“Who are the ‘they’ it keeps referring to?” Tevvy asked, “and the ‘rebel son,’ who is that?”
Thal smiled. “The ‘rebel son’ is easy, Gar,” he replied, “but the ‘they’ is more problematic. Sometimes ‘they’ refers to those who created the sword, rod, and staff, sometimes the chosen who will use the three tools to lock Gar into his ‘lonely cell,’” he stopped, his face going white. He looked back at the parchment, then looked at his three companions. “Doesn’t that mean we will have to confront Gar directly?” he asked, but went on before any of the others could respond. “Surely he knows this, so it is not very likely that we could take him by surprise, let alone even come near him. Where is this ‘cell,’ and how are we supposed to put him in it?”
Rokwolf shook his head. “I cannot answer your questions, nor do I think that anyone else could,” he noted. “We have a long way to go before facing that difficulty; right now, we should focus on the problem of the moment, getting the four of you into Shigmar’s tomb,” he said, then turned to Tevvy. “You said there was a signal?”
Tevvy nodded. “A ball of light shot from the statue northward across the lake.”
“Krystal Lake,” Rokwolf said, “the ‘clear water’ mentioned in the inscription.”
“Of course!” Thal snapped, looking up from the parchment, “the staff is in Shigmar’s tomb, and the inscription tells us the staff is hidden north of the lake, so that must be where the tomb is, on the other side of the lake, where the ball of light went.”
“Klaybear, Klare, and I,” Rokwolf said, “have been across the lake many times, but we have never seen any shrine, although there is a ‘lonely hill’ on the north shore,” he finished and frowned, as remembering those trips brought that second female figure back out of the corners of his mind; he thrust her back again. “Let’s go back and tell the others,” he added, “so you can get on your way.”
Blakstar looked at Rokwolf. “You’re not coming with us?” he asked.
Rokwolf shook his head as he turned to go. “Klare must stay here with her mother and sister, trying to keep them alive and heal them. Headmaster Myron hinted to me that only the four of you, the three key holders, and you, Tevvy,” he pointed to the awemi, “should enter the tomb to retrieve the staff. I stay here to watch over and protect my sister-in-law.”
They nodded, following Rokwolf back to where Klaybear and Klare were, leading the horses. Klaybear looked up when he heard their approach.
“Find the tomb?” Klaybear asked.
Rokwolf nodded. “Sort of,” he replied, “we think we know where it is, but you’ll have to cross the lake to get there.”
“We also discovered,” Thal said, holding up the parchment, “a new writing on the statue’s pedestal.”
Klaybear raised one eyebrow. “A new writing?”
Thal nodded, and quickly explained what they had found, and how they had uncovered it. When he finished, he handed the parchment to Klaybear. “I made a copy of the writing,” he said.
Klaybear glanced over it. “Did you translate it?” he asked.
Thal nodded. “The first part of it tells of the sword, rod, and staff,” he began, “and how they were made so that in their future, and I suppose, ours, Gar would be locked into a cell opened by the three keys.”
“We knew they were keys,” Klaybear said, looking at the parchment, “but where is this cell?”
Thal shrugged. “No idea,” he said, “and that worries me. The latter part,” he went on, “tells us that when the three keys are found, the land will be in turmoil, purem causing destruction, and that we, the chosen, will find the staff hidden in the north, across the lake, on a lonely hill.”
Klaybear glanced at his wife, who was also looking at him. He looked back at Thal. “There is a hill by itself, on the north shore of the lake,” he said, “we have been there before,” Klare nodded when he said this, “but we have never seen any signs of a tomb.”
“I mentioned it to them,” Rokwolf said, “and that we have been across the lake several times.”
Klaybear and Klare both nodded in agreement after exchanging a glance.
“We went in my father’s boat,” Klare added, and then her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes, the boat,” Klaybear went on, putting one hand on Klare’s arm. “We would often go sailing on the lake during school holidays, when the weather was good.”
Rokwolf shook his head, again pushing back the figure who came with memories of sailing across Krystal Lake. He looked down at Klare. “Will you be all right, here, by yourself, while I take them down to the lake shore and send them on their way?”
