by T Nisbet
Chp. 21
I walked absently with Ivy as we followed Gill and Coach to the other side of the well-tended, courtyard and up the wide granite stairs leading to the front doors of the magnificent inn. Two teenage, uniformed, doormen opened the abnormally thick doors before us. We walked into the lobby/main room of the inn, and the youths shut the heavy doors behind us.
The incredible beauty of the room impressed me, but I was shocked at how quite it was inside. The amazing silence was like a bucket of cool water thrown onto my fragile nerves. My thoughts were once more clear.
It had been almost deafening outside, the air literally vibrated with the power of the falls, but the inside of the inn was almost silent. I was awestruck. I took a deep breath and felt the tension within me release.
The interior of the inn would have been welcomed by the richest of the rich back home. The floor was a magnificently tiled mosaic depicting a wild mountain hunt. Elegant wooden columns carved intricately with delicate vines of ivy rose from the amazing floor high above to a beaten copper ceiling. Vibrant silken tapestries hung from the walls on either side of the beautiful lobby. The tapestries depicted hunting scenes expertly woven into their shimmering fabric.
Beneath the tapestries, well-stuffed red leather chairs sat around small dark brown tables. Several large, etched and polished granite pots were strategically placed around the room. The striking vessels had been planted with flowers of brightest gold and deepest purple.
The front desk was crafted from what looked like the same type of rich, dark wood as the amazing columns. On its front, in gleaming gold leaf rested a large horn. It was surrounded with carved vines of ivy much like the columns.
Behind the desk, a massive glass window served as the back wall, allowing an impressive view of the incredible falls on either side of the promontory. Several uniformed porters stood to the side awaiting instructions. Behind the desk two men stood smiling at us.
"Hail to thee and welcome," said one of the men smiling brightly. "How many rooms do you require?"
Gill spoke before Coach had a chance.
"Four should do it, methinks, no, make that five."
"Certainly guardsman..." he paused.
"Corporal Gillian of the Lockewood," said Gillian with a half bow. "Is it that obvious?"
"Ahhh... well, not to a casual observer, Corporal," said the man bowing slightly at the waist. "I spent twelve years in the guard during my youth, long ago I’m afraid. I have learned to spot a guardsmen, and one of the Elite Guard if I’m not mistaken, please don't take offense."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Gill smiled and returned the bow. "This isn't official business good keep, though I'd prepare for that within the month were I you."
The man's features became drawn and his eyebrows raised. "Indeed?"
"I'm afraid so. There will be a contingent of guardsmen arriving in three days at the latest to prepare a reception for uninvited guests to Ceneria," Gill said sadly.
The innkeeper swallowed nervously and nodded, taking in the information he had just heard. "All will be made ready, you can be assured."
"I have no doubt," Gillian smiled. "This stay is unofficial, so feel free to charge us your going rate good sir. We would have the best rooms available that aren't reserved for royalty. It might be awhile before we can enjoy the luxuries of your establishment or any other again."
The inn keep looked at each of us, then shook his head furiously.
"I'll do no such thing Corporal Gilliam. Your name is not unknown to me, and we are acutely aware that the Inn runs at the mercy of the guard."
"Pablum, Keiffer!" he said in a military voice. Two porters quickly came forward. "Show our guest to suites on the west wing. See that all of their needs are met immediately."
Gill bowed deeply to the inn keep and gathered his leather pouch. The man waved his hand dismissively and saluted Gill smartly.
"Michelangelo, my son and heir serves under Captain Marchon as a messenger. So I'll not be accepting your gold, Corporal Gillian. I want no favors for him either mind you. He must rise or fall on his own merits until his enlistment is complete. Every Falbo has served a term in the guard since the contract between my family and the guard was made fourteen generations past."
"My thanks Sir," Gill smiled. "If you could prepare me a quill and parchment though, I would leave a note reassigning him here for the battle to come. It will be important for him to be close to family,” he said, holding his hand to stop the Innkeepers protest. “It is not a favor but prudent use of his knowledge of these mountains and the Inn defenses."
