The Five Elements

by Scott Marlowe

  He left without another word.

  Mirna spent only a few more moments seeing to Shanna's cut. Then the woman rose, bending at the waist as she said, "I shall return shortly, milady. The cut is not deep and should heal well with a salve. I will also bring more fresh water and breakfast." She made her way to the exit, not turning her back to Shanna until the very last moment. Then she was gone as well. She drew the curtain securely behind her, leaving Shanna alone.

  Shanna lowered herself across the length of the settee. The sofa was just long enough to accommodate her, its cushioned surface a far cry from the hard floor of the cage she'd spent the better part of the night huddled in. She stared up at the inside of the garishly patterned canopy with its supporting hoops, thinking on what Erlek had said. In particular, she thought of the Element and the sensation it had caused. For a long time, she thought of nothing else.

  Witch's Interlude I

  "HE SLEEPS."

  Ursool shuffled away from the curtain separating Aaron from the remainder of her house. Quietly, she sat next to Ensel Rhe who remained seated on the bench close to the fire.

  "He is about Hannu’s age, don’t you think?"

  Milk-white eyes did not waver from the flames. "Hannu was much younger."

  "If he still lived, I meant."

  Silence.

  "Perhaps."

  Ursool crossed her arms. "Does Aaron know where you are taking him?"

  "He knows enough."

  "Does he, now? Tell me, what did you tell him?"

  "Why? Does your witchcraft suddenly fail you?"

  Ursool smiled. "I wish to hear it from your lips."

  "I have told him nothing."

  "Nothing at all? But you will tell him, won't you? Before you get there, I mean."

  "What is the difference whether I tell him before or if he finds out once we are there? Either way, we are going."

  Ursool sighed. "It might do him some good to hear it beforehand. He is just a child. He has lost his home. His friends. It would not kill you to give him some support, would it? What if he were Hannu—"

  "He is not Hannu."

  "But he is still a child."

  Ensel Rhe did not argue that point.

  "It would do him good to hear truth."

  "I have not lied to him."

  "Perhaps not, but sometimes the omission of information is no better. The truth—"

  "Since when is a witch so concerned with truth?" Ensel Rhe shifted. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "What should I have told him? That Elsanar had not the foresight to safeguard his life? That had I not come looking for him at my own initiative he'd have been split in two by a dwarven axe? Sometimes it is better not knowing the truth, I think."

  The crackle of the fire became the only noise between them for a few moments. Then, Ursool asked, "So why do you do it then? Why do you bring Aaron to Wildemoore?"

  "Because there is safety there. Because Ansanom will take care of him."

  "Really? Safety? I have my suspicions and, I think, so do you."

  "Suspicions are just that. Ansanom has done nothing untoward. If not for his warnings, Aaron might already be dead."

  "I wonder at that."

  "Why? What does your witchcraft tell you? If you know something, then out with—"

  "It is not craft, but common sense which warns me of that man. Something is not right about him. It is a wonder you, with all of your senses, do not see it. I fear that should you enter that place, you may never leave."

  The fire crackled as Ensel Rhe leaned against the table. "I am not blind to the possibilities. But our current choices are limited. I said nothing to the boy, but we are being followed."

  "Yes, I know."

  The eslar sat up. "What do you know?"

  "Very little. Howls in the night. Shadowed beings. Difficult to say beyond that. Perhaps, come morning, or sooner, I will know more. Until then, find a place to lay. Get some sleep."

  "Perhaps in a while." Ensel Rhe crossed his arms and shifted uncomfortably for a moment. Finally, he said, "For now, it is good to have your company."

  Ursool, a smile creasing her lips, said nothing, but took to humming a soothing melody. After a while, Ensel Rhe propped crossed legs upon the hearth's edge. Neither said another word right away.

