She waited a moment or two longer, then poked her head back inside to check for stragglers, but the courtyard was empty. When she turned again she saw the backs of the last Ni in line and realized that if she didn’t hurry, she would be left behind.
Which is exactly what you want to happen, she thought. Recognizing the duplicity in her calm acceptance of Dhal’s orders, Poco went back through the gate. She stepped over the fallen guard and started across the courtyard, knowing that Dhal would be furious with her, but unable to stop herself.
When she reached the open archway leading toward the main temple and towers beyond, she hesitated, checking for any signs of guards, or Dhal’s trail. Finding neither, she followed the path of least resistance, a narrow walk leading down the right side of the temple. She passed under another archway, smaller than the last and entered a garden where shoulder-high bushes lined both sides of the walk. Openings in the wall of bushes to her left appeared to lead out into a meeting place of some sort. She could just make out a series of stone benches placed in circular formations around an open walkway.
Afraid she had gone the wrong way, Poco decided to retrace her steps, but suddenly she saw a glimmer of light through the bushes to her right. She went on, moving faster and looking for a way past the bushes.
She finally reached another archway and almost stumbled over the body of an atich-ar guard lying in a pool of his own blood. One look told her that Screech was responsible for that death.
She stepped past the fallen guard and moved several paces forward until she reached an even smaller archway. Cautiously she poked her head around the corner.
A glow of green light suffused the stone enclosure beyond. The light came from a huge, round object that sat in the center of the yard.
Though she had never seen it before, Poco knew she was looking upon the famous Tamorlee. She moved slowly forward, mesmerized by the light and awed by the size of the Tamorlee. Never had she dreamed that a crystal could be so beautiful.
Poco reached Favlon and another of the Ni, who stood looking reverently upon the Tamorlee.
“Where are the others?” she whispered.
Both Ni started at the sound of her voice. “Dar and Llura and the Furred One look for more guards,” Favlon answered.
“Where’s Dhal?”
“The Seeker tries to communicate with the Tamorlee.”
“What?” she asked, startled. “Where is he?”
“There,” Favlon pointed. “At the base of the crystal to the right.”
Dhal was standing in the glow of the crystal, his hands outspread and touching the green luminescent surface.
“I thought only the Speaker could touch and communicate with the crystal directly.”
“Our Speaker is dead. He died many years ago,” Favlon responded.
“But Dhal said it was dangerous for anyone to touch the crystal without proper safeguards!”
Poco started toward Dhal but Favlon caught her arm. “Do not interfere,” he cautioned her. “That would be even more dangerous. Come, take a few steps closer and you will understand what I mean.”
As they neared the crystal, Poco began to feel a strange prickling sensation; her skin itched and her hair seemed to come alive as small sparks of energy snapped and crackled around her.
Favlon pulled her back. “The Tamorlee’s energy force is strong, even stronger than it was moments ago. We must move back!”
“What about Dhal?” Poco cried.
“He is a Seeker. He knows what he is doing.” Favlon kept a hold on Poco’s arm. “The fire stone he wears will channel the energy so he will not be harmed. But what he hopes to accomplish by this is…”
Favlon’s words trailed off as the soft green light that was the Tamorlee’s natural color began to change, fading. A pulsating white light began to move around and around inside the crystal, its trajectory changing with each passage.
Favlon pulled Poco back farther as the light intensified. By the look on his face, she knew that something was wrong.
The glaring light became too bright to watch. Poco tried to shield her eyes. She turned and saw Screech bound out and around the crystal. The two other Ni were right behind him.
“The light will bring atich-ar!” Screech signed as he stopped before her. “We must leave!”
“No! Not without Dhal!” Poco cried. “Let go!”
“You cannot interfere!” Favlon said.
Poco pulled from Favlon’s hold, but before she could reach Dhal, the white light began to fade.
Suddenly Dhal wrenched away from the crystal. He turned and took several steps before collapsing to the ground. Screech and Poco started forward, but stopped when they heard a strange noise like hard rain cutting down through dense foliage.
