Once he had it clear in his mind, he began to alter the force lines of gravity that held it down. He worked methodically so that it gradually became lighter and lighter. The wheel structure groaned as portions of it that had been under tension from the fall over one thousand years previous finally were relieved of their burden.
Ever so gently, the wheel began to lift off the ground. Eril was so focused on his work that he didn’t see the reactions of the others in the chamber to the enormous metal wheel slowly drifting into the air, as though it were made of thistledown. Everyone stared, most with mouths agape.
Once the wheel was five feet or so above the cavern floor, Eril moved it very slowly further back through the cavern and away from the remains of the fallen support tower to a portion of the cavern floor free from debris. Once there, he just as slowly lowered it back to the floor, taking care to not damage the structure of the wheel further.
“I don’t believe it,” Kason exclaimed.
“Your belief is not required,” Master Silurian said quietly. “Too many people look at Eril and can’t imagine that he truly is a zdrell master like those in the histories. I’d say half of the people don’t believe the histories are true. But when you see something like that, well, you do have to believe that zdrell really has returned to the world.”
“Aye, you can say that again,” Kason said, awe in his voice. “What are mere mortals like us to do, then?”
“Oh, we mortals still have our part to play. Eril’s just one man, one boy, really. He needs us as much as we need him.”
Moments later, Eril walked back to where Kason and Master Silurian were discussing rebuilding the support tower and what other things needed to be done to restore the gate to its former glory.
“So, you’ll be able to lift the wheel upright when we are ready to install it?” Kason asked.
“Yeah, I suppose,” Eril replied, looking up at where the other support for the wheel still remained in the ironworks. “It might be a bit tricky to maneuver, but with some help it should not be too much work, assuming the wheel is ready. I have no idea how you’re going to get it repaired and trued up.”
“I’ve some ideas on that,” Kason said grinning. “I’ll treat it like it is a boat in dry dock. I’ve seen how they work on them, so it should be similar, though it will be work.”
Eril nodded in understanding, then Master Silurian gestured to him. “You said there were libraries here, even without books I wager they should be most interesting.”
“Yes, Master,” Eril enthused. They’re huge. I can’t imagine how they could have filled them, but the few books left behind are amazing. Let me show you,” he said as he led the way to the library, while Kason and his journeymen resumed their work.
Chapter 56
The Master remarked on the lighting as they left the cavern floor and headed into the main corridors. “Yeah, that was one of nicest things I found in the gate operations manual,” Eril said, as they turned another corner.
“You said this place was large,” Master Silurian said, wonder in his voice. “But, I had no idea . . . That cavern is immense, but all these corridors . . . Hundreds if not thousands must have been down here at one point . . . Astounding.”
“I guess I’m starting to get used to it, but I know how you feel. When we first came here . . . It seemed even bigger since with the lights not working you felt like things stretched forever into the dark.”
They made a final turn and approached the double doors leading into the library. The old wizard said nothing but looked on solemnly as they moved deeper and deeper into the almost unending rows of empty shelves.
“There is enough space here for hundreds of thousands of volumes, maybe even millions,” Silurian said quietly shaking his head in disbelief. “And it’s all empty?”
“Yes, Master, except for the two books and the two manuals about the gates,” Eril answered softly.
“So where are these two books they chose to leave behind?”
Eril looked down, slightly embarrassed. “The history is in my quarters. I haven’t had a lot of time to read it, but I think you’ll be surprised at it. I know I’m amazed and I’ve only read the smallest portion. It’s like the gate manual, written in zdrell script and it’s at least as thick as the gate operations manual.”
“Hmmm. And the Atlas?”
“I’m pretty sure Fil has it in her quarters, since she can look at the pictures and maps. Even if she can’t read, she spends lots of time looking at it. The maps will amaze you. In some ways, I think it is probably almost as valuable as the gate manual.”
“I would not doubt that. Good maps are precious, and if they are as detailed as you’ve said, we might be able to use them in planning future engagements.”
“Let me show you the hidden compartment where the gate books were stored before we leave.”
Eril led The Master to the counter and pointed out the shelf where the two books had been as well as the moldering remains of the other two books. Then he turned around and got on his hands and knees to point to the base of the pillar and then activated the catch that opened the secret cache.
“You’re right, Eril. I doubt anyone without your talents could ever have guessed those books were stored there, let alone been able to open that compartment,” Silurian said, staring down at the now open compartment.
Eril closed it, and Silurian marveled aloud again at how completely it disappeared, even though he knew it was there.
They then went to the room Eril had claimed as his quarters. He had made a point of tidying them up prior to leaving that day, as he guessed he’d be showing them to The Master.
He pulled out the history to show Master Silurian. The old Wizard looked at the cover and then opened it to leaf through the Veerum pages.
“This has to be the most genuinely frustrating artifact I’ve ever encountered, Eril,” he said, closing the book with disgust. “That title promises answers to questions I’ve had for hundreds of years, and then I open it to find I’m not worthy to read the contents. Bah!”
