“You’ve got it,” Arandur assured him, giving him a gentle pat on the neck. “Thank you. Go. Tell Aranhil I’ll call in later once I have her.”
Winnaur gave him a sympathetic look. “She’s fine, you know.”
“She’s making demands of her kidnappers to fetch her things, of course she’s fine.” It was the volcano that worried Arandur.
“Can’t believe they yanked me here in the dead of night,” Sevana groused to herself even as her hands flew, going through an inventory of what she had in her bag. “Don’t even have a third of the tools I’ll need, not that I have any idea of how to stop an active volcano. Really, what do they take me for?”
“A part-Fae with a bad temper,” Cheng-Huang drawled, giving her an impressive look under his drooping eyebrows.
Sevana stabbed a finger in his direction without looking. “If you knew that, why didn’t you summon a true Fae? Someone, you know, who can talk to elements and control minor hiccups like volcanoes and typhoons.”
“One does not summon the Fae as we did you.”
That stopped her dead in her tracks and she looked at him with mouth dropped open in mild astonishment. “Truly? Even the demi-gods of Nanashi Isle do not dare to jerk a Fae’s chain?”
He cleared his throat and looked impassively elsewhere.
“Well now. I learn new things every day.” She went back to searching through her bag. Curse the luck, but she didn’t begin to have the ingredients she needed to make a new Caller. If there was anything in the world that she could have, it would be that. Or one already made up, of course. In the course of her life, Sevana had felt woefully out of her depth exactly once. This just became the second. It was one of the few occasions where she would freely admit that she wanted help and would call for reinforcements. So, of course, her luck said that she wouldn’t be able to do so.
She must have been truly evil in the previous life to have such bad luck in this one. Maybe even a serial kitten killer or something equally atrocious.
Fed up, she threw her hands into the air and sank back onto her haunches. “Hopefully what little I managed to get out to Master will help them figure out where I am. I can’t call them now. Alright.” Blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, she shoved everything back into her pack. “First, show me a place I can work. It should be a clear room with multiple tables.”
Chi-Lin gave her an elaborate study, tail swirling in the air like living fire. “You just said that you can’t do anything without your tools.”
“I said,” she corrected testily, “that I only have about a third of the tools that I need. I am an Artifactor. I create tools, I do not depend on them. Now give me a workspace.”
Cheng-Huang openly grinned at her. “A proper space to work in is important for any craftsman. Come with me.”
Now that was an interesting reaction. Sevana fell readily into step with him and decided it would behoove her to ask some questions while she had the leisure to do so. “What are you?”
Understanding what she meant, he answered, “I am a builder, you can say. I govern over anything constructed, be that roads or bridges or government buildings.”
Interesting. Sevana could see how he would be tapped into by the people that believed in him. If she had a volcano threatening to blow near her, she would certainly think of trying to build something to either stop it or protect her home from it. Turning, she glanced at the two following. “And you, Da-Yu?”
“I am a river god in this area.”
A river god. It made sense, in a way. The only thing known to stop hot lava was water, because it had the cooling power necessary to slow lava down and turn it back into an inactive state. “And you, Chi-Lin? How did you get dragged into this problem?”
“The Qi-Lin are in charge of all animals, land and sea,” he stated simply. “We are also known for bringing good luck.”
At first glance, this gathering of gods for this particular problem seemed very random and thrown together. But all in all she could see why people would pray to them for help. They all had connections to the problem in their own ways. “I see. How well do your powers blend together?” She got quite a speaking look at this question. “Ah. I take it they don’t.”
“It’s why we called you,” Cheng-Huang explained.
Now she was getting the full picture. Minor deities didn’t have the same overall reaching powers like a true god would. They were like advanced magicians with immortal bodies, really; they were only good at their chosen vocation. Anything outside of their area of expertise and they were quickly at a loss of what to do. Because of that, knowing how to blend their abilities in with the others would be extremely difficult for them. Not only were they very different, in terms of power type, but they had no experience working with the others.