The inn keep nodded.
"That bad eh?"
"I'm afraid so."
The inn keep frowned deeply and bowed again.
"My thanks, Corporal. Please, I would consider it a kindness if you and your companions would join my wife and I for supper later,” he said, then growled at the two young porters. "Pablum, Keiffer! What is taking you so long? Be about your duties!" he commanded.
"Yes sir!"
"Right away sir!"
Our rooms were on a bluff that jutted out from the promontory just above the mist. Coach, Gill and I each had our own rooms, Toby and Carla shared a room, as did Brianna and Ivy.
My room was beyond amazing. Two of the four walls were glass from the stone floor to the carved wooden ceiling. The other two walls were constructed of multi-colored stones, set so seamlessly that I couldn’t a fracture or crack in the flat surface. A fluffy looking king-size bed with a deep red comforter and a pair of night stands sat against one of the rock walls near a wooden dresser. A couch and loveseat sat uncomfortably close the immense windows looking over a view that was beyond spectacular.
I walked over and tentatively sat on the edge of the bed for a moment taking in the room. This was a room fit for a king’s honeymoon if ever there was one.
A fireplace was set into one wall near an open doorway that I hadn’t noticed before. Getting up off of the bed I walked over and peered inside.
The bathroom was as immaculate as the rest of the suite, but what immediately caught my attention was how modern it appeared. A hammered brass sink and matching faucet with sculpted handles on either side stood against one wall beneath a brass plate that had been polished to a mirror-like surface. Near a large sunken brass bath on the opposite side of the room stood a toilet.
As I was inspecting the toilet I noticed what looked like shower nozzles protruding from rock wall above the bath. I cautiously lifted a handle below them on the wall and water sprayed out of the shower fittings into the bath. I put a hand out into the stream expecting ice-cold water and found to my relief that it was warm, almost hot. Smiling at my good fortune I stripped out of my clothes then and there, and jumped in. Normally I don’t take very long showers, but the water felt so good, I just stood there and soaked.
After awhile, sconces on the walls started glowing, lighting the bathroom, waking me from my peaceful, relaxed thoughts of home. I reluctantly turned off the water and grabbed a burgundy towel from a towel rack near the shower, dried off and tied the towel around my waist.
Walking back into the bedroom. I looked out over the enormous falls not venturing too close to the glass wall. The setting sun had turned the mist purple and orange just below my quiet room. Hundreds of glimmering swallows darted over the mist, daringly close to the dark, thundering waterfall.
Someone knocked on the door, startling me out of my reverie, and I went over to answer it. Toby pushed open the door and entered the room followed by Carla, Brianna and Ivy.
“We’re going to met Gill down at the dining room in a few…” he said and paused as he saw I wasn’t dressed. “What are you doing? Get dressed.”
“I took a shower,” I said, feeling a flush of embarrassment rush through me as they looked around the room.
“You needed it,” Carla said. “Hey, when did you get so buff?”
“Nice bod!” Brianna commented.
I shook my head and quickly exited back into the
bathroom, shutting the door behind me. Heart racing, I leaned against the door and concentrated on my breathing. I thought about throwing a football, focusing on the perfect throwing motion and willed my heart to slow down. Once I felt my nerves relax a bit, I got dressed as quickly as possible and taking a deep breath, opened the door and rejoined my friends.
“Carl is right bud. Looks like you gained some weight,” Toby said as I walked into the room.
I shrugged it off.
“Maybe, I thought I’d lost weight.”
“Back off the roids dude, they are going to make your balls disappear,” Toby laughed.
“That explains it!” Carla said grinning evilly, “I always wondered why your…”
“Ha ha ha,” Toby interrupted, lifting her from the floor. “Let’s go eat.”
Toby and Carla traded barbs mercilessly as we wandered through the immaculate inn looking for the dining room. We eventually found it and joined Gill at a table with the Inn keep and his wife.
“I hear congratulations are in order young man!” the inn keep said, standing up and taking my hand. “Captain Marchon must have been beside himself. You know, he was the last guardsmen to win the tournament.”
