From a Far Land

by G David Walker

  “Cale, please!” Koryn cried. “In the name of all that we hold dear...GO!” Then he stiffened, lips pulled back over his teeth, as the creature's fangs pierced his back.

  With his friend's final look of agony seared into his mind, Cale sprinted toward the center of town. All around him he could hear the horrific sounds of men, women, and children screaming as the Manarachs' relentless slaughter continued.

  He turned the last corner and saw the meeting hall. Even though his village was lost, if he could alert Lore's Haven, the Circle would be able to meet this threat. Reaching deep inside, he somehow found the strength to increase his speed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, his foot hit the first step to the small building.

  Just as he reached for the door, a net of sticky strands enveloped him. He felt himself rising off the ground, being pulled into the foliage overhead. “Goodbye, father,” he whispered, just before he felt the vicious fangs drive home.

  ~~~

  At the same time, three days' journey to the east of Brayden Fenn, on the banks of the Shonta River, the village of Dronnin was meeting a similar end. Instead of the silent Manarachs, however, Dronnin’s fate came at the hands of scores of hissing Trellin.

  Because the Trellin did not possess the stealth of the Manarach, the men and women of Dronnin were able to mount a defense of their small fishing village. It made little difference, however. The onslaught of reptilian warriors quickly transformed the dirt streets of Dronnin into a bloody quagmire, oozing down the riverbanks to form a dark crimson cloud staining the clear waters of the Shonta.

  Loss

  “So, do you have any brothers or sisters?” Jason asked Lenai the next day as they continued their tour of Lore’s Haven.

  “My parents had a son before me, and another daughter after me,” she replied.

  “Where are they?”

  “My sister lives with my parents in our telosh. My brother left home four years ago.”

  “Telosh? What’s that, your house?”

  “No. It would be what humans call a village, although, unlike human villages, Shanthi teloshta are not exposed for all to see.”

  “Are they invisible?” he asked, remembering the previous day’s conversation.

  She shook her head. “No, just concealed. Some of the dwellings may be underground, while others might be in the trees. We fashion our dwellings to blend in with the land around us. If built correctly, you could walk through the midst of a Shanthi telosh and never know it was present.”

  “Wow.”

  A little while later, he stopped to examine a large design on the wall. “What’s this?”

  “This is a focus point for one of the primary portals,” she said. She indicated the wall opposite the strange design. Across the corridor stood an arched doorway made of highly polished wood. However, instead of leading to another hallway, what showed between the doorjambs was nothing but a blank wall. Armed guards kept vigil to either side of the frame. They had a relaxed manner, nodding pleasant greetings to passers-by, but their eyes took in everything around them.

  “What’s a focus point?” he asked. “And what’s the difference between a primary portal and any other portal? And why is this door frame built on a solid wall?”

  From behind them, a voice said, “A focus point is what enables travelers to come to Lore’s Haven from anywhere in Teleria.”

  Jason turned to see a pleasant-looking man dressed in a yellow robe, with a round face and thinning brown hair, smiling amiably at them. A torq with a large yellow stone in it hung around his neck.

  “Loremaster Kalen,” Lenai said. “I apologize. I did not realize you were behind us.”

  The Loremaster waved off Lenai’s apology. “No, no,” he said. “I was passing by, and I saw you and our guest discussing the focus point. I thought I would stop and introduce myself.”

  He turned to Jason, and, with a formal bow, said, “Greetings, Jason Bennett. I am Kalen Dristal, saiken lo, and Topaz Loremaster. I am pleased to meet you at last.”

  Jason awkwardly returned the Loremaster’s bow. I’ve got to practice bowing. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” he said.

  “Please, call me Kalen. ‘Sir’ sounds so formal, does it not?”

  “I suppose.”

  “So,” Kalen said, rubbing his hands together. “You have questions about the portals? Perhaps I can help explain a little about them. What would you like to know?”

  “Well, before I ask about the portals, what's a saiken lo? Reyga said the same thing when he introduced himself.”

  “Ah, yes,” Kalen replied. “A saiken lo is a high master of dimsai. The word ‘saiken’ simply means 'knowledge of dimsai,' and ‘lo’ is an indication of rank. All of the members of the Circle are saiken lo, as are many of the other independent scholars, and even some tradesmen throughout Teleria.”

  “So there are other ranks of saiken?”

  “Oh, yes indeed.”

  Kalen glanced around at the bustling corridor, and then indicated a relatively open area to one side.

  “Let us step over here, out of the way, and I will explain,” he said.

  Once the trio was out of the middle of the busy hallway, the Loremaster straightened his robe and took a deep breath. “Almost everyone is born with a latent ability to use dimsai,” he said, “although children are instructed not to use their power until they have received proper training. At the first sign of power, usually around a child’s tenth birthday, a boy or girl becomes saiken fel, which means they have power but have not yet received any formal training.

  “Sometime after their fourteenth birthday, the child and his or her parents will choose a trade. Then, they will find a master, a saiken tek, in that field that is willing to take on an apprentice, a saiken cho, for training. Formal training generally takes anywhere from five to seven years.”

  “What then?”

  “When an acceptable level of control over dimsai has been demonstrated, the student may become a saiken cha, a tradesman, or they may choose to become saiken li, a saiken who has chosen to continue his or her quest for knowledge, hoping to one day earn the rank of saiken lo. This ongoing study can be done by either joining one of the Orders or through independent research,” Kalen explained.

  “What if they never get to an acceptable level?”

  The Loremaster’s expression became somber. “If, after the seventh year of training, the student still has not demonstrated enough mastery of dimsai to fulfill the apprenticeship, they are declared saiken ri. They are forbidden to use dimsai, in order to prevent them from harming themselves or others. Fortunately,” he finished brightly, “it is extremely rare for anyone to be declared saiken ri.”

  “Uh huh. So, what does a Topaz Loremaster take care of?”

  “I preserve the knowledge of atmospheric phenomena and anything related, such as weather cycles, storms, and the like.” He made a slight gesture, and a sudden breeze ruffled Jason’s hair and caused his tunic to billow up.

  “Cool,” Jason said with a grin. “Okay, so, going back to our first topic, how does a focus point allow people to get to Lore’s Haven from somewhere else?”

  “First,” Kalen said, “I should explain that a focus point is only required if a traveler is not at a travel portal. In that instance, they can create a portal that comes to this doorway, or to either of two other doorways located in Lore’s Haven.”

  “How?”

