by Bill Ricardi
A solid stream of untime poured from the open maw of the dragon. It enveloped the chains that bound us together. It enveloped Toby and the Axe of McGrondle. It enveloped me… and most importantly, everything attached to me.
The frigid stone of untime spiraled up the Ebon Chains of Binding, forming a thick harness around the Stasis Dragon’s wings and midsection. As it crept over my body, the icy fingers of the Stasis Dragon’s breath found me irrevocably bound to solid rock, thanks to my Stone Shape spell. It sought the edges of the stone that held me, and discovered them due to Toby’s last efforts. Tons of detached cliff face were encompassed by the dragon’s breath weapon.
It is an odd feeling, transitioning from ‘is’ to ‘is not’. Untime snatches. It kidnaps. There’s no pain involved. However there’s a feeling of separation; a gap between mind and body that quickly becomes a rift. Soon I had no affinity for the physical world. It was finally done with me.
The Ebon Chains of Binding disappeared, because one of the bound targets had died. But the rocky shell of untime that surrounded those bonds remained. The harness was eternal now. And it was forever attached to twenty tons of falling stone.
The Stasis Dragon screamed in fury as for the first time in its existence, gravity had its way. The massive ball of rocky untime that used to be the cliff’s edge plunged into the ocean. Struggle as it might, the great beast had no way to slip from its entangling yoke. A thrashing tail was the last thing that was visible, and then the ocean took the Stasis Dragon forever. As Master Aharon said, it was doomed to sink like a stone through sand and water. It would be absorbed back into the core of Panos, never to be seen again.
My soul stood next to Toby’s as we watched the Original Engine’s living weapon sink into the churning waters below. Time was meaningless as the two of us were able to peer through the ocean’s depths like it was so much glass. Perhaps minutes, perhaps hours passed. Eventually we watched as the Great Trench was rocked with arcane explosions. I felt a surge of relief and of pride. Benno had done it. After the druids escorted the diving party back, we looked down upon the R. M. N. Taboo. My son and Rick and Will celebrated their victory together, and wept over their losses together.
It was over.
But why were we still here?
A delicate hand found my shoulder. I turned and saw a young elven woman with hair the color of straw. She wore a sad smile.
It was Toby who greeted her. “Omi-Suteth.” Then the minotaur turned to me and said, “I’ll leave you two to talk. Take your time. Let me know when you’re ready.” And with that, the minotaur paced to the far side of what cliff still remained.
Omi-Suteth murmured, “Here we are again, Sorch Stonemender.”
“Well. You told me to be open to new opportunity.”
That comment drew a genuine laugh from the goddess. “Even here, at the end of your time, you offer your joy to others. It would be rude of me to withhold the glad tidings that will undoubtedly lift your spirits.”
I gestured towards the ground, and the two of us sat down, legs dangling over the cliff’s freshly cut edge.
Comfortably seated, Omi-Suteth said, “The Curse is lifted, Sorch. Glogur's legacy is over.”
If I had a heart, it would have been caught in my throat. Did that mean… “Shaman?”
“Is fine now. Anyone, living or dead, who was impacted by the orcish legacy is now free of its burdens.”
I squinted at the goddess, “Living or dead? What does that mean?”
She explained, “It means that the cumulative loss of intelligence that was in some cases passed on from parents to children will be erased as well. Every orc and half orc alive today will be restored to what their intelligence would have been if the Curse of Glogur had never existed at all.”
I caught on to what she was hinting at. “No more intelligence enhancements.”
Omi-Suteth nodded. She said, “For many if not most of your ‘smart orcs’, it won’t be required. Certainly not for your son, I can tell you that much.”
Relief spread through my soul at the goddess’ words. I said, “Thank you. And all this is a reward for saving Panos? For giving my life? Or was it a function of the Original Engine itself?”
The young elf lass hesitated, then looked away.
