The Eynan Page 13

  Bardius was unaware any results from this mission would only benefit Suvran. The time would come when Bardius would be in the way. But not yet.

  * * * *

  Ninian walked briskly after Jhond. In no time, they reached the arched entrance, and Jhond hesitated, appearing to listen. Apart from the cawing of birds and the distant boom of waves hitting the rocks far below, it was quiet. Without even a glance at Ninian, Jhond walked into the building. Ninian followed, reaching inside for his talent, ready to bring it forth if needed. He flexed his fingers, preparing, ensuring he was ready if he needed to draw a sigil.

  Inside the tower, it was cold and dim as he looked up, the only light coming from the doorway and the low-set window opening. The higher window wasn't visible from down here. The ceiling they could dimly see must be the floor of another level up there somewhere. The tower was empty except for stone steps cut into the wall that began just to the right of the door and curved all the way up the inside until they disappeared into the darkness above. There had to be an exit to the upper level out of sight.

  The stone steps were not very wide and were open on the inside. One would need a good head for heights to climb those steps. Jhond craned his neck as he looked up, but he was unable to see where the steps led. He moved to the bottom of the stairway.

  "Are you prepared?" Ninian asked.

  Chapter 16

  Jhond jumped at the sudden question, having forgotten that he wasn't alone. He turned to see Ninian standing right behind him.

  "Prepared? I don't know how to prepare for the unknown, other than to expect the unexpected," he replied with a slight smile.

  "You're nervous," Ninian said. "It's not surprising."

  "Ninian, I've been wondering. Why is it I can now...tap into this talent I have? I mean, I realize it's always been there because of those odd times in my life when I've known things, sensed things no one else could. But why is it so much more...available now?"

  "Because you know, you believe. Just like swimming." Jhond frowned at this. Ninian smiled as he continued. "Why is it one day you can swim? It's not because you have suddenly developed a new skill. No, everyone has the ability to swim...it is just that one day, after someone has taught you how it's done and you believe, then you can swim and you do it without thought. Talent is the same; now you believe. And the more you achieve, the more you believe in your abilities and the more you can do.

  "Jhond, you have virtually no training in the use of your talent. You don't even know how to draw a protective sigil or how to call your talent when you wish. Yet you do it. With you it is all instinct." Ninian spoke slowly, thoughtfully. "Maybe that's the best way. For me, it has always been...technical, I suppose you could say. I know the words, I know the signs and I know how to draw it all together." He grinned. Quickly, he drew a sigil at which Jhond raised an eyebrow. "For luck. Lead the way."

  Jhond nodded, almost absently, as he considered Ninian's words. Then he turned and placed his right hand on the stone wall as he carefully began to climb the steps. Ninian, close behind, commented, "Jewelite."

  Jhond felt a flush of embarrassment. Not an auspicious start. He hadn't even remembered that. He reached into his pocket and took out the tiny gem. There was a flare of light as Jhond's jewelite brightened the darkness.

  They slowly but surely made their way upward. Even though they now had plenty of light, it was prudent to move cautiously. After all, this place had been built to house some major secrets of the magi, so it must be protected. It began to get colder as they climbed. They were about halfway up and all at once it became harder and harder to climb. It felt like they were walking in clinging mud, mud that tried to drag them back. Ninian murmured some words in a language that Jhond didn't understand and he drew sigil after sigil with his left hand. At first, nothing changed, then the air around the sigil crackled and burned blue and their way was clear again.

  Jhond moved on, but his next step wasn't on the stone steps, he was climbing up the hill above his home, and he could smell the wild flowers that grew under the trees. He shook his head to clear the image and was back inside the tower.

  * * * *

  Ninian thought he heard something, a screeching coming nearer and nearer. From out of the dark above, a huge black bird swooped down at him, attempting to claw his face, screaming its challenge. Ninian ducked to avoid his face being clawed, and it was only as he almost overbalanced and fell that he realized it was only a trick. He waved his hand briskly and the bird disappeared.

