The Redemption, Volume 1

by Clyde B Northrup

  Thal’s brow wrinkled. “The runes that I can discern are those that refer to reading and study,” he replied, “so, I’m thinking this must be how the tomb determines how powerful the opposition inside should be. It is similar to the geuskeldu, the archway we enter to test our progress and advance our skills.”

  “Is it safe to pass through?” Tevvy asked.

  “I think so,” Thal said, turning to face the portal, reaching out to touch it. “It activates as one approaches, then it begins to read you as soon as . . . ,” his voice broke off suddenly, as his fingers touched the space inside the arch. The light flashed around him, pulling him forward into the archway, held him there for a split second, then all light went out.

  “What happened?” Tevvy asked, his voice shaking.

  “He activated the portal,” Klaybear’s voice spoke in the darkness, “and was pulled through to the other side.”

  They heard Klaybear moving toward the portal. “What are you doing?” Tevvy asked.

  “Going through,” Klaybear replied, “it is the only way forward.” The stones glowed in response to his approach, the light flashed as he touched the portal, and he disappeared with the light.

  Blakstar started to move forward; Tevvy grabbed a strap hanging from the kortexi’s pack as he passed, and was pulled forward. The stone glowed as he approached, light flashed, and Tevvy was pulled through with Blakstar. They appeared in a square room, softly lit; the others were looking at them; Tevvy shivered.

  “That was awful!” Tevvy exclaimed. “I felt as if I had been stripped down, and not just my clothes: skin, flesh, and bone, stripped down to nothing!”

  Thal nodded. “Yes, that is partially how the geuskeldu works, but it also tests us, whereas this one only reads us.”

  Tevvy looked around the room; there were crates stacked along one wall, cots along the opposite wall, the portal behind him and another ahead of him. “What is this place?” he asked. “We are not anywhere near where we were before.”

  “I think we have been transported to a different plane of existence,” Thal said.

  Tevvy looked back at the portal they had come through, then he moved closer to it. “It’s not glowing,” he noted.

  “One-way,” Thal said, “so the only way back is forward.”

  Tevvy looked at the walls around the now inactive portal and noticed an inscription. He pointed to it. “What does it say?” he asked Thal.

  Thal looked at it for a moment before responding. “It says, roughly, ‘You have entered my death house, or tomb, if you are not chosen of the One, you go to your death.’”

  “That sounds like a threat,” Tevvy noted.

  “Not to us,” Klaybear said, “as we are the chosen.”

  The kortexi put one hand on the hilt of his sword. “At least we can now fight whatever we encounter,” he noted softly, taking off his pack. Opening it, he pulled out his helmet, a shield that strapped to his left arm, a pair of greaves, and a breastplate.

  Tevvy looked surprised. “No wonder that pack of yours is so big!” he exclaimed. “Where do you keep food and water?”

  The kortexi smiled at Tevvy, then bent to strap on his greaves. “There is plenty of room for other supplies.”

  Thal had moved to the crates, looking over them. He stopped at a crate that had the kailu symbol of life on its lid. Opening it, he looked inside then called to Klaybear. “I think this is for you,” he noted, still looking into the crate.

  Klaybear was helping Blakstar strap on his breastplate. “What is it?” he asked, buckling the last buckle.

  “Armor and a weapon,” Thal replied.

  “How do you know they are for me?” Klaybear asked.

  “Symbol of life on the crate,” Thal said, “and the armor glows softly green.”

  Klaybear walked over to Thal, looking into the crate, his eyes lighting as he saw inside. There was a shield, helm, leg and arm greaves, and a breastplate, all green enameled with brass trim, the kailu symbol of life etched somewhere onto each piece. He also saw a shirt of brass rings, padded leather jerkin, and matching leather belt. His eyes were drawn to the mace that was at the bottom of the crate; he reached into the crate, but as soon as his fingers touched the handle, pain exploded in his right palm and in his forehead, hurling him back from the crate and onto his back on the floor. His forehead and hand pulsed with angry red light, flashing in time with the beating of his heart. Blakstar and Tevvy both rushed to his side, kneeling on the floor beside him; Thal stood next to the crate gaping down at him.

