The Longsword Chronicles: Book 05 - Light and Shadow

by GJ Kelly

  “But, the sphere was not to be the end of his work. If he succeeded in producing this sphere of Morgmetal alloyed with Argen-vitt, it would then need to be ground precisely, so as to produce twelve equal facets upon its surface. Not only were his abilities as a Forgemaster to be challenged, but the additional challenge of creating this geometrical object piqued his curiosity and he learned, upon asking, what it was he was being commissioned to create.

  “The answer, my lords, is the reason for my earlier self-disgust at not recognising the portents at the city in the south. Theo was told, by Thal-Marrahan himself, that the object was to be the single most valuable aid to the security of the kindred races: The Orb of Arristanas.”

  There was a long pause, while Arramin gazed away into the distance, and Gawain flicked an inquisitive glance towards Allazar.

  “I have never heard of such a thing, Master Arramin,” Allazar admitted.

  “Hmm? Oh… Nor had I, until I read this astonishing account. The Orb of Arristanas was a product of Thal-Marrahan’s seemingly limitless genius. It was to be a mystic device, to be placed atop the tallest spire or tower of every city and town, there to radiate a new kind of Light of Aemon. But, unlike that pure light which all wizards are taught to summon in the earliest of days at the Hallencloister, this new light, the Light of Arristanas, was to be a powerful weapon against all things dark…

  “Instead of the harmless cold light by which I have read many a tome, the Light of Arristanas would scarcely be visible to kindred eyes. Yet, just as Aemon’s Fire will destroy all things it touches, the Light of Arristanas would destroy only the creatures of darkness made by Morloch and his disciples, and any of those disciples themselves should they be illuminated by its beams. Imagine, my lords, imagine it if you will! A permanent sentry on guard over every village, town and city, always watchful, never sleeping, drawing its power from the greatest light of all, the sun! Never again would the kindred races of man need to fear Morloch’s return, nor even a second rising of the Goth-lords of old from the far west.” Arramin sighed, and shook his head sadly before adding quietly: “With the Orb of Arristanas protecting every community, its light would forever banish the dark forces of Morloch to the shadows. For as long as the sun continues to rise.”

  Allazar sighed, realisation dawning. “The statues atop the entablature of the colonnades surrounding the tower of Calhaneth...”

  “Yes, Master Allazar. Far from being sculpted metaphors for reason and learning, they were quite, quite literal.”

  Gawain closed his eyes, remembering the pristine white statues, Arristanas, the sun in one hand, beckoning with the other. “Theo failed, then, and it was this Orb which destroyed the city, and those who dwelt there?”

  “Oh my lord, no, Theo succeeded in his task, though it took more than twenty years for him so to do. The destruction of Calhaneth was not Theo’s work, though I suspect he blamed himself to a certain degree, ‘til the end of his days.”

  “Then what? What happened?”

  “Theo learned that the elves had made other attempts at creating the Orb, working alone. The first was in a province named Medthorn…”

  “Medthorn!” Allazar exclaimed. “That was one of the provinces attacked by Morloch’s forces, which led to Kings’ Council being evicted from Shiyanath. I recall the Sutengard describing part of that province as a high hill, cleared of woodland for the raising of sheep.”

  “Alas, Master Allazar, cleared of woodland by a great conflagration when the first Orb of Arristanas was activated, and was destroyed. Theo relates what he was told, briefly. At Medthorn, atop the hill that is part of that province, was a watchtower of hardwood. The land to the west of the forest there is open and though hilly, easily approachable by Gorian forces, oh yes… hence the watchtower. It was there they decided to test the Orb, in the tower overlooking the western approaches.

  “Not knowing quite what to expect, the elves cleared what few people lived in the area, set the Orb in its casket, at night, the lid open, atop the tower. When the sun rose high enough next morning that its rays fell directly on the Orb, there came from the tower the brightest incandescence, and at once the tower and trees nearby burst into flame. The wind was from the east, which spared much of the province, and Theo was told that the Orb, or rather its brilliant incandescence, was seen rolling down the slope of the hill, setting fire instantly to the trees it passed on its way down.

