Runes and Relics

by Kay L. Ling

  Her eyes filled with tears. “Me?”

  Arenia took Tyla’s hand and tugged her toward the pedestal.

  “Oh dear, what would I say?” She blinked and looked around the group for guidance.

  Lana had butterflies in her stomach. She could imagine how Tyla felt.

  Elias said, “Tell them you’re Tyla of the Anen clan, Sheamathan has been overthrown, and gnomes have taken over Shad— Elantoth Fortress. Then, just wait for a reply.”

  Tyla’s hand shook as she reached out to touch the gemstone.

  “It may be some time before someone responds,” Elias said.

  It was an amazing moment to witness—Tyla with her hand on the Aberell gem, making contact with gnomes who’d had no word from this fortress for over two hundred years. Jules took Lana’s hand, and she wasn’t sure whose was trembling more.

  Tyla closed her eyes. No one moved or spoke.

  A minute or two passed and then Tyla gasped. Was Tyla finally linked to someone at Aberell? When she smiled, Lana felt certain of it. Jules squeezed Lana’s hand and gave her a hopeful look.

  Before long, Tyla opened her eyes and stepped back. “I could see the pedestal, a gnome’s hand, and a little bit of the room.” Her voice shook with emotion. “It was like I was in his body, seeing through his eyes. I gave him the message, and then my view wavered and everything went black.” She wiped tears from her face and managed a weak smile. “I think he fainted.”

  Chapter 23

  “If I were him, I would have fainted too,” Elias said, smiling. “Once he picks himself off the floor, no doubt he will relay your message to his superiors. They may wish to contact the other fortresses or gnome leadership before they respond, so we may not hear anything right away.”

  Lana let out a long sigh. “I need to head home soon. I’m going to miss all the excitement.”

  Elias smiled. “Mark my words, the excitement has just begun.”

  “We’ll need to start monitoring this room,” Jules said.

  “We’ll have no trouble getting volunteers,” Tyla assured him. “If it’s true that you don’t need gem powers to work here, I know Lant would help. I think he’s a little jealous of me at times. I’m always in the middle of things.”

  “We’ll ask him,” Elias promised. “For the most part, monitoring the gems will be dull work, so short shifts would be best, and we’ll need a number of volunteers.”

  “Make sure you ask Parcune,” Jules said. “He would happily take a break from guard duty to work here.”

  “Yes, he’d be an ideal candidate,” Elias agreed. “Fine fellow, that Parcune. And Kaff would volunteer, but he ruined any chance of that. I predict he’ll spend some time in a stone room, but it won’t be this one. Raenihel asked if I’d put him in the dungeon.”

  “Seriously? Lana said. “He’d toss his own nephew in the dungeon?”

  “Think about it. Would you rather be an outcast hunting for every meal, or a prisoner who has food and visitors?”

  “When you put it that way, the dungeon sounds pretty good, I guess. What if the elders don’t agree to it?”

  “I believe the elders will sanction it. Kaff used to idolize me. Our relationship soured a bit by the end of the trip, but even so, if anyone can turn him around, it’s me.”

  “You’d think the bumps on his arm would be a wakeup call,” Lana said. “How could he be that foolish . . . or obsessed?” Elias had fallen into the same trap, but when he’d first experimented with dark powers, he hadn’t known about the side effects. Kaff couldn’t plead ignorance.

  “The dungeon is the best place for him, Tyla agreed. “He’ll have to listen to you since he can’t get away, and if the elders banished him, he’d get no help from anyone.”

  “Oh! I found something! Look at this!” Arenia called. She held up three gem pendants on gold chains. “They were in a niche under the map of the Elantoth region.” She brought them to Elias.

  “Smaller carat weights, but rizumen, just like the pedestal gems,” Elias announced after a brief inspection. “They were under the Elantoth map, so that may indicate officials used these to communicate with gnomes on duty here.”

  “What kind of range would they have?” Lana asked, still thinking about her intercom analogy. Maybe they were more like walkie-talkies or ham radios.

