by P. G. Thomas
“Done. Tomorrow, I will collect my tools.”
John was sure that he would lend his support because he was dwarf and needed help. “I also need mithril, chains mainly, like we used in Alron. Mithril powers the machine, and Gayne had to sell the last one to pay for back taxes.”
“A new vein tomorrow we will search for,” advised Fen. “With one mine only, it will take longer, but I will direct the Rockeaters, and we will ask the other clans for their help.”
“Of your journey, what did you learn?” Fen was looking at Steve.
“Why me?”
“See what once was, they still do. Their past obscures the vision present, but your eyes are new. The past does not live in them, so you can see that which they cannot.”
Steve glanced at the five, but they just nodded. He took another drink, repeated the details of their trip to Alron, finding nothing but ashes, retrieving John’s cloak, meeting Sam and Hope, and then the painful story that the two lost children of the woods had told.
As he talked, Amber listened, but she also watched the legends, who for so long had only lived in her mind. She saw the tears for their lost friends and felt their sorrow for Sam and Hope. When Steve talked about the Earth Bond that her daughters had issued, she saw Lauren turn, crying into Ryan’s shoulder. She knew one day the dwarf bards would ask to hear her story, which might be seen on the great stage, but right now, it was not a play. It was life, filled with emotion that went beyond simple words that the bards would never know. The word legend lost all its glory this day, and the word ordinary became extraordinary.
Steve talked about the wolf attack, praising the three Ironhouse warriors, the forest, and the yellow root. When he spoke of their trip to the sky elf cave, they called to Logan to join them, but he declined.
As Steve had started to talk about the search, Logan poured a large puddle of beer onto the table, and inside, saw a vision of three females hanging by the neck. Pushing the image onto the floor with his forearm, draining the last drink, he told everybody he was turning in for the night.
As he did, Steve told how they were heading back to Ironhouse, and when they walked through the strange magical ring, how they found themselves in what they would learn was the First Forest. He told about meeting Tranquil, what she had said, and the staff given to Lauren. When done, he wandered over to the cask and refilled his mug.
After he had sat down, Fen asked him, “Your thoughts, what do you have?”
“I’m more of a city boy than a country lad, and the Bright Coast I understand better. I thought that I had seen a lot in my life, but as for what I’ve seen these last few days, well it is beyond me. When these five kids left, your lands were at peace, and you had divine beings that were actively participating in your world. Somehow, you managed to lose it all. Where I come from, several billion people pray for peace every night, and from what I’ve seen, nobody ever hears those prayers. Here you had it, and then you lost it. I’m sorry, but I have no thoughts on a paradise gone.”
“I was hoping you would see something new. I am both dwarf and stubborn.” Fen turned to John, “May I see the yellow root yellow?”
Picking up the backpack, pulling out the purse with the offensive growth, he opened it so that they could view it, but he refused to let them touch it in case they squeezed out any airborne toxins. After they had a good look, he secured the bag and placed it away.
Fodu returned to his chair and mug, “Never before have I seen this. You think this is the blight that kills forest?”
“I have no idea. Once we get back to the Bright Coast, I’ll see if I can run some tests on it to try to figure out what it does. There were yellow roots everywhere in that forest, but they just seemed out of place. It’s too early to say, but having the forests dying with so much rain, it doesn’t make sense.”
“Tomorrow your plans. What are they?” asked Fen.
“We go back to the Bright Coast.” As he said it, John scanned the group to see if anybody would suggest different. When none did, he continued. “Then Fodu and I will start to work on the machine, but beyond that, right now I’m uncertain.”
Lauren, taking a mug of the sweet beer, wandered over to a far table, and then looked back across the room. Feeling the stare, John saw the confusion in her eyes, and he reluctantly picked up his drink and walked over to join her.
She shook her head, “The last time…When we left…What...”
He understood her bewilderment, “I’m confused like everybody. When Tranquil said are arrival was an accident, everything I thought I knew and understood vanished.”
