The Echidna's Scale (Alchemy's Apprentice)

by Quyle, Jeffrey

  They were above the ground floor, Marco realized, when Gawail slid into a stairwell, then led Marco across the courtyard. When two other figures became visible in the night’s darkness, Marco crouched down behind an evergreen bush and let them pass without detecting him.

  Gawail scurried into a hallway that led straight back into another part of the building, a passage that led to a narrow alleyway between two buildings. The pixie led him rapidly through the alley, making Marco nervous as he thought he heard stealthy footsteps behind him. They exited the alley and turned a corner, then passed through a passageway that connected two other buildings, and snuck along behind a hedge to get to a door.

  “They are down in rooms below this,” Gawail told Marco, as the human opened the door and entered the dark, warm interior of the building. By the pixie’s light Marco could see a staircase that led downstairs, and he cautiously crept down the treads to reach the bottom, where a large, iron-bound door stood closed.

  “The rooms are right behind this door. There are guards stationed within,” Gawail warned.

  “Are they male guards?” Marco asked.

  “Yes,” Gawail affirmed. “What else would they be?”

  “In this place, nothing else, but if we were on an island I visited,” he left the sentence unfinished. I’ll open the door, and you go in there. Tell Pesino to use her seductive voice to make the guards compliant, so that they’ll not try to fight,” Marco directed. “Are you ready?”

  Gawail nodded his head, and Marco pulled on the handle of the heavy door, making its hinges squeak as it opened a crack. Gawail squeezed through the opening and disappeared from Marco’s sight, then, after a moment’s pause to give the pixie time to complete his duty, Marco tugged on the door with both hands, and pulled it slowly open.

  There was a scuffling sound inside, and Marco leapt through the opening, to find that the sound was the noise of three massive men pulling swords and cudgels free as they approached the doorway where he stood. Marco advanced with his sword ready, hoping to hear Pesino’s voice seduce the three into peaceful cooperation.

  One of the men in the dim space immediately jumped at Marco and swung his stout cudgel, a thick staff of wood wrapped with iron bands, in a devilishly quick arc that made Marco fall back and raise his sword. The cudgel narrowly missed Marco as it whistled past his shoulder, but it struck his blade and nearly knocked it from Marco’s hand.

  Marco quickly decided to move further to his left. “Pesino!” he called. “Pesino, talk to them! Tell them not to fight!” he shouted.

  “Marco, be careful!” Pesino called back. “Be careful,” she repeated as two of the men cut Marco’s path off, leaving him isolated against the wall.

  “They’re deaf – they can’t hear my voice. The barber figured out that I had seduced him, and they used these deaf guards to take me prisoner,” she explained, just as two of the guards closed in on Marco at once.

  His sword raised itself along with his arm and blocked the stabbing sword aimed at his torso, as his leg kicked impossibly high and struck his other assailant’s grip on his sword, sending the blade flying free. The man with the cudgel came at Marco instantly as his deft maneuver left him vulnerable to a telling blow, and Marco’s body twisted itself so hard as he simultaneously fought and ducked that he felt muscles in his back stretch uncomfortably, while at the same time a portion of the new skin on his thigh ripped open.

  Marco was momentarily laid flat on the ground, and he then rolled across the floor, turning twice to open space between himself and his opponents. One came at his with a sword, and Marco struck the attacker in his thigh, a stab that made the man emit a high-pitched moan as he fell to the ground.

  The opponent with the cudgel stooped to pick up the sword the other man dropped, and then threw the cudgel at the same time he and the third man both closed on Marco in a head-first attack. Marco evaded his sword and headbutted the cudgel thrower before he swung his sword at the last of the three guards, and stabbed him in the shoulder, sending him crashing to the floor.

  “Pesino!” Marco panted. “Cassius! Kate!”

  “We’re here; we’re all here,” Kate called out. “One of the men you just fought has the keys to our cells.”

  “Gawail, bring your light over here,” Marco called as he approached one of the guards, who had fainted. With Gawail’s added light, Marco found the keys attached to the man’s belt and he quickly went towards the cell doors.

  “Pesino?” he called.

  “In here, Marco,” she called from a spot, and he tested two keys in the lock of her door before finally opening it. The woman flew out into his arms and hugged him tightly and silently for several seconds.

  “Thank you,” she said simply at last. “Let’s get Kate and Cassius.”

  Marco needed a different key to open the other cell door. “Thank you Marco,” the other two released inmates said as they regained their freedom.

  “Thank Gawail. He made it all possible,” Marco said of the tiny pixie, whose glow increased upon hearing the praise.

  “Where are your packs and supplies? We need to get those, then get to the library and start searching for information,” Marco spoke.

  “I’ve been to the library,” Cassius said. “They showed me where it is. It’s not part of the monastery it’s in a different part of the city, one that the monks don’t control.”

  “Our packs are probably still in the tower where we left them,” Kate added. “We haven’t been here very long.”

  “Gawail left to fetch you as soon as they came to seize us,” Pesino agreed, “and you were back here in no time it seemed like.”