  “We can test them, but I believe they’ll work over long distances just like the pedestal gems. And that’s an interesting point. If we had discovered these before the Amulet mission, we could have communicated during our trip.”

  “You could take one of these with you to Strathweed,” Jules suggested.

  “True. I miss the solitude of my cave. Perhaps I can spend more time there.”

  “Would the other fortresses have these?” Lana asked.

  “I suppose so. In which case, the watcher at Aberell can easily relay Tyla’s message to his superiors, and our return message is likely to come from some Ahmonellian official.”

  Tyla looked nervous. “I shouldn’t be talking to them. I’m not even a clan leader. We should send for Raenihel. He could—” she broke off. “No, that won’t work. He’s probably in a meeting with the elders.”

  “We don’t have time to send for someone else,” Arenia told her. “You’ll have to do it.”

  “You’ll be fine,” Elias assured her.

  Tyla turned hopefully to Lana and Jules. “One of you could—”

  “Out of the question,” Jules said, lifting his hands. “Your spokesperson can’t be a human.”

  “And certainly not a human with breghlin-like deformities,” Elias added, “Which doubly eliminates me.”

  Tyla’s shoulders slumped. “What if they ask me questions I can’t answer?”

  “If you need to break the communication link to confer with us, do so.”

  “They’ll understand that things are a little crazy around here,” Lana said. “Gnomes have been in hiding for generations. You didn’t even know you had gem powers till a little while ago. A lot has happened in a short time.”

  After that speech, which Lana had intended to be reassuring, Tyla looked more worried than before.

  “There’s so much they don’t know about us—things they couldn’t even guess. Every answer will raise a dozen questions.”

  “Maybe so,” Arenia said, but we don’t need to answer all their questions today. Raenihel can talk to them later, and in a couple weeks, several clan leaders will be here.”

  Jules pulled Lana aside. “If I drive you to the portal first thing in the morning, can you get to work on time?”

  “Maybe.” She thought a moment and nodded. “I’ll risk it. If I go home I won’t sleep at all not knowing what’s going on.”

  Elias cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “The minute we tell anyone about this room, the entire staff will be down here, and Tyla is nervous enough now. Jules, before anyone wonders where we are, find Franklin. Say we’re in a meeting and can’t be disturbed. We’ll tell everyone about this room tomorrow.”

  Jules nodded. “Why don’t we have a little fialazza while we’re waiting? It will calm Tyla’s nerves, and I think a celebration is in order.”

  “Good idea,” Elias said. “We’ll find some empty kegs to use as seats and make ourselves comfortable.”

  Lana supposed gnomes on watch duty would need a seat, and they deserved something more dignified than a beer keg, but it would do for now. She went with Tyla and Arenia to find kegs and crates. By the time they found some and carried them back, Jules showed up with a small, folding table, and Franklin was right behind him with fialazza.

  “Sorry. Jules let me in on the secret, and I had to take a quick look.”

  “That’s all right. Stay and have fialazza with us,” Elias offered.

  “Talked me into it.”

  Franklin went over to the pedestals, and after taking a quick look, continued around the room to see the maps, portraits, and documents. When he rejoined the group, he said, “This is amazing. A
nd to think Sheamathan never knew this was here.” He poured himself a goblet of fialazza and lifted it. “To Tyla and her historic discovery!”

  “To Tyla!” everyone called.

  Lana sipped hers distractedly. Wouldn’t she love to be at Aberell right now! Maybe they were celebrating too. Hearing from Elantoth after all these years had to be the most momentous thing that had ever happened there.

  When Franklin finished his drink, Elias took him to see the pendants.

  Lana reined in her wandering attention. Tyla had said something to her.

  “I glimpsed the room at Aberell, so maybe they saw ours.”

  “I didn’t think about it, but it probably works that way,” Lana said.

  “Hearing from us is enough to make my contact faint, but I had another thought. Maybe he saw the rest of you.”