Nanashi Isle was not flat. Far from it, as it was basically one hill stacked on top of another to form an overall mountain. It was also incredibly green with trees, climbing vines, bushes, flowers, and moss all competing for the same space. Visibility was ten feet at best in some areas and there was only a winding trail to follow. Without a guide, Sevana would have been terribly lost, and by the time she’d found the town, the volcano likely would have already erupted. She was sure of it.
“There are other duties we must attend to,” Chi-Lin informed her as a sort of brusque farewell. Then he snapped off in a flash of light to…somewhere.
“I must go as well,” Da-Yu stated in a sort of rhetoric fashion before he too disappeared, although not as flashily.
Cheng-Huang did not appear surprised or upset about their sudden disappearance. He kept walking down the path as if their behavior was only to be expected. It made Sevana think that these three might not really get along. There were many religions where the minor deities constantly scuffled with each other over one matter or another. Was Nanashi like that as well?
They rounded a bend in the trail and finally the first glimpses of the village came into view.
Unlike major cities or towns in Belen, there apparently were no real roads in Nanashi. The trail she followed went right into the village without growing any wider. It weaved its way between the one-story, sometimes two-story buildings, leading off who knew where. It was not particularly large—in fact smaller than Milby—and her initial estimate of the populace was less than a thousand people. Probably more like five hundred. Sevana’s first impression of the place was ‘rustic green,’ as the buildings were made properly of stone but semi-covered in creeping vines. Even here, the plants seemed intent on taking over. The top of every building displayed potted plants, what looked like small box gardens, which made sense. The place didn’t have the space to spread out, so why not use every available square inch? It also explained why the buildings were smack on top of each other, with barely any alleys in between. Sevana had never seen a more crowded village.
There was noise and bustle, people chattering to each other in a language she didn’t speak. It had the air of a fishing village here, and the smell of one for that matter, but it was not an unpleasant place by any means. Sevana had been called into worse places to work her magic.
The first person to spy Cheng-Huang was a middle-aged man with a thinning hairline and short mustache. He carried two buckets of eels, but he dropped them immediately and went straight for the ground in a bow, like a crouching turtle. “Cheng-Huang-o!”
Everyone within hearing turned, caught sight of the god strolling in their midst, and immediately went to the ground in a bow as well.
Sevana had half-expected this reaction because no matter what she thought of him personally, he was still a god. Of course these people would revere him.
“Da-Chin!” Cheng-Huang called out.
From the sea of prostrated people one popped up, an elderly man stooped a little with age, white hair tied back, wearing simple clothes in dark grey with a white belt tied around the waist. He headed for them with a slight limp in his gait that didn’t seem to hinder him in speed. “Cheng-Huang-o, you honor
us,” he greeted with a deep bow.
“Da-Chin, this is Artifactor Sevana Warren.” Cheng-Huang paused a moment as everyone gasped in recognition. “She will be working here to deal with the volcano. You will provide her with the space, tools, and help she needs.”
“Of course, Cheng-Huang-o,” Da-Chin assured him with another deep bow.
Satisfied, Cheng-Huang turned to her and said, “Call our names if you need us.” Then he, too, disappeared into thin air.
Sevana stared at the spot in irritation. Perhaps she had questions she needed answers to before he popped out like a soap bubble? Shaking that off, she turned to Da-Chin. “I need a workspace with tables, some tools that I’ll list out in a moment, a guide, and answers.”
Da-Chin nearly vibrated in place, tears in his eyes, probably from relief that they finally had obvious help with the volcano. In his place, Sevana would be just as overjoyed. “Of course, Artifactor. Ho-Han, Ji-Gang, find a place for her.”
Two younger men that looked like younger versions of Da-Chin immediately popped up and went running down the street.
“Artifactor, I will act as your guide and answer all the questions I can,” Da-Chin assured her with a respectful bow.