I returned his handshake, hoping the conversation would change subjects.
“Sit, please sit!” he said, gesturing to the seats surrounding the table.
Ivy sat next to me on one side and Brianna on the other. Gill smiled brightly at Brianna and poured her a glass of wine before passing the decanter to Toby.
“The chef has prepared duck tonight. I hope that meets with your approval. It’s a specialty of his. I think you’re in for quite a treat.”
“Thank you,” Ivy said, smiling. “It sounds wonderful.”
“One of my favorites!” Brianna agreed.
I had endured duck a couple of times. Once, at a Chinese restaurant and again at a fancy French place my parents had taken me to in celebration of my mother’s Master’s degree. I say endure, because it wasn’t my favorite. It was too gamey and oily for my taste.
Inn keep Falbo was a talker, but not in an obnoxious way. He was just one of those people who is reminded of stories and anecdotes by just about everything. I found myself liking him by the time dinner was served. He was quick to laugh and made everyone at the table feel welcome. Coach’s absence made the company even better.
I have to admit, the duck was pretty good. In all honesty though, the chef’s special gravy would have made eggplant taste delicious, and I despise eggplant. The boiled red potatoes were amazing as were the snow peas. The serving dishes were bountiful and refilled before they were half emptied.
After several helpings of the potatoes, I sat back unable to eat another bite. Ivy poked me in the ribs expectantly. I looked around the table to find everyone looking at me. I hadn’t been listening.
“Good keep Falbo asked if he could see your blade Jake,” Ivy said, saving me further embarrassment.
“Of course!” I responded, sure that my face was as red as the potatoes. “Forgive me, but that meal was so wonderful, I guess my mind must have wandered.”
“Nonsense young man, there is no need to ask for forgiveness,” said the Inn keep’s wife. “My husband forgets you’ve traveled all day and are wary.”
I scooted back my chair and stood, unsheathing Gwensorloth. It gleamed as I offered it hilt first to Inn keep Falbo. He carefully accepted the blade turning it over in his hands.
“Magnificent!” he breathed. “Now this, this is the blade of a hero.”
“It has been in the past and will be again in the near future,” said the barest whisper of a voice in my head.
I swallowed trying not to look shaken. Great! The voice was back.
“I thought you weren’t able to speak in my head anymore!” I thought to myself accepting the blade back from Falbo.
“When you are especially relaxed or tired, and sometimes when you’re drunk, the wall between us is weakened and you will be able to hear me.”
I sheathed the blade and sat back down, pulling my chair in.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before? I thought angrily.
“I wanted to surprise you,” laughed Thallium’s voice.
I heard the laughter and didn’t appreciate it very much, though I was thankful in a certain way, I had a lot of questions that needed answers. “Did you hear about the plan or do I need to tell you?” I thought to myself.
“I see and experience all that you do, my son, even if we can’t converse about it. I helped you set that plan in motion remember?”
“Thank you Master Gunn. I have never seen your blade’s like,” Inn keep Falbo said.
“Your welcome, thank you for letting us join you for dinner. We are honored.” I said, surprising myself.
“It is we who are honored,” the Inn keep’s wife said, nodding at me.
“I help out as I can,” the voice laughed.
“That was you?” I asked in my head. “You’re helping me with my etiquette now?”
“Not much, your parents did a good job teaching you how to be respectful. I just augment it a little here and there.”
“Corporal Gillian, now that our repast is complete, could you enlighten me as to what is happening so I can begin making preparations?”
“Dear can’t it wait until after our desert, dear? We don’t want to appear rude,” Falbo’s wife interjected, smiling at her husband and patting his arm affectionately. He looked at her abashed and nodded.
“I apologize, I fear my manners are losing out to my anxiousness to learn more about what is happening. I will have a lot to prepare if we are to greet unwanted guests properly. Please forgive me,” he said to Gillian inclining his head.
“Not at all sir. With the lady’s permission?” Gill smiled.
Falbo’s wife returned Gill’s smile and nodded her assent.