  * * * *

  Jhond screamed out in pain as he stepped into the boiling mud, the geyser blasting into the air beside him. Warnet's Geyser was famed throughout Timendra for its spectacular eruptions that occurred as regular as clockwork. Ninian's hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality and he looked down to see his foot placed firmly on the smooth rock. He nodded at Ninian, who grinned back ruefully, a sheen of perspiration visible on his forehead. Obviously, Ninian wasn't immune to it either.

  They began to move again, and image after image bombarded them in an attempt to keep them from climbing the steps. But now it was more of an annoyance than anything else as it had lost the power to confound them.

  Their heads were fast approaching the ceiling with no exit in sight. Then a bright light from the right side flooded the interior as a door opened. Someone was approaching, the body eclipsing the light. As she got nearer, the glare was reduced, and Jhond gasped as he recognized Gallia. She reached out her hands for him to grasp so she could help him on the last part of the climb. He reached out to her, almost touching her before he remembered; that had been last spring when the whole family had picnicked at Tamasia Rock. The young people in the party had challenged each other to climb the rock. He dropped his hands to his sides.

  Behind him he heard Ninian gasp, "No!" He had gone very pale, and as Jhond watched, he leaned back against the tower wall. He looked down, and Jhond knew he wasn't seeing the tower. He was lost in some memory. "Ninian?"

  "It's all right." Ninian's tone belied the simple words.

  "What did you see?" asked Jhond in a gentle voice.

  "My wife, my newborn son." The words were uttered with deep sadness. Ninian sighed. "It's been quite some time, but it still hurts. My wife died giving me a son, and he died within hours."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Yes, so am I. I wasn't there to help. I came home too late, just in time to see the light fade from my son's eyes. He never even had a chance." He breathed deeply before continuing, "Is it my imagination or is it warmer now?"

  "It is a little. It can't be far. Not unless we have to pass through solid rock." Even as Jhond spoke, he felt the nausea, the warmth begin to rise at his center, the hair on his scalp tingle, his skin prickle. "There!" he declared, pointing to the center of the plain, unadorned stone ceiling. He pointed to an area that was just out of reach. A few steps ahead, the stairway simply ended. There was nowhere to go.

  "I don't see anything," Ninian said.

  "Nor I, but it's there. I can feel it pulling at me." Jhond stared, trying to see what he felt, as Ninian watched and waited. Without realizing he was doing it, Jhond raised an arm and his eyes narrowed as he stared. The stone in the center of the ceiling began to shimmer, the tower vibrated and Ninian pressed himself back against the stone wall so he would not fall. Jhond stood still as a statue, apparently immune to the shaking of the very step on which he stood. The shimmering increased and spread and the stone slowly vanished as the spreading semi-circle moved toward them. In the next instant, they were standing on the top of the steps just below the lip of the floor of the upper level.

  Ninian reached up and levered himself onto the floor above, followed by Jhond. They walked around the narrow strip of floor on that side of the tower and moved toward the other side, where most of the floor was intact.

  The lower half of the walls of the upper room was lined with scrything blocks and there were more of the long, narrow drawers that would contain the crystals. Also in
the room stood a large table and nearby a large wooden chest partially covered in leather.

  "This is similar to the room we saw in my crystal, but unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't look big enough or contain enough crystals. I got the impression of a much larger library," Ninian commented.

  "Yes, I think you're right. Could this just be another clue? Could the library be elsewhere?" Jhond queried.

  "I don't know. Let's see what we can find. And be careful because getting here was just a little too easy."

  Jhond hadn't found it particularly easy, but he fully understood what Ninian meant. If the secret was so great, why was it not more guarded? "Could it be that if I am the Eynan you mentioned, I was supposed to find whatever it is and therefore it wasn't that hard for me?"

  "Maybe, but I feel..." Ninian hesitated, clearly unsettled.

  "Like you're being watched," Jhond finished. The feeling had washed over him even as Ninian had been speaking.

  Ninian nodded, but said, "Let's get on with this. I don't know how long the crew will stay or how long this might take us. We're probably just unnerving ourselves." As he spoke, he stepped toward the table. It looked like he intended to study it and the long drawers that must contain the crystals.

  Jhond, however, went to the chest. Ninian hesitated to watch him instead.