Klare sniffed, then wiped her tears. “I can put a ward around us that will protect us,” she said. She threw her arms around her husband, embracing him fiercely. “Be careful, dear,” she said after kissing him.
Klaybear nodded and whispered something the others could not hear into her ear.
Klare smiled up at him. “Me, too,” she whispered in reply.
Klaybear turned to the others. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 7
The hierarchy among Gar’s followers is murky at best; we can never be sure who is on top, as they constantly fight among themselves, sometimes acting for themselves, sometimes acting under Gar’s orders. . . .
from Annals of Melbarth, 351st Series, Lectures of the Hierarchs
Lecture by Sedra Kresgart
“I’ve never seen the lake so calm,” Klaybear said, pulling oars from where they were stowed under the seats. Klare’s family boat would seat eight, having both a mast and sail, which was furled, and oars for those times, like this day, when there was no wind. Rokwolf waved from the shore, turned, and started climbing the hill back toward where Klare waited, watching over her injured mother and sister. Klaybear handed the first pair of oars to Blakstar, who fit them into the oarlocks closer to the prow. The kortexi turned back to the kailu, took the third oar, and fitted it into place closer to the stern. Klaybear took out the fourth oar and fitted into place; both sat down, Klaybear closer to the stern. Thal sat in the prow; Tevvy sat in the stern holding the tiller.
“All right,” Tevvy said, “we’ll start slowly and speed up, depending on how well you two work together.”
“You’ve sailed before?” Thal asked, grinning back at him.
The awemi nodded. “My father believes that for us to be more useful,” Tevvy began, “we should be proficient at many ‘mundane’ skills,” he finished, looking at Klaybear and Blakstar. “Are you two ready? he asked. “I’m guessing that since this boat belongs to Klare’s family, that you have had some experience rowing?”
Klaybear nodded, a grin twitching at the corners of his mouth. “One infamous trip,” he said, “Klare and I took by ourselves when we were courting. The time got away from us,” he said, looking slightly sheepish, “so we did not start back until late, very late, as I recall. So the evening breeze that usually comes from the north, had died away. I had to row, by myself, halfway back across the lake. We did not get back until the third hour past midnight. I thought her father would cut me into pieces like the fish we were supposed to have been catching.”
The others laughed at this; Tevvy left the tiller and knelt next to Klaybear. “I’m guessing that you, Blakstar, have not rowed before?”
The kortexi shook his head. “Once, when I was very young,” he said, “but that was years ago, and my father did not let me row for long.”
Tevvy pointed to the rib under Klaybear’s bench. “Do you see how that rib is reinforced?” he asked. Blakstar nodded. Tevvy went on. “Put your feet there, and push with your legs as you pull back on the oars. Watch Klaybear and lift your oars when he does, lean forward, then dip your oars and pull again, when he does.”
Blakstar nodded once, then lifted his oars out of the water, ready to lean forward.
“Don’t try to reach too far, at first,” Tevvy said, “we’ll work up to a faster pace once you get a feel for it.”
Tev
vy went back to his seat and took the tiller. “Ready?” he asked. Klaybear lifted his oars and waited; Blakstar held himself ready, imitating the kailu. “All right. Lean forward, drop, lean back, pull, and lift,” Tevvy said, and the boat slid forward slowly. The kailu moved smoothly; the kortexi’s movement was more jerky. “Not bad, again,” he said, repeating the sequence; the boat moved forward, slightly faster. “Again,” Tevvy said, this time adding numbers, and smiling as Blakstar learned quickly, moving more smoothly with each stroke. After about two dozen slow strokes, Tevvy told Blakstar to lift and rest his oars; the awemi tapped the cadence with his free hand on the side of the boat; Klaybear kept rowing, and the boat glided forward smoothly.
“Watch Klaybear for a moment,” Tevvy said, “notice how he twists the oars after he lifts them from the water, so that the blade enters smoothly when he dips them back in. This small action reduces the drag of the oar as it enters the water when the boat is moving through the water. Extend your stroke, Klaybear,” he said, waiting until the kailu had done a couple of longer strokes. “Ready?” he asked, still tapping the side of the boat.
