by Matthew Ward
This was somewhat risky, because sound couldn’t be blocked on one side. Once the mianl was in the Ruler’s quarters, if they made sound, the Ruler might hear it and realize what was happening.
The guy opened his eyes. He said, “It’s done. Should we test it?”
He tapped the mianl, and soft popping sounds came from the other one. The link was good.
Finr took a piece of clay and made a small animal shape with it. They pressed the mianl into the animal’s back, and then Finr infused it with enough spior to be able to move it remotely. It technically moved by continually pushing spior from another piece of clay into it. It was like blowing against a piece of paper. The movement wasn’t precise, but he did a good job with the general direction of motion.
They took the other end of the mianl link and hid it in Finr’s room, where there would be as little noise as possible. No one would enter or leave that room once everything was in place.
Over the next hour, they took turns walking by the Ruler’s door. They tried to time it so no one would see, but this was impossible. Once a person had been seen walking by, that person was taken out of the scouting rotation. On Drystn’s third time by, the Ruler’s door was open.
Drystn fumbled for the hidden clay figure—his hands shook, and he almost knocked the mianl to the floor. The Ruler could be around the corner or walk out of the room at any time. If he was caught, he might be executed. There would be no hiding what they were doing.
Drystn finally got the figure to the floor and facing the right direction. He whispered into the mianl, “The door’s open. Go ahead.”
Finr’s voice came through. “Got it.”
Drystn waited until the figure had passed completely into the room before darting away. He only began to walk after he had made it halfway back to Finr’s room. The clay figure had been directed perfectly. As long as nothing interfered, it was on course to settle on the bottom shelf of a bookcase. It would be encased in the shadows of that segment and wouldn’t be detectable by sight.
Now all they had to do was wait. This was the most nerve-wracking part of the whole plan. What if they found out he was actually behind all of this? How could they even stop someone with the type of power to create such a beast?
Despite getting pulled in by this charismatic group, Drystn still believed that it couldn’t be true. There was no way a human had figured out how to make such a horrifying and destructive thing that could break the Laws of Spior. Where could the Ruler have learned to do such a thing?
When Drystn got back to the safe room, the group filled him in on what they knew. They had spied on the Ruler several times and saw that he kept having secret meetings with a member of the government named Modr. Maybe it started as an accident, maybe it had more intent behind it; they weren’t sure, but the theory was that some of the linguist scholars had found how to make the bairsgn from one of the books left behind by the First Age.
The group reasoned that The First Age had figured out a lot more about mianl and spior than the Second Age had, judging by their command over the mianl. There was probably a lot written in those books that they couldn’t even fathom. It was also possible that the bairsgn was a failed experiment and came about completely by accident. That’s why they needed to spy to get more information.
When midday came around and the group went out into Talamir Center for lunch, Drystn started to feel bad. He wondered how his friend’s jobs were going. He realized with everything going on, he hadn’t really asked them about it. With how tedious the lessons were, they were probably as boring as his own.
Drystn ordered mussels for lunch. He knew they existed in the lake, but he had never tried them before. They didn’t exist in enough abundance in the Ahm River for the school to serve them. He popped a few in his mouth and started chewing. The way some people talked about them, he expected great flavor. He chewed and chewed. They didn’t seem to break down, and the flavor turned from nothing to disgusting. He didn’t think he would be ordering them again.
The group decided to have a brief tournament of fichl to kill time. Drystn loved the beautiful combination the game posed of tactical positioning, randomness, and reading ahead, but he felt guilty playing it all afternoon. He had an obligation to do work of some sort, but he wasn’t sure what else would have been more productive. It wasn’t like he would dream up some magical solution that hadn’t been tried.
They set up a double elimination bracket to decrease the chance of randomness knocking out a deserving competitor from the tournament. This saved Drystn, who lost the first match due to a very unlucky first flip. He fought his way up to be in the final match against Finr, who had gone undefeated.
Drystn flipped the tiles over and immediately saw a great starting combination he could perform if Finr was careless. Finr stared at him across the table.
Finr asked, “Are you ready? Did you brew something I should drink to incapacitate me before we begin?” Finr had a devious half-smile. He almost believed this was flirtation again. Drystn shook his head and dove into the game.
Finr went first and played the standard kigl tile. Drystn couldn’t believe he would fall for it, but he pressed on with the strategy anyway. He clacked his first play up against Finr’s tile. Finr quickly slammed the next tile on the opposite side, trapping Drystn’s first play.
“I’ll destroy you,” Finr said. He laughed. It pulled him away from his worries for the briefest of moments.
“We’ll see.”
This was all sound opening theory, but Drystn had a trick now. Instead of counter-pincering, he placed his next tile, usually one to sacrifice for a block, diagonally from his first play. He could swallow Finr’s first play now, and gain a better position.
Finr looked at Drystn and smiled. Oh, no. Finr had anticipated all of this, and only made the standard opening plays to trick Drystn into thinking he hadn’t noticed. Drystn began calculating as fast as he could. What did he have that could save him? It took two more turns for Drystn to see the intricate plan. He read out several more moves and realized he had no way to come back, so he resigned.
