Soul Goblet

by J. A. Culican

  "Not good," I muttered.

  To make matters worse, the floor next to me began to disintegrate. I moved faster, tiptoeing my way across the floor with as much speed as I could muster, while avoiding any other gold veins. I had to reach the fireplace before the floor vanished completely.

  Great yawning holes opened in the floor. I rushed to fireplace and just as I reached the armchair, the floor crumbled beneath me.

  I lunged. My left arm tightly gripped the jar as my right hand stretched for the symbol. For a moment, I was flying. Then, I was falling.

  Chapter 24

  I opened my eyes to a bright light.

  I was still holding on to the jar, but somehow, I was in another room that was even more awe-inspiring than last. While the blue room had been full of every type of riches, the air in this one swirled with power, visible and invisible alike.

  The entire room was lit with alluring turquoise energy waves. I realized I was sitting at the edge of the room while the energy swirled in front of me, and in the middle was a single, solitary ball acting as the origin of each of the crackling bolts dancing from side to side. It was an orb, with a pearlescent quality reminiscent of a semi-precious gem from the ocean. I tore my eyes away to look around the room, but there was nothing else there.

  Nothing else was in the room. Except me and the orb. I realized, unlike the other rooms I’d seen in the temple, the walls in this one were clear.

  Across the hall on the other side of the orb, waving frantically, were Gwen and Will.

  I stood up, only now realizing I’d managed to hang on to the jar. I waved my free hand.

  "Can you hear me?" I shouted at my friends.

  She shouted something in return, but I couldn’t hear her.

  We could see each other, but the walls wouldn’t let us interact.

  I looked at the orb in the center and clenched my jar, my determination to solve this rising. I still had to get to the center of the room without assistance from either of them, even though I could see them there. I remembered the book and Jarid, and began rummaging in my bag with the other hand.

  The book was still there, so I jotted a quick note. I hoped he’d heard or knew something about the energy orb crackling in front of me.

  It took a few moments, but as the writing appeared on the pages I smiled.

  Yes, but it’s supposed to be in the Library, not on Bomrega.

  Jarid, it turned out, had heard of a ball of energy before. But it was supposed to be in the Library?

  "Interesting.”

  I glanced at Gwen and Will, who were still frantically searching for a way through. Maybe there was a door on their side, maybe not. Either way, they wouldn't make it inside before I acted.

  I quickly scanned the rest of Jarid’s entry.

  “It’s called the Eurosphere, and it was an item long thought to be lost in the deepest bowels of the mermaid kingdom.”

  I looked up, appreciating the glowing beauty. That would certainly explain the pearlescent nature.

  “Rumor of its continued existence only reappeared in scholarly texts two hundred years ago. At one point, a Librarian at Starside thought he'd seen it in a mysterious room that appeared one night while he was cataloguing, but the room vanished before his report could be confirmed. He was written off as crazy. His account was recorded, but was the last report in the Library archives about it.”

  I jotted down one sentence.

  "What does it do?"

  The response flew back.

  “You need to brave the energy around it to get to the Eurosphere. However, if the energy traps you, it's unlikely you’ll succeed. There’s no record of what the energy will do, if it will kill you or drive you crazy. It's possible no one has ever lived long enough after seeing it to write down what happened.”

  I groaned, not at all reassured by Jarid’s help. It was pretty much what I expected from the tasks the Library had set me so far. A chance of death if I failed. At least now I knew I needed to reach the ball in the center.

  But how? Something told me my trick of semi-invisibility wouldn't work here. It had barely worked the last time I’d tried it and these energy waves would be much harder to confuse than a weak elven defense trap.

  I remembered the key Kramson had given me. It had begun to feel strangely warm after I’d entered the room. I took it out of my shirt to look at it and inhaled sharply. Where it had been an ornate but simple bronze object last time I looked at it, it now glowed faintly, pulsing slightly as it warmed and cooled against my skin.

  A tingle of premonition filled me.

  I was obviously trapped in this room by myself until I figured out what to do. Jarid made it sound like the orb itself was out of the myths and legends section of the Library, lost to the records for hundreds of years, and the energy emitting from it had the potential to end my life.

  On the other hand, I had a key from the Library that was doing something new and strange. It filled me with the certainty the Library itself wanted me to accomplish my task. I had the paper Jarid had given me, the book with Jarid available to answer questions, and lastly, the simple brown jar I hadn’t wanted to put down in case I needed it again.

  I looked at the book again, wondering if Jarid knew any specifics about what the orb did, but he’d written nothing else. Either it was so ancient the information had been lost, or what it did depended on the seeker, and the nature of the orb changed as needed.

  I couldn’t know for sure, but the latter felt correct.

  Placing the book and map back in my satchel, I swung it behind me, holding the jar with one hand and clasped the other around the key.

  I held my breath and looked down. Praying I wasn’t completely wrong, I touched the two objects together.