I reached out with my smooth, green fingers and gently tilted Omi-Suteth’s head back in my direction. I whispered, “It’s okay. I won’t be mad.”
She took my hand in her smaller, more delicate elven fingers and squeezed gently. Then the goddess admitted, “Not because of any of those things. Sorch, I loved Kenvunk very much. And then we got into a stupid fight. In my anger, I told him that his orcs would never accomplish anything great without my blessing. And in his anger, he made a bet with me that I was wrong, that an orc could change the course of Panos without my magical aid. I took that bet.”
I murmured, “And Glogur was just…”
“A catalyst. Or an excuse. If I was right, the orcs would be forever cursed. But if he was right…”
She trailed off. I gave her some time to gather her thoughts.
After a few deep breaths, Omi-Suteth said, “If Kenvunk was right, I would give up my position as the goddess of magic. Which I just have.”
My eyes widened, or would have if I really had eyes. “You’re no longer a goddess?” I asked.
The straw-haired elf laughed softly. She said, “I’m still a goddess, but Vinara will take on all of my aspects and powers on Panos. I will have no worshippers, or at least gain no benefit from having them. I will withdraw from the game of the gods. Word is spreading through my former clergy as we speak.”
I murmured, “I’m sorry, Omi-Suteth.”
She shook her head, almost eager in rejecting my pity. “No, no Sorch. Don’t you see? Now I can be with him. My obligation to Panos is fulfilled. Now our stupid game has been played, and we can have happiness. If Kenvunk will have me.”
My reply was immediate, “He will. He’s been asking for your forgiveness, for your love. He pines over you like a heartbroken teenager.”
Omi-Suteth smiled. She absently kicked her legs out over the cliff’s edge, looking for all the world to be just another happy elven girl. She said, “Truly, you have earned your new name.”
“Stonemender? Because I helped close the rift in The Great Trench?”
The goddess glanced back towards me. “Because you, against all odds, took two hearts of stone and made them beat again.”
I smiled and said, “That’s poetic.”
Omi-Suteth shrugged. “I’ve been known to dabble.”
After a few seconds of silence, I glanced over my shoulder at Toby. He was waiting with infinite patience. I said, “Well. I guess we should be going now.”
The goddess tilted her head, “No, you need to finish your notes. It’s the least I can do.”
There, in my lap, was my journal. In my hand, a quill that I knew would never run out of ink.
I remembered my life, all the way back to when I was in the swamps of my homeland. That was in the journal. And my awakening, and my adventures, they were in the journal. I remembered the last few years, and my new family, and the wonderful people who I would be leaving behind, but in a better world.
I admitted, “I’m not sure what else to write.”
Omi-Suteth laughed softly. “But Sorch. You’ve been writing for hours. You just need to record what’s happening right now. And what’s about to happen. And the wolf.”
Then it all became clear. The flashbacks. I had been reliving the past as I searched for all of the important moments that I needed to write down. That might not have happened the first time around. I wasn’t sure anymore.
But I did as the goddess suggested. I wrote down everything that happened after the dragon. Then I wrote about what was about to happen. And I wrote about the wolf.
When I set the eldritch quill down, it dissipated.
Just then, I swear that I heard Shaman’s voice in my head. He was asking me, ‘Is it wo
nderful?’
“Yeah.”
I felt a big hand on my shoulder. “Sorch. Who are you talking to?”
I looked up. The goddess was gone. Instead, Toby was smiling down at me.
I stood and looked at my dear friend. He was glowing now, and behind him was a doorway. Through that doorway was everything.
The minotaur made a compelling suggestion.
“Come on. Let’s find the next adventure.”
I set the finished journal on the ground, at the cliffside where everything had ended, and everything had begun. Then I followed my friend into the light.
After we left, a single white wolf padded onto the cliffside. Laoghaire looked around, then snorted. After quite a bit of sniffing, he padded over to find a curiosity. It smelled like a friend. The giant wolf gently took the journal into his great maw, and then bounded away.
