Hearing a sound behind her, she turned quickly to see Malory poking his head out of the door slowly as he scanned first one direction and then the other. He had not noticed her standing by the massive doors to the dragon room yet. Just then, two things happened—she heard Bowser bark behind Malory, and he noticed her. When Malory saw her, his face lost all color, and he seemed to sway slightly like he’d had a shock. Then he suddenly slammed the door. Before she could cross the massive hall, the door eased open again and Coliten peered out, then he too slammed the door. A second later, he opened the door with a very sheepish look on his face.
Merriam could have sworn someone had jerked the door out of Coliten's hand and then shoved him through it before slamming the door again. Merriam had gone from curious and excited to worried now. She knew she’d heard Bowser in that room, and the sorcerers were acting very oddly. With all the warnings from her father, and his hatred of the sorcerers in mind, she did not know what to do.
Before she could decide, the decision was taken out of her hands, because Coliten began speaking. Actually, he began to stutter and use a lot of ‘uhs’ and ‘umms,’ while really saying nothing at all. Merriam's eyes narrowed. Merriam decided maybe she should take control of the situation after all. Otherwise they may be here all night long.
Chapter Twenty-two
When Malory had opened the door and seen Merriam standing by the portal doors, he had panicked, he admitted. Slamming the door was probably not the best solution, though, as the other sorcerers were very busily telling him. Every eye turned to Coliten; it was show time, and he’d better put on a very convincing act.
They all knew Merriam, and while she was inquisitive and impulsive and young, she was not stupid by any means. When Coliten opened the door and peeked out, he looked scared. Seeing him slam the door caused a collective groan from the others to echo through the room. A quick reminder that ‘the story was his idea, and he could not tell it from behind the door,’ had him hesitantly opening the door again. The second time Coliten opened the door, Malory took matters into his own hands. Jerking the door knob from Coliten, he then jerked the door open just enough to shove him through the door, and slammed and locked it behind him.
When he turned back to the room, the others were staring at him. He shrugged. "It’s just like I told him. He came up with the story, and he could not tell it from in here." He then turned back to the door and, leaning against it, he tried to listen to what was going on in the hall. After a few seconds, he gave up and backed away from the door in frustration. Merriam had been quite wrong when she had thought she would be able to hear if she stopped and listened earlier. The doors were set up to protect against eavesdropping. His shoulders slumped a little, but only for a minute—Timeron's hands began to glow a golden color, and suddenly everyone in the room could hear what was being said in the hall.
What they heard was a lot of stuttering, and not much of a story at all. Someone groaned, "We're all dead."
Then they heard Merriam's voice, and she did not sound happy. "Coliten, where is my dog?"
Coliten's voice stuttered back, "D-d-d-dog?"
The other sorcerers in the room were becoming more concerned by the minute.
In the hallway, Merriam had placed her hands on her hips and was busy tapping her tiny foot. "Yes, Coliten. My dog. Fluffy, white, long-haired animal that follows me around and answers to the name Bowser. The dog you have fed Bowser Bones to a few times? Dog, four legs, barks and yips, you know, a dog—my dog."
Coliten straightened up a little, "We have no white fluffy animal."
In the room, the men groaned as they all looked down at the dog. With a slight laugh, Malory said, “Well, that much is true—he is not white—at least, not now.”
Merriam narrowed her eyes again and stated, "So you think I am imagining the fact that I just heard my dog bark? The dog I have had for six years?" One of her eyebrows tilted up—she had practiced for years on that one eyebrow, standing in front of the looking glass for long periods of time. She thought it was wonderful when Uncle Sarian did it, and after years of practice, she could do it also. It seemed to make people nervous. Nervous people talked, she had found. She just stared at Coliten, saying nothing more.
Coliten began to fidget, and soon began to look around him like he was looking for an escape route. Merriam continued to stand there, hands on hips, one eyebrow cocked up, saying nothing. She noticed that Coliten was reaching behind him, trying to open the door— which was clearly now locked, with him on the outside, from the looks of it.
