by A F Kay
Chapter 12
During dinner, Sift told his parents about the distant snow he’d seen and the intoxicating smell of pine. He left out the part where he’d been moments from death. Ruwen talked about how amazing the Shooters had been when they loaded all the supplies and how majestic the mountains looked up close.
Ruwen could see Madda and Padda were pleased that Sift had enjoyed his first day on the other side of the Blood Gate, and also how happy they were to see Sift again.
As they walked back to their room, Sift smiled. “Dinner was nice. They didn’t lecture me once.”
“We kind of only touched on the good stuff.”
“Thanks for not bringing up the ambush. I would have been lectured about not hardening my lungs and chest.”
“You mentioned that before, but could you be more specific?”
Sift nodded. “Each Meridian is associated with a part of the body. There are secret forms you can use that channel your Spirit around them, which Refines your Spirit. I can’t do that because something is wrong with my center, so I just hold the pose for the proper Meridian, and some of the Spirit I absorb flows there. The pose focuses the Spirit enough to slowly make the Meridian stronger.”
“Is that why the crossbow bolt’s tip was bent? Because you’d strengthened your heart?”
“Yeah, the process is called Fortifying. I’ve reached Jade there. But it is insanely wasteful the way I’m forced to do it.”
“Because your Meridians are blocked?”
“A little, but mostly because I have almost no control over my Spirit because I can’t find my center. What I’m doing is like filling a glass with water by dumping an entire lake into it.”
Ruwen raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound efficient. How many levels of Fortifying are there?”
Sift narrowed his eyes as he thought about the question. “Twelve in total. There are the metal levels: Lead, Copper, Silver, and Gold. Then there are the four gem levels: Jade, Topaz, Sapphire, and Diamond. Finally, there are the divine levels: Angel, Archangel, Demigod, and Deity.”
They entered their room, and Sift went directly to his bed. “I am beat.”
“Well, you did almost die today.”
Ruwen still hadn’t felt tired. The last time he’d slept was before he’d Cultivated. It worried him. Didn’t people go crazy if they didn’t sleep? “Do your parents sleep much?”
Sift shrugged. “They meditate a lot. It is hard to tell the difference sometimes.”
“I’m not tired yet. I think I’m going to head down to the library and shelve books for a bit,” Ruwen said.
Sift sat back up. “I can help if you want.”
Ruwen shook his head. “No, you should rest. You can help once I figure out how I want to organize down there.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, I probably won't be down there that long.”
Sift laid back down. “Alright, come and get me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Ruwen walked back out into the hall and touched his right wrist to the wall. “Library.”
A portal opened, and he stepped through into the library.
He realized as he entered the pitch-dark library that three days had passed, and monsters might have come back. His Jaga Wedding Band didn’t work because there was no light to enhance. He toggled on Detect Temperature and scanned the room, but nothing appeared.
His heart beat rapidly, and he took a deep breath. “Limuno!”
The lights came on, and he turned off Detect Temperature. The library looked just like he’d left it. The tables, chairs, and shelves had all been fixed. Books still lay scattered over the entire room except for the area in the corner where Ruwen had already cleaned. The double doors were closed, and he scanned the room one more time to make sure he was alone.
Ruwen walked to his corner and picked up books off the floor. It worried him that he hadn’t slept in so long. Maybe he should ask the Addas about it. If this wasn’t normal, he needed to get some help before something terrible happened.
Shelving books almost felt like meditation. Ruwen zoned out, keeping his thoughts to a minimum as he worked.
A knock on the door made him jump. He glanced at his clock and saw an hour had passed. It was already 11:13 PM. Not wanting to take a chance, he pulled the Staff of Chimes out of his Void Band and waited. The knock came again, followed by a familiar voice.
“Ruwen? You in there?” Tremine asked.
Ruwen put his staff away, surprised to hear his friend’s voice.
“I’m here,” Ruwen shouted.
The door opened, and Tremine squeezed his way into the room.
“Wow, this place is a mess,” Tremine said as he walked over and gave Ruwen a quick hug.
Happiness filled Ruwen at seeing the familiar face. Ruwen loved knowledge, which is why he treasured books so much, and in Tremine, he’d found a kindred soul. Even before the librarian had taken over caring for Ruwen after his parents disappeared, he’d considered the man his closest friend.
Ruwen looked around the room. “I know. I started picking up last time I was here. It looks like Blapy is going to let me. She actually fixed the tables and chairs and added the lights.”
“Nice,” Tremine said. “Good reading light.”
Ruwen smiled. Only a librarian would ignore the beautiful chandeliers while being impressed with the quality of the light they provided.
“Ky said you’d be hanging around, but I thought she meant at camp, not Blapy,” Ruwen said.
“She stopped by a little bit ago and let me know you’d come here. I hate sitting alone in a dark forest, so I thought I’d scribble some gate runes and see if you were up.”
Ruwen laughed. “A Chaos Mage who Specialized in Void magic is afraid of the dark?”
Tremine smiled. “I know. It must be something from my past. The traumas of our youth are the hardest to overcome.”
The conversation made Ruwen think of Bliz. Why had thoughts of Bliz surfaced?