“Are you the village elder?” she hazarded a guess.
“I am.”
Of course, that’s why Cheng-Huang would call for him. Well, that saved her time, as this was the man that had authority to order people about. “Good. First, tell me more about the volcano. How long has it been active?”
“Since Feng-Huang was sealed there one year ago.”
Sevana’s next question stuttered to a stop. That was so far off from what she had expected to hear that she just stared at the man for a long moment. “Feng-Huang.” And what in the world was a Feng-Huang? “You’re telling me another minor deity is sealed inside that volcano?”
“That is correct, Artifactor.”
She resisted the urge to swear. Or scream. Or call Cheng-Huang to beat sense into him. The last one was particularly hard to resist. “Elder. This might be a silly thing to ask,” she felt rather stupid saying it, anyway, “but if you know that this minor deity is causing the volcano to be active, wouldn’t it be better to just unseal him or her? Move them to a different location?”
“We cannot,” Da-Chin reported sadly. “If she awakens, the volcano will blow.”
“And it’s not possible to move her while she’s still sleeping and sealed?” Sevana had a feeling she knew the answer to that question before even asking it.
Da-Chin just shook his head, eyes trained on the ground.
Why a goddess was sealed inside a volcano…was insane, no matter how one looked at it, Sevana decided. She felt a little surreal being in this situation as it was. Instead, she went to the next most obvious question. “So, in summary, a goddess is sealed inside the volcano and every time she has a bad dream, it gets a little more volatile. Your gods here can’t interfere with her because she’s been sealed by a higher power—that’s correct? I figured—but the volcano is causing problems. I was called in to find a magical solution to protect the island while somehow circumventing her. Do I have all of that correct?”
“Precisely so, Artifactor.” Da-Chin gave her a hopeful smile. “This can be done?”
She had no idea. “First, a workspace. Then, tell me why a goddess is sealed in a mountain and who exactly she is.”
Da-Chin gestured for her to follow him and spoke in a rasping voice as they walked. “Feng-Huang is the Phoenix, the Guardian of the West and a sacred beast that presides over our destinies.”
Now why, Sevana couldn’t help but wonder, would someone lock a deity in charge of destinies in a volcano? Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?
“She is very alluring, very beautiful, almost fearsomely so. I fear that one night, during a grand banquet, she became a little too…”
“Drunk?” Sevana offered dryly.
“She was not quite herself,” Da-Chin demurred, apparently afraid of saying something about Sexy Goddess that would get him in trouble. “She made some advances toward Lei-Gong, or so it is said.”
“Keep in mind I know the bare bones of your mythology,” Sevana stated with some exasperation. “Who?”
“Lei-Gong is the Thunder God Dragon.”
A phoenix and a dragon? Sitting in a tree? Now didn’t that mental image boggle the mind. “I take it he didn’t like this?”
“It was his wife, Tian-Mu, that did not care for it. She is the Lightning Goddess.”
Oh-ho, the plot thickened. “So did Tian-Mu put her in there?”
“No, no, Tian-Mu complained to the Jade Emperor. He sat in judgment over this and agreed Feng-Huang should be punished for her flirtations. He sentenced her to imprisonment for fifty years. It was the Jade Emperor that put her in the volcano.”
Well, as a phoenix, the intense heat of the volcano wouldn’t hurt the goddess. And it would keep people from accidentally tripping over her or trying to set her free again. Sevana supposed that she could see how this would all work out…except it hadn’t. “Surely the three gods in question realize she’s causing trouble where she is and they’re willing to move her?”
“The Jade Emperor has returned to his Palace and cannot be reached at this time.”
Now wasn’t that just convenient. “Hence why I was called in. Got it.”
Again, he asked hopefully, “You can solve this problem?”
Sevana blew out an aggravated breath. “Not the question, Da-Chin. Whether I can come up with a valid solution before the volcano blows. That is the question.”