After a few more minutes of silence, Coliten broke.
The men, listening from inside the room, did not know if he forgot his story, or if he had just decided to throw everyone to the shadows, but as soon as they heard Coliten begin to speak, they knew it was all over.
"Well, you see, Merriam, it was—I did not—the thing is, there was a, and—it was, and then the boy, and see, the ball—and well, you understand it was an accident, right?" Coliten stammered out the explanation.
Inside the room, Malory was slowly beating his head against the wall, while Gragen had begun to cry. The other sorcerers and scientists were sitting down, heads held up by their hands, trying to think how they could escape the room. After a few seconds, maybe minutes, Timeron got up and strode to the door, muttering, "Stupid young fool is going to get us all killed."
Just before he opened the door, they heard Merriam say, "Have you been drinking? What kind of explanation is that? Do you want to try again?"
To which Coliten, confused, said, "Uh, no, I thought that explained everything."
Merriam watched the door open and as Timeron came out, he reached out and grabbed Coliten, and with a muttered "stupid fool," shoved him back into the room, closing the door behind him. But not before Merriam saw Coliten hit the floor on the other side of the door.
Merriam, more confused than ever, turned her attention to Timeron. She did not really know how to act around him. He was older than Coliten and Malory, and she did not know much about him, other than he was older than even her father by at least two, maybe even three thousand years. She did not think the cocked eyebrow, hands on hip, foot tapping would work with him, so she just stared at him, waiting.
Timeron gave her a slight bow and said, "Lady Merriam, would you care to listen, without interrupting, and give us a chance to explain? I promise you—to our knowledge, Bowser is not hurt at all. He had a little adventure and he is a bit more colorful for it, but we can not find that he has been harmed."
The men inside the room, upon hearing that Timeron was setting the story up to be told—the truth, they realized, and not a story at all—became concerned. Coliten was a little incensed that he had been jerked out of the hall so abruptly after telling the princess what had happened. “I forgot the story,” he was trying to defend himself to the others, but they were threatening him.
Merriam, looking at Timeron, told him, "No one can say that I am not a fair person. I do not think I will like the tale you are about to give me, but will it get me my dog back? Do you promise he is unharmed?"
"Insofar as I am able to make that promise. But please understand, we can not be certain. I have a fantastical tale to tell you, and a wondrous bit of old magic to show you. I cannot fairly ask that you keep our secret, but I would beg of you, insofar as you are able, to extend your protection to us." Timeron earnestly requested.
By now, Merriam was very intrigued about what could possibly be going on. She knew it. Merriam was doing a mental happy dance. She’d known there was something going on when she started this little quest of hers. If she could jump up and down in excitement without looking foolish, she would. Instead she said, with a calm she did not feel, "Please, tell me of this fantastical tale."
In response, Timeron gestured to the room behind her. "If you would be so kind my lady, it starts in there."
Merriam turned to looked at the double doors, then back at the room behind Timeron. She was sure Bowser was in the r
oom, but apparently Timeron wanted to go into the dragon room. Shrugging her shoulders, she gestured that he should precede her, as she had already tried the doors and she knew they were locked.
Timeron's hands began to glow with a golden light, and he gestured to the locked doors, which slowly opened.
When Merriam turned back to face the double doors, she could see what she agreed was a most wondrous sight. She was positive that beautiful thing had never ever been in that room before. She would have noticed it. She began walking into the room, intent on touching it. She wanted to feel it.
Before she had gotten halfway there, with her hand outstretched to touch it, Timeron was in front of her, halting her progress. "Please, my lady, you cannot touch it."
Eyes wide with astonishment, she stared at the wondrous thing. Without taking her eyes off of the thing, she asked, "What is it?"
Timeron told her, "A portal. One we hope will lead us off this planet one day."
