“Just tell me why,” she murmured.
He released her, shaking his head. “No. Those tomorrows are not pertinent to your todays. You are not to give up on life now, hear me?”
“Will Tristan give up on life when I am gone?”
“Leave it.”
“Elianas, will Tristan mourn?”
“Of course he will,” Elianas snapped. “He loves you!”
“How long will he mourn? Who will pick up his pieces?”
Elianas stared at her. “I will not be here then, Caballa. I cannot answer.”
She lowered her head. “His eternal companion already waits in the wings. Now I understand. Poor Tristan.” Caballa lifted herself and leaned in to kiss Elianas’ cheek. “Gorgeous man, you make life worthwhile for Torrullin. Thank you. I shall pray Tristan may receive such a gift also.”
Tears falling freely, she then left without another word.
Kalgaia
ELIANAS WENT TO KALGAIA, to better hear those whispers. He went also to escape the expectations of the Vallas. Caballa had brought home the fact that many ideals and issues would end soon.
A fair number of Valleur wandered the city, most appearing happy to be there. As he passed Gaia Hotel, he noted there were guests in the foyer. Looking up, many windows were open to Kalgaia’s air. There were more than a few guests, then.
Feeling suddenly unburdened, lighter, he smiled and moved on. Kalgaia might not become a bustling metropolis overnight, but she would not have to wait in isolation either.
It was good.
At the Danae Guild Hall, he halted but did not enter. Instead he gazed upon the place of so many happy memories. Here, for a time, he knew no cares, other than those of a boy wondering when he could escape his studies to get up to mischief elsewhere.
It too was good.
Kalgaia crept back into his heart as it had once resided there. He did not seek to know the city again, but now he could move on without guilt.
It was good.
Smiling, he headed to the aqueduct, to sit in silence alone on one of the benches on the bridge. Clear blue water rippled below and around him, and everywhere birds sang. It was peaceful. It was also beautiful.
Closing his eyes, he sent his thoughts to a certain place on Mon Unon. All was quiet there as well. He would wait, but he did not know how long he could bear it.
Tristan found him then. “Caballa is in tears and I know she was with you.”
Elianas studied the man’s face. The scars were thin, white streaks running from below each eye to flare out towards the line of his jaw. A fine network of intersecting lines entirely covered his brow. It did not mar his appearance at all. In fact, it made him appear older and wiser, as if the lines were faint wrinkles, not scars.
“They suit you.”
“Caballa said the same. What happened with her?”
“She is a seer. Tris. She saw what will happen to Avaelyn.”
Tristan blinked and nodded. “Many will miss you, yes.”
“You told them the city is called Linard, I hear,” Elianas murmured.
“Tianoman did. Is that its name?”
Elianas shrugged. “In my time here we called it Nemisin’s enclave. Linard is a far better choice, in my opinion.”
Tristan smiled and turned to leave.
“Tristan.”
Without again turning, Tristan waited.
“They will need you.”
“Who will need me, Elianas?” he asked.
“Everyone. Will you assume the duty?”
Tristan did turn then and he was expressionless. “I believe choices will be mine to make. Whatever duty I choose to assume in the future will have no bearing on where you will be.”
Elianas inclined his head. “You are your own man at last. Excellent. If I may offer you advice, when at a crossroads in choices, think on what Torrullin would do and do the opposite.”
Tristan grinned. “Really?”
“All gods, yes. You will have less knots to unravel after,” Elianas laughed.
Tristan slapped his thighs in appreciation. Swiftly he was again serious. He clearly possessed his forebear’s ability to switch between emotions. “He has been gone almost a day. How long still?”
Elianas shrugged. “Time is different there.”
“Do you want me to wait with you?”
“Gods, no. I will end up picking a fight or something merely to keep me distracted. Go. Caballa needs you. I shall deal with my impatience alone.”
Tristan touched his brow and left.
Chapter 63
Rock sings. Rock covers. Rock deafens. Rock hides.
