by Nhys Glover
“Enraged, The Jayger came with more water to overtake the last dry land. As he did, a huge whirlpool opened up inside the circle the Goddess had made, over the top of the volcano. It sucked the monstrous beast—the raging energy of the sea—down into the depths of the volcano and into the very heart of the fiery underworld below. Then the Goddess used earth to seal the entrance.
“The men and beastlings that survived the flood were given magic to aid them regenerate the earth and repopulate it. And the Goddess took the key, which had generated the whirlpool, and hid it in the side of the mountain that had once been the volcano.”
Landor looked up at us, more expectant than before.
“So we are like the circle, made up of the elements that are not water. Because we all know that one element cannot fight the same element. They blend. What is a volcano?” Zem was putting the pieces together fast and I was being dragged along behind, as always.
“From other stories I have read, the earth was formed from fire deep beneath the water. The molten earth boiled up out of holes and cooled when it hit water,” Landor explained, turning to another illustration that showed a pointy mountain with fire and smoke coming out of the top. “More and more earth came to the surface that way, building up over time, until it broke free of the water, becoming land. Those places where the fire still boiled up, the molten earth cooled and grew taller than the rest of the land, turning into mountains like ours in Highlund.”
“But Highlund has no spewing volcanoes,” Zem pointed out knowledgably.
Landor nodded. “That is correct. Over time the fire stopped spewing up to the surface there. In other places I assume it continues. Anyway, these places where the fire of the underworld breaks free are called volcanoes.”
He dashed over to the table where glass goblets could be found. He filled one and brought it back with a hollow reed we enjoyed drinking through. “Think of it like this hollow reed. If I put the reed in water and suck on the other end I can get the water to come up and overflow the reed like a fountain.” He illustrated his point, not well, but well enough. Water dripped briefly out of the end of the reed when he removed his mouth.
“The fiery earth, I assume, is like the metals and glass the Highlunders work with. The liquid form could go up the holes in the earth like this reed and fountain out the top.”
“But no such volcanoes exist anymore. I have never heard tell of any,” Zem pointed out rationally.
“Some of the most esoteric volumes speak of lands beyond our own. Beyond the sea. The Godlings of the past had most of those books destroyed but some remained. The priests kept them for their own reasons, I assume. I have no idea what those reasons might have been. Mayhap they liked to feel they knew the truth, when others did not. Mayhap they forgot they even existed.”
“Airsha talked about there being land beyond the sea when she offered the Godling the opportunity to take a ship and set sail, rather than be imprisoned for his crimes. Do you think the Godling plans to go to one of these volcanoes to let The Jayger free?” Zem asked.
“I think the reason we may not have found the Godling is because he no longer remains in our world. In the world of the kinglunds. If the priests knew of this story, they may have arranged to take the Godling to this land where a volcano still exists. I think the soldier lied about his going to the Clifflings. Or he was fed misinformation in the hopes he would be caught,” Landor declared, his pale eyes bright with triumph.
“But where is it? And will the Godling’s priests use the circle of elements to open the prison or will we use it to seal him in again?” I demanded in frustration.
“All very good questions, Flea. The answer is, I do not know. But I think it is significant that none of us wield water magic. If I am right, our last member will be either fire or air.”
“So the death and destruction that The Jayger will bring will be a flood like before? I think I remember reading about a time when the sea rose up and vanquished the earth in a great flood,” Zem said thoughtfully. “Only those on the plateaus of Highlund survived and later went down to repopulate the lowlands. I used to think that was just a tale told by those who thought Highlund should be the abode of the Godling, not Godslund.”
“But why would the Godling do this terrible thing? What would he gain?” I asked truly perplexed.
“Mayhap he wants to start again. Mayhap he will gather his loyal followers and take shelter somewhere like Highlund and wait for The Jayger to do its worst. Make the world that betrayed him pay for their disloyalty to him and the gods. It has a terrible ring of truth to it,” Zem answered.
“So mayhap the Clifflings do play a part in this somehow,” I said.
“Mayhap,” Landor agreed, his brows still creased with concern.
“It explains why the Goddess was so sure the Godling would succeed. Because the kinglunds are all searching in the wrong places for him. But why didn’t she tell us this?”
“Mayhap because she had in the past. Mayhap that is why I was chosen. Because all I have ever known of the world is what is written in these ancient texts. Who would have taken them seriously but someone like me?”
Zem was about to argue, but then thought better of it. After all, he’d chosen to join the search rather than undertake research with Landor. Though he was learned, he was a man of action. Maybe the clerics would have found these answers, but would any of us have taken them seriously and put the pieces together without Landor? After all, there are many stories of the past, few were actually true.
“Airsha will be kicking herself when she finds out. She offered the Godling this as an alternative to imprisonment. Now he has taken that alternative. She can’t even justify going after him. The council will be well-pleased when they find out,” Zem said shrewdly.
“I will be kicking myself?” Airsha said as she entered the room with little Trace on her hip. Her mother and the babe’s nurse followed behind her with the rest of the childlings.