“We have credible intelligence that the Blood Elves will be attacking Ceneria within the fortnight.”
“I give it less than two weeks actually. There have been developments,” Thallium’s old voice spoke softly. “Not very much time to accomplish your goal, my son.”
“What developments?” I asked the voice.
“Your enemies moved up their time table when you touched the Cardinal Ruby, well actually when you gave it to Ivy. Guldan left the Blood Elves lands before it happened and is unaware that things have progressed.”
“My… God!” Falbo stammered. “Can it really be so?”
“I’m afraid it is,” Gill continued. “One of the Ten brought word of this personally.”
“They really know I have it?” I asked Thallium’s essense.
“Actually, you don’t have it, Jake. Like I said, your girlfriend does,” said the voice. “I can only wonder how wild their speculations have become. An immortal takes possession of the stone, then an unknown human mage takes possession from him.”
“The Ten are involved?” Falbo said leaning forward his face mirroring his shock. “The situation must indeed be dire. How many?”
“Just one so far,” Gill responded, “but the mage council has summoned them to help Ceneria, so who knows.”
Gill started explaining in more detail what had happened leaving our quest out of his explanation.
My thoughts fluttered around me like butterflies on the wind. Something kept eluding me and it was totally frustrating. They knew I had it, but only briefly before I gave it to Ivy to hold. Cenaria is run by mages, so they attack Ceneria? Something was escaping me, what did mages have to do with Ivy?
“Oh, she’s good, really good. Don’t worry about it, I could fix it for you, but its best if you let your girlfriend do it.”
“Best if you let her do what?” I demanded. “And she’s not my girlfriend!”
“Sure she isn’t,” the voice laughed.
I turned my thoughts away from Ivy. The entire strategy relied on me being able to trap the demon within the stone.
“Will it work? Will the Cardi
nal Ruby trap the demon?” I asked in my head trying to keep track of the two conversations at once.
“I have reason to believe it will, getting it out of this world back to yours in time will be the problem my boy.”
I hadn’t thought about what to do if we were actually successful.
“Why?”
“Because the magic of this world is slowly eroding the ruby’s power. It was created in a vastly different realm, Jake, you might say it is inverse to this one.
“What realm?” I asked confused. “You mean another world?”
“Of course! There are a great deal more worlds or realms than just the world you came from and this one, but we can save that discourse for another time.
Think of the worlds as either: positive, negative or neutral from a magical perspective. The world you come from is more or less neutral, this one is positive, and the one in which the ruby was created, negative. The vast positive charge of this world seeks to draw everything in it to a balance. That means that the longer something is in this world the more positively charged it becomes, until it is equal to the charge of this world and achieves a balance with everything else here. Since the Gem is negatively charged, the positive charge is working to correct the imbalance, weakening the gem’s power.”
I took in the information and tried to make some sense of it.
“So that means the stone will continue to get weaker even when we bring it back to my world, since my world is neutral?”
“Exactly!” said the voice proudly. “Just at a vastly slower rate than here.”
“How long do we have to get it out of this world?” I asked.
“I’d say you have ten days, give or take a couple of days either way before the gem weakens to the point that the demon will be able to destroy it and escape the prison.”
“What happens if we don’t make it back to my world in time, and the demon breaks free from the gem?”
“Hard to say for sure. I would guess that its already considerable power would be magnified by the evil already trapped inside the stone. There would most likely be a massive release of energy.”
“That would be bad right?” I swallowed.
“Think nuclear bomb.”
When we finished dessert a grim Falbo excused himself and his wife. He promised to have a proper breakfast waiting for us in the morning and they left. I stood up and grabbed Ivy’s hand.
“Care for a walk?” I asked feeling my face start to flush.
She smiled up at me and nodded. To my vast relief Toby and Carla kept their mouths shut, so I didn’t have to endure any comments. As we left the table and walked down a hallway away from the dining room, I concentrated on my breathing.
She laughed bumping into me purposefully.
“It’s okay, you know.”
I tried to laugh, but I found myself even more embarrassed. My heart was racing and I had that familiar desire to run, but I fought it.