  “In the aftermath of the conflagration, nothing of the Orb was found, except a deep but narrow hole, which some said had been burned by the passage of the Orb deep underground. No tree will grow there now, but the wild grasses from the Gorian hills found a place to thrive, and thus began, more than a thousand years ago, the elven practice of raising sheep there.”

  “Does the Forgemaster describe the reasons for this catastrophe?”

  “No, my lord, he does not. Indeed, he is very careful not to reveal any details by which others might attempt to recreate the Orb he constructed at Calhaneth.”

  “Then he was wise,” Allazar acknowledged.

  Arramin nodded his agreement. “Wiser than you presently know, Master Allazar. For the attempt at Medthorn was not the last, no indeed. After witnessing the aftermath of the disaster at Medthorn, Thal-Marrahan ordered the construction of the great water road to run from Ostinath south along the Spine, so that the next Orb the Viell and Thal-Marrahan’s artisans created could be tested far from any elven habitation. But at the time, and this was years before Theo of Smeltmount arrived, the canal was to extend only as far as the first Wheel we encountered, the second one they built counting from the north.”

  “Then the city came much later?”

  “Oh dear yes, my lord. After the second Orb suffered a catastrophe. The first length of the canal built, and the second and final Wheel constructed, a tower of blue-stone was built a mile or more from the pool where we discovered ellamas oil and pyre-brick. And along with the tower, the buildings needed to house the Viell and engineers responsible for the Orb,” Arramin sighed again, and shook his head at the memories and visions only he could see through the papers on the table.

  “Master Arramin?”

  “Oh, do forgive me… I was remembering. More signs and clues I did not understand. You’ll remember our reunion on the barge, after Terryn and I took the long way up at the Wheel?”

  Gawain nodded. “Your first use of that Dove of Orris preceded it, and without that, we would have been blind at Far-gor. It’s a reunion none of us are likely to forget.”

  “Reunited on the barge, I related to you events of my journey with Terryn, and I spoke of all the debris we saw, ruined buildings, the wreckage of ancient and unknown machinery poking up out of the ground…”

  “I remember.”

  Arramin sighed. “The debris and ruins are doubtless the remains of the equipment and buildings used by the Viell to construct the second Orb. I have been so blind, my lords, and I am so sorry! It is all so clear to me now...” Arramin sighed, and sniffed, and adjusted his colourful woollen hat, and then continued:

  “They built the tower of blue-stone far from the Wheel lest another conflagration occur which might threaten the Wheel itself. Alas, though the Wheel and its attendant buildings and population were spared the ensuing catastrophe, the tower and a good part of the forest was not. The Orb’s casket was opened at the top of the tower in the dead of a moonlit night. When the sun rose next morning and shone brightly upon the Orb, it began to glow steadily. For an hour, its incandescence was a marvel to those observing from the uppermost pool at the southern Wheel.

  “Then, near noon, there was an immense concussion which sent great ripples of water, like ocean waves, along the canal. The Orb was gone in a bright flash, the blue-stone tower likewise. When the observers had regained their feet and the ground had stopped shaking, the sight before them was utterly terrifying. An enormous sinkhole had opened up, which we all have seen with our own eyes, and trees, like matchwood, were flattened for half a mile all aro
und from the centre of the blast.”

  “Elve’s Blood,” Gawain gasped. “And the canal survived?”

  “Its mechanism was affected but repaired, and there were reportedly landslides on the western side of the ridge. On the eastern slopes, the cracks and crevasses we saw for ourselves were the result, but the concussion is said by engineers who described it to Theo as being deflected up the slope of the ridge and over the top of the canal.”

  Arramin drained his beaker, and refilled it.

  “And still they continued with their experiments.” Allazar whispered.

