Rhuna- Black City

by Barbara Underwood

  “We are all hopeful of a good outcome,” Protector of Remembrance replied. “The members of the High Council of Atlán, whom we informed during the night, wait and observe with the keenest expectations.”

  “Yet regardless of the outcome,” Stillness of the Lake added solemnly, “the courageous sacrifice by Harbinger of Solace shall never be forgotten!”

  Rhuna blinked quickly several times to dispel the tears that welled up in her eyes.

  “What happens now?” Aradin asked as he returned from the nearby table with a plate of food and sat down next to Rhuna.

  “We continue as before, with the additional expectation of observing a change,” Protector of Remembrance answered.

  “His message said it could take a few lunar cycles to implement his plan,” Rhuna said. In that moment she looked up and saw Damell approach the group with a plate of food. “Do you know what Tozar’s plans are?” she asked her father.

  “No,” Damell answered flatly. “We did not have much time to discuss matters. Once he had made his decision, it was necessary to act quickly at the opportune time.”

  Rhuna looked at her father’s greying hair and deepening facial lines, and decided that he looked sad this morning.

  As they ate their morning meal in silence, Rhuna heard the light tapping of her young daughter’s footsteps and looked up. Shandi skipped cheerfully into the main room and approached Rhuna and Aradin with her usual smiling face. Aradin sat her on his lap and gave her some of his food while Yarqi and Mohandu took their food and sat silently nearby.

  “It is good that Goram…Beacon of the Night, is remaining with us,” Mohandu said awkwardly into the strange silence.

  “Possibly, his knowledge and skills shall be required in the near future,” Preserver of Faith agreed.

  “Where is he now?” Mohandu asked, looking quickly around the large room and out through the big terrace windows.

  “Still with Lozira, in their sleeping chamber,” Rhuna answered. “They want to be together now.”

  “Ah, good, good!” Mohandu said, nodding fervently as he smiled.

  “Lozira is happy now,” Shandi said cheerfully, jumping from Aradin’s lap and running out into the garden.

  “I wonder how long it will last,” Aradin grumbled in a low voice for only Rhuna to hear.

  Rhuna thought about Aradin’s gloomy words briefly before she was startled by the realization that someone was standing behind her.

  “Oh, it’s you, Goll,” Rhuna said, embarrassed by her nervousness.

  “It was an eventful night,” Goll said understandingly, and then looked expectantly at the Atlan representatives.

  “You wish to ask us something?” Stillness of the Lake asked the pale scribe.

  “Yes,” he replied firmly. “I desire to dispatch my records to the Depository of Archival Texts. My records bear a unique and invaluable historic record of events pertaining to the Black City, the Dark Master, the Atlans and…the events of last night. Such records belong in the Depository for safekeeping, preservation and for enlightenment of future generations.”

  “Oh. Yes, of course,” Stillness of the Lake responded, slightly bewildered by the scribe’s articulate speech. “How may we assist you in this matter?”

  “It was possible for the Masters of the Valley of Flowers to communicate in the Atlan method,” Goll replied cautiously. “By means of the Gazing of the Waters. A message from you to the Masters in the Valley would be relayed to the Chief Custodian by other Masters in the Land at the Top of the World.”

  “Which instructions should we message to the Masters of the Valley of the Flowers?” asked Protector of Remembrance.

  “That the Chief Custodian send several bearers to this location, to collect the history I have recorded so far,” Goll answered. “It is not uncommon for special bearers of scrolls and texts to journey across the land,” he explained after a brief pause. “However, this inn is perhaps one of the most distant destinations a bearer from the Depository has ever travelled.”

  “A lengthy journey,” Greeter of Friends considered. “Perhaps the length of one lunar cycle on foot.”

  “Yes, at least,” Goll said.

  “We shall gladly do as you request,” Stillness of the Lake said with a smile.

  Goll smiled in response and then returned to his small table near the wall where he continued to write. Rhuna watched him for a moment longer until she heard footsteps from the stairs.