“Landor may have discovered were the ex-Godling has gone,” I told her worriedly.
“And how is the council going to be happy about this?” she asked conversationally. She was in mother-mode not ruler-mode in that moment.
“Because he took ship and left the kinglunds for some other place with a volcano,” I informed her knowledgably. “And before you ask, a volcano is a mountain that spews fire and melted earth from its top. The Highlunds might once have been a volcano or volcanoes.”
“Gods balls!” Zem exclaimed. “I know what he’s doing. He hasn’t gone out to sea. He’s gone inside the mountains. If Highlund was once a volcano, then the reed that leads down into the fire below must still be there. Maybe the reason it isn’t a volcano anymore is because that’s where the Goddess made the earth seal him in!”
“But the world that we know of is more than an island,” Landor pointed out.
“It is now. But back then when the flood covered the earth. Highlund might have been the only land not covered by water. It explains the legends I learned as a child. That matches the story you read in that book,” Zem cried excitedly.
“So I do not have to kick myself?” Airsha asked with amusement.
“Maybe not. Though I liked taking ship to an island as the reason why we couldn’t find the Godling,” Zem said sourly.
“Let me get this straight. You are now suggesting that the priests have led the Godling to the Clifflings, who would know ways into the core of the mountain. And they have a way to open the channel that leads from the fiery underworld to the air above,” Landor said, his brows knitting. “Will they therefore believe that the key created by the Goddess is to be found there too?”
“They may not believe there is anything beyond our world. They may have not even realised those books existed. If they had, they might have destroyed them millennia ago,” Zem said, equally thoughtfully.
I harrumphed loudly. “So is Highlund this mythical island the Goddess used to capture her mate or not? I’m confused.”
“
I think the priests think it is, and will find a way to open the reed to release the beast. But it may not be the original volcano. Which means the key is still with the original volcano,” Zem said, gnawing on his bottom lip so hard I thought he’d draw blood.
“Which is somewhere out there?” I waved my arm around dramatically in all directions. “How are we supposed to find it and the ring? Or our other two points of the star, for that matter? I think Prior had the right idea. Walk away. If the Goddess can’t be more helpful, then why should we put our lives on the line for Her?” I demanded angrily.
“You are not putting your lives on the line for Her,” Airsha pointed our reasonably. “She will not be destroyed if The Jayger is released. We will. And the Goddess is helping. She may not have handed you a map and instructions, but she has told you what you must do. Gather and bind the five into one with love and respect. She gave you a vision of Landor and this other one... this Fire Master, he just came to you of his own accord. And you have accumulated a great deal of information on this quest in a very short time.
“You are too impatient, Flea. Not that I blame you. I am, too. But I have to speak for the Goddess in this. Remember, she sees time in a very different way to us. What you have done so far has happened in a blink of an eye for her. Less time than that.”
We all sat back, mulling over her words. Though I hated to agree with her, Airsha was right. The Goddess was helping us, not the other way around. She did Her bit by locking the monster up. It was not Her fault the Godling got it into his head to let him loose again. Madman that he is!
“I think we need more information on the Godling’s plan. Sorry the ex- Oh, gods, can’t we just call him Godling? Trying to remember something different is exhausting!” I complained.
Airsha sighed and rolled her eyes. “Just say what you were about to say.”
I grinned cheekily. “All right then. I think we still have two possibilities. He’s gone over the sea to find this volcano or he’s gone into the heart of the mountains, where the Clifflings rule. We won’t know for sure where to focus our attentions unless I interrogate the soldier who first gave us this information.”
“How will you do that?” Landor asked in confusion. “Why will he tell you things he would not tell others?”
I looked at him in surprise. “I thought you must have known, given how you block me. I am a Mistress of Air and my gift is reading minds.”
Landor’s eyebrows disappeared up into his lock of colourless hair. “You can read my mind?”
“Sometimes. When you aren’t blocking me.”
“How do I block you?”
I shrugged. “How do I know how any of you do it? Ask everyone else. Ask Zem. He keeps me out of his head when he wants privacy. Or when he knows I’m overwhelmed with too many voices. I’m not good at closing others out. I wish I was.”
“I do not consciously close you out, Flea. I would never do such a thing.”
“You should,” Rama said, coming into the room and catching the last part of the conversation. “You have a right to your private thoughts. And it gives her a bit of peace. Imagine what it would be like to hear every thought everyone else is thinking, every emotion they are feeling, on top of your own. It’s a lot.”
“Huh,” was all Landor said, mulling over this information in his mind. Then he realised that I might be listening and looked at me in shock. I smiled guiltily and nodded.
“Huh,” he said again, this time with even more concern.
“I think Flea is right. We need a definitive answer about the Godling’s plans, and the only one we can get that from is his soldier,” Zem said, all business.
“I’m not sure what condition he’s in. He was pretty worked over before he gave the information he did. And since then he’s been locked in the hole.”
Airsha shuddered. “Why? No man deserves to be locked up in one of those holes. It is inhuman. And if he has provided what information he has he should be treated humanely.”