  11. Houndmaster

  MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, AARON wanted answers. His home had been attacked. His folk slain. He'd been driven away, forced to flee or die. It was both frustrating and irritating, that someone should take such drastic measures and he not know even the smallest thing about any of it. Yet, now, there existed a small glimmer of hope. Small because it relied upon the taciturn eslar who, at best, had proven as communicative as a slug. Though he'd made no promises, Master Rhe had said he would share what he knew. But leagues had gone by and still he hadn't said a thing. Aaron remained patient, at first. The eslar probably only needed some time to organize his thoughts. Such reasoning lasted for a little while, but not long. Tired of waiting, Aaron decided to take the initiative himself and ask what he knew. But every time he opened his mouth, Master Rhe would abruptly turn around, tell Aaron to stay put, then disappear into the forest the way they'd just come. Aaron had no idea what he was doing. Looking for pursuing dwarves or—Aaron remembered the horn and wondered again about the tooth Ursool had given him—something else entirely. Master Rhe explained nothing, forcing Aaron to add yet another question to the growing pile.

  Finally, though, as Ensel Rhe returned from one of his scouting missions and fell into his usual lead position, he asked, "What do you know of the Five Elements?"

  That he'd spoken at all took Aaron by surprise. The question, or rather its content, caused him to narrow his brow and, unsure if Master Rhe was making sport of him, hesitate before he answered. Even then, the words left his mouth slowly. "There are only four elements. Fire, Earth, Water, and Air." He waited, but the eslar did not contradict him. "Unless you count the quasi-elements, but those are only combinations of the others: mud, from Earth and Water; ice, from Water and Air; magma, from Earth and Fire; and so on. But, as far as true elements go, there are only the four."

  Ensel Rhe shrugged. "Four, five… it seems neither here nor there to me, especially since Elsanar never told me what he had discovered on the subject. Perhaps he shared the information with others of his coterie. In the time he was researching it, I suspect he must have. Surely he said something to you about it?"

  No, he had not, Aaron thought. He was about to say so when Ensel Rhe started speaking again.

  "The one person I do know that he shared his findings with was Ansanom."

  It was the second time Master Rhe had mentioned the man. Aaron had never met him, nor did he know much about him other than that he was a brilliant cognitive who, for reasons unknown, chose to live in solitude. His home, Wildemoore Manor, wasn't on any maps, nor was its location detailed in any journal or scroll Aaron had ever seen. But Aaron's master had come to know him somehow and the two had regularly exchanged correspondence as well as collaborated on more than a project or two. Oftentimes, Aaron was given the task of dissecting his letters. It was a privilege, for Ansanom was a well of knowledge. His ability to apply his thought processes to theoretical and practical problems was startling. For Aaron, it was a guaranteed learning experience every time he read one of his letters. But if Elsanar had exchanged information about the elements—four or five or a hundred—with Ansanom, then Aaron knew nothing of it. Elsanar had been the master, though, and Aaron the apprentice, and therefore not privy to every avenue his master might explore nor to every missive that crossed his desk.

  "No wonder that Elsanar wrote to him about it," Ensel Rhe said, "for it was Ansanom who started all of this when he warned us about the first assassin."

  Aaron stumbled. "The first assassin?"

  "Yes. All told, there were three. You and your friend, the girl, met the third at the top of Graggly's Tower."

  Three assassins? Memories returned as an accompanying shi
ver coursed through him. He'd been saved from the one he and Shanna had faced only because of Shanna's diversion and Master Rion's spellcasting.

  But if there'd been three, what had happened to the other two?

  Unbidden, Ensel Rhe supplied the answer. "I killed the other two before they could reach you. I regret the third was able to get so close. It was your good fortune that others were there to stop him. Perhaps your master should have warned you. I advised him to. But he did not feel comfortable laying such a burden upon you."

  Aaron undid the clasp on his waterskin and took a long pull. If he wasn't sick of being wet he might have splashed some onto his face. Anything to stop the churning in his stomach. "But… why? Why does anyone want to kill me?"

  Ensel Rhe came to an abrupt halt. Aaron stumbled to a stop behind him. The eslar turned and said, "Elsanar believed that whoever hired the assassins wanted to disrupt his research. It seemed the easiest way to do that was to eliminate you."