“Jake,” she said as we neared the end of the hallway, skipping lightly in front of me and putting her arms around my neck. “It’s okay, it’s me. I’m not going to bite.”
I looked down into her beautiful face smiling up at me and felt anything but okay.
“I have to tell you something,” I stammered, looking away.
“What is it?” she said, her voice suddenly sounding nervous.
I looked around to make sure no one could hear what I was about to say.
“The sword. It had an… essence bound to it. This is going to be hard to believe, but when I drew the sword out of its sheath, the essence poured thousands of years of weapons knowledge into me. That’s how I won the tournament,” I whispered hanging my head. Now she would know I was a fake.
“Oh Jake,” she said, hugging me tightly. For a moment I just stood there shocked she wasn’t angry, then I put my arms around her waist and returned the hug.
“I thought you’d be mad,” I whispered awkwardly, holding her tightly.
“Of course not Dear Heart,” she whispered back.
How long we stood there I don’t really know. It felt at once like forever and only a few seconds.
“Girlfriend!” a barely audible voice giggled in my head.
“Go away!”
“As you wish,” said the voice fading from my head.
“There’s something I want to show you,” Ivy said releasing her grip around my neck. “Carla, Bri and I found it earlier.”
I let go of her waist and she grabbed my hand, pulling me down the forest green carpet into a hallway to our right. She led me through a few more twists and turns then towed me into a glass observation room. The floor, ceiling and walls were all thick glass. I quickly stepped back onto the carpet. My balance threatened to leave me as I fought vertigo, putting my hand on the wall. Ivy let go of my hand and walked out into the room.
“Ivy… don’t!” I stammered.
“It’s safe Jake, I promise,” Ivy said leaning up against the far glass wall and turning to face me. “Trust me?”
My heart was hammering in my chest as a full on anxiety attack took me. “Please Ivy… come here. Please.”
“Do you trust me Dear Heart?” she said, reaching out towards me.
“You know I hate heights Ivy! Please come back over here.”
“I have a secret I’ll share with you if you walk over here and take my hand, Jake. You told me your secret, and I want to tell you mine, but you have to get past your fear of heights. If you don’t, mother said this quest will fail.”
“Ivy…” I stammered, trying to breathe, my vision going fuzzy. I couldn’t pass out, not now.
“Breathe, Jake. You can do this,” Ivy pleaded.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing. All those people in the town square cheering my victory in the tournament were all in danger if the demon wasn’t trapped. If our quest failed, the underworld minions of the demon would swarm into the cities and slaughter everyone like they had the dwarves in the port city Gill told me about. So many lives were on the line.
I opened my eyes and swore as I stepped out onto the glass floor. I was thankful it was dark and I couldn’t see much of the drop below me, but I knew it was at least a thousand feet or more, and my legs faltered. I cursed again and raised my eyes towards Ivy. Through shear will I forced my legs to work properly.
“Come on baby,” Ivy whispered her hand outstretched.
I paused for a second and forced myself to look around. I had to beat this. It wasn’t enough to just get it over with; I had to get past it. I took a deep breath and considered the fear. It was irrational. So what if the glass broke, I wasn’t going to live forever.
I laughed ruefully.
I guess that wasn’t true. If something didn’t kill me, I would live forever if any of what had happened was actually real. I realized then, with conviction that I didn’t want to live forever. I didn’t want to stay young while my friends died. What if Ivy did become my girlfriend? What if we got married, and had kids. I would out live my children? Why be afraid of something like heights? Immortality wasn’t a birthright it was a curse.
“I don’t want to live forever, Ivy,” I said taking a deep breath.
I walked over and took a hold of her hand. She laughed and jumped into my arms all soft and warm and lumpy. Relief and some other emotions flooded through me as I held her tightly.
“I knew you could do it,” she whispered over and over.
I felt her tears on my neck and realized she was crying.
After a few minutes she pulled back with her arms still around my neck. I looked down into her amazingly deep, greenish-yellow eyes and felt my heart skip a beat. She was stunningly beautiful.
