by Matthew Ward
They made their way in the night. It was true that the trees blocked out sunlight, but Maedc hadn’t appreciated just how much light made it through until travelling in the dark of night. He continually stumbled over stumps and rocks. The experienced people of the First Age laughed each time it happened, as if he were doing it on purpose. None of them had the slightest difficulty navigating the terrain. At least their sense of humor lightened the mood, and Maedc started to relax.
They traveled until the sun rose, and before long, they got to a large tunnel burrowed into the side of the mountain. The mood had turned serious again, and a spearhead prodded Maedc in the back toward the entrance to the tunnel. Maedc realized these people didn’t live on top of the mountain; they lived inside the mountain. There was no way they would have found this entrance on their own.
The entire mountain had been hollowed out. A spiral dirt path allowed one to move up and down the various layers of the space, but the center remained a giant hole. Maedc looked over the ledge and couldn’t see the bottom. People bustled around in all directions: above, below, on the sides. All of Talamir Center could have fit in here.
This opening area appeared to be some sort of market. Small stands were scattered throughout the room. People haggled in the click language over various merchandise. One shop sold the multi-piece leather clothing and another had what looked like food, though he didn’t recognize the large, round cuisine.
The men prodded them toward the downward spiral. They continued past several more levels of activity. Before long they reached a more secluded area. It opened up and had a lot more room. There appeared to be several holes in the wall for individual cells. Maedc guessed these were living quarters or offices.
They wound around a large stone pillar, which seemed to be a support for the floor above, and Maedc saw where they were headed. Spears prodded them into a cage built in the wall. Apparently this was some sort of punishment layer, and the cells in the wall were jail cells. One of the men spoke more clicking language at them and then moved around to remove the hand ties.
He stepped out of the room and closed them in so quickly that Tumr didn’t have time to show them the book.
Maedc yelled, “Wait!”
The other speared men had gone back to whatever business of the day they had. One man turned back to see what the yelling was about. Luckily, Tumr realized this was the moment they had been waiting for and pulled the book out. He waved it in front of the grate that enclosed them.
“Do you know what this is?” Tumr asked, despite knowing none of the words would make sense.
A joyous expression washed over the man’s face. He ran to the cell and reopened it. He examined the book and flipped through several pages. He found it to be satisfactory and handed it back. He jumped up and down a few times, and then shut them back in the cell and ran away.
Tumr said, “I think he liked it.”
“Where do you think he went?”
“Hopefully to get a superior or something. We could be in big trouble if he ran off to get an executioner.”
Maedc tried to make the best of the situation. He went to the corner and sat against the wall. At least they were in shelter, and presumably these people fed their captives. Being in here was probably safer than out on the mountain, which seemed to get colder as they climbed higher. They hadn’t encountered any dangerous animals yet, but that didn’t mean none existed.
Now that he had some more time to look around, he realized that this windowless interior was brightly lit with all sorts of mianl fixtures. This had to be the people of the First Age just by how good they were at manipulating mianl, something the Second Age had yet to figure out. Maedc almost considered it bright with how much spior radiated from the mianl. There were no shadows or dark spots like there would be with the grass lanterns of Talamir.
Just as Maedc started to lose hope that anyone would return, a different man in fanciful dress walked into the room. He wore so many animal skins that he looked like a tall, two-legged version of the animals they had seen on the journey but with a human head. On his head was a large hat made of feathers. Birds passed over Talamir, but Maedc had never heard of someone being fast enough to catch one, yet alone steal its feathers. The first man pointed toward the cell and said something.
The man dressed in fancy clothes came over and held out his hand. It was clear he wanted the book, so Tumr handed it to him. The man burst into a heartwarming expression like the first one. He also checked for a few specific things and then clicked several noises at them.
Maedc said, “I’m sorry. We don’t speak your language. We are here to learn, though.”
The man became a little more agitated at making no progress with his words. Maedc tried to take it slower. He pointed to himself and said, “Maedc.” He waited a few seconds and repeated it until the man understood.
The man pointed to Maedc and said, “Udkh.” Maedc thought: close enough? The man then pointed to himself and said, “Tkz.”
Maedc tried, but he knew the sounds wouldn’t be right, just as the man’s sounds weren’t right for his own name. He pointed and said, “Tkz.”
This was not the time for a language lesson. He needed a more immediate way to indicate where they had come from. Then he realized it was simple. He took the book back as gently as he could. Maedc opened to the page in the middle with the map on it. He pointed to Talamir and ran his finger along the path to where they were now.
“This was our journey here. We started here, in Talamir.” He pointed to Talamir repeatedly, saying the name over and over to get him to understand.
“Tr!” He got excited again.
Tumr asked Maedc, “Do you think he just called it Tr? That would be a strange etymological similarity if we call it Talamir and they call it Tr.”
Maedc tried to ask. “Tr?” He pointed to the place.
The man pointed to it as well. “Tr.”