  Goram and Lozira entered the main room and smiled at everyone, radiating contentment and tranquility. The change in both of them was so striking that Rhuna thought they had made drastic changes to their appearance.

  “You two look so…different!” Aradin remarked, expressing Rhuna’s thought in that moment.

  “We have found our proper place, with each other and with the world around us,” Goram answered in a mellow and uncharacteristically soft voice as he put his arm around Lozira and pulled her close to his side.

  “And I shall keep him in his proper place from now on,” Lozira added with the hint of a happy giggle as she looked into Goram’s enigmatic green eyes.

  “What are your plans, may we ask?” Protector of Remembrance queried, ignoring the couple’s amorous behaviour.

  “Our sole aim in life is to revel in each other’s love,” Goram said with affected mellifluousness, making Lozira laugh happily.

  “We plan to be together,” Lozira explained, attempting to be more serious. “We shall go to the lake, sit by the pond…”

  “Yes, yes,” Protector of Remembrance said irritably. “Should Harbinger of Solace fail in his quest, we may be forced to rely on your expertise in matters of utilizing the time portal,” he added sternly.

  Goram looked directly at the senior Atlan.

  “Naturally, I shall make new calculations, should circumstances deem it necessary,” Goram said in a serious tone, and then paused. “Although the pursuit of higher knowledge and greater power shall continue to be my goal,” he continued and then turned to look at Lozira again. “…it shall be tempered by dedication to…my family…”

  “You’ve made a big change,” remarked Aradin with a slight hint of skepticism in his voice.

  Rhuna noticed that Goram also heard Aradin’s suspicious tone of voice, and looked at him directly.

  “When my monomaniacal path was clearly revealed to me by Harbinger of Solace’s action and message, I was…humbled and shamed,” Goram said with brutal and painful honestly. “…particularly towards Lozira, whose unwavering love despite my selfishness has restored my emotional balance.”

  Rhuna was touched by Goram’s forthright honesty, and felt that her faith in the fundamental goodness within Goram had been vindicated.

  “Very good,” Protector of Remembrance said as he stood up. “Now we have arrangements to make for Goll.”

  Rhuna stood up as the others commenced various chores and activities, and when she heard Shandi’s happy laughter from the garden, she decided to go outside. The flowers appeared more radiantly colourful, and the grass brighter than ever, despite the deep and heavy sadness inside her.

  Shandi had been petting the tame goats, and now returned to scribbling lines in a bare sandy patch on the edge of the grass. She pulled a short, thick stick through the sand until she had created curved lines that resembled writing.

  “Is that the same writing you did before, when we were still in the abode of the Masters of Ancient Wisdom?” Rhuna asked as she kneed down beside her small daughter.

  “Yes. It says Sula-tana,” Shandi replied confidently.

  Rhuna looked carefully at the forms Shandi had drawn in the sand, and realized it was a simple circle encasing two smaller, overlapping circles.

  “It looks nice,” Rhuna said, hiding her unease at the mere mention of the word Sula-tana and what it entails.

  “The big circle is you,” Shandi explained, pointing with her finger at the outer circle. “And the two small circles are people who come together because of you.�
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  Rhuna was astonished.

  “How do you know all that?”

  Shandi simply shrugged her shoulders and smiled up at Rhuna.

  Every day, the sun shone brighter and warmer on the inn at the oasis in the sandy wilderness on the busy trade route. Every day, traders stopped at the inn to rest, eat and sleep, exchanging some of their wares with the innkeepers in return for food and accommodation. Caravans came from different parts of the Ling-Yu Empire, the land of Farsa, Varappa and even from the Land at the Top of the World.

  Lozira looked forward to each evening when she could perform her songs, both old and new ones learned from the Farsa traders and others. She became skilled at plucking and strumming her new stringed instrument, while Mohandu became very adept on his small drums, each one emitting a different hollow sound as he tapped with fingers or thumped with the balls of his hands.