Drystn laughed. He looked at Finr in awe. Drystn never lost as long as his starting tiles were good. “Where did you learn to play like that? That was incredible.”
Finr shrugged. “What else do we have to do around here? Good try though.” Finr held out his hand for a congratulatory shake. He took it and half-believed everything could go back to normal.
Drystn started to say something apologetic, but the mianlist said, “It’s time.”
The meeting was about to begin. The group retired to Finr’s room to listen in. They had to sit in absolute silence. For all they knew, the Ruler was already in there and would hear any sound they made, ruining the entire plan. Chills ran through Drystn as he thought about how much trouble they would be in if they were caught. It didn’t seem worth the risk anymore, but there was no backing away now. He kept asking himself how he had gotten taken in by this so quickly.
The small room became very hot as they sat there. Drystn started to worry that this would become a problem. The room took on a hazy, unrealistic quality. He moved his hand in front of his face to get a better sense of the surreal quality of the moment.
Then the sound of voices came through the mianl. They were quiet at first but then grew louder. They must have moved closer to the mianl.
“Modr, the plan is going quite well.”
“That’s good to hear most excellent Ruler. How long until they return do you think?”
“The journey to make contact with the people of the First Age should only take about a week.” Drystn had to hold himself from gasping: people from the First Age? “We have no estimate on how long it will take to learn their language and return.”
Modr asked, “And how long does Talamir have left?”
“Well, our most current models predict that the bairsgn will reach the Outer Ring within a year. We can’t be sure what will happen at that point.”
A bead o
f sweat rolled down Drystn’s nose. It itched. He wiped it away quickly but had the sudden urge to sneeze. He grabbed his nose, and tried to think of anything else to prevent it from happening.
“Despite its growth in size, there has been no noticeable decrease in life expectancy according to our records.”
“Excellent. That means no one will notice it even exists.”
The cough exploded into the room like a grass-bomb. Drystn looked up in time to see Finr slam his hand to his mouth. The room tensed. Had they heard?
“What was that? Did you just hear something?”
“No, your excellency.”
“It sounded like a cough. Do you think we’re being spied on?”
“That would be highly unlikely. Why would someone want to spy on you?”
They heard a bunch of rustling. The Ruler must have been looking for the mianl link. Finr gave Drystn a terrified look that said, what do we do? Drystn wished he could help. No one in the room could speak or move for fear of creating more noise. Finr looked around at everyone. He seemed to be asking for suggestions, but they were paralyzed.
Silence. Then the Ruler’s voice, “I think it came from over here.”
The Ruler’s persistence surely meant he would find it. It wasn’t hidden very well. They had to do something right away or risk getting caught. Yet they were trapped in silence.
The ground began to shake. Drystn panicked. He didn’t realize it was a quake at first, but then his fear turned from being caught to a more primal fear. They were perched over a lake in a mianl building. What if the building collapsed from a strong quake? They would probably drown. The group braced themselves as everything shook. It was a pretty big one, but no one dared speak or move.
The quake subsided, and the other end was quiet. Drystn breathed a sigh of relief. The commotion had probably caused them to forget all about looking for the mianl link. For all they knew, the bookshelf could had fallen over and completely hidden the mianl crystal.
Modr’s voice came through with perfect clarity. “Found it.”
The words sounded celebratory, but it didn’t occur to Drystn at first that it referred to the link.
The Ruler said, “We’ll find who did this and prosecute them fully.”
Drystn jumped up and grabbed their end of the link. He ran out of the room. He had a plan, but it was far from perfect. The mianl halls passed in his peripheral vision as Drystn focused on only one thing. He needed to get to the lake as fast as possible.
As he burst out of Talamir Center, he realized someone might have seen him. He couldn’t care yet. Drystn threw the mianl shard as hard as he could into the lake. No one would ever find it there. He crumpled over at the waist and held his knees, gasping for air. After a moment, he walked with a difficult calm back to Finr’s room. He feared the turbulence in his body would give him away.
Only minutes had passed, but the room had cleared except for Finr.
Drystn said, “Don’t worry. It’s gone.”
He asked, “What did you do?”
“I ran it outside and threw it in the lake. Now they’ll never find the other end to be able to trace it to us.”
Drystn watched Finr’s expression turn from shock to awe. Drystn still breathed heavy, and a wild excitement from the adrenaline made Drystn’s body hum with nervous energy. He needed a way to release it.
Finr said, “You’re amazing.”
Finr began a slow walk toward him, like an animal ready to pounce. Drystn kept stepping back until he was pinned against the wall. Finr’s devilish smile crossed his lips and drove Drystn wild with desire.
He spoke in a quiet and seductive voice. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Everything is crazy right now, and you were rightfully suspicious. But you just saved us all. I can’t stay mad at you.”
“I—”
Finr put his hand over Drystn’s mouth.
“Shh. Don’t ruin it.”