  The moment they joined, the energy in the room went wild. If I’d thought energy was swirling before, now I was trapped in a tornado. I realized, even as I worried, that the energy was sparking out of control everywhere except where I stood.

  I was the eye of the storm.

  Taking a hesitant step forward, the area free of lightning moved with me. I glanced at Gwen and Will, wanting them to see my triumph, but as Gwen looked at me, her eyes full of terror I could tell the intensification of the energy had blocked their view of me and caused her to panic.

  Not wanting to upset her further, I looked away and moved faster.

  Within ten great strides, I'd reached the orb, still maintaining the key on the jar the entire time, but the second I stood in front of it I could feel a voice. Or was it voices?

  They whispered I could put the jar down, that I’d reached my goal.

  I paused, wondering if it was a trick or another test, but again came the certainty I was exactly where I needed to be. Allowing the key to fall back against my chest, I placed the jar carefully on the floor at the foot of the orb and stared into the swirling blue-green center of the universe.

  Compelled to be closer, I placed both hands on top of it.

  The moment I touched the orb an image of a goblet flashed in front of me. It was the same as the one on the fireplace, but much more beautiful. This was what my reward was, this was what I had come to the temple to find.

  But I had barely caught a glimpse of the goblet before images of my life bombarded me.

  My childhood, not fitting in. The other elves laughing at me.

  “You’re so strange and boring!”

  “The spirit of an old man must have possessed you to waste so much time with books.”

  Running away crying, holding my books against my chest.

  My mother's disappointment when I showed no interest or aptitude in ensnaring a husband like my sisters.

  “Why can’t you try harder to be like your sisters?”

  “But Mother, I want to learn!”

  “Then learn to be a lady. This obsession with being in the library has to stop.”

  My father turning his back while he trained my brother, even as I pleaded with him to let me learn the skills
of a warrior.

  “You need to listen to your mother. This is a man’s job.”

  “But I can be just as fast and strong.”

  “Go away. Your duties are to marry well and create alliances, not die on a battlefield. You’ll thank me later.”

  Faster and faster the images came, flooding me. I could feel the globe was learning everything it could about me as it probed my mind and memories.

  Images of when the ur’gels had attacked us in the forest, the horrifying moment where the doppelgänger had almost stolen my life.

  But I relived other moments as well.

  Quiet moments, happy moments.

  Smiles shared with Sel in the library, strange companions, and friends despite our circumstances.

  Gwen and her wolves, my heart leaping with a warmth I wasn't familiar with, my first real female friend.

  Loglan, his wisdom, kindness, and bravery in the short time I’d known him.

  Jarid, his shy and bumbling determination to help, even at great personal expense.

  Will’s cocky smile and irritating demeanor, yet deep within was a solid core of goodness.

  The incredible flying ship.

  Images, both good and bad, memories I hadn't even remembered until they flashed in front of me once more. A sudden pause as they faded, leaving me one last image of myself in the room with the energies swirling around me.

  It was as if a switch had been flipped, or an engine had wound down and I became aware we’d returned to the present. Then the images returned, but this time, of events I was sure hadn't yet occurred.

  Gwen, fighting alone against ur’gels. One of the wolves lying still beside her, blood matted on its fur. In my mind's eye, I grabbed my knife readied myself to leap into the fray, but the image vanished before I could.

  Now I was in the Library, in yet another maze with Jarid and Sel. Sel held a door open for me, but if I walked through it, I was certain he would be lost, and the door would slam shut on him. I would escape, but at the cost of his freedom.

  I refused to take the easy way out. I pushed him through the opening to safety, while I took his place. I’d never let anyone die for me if I could save them instead.

  The image changed again. This time, the slaver had found Will and had him pinned to the ground. Just as he was about to wrap his arms around Will’s neck and twist, I lunged, a soundless scream echoing as I jumped onto the monstrous human’s back.

  Except I wasn't on the slaver. Instead, I rode Loglan, his smooth, muscular flanks rippling as we raced across the plains of the Low Forest. A darkness approached us, but I felt no fear as I held my knife in the air, a battle cry escaping me, as a strange joy swept over me.

  Even as the scream left my lips, the crystal clarity there was no way to win flooded my mind. Dag’draath's army approached and I faced certain death. I realized then there may be no way to win, to trap Dag’draath or send him away where he couldn't do any further damage. But in the same moment of conviction, I understood it didn’t matter.

  With my friends, for my friends, for those I loved, and for my planet, I would fight to the death to protect everything I loved. One way or another, I would fight against Dag’draath with every last breath. If I couldn't succeed with my books, I would take down as many ur’gels with my knife as I could.

  I blinked and the images vanished as though they’d never existed. The energy in the room quieted. And in the spot the orb had been during the indefinite amount of time it had taken to show me the truth, was the goblet.

  This time, when I reached my hand out, the goblet came to me easily. I had been found worthy.