Nodding her head, she had heard her father and mother discussing having to leave the planet. She had also overheard some of the conversations her father and uncles had. She did not yet have all the information; people were a little too protective of her sometimes, she thought, but she knew enough to know they needed to leave.
"So, what does this have to do with Bowser? And if you have a way off the planet, why do you want to keep it a secret?" Merriam found she had a lot of questions.
"Ah, that is where the tale comes in. You see, my lady, we have been trying to unlock the secrets of the portal for a while. We toss things in, and while the things are passing through the portal, we can see a bit of what is on the other side. Unfortunately today, while we were experimenting, no one noticed Bowser was in the room, and we had tossed a ball through the portal in hopes of finding out a bit more," Timeron twisted the truth just a small amount. No one needed to die today by telling Merriam the balls were thrown in anger, and that no one was even looking at the portal at the time. Some truths just did not have to be shared, he thought.
At that explanation, Merriam stopped him with a guess as to what happened. "Bowser chased the ball through the portal, didn't he?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. We had to toss a ball with string attached to get him to return."
"But he returned? Unharmed?" Merriam was not finding a problem yet.
"Well, yes, he returned, relatively unharmed." Timeron said, "We used white balls to entice him back. One of these white balls." Timeron held up one of the multi-colored balls.
Merriam looked at the ball, then turned her attention to the portal, then again to the ball. Confused, she said, "That is not a white ball."
Timeron nodded, "But it was when it went through the portal."
Merriam was beginning to catch on. Timeron could see the exact moment she understood what he was saying.
"So my Bowser, my white dog, is the colors of the portal now, isn't he?" She wanted to make sure she understood before she said anything else. Timeron just nodded. "And you want me to keep your portal secret?" Again Timeron nodded. "You want me to keep your portal secret with a multi-colored dog in tow?"
At that, Timeron surprised her, "We have a credible story for that, my lady."
"I see," Merriam looked at the portal, "You said you can see through the portal while something is being tossed into it?"
"Yes, and sometimes just brief glances without anything passing through." Timeron replied.
"Hmmm, have you thought to push a table through the portal, something long, something that would let you look through for a while, maybe you could just push it in and let it sit there?" Merriam asked.
Since Merriam was looking at the portal, she missed the incredulous look on Timeron's face when she offered such an obvious solution. After a few moments when Timeron had not answered her, she turned to look at him, only to see him staring off into space with a blank look on his face.
He suddenly spun around and ran from the room, leaving Merriam staring at where he had been just a moment before.
Chapter Twenty-three
Darian turned to looked at the others, "We have been walking these halls for a while now and have not seen a single person. Are you sure you don't want to just step to Malory?"
Sarian looked back at him, "I did not expect all the doors to be locked in this area. The sorcerers have gotten a bit touchy about their area over the last couple of hundred years. I say we head to the great gathering hall to look for them there next." He looked at the others with his eyebrow cocked up questioningly.
Patro and Kane both shrugged their shoulders while Darian just turned to head down the hall that would lead them to the great gathering hall. In times past, when the sorcerers were still in favor with the leaders of the race, this hall, more specifically the Great Room, would be a place where sorcerers would gather with leaders, watchers, dragons, and scientists to meet. The Great Room was the only room in the whole of Central where dragons would fit not only through the massive hallways but into a room.
After a little more walking, and a few more turns, they found themselves in the enormous hallways of the portion of Central called the gathering halls. Another turn would have them in the hall which led to the Great Room. Before they could reach the hallway, they heard noises. Finally, other people, but it sounded like they were crying. The men looked at each other questioningly. Darian motioned for everyone to move out of the center of the hall and into some of the alcoves. The men took cover just in time.
As the trickle of people passed in front of them, Darian noted some of the people were supporting others, who were crying. Devastation appeared to be on each of the faces of the men and women, all dressed in the robes favored by the scientists. The scientists were not bunched together, but seemed to be spaced out a bit. Every so often, one or two would pause to wait on others, but soon began moving on down the hall, in the direction which would eventually take them to the atrium. After waiting a few minutes, once the people had passed, Darian looked around to find the others watching him.