~ Lae Drumm, Geologist ~
Mon Unon
HE STUMBLED INTO BRIGHT sunlight and dry desert air.
Immediately Torrullin clambered to his feet and moved to the sliver doorway. Alone. Thank all gods, still alone. Nothing had followed him out, except tendrils of mist.
Yet.
Swiftly then, he planted the Lumin Sword point first before the sliver doorway, shoving it in at least halfway. Working fast, he perched on the blade’s guard, balancing precariously. Then he launched up and drove it into the earth as he landed on the twin protrusions, using his weight and intent to do so. Twice more he did this, until only the shine of the rounded pommel gave evidence. He stamped with one booted foot until it too vanished from view.
The sliver sealed upon a roar of rage from beyond.
Rivalen was eternally bound.
Torrullin sprawled into the sand, breathing in gasping gulps.
A mammoth reverberation erupting from the ether had him up on his elbows. As he watched, a tumble of rocks and boulders piled onto the place where the Sword had vanished into the dry earth. It hid both blade and an ancient portal.
Besides boot treads, there was no longer even the suggestion of evidence. Absence of evidence was not evidence of absence, but it would do.
He craned his head backwards to see Elianas slowly lowering his arm. The dark man approached to offer his hand. Accepting it, he levered to his feet. They stared at each other.
“Welcome back,” Elianas murmured.
He could only nod, for no strength remained for words.
Elianas looked him over. No doubt he appeared as someone who had escaped a refugee camp, covered as he was in grey dust. Elianas tugged at something near Torrullin’s belt and held aloft a length of silver chain.
“The replica stayed with him?”
It was the chain Rivalen used for the Medaillon. It must have come with Trezond when he removed his sword from Rivalen’s chainmail.
Elianas stuffed it into his breeches’ pocket. “Never mind. It is done. You need to rest.” Again he held his hand out, and took them away from there.
Wind swirled and danced around the intrusion of rocks.
When it moved on, no boot prints remained.
Avaelyn
Monklicopin Dwelling
TORRULLIN SLEPT FOR TWENTY straight hours, unmoving.
Elianas checked in on him constantly, but left him as he was. His oblivion was about the mind, not his physical self.
Around mid-morning the next day, Torrullin wandered blearily into the kitchen. “Need coffee,” he mumbled.
Grinning, Elianas set a mug before him. The universe was back to normal.
After ten minutes and a second cup, Torrullin leaned back and smoothed his bed hair into a semblance of order. He scrubbed at his face and rubbed his eyes, and inhaled deeply to release explosively.
“Now I feel the worlds again.”
Elianas sat opposite him, waiting.
Torrullin stared at him. “Has anything happened?”
“Time and light cycles are back to normal everywhere now,” Elianas responded. “According to reports, there were some odd wobbles as worlds realigned, but no one was hurt. Some suffered an overly long day as it balanced, others a really long night, but all is now calm.”
“It worked.”
“It did, yes.”
“The
Timekeeper is no more,” Torrullin murmured. “Thank all gods. What else?”
“A few straggler Red Cloaks returned to Millwold, all now imprisoned. Many scrolls and maps were discovered inside Mill number four, Rivalen’s hearth and hoard. I have them,” Elianas shrugged. He had been busy while Torrullin slept, to remain distracted.
Torrullin smiled. Elianas loved maps and scrolls. “Anything interesting in there?”
“Nothing pertinent to this period.”
This time Torrullin waited.
Finally Elianas sighed. “Peace returns, of the kind experienced when you took Margus away for two thousand years. Folk whisper of Elixir’s new gift.”
“It is a bit too soon for those whispers and that is a pedestal,” Torrullin muttered, “but I am happy about the perception of peace.”
“It is time to make our choices, Torrullin.”
“Our noble purpose, Elianas? When we leave, is it nobility?”
Elianas leaned forward. “I hope so.”
Torrullin leaned in as well. “Or do you feel, as I do, something is undone?”
The dark man slammed back in his seat. “You too?”