  “Show the way to your tower rooms so we can get your packs and get out of here,” Marco suggested, and they quickly left the dungeon, closing the door behind them and leaving the three guards unconscious.

  “It’s this way,” Cassius said, leading them towards a courtyard. “Everyone raise your hoods and try to look like we’re just monks calmly walking towards the tower,” he cautioned, as they came into an open area.

  All four of them walked at a slow measured pace, as Marco and Cassius positioned themselves between the women and the few monks who were walking in the opposing direction, and in less time that it seemed, they reached the entry to the tower where their rooms were.

  When they climbed up three flights of stairs, they split up to gather their belongings from the two separate rooms they had been assigned to, each taking one of the torches they found in the staircase.

  “Marco!” Pesino gasped when she entered her room. There were two monks in the room, going through the belongings in Pesino’s pack.

  “Put it down,” Marco said steadily, pulling his sword instantly. “Now, move over there,” he gestured with the sword to direct the men over to the corner of the room.

  “Pesino, go see if Cassius and Kate have any problems like this,” he told his companion, keeping his sword pointed at the two intruders.

  “What are you looking for?” Marco asked the two men when Pesino left the room.

  “We were looking for evidence that she’s a witch,” one of them said.

  “She’s not a witch,” Marco said. “She’s a good woman.”

  “You have to say that, since she’s your wife. You’re probably under her spell,” the other monk answered.

  There was a sound at the door, and his three friends arrived. Pesino hastily repacked her bag, then was ready to go.

  “Tell them to stay here and not notify anyone that we’re leaving,” Marco said in a low voice to Pesino, who promptly used her allure to pacify the men and allow the travelers to get away.

  “Which way to the library?” Marco asked. “Is it still active?”

  “It was still intact. The monks and other people who live around it believe it’s haunted,” Cassius answered. “We can stay inside the library while we try to find information.”

  They walked through the dark streets, carrying their torches, and reached the library without inci
dent a half hour later.

  “What time is it, anyway?” Marco asked, unsure what time he had been awoken by Gawail at the start of the adventure.

  “Daybreak should arrive soon,” Kate answered as they arrived at the front of a massive limestone structure. The light of the torches failed to reach the top of massive columns that lined the street side of the library.

  “Let’s go in,” Cassius said. “We can stay inside up on the balcony. That will give us a safe place we can defend if the monks come after us.”

  There were massive bronze doors, one of which was ajar, and they slipped through the opening. Cassius led them to the side and they climbed a set of stairs that led to a balcony where tables and chairs were scattered and covered with dust.

  Cassius offered to take the first shift. “The rest of you get some sleep,” he told them and the rest of the quartet laid down on the stony floors, where they quickly fell asleep.

  When Cassius awoke Marco the next morning, bright sunrays were angling into the interior of the library through massive windows that had somehow managed to retain intact glass panes across nearly all their area. Marco stood and looked out above the balcony railing. The floor of the library below was a maze of bookcases, more bookcases, tables and chairs.

  “It’s inspiring, isn’t it?” Kate asked as she came to stand beside him.

  “There’s nothing like this in the Lion City, is there?” Marco asked.

  “No, nothing. Even scores of years after this was abandoned it still has more intact information than anyplace in the cities of our part of the world,” Kate agreed. “Let’s get a bite of breakfast, and then we can start searching through the scrolls and books.”

  Marco went over to where Pesino was pulling food items out of the backpacks. “We don’t have a lot of food left, maybe enough for another week or ten days if we’re careful,” she warned.

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t take that long to find information about the Echidna,” Marco replied. He was ravenous, he realized, and he gladly took the dried fruit that Pesino offered to him.

  “Thank you, wife,” he said with a smile.

  Marco and Kate went down to the floor of the library after eating, accompanied by Pesino, as Cassius laid down on the balcony and went quickly to sleep.

  “I’m going to go out and see the city,” Pesino said. “Maybe there’s a market where we could buy some more food.”

  “Be careful,” Marco told her.

  “I will,” she assured him. “You two have fun.”

  “I don’t think fun describes what we’re going to do,” Kate said dryly.

  After Pesino drifted out of the door, Kate and Marco looked at one another. “Where do we begin?” Marco asked.

  “Let’s look around to see if they’re organized in any particular way. Maybe there’s a special section for monster tales!” Kate suggested brightly.

  They spent the morning going around through the floor stacks, without discerning any pattern of organization. The scrolls and books were a polyglot mixture of languages, sizes, and topics. By midday the two discouraged searchers went up to the balcony, where Cassius still slept. As they sat and quietly ate some food, Pesino climbed the stairs.

  “There is a market not too far away,” she announced as she sat down with them. “Gawail went out scouting and helped me find it,” she gave credit to the pixie, who emerged from the front of her cape.

  “It’s almost warm in here,” he observed. It was true; the sunlight streaming in through the windows had made the interior of the library quite comfortable.

  “I could get to like this place,” Kate said languidly.

  “That’s so kind of you to say,” a voice spoke to them, a voice that none of them recognized.

  Marco stood up immediately and pulled his sword, as he looked at the staircase, where no one was visible.

  “Who said that?” he asked, as he looked around.