Blakstar nodded.
“Ready, forward, twist, back, pull, lift, forward, twist, back, pull,” he repeated, watching as his two companions worked the oars, the kortexi nearly as smoothly as the kailu. “Good,” he said, still tapping, “have you got the rhythm of it?”
Again, the kortexi nodded, continuing to imitate the actions of the kailu rowing in front of him.
Tevvy continued to tap, checking periodically to see that he was still steering them directly north. “We’ll keep this speed,” he started to say, but stopped when Blakstar missed catching the water, going over backward and landing on Thal’s knees.
Klaybear felt, and then saw, Blakstar miss, and so lifted his oars.
“Watch it!” Thal exclaimed, surprised by the kortexi landing on his lap; he had been looking forward.
The kortexi laughed, tried to sit up quickly and catch up with Klaybear, saw him holding his oars out of the water, so stopped as he leaned forward.
Tevvy smiled. “Not to worry,” he said, still smiling, “I expected that to happen much sooner, so you are doing quite well. As we move faster, the tendency will be to do that more often, as the oar will start to move back as soon as it touches the water. You must sensitize your hands to the ‘feel’ of the oar as it dips into the water: too deep, and you will get out of sync, too shallow, and you will end up in Thal’s lap.”
“Thanks,” Thal quipped sarcastically, “I always wanted an armored kortexi resting on my lap.”
The others chuckled. “Okay,” Tevvy began tapping the side again, “here we go again, forward,” he said repeating the cadence until Blakstar and Klaybear got them gliding forward again. “You might have noticed,” he said after a few minutes, “that the oars want to twist as you reach the back of your pull and start to lift. This is natural, and it will help reduce the drag on the oar as it is lifted out of the water. Anything that reduces the drag will help to conserve your energy. A good oarsman can row at a steady pace for hours, if he needs to. We don’t need to, so I’ll let you rest in turns.”
Blakstar made several more mistakes, including getting out of sync with Klaybear, or not fully catching the water, but within ten more minutes, he had mastered rowing. After fifteen minutes passed with only the sound of Tevvy’s tapping the side of the boat breaking the silence, Tevvy told Klaybear to rest while Blakstar continued to row. Thal looked up, noticing the change and breaking the silence.
“Do you suppose,” Thal said, “that Gar knows where Shigmar’s tomb is?”
Klaybear pulled his oars further in so he could turn and look at Thal, seated in the prow. “Given that he seems to know where we are going before we do,” Klaybear said, “and that he could enter our sacred glade, when no one of evil intent is supposed to be able to enter, I’d say he does.”
“Do you think,” Thal went on, “he would want us to get our hands on any of the keys? And,” Thal added, “does he know what the keys will do to him?”
“Are you talking about the ‘lonely cell’ mentioned in the inscription we found on Shigmar’s monument?” Tevvy asked.
Thal nodded.
“If he knows where it is,” Klaybear said, “why would he attack and destroy Kalbant?”
Thal shrugged. “Maybe to keep us from finding out where it is,” he replied.
“What about,” Blakstar said, breathy from his exertions, “the fact that all the corpses were marked in the forehead just like you are, Klaybear?”
“Are we certain,” Thal countered, “that Gar is responsible for the attack on the village? How do we know that it was not carried out by the morgle who holds Melbarth’s rod?”
“How do we know,” Tevvy put in, “that the morgle is acting on his own? How do we know the morgle’s attack on Shigmar, and the destruction of Kalbant, are not part of some larger plan of Gar’s?”
“We don’t,” Klaybear replied.
“Perhaps,” Thal said, rubbing his chin, “and perhaps not.”
“What do you mean?” Klaybear asked.
“I’m not certain,” Thal replied, “that Gar would allow this morgle, a creature already powerful in mentalics to possess such a powerful mental artifact as Melbarth’s rod. Wouldn’t Gar worry about the morgle becoming too powerful and challenging him?”