That settled it. These people called it Tr. Maedc noted mentally to try to figure out if there were more similarities: if the First Age language had contracted their own. This could be a revolutionary finding. The fact that these people existed at all was a revolutionary finding.
The man took Tumr’s hand and started to pull. He wanted them to follow him. They must not have the same etiquette, because no one would just grab someone in Talamir like that. One must grant permission to be touched. It would have been obvious they were meant to follow if he had left the gate open and started to walk away.
They followed Tkz down the exterior spiral ramp. As they made their descent, the structure of the mountain town became clearer. There were distinguished floors that grew larger and larger as they went deeper. The trip down to the bottom took considerable time, and that was probably what had taken so long when they were locked up. The dirt floors shifted to stone as they descended.
What appeared to be the bottom floor had much more elaborate and ornate decorations. A large mianl chandelier hung in the center, lighting the room. The support pillars had intricate designs carved into them. The floor had been polished, and Maedc could see parts of the room reflected off of it. Like Tkz’s dress, the room was fit for a king, if that was indeed who they were dealing with.
Off to one side, a large wooden table had been set up with many dishes. Four people already sat there, and upon seeing Tkz arrive, they all stood and waited. Tkz and his entourage walked over. He clicked some words, and everyone sat back down.
Tkz motioned for Maedc and Tumr to be seated at one end of the table. Tkz took his position at the other side. Maedc suspected he wanted to be able to keep the two in view in case they did anything suspicious. A relaxed conversation began while they waited.
Two people came from some hidden room nearby and carried plates of food. Maedc couldn’t identify the smell, but that didn’t stop his mouth from drooling with desire. Cooked food. It had been too many days since he had eaten anything cooked. The dried fish wasn’t bad, but nothing compared to a well-cooked meal.
When Tkz uncovered his meal, everyone else did likewise. What Maedc saw horrified him. He began to gag and no longer trusted that he could get the food down. A blackened, but still whole, copy of that cute white animal with the pink nose stared back at him. Maedc looked over at Tumr’s plate and saw the same thing. The others had already picked up one of the sharp tools from the table and sliced into the creature’s flesh.
Maedc whispered, “Are you going to eat this?”
“I’m going to try.”
“But it’s the creature that tried to help us at the beginning. This is disgusting. This creature spoke to us.”
“Don’t think about it. Close your eyes and put it in your mouth. It will probably taste fine.”
It was true. They were in a different culture now and had to obey their norms. If they refused, they could end up offending them. The others hadn’t noticed their hesitation, and the people returned to their conversation.
Maedc watched Tkz to figure out which part he should eat. They were all tearing off the outside layer and eating the flesh underneath. The thought made him gag again, but he copied the slicing motion they used to get underneath the tough skin. Maedc’s inexperienced hand kept bending the wrong way while trying to cut through it. The motioned looked so easy and natural when they did it.
Eventually he got a piece of the meat skewered and brought it to his mouth. He closed his eyes and put it in. Tumr was right. The flavor wasn’t that bad. It was salty and moist, somewhat similar to fish. He hoped the juices flowing into his mouth weren’t blood. Maedc reasoned he would be able to see it if it were blood. The flesh was surprisingly white. The worst part was the texture. Unlike the delicate flaky texture of fish, this was tough and chewy, making it hard to swallow.
When Maedc opened his eyes, the others were looking at him. He wondered what sort of strange faces he had been making while trying to choke this down. He gave the table a fake smile to convince them he enjoyed it. No one seemed to buy it. The meal continued with no other incidents. Many items were brought out at regular intervals, but they were identifiably plants.
Their goblets kept getting refilled with a cool, refreshing liquid. Maedc drank it to mask the unfamiliar flavors and to get the chewy meat down. It hadn’t occurred to him that the drink had alcohol in it until he started to feel a bit dizzy. He didn’t understand how that was possible, though, because the alcohol had to be so mild as not to be detectable by taste.
Then it occurred to him. Maybe they were being drugged; it wasn’t alcohol.
Maedc asked Tumr, “Do you feel strange? Like drugged or anything?”
“No. You’re probably just exhausted from not sleeping and the travel. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
The meal ended, and the plates were cleared. Tkz stood up. Another servant, or that’s what Maedc thought of them as, brought the book. It appeared to be an exact replica of his own copy all the way down to the leather cover, but much less worn.
He opened to a page and began to read. The clicks washed over Maedc, but he had no idea what any of the words meant. The others at the table nodded in agreement. Tkz then pointed at the two of them. The people at the table got up and moved away. Maedc didn’t like the feel of this. Something weird was going on, and it unsettled him.
Tumr’s voice shook as he asked, “What do you think we should do?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we should do what everyone else did?”
The two began to stand, but Tkz put his hand out and yelled, “Ahk!” The message was clear. They were to remain seated. Then one of the servants came back in and lay on the table. The boy got remnants of food and drink on him, because the table had not been cleared. But he didn’t seem to notice or care.
Maedc said, “What the hell is going on?”