  "But…" Aaron began, narrowing his brow. "That doesn't make any sense."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Because my contributions were not that important. I mean, they were, but Master Elsanar could have carried on without me. It was his life's work. No one knew it better. Without my help his progress might have been slowed, but still he—"

  "This was the best conclusion Elsanar could come up with. We considered other alternatives, including the possibility that Ansanom himself hired the assassins, or at least had something to do with it. Living so isolated as he does, how else could he have known about that first one? But, on the other hand, why try to disrupt research that he himself was contributing to? Ansanom had nothing to gain."

  "Then who did?"

  "I am getting to that."

  Ensel Rhe took up their march again. Aaron followed closely, eager to hear more. It seemed some of his questions were finally going to get answers.

  "Not long after Ansanom warned us of the assassin, a man approached your master."

  "Is he the one who hired the assassins?" Aaron asked. "Who was he? What was his name?"

  Ensel Rhe cast his gaze over one shoulder. "His name was Jaedon Liler."

  "That name sounds familiar. Jaedon…" Aaron rolled the name over in his mind. Then, in a flash, he had it. "Jaedon the librarian? Why would a librarian hire—"

  "I did not say he hired anyone. Now, listen, and do not interrupt again. Jaedon came to Elsanar with suspicions about a man who'd shown an abnormal interest in some of your master's papers."

  Master Elsanar routinely sent essays and dissertations to Jaedon, who was Norwynne's master librarian, for transcription and copying. The papers were then couriered to various universities, libraries, and colleagues who shared in the broader areas of Elsanar's research. It was a testament to the sorcerer's generosity that he shared his knowledge so freely, but, Aaron thought, it also significantly widened the number of potential suspects.

  "Nothing about the interest in your master's research was unusual. But there was something about the man Jaedon didn't like. He said he was too lean, as if only a skeleton, and his skin, white as bone. Also, he was interested in more than just Elsanar's work. He was also interested in the Underkeep. Jaedon said the man raided the library's deepest map drawers, pulling out dwarven plans that hadn't been looked at in generations. I did some checking myself and discovered that this man—this savant, as Elsanar called him—had done more than just study old construction plans. He mounted an expedition into the Underkeep. Nothing unusual there. People have been coming to Norwynne for decades looking for forgotten dwarven treasure. When I spoke with the guide who had led the savant into the Underkeep, he expressed the same misgivings that Jaedon had regarding his appearance. He also said that the man showed a keen interest in a locale that had already been explored countless times. No one had ever found anything there. Despite the guide's urging, the savant insisted on staying only there. When all was said and done, they returned to the surface empty-handed. I learned later that our mysterious stranger had left the city and not returned.

  "I had the guide lead me down into the Underkeep to the same location he'd led the savant. I discovered nothing. When I reported to Elsanar, he became convinced that there was a connection between the man's interest in his research and in his exploration of the Underkeep. It seemed logical enough. Yet the precise connection eluded even Elsanar. Also, there was nothing to connect this man to the assassins, nor to you. At least not until Elsanar learned of the Five Elements.

  "As I said, he mentioned little enough of them to me, so I can offer little accounting where they are concerned. Ancient dwarven magic? Relics from some forgotten age? Perhaps they are both, or neither. Elsanar suspected the Elements were what the savant had been trying to find. He didn’t find them. Not in the Underkeep, at least. Although he must have located them somewhere, for it seems likely they were involved in the attack on Norwynne."

  Aaron remembered the monitoring device sounding the alarm right before the first tremors had started. The device had been tuned to elemental energy.

  "But none of that addresses this savant's connection to the assassins. As for that, we were never certain. Once Elsanar learned of the Elements, he suspected something in the research you two were performing might prove the savant’s undoing. He was still trying to determine how when the attack came."

  When Aaron realized that was all Ensel Rhe meant to say, he took some time to digest and review the information. It wasn’t long before questions began bubbling to the surface.

  "Did Ansanom ever say how he knew about the first assassin?" he asked.

  "No. I questioned him on that matter more than once. His answer was less than satisfying."

  "But, it doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone want to kill me? If someone were trying to stop our research… . Ansanom probably contributed more than I did and he lives in the middle of nowhere. Why not kill him? Or Master Elsanar? Were attempts made against Master Elsanar?"