“Yes, but I do not know what it is.”
“Likewise,” Elianas muttered. He squared his shoulders. “While we prepare Avaelyn for the future, the time it takes may uncover whatever is now hidden to us.” Torrullin was staring at his chest. Elianas laid a hand there to feel the Medaillon below his tunic. “You think it has to do with this?”
Torrullin shrugged. “Maybe. The prophecy on the receptacle Sabian uncovered smacks of something undone. Maybe. I cannot think about this now.”
“It may become clearer while we erect fourteen sacred sites here,” Elianas said.
“Excuse me?”
“It occurred to me that we need the fourteen sites. While a portal world is severed from what was, the Valleur sites resonate through all barriers. With Cassy’s universal net being rebuilt, added to and strengthened, we are able to maintain a connection with what was, is and will be if we have fourteen sites here.”
“Communication?” Torrullin whispered.
“Not directly, but we will certainly know.” Elianas stared at him. “Do you want to know?”
“Yes.”
The dark man grimaced. “I do, too.”
Torrullin laughed. “Much labour ahead, then. It will take a while.”
Elianas smiled. “And delay our departure long enough to tie up our loose threads.”
They grinned at each other.
As they discussed designs, Elianas remarked he still needed to acquire seeds.
“For Aaru’s sake, give someone a list and let that someone get what you need,” Torrullin laughed. “Every time you go for seeds something happens. Stay put for a change.”
Grinning, Elianas agreed.
Akhavar
Linard
MID-MORNING ON AVAELYN now meant dusk settling in over the mountain city.
Tianoman was alone on the ledge overlooking the darkening plains below. The Palace Guard was unobtrusive, but present.
Torrullin alighted there. “It is getting dark,” he murmured. “In a way I wish we could maintain similar times. It is far less stressful on the body.”
Tianoman smiled his greeting. “We heard you are back. All well?”
“Rivalen is forever gone, Tian, have no fear,” Torrullin said, coming to stand beside his grandson. “I need a favour from you.”
“Ask away.”
“Avaelyn needs men to help erect fourteen sacred sites.”
With a wide smile, Tianoman looked at him. “Truly? You are about to build sites? That is wonderful! Take as many men as you need.” He clasped his hands together. “I would love to help, too. It has been too long since Valleur have raised the fourteen from the beginning.”
Torrullin grinned. “Feel free to come and get dirty.”
“Lunik will love it. I will get men together and …”
“Whoa there, we are still mapping the ley lines!”
“You must already know where the Lifesource will be,” Tianoman winked.
Torrullin burst out laughing. “Yes! Fine, send builders to the Healer’s Facility. Shep Lore is there and will take care of them.”
“Shep Lore?”
“Long story, one for another time, but Shep has made his home on Avaelyn. No doubt that Healer’s Facility will become state of the art soon. He will have to wait until after the sites are up, though.”
Tianoman blinked at him. “You still keep secrets.”
“Not so much to keep now, Tian, I promise. There are merely some matters I prefer not to dwell too long upon.”
Tianoman smiled and nodded. “So, the Lifesource, what do you intend?”
“Much like Valaris. Quilla needs a home he is able to feel comfortable in.”
“Quilla is on Avaelyn too. Interesting.”
“And Sabian,” Torrullin murmured. “Avaelyn becomes a place for those who feel they do not belong anywhere. There is so much space; how can I deny them?”
Tianoman touched his shoulder. “I am happy to hear this. Isolation isn’t always the best thing.”
Blinking, Torrullin murmured, “We need contact with others, I agree.”
“Is there a place for me?”
Both men turned to find Teroux eavesdropping.
“I no longer belong anywhere,” Teroux said, closing in. “Not here amid the Vallas and not on Sanctuary where everything reminds me of Rose.”
The one Valla who he foresaw would love him and hate him in equal measure. The one grandson who would never find true love, who would hurt always, never truly accepting himself. Perhaps he needed his own blood with him into the new future, to remind him of the past, if never to dwell there again.
