by Pedro Urvi
“Yes and no. As with the chameleon, its camouflage fools most but not all the predators. You won’t be able to deceive everyone. Those with much Power or great perception will find you out. But you’ll be able to deceive the least adept. Or at least so I hope.” She smiled.
“Thank you, with all my heart,” he replied, and bowed his head low in respect.
“Let me work on it. Come back in three days and I’ll have things ready. Go and rest. You’ll need it.”
Three days of rest later, Adamis came to see Aruma. He found her in a strange garden full of exotic flowers and trees he had never seen before. The Ancient was in the habit of talking to her plants as though they were her pets and understood her. By now nothing about her surprised him. The garden was in a separate chamber which was normally closed, one of the few which were.
He waved to her from the entrance, and she smiled at him. She was sitting on a wooden stool in a sort of workshop, at a large table laid with bowls and glassware. Behind this was a huge shelf full of glass and ceramic containers of various shapes and sizes. On one side was a hearth with a low fire on which several pots were boiling. The smoke they gave out and went up the chimney was a disagreeable green.
“Come in, Prince of Ether,” she said. She was doing something to a bowl in which some viscous substance was being prepared.
“I do not mean to disturb you…”
“Don’t worry,” she said with a smile. “I’m working out one of my “experimental substances”
Very slowly, Adamis went over to the work-table and sat down.
“Don’t get too close to the hearth ̶ those fumes are toxic. I wouldn’t want you to have an accident.”
“Um… certainly. May I ask what it is?”
Aruma nodded. “It’s a preparation based on various very special, hard-to-find plants and resins that I myself cultivate in my gardens. I like to experiment with the fruits of our Mother Nature, to see what new uses can be worked out by combining those fruits.”
“Is it a medicine?”
The Old Golden shook her head, and a malicious smile touched her lips.
“The contents of this garden aren’t used for healing, but rather for the opposite.
“To injure?”
“Give me a moment, and I’ll show you.” Aruma finished creating the substance and poured it carefully into the pot on the fire. She stirred it for some time, then took it from the fire and poured it into a ceramic bowl. She went to the shelf and poured some gray substance from a jar on to the mixture. They waited for it to solidify.
“That’s it.” She said. “Let’s try it,” She took a small knife from the table. With a wooden spatula she smeared the substance on the blade of the knife. Adamis watched completely absorbed. “Ready to see what it does?”
He was eaten up with curiosity. “Yes.”
“Raise two protective spheres. One against physical attacks, the other against attacks of Power.”
He obeyed, using his Power to surround himself with two protective spheres. Aruma took hold of the knife and brought the point close to these barriers.
“The Golden believe in their ignorance that they’re more powerful than Mother Nature, that their Power is superior to that of our wise Mother. But they’re wrong, the arrogant egomaniacs.”
She pushed the knife, and the blade pierced both protective spheres as though they were butter.
“Incredible!” said Adamis. “Nothing should be able to cut through those!”
“And yet, it does. Now tell me, which is wiser and more powerful, the Golden, or Mother Nature?”
Adamis nodded. He understood what Aruma was trying to show him.
“Nature.”
“Never forget that, Prince of Ether.”
“I never will, I can assure you.”
The wise woman gave him a satisfied smile.
After what he had seen, he was full of curiosity. “And what is in the other pot on the fire?”
“Aha! Devoured by curiosity eh?”
“Well, yes… a little.”
“This preparation is something I haven’t yet managed to master. Mother Nature provides us with the raw materials and the knowledge, but the experimental process is a long and arduous one. I’ve spent years working on this potion, and someday I’ll succeed.”
“What is it?”
“A toxin: the most powerful one I’ve ever developed.”
He frowned in distaste. “You are working on a poison? Why?”
Aruma smiled maliciously and stood up. She went across to some flowers very like orchids, but with black instead of white petals.
“Poisons in nature have two basic functions: they’re used to serve predatory ends, as in the case of spiders, snakes, jellyfish and others. Or they’re used in defense, as in the case of bees, frogs, caterpillars, plants, fungi…. I’ve spent my entire life studying them. My objective is to find a poison which carries out both functions simultaneously on application and which only affects the Golden, not all the other creatures on the face of the earth. I still haven’t succeeded, but each day I come closer. When I do manage it, I’ll be able to show the Five High Kings that their Power is as nothing against that of Mother Nature, that the path they’re following is wrong, because we are not more powerful that our Creative Mother.”
“I see…”
“But don’t let my philosophical ramblings cast a shadow on your day.”
“Listening to you always brings me wisdom. I am delighted to do so.”
She smiled sweetly, and put her arms around him. “I have a few presents for you.”
“Really?” he said in surprise.
The wise woman searched beside the shelf, took an object and showed it to him. He was unable to see it clearly, but it seemed to be transparent.
“What is it?”
“A ring, a very special one. I’ve named it Chameleon Ring”
“I can hardly make it out.”