This post-dinner ritual frightened him. This had to be unique to their arrival. Tkz’s recitation grew more regular, and it turned more into a chant with a beat to it. The people standing around the table clapped their hands in time. A palpable intensity filled the air.
Maedc could see that the boy on the table had tears in his eyes. He looked terrified. Something horrible was about to happen. He could feel it welling up inside him. Then he realized the feeling wasn’t a premonition. It was spior. Tkz had put the book down and both of his hands were outstretched in front of him. Tkz directed the spior from this boy to the two of them.
As soon as he realized this, he looked back to the boy. He saw the life draining out of him. The boy no longer looked afraid. All the color had flushed from his face, and he convulsed on the table.
Maedc yelled, “Stop! You’re killing him.”
Tkz smiled. He gave a final push, and the boy’s head fell sideways. He lay limp, dead. The others walked back to the table and lifted the boy above their heads and walked out of the room chanting something else.
Maedc had such a confusing rush of emotions flood though him. He had never felt so alive in his life. The extra spior brought a sensation of overwhelming joy. He wanted to celebrate this gifted extra life force. Yet, he had just watched someone die. A deep sadness competed with these other feelings. Tears welled up in Maedc’s eyes, but he couldn’t tell if they were for the death or the life.
Maedc looked at Tumr. “What was that?”
“I think it was some sort of ritual sacrifice.”
“Do you feel it too?”
“Yes. Tkz just emptied the spior out of that boy and gave it to us for some reason. I feel like I just stole his life even though we had no choice in the matter.”
The rush of spior already started to fade, and Maedc got angry.
He yelled, “What the hell? That’s not supposed to be possible. Spior can only be moved through the focal points. How did he do that? He’s some super powerful spiorist or something.”
Tumr sounded more terrified than angry.
“We have to get out of here. If people can just kill each other like that, or this guy can at least, we’re in big trouble. If we ever do anything wrong, we’re dead. How did he learn to do that?”
Maedc said, “We can’t leave. We have to stay and learn the language. We knew death was a possibility when we set off on this journey. We’re too close to end the journey now.”
“I know. But I’m so scared. You’re right, though. They definitely know things we don’t know if there are people who can do whatever it is we just saw.”
“Plus, why would they give us extra spior if they wanted us dead?”
That question would continue to haunt Maedc.
XV
Drystn shuddered as Ninml gave him a devious look. He’d never seen her like this. She stood up and commanded attention from the group.
She said, “I have a plan for how we can get the information from the Ruler.”
Finr perked up. “How?”
“You’re probably not going to like this. It shouldn’t be too difficult to drug him into unconsciousness. We then kidnap him. This is probably the riskiest part. We’d need to come up with a way for no one to notice us dragging a body down the hall. We then give him a truth serum when he wakes up. We ask him what we want to know, wipe his memory, and then return him.”
Drystn couldn’t believe Ninml had such a mind inside her all this time. The plan was suicide. It would never work.
Drystn said, “Um. You’ve got to be joking, right? That’s way too risky.”
Ninml returned a cold stare.
She said, “Why would I joke about something like this. Are there any other plans?”
Drystn let out a gasp of exasperation. “The lack of a better option doesn’t make that one good. Look, I’m the herbalist, so it seems I’ll be doing most of the work f
or this. Memory loss teas are notoriously bad. The Ruler will probably remember enough to identify us—”
“—so we wear masks when he’s awake.”
Drystn gave her a sharp look. “You’ve thought of everything, I see. As I was saying, even if the memory wipe worked, he’d soon realize he’s missing a whole day, and he’d quickly piece together what must have happened.”
Ninml’s voice rose to a near yell. She said, “Okay. Well what do you suggest?”
Finr stood up and tried to intervene. “There’s no need to make this a competition. It might be worth taking time to think of other options just in case we come up with something less risky.”
Loegr said, “What if we didn’t try to hide it. What if we just got the truth serum in him, and then strode in and asked him questions in plain view. Once we had the information, we could disseminate it before anyone could stop us. If we got information on how to defeat the bairsgn, it would surely get defeated by someone.”
Drystn said, “No. If we could guarantee that people would believe us, I’d say yes. If people believed us, the spiorists would revolt, and the sheer number of people backing us up would be our safety. But no one will believe us if we just tell them the Ruler is part of a big conspiracy or that we’ve somehow figured out how to defeat something that they’ve been working on for so many years.”
Ninml stopped suddenly. Her face had a terrified look on it, and her voice quavered.
She said, “Did you hear that? I think someone’s out there?”
She quietly tiptoed over to the door and pulled it open. She looked out in the hall, back and forth, several times.
Drystn said, “What is it? Who’s there?”
Ninml turned back with a renewed calm. “Sorry. I guess no one was there. Still, the guards are carefully watching for anything suspicious, so I suggest we think about this on our own and not meet up again for a long time. Next week?”
Finr agreed, and everyone moved to leave.
Drystn wandered the hall back to his room in a daze. He needed to come up with something. Drugging the Ruler could only be a last resort. As he rounded the corner, he passed a guard. They were everywhere now.