Torrullin held his arm out for the ritual clasp. “You are welcome on Avaelyn.”
Teroux stepped into the clasp with tears in his eyes. “Thank you.” As he let go, he said, “May I have an island? I would like to build a ship.”
Mouth gaping open, Torrullin blurted, “A ship? Truly?”
Teroux nodded with animation. “Yes! To sail in the old ways! And then a theatre, maybe, and a tavern …”
Torrullin chuckled, holding his hands up. “Pick your island.”
Eyes alight, Teroux rubbed his hands together. “This will be fun.” He swung on his heels. “Plans to make,” he said as vanished inside.
“Sounds as if you are building a new world,” Tianoman murmured.
“Yes, well, there will not be too many on this new world,” Torrullin smiled. “Crowds and I do not sit side by side.”
“Can we go see the Lifesource site?”
Perhaps it would be best for all to feel included in the build. Maybe the parting would be less wrenching.
“Why not?” Torrullin murmured.
Avaelyn
TO THE EAST OF the grasslands there lay a series of mountain ranges.
Meandering amid peaks rounded and rough, along rocky ways and amid green banks, many lakes were joined by numerous rivers. The setting was majestic and serene.
Torrullin brought Tianoman to a small plateau overlooking an incredible landscape of water, trees, mountains and teeming wildlife.
“It’s glorious,” Tianoman breathed. “So unspoilt, too.”
“Turn around,” Torrullin said, enjoying the younger man’s reaction.
Behind them were natural tiers cut into the rock between two towering, snow-capped peaks. Another plateau levelled off above. To each side of the tiers, carving great gullies into nature’s hardest substance, two mighty falls plummeted to the lake below.
“Fantastic,” Tianoman whispered. “A Lifesource indeed.”
“The Temple will be on the upper plateau,” Torrullin pointed, “and a carved stairway will lead up from the valley floor to become what the lightbridge is for the one on Valaris.”
“Stairs of Light. I see it, yes.” Tianoman smiled. “I also see Elianas up there wafting parchment
around.”
“He is quite the mapmaker and site designer,” Torrullin laughed.
“Are you happy, Torrullin?”
“Now I am. This is a goal, a task I relish, and it creates rather than destroys. I am weary of death and destruction. I am sick of ever-present rage. In the days I wandered the shores of Ren Lake on Valaris, I believed life held so much promise and I was to help it grow and encompass all in its benign glow, and then I messed with my fate, Tian.
“I chose reincarnation, which changes you inside. I hurt the women who loved me, especially Saska, and ended up cold, unwilling to trust. When I built the Keep, I discovered I rebuilt my inner light also. I choose now to rebuild my light again and I hope it shines bright everywhere.”
Tianoman stepped in and embraced him with eyes swimming. “Grandfather,” he whispered.
Blinking back tears, Torrullin held him close.
Chapter 64
Sometimes you see a site as sacred; sometimes you know it only in your deepest places
~ Scroll of Wisdom ~
Avaelyn
TEROUX CHOSE HIS ISLAND.
Between Avaelyn’s two continents - it was a small world - a host of islands stretched from the east coast of one to the west coast of the other, akin to stepping stones in a pond. These were not as isolated as the Western Isles of Valaris were, and had the potential of becoming choice of residence if Avaelyn possessed a population. Like to the Western Isles, though, there were islands small and large.
Teroux chose one on the large side, because he required space to build his ship, he claimed, and promptly named it Roux.
As he got busy with building his cottage, using carefully selected trees on the island and lumber from Fortani, Torrullin gave thought to who would run Mariner Island on Sanctuary in Teroux’s stead.
Clearly this grandson no longer had an interest there.
Also, when Avaelyn left, Teroux would vanish entirely.
Sanctuary
Mariner Island
AFTER CONFERRING WITH Mikhail Bannerman, Head of Diseases at the facility, Torrullin met a family recently arrived on Sanctuary.
Lore of Sanctum Omnibus Page 244