Suddenly the Tamorlee seemed to fold in upon itself; within seconds it had disintegrated in a shower of crystalline shards that tinkled like glass as they fell.
Favlon and the other Ni groaned in despair. The Tamorlee was no more.
Poco and Screech ran to Dhal. He lay unmoving only steps away from the pile of crystal shards. Though the light from the crystal was gone, Poco could see Dhal plainly. She glanced up at the sky which was growing lighter by the minute. They had to get out of there and fast! “Pick him up, Screech! Hurry!”
Screech gently lifted Dhal to his shoulder and stood up. Poco turned and led the way back toward the walk, herding Favlon and the other Ni ahead of her. “There is nothing you can do here now,” she told them. “Hurry! We have to get out of here before the atich-ar discover us!”
Poco remembered little of their run through the temple gardens except jumping the bodies of the dead guards. The Ni, once moving, took the lead and were the first out the temple gate. Screech and Dhal came next, with Poco acting as rear guard.
After they passed the last of the temple walls, the Ni hesitated, not knowing which direction to take. Screech and Poco caught up and led the way. In the shelter of the trees near the waterway, the other Ni were anxiously awaiting them.
As Screech let Dhal down from his shoulder, Poco glanced around, searching the shadows for Gi and Taav. She saw neither.
Some of the Ni were lying on the ground, others were huddled together for warmth. Favlon began to talk to several of those who were more alert.
Poco knelt beside Dhal and tried to rouse him, but he was still unconscious.
The voices of the Ni began to rise. The word Tamorlee was repeated over and over. The Ni obviously were upset over the destruction of the crystal.
Poco stood. “Please listen! All of you!” she cried softly, trying to keep her voice as low as possible. “The olvaar and Taav—where are they? We cannot go back without them!”
“No one was here,” one of the Ni said. “The olvaar left as soon as we got here.”
“We have to find them! I cannot make a gate without Taav!”
Favlon turned and looked at her, the despair on his face more eloquent than words. “It doesn’t matter now. The Tamorlee is dead. All that we lived for is dead.” He glanced at Dhal and his tone changed suddenly. “I don’t know what happened, but I think he is responsible! He said he was a Seeker, but no Seeker would ever destroy the Tamorlee!”
Poco did not like the look in Favlon’s eyes. “Don’t blame him for what happened!” she snapped. “He was only trying to help the Tamorlee! It called him here!”
Favlon glared at Poco, then at Screech, who stood at her shoulder. Screech growled in the back of his throat and Favlon took several steps backward.
Poco looked at the Ni huddled behind Favlon. There was no way to explain to them what had happened. Only Dhal could do that and there was no telling how long before he would regain consciousness. There was but one thing to do: find Gi and Taav and reopen the gate before the atich-ar discovered them.
Poco kept her eyes on Favlon as she spoke. “Screech, stay here with Dhal and see that nothing happens to him. I’ll go look for Gi and Taav. They could not have gone far.”
Screech�
��s furred hand dropped onto her shoulder; his claws bit into her skin as he growled softly.”
Poco patted his hand. “No, Screech. I will go. I want you to watch over Dhal. I don’t trust them.”
Screech’s claws retracted and he coughed softly.
Poco looked at Favlon. “I will be back as soon as I can. I don’t care what you think about us right now, just remember, harm any one of us and you will never see Lach again!”
She turned and left the shelter of the trees. She had no idea which way Taav and Gi had gone and began her search by walking a wide circle around the clump of trees that sheltered the Ni. Softly she called Gi’s name.
She repeated her call as she neared the waterway. Suddenly a piping whistle came from her left. She turned and followed the sound pushing weeds and bushes out of her way. She stopped and called again.
“Here, Poco!”
Poco saw Gi running along the edge of the waterway. She stepped out onto the pebbled beach and caught him up as he threw himself into her arms.
“Poco come! Taav in water! Not come out!” Gi said.
She put him down quickly. “Show me where!”