“What did we find? Do? You saw how angry she was. That last day of the battle, why can’t we remember it all? If it didn’t happen, would we be here now?” Lauren shook her head, “I never wanted to be here, and I never wanted to be an Earth Mother. Now my nightmare is back, but it’s ten times worse, hell, a hundred, and I don’t think it’s ever going to end. Can we? My daughters—How?” She stood, “I know it isn’t fair, but I need answers. How do we fix this? Can we? Or are we just too damn late?” Not waiting for a response, she walked over to Ryan, who wrapped his arm around her, and they went to their room.
Seeing this, the others left as well, and only Steve with John sat at the table nursing their drinks.
“Was Tranquil really a God?” asked Steve.
“I know she wasn’t human, but what she is, I don’t even know if she knows. No offense, Tranquil, if you’re listening.”
Picking up the cask, Steve held it vertical, allowing the last few drops of the golden liquid to fall into his mug. “What did she mean, ‘it is there and is not there,’ or whatever she said?”
“Over the last four years, we’ve all gathered together the first weekend of spring break, and we would re-live the stories—or most of them. I don’t know if adventure’s the right word, or if there’s a better one, but what happened here, it had so many highs and lows. Some parts you wanted to forget, others, what we did gave us chills down our spines. Lauren holding that sword in her hands and then fighting a god out of Eric. At the final battle, Eric riding out on that Hell steed, unleashing the power of storms, and laughing so loud he drowned out the thunder. Zack, the little dark freak, one minute he’s a wolf and the next a polar bear, maybe an eagle, and when he took his own form, he was always naked.”
Steve nodded, that explains his kids. One puzzle solved; nine million more to go.
“I don’t know if I ever saw all of the animals that sought shelter in his zoo. Logan, who can’t add worth crap, could control the weather and fire. As for me, I tasted raw power, making me feel like I was ten feet tall. The magic that fed Ryan’s rage was incredible. Whatever you do, if his power ever comes back, don’t insult Lauren. As he was always so quiet around her, I never knew that he loved Lauren.”
“Because of the accident with her sister?”
“Yes. Lauren never wanted to be the Earth Mother who led the charge. Who would? After the accident, six kids were huddled on those grasslands, wondering what the hell happened. When it was all over, there weren’t six. Instead, there were twelve, as each one of us was actually two. Eric and that sword. All you had to do was count the number of words in a sentence to figure out who was talking. Lauren and Earth Mother, Logan and the Bastard, and me with Magic. We wanted to re-live the glory…When we talked, we would try to focus on the bright spots, but the dark would always find a way in. In those years that we met, almost all of the events that we remembered were crystal clear. The events at the last battle, well, it becomes foggy. I remember coming back from the Firegem mine with bags of crystals, hoping they would show me the magic, which they did. It’s as if somebody took a marker to my memory, redacted the images, because there’s this huge gap. With Korg, I can remember every event, even the ones I want to forget. Then there’s this huge gap after the Firegem mine that none of us can remember, I mean none of us. As for Fury, I don’t understand why Tranquil is here, and he isn’t. I remember the final days of the ba
ttle, watching Eric fight for three days, seeing Ryan fight those huge magical metal men on the next. Then, using the cover of night, finding out the dwarves and elves had taken to the field. That night, we had won the battle, but the next day, the last, parts of it are a fog until Lauren issued the final Earth Bond for peace. It’s like Tranquil said; it is there and is not there. It’s like misplacing your car keys. You look outside your window, see the car, so you know you had keys to drive it home. Everywhere you look, you can’t find them. If the car is in your driveway, you must have driven it home, yet if the keys aren’t in it, then they must be in your house, but it’s like they vanished.”
Steve stood, “I understand what you mean. That’s how I lost two wives and kids. You wake up on the couch in the morning and walk by a room with a beautiful lady sleeping in a bed, and you wonder why you are not beside her. Then, one day, the beautiful lady, kid, and even the house are gone, but back home I had proof: alimony.” Then he headed to the guest quarters.
