“Neldin could not have taken that well,” Miceral said.
Yelsma shook her head. “One would assume not. Seritia accepted the young dwarf as a follower to prevent him from feeling Neldin’s wrath for all eternity. He died defending the temple with the few guards who remained to ensure the rest made it to safety.”
“What became of the robe and the chest?” Jolella asked.
“Until we remove the stones, we cannot say,” Yelsma said.
“They’re still there,” Farrell said, drawing looks from the others. “The Eye showed me that something was here. That and I can sense something now.”
“You, too?” Jolella asked. “When?”
“Not until Mother Yelsma finished her story. But I don’t know what it is.”
Jolella shook her head. “I dislike mysteries. Sisters from all over the world assembled in Trellham and the high priestess died. How is there no record of this event anywhere?”
“Mother Yelsma is the record of the event,” Father Aswick said. “And as for why no one else knew about it, much like Trellham and the Gifts, the Six didn’t want the world to know what happened that day.”
“Agreed,” Farrell said.
“What do we do now?” Miceral asked. “Whatever’s buried there is under twenty feet or more of stone.”
“Our people are hard at work clearing the debris. We’ll find it soon,” Yelsma said.
Farrell heard the exchange but didn’t respond. He walked to the tent flap and turned just before exiting to look at Jolella. “The workers won’t be able to remove the stones, will they?”
The priestess shook her head. “If you sense what I do, I don’t see how they can.”
“What are you two saying?” Aswick asked.
Farrell wrinkled his face. He hadn’t meant for anyone but Jolella to hear his words. “It feels like the patch of ground outside the walls of Agloth. Anything touching the circle will be impossible to grab, even with magic.”
“Except perhaps by Her Chosen,” Jolella suggested.
This time Farrell shook his head. “I doubt it will make any exceptions for me this time. At Agloth, you were as unaffected as I inside the circle. From Mother Yelsma’s account, it barred even priestesses from possessing the items.”
“Then again, this might be completely different.” Miceral’s tone told Farrell he tired of the exchange. “We won’t know a thing until we go see.”
Instead of answering Miceral, Farrell exited the tent. The day had turned out very different from what he planned. He was certain they were missing something. What, he couldn’t say, but where the Six were concerned, nothing happened without a reason.
“Where are you going, Farrell?” Miceral asked.
“As you said, we won’t know what we are dealing with until we go find out.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I’m missing something important,” Farrell said to Miceral.
“What?” Miceral asked. “I mean, what are you missing?”
Farrell snorted and nearly gave away they were “talking” silently. “If I knew, it wouldn’t be something I missed.”
“So much for the wisdom of Falcron. What part of this bothers you?”
“What Mother Yelsma described happened shortly before the temple was destroyed. It’s as if Seritia knew Her temple would be razed and Trellham abandoned.”
“You think Seritia knew Neldin was going to overrun Trellham?”
“It seems that way.”
“I thought you said even the gods can’t see the future?”
Farrell wondered about that. He and Kel thought They couldn’t, but had any of the Six ever said it? “I don’t think They can, but maybe They can see possibilities? If this happens, then that? I don’t know.”
“I don’t get the connection. Because She left you something that ended up at the bottom of the rubble, you think She saw the future?”
“Maybe not left for me, but for Her Champion. If the temple had survived and the city not been abandoned and sealed up, that circle would be visible. It wasn’t hidden like Kel’s secret room in the council chambers. No one found it—it sat at the bottom of a pile of rock in a city no one set foot in for three thousand years. Then Her Champion freed the dwarves and it’s found. And the chest was left for said Champion. It seems rather convenient.”
“I need to think about this some more.”
So did Farrell. They reached the edge of the ruins. An area in roughly the center of the temple dipped lower than the rest of the stones.
“Interesting,” Jolella said.
Farrell hadn’t realized she’d joined him. “What is?”
“If we’re correct, the stones shouldn’t be stacked on top of each other.”
It took him a moment to determine what she meant, but once he did, he searched the depression closer. Given it was the center of the temple, in theory it ought to be higher, not lower. It certainly shouldn’t be lower in the way it was. He stared until his eyes hurt from lack of blinking. Shaking his head, he was about to give up when he saw something.
“There.” He pointed toward a thick slab of stone. “That big rectangular piece. It’s resting on that pile of rocks here, and you can see the end sticking out on the other side.”
The others moved closer. “What are we looking at?” Aswick asked.
“A moment, Brother.” Jolella shuffled closer to Farrell. “I see it, but what’s the significance?”
“It means our assessment is accurate. Nothing in contact with the circle could be stacked that high, but these stones have no contact with the ground. There’s a gap in there somewhere.”
“I don’t see the space, but I believe you’re correct.” She studied the area a second longer. “Can we see what’s hidden below?”
Farrell nodded and held out his hand. “We’re going to take a closer look.”
“Are we all coming?” Aswick asked eagerly.
“No, I can only take one person with me. And even if I could take more, I’m not sure it’s safe for anyone other than Mother Jolella and me.”