  Goram sat with the guests when Lozira performed, and was at her side on every other occasion, never once going near the pyramid again. A few times, when Rhuna strolled through the fragrant garden as the sun made its final descent, she glimpsed Goram and Lozira sitting at the pond, kissing like new, young lovers.

  On several occasions, Lozira announced that she and Goram would walk to the lake and spend the day swimming by themselves, leaving Mohandu to entertain the guests with his innovative drum tattoos. Rhuna became more confident and comfortable with the guests, asking some for recipes of their favourite or traditional meals, or carefully inquiring about their experiences in Black City.

  The Atlan representatives continued to gather for discussions, at times around the pyramid as they considered removing the stone slab to the time portal. They also cautiously continued their communications with the High Council in Atlán by means of the Gazing of the Waters.

  As the days became hotter and longer, each person found a place in or around the inn where the shade of a tree or breeze through a window offered some relief, and they began to adjust their daily chores and routines to avoid work in the middle of the day.

  On one such day as the sun was at its zenith, Rhuna sat in the shade of one of the leafy trees and she saw three unusual guests arrive on foot. Startled and somewhat confused, she called Aradin and Goram as she walked along the track which led to the road of trade.

  “They are bearers from the Depository!” Goll called out from behind her as he dashed along the track. He overtook Rhuna with a swish and flutter of his fine cotton cloth garment, and greeted his fellow scribes with excited chatter and animated gestures.

  Rhuna stopped and watched the flurry of emotional expressions tumble from Goll and the others who were obviously closely acquainted with him. She listened to the pitch and tone of the unfamiliar language, knowing instinctively which fundamental ideas and emotions were being conveyed.

  Aradin stopped next to Rhuna as they waited for Goll to conclude his initial greetings.

  “I didn’t realize that he left friends behind at the Depository,” Rhuna whispered to Aradin. “I should have asked him more often how he was coping so far away from them.”

  “He always appeared to be coping very well,” Aradin stated.

  “Ah, the bearers Goll requested,” Damell said as he approached them. In that moment, Goll turned around and ushered his fellow-scribes along the track to the inn, introducing everyone as they walked.

  “This is Samten,” Goll said as he introduced the taller of the three young men. “He is a Prefect of the Depository.”

  “I didn’t know that you had prefects,” Rhuna remarked.

  “Prefects check the work of the ordinary scribes,” Goll explained. “Samten speaks five languages only, none of which is the Atlan language.”

  “Only five?” Aradin teased.

  They entered the main building of the inn as Goll introduced his friends to everyone else, and then explained the function of the inn. Then Goll listened carefully as Samten began a lengthy discourse which made his two colleagues frown. Rhuna sensed by the tone of Samten’s voice that the subject was very serious and disturbing.

  When Samten finished, Goll turned to face Rhuna and the Atlan representatives who were seated nearby.

  “Samten reports that since my departure, many more instances of changing text have occurred in the Depository or Archival Texts.”

  “This does not surprise us,” Greeter of Friends said solemnly. “The High Council of Atlán has reported several further instances of changed oral history in parts of the land of Atlán, also.”

  “Tell the Prefect that we are hopeful this aberration shall end in the near future,” Stillness of the Lake told Goll.

  Goll turned back to Samten and relayed the message which instantly changed the demeanour of all three visitors. Their faces lit up with hope and slight awe as Goll continued to explain the reason for the Atlans’ hopeful expectations.

  Goll and his visitors from the Depository were the focus of attention for the remainder of the day until traders from the land of Farsa arrived with their camel caravan as the sun made its final descent. By then, Aradin and Damell had arranged for Goll’s personal visitors to occupy several rooms next to Goll’s sleeping chamber, where they could stay as long as they wished.

  After three days, the bearers from the Depository of Archival Texts announced that they wished to depart the following morning, taking Goll’s substantial amount of written records with them. Goll had already prepared the parchment sheets, placing them between two thin wooden boards and wrapping fine strips of linen around them.