  “Oh,” Lana said, seeing Tyla’s concern. “We were standing back, but we should have left the room.”

  “We don’t know how they feel about humans,” Tyla said hesitantly. “And seeing Elias would probably frighten them.”

  Arenia waved a dismissive hand. “It may be unsettling to see humans here, especially Elias, but it’s not as if anyone here is a threat to them.”

  Jules said, “Even if we restore the Amulet barrier, humans can’t cross.”

  “No, but gnomes could come here—if they weren’t afraid to. We don’t want to upset them,” Tyla said.

  Jules laughed. “Humans, even humans with gem powers, shouldn’t seem very threatening compared to Sheamathan.”

  “Well, you defeated her, so I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Tyla said with irrefutable logic. “I’m sorry for being so nervous, but I’m trying to see things from their point of view. I don’t like being the contact person. No matter how I explain things, they may find it upsetting. I don’t want the responsibility.”

  “Just get through tonight and we’ll find someone else,” Jules said.

  “Hey,” Franklin called. “Does that glowing gem mean—?”

  Before he could finish, Tyla was on her feet.

  “It’s not Aberell fortress,” Jules said breathlessly, “It’s Mierek.”

  “Word is spreading, just as we thought,” Elias said.

  “We should wait outside.” Lana motioned for the others to follow her, and they all gathered outside the door.

  Tyla placed her hand on the gem and closed her eyes. Her expression gave no indication of what was passing between her and the gnome on the other end.

  Why had Mierek responded instead of Aberell? Was there a hierarchy among the fortresses? There were six major cities marked on the map. Was one of them the capitol? Did Ahmonell even have a capitol? Amulet gnomes weren’t interested in politics. Their simple clan structure suited them. But who could say what it was like over there? Lana’s musings ended abruptly when Tyla gasped, let go of the gem, and staggered backward, nearly falling.

  “Tyla!” Arenia cried, and everyone raced into the room.

  Tyla’s hand flew to her heart. “What a shock! Someone else has to talk to them. I can’t!”

  “Everything’s all right. Calm down and tell us what happened,” Elias said, trying to soothe her.

  “Besides my contact, there were five others in the room—important-looking gnomes wearing robes.” She wet her lips. “Then they came in!”

  “They who?” Elias asked.

  Tyla paled. “Woodspirits! A male and a female!”

  “Woodspirits!” Arenia cried. “What would they be doing there?”

  Franklin brought Tyla a cup of fialazza. After taking a few sips, she looked a little calmer. “We can’t keep Mierek waiting. Someone has to talk to them.”

  Elias said, “We know from S’s books that Ahmonell has a large population of woodspirits. They may serve alongside gnomes in various government bodies.”

  Lana found that hard to believe. It was hard enough to imagine gnomes with a structured government, much less one that included woodspirits.

  Tyla said quietly, “I froze when I saw them. All I could think of was getting away. I know it’s silly. How can they hurt me when they’re way over there?”

  “It’s an understandable reaction,” Elias said, “but we must not judge all woodspirits by S. If what we read is true, few woodspirits have gem powers, and they don’t use Dark gems.”

  Tyla’s lips trembled. “I was afraid I’d say or do the wrong thing, and that’s just what happened. I’ve made a mess of things.”

  “You have not,” Lana said. “They should have warned you before bringing in the woodspirits. It’s their own fault.”

  “Common sense should have told them you’d be frightened,” Jules agreed. “But they haven’t had long to think things through.”

  Tyla wiped her eyes. “They must be wondering what happened to me. I suppose I have to try again, but now I’m embarrassed.”

  “Embarrassed! The first gnome you talked to fainted,” Lana reminded her, trying to make her smile.

  Tyla grinned. “You’re right. Thanks.” She walked to the pedestal, and after a brief hesitation, placed her hand on the gem.

  This time, the conversation lasted about ten minutes, and when she broke the connection she smiled. “It went fairly well. They’ll contact us tomorrow.”