“You have Portal Chalk too?” Ruwen asked.
“Ky gave me some. She knows me better than probably anyone. Including how I feel about the dark.”
The itch in Ruwen’s brain grew worse, but before it became painful, he realized the connection, and the irritation disappeared. Tremine had mentioned gate runes, and Bliz had told him earlier today about the gate runes he’d seen when he was young. He had offhandedly said that he’d asked the librarian what they were, but Tremine had claimed ignorance. Maybe Tremine hadn’t known about gate runes back then. Or perhaps he did recognize them but didn’t want to say so because of all the questions that would have followed.
Bliz was a smart guy. What would he have done if he’d known the symbols could open a doorway to someplace else? He had already proven his bad judgment by sticking his head in his Void Band. He would certainly walk through a portal if he knew the symbols were a key. Maybe Tremine had followed the same thought process.
But that felt like a lot of assumptions on Ruwen’s part. Was it any of his business why Tremine didn’t tell Bliz what the symbols were? Obviously, it wasn’t. But Ruwen’s curiosity raged like a fire in his mind. He just couldn’t help himself.
“Do you know much about gate runes?” Ruwen asked.
“A little. Some believe they are remnants of the Creator’s language. The language used to build the universe.”
Ruwen paused, a book half on the shelf. “What do you mean, Creator? Like the god Sift and his parents believe in?”
“Yes, their god is a version of the Creator.”
Ruwen stared at Tremine. “Wait, do you believe that?”
“Do you want to talk about gate runes or theology?”
Ruwen wanted to talk about them both, but he knew he needed to stay focused. “The runes.”
Tremine smiled. “Don’t sound so depressed, we’ll have plenty of time to talk theology in the future. We would need more than one night anyway. What I know about gate runes takes far
less time.”
“So, what are they?”
“They’re three things actually,” Tremine said. “A trinity.”
“You’re killing me.”
Tremine laughed. “Okay, I’ll stop being vague. The first rune is the easiest to understand. It represents the unique name of the planet you are traveling to.”
“Who came up with the names?”
“I thought we weren’t going to talk theology.”
Ruwen frowned. “Fine, but this is a side of you I didn’t know existed, and I want to have this conversation. I never spent any time thinking about deities, and now I can’t stop worrying they’ll kill me.”
“I get it, and we will,” Tremine said and waited for Ruwen to nod. “The next three runes are simple, too. They represent a coordinate system –”
“So help me, Tremine, if you turn this into a math problem…”
Tremine held up his hands. “No math. If the center of the planet is zero, you extend three planes: x through the axis; y is perpendicular to x and oriented toward the sun when the planet’s orbit is nearest the star; and z is perpendicular to both x and y. With that information, you can mark any point on the planet. Those are the second, third, and fourth values of the gate rune sequence.”
“They’re just coordinates?”
“Yes, which is why it’s critical to draw them exactly.”
Ruwen let the new information soak into his brain. It made sense, actually. The door opened someplace new, and the creator of the door needed to provide that information.
Another thought occurred to Ruwen. “If everything in the universe is in motion, how can that be enough information to form a connection?”
“Yes, excellent, Ruwen. And it is even more complicated than that. Stars explode or turn cold, systems collide, planets are created and destroyed…the universe itself is chaos.”
“Then how can any of this work?”
Tremine held up a book. “This book contains a beginning and an end. In between are words that construct a story. When you read the book, you move through time as you experience the narrative. But to the book, the entire story already exists, no matter where the reader happens to be or how long it took them to get there.”
“The universe is the book?” Ruwen asked.
“Yes, and when the portal is activated, the universe, if we want to continue the analogy, knows what page you are on in the book.”
Ruwen rubbed his forehead as he thought the process through. “So the universe knows, at this exact moment, where the planet identified by the first rune is spatially in the universe. Then uses the next three runes to place you on that planet.”
“Yes, see how easy that is?”
Ruwen shook his head, and Tremine grinned. The librarian continued. “That just leaves the fifth rune, and it specifies the Realm.”
“Like the Spirit Realm Naktos wants to send me to?” Ruwen asked.
Tremine gestured with the book. “Exactly. There are many Realms adjacent or layered on top of what we think of as the real world. The Spirit, Shadow, and Divine Realms are just a few.”
“You called Ky a Shadow Strider. Does she use the Shadow Realm?”
“Your intelligence never disappoints, Ruwen. Kysandra’s Class Specialization gives her limited movement through that Realm. It is very powerful.”
“You said something about activating the gate runes to let the universe know what page you’re on in the book,” Ruwen said.
Tremine set his book on the table. “Yes, just knowing the proper runes is not enough. You need to power the gate runes to activate them.”
“But when I come here, all I do is draw them.”
“That’s because the Black Pyramid is powering the portal from this side.”
“So, a portal can be powered from either side.”
Tremine nodded. “Some Realms need a specific type of power before the connection can be completed.”
“What does that mean?”
“This is where my knowledge ends. The Spirit Realm seems to be a one-way trip, and I think the Divine Realms are impossible for us to ever visit on our own.”