  “What’s happened?” Tevvy asked, voice frightened.

  Thal closed his mouth, then reached into the crate and picked up the mace. “He touched this weapon,” Thal said, “then he was hurled backward, as you saw.”

  Blakstar grabbed the special skin from his belt and unstoppered it. “Help me give him some of this,” he said to Tevvy.

  The awemi grabbed Klaybear’s jaw and opened his mouth; Blakstar poured some of the Waters into his mouth; Tevvy closed the kailu’s mouth. The effect was immediate: the pulsing red light faded, and Klaybear relaxed and opened his eyes.

  “What happened?” Tevvy asked.

  Klaybear sat up suddenly, looking around. “I touched the mace,” he said after a moment, “and was hurled into another vision. I saw figures of stone, flames, water, ice, and air attacking, stone crushed, flame doused, water steaming, ice shattering, air drowned; I saw each of you crushed by stone, burned to ash, turned to ice and shattered; I saw Blakstar dragged under heaving waves, then I saw Shigmar’s walls falling, the city in flames, and some kind of shock wave roll over the city, killing everyone it touched, leveling the buildings, and the faces of those who died flew past me, howling in pain. I knew, somehow, that I caused the destruction and all their deaths.” He stopped, looking up at them, eyes hollow and wet.

  “Were the images,” Thal asked, “crushed together, as before?”

  Klaybear nodded.

  Thal held out the mace. “Let’s see if it happens again,” he said.

  Klaybear winced, but reached out to touch the weapon anyway. He looked up and grasped the handle. “Nothing,” he noted.

  Thal turned and walked back to the crate. “Let’s see if it happens with something else from this crate.” He took out the conical, green-enameled helm, then walked back to where the kailu still sat on the floor. “Try this,” he said, holding out the helm.

  Again, Klaybear winced as he reached for the helm, but nothing happened. So he passed the mace to Blakstar, then he pulled the helm onto his head, flattening his brown, curly hair.

  “Nice hat,” Tevvy said, smiling.

  Thal turned back to the crate. “Perhaps it was the crate itself,” he suggested.

  Blakstar reached out his free hand and pulled Klaybear to his feet.

  “I don’t think so,” Klaybear said, taking the mace back from the kortexi and giving it an experimental swing; green flames surrounded the head of the mace as it swung through the air.

  “Wow,” Tevvy said, “must be teka-enhanced.”

  Klaybear smiled as he looked at his new weapon, then looked back at Thal. “I was leaning on the crate when I reached in,” he noted.

  Thal looked puzzled. “Maybe the two combined?” he suggested, sounding at a loss.

  Klaybear shrugged and walked over to the crate, reached out carefully, and gingerly touched it, jerking his finger away as soon as he touched the wood. When nothing happened, he put his hand on the crate. “Nothing,” he spoke softly.

  Thal shook his head. “That is quite odd,” he said, looking at the crate and its contents.

  Klaybear nodded. “Not much we can do about it now,” he said, eyeing the contents of the crate, “except put on this armor and get going.” He smiled at his companions and laid the mace carefully on an unopened crate; he removed his robe, then reached in and lifted out the leather jerkin, pulling it over his undershirt. He pulled out the shirt of brass rings, then stopped, looking at his companions. “What?” he
asked, seeing the expressions on all their faces.

  “You sure that you are all right?” Thal asked, voicing the question in all their minds. “We have had, after all, several difficult days, with little rest, and you were just accosted by your vision.”

  “So?” Klaybear asked.

  Thal looked at Tevvy and Blakstar, who both had shot a glance toward the other side of the room, where the cots rested. “Well, some of us are quite tired,” Thal went on, “so we were thinking of resting before we move on.”

  “Not me,” Klaybear noted, throwing the shirt of rings over his head, which made a clanking sound as the rings slid over his helmet. He buckled the shirt in place, then reached for the belt. “I feel great!” he said, wrapping the belt around his hips and buckling it.

  “Of course you feel great!” Blakstar snapped. “You just drank the Waters of Life!”

  Thal and Tevvy looked suddenly at the kortexi, while Klaybear took out the leg greaves and buckled them over his shins.