Chapter 21
I found myself standing out in the snow, watching my extended family through the window of Ames’ two story home in Ice House.
I wasn’t trying to be creepy or anything, honest! Ames and Benno already had guests though, and any sudden knocking at the door would have ruined the moment. Patricia, Celestial, their new baby Sarah, and the toddling Granite were all visiting. The were-cat’s place was big enough, and since the events of a few months back it became a sort of gathering point for all of us. A kind of haven.
It looked like the guests were getting ready for bed. I totally understood taking an early night. Parenthood looked really hard! Mother, father, and baby girl went to the downstairs guest room to retire. Ames took the toddler into the second guest room, the one Benno normally used when he stayed over. There was a warm little cot for Granite, and the toddler loved all of the attention that he got from both Ames as well as his big brother. Benno took the time to help Ames tuck Granite in for the night. He was such a well behaved kid, nothing like I was at that age, if the tales that I’ve heard were true.
The orc and the were-cat watched the tired half orc boy drift off to sleep. I could tell that they were sharing a mutual feeling of peace, and in that moment I was happy for the both of them.
But I was also freezing my butt off. So after I felt that Granite drifted off, I stepped over to the front door and gently rapped on the oak portal with the tip of my staff.
A few moments later the door opened. Ames’ face lit up upon seeing my cloaked, snow-dusted form.
“Leeson! Come in, come in. We weren’t expecting you.”
I stepped inside to enjoy the benefits of a roaring fire and the company of two of my favorite people in all of Panos. After I shucked my cloak, I used my Ironwood staff to prop it up in the corner of the room next to the doorway. That way I wouldn’t forget it.
The white were-cat locked the front door. That accomplished, Ames embraced me warmly and asked, “Are you staying the night?”
Before I could answer, Benno chimed in, “Throw him out, we have a one human limit in this household.”
I shared a little smile with Benno, who was next in line for hugs of course. After I let him go, I answered the original question, “I can stay the night, but I need to be off early. I have to get back to Jess and Gideon in the morning, we’re having a fancy breakfast at my parents’ place. I’m actually on a mission tonight.”
The feline and orc exchanged a quick glance. Ames said, “The kids are in bed. We can gear up for a little night jaunt. Who’s the target?”
I blinked owlishly. “Oh! No, no, nothing like that. You’re the mission. Or, um, the target I guess. But in a good way. Can we sit down?”
We all made ourselves comfortable around the kitchen table. I noticed that there were still some snacks left over from when they were entertaining earlier in the evening: Snake puff rolls from the Spastic Vole. Wordlessly, Benno nudged the plate over to me. I devoured three of the delectable treats before getting on with ‘business’.
I took off my pack and gently removed a slightly beat up tome. I said, “I recently transcribed everything to a new library. Well I mean, I say ‘recently’, but it took months and months and was a complete pain in the rump.”
Benno chuckled. Ames had an eyeroll ready for me, however. “Yes, you poor thing. Your hand may have even cramped a few times in the process. Does it still hurt? Shall I fetch a cleric for you?”
I put on my best pout, then I said, “Is that any way to treat a guest bearing gifts?”
Ames perked up. The feline said, “Oh, we like gifts! Sarcasm retracted.”
I slid the book across the table to Ames. “This is my first travel spellbook. It has some interesting tidbits about the early career of a young human mage, but that’s not what’s going to interest you. Have a look at the red bookmark.”
The were-cat gently opened the old spellbook and started to read. Benno was perched over the feline’s shoulder, reading along. I knew that they had realised what they were reading when the orc swallowed hard, and Ames sniffled once.
I explained, “That is Sorch’s entire history up until a few weeks before you met him, Ames. I couldn’t tell you, or anyone else about it, because I was under the effects of a Bonding Curse. Mom and Dad saw the whole thing because they stole my spellbook one night while I was sleeping. But other than them, nobody has seen this. The curse was meant to keep his secrets out of the public eye and control the spread of his new intelligence enhancement spell. But with him gone, the Bonding Curse has dissipated. And I thought you should have this.”