  “Do you wish to return to the Depository with them?” Damell asked Goll as they enjoyed an early evening meal inside the main building.

  Goll’s pink eyes widened with indignation.

  “No!” he retorted loudly. “My work is not yet finished! The situation concerning the Black City and the Dark Master has yet to reach a conclusion, and I must remain here to record it!” he said defensively.

  “Of course you shall,” Damell said soothingly.

  “It’s only that we saw how happy you’ve been to see your colleagues from the Depository, and we thought you must have missed them; missed your home,” Rhuna explained.

  Goll’s eyes and demeanour returned to normal and he managed a quick smile.

  “Although it has been most stimulating and comforting to see familiar faces and hear the usual old gossip and banter, I have no desire to return to my previous way of life,” Goll stated definitively.

  Rhuna felt slight surprise at Goll’s decisive tone, but quickly understood when she remembered that he had never left the Depository until he journeyed with them to this new land.

  “Of course not,” Goram said. “Your life only truly began when you left the Depository, is it not so?”

  “Yes, it is so!” Goll said emphatically, smiling at Goram.

  Rhuna and the others decided to leave Goll with his friends, and go out onto the terrace to await their guests and prepare the evening meal for them.

  “It’s so much more peaceful now,” Rhuna said to Aradin, Damell and Kiana as they prepared the meal and terrace table. “Goram’s anger was making everyone tense and unhappy.”

  “He is a strong personality,” Aradin agreed.

  “When he is amiable, everyone is drawn to him,” Damell whispered as he looked back inside the main room where Goram and Lozira sat with Mohandu and Yarqi. “Goll, Yarqi and Mohandu especially regard him with reverence.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Aradin grumbled.

  “At least Lozira is happy, and everything is calmer – for now,” Rhuna said.

  After the morning’s routine of cleaning the lodging house and replenishing supplies of soap and water for the guests, Rhuna strolled towards the shade trees near the pond where Goram and Lozira were already seated. Shandi and Aradin followed her, and soon they were reclining on the soft grass, listening to the buzzing insects hovering around the water’s edge.

  Nearby, Shandi had found a smooth patch of sand in which she made circu
lar motions with her finger. Rhuna sat up so that she could see what Shandi was doing.

  “It’s the Sula-tana symbol again,” Rhuna observed, and then explained to Aradin what the circles meant.

  “That symbol was most certainly created by the Dark Master,” Goram stated as he stood up and walked over to Shandi’s sandy patch.

  “How do you know?” Rhuna wondered.

  “It is the language of secret signs and symbols he created in Safu already, to communicate with his followers,” Goram explained. “It is also used among the Mages in the Black City, such as the copy that Goll made during his first visit.”

  “Yes, I remember,” Rhuna said, recalling the parchment Goram had shown her during one of their sessions of knowledge transference.

  “So that confirms what we already knew, namely that the Dark Master invented this Sula-tana name and idea,” Aradin surmised. “…to distract, or maybe confuse…”

  “I think there must be more than that,” Rhuna interjected, surprised by her own feeling of certainty about her words.

  “Yes, no doubt you are right,” Goram said, and then returned to his place next to Lozira at the pond’s edge.

  As Rhuna relaxed in the comfortable warmth of the shady tree, she became drowsy and leaned back, resting her head on Aradin’s outstretched legs. She allowed her thoughts to drift as she sank deeper into light slumber until she felt herself falling through a deep, dark hole. Suddenly, her entire body was ablaze in searing hot anger mixed with emotions she could not identify.

  Rhuna knew she was experiencing another mental connection with the Dark Master, and she struggled to regain her own identity in the spiraling turmoil of ravaging rage. As abruptly as the mental bond had assaulted her, Rhuna was released and returned to her tranquil location at the pond.

  “Another vision?” Aradin asked, sitting up and holding Rhuna in his arms. She felt weakened and exhausted, lying in Aradin’s arms as if she had collapsed. She only managed to nod briefly as she gasped for air and shut her eyes tightly against the spinning world.