  “Yes,” Arramin agreed, “But Thal-Marrahan ordered that the canal be extended far to the south, and this time, a college was to be built, and scholars invited, and also wizards of all lands. But, though the prime reason for Calhaneth’s existence was the creation of the Orb of Arristanas, the college was to be expanded to become a centre of learning. Thal-Marrahan believed that with so much mystic and scholarly knowledge gathered in one place, the Orb of Arristanas could not be anything other than a success, and the lands thus protected by it, the kindred peoples of the world would be free to pursue the study of all arts.”

  “A truly noble ambition,” Allazar sighed.

  “And one which explains much,” Gawain leaned back in his chair, and refilled his beaker. “I wondered why the canal was built in the first place, the sheer effort needed to create such a feat was beyond comprehension. It made no sense to me when we were upon the canal. It does now. For the creation of a weapon of unending power to hold Morloch at bay for all time, that was why so many elves bent their backs and their minds to the construction.”

  “And, of course, my lords, knowledge grows like a tree; though the first intentions in the pursuit of knowledge might be the trunk, from it spreads many branches. The quest for the Orb of Arristanas drove the development of the great canal, and its Wheels and mechanisms, progress in all arts and crafts from architecture to metallurgy and mechanics… all fields of elven endeavour were sewn with a rich crop from that original seed of thought: the making of the Orb.”

  “And all now lost.” Allazar sighed, both he and Gawain beginning to understand the reason for Arramin’s sorrow.

  The old wizard nodded, his expression profoundly sad. “There were other tests, too, in Theo’s time. He describes several, and hints at yet more conducted in the remote parts of the forest between Calhaneth and the northern Wheel. Places where even now the trees grow twisted, stunted, and grotesque, if they grow at all. I believe we may have noted them in the distance to the west of the great water road, but likely thought them a natural occurrence, or, seen from the distance, the areas of blight and dead trees mistaken for the colours of autumn arrived early…”

  “And creatures? What of other life there?” Gawain asked, fearing the answer.

  “Succumbed, my lord, as did the trees. In the regions of those later tests, nothing lived, not even in the soil. Only birds of the air, which made their lofty dwellings there again, long after the event.”

  Gawain nodded, and stared at the table, remembering Calhaneth…

  He drew his boot knife, stuck it gently in the humus at his feet and flipped over a lump. Nothing, just the dark black of decaying litter slowly becoming new soil. Rollaf and Terryn followed suit, digging small holes with their knives.

  “Anything?” Gawain signalled.

  “Nothing,” were the two gestures he received.

  Not even insects or worms were burrowing here.

  “Theo persevered,” Arramin announced softly, “And though his part, my lords, was the construction of the physical sphere, it was deemed dangerous enough of itself, given the inflammable nature of the Argen-vitt which formed a necessary part of the alloy. Thus, he and his works were situated well to the west of the city, in case of fire or catastrophe.

  “Meanwhile, in the upper level of the roundtower, the college and library of natural magycks, wizards worked upon the mystic elements which would be needed to transform the completed dodecahedron into a functional Orb of Arristanas.

  “For twenty years, the work progressed, and with it the city, and all other branches of endeavour. Though the Orb of Arristanas was kept a well-guarded secret, Calhaneth prospered, and the borders of Thal-Marrahan’s remarkable vision likewise expanded.

  “Finally, after twenty years of labour, of assaying and testing and conducting trials, Theo of Smeltmount completed his work. He sent word to the college that the dodecahedron, in its casket, was ready to be transported from his workshops to the tower. Let me see… I should like to read this passage in Theo’s own words my lords…”

  Arramin picked up a neat sheaf of papers, carefully thumbed through the leaves, and then began reading aloud:

  After I sent word to the College, I and my artificers waited anxiously for word to come back that they were ready to receive the Orb. It gleamed a dull silver-grey in its casket, the casket brighter than the Orb itself by far, it being made of plain polished Morgmetal sheet bound to the thick lead lining within. I was excited, and nervous, and opened and closed the lid of the casket time and again, assuring myself that the mechanism would not fail. Open the lid, and the lead platform within rises to lift the Orb clear of the top of the casket. Close the lid, the platform and the Orb retreat once more into the depths. Open, close, open close, until Serre Quilfan, one of my grinders and polishers, remarked that I would wear out the mechanism before its first real use.

