by Jak Koke
The flesh under his skin glowed bright red with lava. Pain crept outward to his limbs as Ganwetrammus mingled with This Book Belongs to: Andrew Tobin (black _ [email protected]) Liferock
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his flesh outside the merge. This didn’t feel like Dreaming at all.
The smell of ozone and singeing fabric hit him as he flashed into another memory . . . After months of searching, he found the hidden library of Yon Fuiras destroyed. All that history and magic lore, carelessly burned. The memory hit him now as though he was discovering it for the first time.
The chanting continued in the temple. Pabl’s flesh burned with lava now, the pain had become unbearable. The connection between him and the Alqarat shortened, drawing him closer to the spur of rock. His heart pumped blood through the connection to bubble and burn over the glowing tip. The liferock forced molten stone through his arteries. And all the while, Gvint’s harsh whisper maintained the power of the Fire Bath.
The flow of memories increased. He re-experienced his journey to Kratas and the first meeting of Celagri. He relived his merging with Ohin Yeenar, his journey to the Valley of the Elders.
All these memories pulsed through him in a brief moment.
He relived everything up to the present until he and the Alqarat merged into one. He thought he would lose himself to the rock as happened each time during the Dreaming. But he did not.
Finally, the searing pain dissipated, replaced by a keen warmth. Floating in a wash of heat and red, Pabl saw a part of the incomprehensibly huge pattern of Ganwetrammus stretching down into the rock. He saw himself in that pattern, part of it, shaping it.
From that pattern, his name took shape. He felt the name rather than heard it. In the language of his people, his name was Erthastrion Therr Hom — restorer of nature, student of the universal pattern and friend to other races.
One by one, the presences of his brothers appeared around This Book Belongs to: Andrew Tobin (black _ [email protected]) Liferock
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him as they merged through the floor of the temple. He sensed Gvint first, then Bintr, soon followed by Ywerk, then down the line from eldest to youngest until Chaiel had merged. Pabl could feel the chanting through the merge. When the new pattern of Ganwetrammus was stable, they withdrew from the liferock.
Pabl was held in the rock until the last of his brethren emerged. Then his body grew from the Alqarat. His skin had become dark from exposure to the fire, but it was smooth and supple. His muscles ached, but his flesh felt stronger, harder.
Gvint had placed a horkla atop the Alqarat, and it now covered Pabl’s head.
“This horkla belonged to Yonik Bne, our last Elder, and to Garen Dne before him, and to Hodda Zin of the first order. It is woven of metal and fiber, magic and hemp. Wear it with rever-ence and pride, and it will last your entire life.
“Ganwetrammus has experienced your Awakening and has Named you accordingly. This name is between you and Ganwetrammus. It is both a description of what you are and a prediction of what you will become.”
Gvint paused for a moment before continuing. “The ceremony has ended,” he said. “Now the celebration begins.”
As the brotherhood filed outside, Pabl joined Jan and Celagri. “I am glad you two were here for this,” he said. “It means a great deal to me.”
Jan stood slowly, trying to remain steady on his legs. “I’m amazed,” he said. “Honored and amazed.” He reached out to touch Pabl’s skin. “Aren’t you hurt?”
“No.”
“The magic protected you?”
“I felt pain if that’s what you mean, but the ritual did prevent my flesh from burning to ash.”
Celagri merely shook her head. “And I thought some of our rites were vicious.”
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“What do we call you now?” Jan asked.
“To you, I am still Pabl Evr. Almost never does the liferock change who we are by the Naming. I have gained an obsidiman name which makes me a complete part of the brotherhood, an equal adult. Outside the Dreaming, not much will change. Even my brothers will continue to call me Pabl.”
Pabl escorted them through the curtains and into the night. Clear sky, studded with stars. The moon shone a quarter crescent in the southwest. Pabl stopped in the entryway, noticing that the engravings had changed. His entire Awakening had been etched into the rock. Fine lines of script and petroglyphs told of his travels and discoveries.
Bintr and Gvint, helped by two others, brought out the food while Hagnit lit the bonfire in the flat space next to the temple. A cauldron of leek soup was set next to the fire, and loaves and loaves of sweet wheat bread were stacked adjacent, along with several huge caskets of beer.
There was Fael — a sweet dessert made from mangos, bananas and dates. Plus one of Pabl’s favorites, a nut loaf sea-soned with mushrooms and garlic. The food kept coming as he grabbed some bread and filled it with soup. Jan and Celagri followed his example.
Music started, drums and chanting, and soon many brothers joined together in dance. The obsidimen removed their ceremonial robes and painted their skin with colored chalk paste — just like they had before the attack on the miners. This time, however, the paints they used were the colors of nature: green and brown, the clear blue of water and the yellow of lichens.
The body chalk caught the light of the bonfire, making them look like an undulating mosaic as they danced — a single entity of swirling color and changing patterns. Their movements started out graceful and slow, but grew faster and more agile as the drums increased the tempo. It was not a This Book Belongs to: Andrew Tobin (black _ [email protected]) Liferock
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magical dance, but a dance of thanks and celebration.
Later, as the night wore on and hungers abated, Hagnit performed the Legend of the First Naming. And afterwards, Pabl said goodnight to Jan and Celagri, who would sleep in the temple.
When the newest member of the Garen Brotherhood merged for the evening, outside under a scintillating midnight blue sky, he felt stronger than he ever had, more complete and happier than he could remember.
The gentle, cradling weightlessness of the liferock enveloped him. Come Erthastrion Therr Hom. Join us.
He began the fall and lost sight of the world.
This Book Belongs to: Andrew Tobin (black _ [email protected]) Acknowledgements
Greg Gorden and Christopher Kubasik must be praised for creating an inventive and complex fantasy world. Lou Prosperi did a superb job of developing Earthdawn, and he helped shape the plot of Liferock from the very early stages.
Credit should also go to my first reader, Seana Davidson, and to my final readers, Marsh Cassady, Jonathan Bond, Tom Lindell, and Karawynn Long. I also need to thank Don Gerrard for guiding me through the process of getting the publishing rights back from FASA Corporation so that the book could finally see print. Thanks to the editor and publisher at FASA, Donna Ippolito and Mort Weisman, for agreeing to let me publish the book with the Earthdawn elements intact.
And finally my enthusiastic appreciation goes to Crystal Larson for donating her time and artistic talents and (again) to Karawynn at Per Aspera Press for her donation of publishing and design expertise in making the physical book a reality.
Thanks one and all. I couldn’t have done it without you.
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Jak Koke is the author of five fantasy novels, including the Locus number one bestsellers Stranger Souls and Beyond the Pale.
He works both as a research scientist at the University of Washington and as a freelance editor and writing coach.
Jak lives in Seattle with his partner and two daughters, and keeps a web site at www.jakkoke.com.