Darian motioned everyone to come together again and then led them back the way they had come from. After a few minutes of walking, the men stopped, and no one seemed to want to be the first to talk. Finally, Kane asked, "Do you think something happened to this portal thing Gragen mentioned earlier?"
Looking over at Sarian, he said, "You did say Gragen started crying when he thought he was going to be taken away from the portal discovery—maybe it disappeared, or broke?"
Darian thought about it for a minute, "Maybe the sorcerers threw them out?"
Sarian did not think that was the case, and said so. "The scientists outnumber the sorcerers by twenty-five-to-one or maybe even more. Can you see them kicking out that many scientists? We had what, fifty in the meeting this morning, with just four or so sorcerers? How many do we have working in Central, hundreds?
Patro turned to look at Sarian with a dumbstruck look on his face, "Did you just now have to mention how many scientists we have versus sorcerers?" While Kane tried to figure out how this could matter at all, Patro continued, "The only place that many people could meet is the Great Room. We have just spent hours searching this place for even one sorcerer, and you only now mention this?"
Kane turned angrily to Patro at this realization, "You knew just as well as I did how many sorcerers and scientists we have, so why didn't you think about it, genius?"
Before the two men could come to blows, which looked like may happen, Sarian broke in to say "It does not really matter how much time we wasted looking for them, the only thing that matters at this point is what would cause that many scientists to leave crying. I counted twenty-six of them."
Darian was nodding his head, "That was my count too. I am more than a little worried about the situation now. But we will not find out anything standing here. What is the plan?"
Kane shrugged and looked at Patro, who in turn shrugged and looked at Sarian. Sarian was not paying the least attention, though—he was staring back the way they h
ad just come from, looking for all the world as if he could see through the walls. Without saying a word to the others, Sarian turned to go back to the Great Halls. As he walked, the halls seemed to get a little bit darker, and Sarian seemed to fade a bit as he blended into the shadows he was creating.
Before they reached the Great Halls again, Darian called a low halt. Patro and Kane both looked at him, then back to where Sarian had been. They could feel where Sarian was, and if they concentrated, they could see him through their bond, but he had disappeared from sight into his shadows.
Kane and Patro waited with Darian, they may not have known just what Sarian had in mind, but after almost three thousand years together, they knew him well enough to guess. Sarian had apparently lost what little trust he may have had in the situation, and being the only one of the four who could disappear, had decided to scout ahead. If something happened, they could always mind-talk.
They did not mind-talk as much as others probably believed. For one thing, after so many years together, their thoughts seemed to blend, and it was harder rather than easier to just get one or two thoughts through. The other had to be thinking of something pretty firmly for others’ thoughts not to intrude. For instance, earlier in the day, when Patro and Kane were laughing so hard about everyone thinking Darian was going to kill Malory because of the ‘off with his head’ comments, the men found it easier to use verbal language than to mind-talk. After so long together, the men really valued their private thoughts.
Not much privacy could be found when you were bound so tightly to others that your very life depended upon them being around you. Sarian was the only one who could probably walk away from the Lyra, but they did not know if that was true. He was wound into their soul-threads and into the soul-threads of the tapestry pretty tightly. Darian sometimes wondered whether Sarian could walk away and never look back—or would it kill him? Darian did not have to wonder if he or Kane or Patro could walk away. He knew they couldn't. The older they had gotten, the longer time they could spend apart, but after a couple of months, it it would feel as though he was burning alive. The pain would make him insane if they pushed it too much. Sometimes, like almost always, he wished he had not been born the fire-walker of the race. It was his fire that was needed to burn the soul strings from the tapestry when someone went rogue. To know you were the executioner of your race was hard to live with. Fortunately, he was not called upon to use his soul fire very often.
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