“I’m sorry, Master—"
“Don’t be sorry, Eril. It’s not your fault that I can’t read this. The worst part is I’m fairly certain that if I had been trained from a younger age by a zdrell master that I would at least be able to read this. And now I’m too old, my mind too brittle to develop the perception required.”
“But, Master—"
“No, Eril. It is simply an old man’s self-pity. And who knows, if I live another hundred years I might master the trick of it. But there is no time now.
“You will have to at least skim some of the important parts and copy them out for me, but, alas, not now. What have you read?”
“I’m not sure I’m getting it right, Master, there are lots of words used I’ve never seen before. But if I understand it right, it says people on this world didn’t come from here but came from some other planet out in the stars in some kind of ship or boat or something that could travel between the stars.”
To Eril’s surprise, The Master didn’t find this odd. “Yes, that is one of the stories told of the origin of men. There are many, and all fanciful and strange. That one had always seemed one of the more plausible to me. And now you’re saying it is the truth. I wonder what happened to those ships that could fly to the stars?”
“Actually, the book does say something about that. I understand that part even less. But it says that the people who arrived had not meant to come to Klastra and that something about this place, the space around it, I really don’t understand, but it says it was different from what the people were used to, and their ships and many of their tools and machines wouldn’t work here.
“Whole parts didn’t make much sense. But the one thing that is clear to me is that many of the people who first came here died, and it was only luck or fate that let them figure out how to live here at all, since most of their, tek, I think is the word, wouldn’t work here and they needed it.”
“Hmm,” the Ma
ster said, looking off into the distance. “That does answer many things I’ve wondered. You need to find out more, but it will have to wait.
“I said it before, but you need to travel to meet with Turek, no later than the day after tomorrow. The army will be attacking in no more than two weeks from the reports we received. If they are inaccurate, it may already be too late. I need you to try.
“I wish we had more time, but if that army has charzen, even Turek won’t stand a chance.”
“I understand, Master,” Eril said, contemplating the magnitude of what was coming. He felt like he might never really rest.
§ § §
That night, Eril took Master Silurian to eat at Took’s inn. He told Took who The Master was, but swore him to silence. He also didn’t explain how The Master had arrived, other than to say it was magic. Master Silurian was complimentary of the food, and both Took and Deela, his wife, were falling all over themselves to try and impress them.
In spite of his protestations, Master Silurian found himself talked into staying for the night at the Inn. Marta too tried to get in the act, but Deela didn’t allow her to serve The Master.
Fil stayed mostly in the background, but it was evident to everyone there that she was paying much more attention to Eril than The Master. Master Silurian made no comment, only raised his eyebrows watching their interaction.
Eril too decided to stay at the Inn, which made Took’s entire family happy. Before going to bed, Master Silurian took Eril aside. “I think you should make a point to explain to your, friend, that you’ll likely be away for some weeks dealing with this army.”
Eril nodded guiltily. “Is it that obvious that she likes me?”
“Not only that, Eril, but I can see that you are also fond of her too.”
Eril didn’t know how to deal with the entire situation.
“Master, is it wise for me to be involved with someone at this point? I mean, I have demon wizards and charzen hunting me. She could be in danger if she was near me, and worse if anyone knew she was special to me. I would have to worry about her as well as whatever I was fighting about.”
The old wizard nodded sagely. “Eril, I can’t make decisions for you in this matter. What you say is true. Being involved with you could indeed be very dangerous for her. Have you talked to her about it?”
“Not yet, Master. I guess I’ll need to do it tomorrow.”
“That would be wise. One thing you must understand, though, she may not see your logic and reasoning. Just the danger may not be enough to dissuade her. You need to be prepared for that.”
“But, Master, she could be killed, or, or . . . worse. They might take her hostage or something.”
“Indeed. This is why you need to discuss it with her. But your careful reasoning may not be enough to change her mind and more importantly, her feelings towards you.”
They both stood silent for several moments, then Master Silurian bid him goodnight.
Chapter 57
The next day, they rose late; The Master was still accustomed to the time in Salaways. He went with Eril back to the ruins, Fil coming with them. When they had descended to the Cavern, Master Silurian said he had more planning to do with Kason before going back to Salaways. He indicated that Eril should spend some time talking with Fil.
“Fil,” Eril began, once they were walking alone in one of the corridors. “I have to leave tomorrow, maybe for as long as a few months.”
“Why?” she replied, appearing unconcerned.
“There’s an army about to attack one of the kingdoms to the east, and the wizard there will need my help if they’re going to be able to fight them off.”
She stopped walking and looked at him. “Why do you care if some army is invading another kingdom? Wars just happen sometimes. Why do you have to get involved?”
“Fil. The invading armies are coming from two kingdoms the demons control, and the country being invaded doesn’t allow demon wizards. We have to help them.”
“Yeah, someone has to help them, but why you? You’re still just a kid.”