  “We did, or rather, I did. Up here,” a voice answered.

  Cassius’s eyes fluttered open at the sounds.

  The others looked upward, and saw that there was a small mezzanine high above the balcony, and a young couple were looking down at them.

  “Who are you?” Marco asked.

  “We’re the guardians of the library,” the man above them answered. “More importantly, who are you?”

  “We’re visitors,” Kate answered. “We’re here doing some research, looking for something.”

  “We observed that,” the woman said. “It’s quite unusual to see someone from the outside come to the library and try to use it for its intended purpose.”

  “Do you live here?” Marco asked. “Do you know how this library is organized? Can you help us find something?”

  “We will talk to the seniors and discuss whether we may assist you,” the man said, and then both of the observers above stepped back and disappeared from sight.

  “Who was that?” Cassius asked, sitting up.

  “They said they were guardians of the library,” Kate answered.

  “They didn’t seem threatening,” Pesino added.

  “I didn’t think the monks were threatening at first either,” Cassius said.

  “Well, they know we’re here, and they didn’t try to attack us,” Marco said. “Maybe they’ll help us.”

  “We might as well get back to searching and be aware that we’re being watched,” Kate said.

  She and Marco described their efforts during the morning to Cassius, and all four of them went back down to the library floor, where they began working as teams, looking through books to try to find information about monsters in general, and the Echidna in particular.

  They found nothing that afternoon, and as the sun moved to the west, its rays no longer penetrated the library, and the air began to cool.

  “Let’s go take a walk around this part of the city, to get some fresh air, then we can come back to have dinner,” Kate suggested as they all mutually agreed to end their studies of the books as the library grew dimmer.

  Clovis was a forlorn place. The walk was Marco’s first chance to see the city in the daylight. There were other people abroad in the streets, but not many, not nearly as many as the number of buildings indicated had once lived in the city. Most buildings appeared to be empty, and a sad percentage were crumbling towards ruin. But there were spots of former beauty, such as the parks and elaborate sculptures and fountains, which were still inspiring to see.

  When they returned to the library, they found that the couple who had spoken to them earlier were standing on the steps in front of the great doors, awaiting them.

  “We wish to invite you to be our guests for dinner,” the male of the pair said.

  “It would be our pleasure to dine with visiting scholars, to learn about the world beyond Clovis,” the female added.

  “Please don’t turn this offer down, the chops are already on the grill in anticipation of you joining us,” she added.

  “They’re talking meat, hot meat, Marco!” Kate turned to Marco.

  Marco looked at the couple skeptically. He sensed no falseness in their attitude, nothing to make him fear the worst, yet he hesitated.

  “Husband beloved, dearest, can’t we eat with these nice people? I’m growing to like these grilled meats you eat on land?” Pesino surprised him by wheedling in a purring voice that made his heart race.

  He looked at her in surprise, knowing that he would say yes – had been manipulated to say it – and as he turned, he saw an exchange of glances between their two visitors. The two had detected something, and had wordlessly made note of it.

  “We will gladly accept your offer,” Marco looked from Pesino back to the others, and he slyly reached his hand out to rest it on Pesino’s shoulder, then slid it to grip the back of her neck in a momentary squeeze that was a return of the joke she had played, and a message that he knew what she had done, and a warning as well.

  “My name is Marco,” he introduced himself.

  “You are th
e leader?” the man who had invited them asked.

  “He is,” Pesino spoke up. “And I am his wife, Pesino,” she told them.

  “You are a great beauty, and even more,” their female visitor cryptically said.

  “I am Cassius, and this is my beloved, Kate,” Cassius introduced the other couple.

  “You are all from Fortburg?” the male visitor asked.

  “We passed through there, but we aren’t from there,” Kate replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “The torqs that you wear, they are an ancient custom to denote marriage,” their man answered. “But these days it is rarely practiced anywhere except in the vicinity of Fortburg.”

  “I am Acamar,” he continued, “and this is my partner Adhara.

  “Follow us please, to dinner, unless you wish to go put anything away or pick anything up from your belongings first.”

  They were soon on their way through the library, and then into a hallway in the back, one that was lit with lanterns. They passed several other people in the hallway, then entered a room where a table was set, lit by candles on the table and on wall scones. Platters of food were already set on the table, as well as plates and glasses, and a pair of bottles of wine.

  “Please be seated,” Acamar told everyone as they drifted to seats around the table, Marco and Pesino on one side together, Kate and Cassius on the other, with the host and hostess at the ends.

  They passed the platters of food, and Acamar poured wine for each of them.

  “So you were married in Fortburg, but you’re not from there?” Adhara asked as they all began to eat.

  “We’re from the Lion City,” Kate answered.

  “You’ve come such a long way!” Adhara replied. “We’ve heard so much news about the city; it’s a very powerful place, isn’t it?”

  “How do you hear about the Lion City?” Marco asked.

  “We are the guardians of the library,” Acamar answered simply. “It is our duty to protect the library and to maintain it. We also seek to add to it. We have men who are sent out into the world to gather news, and bring it back, so that our editors can compile it and add it to the library.