  “Why can’t we,” Tevvy asked, “drink some of these Waters?”

  Blakstar was surprised by the question. “You’re not hurt . . . ,” he began, but Tevvy interrupted him.

  “But we are tired,” Tevvy noted, “wouldn’t drinking the Waters give us energy? And aren’t we in a hurry to find the staff?”

  Blakstar looked from Tevvy to Thal, then back to Tevvy again; Klaybear was now strapping on his arm greaves. “I don’t have much left,” he said, “shouldn’t we save them for a worse moment, when one of us lies dying?”

  “I thought you said,” Tevvy went on, “that there was a fountain in the tomb? Couldn’t we refill it there?”

  Without thinking, Blakstar turned to the portal that would lead them forward. “It is somewhere ahead.”

  “Klaybear didn’t drink very much,” Tevvy said, “and look at him.” They all turned to look at the kailu, who was pulling out the breastplate.

  “I’ll need some help with this,” Klaybear noted, holding it up.

  “He looks quite energetic,” Thal noted, looking back at the kortexi. “And isn’t this the reason why you carry those Waters?” he asked.

  Blakstar’s face fell suddenly. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, “but I fear that our haste and my tiredness has clouded my thinking; I should have suggested it sooner.” He offered the skin to Thal. “A swallow should be enough,” he added as Thal took the flask and unstoppered it.

  The white maghi took a sip and held it in his mouth before swallowing; his eyes lit up, and he dropped the skin. Tevvy caught it and took a swallow, and he smiled widely, taking a second mouthful.

  Blakstar looked down from Thal and took the skin from the awemi; Tevvy’s eyes had gone distant.

  Thal’s eyes, then Tevvy’s, came back to the present and focused on the room; both smiled, then said together, “Let’s go; I feel great!”

  Blakstar smiled weakly back at them, then drank from the skin. He swallowed and put the stopper back in, returning it to his belt. His smile mirrored Thal’s and Tevvy’s.

  “If you have finished grinning at each other,” Klaybear said, a note of impatience in his voice, “then maybe one of you can help me put on my breastplate?”

  They laughed before Blakstar and Thal went to help Klaybear; Tevvy went to the portal that led forward.

  “There is another inscription here,” Tevvy said, as Klaybear picked up his new mace and hung it from his belt. He picked up his shield and strapped it to his right arm.

  Thal moved over to where Tevvy stood looking at the portal. He looked over the inscription, then turned toward Klaybear. “How would you translate repindo?” he asked.

  Klaybear thought for a moment. “Snatching, or maybe seizing,” he replied.

  Thal looked back at the inscription under the arched portal. “It says, Thrown from a heart of fire, creatures who are made of stone, seizing those of flesh, corrupted by contact with evil, swiftly takes them to the gate of the house of death, I think,” Thal added as he finished, brow furrowed.

  Klaybear pointed to one of the words. “Isn’t that the evil one?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes,” Thal said, “corrupted by contact with the evil-one, it should say.”

  Tevvy looked puzzled. “But who is seized, who is corrupted, and who is taken to the gate?” he asked.

  “Well, it is poetry,” Thal noted, “so it is the stone creatures who are corrupted by evil, and who seize creatures of flesh and take them to the gate, or I should say, kill them.”

  “And that is supposed to help us?” Tevvy asked. “How?”

  “The arch,” Thal said, pointing, “is a portal. Notice these symbols,” he pointed to various parts of the arch, “around the arch. Each symbol activates the portal, opening a doorway to different places, depending on which symbol is activated.”

  “So how do we know which to activate?”

  “Earth,” Klaybear said; Thal nodded.

  “How do you figure that?” Tevvy asked.

  “Creatures of stone,” Klaybear said.

  “And Shigmar told us above,” Thal added, “that we had to pass through the elemental realms and be tested in each.”

  “But it also mentioned fire,” Tevvy protested. “Couldn’t it also be fire?”

  Thal shook his head. “The stone creatures were thrown from the heart of fire, and they are doing all the actions, so it must be earth.”

  “What happens if you are wrong,” Tevvy asked, “if you choose the wrong symbol?”

  Thal shrugged. “Anything from nothing,” he replied, “to instant death.”

