by M. Gregg Roe
“We don’t want that either,” quipped Saxloc.
As the boat ground noisily against the shore, Audrey asked, “Do you think there will be monsters?”
It was Hankin who answered as he carefully placed the rudder in the bottom of the boat. “I doubt it, unless some kind of creatures live here. I don’t see any wildlife, not even birds.”
Gabriel stepped out onto the shore and then helped Siljan out. “If there are guards, I suspect that they will be constructs.”
That made sense, given that they had previously battled constructs that had been created by Andoran. Audrey didn’t need the assistance, but she allowed Saxloc to help her to climb out. Standing on solid ground felt good. She did some stretches while watching the three men haul the boat until it was several yards past the water’s edge. Siljan, meanwhile, was standing nearby with her eyes closed and a blank expression.
After shaking her head as if to clear it, Siljan opened her eyes. “I can’t sense it anymore. I think we’re past that particular defense.”
“I’m still going first,” said Audrey. She executed a few moves with her staff and then relaxed.
Gabriel walked up to her with Hankin and Saxloc following. He gestured toward the slope. “After you.”
Audrey nodded and then hefted her staff before starting up the hill. It had already been a day of wonders, and she couldn’t wait to see what was next.
Saxloc came to a halt as Siljan stopped once again. She squatted down, picked up a rock with her right hand, then placed it next to the others on her left palm. “You know,” she said, walking forward again, “I think this island may be artificial.”
“Because all the rocks are perfect cubes? How many more are you going to pick up? We’re falling behind.”
“I’m only interested in cute ones,” she replied testily. She tossed back a thumb-sized rock that nearly hit him on the head. “That one’s not cute enough.”
It reminded him of all those years when Siljan had claimed to only be interested in cute men. (He was un-cute, and therefore of no interest to her.) Lately her standards seemed to have slipped, but that wasn’t surprising. She had matured considerably over the last couple of years.
There was more evidence than the obviously artificial rocks, which ranged in size and color, but were all perfect cubes with polished sides and slightly rounded corners. The pine trees looked real, but they were a little too perfect. They also looked to be the same height, more or less, which made no sense. There should have been younger ones and even some dead ones. Pine needles were plentiful on the ground, but nothing else. No pine cones. No broken branches. No undergrowth. Not even any moss. There also didn’t seem to be any birds or insects, making it unnaturally quiet.
“That one’s pretty! It would go well with my eyes.”
Saxloc declined to comment. The cube was half her height. Like all of the others, it was just sitting on top of the soil as if it had been gently placed there recently. That also made no sense.
“Keep an eye out for a smaller one like that,” said Siljan, now walking faster because they really were falling behind. “I’m thinking it would look good on a necklace or choker.”
Thankfully, she shut up after that.
Saxloc was proud of how Audrey had handled herself during their excursion to the middle of the lake. She had acted decisively, taken charge, and possibly saved all of their lives. And now she was leading them to what he prayed was where Andoran had actually lived, and not just another elaborate trap.
Siljan came to a stop again, but this time for a good reason. The other three had stopped and were now standing side by side, staring and saying nothing. Saxloc walked up next to Siljan, and it took him a while to take it all in.
In front of him the land sloped gradually downward, forming a bowl-shaped valley surrounded by pine forest. The vegetation within the valley was flowers, but not normal ones. The stems were black and had no leaves. The dark centers of the blooms were triangular while the three colorful petals were hexagonal. And the colors! Every shade imaginable was visible, smoothly shading into one another and forming patterns that were dizzying to behold. Above the valley, hung clouds, but not normal ones. Motionless, they glowed brightly in the mid-afternoon sunlight. They were Andoran’s family crest writ upon the sky, and he couldn’t help but be impressed.
There was one other thing in the valley that was almost certainly their goal. At the lowest point sat a massive white icosahedron, a twenty-sided shape with triangular sides that Saxloc had once seen illustrated in a book. It was hard to judge accurately, but it looked to be at least thirty yards across. That was large, but probably not large enough to be where Andoran had actually lived. It was probably just some kind of entry chamber. Their real destination might be underground, or even involve teleportation to somewhere else.
Saxloc glanced at his companions to try to gauge their responses. Audrey was eager, Gabriel amazed, Hankin speculative, and Siljan uncertain. Or so he imagined based on their expressions and personalities.
In response to her gesture, Saxloc walked over to join Audrey. At the same time, the other three moved off several yards, granting the two of them a semblance of privacy.
“I’m excited,” said Audrey, keeping her voice low. “And terrified.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” he advised. “This may yet turn out to be another one of Andoran’s sick jokes.” But he didn’t really believe that.
“I thought there would be a big castle, but maybe that was too ordinary for him. And I know that that weird building might just lead somewhere else. Or maybe none of this is real.”
Saxloc took Audrey’s right hand in his left, and she rewarded him with a lovely smile. “I think this is real,” he said, gesturing with his free hand. “We now know why no one was able to find this place. Everyone thought that it was invisible or underground, but it was just unnoticeable. Only someone invited and who had the correct key could hope to find it.”