  “Each portal in Teleria has a unique focus point associated with it. A traveler wishing to come to the Haven through this particular portal need only concentrate on this glyph.” Kalen indicated the pattern on the wall. “Then, providing they have the power, they will establish a portal to this doorway. Should they wish to travel to a different location instead, they simply concentrate upon the focus point associated with their desired destination.”

  “So why doesn’t someone at a travel portal need a focus point?”

  Kalen pointed toward the sides of the doorframe. Two column
s of crystals with designs etched into their surfaces were set into the reddish wood, one column on either side of the doorway.

  “These are focus crystals,” Kalen explained. “When we wish to set up a travel portal to a certain location, a saiken lo will take a number of these crystals to that location. Once there, he or she will use dimsai to imprint the location onto the crystal. The crystals are then set into frames, as you see here, to serve as anchor points for the portals. So long as the traveler possesses enough dimsai ability, they need merely touch the crystal representing where they wish to go in order to create the portal.”

  “Cool. So, how do they turn the portal off?”

  “Once the person who established the portal steps through it, the portal closes. For that reason, if there are several people traveling together, the person who creates the portal must be the last one through. Otherwise, those behind would be stranded. Or, if the creator of the portal does not plan to come through it, he or she can also release it, allowing it to close.”

  “Alright, so what’s the diff—”

  “Oh, dear,” the Loremaster said suddenly. “I am terribly sorry, Jason, but I must be going. I was on my way to confer with a colleague when I stopped. I meant only to introduce myself, but I am afraid I got rather involved in our conversation.”

  Kalen gave him a hasty bow, and started down the hallway. “I hope we can talk again, young man,” he called back over his shoulder. “I truly enjoyed the few minutes we had.” With a final wave, he turned a corner and was gone.

  “Well,” he said, after the Loremaster disappeared around the corner, “that was interesting.”

  “Loremaster Kalen is an honorable man,” Lenai told him, “but he sometimes loses track of time. Particularly when he is involved in a conversation.”

  “Gotcha. So, how do the crystals get imprinted?”

  Lenai shook her head. “My people do not possess enough power to create portals,” she said. “Therefore, we have no interest in the manner of their creation. You will have to find someone else to answer that question for you.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  Lenai nodded toward the portal. “Travelers are coming from Orrin. Watch.”

  He turned to look at the doorway. The wall between the doorjambs wavered like a distant mirage on a hot summer day. Then, an iridescent shimmer flashed along the doorframe, and he was no longer looking at a blank wall. Another room was visible through the doorway.

  The guards, who had been standing at relaxed attention before, had stepped back. They watched the doorway closely, with their hands resting on the hilts of their swords.

  From the newly visible room, a couple and their young son walked into the hallway. As soon as the man cleared the threshold, the room on the other side winked out of existence with a silent flash of light, and the wall was back once more. The guards relaxed, nodded a greeting to the family, and then resumed their former positions.

  “Man, I wish we would’ve had one of these when we drove to California last year for vacation,” Jason said.

  At Lenai’s puzzled look, he shook his head. “Never mind. So, how did you know someone was coming? And where they were coming from?”

  “When a portal is about to be activated from a travel portal, the focus crystal associated with that travel portal will begin to glow,” she explained. “If no crystal glows, then we know the portal is being created from somewhere else.”

  “Okay, so how d—”

  “I have told you all I can of portals. As I said before—”

  “Okay, okay,” Jason said, holding up his hands in defeat. With one final glance at the portal, they continued down the hall.

  Not much later, they were walking down a little-used corridor on one of the lower levels of the Haven. No one else was around when a rift opened up beside them. A voice said, “Come, laddie. It’s high time you and I had a wee chat!” Before he could react, a dark figure leaned out of the opening, grabbed the front of his shirt, and dragged him through the portal.

  “No!” Lenai yelled, leaping forward. With a silent concussion of power, she slammed back against the wall of the passageway and slid to the ground.

  “Sorry, lassie,” the figure said, leaning out of the shimmering opening, “but I dinna think ye have an invitation.” Extending his hand toward the prone girl, tendrils of power snaked out and crawled over her still form.

  With a low chuckle, the figure retreated back into the portal, which silently winked out of existence, leaving the passageway empty except for the limp body of the Shanthi girl lying on the cold stone floor.

  *****

  An insistent knocking coming from the door to his outer chamber dragged Tal from his slumber. He squinted at the window in his room as he tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. The darkness outside told him the sun had not yet given thought to rising. He yawned and untangled himself from the warm cocoon of his bed sheets.

  When he opened the door, he saw his apprentice, Radyn, standing outside along with a Warder. His student’s dark hair stuck up on all sides of his head, and puffy circles under his eyes showed that he had been peacefully sleeping not too long ago himself.

  “Please forgive this interruption of your rest, High One, but Lenai has been found unconscious. It looks as if she has been attacked.”

  “What?” Instantly awake, Tal’s mind began to race. “Where was she found? When did this happen?”

  “She was found in one of the lower passageways. Warder Garris found her while he was conducting the nightly patrol.” Radyn indicated the man behind him.

  Tal turned to the Warder. “Do you have any idea what may have happened to her?”

  Garris shook his head. “No, High One. She was unconscious when I found her. We searched the lower levels, but found nothing unusual.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She is in the healing area,” Radyn said. “One of Loremaster Seryn’s students is treating her, and the Loremaster herself is being notified as we speak.”

  “What of Jason Bennett?” he asked. “Lenai has been escorting him about Lore’s Haven these last two days. Where is he?”

  Again, the Warder shook his head. “We do not know. She was alone, and we did not see any sign of the Far Planer on any of the lower levels, nor in his quarters. His bed has not been disturbed. We are expanding our search to include the rest of Lore’s Haven and the surrounding area.”

  “Good, good.” He stroked his chin as his gaze wandered across the floor. Who could have done this? He looked at the Warder. “Notify me at once if you find anything else.” He turned to his apprentice. “Awaken Loremaster Reyga, and have him meet me in the healing area. I will be there as soon as I am dressed.”

  “Yes, High One. I will go at once,” Radyn said. With a bow, he and the Warder left to carry out Tal's orders.

