set in solid rock and the rest is in the lava flow.’

  ‘But how can a gateway open into a force sphere?’ asked the Qin.

  ‘I’ve always understood that they couldn’t be breached by magic.’

  ‘Ha. You forget the Mentarin are experimenters. Every full member must be an Archwizard or Archmindwizard. Our understanding of magic technology far exceeds the normal. Force walls and spheres are made of thin layers of vibrating energy. If you can match the vibration rate and your body type is elemental then you can pass through.’

  ‘So elementals can pass freely through the force bubble walls.’ said Qin.