He held his hand out for Jolella and took off before the others could argue further. They drifted well beyond the work area and hovered over the depression.
“Before we move anything, I want to see what’s down there.” He took out the Eye, and she nodded.
Phrasing his request carefully, he moved slowly through the rubble. He also asked to see the stones affected by the circle. Inch by inch the image descended through the wreckage. Massive blocks crisscrossed the area, resting on large blocks dozens of feet away. The first affected stone stood twenty feet off the ground. It looked like an interior column and it had remained upright. The top of it poked through a block lying horizontal in its path.
Farrell examined the interaction of the two objects. Only where the column made contact was the horizontal stone affected. The rest of the massive block rested on other supports outside the circle.
He followed the pillar to the bottom. Debris carpeted the ground in a confusing mass of objects. Because everything inside the circle became incorporeal, multiple objects occupied the same space. He directed the Eye to disregard items that were in the way until he finally located his goal.
As Mother Yelsma had said, the robe lay strewn over a small wooden chest resting on its side. It took a moment for what he saw to register—the robe rested on top of the chest. How was that possible? Everything that touched an item in contact with the circle lost its substance and fell to the ground. Everything except the robe.
He tried to find a variable that would account for this difference but could not. Even if he could, he had a bigger problem. The Eye might be able to disregard items that clouded his vision, but they still occupied the same space as the robe and chest. How would he remove what he wanted and leave behind what he didn’t?
His head throbbed from the effort of maintaining the Eye’s focus and he decided he’d seen enough. Before he disengaged his senses, he used the blue gem to help him stabil
ize the area. He wove strands of energy through the gaps in the stones and filled in the empty space. The energy ran up the sides and solidified to prevent more debris from dropping into the enigma that already sat at the bottom of the pile. Once satisfied he’d shored up the sides, he put the Eye away.
“The robe and chest are down there . . . somewhere.”
“You didn’t find it?” She sounded disappointed.
“I found it. It’s hard to explain. Imagine dozens of objects falling onto the same spot and all occupying that spot.” He saw how confused she looked. “I know, it’s baffling when you see it. The first thing that hit the ground became immaterial. When the next thing fell, it passed through it until it touched the bottom and wasn’t solid anymore. Now imagine that over and over. Every square inch of ground is covered a dozen times or more.”
“Oh.”
“There’s more.” He stared at the rocks between them and the ground. “Mother Ganz’s robe is resting on top of the chest, but every other object passed through both. I can’t explain it.”
“I can,” Jolella said. When Farrell looked over, she winked.
“I know She did this. But unless Seritia is going to appear and tell me what to do, I need to understand how it’s happening.”
She didn’t answer, so he pressed on with his original plan. He tested his restraints before unleashing his will on the rest of the pile. Large blocks of stone flew up and out of the way. Farrell didn’t care where they landed as he kept his attention on preventing a cave in. Some of the blocks stretched beyond the area he wanted clear. He had to expand the ribbons of energy to cover the gaps left by their departure. One stone was too big, and he had to break off the end to prevent a cave-in.
When he finished, they stared down into a mostly circular hole. It was more than thirty feet to the morass at the bottom. As the Eye had shown him, multiple items occupied the same space all around the affected area.
They slowly descended, and Farrell pushed more energy into keeping the walls stable. He heard dwarves shouting, Jagwin among them, but didn’t stop to investigate.
“What’s going on?” he asked Miceral.
“Moving the stones has dwarves coming from all over to investigate.”
“Have Jagwin keep them away. The area isn’t stable, and I’ve expended a lot of energy to keep things where they are. I don’t need people climbing on the pile and causing a cave in.”
“He and Mother Yelsma are on it. Finish up and get out. If it’s that dangerous, I don’t want you in there any longer than necessary.”
He didn’t worry about himself, but Jolella might get hurt. “I will.”
“Are you sure the chest and robe are there?” Jolella asked.
“Yes.” He focused his attention on the rocks covering what they wanted to see. One by one they disappeared. A patch of pink was the first to emerge, followed by the wood of the trunk. Finally he’d exposed the entire area. “The rocks are still there. I only made them invisible.”
“I thought magic couldn’t affect them?”
“Wow.” Her grasp of the situation surprised him, and he smiled. “Not many nonwizards would have picked up on that. You’re correct. I can’t affect them. I created an illusion of what the area would look like without them.”
“That sounds difficult.”
“It is, but I have the benefit of what the Eye showed me to help.” He pointed toward the “cleared” area. “As you can see, the robe is on top of the chest, yet everything else passed through them both.”
“That’s astounding.” She never took her eyes off the chest. “Can you remove your illusion?”
“I can, but I’ll have to start over if I do.”
“I can’t think of a reason I’d need to see this again. They’re both just sitting there.”
He nodded and released the spell. The interconnected mass of stones reappeared. They studied the tangled knots of debris in silence. When they’d been there awhile, Farrell decided it was time to leave. “Let’s go back.”
On the way out of the tunnel, Farrell made sure the spells supporting the open area would last. The others stood at the edge of the rubble.