Ruwen had wanted to know if Tremine had lied to Bliz, but this conversation had gone into far more detail than he’d expected. Even if Tremine had known they were gate runes at the time, with all the variables he’d just outlined, it would be impossible to know where they went. But, Ruwen’s curiosity wouldn’t let it go.
“The Crew Chief at the Worker’s Lodge showed me what I think are gate runes,” Ruwen said.
“Bliz?” Tremine asked.
Chapter 13
“You know him?” Ruwen asked in surprise.
Tremine laughed. “Bliz is famous. Few people have traveled as wide as the chief. He’s brought me many valuable books. And he’s a good man. If you need to hire a Band to carry something, his bar is where you start. All the Bands hang out there. You’ll see soon enough now that you’re one of them.”
“His bar?”
“Well, Bliz and his wife own it.”
Ruwen realized now how Bliz could get away with such crazy games at the Dizzy Judge. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told Ruwen he knew the owner.
“Bliz said he showed them to you, but you didn’t know what they were,” Ruwen said.
Tremine looked sad. “I hate lying to people, but sometimes it's necessary. Even to people we like or care about. With Bliz, I recognized they were gate runes, but had no idea where they went. If I told him that, he would want all the information I just told you. Knowledge like that is dangerous, especially for an intelligent, curious, and maybe a little irresponsible person like Bliz.”
Ruwen thought about his conversation with Uru. She had asked if he could swim through a sea of lies to reach the shore of truth. He couldn’t blame Tremine for his decision. Ruwen had already misled or omitted information from his friends.
“Unfortunately, I understand,” Ruwen said.
“But, with what you know now, you should be able to piece together what those gate runes probably are.”
Bliz had told Ruwen they came from the inside of his Void Band, which meant Uru put them there herself. “All the gate runes I’ve seen so far have had the same fifth symbol. But this sequence references a different Realm. Do you think they go to Uru’s Divine Realm?”
Tremine shrugged. “It is a logical assumption.”
“But why put them there?”
“That is the real question. But now we are speculating on the motivations of deities, which brings us back to theology. And you agreed to leave that for another night.”
Ruwen laughed. “Okay, fine. I love these talks.”
“Me, too.”
They shelved books in silence for a minute. Thoughts of the gate runes spun in Ruwen’s head, but so did another mystery. It burned in his mind like a lump of hot coal until he couldn’t stand it.
“I have another question,” Ruwen said.
“You always do. That’s one of my favorite things about you.”
Ruwen’s chest tightened. Tremine never made Ruwen feel bad about his curiosity. “It’s not about gate runes though. It’s about a book.”
Tremine raised an eyebrow. “Well, you know me. I love books.”
Ruwen removed A Worker’s Guide to Harvesting and handed it to Tremine. “Take a look at this.”
Ruwen hadn’t had any luck figuring out how to open it, and he hoped Tremine might have an idea.
Tremine’s brow wrinkled. “I can’t read this. Give me a moment.”
Tremine’s eyes glazed over for just a moment, and Ruwen knew he’d just cast Comprehend, a Mage spell that mimicked Ruwen’s Hey You ability.
“Interesting. Why did you choose this book?” Tremine asked.
“This is going to sound crazy, but it’s warmer than the other books.”
“Warmer?” Tremine placed the back of his right hand on the cover. “Yes, I think I can just feel it.”
“I can’t get it open.”
Tremine held the book away from himself and tilted it in the light. He studied the spine and the back and then gently tried to open the book. It stayed locked shut. The librarian examined the cover again.
Ruwen remained quiet.
“Did you notice the Divine Circle around the edges?” Tremine asked.
“The what?”
Tremine looked up and returned the book to Ruwen. “It’s how Harvesters view the universe.”
Ruwen studied the cover.
Tremine continued. “There are twelve fundamental energies, and they’re usually arranged like a clock. Opposing forces are on opposite sides. So Death is at twelve, and Life is at six. Chaos is at nine, and Order is at three. You get the idea.”
“Does it serve a purpose?” Ruwen asked.
Tremine shrugged. “You would get a better answer from the Addas, they live by this circle.”
Ruwen looked down. “I don’t think they’ll help me with this.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you what little I know then.”
Ruwen looked up hopefully, and Tremine laughed.
“You’re as obsessed with knowledge as I am. Which isn’t a good thing. I have no practical experience with this. Everything I’m telling you is academic.”
Ruwen nodded. Tremine, like any respectable source, wanted to quantify his response. Knowledge only had value if you understood the context of the information. Only then could you determine its accuracy.
Tremine narrowed his eyes and looked up in thought. “Cultivators can somehow pull energy into themselves. They then move it through these twelve Meridians, which is called the Divine Circle, and somehow separate the energy. I’ve seen pictures where the Meridians are associated with areas of the body. The paths used to move energy through the different Meridians are tightly held secrets. Wars have been fought over gaining a more efficient pattern to Cultivate with.”
Ruwen inspected the cover again and found the eight Meridians Tremine hadn’t mentioned: Body was at one and Mind at seven, Stone at two and Air at eight, Water at four and Fire at ten, and finally, Light at five and Dark at eleven. In the middle of the cover was another point: Divine.