“And that’s me and the brooch, I guess.” She squeezed his hand. “I don’t see a path, so we’ll just have to be careful.” She took a step forward, and, to Saxloc’s amazement, the flowers in front of her began to move away, parting in front of her, clearing a path. The motion continued until a path two yards wide led all the way to the icosahedron. Glancing to his right, he saw looks of surprise.
“Now that,” said Audrey as she released his hand, “is what I call a positive sign. Let’s go.”
Saxloc fell in behind her as she stepped forward. With her staff held high, Audrey led the five of them down into the valley. The ground underneath wasn’t soil, but some black substance that compressed by about an inch when he stepped on it. It felt strange, but he soon adjusted to walking on it.
Gabriel, bringing up the rear, suddenly called out, “The flowers are closing up behind us.”
“I don’t feel threatened,” said Hankin, and Siljan laughed.
The flowers stopped about three yards short of the icosahedron. Close up, the surface showed inlaid designs in gold, silver, and copper. It was intricate—lines, arcs, spirals, geometric figures. It might be decorative or some type of magic. Saxloc couldn’t detect any magic emanating from it, but that didn’t really mean anything.
“It’s warm,” said Siljan, running her fingertips across the nearest side, which slanted outward rising to a point nearly ten yards above them.
“Let me see,” said Audrey. She walked up on Siljan’s left, touched the surface, then vanished.
“Crap!” exclaimed Siljan, staring in surprise. “There went our key.”
“Perhaps we can use magic to find an entry,” suggested Gabriel, clearly concerned.
Saxloc had another idea. “I’m going to check all of the sides I can reach.” Maybe each side would only let in one person and Audrey had to be the first. He started by touching the one Siljan was still standing in front of, then headed to the right. After touching eight more, with no discernible response, he arrived back next to a frowning Si
ljan.
“Magic it is,” she said, holding out her right arm. After a simple gesture the involved twisting her wrist to the right, she uttered, “Unlock!” Then she stepped back and shrugged. “The spell went off fine,” she explained. “It just didn’t work.”
Saxloc was disappointed. That spell was supposed to be able to open any door, no matter how it was locked, barred, or enchanted. But then again, Andoran had made this thing.
“Displace!” said Hankin suddenly. But nothing happened other than a scowl forming on his face. Saxloc was surprised that his friend had even tried that spell given that they had no idea of what was inside. Displacing into something solid could be fatal.
“The flowers are moving,” said Gabriel. A path was opening up, but with a difference. This one widened gradually as it climbed out of the valley.
Frowning even deeper, Siljan scratched behind her right ear. “I think it wants us to leave.”
“I’m not abandoning Audrey!” The words came out louder than Saxloc had intended. He really was worried about her.
Hankin took a step and reached down to touch a flower petal with his left hand. Just before his outstretched fingers reached it, the blossom moved, tilting back as it lunged at him. Hankin responded, but not quickly enough. The ends of his three longest fingers were bleeding from cuts that were deep judging by the blood streaming out. He took a step backward and flinched when Siljan touched his left hand with her right.
“They must be really sharp. Recovery!” Her spell quickly healed the wounds, but instead of letting go, her look of concentration intensified. “Detoxify!” After a moment she nodded and released Hankin’s hand. She pointed at the path with her now-bloody hand. “We need to go. Now!”
Still looking dazed, Hankin followed Siljan as she strode rapidly down the center of the path. After taking a step forward, Gabriel motioned for Saxloc to follow. He didn’t want to, but there didn’t seem to be a choice. The flowers could move like lightning, were razor-sharp, and apparently poisonous.
The path began to vanish mere yards behind Saxloc as he hurried to keep up with the others. By the time they were all safely standing among the pine trees, no trace of it remained. It was again a valley filled with odd but colorful flowers.
“Thank you,” said Hankin to Siljan, his forehead beaded with sweat. “I was starting to lose any feeling in my arm.”
“You’re welcome.” Siljan stared briefly at her bloodstained hand. “It’s obvious that only Audrey is welcome to visit. We were only tolerated because we were with her.”
“We can’t leave without her,” said Saxloc, squaring his shoulders.
“That is true in two senses,” stated Gabriel seriously. “First of all, we do not abandon companions. Second, without Audrey and her magical brooch, we cannot leave this island.”
“I’m not so sure about the second part,” said Siljan. “I think it will let us go. The rocks will submerge for us, and there won’t be any illusions or traps. If this place wanted us dead, we’d all be in little bloody chunks by now. But I’m not suggesting that we leave yet.”
“I agree,” said Gabriel. “Should we return to the boat?”
Hankin was finally looking like himself. “Yes, if only to make sure that it’s still there. We can also make it into a shelter.”
“We’ve got quite a bit of food,” added Siljan. She looked directly at Saxloc, her face showing compassion. “We’ll wait as long as we can.”
After nodded his thanks, Saxloc led the four of them down the slope. They had to travel a short distance along the shore, but the boat was just like they had left it. That night the fog cleared and the starry sky was beautiful. But Saxloc didn’t sleep at all.
34
‡ Crystal ‡
Audrey was somewhere else.