A worried expression came over her angelic face. “I’ve done a horrible thing, Jake, and I can’t keep it from you any longer,” she said. It hurt me seeing her like that.
“Keeping what?”
Ivy continued to look into my eyes as hers filled with more tears.
�
��I’m a mage, Jake. And I’ve done something really bad.”
I shrugged, of course she was, everyone called her ‘magi’. Suddenly, I realized how it connected with the Blood Elves moving up their timetable for attack. Their King and other royals knew a mage now had the power to judge them, so they thought the council of mages ruling Ceneria had the stone. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? What kind of magic did she do? Why hadn’t I asked her it about it?
“You don’t understand Jake,” Ivy said, as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, “ because I’ve been keeping it from you and everyone else. I have always been able to suggest things to people, and sometimes to hear pieces of their thoughts if I concentrated hard enough. Mostly though, I could just manipulate how people saw me. Mother said it was a gift and to use it wisely, but since we came here, its been magnified beyond anything I could imagine. It’s so offensive, so immoral now.”
“Now?” I gasped.
Was that why I had never seen her as beautiful? She had been manipulating how I saw her? I was staggered as the impact of what she’d done crashed down on me. I felt completely betrayed. She must have seen the anger cross my face because she started crying in earnest.
Holy shit! She could hear what I was thinking too? All of the thoughts I’d been thinking about her.
“You stopped me from seeing how beautiful…” I stammered and stepped back from her. “You can hear my thoughts? All of them?” I breathed furiously, suddenly, frighteningly embarrassed. Adrenaline surged through me, choking off my vocal chords and sending my heart on a wild ride.
“I swear I haven’t been reading your mind Jake, I swear it! I’ve never even tried! I never will! That’s why I made the wish. I didn’t want you or the others to be scared I was invading your privacy or making you do something you didn’t want to do. ”
“Wish?” I asked hardly able to breath.
“When we were growing up I wanted you to see me as me. Not as someone pretty. So I made a wish not to be seen as attractive, and it worked,” she cried. “I love that you like me for who I am, and not because I am beautiful.
“When we arrived here, everyone started calling me mage, and it made me really uncomfortable. I didn’t want you or the others to start treating me differently or to start thinking of me as a mage instead of who I am. I didn’t really understand what I was doing, or even that I had really done it, Jake, I swear. I just wished it, and it happened. The wish put a shield up around me that stopped people from thinking about me that way, just like it did back home to stop people from thinking I was attractive.
“I noticed afterwards that none of you asked me anything about my magic, and it started me thinking, and wondering if I had done something to you guys. It became clear yesterday when we were traveling; neither one of the guards said anything about me glowing when it got dark.”
I took an unsteady step away from her.
She sobbed burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried.
“I wondered why at first, but mainly I just felt relieved.”
I didn’t like being treated differently either. I had never liked it, but all I could feel was betrayal and hurt. She looked up, her eyes pleading for forgiveness.
“I figured out how to turn the shields off. I just had to wish, just like I wished you would really see me after I got my braces off. There’s more…”
I looked down at my feet, through the glass flooring and into the darkness.
“I told you I could sometimes hear pieces of what someone was thinking if I tried. Well, last night when we settled down into our camp I heard one of the guard’s thoughts as clearly as I hear you speaking now. I’m scared, Jake. It’s disgusting, and abhorrent, but as much as I hate it, I can’t help but think it might be useful as well.”
“Useful?” I nearly shouted, though I knew she was just as scared about her powers and being able to contribute as I was.
“Jake!” she pleaded.
“What am I thinking right now?” I nearly spat as the sudden hole inside of me started filling with anger. “Are you going to practice on me or one of the others?
“No!” she cried out, aghast.
I didn’t believe her, she always seemed to know what I was thinking. She was more perceptive than anyone I’d ever met. Now I knew why. I felt the hot tears pour down my cheeks and forced myself to turn away.
“Goodnight,” I growled and left the glass room.
“Jake please!” I heard her cry from behind me.