Wondering what Tranquil had meant, John sat alone thinking of her words, ‘I had a different name for you, but Sister took it.’ What the hell did I do? Why didn’t I ask her?
*******
The three Ironhouse cousins went to one of the lower drinking halls, taking a pitcher of the dark sour beer to the back corner.
Grax took a long drink, “I never imagined this. Walward Ironhouse talked with Father.”
“For so long the bards argued,” added Gor. “Their answer we now have.”
“Her warning, did you not hear it?” asked Amber.
Grax reached for the pitcher, “Heard it we did. Understand it, I did not.”
Amber started to spin her mug between her hands, “Its meaning cloaked in shadows to me as well. Her warning was a gift to us.”
“She gave no warning,” started Gor, “and spoke of a precious currency.”
Amber had started to take a drink, slammed the mug down, “NO! Currency without value were the words she spoke and one word absent, but I do not understand.”
“Of this, you make too much. Be dwarf, not elf,” replied Grax.
“Our future she spoke of. Her words a dire warning, and one I think we should understand.”
Gor grabbed the pitcher, filling his mug, and raised it, “Blood wolves.”
“Our victory first,” Grax added to the toast.
Instead of raising hers, Amber raised herself from her chair, “Too soon you victory toast. Her words we should understand.”
Gor stood, “Understand I do,” and then slapped Grax on the back, “Our pitcher is empty.” Then he headed to the bar for a refill.
Shaking her head, Amber began walking to the door.
Grax reached for her mostly filled mug, drained it, and silently toasting the future, raised it to the air. To the bards, as much ink will you need for my story is long.
*******
Fen had arranged for their morning meal to be served in the secret room, being well aware that the situation with Lauren’s daughters was causing all of the guest’s additional stress. When the small group entered, Fodu was waiting for them with two bags of his goldsmithing tools. Even though the meal exceeded dwarf expectations, their appetites were absent. When the rest had finished picking at their food, John bid farewell to Fen, advising he would be back soon to check on the mithril chains. He opened the portal back to Gayne’s house, using a piece of Steve’s cell phone, and everybody followed. Amber, Gor, and Grax the last to step through. John took Fodu straight to the basement to both examine the machine and to avoid the questions. When Logan was sure nobody was looking, he went to the kitchen, retrieved a full bottle of wine, which he took up to his room. Lauren and Ryan had also headed upstairs for privacy.
Steve, sitting in the front room, found something that looked like a chess board but was round, having curved rows with more pieces. Clearing it off, he set the tallest figure on the far side of the board: Zymse Darpac. In front of it, he placed three identical pieces: the triplets. Examining the other pieces, he looked for some unique feature to represent the rest, placing five more figures on his side of the board. Off to the side, he positioned two tall pieces: Mother and Tranquil.
Eric walked into the front room, “What’re you doing?”
“Not sure. Trying to understand this world.”
Eric sat down beside the board, handing Steve a glass of wine, then reached for one of the five pieces that looked like a soldier, “Is this supposed to be me?”
Steve nodded.
Setting it to the side, he replaced it with a piece that looked like a pawn, being much smaller, and then added a second. “The first one is me. The second is you.”
“How do you win this game?”
“I don’t know. Just don’t tell Lauren that I said those three words. Last time, all we had to do was ride through a couple hundred miles of enemy occupied territory. Then free a town from spies, making everybody believe in the threat, raise an army, and find the Darkpaye forces. Part of it I was a hindrance, and for other parts, I played the role required. Right now, I feel more like a team mascot, as I’ve been stripped of my dwarven gifts.”
“So to use sports terms,” Steve began, “we know Zymse is the general management of the opposing team, and his three key players are the missing triplets.” He reached for his drink, “How do you get your head wrapped around them and what they’ve done. I’ve seen monsters before, even killed a few, but it was long distance, high powered. I saw what they did in Alron but, sons of bitches—I just can’t understand that level of depravity.”
“Imagine how Lauren and Ryan feel?”
“So what’re our strengths? Lauren has her power with that staff, and her brother has his tattoos back.”