  Chapter 25

  I held the goblet, feeling its bronzed and ornately carved surface warm in a way metal shouldn’t. The way the key from the Library had warmed when I’d entered the room. They were similar, both made from the same metal, acting in a way I’d never seen before.

  As I held it, I realized I had in fact seen this goblet one other time in my reading, in the books in my library at home. The books which had caused me to seek out the Library at Abrecem Secer in the first place.

  It was one of the objects I would need if there was a way to stop Dag’draath. But it was only one of the objects. There was still so much more for me to learn before that could come to pass. More books to read, more mysteries to unravel. But at least I’d found what I had come to the temple and to Bomrega Island for.

  I remembered Gwen and her terrified attempts to get to me moments earlier, and looked over to see they were still waiting behind the invisible barrier to the room. Had they been able to see the images I had? What the orb had shown me felt personal, and I’m sure was why I’d had to do this part on my own. But that didn’t matter. They were here, and I knew Sel was also fine, with a certainty I couldn’t explain. But I was also positive we needed to leave immediately.

  Staying on Bomrega Island any longer wasn't a good idea. The island was still in a state of anarchy unconducive to our continued health.

  I bit my lip and looked around the room. The moment I’d taken the goblet off the pedestal the orb had sealed shut again. But now instead of the violent energies which made it so difficult to walk forward, and the images bombarding my mind earlier, I felt only soothing light emanating from it, as though the power within had simply gone to sleep.

  Hopeful I wasn't being naïve, I walked directly toward Will and Gwen, leaving the brown jar at the foot of the globe, a subtle feeling telling me it was important it stayed in the room.

  The key from the Library pulsed warmly against my chest as I stepped lightly to the wall where they waited. I touched my fingertips to the space between them and stepped through.

  Gwen scooped me into her arms the second she was able to touch me. I felt the tears, warm and wet on my shoulder, as she squeezed me tightly. After a few moments of her desperate embrace I smiled, pulling back just far enough for her to wipe her face before I glanced at Will, only to see a matching look of relief on his face.

  "Don't ever do that to me again, Rhin!" Gwen choked back a sob as she glared at me. "I was certain you were…"

  Her words trailed off and I could see she'd stopped because it was too hard to voice her worries.

  I understood exactly how she felt. I’d just felt the same earlier while watching her fight an ur’gel in an image the orb had given me. I leaned into her again, squeezing her as tightly as she'd squeezed me.

  "I'm okay. We're both okay."

  Our eyes met, searching. A smile passed between us before I blinked, and the moment passed.

  "We do need to get out of here though. I'm positive the goblet is something we don't want anyone to know we have. Not to mention the fact we snuck onto the island in the first place, which leads me to believe we should go, posthaste."

  "Finally, something I agree with." Will’s voice was harsh, but I could hear the emotion he was suppressing.

  I let go of Gwen to give him a hug as well.

  "Thanks for being there. Where did you guys come from anyway? How did you manage to get in here?"

  Will shrugged, but the blush coloring Gwen's cheeks made me even more curious.

  "We'll tell you back on the ship. It's a long story. I agree we need to get out of here."

  Gwen looked around nervously and I realized this hallway was far better lit than the ones I'd come through.

  "Are we in the…?" My voice trailed off, and my heart sank as I realized we had even less time than I'd anticipated.

  "Yup. We’re in the royal court. Luckily, we lost our pursuers, but I’m sure they won’t take too long to find us. If we hadn’t given them the slip, they likely would've gotten to us while we waited for you to play with the magic orb." He gave me a curious look.

  I brushed his unspoken question aside, not yet ready to speak of it, certain we didn’t have the time now anyway.

  "Let's go. Did you see Sel?"

  They both shook their heads and I sent out a prayer we found him before we got to the ship. "Any way for us to
go out the back? I last saw him when I snuck in."

  "Funny you should ask. As we were avoiding some irate dragon guards, I spotted a door which I think leads away from the front."

  "Let's go. The sooner we get back to the ship, the better. We’ve got a lot to discuss."

  We hurried through well-lit hallways. They weren’t ornately decorated, but it was clear we were in the current incarnation of the temple by their width alone.

  By the time we reached the door Will remembered, I felt as though we’d been wandering for hours, but the position of the sun showed hardly an hour had passed since I’d entered the temple.

  Strange. It had felt like so much longer.

  Vegetation hid the door from the outside and when we exited, I realized this would have made a better entry point, had I been permitted to find it. Everything up until now had been a test of one sort or another, which I’d apparently passed. But now I wanted to know who or what was testing me, and why. Was it simply because of my desire to stop Dag’draath? Or was something else going on, beyond the obvious?

  When I spotted Sel, waiting across the road, hiding behind a refuse pile, I pushed the thoughts aside. Later would be soon enough to sit down and unravel new mysteries. Right now, we had to get back to the ship.

  With the key and the goblet in hand, tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

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