Sevana’s very first task was creating the tools she needed. It was terribly inconvenient that the gods had yanked her here without a by-your-leave. If she’d had a few days to prep for this situation, then she wouldn’t be scrambling like this in a foreign land.
Fortunately Da-Chin’s grandsons had taken her to a place that was good to work in. It was someone’s apothecary room—there were still plants hanging from the ceiling and shelves of neatly labeled jars filled with different medicines either mixed or in the process of being made. The three tables had been completely cleared so that she had space to work in, and there was a tall stool that let her sit if she wanted. The place had that peculiar smell of medicine and plants—not unpleasant, but it made her nose twitch.
In the course of her years, she had never been called upon to do something about a volcano, so Sevana chose to go at this problem the same way that she would any other. She would take measurements first, get an idea of what was happening, and then go from there. What was vital was to first figure out how badly the slope was changing. That would give her an idea of the stresses involved in the magma movements underground. She’d have to find a way to analyze the gas compositions too, although how to do that safely escaped her at the moment.
First, slope. Fortunately for her sake, she had things that would measure long distances; all she had to do was modify them a little and then link them to a journal so that it would update at a periodic time. Setting it up would be the hard part—monitoring it after that? Easy.
“Cheng-Huang!” she called to the empty air.
It took a few seconds, but the deity appeared next to her elbow as if he had been standing there all along. “What, Artifactor?”
“I need equipment and supplies.”
He gave her a superior, amused look like a parent teasing a child. “I thought you said you can make whatever tools you need?”
She gave him a withering look. “Which would you rather have me do? Spend two weeks making all the tools I need or actually trying to solve the problem?”
Cheng-Huang cleared his throat and looked elsewhere for a moment. “What do you need?”
Ha, thought so. “I need six sets of magical far-see glasses, my box lens, two journals, measuring wands, the ingredients to make another Caller with, and my skimmer.” The skimmer simply because she refused to do any more hiking up and down a volcano’s sides more than she had to. �
�Two more changes of clothes, while you’re at it, and how in the world do you know what to fetch?”
“I don’t,” he denied calmly, “but you do, and that is sufficient.”
Was that supposed to be an explanation? What, he was picking the image of what she meant out of her head and then using that? The idea was a little scary. Was he a telepath then, or was it something divine-powered that had nothing to do with magical or humanoid abilities? “If you can fetch things, can you deliver them?”
“To specific places, yes.”
Not to people, then. Curse the luck. Although it still might help in some cases. Not with Aran, obviously, she had no idea where he was in that moment. But she could send a letter to Master’s workroom, and to Aranhil, and that would help.
What she requested appeared neatly on the table in front of her as if she had brought them here and unpacked them herself. Sevana decided to dig into her questions about deities secretly, as she doubted they would forthrightly answer any questions she had, and shelved the matter for now. “The skimmer?”
“Outside. There is no room in here.”
Cheng-Huang shifted his weight from one foot to another, obviously preparing to go, so she flung up a hand to stop him. “Wait. Let me write two letters. One to deliver to my Master, the other to Aranhil.”
Even minor deities weren’t in the habit of being ordered about, and Cheng-Huang’s expression told her so, but she didn’t let herself be deterred. Sevana ripped two pages out of her journal, set pencil to them, and scratched out quick notes to both men. To Aranhil, she gave a concise summary and a reassurance that she didn’t need a rescue at this moment. To Master, a demand that he contact her through Milly, as they needed to trade information if at all possible. Folding them in half, she handed them to Cheng-Huang. “The top one to Master’s workroom, middle table. The other to Aranhil’s seat.”
Both letters disappeared in a twinkling. Breathing a little easier, she went to the next question on the tip of her tongue. “I was told earlier that there is a goddess trapped inside that volcano. Why didn’t you mention this before?”
The Canard Case (The Artifactor Series Book 4) Page 4