“That’s the idea. I’ve put a spell on it with my Power. I know it’s something the Golden don’t do anymore, they prefer their discs of Power, but we follow the ancient traditions, when Power was transferred into objects and was shaped for a particular function. The ring makes the essence of the person wearing it blend into his surroundings and thus become very hard to detect. Put it on.”
He put the ring on his index finger. Aruma concentrated, trying to pick up the prince’s essence.
“Nothing. I can’t pick up a thing. It works,” she said, and smiled broadly.
When Adamis looked at his finger, the ring was now invisible. And yet it was there, as though it were part of his finger.
“You can’t use it all the time. The Power in it has unwanted effects.”
“Such as what?”
“Harmful ones. It could go as far as producing nausea, distortion of reality hallucinations… so use it only in moments of crisis, when there’s no other alternative….”
“And I have one final present before you leave.”
“More?”
“You’ll need this. It’s for when things turn ugly. Always carry it with you, at your waist, but don’t unsheathe it until you truly need it.”
She handed him a short sword in its sheath. Its handle was brown and green, and the crosstree seemed to be wooden.
“A wooden sword?”
“Yes, but not just any old sword. I’ve put a spell on it, and there are several of my preparations on the blade. It will save your life.”
“What does it do?”
Aruma giggled. “Better that you discover that by yourself. But not here. When the day comes when your life’s in real danger. Yours, or that of someone you love.”
“Very well. I shall honor your wish. How am I going to repay you for all that you have done for me?”
Aruma’s face was suddenly serious. “Remember your promise.”
“I will remember and honor it. You have my word on that.”
“Even though you may not know it, our paths run in parallel.
You’re young and inexperienced and don’t see what’s really going on and what’s at stake. But one day you’ll understand. You’ll see there’s much more at stake than you ever thought possible.
“And now, get ready to leave. I’ll warn my people. They’ll help you get into the city.”
“Thank you.”
“And for Mother Nature’s sake, don’t get killed, or else all will be lost.”
“I shall try not to.”
“Don’t try. Do it.”
Adamis took his leave of Aruma with a warm and heartfelt hug, turned and left the hall. As he was going out, he had the feeling he was going straight into the jaws of death. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
“I will not let you catch up with me,” he told death, defiantly. But moving on at a cripple’s pace, bent and dragging a battered body, he did not give the impression that he would be able to escape from anybody or anything, least of all death.
Chapter 13
A week after having left the domains of the People of the Highlands behind, Ikai was making his way through the dense forest at the first light of dawn, following Maruk’s trail. Something bright which seemed out of place in that natural environment caught his attention. There it is. The Barrier of the Gods. He went up to it slowly until he was able to see it clearly, then stopped in front of it. Here begins the Boundary of the House of Fire. Asu’s Boundary.
He raised his left arm with the hated Ring. When he brought it closer to the barrier, his arm started to shake. Adamis had made the whole group an offer to take them off, but if he did so there was no guarantee that someone might not die in the process of crossing the barriers. So they had agreed not to take the risk. He put the hand with the Ring across the barrier, and a golden flash made him narrow his eyes. The shaking turned to spasms as he was crossing the barrier to enter the domain of the Gods of Fire. We’ll win, he said to himself, and lost consciousness.
He came to as evening was falling. His body hurt as though he had been beaten by a group of Tormentors. He stretched his muscles and adjusted the satchel of food, then his bow and quiver. Lastly he checked his sword and long knife. Everything was in order, and he could keep on his way. He ventured into the forest very warily. Evening was beginning to fall, and he was haunted by an ominous foreboding, one he could not shake off. He was a rational person, someone who analyzed things, and the feeling troubled him. But of course he was in the Boundary of the House of Fire, and that changed everything. Maruk had decided to deal with that particular Boundary for this very reason. Ikai could not blame him. He felt he would have done the same in his place. After all, it had been Oskas who had killed Liriana, and Oskas was a henchman of Asu’s. Maybe we shouldn’t have let him come. But he was determined, he wouldn’t have accepted a refusal.
He shook himself and shut his eyes tight. Now he felt even worse. Remembering Oskas upset his stomach. Try as he might, he could not accept that this evil monster was really his own father. Or rather, that he had once been his own father. If he really was Siul, they must have done something unthinkable to make him end up as Asu’s loyal spy and assassin. Something so horrible that it had broken his body and mind. In the end there was nothing left of my dear father. I didn’t recognize him. He was beyond any possible salvation. Deep down, Ikai was glad Oskas had died. If a speck of Siul had been alive inside that creature, he would have begged to be killed. He took a deep breath and exhaled hard. I must concentrate on finding Maruk.
Before he went on, he wanted to make sure he had not lost his friend’s trail. He had been following it ever since he had crossed the Boundary. He took out a small leather pouch and poured its contents on to the palm of his left hand. There were four locks of hair, tied with colored ribbons. Four companions, four locks of hair. Red ribbon for Kyra, blue for Ikai, black for Albana and green for Maruk. Each one of them carried an identical set of locks so as to find each other if the need arose. For Maruk the need had arisen, and Ikai would find him.