“Yeah, I’m a kid. A kid who happens to be the first real zdrell wizard in twelve hundred years. They think there’ll be charzen with that army, maybe even more than one charzen. If I’m not there they’ll have no chance,” he said, pleading.
Filora scowled. “Okay. I get it. You’re mister zdrell wizard, and you have to go fight the demon wizards. But who’ll save you? You’re not invincible, Eril.”
“I know, Fil. I do. I understand it has to be scary for you to hear about me going off to fight, and it scares me too. But if I don’t go off and do this now, the demon wizards will be coming here next. Maybe not this town, but they’ll bring armies here too. This kingdom doesn’t like demon wizards either, so you know it’s probably the next target.”
“Eril, why do they have to do this? Why can’t the demon wizards just leave things like they are?”
“Fil, the demon wizards won’t be happy until this whole continent is just like Grimor, with only demon wizards and the common people just cattle for the demons to feast on. It’s what they really want. They don’t say it outright, but that’s their plan, and Master Silurian says the Grimoridans are nearly ready to start a new Great War to make sure that happens.”
“But I don’t want you to go, Eril.” She looked at him, an earnest expression on her face, pleading in her eyes, tears on the verge of flowing.
Eril looked down at the floor, unable to meet that gaze, then steeled himself and looked up. “Fil, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to be together anyway,” he said, softly.
Filora’s expression turned to outrage. “What do you mean, you don’t think it’s good for us to be together?” she nearly shouted.
Backpedaling, Eril said, “I just don’t think it’s safe for you to be close to me. I have people trying to kill me, Fil,” he pleaded. “If they thought you were somehow special to me, you could be in danger. Your whole family would be in danger.”
“Well, it’s a little late for that now, Eril,” she nearly sobbed. “You should have thought of that before. The whole village has seen us together. Even if you left tomorrow and never came back, if someone wanted to try to use me or my family against you, they still probably would. We would be in no less danger.”
Eril had to accept the logic of her point, but he still wanted to make her see. “Fil, I don’t know if I’m ever going to have a normal life. Scars, I don’t even know if I’ll be alive in a year or if I’m going to be under threat for the rest of my life. You can’t want to live like that, can you?”
“Whoever said I wanted a ‘normal life,’ Eril? I like you because you’re not like anyone else in this little village. My mother didn’t like the idea of me doing anything with you. She’s afraid of you. Did you know that?”
Eril shook his head. Deela had always treated him well enough. But now he thought on it, he could see she had been somewhat cooler towards him once Fil had started showing more than a professional interest in him. He was even more caught by the thought she was scared of him. Then again, after what he’d done with the bandits . . . It did make sense.
Fil continued, “Eril, I like you because you don’t treat me like I’m supposed to be a flirty girl like Marta. Sometimes I wondered if you really did forget I wasn’t a boy.”
Truth be told, Eril frequently did forget that Fil wasn’t another guy. But that was one of the main reasons he liked her. She didn’t seem like she needed to keep reminding him that she was a girl.
“That’s true enough, Fil. I’m really no good at this stuff. I do sometimes forget you aren’t a guy, but that’s what I like about you. You’re tough. You can hike and climb faster than me, faster than most anyone I know.”
“So, you think I might maybe be able to take care of myself, my family?”
“Against normal folks, sure. But that’s not what I’m talking about, Fil. Have you ever seen a demon? They scare me. What could you do to stop one if it decided to take or
kill you or your family?”
“So, if you’re scared of them, why are you going to a war where you might have to face one, Eril?”
“Fil, I have my magic, and I have line cutters. That’s the one thing the demons fear, and I have it.”
“So why not give me one these ‘line cutters?’”
“It’s not that simple, Fil—"
“Why not? If the demons are afraid of a line cutter, then just give me one. I don’t have to be able to use it if they’re afraid of it.”
Eril sighed in frustration. “Fil, you’d be in just as much danger or more if I gave you a line cutter. The demons are afraid of them, but the charzen are specifically hunting down and killing anyone who has one. Also, it’s not like I have a pocket full of them. I only have the one, and Master Dorull has the other. And, I suppose my sword can be used like one too.”
“That is a weird sword, Eril. You mean it’s a line cutter thing too?”
“When did you see the sword? I never showed it to you.”
“Sure. You never showed it to me, but you didn’t hide it either. When you were off at Salaways to get Kason, I was in your room and took it out of its scabbard to see what the blade looked like. It really is a magic sword, right?”
“Yeah, it’s a magic sword, and that’s a magic scabbard too. It hides that the sword is magic when it’s in it. You really shouldn’t have messed with it.”
“I didn’t ‘mess with it,’ I just took it out to look and then put it back. Anyway, like I said before, it’s too late now for you to keep me safe by staying away from me and my family.
“Face it, Eril. You’re stuck with me. I know you like me, and I like you. But you are right too. Now’s not the time to do anything official about it. This war thing and the demons . . . Who knows when it will be over, if ever, but don’t try to use that as an excuse, by ‘keeping me safe’ by pushing me away, right?” She scowled at him.
The Journeyman for Zdrell Page 32