Rama looked a little guilty. “There is still a lot of bad feeling toward the Godling.”
“A soldier is not the Godling!” Airsha snapped. “I want him taken somewhere better, and have his injuries seen to. How can you condone this, Rama, after what happened to you?”
Rama looked defensive. “It is not my decision. I do not control this government.”
“No, I do. And if you had told me I would have fixed this,” she argued heatedly. Little Trace began to whimper.
“Not everything is under your control. You are not all-seeing and all-powerful, Goddess!” Rama raged, spitting the word Goddess as if it were an old insult, not her role.
“I will see to this!” Airsha seethed, handing Trace over to her mother.
I grimaced guiltily. This was all my fault again. Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut?
Chapter Sixteen
Several turns later, I was taken down into the healing centre where the soldier who had been interrogated was now being worked on. I’d come down with Rama, who had taken charge of the situation after he and Airsha had fought.
I knew they had a fiery relationship, but I couldn’t remember them crossing verbal swords so fiercely before. Or not since the war, at least.
“Are you and Airsha all right?” I asked him quietly as we headed down stairs.
He nodded, still scowling. “Don’t worry about us, little Flea. You’ll learn soon enough that the occasional dispute keeps a relationship fresh. Wait... you already know that. You and Zem argue constantly.”
“Not like that. That was... ugly.” I grimaced, remembering the foul words they were thinking about each other, but didn’t voice.
“It’s over. We don’t hold on to our anger with each other.”
“Zem and I haven’t had a real fight since we became... involved. I’m a bit scared I might drive him away.”
“That is the worst thing you can do. You have to feel safe enough in your relationship to argue. If you tiptoe around him, you’ll end up storing all that red-haired fury of yours, and doing some real harm when it finally comes out. Like one of the volcanoes Airsha was talking about. We are both volcanoes, Airsha and me. It’s good to have something to compare us to. All that fire in the underworld that has to find its way to the surface and explode. Aye, that’s us. And you!”
I scowled at him, not liking to think of myself that way. But it was true. I did explode. And if I didn’t use the reed I already have, then I might really say or do something terrible to drive Zem away.”
That got me thinking. If the Goddess sealed up The Jayger, who was already a raging force, how much worse would it be when it was finally released? I shuddered at the thought. And I didn’t like to think that my fury might end up like that.
When we entered the healing centre, we were led to the bedside of the soldier. He was clean and his injuries bandaged, but clearly none of the mages had been called on to heal him fully. For all that, he was conscious and appeared to be in no pain.
Rama took the place on one side of the white sheeted bed, while I took the other. We’d done this before, he and I. A long time ago. It felt comfortable to be doing it again. At least this time the man wasn’t naked and wouldn’t end up having his throat slit.
“I have come for more information on the Godling’s plans,” Rama started.
The soldier, who was in his middle suns and had grizzled grey hair at his temples and skin sagging around his jowls, tensed and waited for what was to come.
He’d lost weight fast while he was imprisoned in the hole, I thought irrelevantly.
Then there was no time for my thoughts. I was bombarded with his. The torture and his fears. His shame when he lost control of his bowels. For a moment, I looked away, sure my disgust and pain would show on my face. When I was in control again, I made much of reading his chart as if I was a healer checking on him.
“I have told the others all I know,” the man growled out, his voice barely audible.
More thoughts of what this ugly,
scarred man might do to him. He’d heard tell of this man. This was the Airlud who was tortured by the Clifflings. Horrible creatures those Clifflings. Not even human, as far as he was concerned. That the Godling would turn to them for help showed how low he’d sunk. Had the soldier’s family not always been loyal to the Godling and the gods he would have changed sides long ago. But loyalty counted for something in his mind.
“Tell me why he is going to the Clifflings. Why there?” Rama demanded, his voice harsh.
I saw the priests in midnight blue robes, not the usual colour I remembered priests of the old gods wearing. The word ‘Devourers’ came up with such terror it overrode everything else for a moment.
I saw a small room somewhere in the Badlunds where the Godling’s prison was located. I was seeing it through this man’s eyes. It had taken time and money to get himself into the position as his guard. For the others to do the same.
The Godling was allowed visitors—carefully vetted visitors. These dark-blue robed priests were not on anyone’s records so they were allowed in. They were a secret sect that had come forward after the end. They’d been coming in to visit the Godling for over a sun, spreading their poison.
“What is he planning?” Rama demanded again, just to keep the man’s mind on track. I doubt it could have gone off-track at this point. I was being inundated with information that I was having trouble getting straight in my head.
They came often and usually spoke in whispers, though he and his partner were the only ones in the room and they were both loyal.
There was one time. Toward the end, just before the escape plan was initiated.
The Godling had been arguing with the priests in dark blue. The Devourers. Though they dressed in plain clothes. How did I know they wore dark blue robes? I didn’t know. It wasn’t in the mass of information I was getting.
They had an ancient scroll so old it almost fell apart in their hands. They brought it in secretly for the Godling to see. It was the way into the side of the mountain. He hadn’t seen it up close, but that was what they said it was.