It took almost an hour to explain what they’d seen, and even then, they got questions. Finally, Farrell held up his hand. “That’s enough about this.”
“What?” Father Aswick sounded annoyed.
“I’ve done my best to convey what we observed, but I’m tired.” His head hurt, and seeing Aswick primed to argue, he rubbed his temples. “To get the limited view we got took a lot of energy. I can’t explain it any better. You’ll need to see it to understand.”
“None of us can fly,” Aswick said.
“I know that.” Farrell’s tone was sharp. “That was a polite way of saying I’m done talking about it.”
“You’re done? Is that how you think you can talk to us?” Aswick didn’t back down.
“Perhaps the last response was a bit harsh, Brother,” Jolella said. “But on balance he was respectful and polite the entire time. It’s time to let him go rest.”
“Easy for you to say. You saw it firsthand.”
“I did because this is Seritia’s temple.” Jolella’s cheek muscle twitched. “I also saw the strain on Seritia’s Chosen from his efforts to allow us to see what we could. I say again, he needs to go rest.”
“I agree,” Miceral said. He’d been studying Farrell since he’d said “enough.” “There’s not much he can say that hasn’t been said.”
Farrell continued to rub his temples. “I don’t want to rest yet. I’m just tired of going over the same things.”
Miceral shook his head.
Farrell knew he’d undone the attempts to calm Father Aswick, but it couldn’t be helped. There were things he needed to know, and the people and dwarves he wanted to speak to were here.
“Sorry, but can everyone take a breath and calm down?” His headache felt worse, and he reached for his empty cup. “Is there any more juice?”
“Of course.” Yelsma stood and retrieved the pitcher. She filled his cup and left the rest next to him. “Take what you need.”
“Thank you.” He gulped down the sweet citrus drink and poured himself some more as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. Renewed a bit by the sugar, Farrell sipped from his refilled cup. “Better.”
“Do you need to see a healer?” Yelsma asked.
“No, I’ll be fine. I just have a bit of a headache. It’ll pass.” Everyone stared at him like he was going to collapse. “Really, I’m fine. Blasting things and using magic in a big way is easy compared to focusing on small, specific tasks. Throw in that I couldn’t let the walls cave in on us and it was mentally tiring.”
He looked each of them in the eyes, hoping to stave off any further questions. “Now, Mother Yelsma, I believe you said you tried to reach the chest.”
She nodded. “My sisters and I tried everything we could think of to touch the chest and robe. Our hands—my hands—passed right through.”
“Did you touch each other during your attempts?”
“I did not, but . . .” She paused and looked into the air. “I can’t say I saw any of my sisters touch each other, but I recall some of them stumbling around quite a bit. I attributed it to being in shock.”
“Why is that significant?” Aswick asked.
“In Agloth, only Farrell and I could touch each other. We couldn’t touch the others, nor they us,” Jolella said. “Assuming the two spots have the same properties, anyone not ‘allowed’ to be inside the circle would be unable to touch anything, even each other.”
“How do we know who’s allowed?” Miceral asked.
“I don’t know,” Farrell said. The others looked confused. “What? There is so much stuff occupying the same space, I’d be afraid to try to step there.”
“Why?” Jolella asked.
“What if they turn solid while we’re standing there?” He shrugged. “We don’t know they won’t, because we don’t know why the chest
and robe are solid and everything else isn’t.”
“Why clear the stones away if you aren’t going to try to recover what’s there?” Aswick asked.
“I still want to get them, but I’m not sure how.” Farrell looked at Jolella. “Do you think there’s anything on this in the temple library?”
“I doubt it. The sisters have been looking for some mention of the circle in front of the city and have found nothing.”
“No surprise there,” Miceral said.
“Now you sound like me,” Farrell said.
“I’ve seen you hit the back end of a cave enough to agree.”
“Can you get them without standing in the circle?” Yelsma asked.
“I don’t know that, either,” Farrell said. “What concerns me is, what is the source of the circle? Is it the chest, the robe, both, neither? If it’s the chest and/or robe, the moment they move off the ground, the stones could turn solid. They’d be encased in rock before we could get them out.”
“So if you try and you’re wrong, you risk losing what you seek,” Aswick said.
The small group considered the problem in silence. Farrell tried to keep his frustration in check, but it proved difficult. How could the Six bring him this far, show him where to find what he needed, but make them all but inaccessible?
He walked to the edge of the ruins, clasped his hands behind his back, and closed his eyes to concentrate. The answers were there, at the bottom of the pile. Why did everything have to be such a struggle?
“Farrell, what are you doing?” Miceral asked.
“What do you mean?” Farrell opened his eyes.
“Look.” Miceral pointed behind Farrell.
Farrell twisted back toward the temple. Scores of stones floated at various levels and were converging on him. He touched the one closest to him with the tip of his finger and watched it float away. When it stopped and started to come back, he checked to be sure he wasn’t leaking energy.
“I’m not causing this.”
“Yet it’s centered on you,” Jolella said.
Champion of the Gods Box Set Page 160