“Maybe,” Klaybear said, “but in my two encounters with him, he seemed awfully sure of himself.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” Tevvy put in, “that the morgle has the rod.”
“It’s possible,” Thal said, “that would explain his sureness when you encountered him in the glade of the kailum, but maybe not when we found him in Shigmar.” He tapped his chin for a moment before speaking again. “Maybe it doesn’t matter, either way,” he noted.
“Why not?” Tevvy asked.
“Because,” Thal answered, “whether the morgle is acting on Gar’s orders or acting on his own, we can guess their possible responses.”
“What do you mean?” Tevvy asked.
“If we assume that the morgle,” Thal said, “is acting on his own, the fact that Kalbant was attacked indicates that he knew which direction we would go on leaving Shigmar to look for the staff. That all the corpses were marked with the same sign as each of us has been marked with tells me that he knew exactly where we would go. Add to that, the fact that he holds the rod, one of the three, and we know that the three are bound together, so he could have found precisely where the staff is using only the rod. This would imply knowledge of the tomb’s location, and since he has been trying to prevent us from getting there, I believe he will have placed more of his troops at or near the location of the tomb, so that we are heading into a trap.”
“And if he is acting on Gar’s orders?” Klaybear asked.
“Then,” Thal began, “we can also bet Gar knows where the tomb is, did all the things I have mentioned because he knew where we would go and what we would do, and he will also place forces at that location to prevent us from entering.”
“And,” Tevvy added, “we are only four. I don’t know about the three of you, but I’m sure I don’t want to walk into a trap.”
“Nor I,” Thal noted, “but I’m not sure what we can do to avoid the trap. We have to get the staff and return with it to Shigmar, which means we have to find some way to get past the trap without triggering it.”
“Klaybear,” Tevvy said, “you should row again and give our good kortexi a rest.”
A flicker of annoyance crossed Blakstar’s face that no one noticed. He lifted and pulled in his oars even as Klaybear slid his out and started to row. Thal turned back to look forward.
“Maybe I should,” Tevvy said, looking thoughtfully to the north, “steer us away from the hill where the tomb is, so we could land either to the west or east of it, then we could approach it more carefully and look for a gap in their positions to allow us to slip past and into the tomb?”
Klaybear sh
ook his head. “If it is where I think it is,” he said, pausing to answer, “it is the only place where we can land the boat; we would have to go far out of our way to find a different landing place that would allow us to approach secretly.” He went back to rowing.
Thal looked back. “If either of our enemies knows where the tomb is, surely they would have prepared for such a move on our part.” He turned back, looking north. “Tevvy,” he said after a moment, “I know it is still distant, but can your awemi eyes see anything ours cannot?”
“You mean, directly north?” Tevvy asked.
“Yes,” Thal said without looking back.
Tevvy let go of the tiller and stood on his bench. “Keep us straight, Klaybear,” he noted, putting a hand over his eyes, although the day was still cloudy and gray. “I can’t be sure,” he said after a silent moment, “we are still far away, but it looks like there is a star shining on the far shore.”
“A star?” Blakstar said, turning to look.
“Well,” Tevvy continued, “a point of bright light. Wait!” he said suddenly. “I think it is getting brighter.”
Klaybear pulled in his oars and turned to look.
“I thought there was something,” Thal said, “but I could not tell if it were really there, or if I were imagining it.”
“I see what you mean,” Blakstar added, “and I think you are right: I can see something.”
The kortexi’s declaration that he could see the light was followed by a brilliant flash of blue-white light that lit their faces and was reflected brightly on the surface of the water and the clouds overhead, something like the whole sky suddenly lit by sheet lightning.
“What was that?” Blakstar exclaimed.
“I’ve no idea,” Thal said. “Tevvy?”
“It was bright enough to be seen for miles,” Tevvy replied.
“What could cause such a bright flash of light?” Blakstar asked.
“There are some ortheks,” Thal replied, “powerful ortheks that could cause such brilliance . . . ,” he stopped, interrupted by Tevvy shouting.
The Redemption, Volume 1 Page 42