  “Will there be gnomes and woodspirits tomorrow?” Arenia asked.

  “Just gnomes, I think.”

  “What were the woodspirits like?” Arenia asked.

  “They looked older than S, but woodspirits live so long there’s no way to guess their age. These ones had slightly greenish skin instead of deathly white like S. And their hair and eyes were dark brown, not black. They apologized for S on behalf of the woodspirit race. That’s one of the reasons they came to the meeting.”

  “So, there aren’t usually woodspirits at a gnome fortress?” Jules asked.

  “No. Gnome officials asked them to come, and they weren’t far away. The Gnome High Council and the Joint High Council both meet in Mierek City, the gnome capital, and the fortress is close by.”

  “I assume the Joint High Council includes woodspirits,” Elias said, and Tyla nodded. “It’s certainly a very different world there. I’m sure we’re in for more surprises.” He glanced around the group. “Well, there’s no reason to spend the rest of the evening here if we won’t get another message until tomorrow. I don’t know about the rest of you, but all this excitement has given me an appetite.”

  Chapter 24

  Elias excused himself right after dinner and left for his office, but the gnomes were so engrossed in conversation none of them noticed much less said good night. Suddenly, Lana felt out of place, as if she and Jules were crashing the party. She glanced at Jules, tilting her head toward the door. He took the hint and rose.

  “Where to?” he asked when they were in the passageway.

  “I don’t know. I have no particular destination in mind.” Her mind was spinning from everything Tyla had told them at dinner.

  The second conversation with Mierek had been enlightening—for both sides. Tyla had told the official that Amulet clans had lived in hiding, carrying on trades as best they could, bartering among themselves for basic necessities. Thousands weren’t so lucky. They had been taken as slaves, forced to mine gems and minerals. S had tried to invade the Fair Lands twice over the last two centuries, but human gem masters had finally defeated her and turned her into a beetle. Tyla didn’t say how they had had managed to defeat S, and her contact didn’t ask. He was more interested in news about Elantoth Fortress. Tyla told him about the staffs and shields, the spell books, and the historic weapons in the armory. She saved the most important news for last—the discovery that gnomes had gem powers. The official was shocked to learn that the clans had been unaware of their abilities, which led to a discussion of using gem powers to break through the barrier. Now that S was no longer a threat, both sides were anxious to find a solution.

  The official told Tyla that over there, gnomes with gem powers held all t
he positions of power and influence, and those without played lesser roles. Ahmonell had sprawling cities, prosperous towns, and hundreds of villages, all governed by gem masters. As for the woodspirits, the handful who had gem powers posed no threat to anyone and the rest immersed themselves in art, music, and literature to the exclusion of nearly everything else.

  Lana questioned how that was possible. After meeting S, she couldn’t picture woodspirits as hippie-like flower children strumming instruments and spouting poetry. To a lesser degree, she had trouble imagining a gnome government run solely by gem masters. There was something vaguely disturbing about that whole idea. What would prevent them from having Kaff-like leaders that lorded it over millions of helpless Parcunes? The thought gave her the shivers.

  At dinner, the gnomes had argued good-naturedly over who would work in the communications room, and who would wear the pendants. They were caught up in the excitement of connecting with their long-lost brethren, and she didn’t want to ruin everything by finding fault with Ahmonellian society.

  “Your silence is deafening,” Jules said, squeezing her hand. “Talk to me or I swear I’ll read your mind.”

  It was an idle threat. They had agreed never to read each other’s minds without permission. “Just mulling over what Tyla told us. Some of it bothers me.”

  “Me too. Like everything being run by gem masters.”

  “Exactly.” She felt a rush of relief that he understood her concern. “Amulet gnomes need to govern themselves, but I don’t like that system. Over there, if you don’t have gem powers, you’re nobody.”

  “They’re wasting talent giving gem masters every important position. And it invites abuse of power. Our gnomes would never go for that system.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought so, but listening to them at dinner, they seemed fascinated by life over there, and no one questioned the political system.”