He took hold of Drystn’s wrists and slammed his arms up over his head against the wall. Finr pressed his body into Drystn, and his lips pushed his mouth open. He thrust his tongue in, and the soft warmth aroused a heightened sensuality inside Drystn. Drystn let out a gasp of pleasure.
Finr said, “Let’s move someplace more comfortable.”
He pulled Drystn to the bed, and Drystn gladly followed.
XII
Maedc and Tumr set out on their journey. The trip began with the two-day walk to the cliffs surrounding Talamir. Nightfall came on the approach to the Ninth Ring. They pitched their tent just outside the ring at the base of the cliffs. The effort was slow and clumsy as they figured out how the pieces went together. Cloth and flexible wood tangled into a complicated mess. It didn’t help that there was little light. Maedc feared what they would do in an emergency.
They ate a simple dinner of dried fish and grass tea made over a small fire and retired early to get a quick start in the morning. As they lay in the tent, Maedc could tell Tumr was just as restless as he about their upcoming journey.
No one in the recorded history of the Second Age had ever left Talamir proper. No one, to his knowledge, even believed it was possible to leave. No one believed there was anything worth getting to outside of Talamir to even attempt leaving.
Sure, much could be seen over the tops of the cliffs. Mountains peaked as far as the eye could see over the horizon. Though people questioned what was out there in much the same way that people questioned what was out in the dark, starry sky, no one had thought to ask who was out there. The question seemed meaningless.
Maedc turned toward Tumr and asked, “What do you think we’ll find?”
“I have no idea, but it probably won’t be good.”
Maedc shivered. The unadorned truth often had that effect when one wanted to believe something else. Tumr turned onto his side to face away from Maedc, and Maedc didn’t take it personally. He didn’t feel like talking either but had thought saying something might break the tension. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself and curled into a fetal position, hoping for some comfort.
In a sense, sleeping on the ground should not have been much different than sleeping in a grass bed. This far out, the grass didn’t get harvested, so it grew tall. The tent mashed it down and provided some padding. But the sensation was completely different. The solid ground below could be felt at all times. Maedc liked sleeping on his side, but the underlying hardness didn’t allow that position comfortably.
He lay awake and staring at the top of the tent only inches above his head. He heard a rustle through the grass outside. Maybe one of the animals had come to eat them already, but he pushed that thought from his head. He knew no animals would descend the cliff face, and the sound was merely the wind blowing through the tall grass. The wind was stronger in the outer ring, because it pulled down the cliffs. The air could almost never be felt from its stillness in the Seventh Ring inward.
Without realizing he had slept, morning came. They picked up the tent and made the short journey to where they had to scale the cliff. Maedc put on the special shoes, but he still didn’t feel safe. This was not a standard climbing zone with easily accessible holes created for grip over many years of use.
Maedc looked over at Tumr and saw him desperately search around the surface of the wall, trying to figure out the best way to get started.
Tumr looked over and asked, “Ready to get up to some trouble?”
“That’s not funny.”
There were crags and lodges of rock scattered close enough that it felt almost possible to climb. Maedc tried to calm himself, but as he put his hand against the wall, they shook from the uncertainty about the future. He pulled himself up a few times, but his hand placements remained insecure.
The shoes helped. After a time, he got into a rhythm. Kick the rock with the right foot then the left. The stability allowed him to feel around above his head for a solid hand placement. Once these were discovered he would pull with his hands several times to check how solid the
holds really were. Then he carefully pulled his feet out, pulled his body up, and kicked again.
The rhythm brought on a meditation which made his movements surer. The two made slow progress, side by side, but neither seemed to be having as much difficulty as he had imagined. The climb wasn’t far, but it was steep and dangerous. They worked carefully, and despite their lack of experience, they never made mistakes. Any mistake would probably be their last.
After a time, Maedc’s arms began to quaver from constantly pulling his body weight. His flabby muscles had not had to do this in years. Tumr appeared in slightly better shape, but Maedc looked over and could see the strain on his face as well. The mild temperature and cliff breeze kept him cool, but still, sweat formed on his forehead and kept getting in his eyes. He saw droplets fall like rain from the tips of his long hair out of the corner of his eye.
Maedc paused in a somewhat comfortable position and yelled, “I have to take a break. It’s too much. I’m not sure I can go any farther.”
“Okay, but don’t wait too long. If you take a rest, you might not be able to get started again. It’s not much farther. Look up. You’ve almost made it.”
Maedc held his position and tried to look up, but a bout of vertigo kept him from seeing the destination. Resting didn’t feel much better than moving, because he still had to hold his arms up. He pressed on, and it hurt worse. Now Tumr had about a full-body lead. Maedc got back into the rhythm and tried not to think about the danger or pain too much.
Maedc let the world come back into focus, and he noticed Tumr had disappeared. He heard a voice call down from some unknown place above him.
“The end is just up here. You’re almost there.”
Knowing the end was so close didn’t make him feel any better. It made things worse. All of a sudden, he felt like he was totally drained of energy and could no longer lift himself up—a horrid psychological trick his brain played on him. A few seconds ago, he felt like he could do it. Now these last few steps were insurmountable. Maedc gave in to the despair.