Gi raced back up the beach and around a small bend where a felled tree lay in the water. Poco ran to the tree and started to climb over but stopped when she saw Taav wading out into deeper water. He looked unsteady on his feet.
“Taav!” she called in Ni. “Wait! Please wait!”
Taav stopped and turned, almost losing his balance.
Poco remembered that Taav was always groggy after waking from a song-induced trance. Slowly she climbed over the tree trunk and stepped down into the water.
“Taav, where are you going?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm. She began to wade slowly out into the water.
Taav watched her approach. His hands lifted and for the first time since leaving the plains, he signed to her. “I go home.”
Poco stopped; the water was up to her thighs. “Home, Taav? What do you mean? Here? Ari-al?”
He splashed the water with his hand. “Here is home! I stay here!”
So Amet was right all along, Poco thought, and we were wrong. Taav is not Ni.
The atich-ar reached down and cupped water into his face, as if trying to clear his mind.
Poco’s thoughts raced as she tried to think what to do. If she lunged for him and tried to wrestle him back to shore, there was a good chance she would lose him. Was there another way? Could she talk him back in?
“Taav, we need you! Dhal is lying back there unconscious. Something is wrong with him and he needs a Healer. We have to get him back to Lach. We need you to do that.”
“I stay here,” he signed again.
“He saved your life, Taav. He healed you and protected you. He needs your help now.”
Taav glanced at Gi who was moving out along the dead tree trunk. The olvaar whistled softly, his unspoken plea filled with sadness.
“Please help us, Taav,” Poco pleaded. “I promise, I will see that you are sent back to Ari-al. I promise!”
Taav stood quietly watching her.
Suddenly the sound of a large bell echoed across the water and put fear into Poco’s heart. “Please, Taav, that bell—your people know we are here! If they find Dhal they will kill him! You know what he is! Only you can save him now!”
Taav hesitated, then started toward her. Poco grabbed his hand and together they climbed over the tree trunk and hurried back along the beach.
When they reached the clump of trees, they found the Ni all on their feet, their attention on the temple.
Favlon turned as Poco led Taav under the trees. “The atich-ar have probably found the crystal and us gone! They will be here in minutes! If you can open a gate, do it! Hurry!”
Poco glanced at Dhal; he still lay unconscious on the ground. Screech crouched next to him.
Poco sat down a short distance away and pulled Taav to a seat before her. She looked into his eyes. “You have my promise, Taav. I will see that you are returned to Ari-al if I have to open the gate myself!”
She took his hands. “Ready?”
Taav glanced at Dhal, then nodded.
Poco tried to calm her thoughts as she began to sing. Her first few words trembled, then her voice steadied. She was halfway through the first sequence before there was any signs of trouble.
“Atich-ar!” someone cried softly. “They are coming this way!”
Poco closed her mind to the danger surrounding them and concentrated. The song could not be hurried or shortened. The pattern had to be complete.
The last words were sung and the gate finally opened. Favlon began to hurry his people through. Screech bent and picked up Dhal and growled for the Ni to hurry.
Poco stood and saw a handful of atich-ar guards approaching the trees cautiously, as if unsure of the resistance they might meet. She turned and saw that she, Gi, and Taav were the last ones on their side of the gate.
Suddenly Screech reappeared. He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her through the gate. Gi dashed past just as Screech bent to pick Taav up.
“Leave him, Screech!” Poco cried from the gate. She held a rock in her hands. “We can wake him from here!”
Screech hesitated, then bounded through the gate. Poco stepped back and threw the rock at Taav, hitting him hard in the chest. A moment passed, then the world gate wavered and disappeared, leaving Poco staring out across Lake Hadrach.
Dhal regained consciousness a day later and asked to speak to Chulu, Amet, and Caaras. The news of the Ta-morlee’s death had struck hard at the Ni; their faces reflected their sense of loss.
Poco ushered the three Ni to seats and then sat on the edge of Dhal’s raised pallet. Gi sat at Dhal’s feet, Screech on the floor nearby.