  At length, as night fell, a party of four wizards of the Elven Viell arrived from the college; two of them, I noted, were of the order of Tau, or so I call them, and only recently arrived from Ostinath. They were to provide escort for the Orb, which it was my honour to accompany to the dome of the great college. The two Tau wizards were all attention, asking to see the casket opened, to observe the mechanism and of course to see the Orb itself.

  They made me uneasy, and, it seemed to me, made the other Elven Viell uneasy too. The Tau wanted to hold the Orb, to feel its heft, they said, but I refused, saying that only with purest white silkcloth gloves may it be handled, since the specifications required each polished facet in its surface to be entirely unblemished in preparation for the graving of the mystic runes which would take place in the dome of the college. They did not seem pleased, and it seemed to me that they had little knowledge of the design of the Orb, or they would not have risked spoiling the work and adding days of meticulous buffing to remove their greasy finger marks from the gleaming surfaces that Serre Quilfan and his colleagues had laboured so long to produce.

  Finally, with the casket sealed and on a litter carried proudly by four of my artificers, the Orb was escorted through the night, east along the path to the city, and then by the tortuous route required by Calhaneth’s oddly offset streets and roads, to the college. At the top of the tower, beneath the copper-clad dome, a pedestal had been raised in the centre of the circular floor ready to receive the casket, and on this, the orb was placed.

  Here, all those in Calhaneth privy to the existence and purpose of the Orb were gathered to observe the transfer of the inert geometrical object from my care to theirs, for it would be for these wizards and artisans to engrave the symbols of power upon the facets, and by mystic means, activate the Orb. The casket thus transferred, the lid was opened, the Orb raised and inspected with great care, and I and my fellows congratulated for our work.

  We left our work in their care, and returned to the workshops, where we all enjoyed a small dinner in celebration of the completion of our master work, so long in the making.

  Arramin sighed, and put down the sheaf of papers, shaking his head sadly.

  “The Tau?” Gawain asked, ominously.

  “Ah,” Allazar replied. “Tau is another name for the symbol we saw recently, and which I, and Master Arramin, would know as the taw. It is the symbol of the Toorseneth.”

  “Then it is the symbol of treachery, my lords, for Theo is in no doubt as to who was responsible for the city’s destruction. By your leave, I shall
read the rest, in Theo’s own words…”

  oOo

  12. Being Theo’s Account…

  I had been told, by the arch wizard overseeing all aspects of the Orb’s development, that the Elven Viell in the dome would require four days from delivery of the Orb to the completion of the engraving of its twelve facets. That being so, there was little to do in my forge and workshops beyond tidying and clearing up, and making ready for the next delivery of Morgmetal billet by barge from Ostinath.

  We were to commence work on a second Orb as soon as the billet arrived, and in the meantime, there was the preparation of flux and Argen-vitt to be undertaken by my artificers, and also the crucibles cleared of all traces of previous melts; this was in order that the second Orb not be contaminated by our prior work. With these necessary but mundane tasks underway, there was, in truth, little for a Forgemaster to do, the artificers needing no close supervision for such essential but tedious undertakings.

  Consequently, three days after delivering the Orb to the College, I elected to go to the docks at the end of the great water road north of the city, there personally to take delivery of the Morgmetal billet due to arrive on the morning barges. It was the morning of the summer solstice, the 22nd day of June, EB 30.

  For company, and to assist with such supplies as I was expecting, I took with me an elf, Sherrod, an excellent fellow who has a superior talent in the grinding of powders to such a fine and uniform consistency that at home in Smeltmount he would be honoured as Fluxmaster. In Elvendere there was no such title, though he seemed pleased when I conferred it on him within the works.