Eric nodded, “John has some magic, but I don’t know how long it’ll last, and I imagine magic will also find Ryan in the coming weeks. Beyond that….” He pointed to the tall pieces at the side of the board, “I assume those are Tranquil and Mother?”
Steve nodded, but then pointed to the far side of the empty board, “But what about that piece.”
“Which one?”
“The one that is there but not there. How does it play into all of this?”
“I’ll bet you’re sorry you arrested Lauren,” and then Eric headed to his room.
Steve just continued to stare at the board, sipping the drink, there has to be a solution.
Late into the night, with Fodu having already turned in, John went up to the kitchen looking for a pan for the yellow root, and his exploration through the cupboards also produced a cheesecloth-like material. He was about to return to the basement when he heard Mirtza stumbling, lost in the dining room. Setting down both, he went out to his old friend and walked him back up to his room. Passing by his own, he entered it, no longer capable of holding his eyes open. When he laid his head down, images of the broken machine began flooding his dreams.
*******
The next morning, cold sheets wet with perspiration roused John from his tossing and turning. Heading down to the kitchen, he found the rest gathered around the table. Walking over to Steve, he handed him back the picture of Zymse. Passing it to the others, all were curious to put a face to the name that filled their hearts and nightmares with horror.
Danex was in the kitchen when Mirtza walked into the front room. He looked at the group sitting at the table, his face a mixture of confusion and anger, “Who are you?”
Being caught off guard, the group turned to Lauren, “Mirtza, you know us.”
As she stood to go to him, he backed up, “Get out, NOW!”
Danex entered from the kitchen, “Mirtza, calm down!”
He turned to her, “Lady Danex, I am sorry. Are these friends of yours?”
She sighed, headed to the side hutch, picked up the morning dosage of medication prepared earlier, and then walked him to the table. “These are your friends who care about you very much.”
“I have never seen them before.”
She mixed th
e medication into a glass of water, pushing it into his hand. As he drank it, she scanned the group, shaking her head. Logan thought about the kids he had helped on his last work placement, as Mirtza now reminded him of those bright lights shrouded in darkness. Then he passed the picture of Zymse back to Steve, who accidently dropped it.
Seeing the image, Mirtza’s unexpected reaction was immediate, “He is back. No, no, I have to get out of here.” He tried to stand, but being so weak, Danex held him in place. Then he scanned the table, “John, John Ironhouse, you are back? When did you get here? How? Are you with him?” He was pointing to the small painted portrait of Zymse.
Looking at his first protector, John’s heart was saddened by the swift onset of the crippling mental disorder. “It was you that brought us back, old friend.”
“I did? How? No, wait, are you with him?”
Lauren reached over to grasp his hand, “No, you’re our friend, not him.”
“Earth Mother, when did you get here?”
Realizing that Mirtza’s spell of clarity might end soon, Logan picked up the picture, “Do you know who this is?”
He turned to the person holding the small portrait, “Bastard, you are here too?” Then his gaze turned to the picture, “I went to Darkpaye, but I forget why. I remember being in a courtroom, I think. That man, he was there. That face, I could never forget it. He walked to the front of the court, talked with somebody behind a desk, and I still remember what he said. ‘By the witness of Zymse Darpac, I sentence you to life in prison for your crimes against Darkpaye.’ Where are we?”
“Finish your drink,” Danex began, “it is late, and you need your rest.”
Picking up the glass that contained the medication, he drank it but a look of confusion soon returned. After helping him to stand, she guided Mirtza up the stairs. Upon returning, they could see the tears in her eyes. “It gets worse every day. A few days ago, he failed to recognize me for a couple of hours. I have increased the dosage but…”
“Is there anything we can do?” asked Lauren.
She pointed to the picture, “Kill him. It might not do anything for Mirtza, but it will end so much more suffering. Mirtza, his mind is failing, and it is just a matter of time before his body does as well. It might do him some good to see his tormentor hang from a rope, but there is little of my old friend left. I am sad to say it, but his days are numbered.”