Now the tears were really starting to flow, and I found myself joining in. Everyone was careful not to get the pages of the spellbook damp, of course.
I ate another snake puff roll to get the lump out of my throat. Then, after I took a deep breath, I said, “I know that you probably don’t need any of the spells in there Benno, but I can’t think of a better caretaker of your dad’s history than yourself. Everything I need is in the new library, so this is yours now.”
Benno reached out with shaking hands to pick up my old spellbook. He closed the tome, taking care not to disturb the bookmark. He cradled it tenderly in his arms, as if it were a child. Without a word, the orc took the book back to his guest room, where he could study it by candlelight as his little brother slumbered beside him.
When the guest room door closed, Ames rumbled, “Awful nice of you, Leeson.”
I smiled, perhaps a bit sadly, “I owed him that, and a lot more. How’s he holding up?”
“Better now. You know how the lifting of the orcish curse left him a bit dazed. Too smart for his own good really, second guessing every decision. Coming up with ways that maybe would have changed the outcome of things. But he’s accepted the past and grown into his new brain, finally. They say he’s on course to be one of the youngest archmages in the last century.”
I nodded and said, “I believe it. There’s nobody at the Arcane University more driven than your son.”
The were-cat snatched a snake puff roll with one claw and deftly devoured it. Ames said, “Shaman making a full recovery helped immensely. Hemitath is happy, Benno can still go to ‘auntie and uncle’ when he has something that he doesn’t want to discuss with me. Which is natural.”
I mentioned, “You know that Rick and Will want to fund a marble statue of Sorch? It would sit right in the middle of their shop floor.”
That made Ames laugh. The feline said, “Oh gods, he would hate that. I approve though.”
I had to ask, “How’s Tara?”
The were-cat was somber once again. “No better, no worse. Preoccupied with little Janet. The rest of the Order of the Snow is helping out as much as possible. And I have the girls over as often as I can. Everyone misses Toby of course… oh hey. If you want to talk about tributes, the elves of Arbitros have already started interweaving a series of trees that will supposedly bear Toby’s likeness perfectly. It will take years for them to grow of course. But I think he would have enjoyed that.”
I nodded and said, “Well if there’s anything that I can do, please let me kno
w.”
Then the were-cat was staring at me, intently.
I sat back in my chair, a little nervous now. “W-what?”
“You mean that?”
I murmured, “Of course, Ames.”
Then I was being dragged upstairs.
I quickly found myself in the third guestroom, across the hall from Ames’ bedroom. The bed was neatly made up, the closet open and empty. On the simple wooden desk were two leather bound journals, looking oddly identical.
I slowly made my way over to the desk. After a visual examination, I said, “Okay, well. These look like the same maker. But this one has… teeth marks in it?”
Ames said, dryly, “It wasn’t me. After the battle at the cliffside, after you delivered Tara and I to the clerics in town, you went off to help the mages hold the northern part of town, remember?”
I said, “Yes, I recall that. And after that we had to set a couple of back-fires to stop the advancing flames before they got too close to the town.”
The were-cat nodded. “Exactly. So you weren’t around when Laoghaire strolled into the middle of Braxen, walked right into the infirmary, and dropped that journal in my lap.”
I had to laugh a little bit at the mental image. “Did the healers panic?”
Ames affirmed, “They lost it. Once one of them described what was going on… mind you I was blind at the time. But once they explained that there was a massive white wolf just sitting there staring at me, I got them to calm down.”
I ran my fingertips over the indented tooth marks in the journal. “What is it?” I asked.
The feline pointed at both tomes. “That one is a clone of that one. Sorch’s journal was sitting safe in his backpack, attached to Laoghaire’s saddle. But this new journal appeared out of gods-know-where. And was delivered to me via giant wolf.”
“So other than the dental indentations, they’re the same?”