  ~~~

  After getting dressed, Tal headed for the healing area. As he reached it, he saw Reyga hurrying from the other direction. He waited for the older man.

  Reyga stopped and bowed quickly, breathing hard. “High One,” he said, “how is she?”

  Tal knew of the special bond between the elder Loremaster and the young Shanthi. “I do not know,” he replied. “I just arrived myself.”

  When they entered the healing area, Lenai was lying motionless in one of the beds, a thin sheet covering her from the shoulders down. Her eyes were closed, and had it not been for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of the sheet, Tal might have thought she had already passed.

  A young man and woman tended her. When they looked up and saw the two Loremasters, they stopped what they were doing and bowed formally. He waved off their bows. “Now is not the time for formalities. What word of Lenai?”

  The young woman stepped forward. She had a slight build, and solemn, dark eyes. “High One,” she said quietly, “I am Elira. Lenai’s injuries are healed, but we cannot awaken her. I considered probing more deeply, but decided to wait for Loremaster Seryn to arrive. She should be here momentari
ly.”

  Reyga was studying the still figure on the bed. “She is in no danger?”

  “No, Loremaster Reyga,” she replied. “Her injuries no longer pose a threat, and she appears whole. I do not know why she does not awaken, but she is in no danger that we can see.”

  “And what of Jason?” Reyga asked. “Is he well?”

  Elira looked confused by the question. Tal turned to Reyga. “I am afraid no one knows where the young man is,” he said. “He was not with Lenai when they found her, and he has not slept in his bed. He has apparently vanished.” He could not keep a note of suspicion from creeping into his voice.

  “High One, surely you do not believe he is responsible for this?”

  “Loremaster Reyga,” he said, “I realize you have developed an affinity with the young man. Considering what you have already been through together, I must say I can hardly blame you.” His glance fell to the floor for a moment, and then he looked Reyga in the eyes. “I, however, do not have such a luxury. I cannot rule out any possibility, regardless how unlikely it may seem.”

  “But, High One…” Reyga began. Then he stopped and looked at Lenai. After a long moment, he nodded. “Of course, High One. I understand. Forgive me.”

  Tal placed his hand on the older man’s arm. “I am sorry, my friend. I truly hope that Jason is innocent of this. I know your trust is not easily given, and I hope your faith has not been misplaced.”

  Reyga looked once more to the figure on the bed. “As do I, High One,” he breathed. “As do I.”

  Just then, the door to the healing area opened and Seryn walked in, moving quickly to the bed. She glanced at Lenai, nodded briefly to Tal and Reyga, and motioned to her assistants.