“We are all here,” Poco said, as she took Dhal’s hand. “What did you want to tell us?”
Dhal looked at Chulu. “It is time you know what happened to the Tamorlee.”
“We know what happened!” Amet growled. “Favlon told us!”
A strange smile touched Dhal’s face. “Did he?”
“We all saw it, Dhal,” Poco said. “The crystal just fell apart.”
Chulu leaned forward. “Dhalvad, did you have a chance to speak to the Tamorlee before it—before it died?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What did it tell you? Did it give you any indication that—”
“It told me that it was dying, Chulu,” Dhal interrupted. “It knew it would not live much longer so it set a plan in motion, a plan that depended upon a certain untaught Seeker who managed to stumble into the past searching for others like himself, and for the truth behind the legend of the Tamorlee.”
Dhal’s voice softened. “The Tamorlee knew I would reach Val-hrodhur because my arrival there was recorded in its memory, and it knew I would have a Singer with me because the fire stone I carried into the past had recorded Poco’s presence. All that was needed was for Poco and I to locate a Sensitive and the pattern for the I-naal gate.
“The Tamorlee knew Poco and I were headed for Jjaan-bi in search of the Ni-lach and it knew that there we would find a Sensitive. To insure the I-naal gate pattern not be lost during the passage of years, it impressed the gate’s pattern on Zaa-ob’s pendant, and with Zaa-ob’s help it placed the pendant in the jewelry chests that it knew we would find in Val-hrodhur.”
“Did Zaa-ob return to Val-hrodhur then?” Chulu asked.
“No. There were no Sensitives left alive on Ari-al to hold the gate for him. What he did was create the gate pattern and for the few seconds it was open, he threw the pendant through.”
“You said that the Tamorlee had a plan,” Amet interrupted. “What plan?”
“The Tamorlee did not know the Ni of Jjaan-bi were planning a rescue. It sent Poco and I to act as a catalyst, hoping to spur the Ni to reenter Ari-al and reclaim what had once belonged to them. All that happened, happened because the Tamorlee did not want to terminate. Like all living things, it wanted to continue an
d it did its best to ensure that happening—and it succeeded.”
“Succeeded?” Amet snapped. “What do you mean?”
Dhal smiled. “The crystal that contained the life force you know as the Tamorlee has ceased to function, but before it fell apart, the life force of the Tamorlee was transferred into this.”
Dhal raised his right hand. The fire stone that lay nestled within the birdwing setting glowed with a familiar green light.
Chulu knelt and took Dhal’s hand. “Dhalvad, are you saying that—that the Tamorlee now resides in your fire stone?”
“Yes. That is precisely what I am saying.”
“It doesn’t seem possible,” Chulu said softly. “Surely so small a sphere could not hold the entire history of the Ni.”
“The Tamorlee is whole, Chulu,” Dhal assured him. “Like its parent crystal, this fire stone will be the Ta-morlee’s new home.”
Dhal slipped the ring from his finger and held it out. “Here, Chulu, take the Tamorlee and keep it safely with you. In time a Speaker will be chosen and it will be his to wear. Until then you will have to be its guardian.”
A little while later, after Chulu, Caaras, and Amet had left, Poco returned to sit with Dhal.
“Tell me something, Dhal,” she said. “The Tamorlee knew what was going to happen because of your travels into the past. Is that right?”
He nodded.
“Well, if it knew, why did it let itself be taken to Ari-al? Why didn’t it warn the Ni-lach about the atich-ar?”
“The Tamorlee is not omniscient, Poco. All it knew from my journey into the past was that it had been taken from Val-hrodhur for safety’s sake. Since I knew nothing of the atich-ar and their betrayal of the Ni, I could not pass that information on. For all the Tamorlee knew, there was nothing in the future to fear. Only upon reaching the future—our present—could it look back and know the truth.”
Poco shook her head. “I don’t think I will ever understand. Past, present, future—is it all one and the same to the Tamorlee?”
“If you could live forever, Poco, might it not seem that way to you?”
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