  "No."

  "Against Ansanom then?"

  "He never said so."

  "Did anyone ask?" Aaron questioned, perhaps a bit too harshly.

  "I did not. Perhaps Elsanar did in one of their correspondences. It does not matter. The only real threat—the only one we encountered—was against you."

  Aaron walked in silence for a time. Then, he asked, "What if he's dead?"

  "Who?"

  "Ansanom. What if Wildemoore was attacked the same as Norwynne?"

  Ensel Rhe's step changed little at that. Neither did he answer.

  Assassins. An elemental attack.

  If there was a connection, Aaron was not seeing it. He reset his thoughts, thinking over all he knew, but there just wasn't enough information. But that was no excuse. The lack of data didn't matter. He routinely solved problems for Master Elsanar when facts were elusive or nonexistent. This was no different. Except that it was. This wasn't an experiment. Applying Nuclidean or Burgess problem solving techniques felt wrong. People had died. He'd been chased from his home. He'd—

  Ensel Rhe hand touched Aaron’s shoulder. It was only then that he realized he’d stopped walking.

  "Perhaps I have only created more questions for you," the eslar said, his stark white gaze meeting Aaron's. "For that, I am sorry. It is a troubling thing, to have an enemy whose identity and motive remains unclear. But, leastwise, let me placate part of your desire for knowledge with this name: Erlek Abn Nee. It was he who raised Jaedon's suspicions and, I believe, was responsible for the assassins and the attack on Norwynne. But do I know these things for sure? No. Perhaps Ansanom can enlighten us both."

  Aaron nodded. For now, it was all he could do.

  "It is at least to our advantage," Ensel Rhe said, "that Ansanom offered to take us in. Without his offer, we…" Ensel Rhe saw the puzzlement in Aaron’s face and instantly saw the implication. "Not because he knew of the attack. He never made mention of it. But because of the assassins. Ansanom asked months ago that Elsanar take you and him
self to his manor, at least until we’d learned who had hired them and why. We go to Wildemoore because of that offer."

  Aaron nodded again. He assumed they'd start walking once more and that he'd have to do his best to occupy himself with his own thoughts as he struggled to keep pace. But Master Rhe remained where he was. Aaron was pretty sure he knew what was coming.

  "What were you and Elsanar working on?" Aaron had no sooner opened his mouth to answer when the eslar added, "And spare me the energy transference this or that. I heard enough of that elusiveness from your master. Tell me straight. What research was so important that someone would destroy a city to stop you from completing it?"

  Again, he opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off once more. This time, not by Master Rhe.

  This time, it was a piercing howl, rising from the distance but so loud it seemed as if it sounded all around them. It lasted five beats of Aaron's heart, then faded. No sooner had it stopped than another took its place. That one faded too, and the process was repeated, with each howl followed by another until, together, they formed a persistent symphony that swept through the forest like the wailing of the dead.

  "Come," Ensel Rhe said. "With any luck, they're just signaling to one another and haven't picked up our scent yet."

  Master Rhe wasted no time, immediately setting a pace that afforded Aaron no opportunity to protest. Though he felt driven to follow as fast as the eslar could lead, he quickly found himself floundering. The pace was too fast, the distance too great. Did Master Rhe expect him to run all the way to Wildemoore? He managed all of two leagues before his stride slowed to the point where he was barely keeping up. He managed one more before, heaving in air and unable to take another step, he had to stop.

  "Master Rhe! I—I can't—" Aaron could barely gasp the words as he bent at the waist in agony.

  The eslar didn't say a word as he wrapped one arm around him and plunged them forward. The trees of the Dormont grew more sparse as they came out into a dark, flat expanse. Even still, enough trees barred their passage that Aaron would have stopped or at least slowed for fear of running headlong into one of them. But Ensel Rhe, whose own vision seemed unaffected by the darkness, refused to do either. There seemed no end to the running nor to the howls that drew closer with each heaving breath until Aaron saw the great wall in the near distance rising up before them. It took him a moment to understand what it was. Then it hit him.