  “Fine,” Tevvy quipped, “you won’t mind if I get out of the way before you try?”

  Thal ignored him; Klaybear pointed to a symbol on the left side of the arch. Thal reached out one hand, the end of his index finger glowing white. “Has everybody got everything?” he asked before touching the symbol. “Everybody ready?” He waited for their nods.

  “Do I have any choice?” Tevvy asked; he had moved to stand behind the kortexi.

  “No,” three voices spoke together.

  Thal touched the symbol for earth; the portal flared to life, filled with a gray shimmering similar to the archway opened with Blakstar’s sword. They turned to look at Tevvy.

  “You first,” Klaybear said, “followed by Blakstar, then me, then Thal. Weapons ready, I think.” Three nods were followed by the sound of Blakstar’s sword and Tevvy’s short sword sliding from scabbards; a dagger appeared in Tevvy’s left hand; Thal slipped out his rod, spoke a word, “kreska,” and the rod lengthened and thickened into a stout quarterstaff, although still gray; Klaybear held up his mace. “May the One hold us safely in His hand,” he prayed and nodded to Tevvy, who grimaced and stepped into the portal. He disappeared from sight; Blakstar followed, then Klaybear, then Thal, and the light of the portal went out.

  Chapter 9

  Although dimensional slices reflect the values of their tekson creator, one cannot remove the influence of Gar; I fear that if left to themselves, over time, any created dimensional slice would fall under Gar’s influence, altering the conditions of its creation, even though their personal nature would prevent him or his minions from entering directly. . . .

  from Annals of Melbarth, Ninth Series, Early Lectures of the Hierarchs

  Lecture by Sedra Melbarth

  They stood at the center of a small, sandy clearing, surrounded by jagged chunks of stone, from the size of a clenched fist to the size of a small house. The sky was dark, lit with an orange hue, devoid of stars, or moon, or sun. The sand of the clearing around them was empty of plants or animals, and they only heard distant rumblings, punctuated by the sounds of cracking stone coming from every direction; the sound echoed and reverberated hollowly, as if they were inside a large stone dome. Clouds of red-brown dust billowed around them from time to time, making it difficult to breath; Tevvy and Thal were coughing, and the awemi pulled his hood up around his mouth, as he had done in the sewers of Shigmar that seemed to be an age and uni
verse away. The others took cloths from pockets, tying them around their heads to cover their mouths and noses, having learned from their experiences in the sewers under Shigmar. The ground beneath their feet shook suddenly, making them, and the stones around them, reel to and fro like an inn’s common room filled with drunken farmers and merchants trying to dance. The sharp retorts of cracking stones pierced their ears, painful for its closeness and loudness. The sand beneath their feet started to boil, as if pushed up from below, pebbles and shards of stone coming up out of the sand, while pebbles and shards of stone already lying on the sand moved out from the center of the sandy area to be ground under by the twisting and rolling boulders surrounding them, throwing up new clouds of dust that rolled over them, obscuring their view. Each quickly closed his eyes when the thick dust clouds rolled over them as the gritty dust stung the eyes. As quickly as it started, the shaking ground and grinding boulders stopped, the sounds echoing away into silence, returning as distant rumbles and cracks. The sand ceased its boiling, and they saw, churned up from the depths, a broken hilt, part of a belt buckle, and the broken stock of a crossbow, all of them pocked with holes and scoured clean. Blakstar nudged the broken hilt with one boot.

  “That’s ominous,” Tevvy said, voice muffled.

  Each had managed to keep his feet by using his weapon to help steady him.

  “Did you notice what happened to the path?” Blakstar asked, pointing to the only way out of the sandy clearing.

  “I was a bit busy,” Klaybear noted wryly, “trying to keep on my feet. I think if one fell down during one of those earthquakes, one would be carried straight to the edge of the sand and be eaten by the boulders.”

  Blakstar nodded. “That is exactly what happened to the path,” he said, “only problem is the path is so narrow that a single stumble to the right or left . . . ,” he left it hanging.

  “This might be challenging,” Klaybear said.

  Even though his hood covered the lower half of his face, they could tell Tevvy’s mouth was open.