With her right arm still outstretched, she quickly glanced around but saw nothing threatening. After moving the quarterstaff to a two-handed grip, she slowly rotated all the way around. Her companions had warned her that there might be puzzles to solve or challenges that had to be overcome, but the musty-smelling room she found herself in simply looked functional.
Audrey had counted as she rotated. The room had seven flat walls, each paneled in dark wood and extending upwards some six or seven yards to a textured ceiling that glowed softly with white light. The entire floor, perhaps eight yards across, was carpeted in a pale green that showed evidence of old stains. The thick pile felt spongy beneath her boots.
Two doors that were difficult to see because they were made from the same dark wood were behind her on adjacent walls, each with a wooden handle on the left. On the wall opposite the doors was a polished brass mirror the size of a door. The remaining walls each had one bookcase sitting in front of them, narrow but extending upward so far that only someone very tall would have been able to reach the top shelf. The shelves housed a variety of books and scrolls, but no shelf was completely filled.
The center of the room was perhaps the most surprising because of how normal it looked. Two long sofas upholstered in plush, dark green fabric faced each other. In between was a low table with thick, pillar-like legs. It was also made of dark wood, and the polished surface gleamed. Atop the table was a large sculpture made from pale yellow glass. It vaguely resembled a spider.
Audrey was trying to decide whether to try one of the doors when a voice rang out, understandable despite having an odd overtone like bells ringing. “Welcome, guest. You are safe here.”
“Uh …” Audrey didn’t feel safe. She glanced around nervously, unable to tell from which direction the odd voice had come. “Who are you? Where are you?”
“I’m on the table.” Audrey flinched as the sculpture raised a leg and then put it back down with an audible click. “My name is Renata.”
“Uh … I’m Audrey.”
Fascinated, she took a step forward and peered at the creature. It really was nothing like a spider. The body was simply a head-sized transparent globe tightly packed with small, translucent crystals of various shapes. Seven evenly spaced legs radiated from a thick glass disk beneath the body. Each leg was composed of five glass rods, each six inches long and an inch thick, and connected to one another by ball joints. Each leg ended in a thin disk slightly larger than the diameter of the rods.
A leg lifted and pointed at a sofa. “Please take a seat, Audrey.”
Audrey placed her staff on the carpet next to the designated sofa. Her backpack joined it, and then her cloak because the temperature in the room was comfortable. Dust puffed up from the sofa when she lowered herself onto it, causing her to sneeze twice. Up close, the fabric looked old and worn.
“Audrey, I have several things to tell you. The emblem you have with you was created by Andoran himself. You are, in fact, one of his descendants. It was the recent death of your mother that—”
“She’s been dead for nearly a year,” Audrey interjected. “She died in Farmerton.”
Renata’s body tilted forward and then back. “I’m sorry. We saw when the village burned. The emblem only came to you recently?”
“Yes. I … Are my friends okay?” She felt guilty that she was only now asking about them.
“They are still on the island, but they won’t be able to stay there.”
Audrey didn’t like the sound of that. “Will they be safe?” she asked, staring at Renata’s body which presumably was also her head. It still felt like she was looking at a piece of sculpture.
“Yes, unless they do something foolish.”
She could easily imagine them doing something foolish. On the other hand, they weren’t exactly defenseless.
“I have good news, Audrey. Your mother’s spirit is likely contained within that emblem.”
“I already know that. Her mother’s spirit is in there too.”
“How do you know that?” asked Renata, definitely sounding worried.
“They both kind of possessed me.” Audrey quickly described what she had been told happened but still didn’t remember.
“That’s unusual, but it has happened at least once before. Your mother never touched the emblem.”
It wasn’t a question, but Audrey answered anyway. “No, she thought it had been lost.” Then she explained how the brooch had found its way to her.
“I see,” said Renata. “That is not how things normally proceed. And no one has ever come here from so far. It’s worrying, because the nature of the emblems is supposed to remain a secret.”
“I don’t think it’s a problem. The people that know aren’t going to go around telling everyone.” At least she hoped they wouldn’t do that.
Renata sighed and waved one of her legs casually. “It’s not like we can do anything about it now. The last time something like this happened … Well, let’s just say that Andoran sent someone to deal with it who went to extremes.”
“Did he send an Eye?” asked Audrey, suddenly worried.
“Yes, but the last one died last year. You are surprisingly well-informed.”
“Thank you. If it helps, I also know that Andoran has been dead for years.”
There was a long silence before Renata spoke again. “He should never have left the sanctuary of the realm that he created. We felt it when he died, but we still don’t know what happened to him.”
“I do.” Audrey leaned forward. “I still don’t understand who you are. Are you a construct?”
“My body is artificial, obviously, but I am not a mindless construct. We are known as crystalloids. I was once alive just as you are now. When I died, my oldest daughter brought the emblem here that contained my spirit, and I was given this body. That was over two centuries ago.”
“So my mother and grandmother will be given similar bodies?” She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Yes, they will,” answered Renata. “Now tell me what you know about Andoran’s death.”
She really didn’t remember much. “It was in the city of Vox. There was some kind of magic festival or something. This magic sword came to life and killed him.”