He put Albana’s lock to his nostrils and breathed deeply, trying to grasp her scent, but all he could find was her memory. He sighed. Soon, very soon. He put the lock with the others inside the pouch, all except Maruk’s, which he kept in his left hand. He took out Adamis’s disc with his right hand and held it in his open palm, closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the essence of that lock of hair, Maruk’s essence, just as Adamis had trained them to do before they left. They had practiced a lot, as it was difficult to manage. For the best part of the morning he tried, without any result. He began to feel discouraged, then remembered that none of them had ever made it in less than a morning and half an afternoon of trying.
Finally, with the sun at its highest, the disc gave a golden flash and he was able to see Maruk’s silhouette in his mind, blurred to begin with, then clearer after a moment. Now the second part: to grasp his aura. It took him another long while, but in the end he succeeded in picking it up. He held on to it. His friend’s silhouette vanished and he was left with the image of his aura.
He used the disc’s Power to scan the forest before him, searching for the trail of his friend’s aura. At first he could not find it, but he did not lose heart and kept trying. He knew it had to be somewhere in that area; it was just a matter of finding it. He moved through the forest with his eyes closed, sweeping the area with his mind. Trees and other obstacles appeared as dark shapes in his mind, which he dodged as he went. The vegetation was a diffuse white. He kept moving, scanning the distance, careful not to trip or to bump into anything. It was like sleep-walking, except that he was wide awake even though his eyes remained closed. The Power of the disc was his sight. After a while he began to have doubts about whether he was in the right place; he ought to have found a trace by now.
He gazed up at the sky through the heavy branches of the trees, and a sharp pain in his mind, brought on by the brightness, told him it was not a good idea. As he lowered his head he glimpsed a distant light, like a silver reflection. Intrigued, he went in that direction. He was forced to walk so slowly that he began to get impatient, but if he opened his eyes he would lose the possibility of tracking and have to start again. He reached the place where he had seen the brightness and bent down. In front of him, on the soil, was a footprint. Above it there levitated a silver bubble. He stared at it and felt no doubt: it was Maruk, he had passed through there. He raised his closed eyes and twenty paces further on he saw another bubble. A little ahead was yet another. There was no doubt that it was Maruk’s trail. I found it! At last!
The trail led him to a village just outside the forest. He opened his eyes, put away the lock of Maruk’s hair and Adamis’s disc and studied the village from the edge of the forest. The houses were rather better than those of the Senoca, better built, more advanced. They were painted red and yellow. It was quite a big village, well-built and well-kept. He could not see anybody in the square or near the houses. Maybe they were working in the fields. The wind shook the leaves of the trees above his head, and that was when he realized; there was no sound coming from the village. No chatting, no laughter, no arguing, not even a dog barking. There was nobody there. Nothing.
He got to his feet, crossed the dirt road in front of the forest and went into the village. It was empty of any life. A shiver ran down his spine. He went over to one of the houses, whose door was open. He went in carefully, and what he saw disturbed him even more. It was deserted, and everything was in perfect order: the kitchen tidied, the wooden and steel utensils hanging on the wall, the clothes folded in the chest, the beds made, the rooms clean. No sign of violence. No sign that people had left in a hurry in the face of some imminent danger. No sign of anything. It was as if everyone had evaporated. He ran two fingers through the layer of dust that covered the table by the entrance. This house had been empty for a long time.
He went out into the square and searched a couple more houses for clues. But he found nothing. They were all in the same state. How weird! What could have happened here?
; “Hello!” he cried, in the hope that someone would show themselves.
The only answer was the sighing of the wind.
“Is there anyone here?” he shouted again at the top of his voice.
No reply.
It was a ghost town. He could not guess the reason, but it was unlikely to be a good one. Discouraged and puzzled, he decided to go on until he found another village which could give him answers about what was going on here. He walked for three days until he saw another village. He scouted it and found the same situation: another ghost town. He was getting more and more uncomfortable, but he kept going. Two days later he saw another village. Immediately he went into the forest which lined the path and went on walking. He did not want any surprises.
He went close to the village, hidden in the bush, fearing to find a new ghost town. But this time he heard voices, human voices. Happiness made him smile. There were people, and they were alive. He sighed when he saw them and relaxed. He took a good look at the villagers: they had white skin, dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes; they were really not that different from the people of the Highlands. He was not surprised by the fact, as this boundary was quite near the Highlands. He had not needed to use one of the underground Portals Adamis had marked on his maps to get there. He had come on foot in a little over two weeks, heading south-west. If the two Boundaries were so close, it was logical to think that the people living in them would be similar in features, not too different in race. As for culture… that he would have to find out.
Lying on the ground, watching the activities of the village, there was something that did not quite fit in that place. Next to a farm two old men seemed to be negotiating over a rickety cow one of them apparently wished to sell to the other. Opposite, two women were plowing a field. They were of a certain age, and he felt pity for them, They must need to work right up to their final days. Produce or die. In this Border and in all the others. The accursed law of the Gods. In the small central square, around a single fountain, a group of children were running around as they played, yelling non-stop. They were still too young to wear a ring. Enjoy whatever you can. Childhood is fleeting, he thought bitterly.