  Jhond knelt down next to the chest and slowly, almost like a caress, he ran his hands over the leather covering the four sides of the chest. His left hand came to rest just below the central hasp in front. His right hand moved to the unadorned top. He ever so gently, again like a lover's caress, felt the surface of the chest. "There are markings here, faint carvings," he commented in a very soft voice. "I'm not sure, but I think they are sigils."

  * * * *

  Ninian moved closer, trying to see, but Jhond's hand kept moving. The movement settled into a pattern, and Ninian realized Jhond was tracing a sigil, one that seemed vaguely familiar, but just out of reach. Slowly, his left hand moved over the hasp on the front. There was a groaning, creaking sound followed by a sharp crack as the hasp suddenly flipped up.

  "Instinct?" Ninian queried wryly. Jhond slipped to the floor, as if exhausted. "Are you all right?" Ninian asked, concerned. He hadn't known what to expect. In all his many years, even he had little experience of the magistry of others. Yet somehow he wasn't surprised by Jhond's obviously instinctual actions.

  "Yes, just a sudden weakness. It has passed," Jhond said, rising to his feet. He turned to the chest, which, though now unlocked, was still closed. He reached forward and tried to lift the lid. He couldn't move it. Ninian stepped forward to lend his strength to the task. Between the two of them, they managed to force back the lid. Apparently, it had just stuck with age.

  The chest was lined with silk, faded now, but the original shade of deep blue could be determined due to a few folds of cloth in the lid that had managed to retain the color. Inside, there appeared to be a variety of items of different shapes and sizes, all wrapped in thick, unbleached material with an oily sheen to it.

  Jhond was about to reach out and touch one of the packages when Ninian grabbed his shoulder. "No, wait." Jhond looked at him questioningly, and Ninian went on to explain, "I mean, don't you think it's too easy? If whatever is here is that important, wouldn't it be shielded by some kind of protection spell?"

  "You're more of an expert than I am." Jhond smiled at his friend. "If you think that it's likely, then what do we do?"

  "Search for one." Ninian edged forward as Jhond crept back. Ninian again spoke words in the peculiar language, his hands weaving sigils into the spell even as he spoke. As he invoked his magic, he felt it flow through him in much the same way Jhond did, though Ninian was now so used to it, most times he barely registered the fact any more. A faint blue haze appeared over the surface of the open chest.

  "Is that it?"

  "Well, it's something, but exactly what I'm not sure." Ninian delved into his pocket and drew out a coin, which he tossed into the chest. As it touched the haze, there was a flash and the coin was deflected, but not damaged. Ninian again reached into his pocket and this time brought out a small orange, which he also tossed into the chest. Again it was deflected, to fall almost at Jhond's feet and he stepped closer again to retrieve it.

  "Well?" Ninian asked, as Jhond looked over the fruit. "Is it all right?"

  Jhond nodded assent.

  "Then it ought not to harm anyone who tries to touch the contents," Ninian added.

  "Let me," Jhond said, continuing when Ninian frowned. "You said it yourself; you believe I'm the Eynan. Shall we see?"

  Ninian hesitated before nodding.

  Jhond approached the chest, cautiously. He looked at Ninian. "You think I'd be getting more used to feeling the magic gathering, but it seems each time I call on my talent, it gathers strength. Instead of getting used to the sensation I find it's getting more uncomfortable."

  "I know it seems difficult, but try to ignore it."

  Jhond nodded and reached out to touch the glowing haze, licking his lips nervously as he did so.

  Ninian moved closer, his hands already in motion to draw the sigil of power if needed. Jhond's hand came into contact with the haze; nothing happened. He glanced at Ninian and his friend saw the fear lurking there. Part of Ninian wanted to tell Jhond to draw back, but part of him wanted to know--needed to know--what was in the chest. He accepted the guilt and waited.

  Taking his time, Jhond moved his hand through the haze and then, to the watching Ninian, he simply stopped with his hand partway through. His expression became blank. Ninian called to him, but Jhond did not even seem to hear him.

  * * * *

  Jhond was no longer by the chest in the room in the watchtower. He was standing in a huge chamber, perhaps the great hall of some huge edifice, surrounded by gigantic pillars holding the roof high overhead. There was a gathering of people not too far away, men and women, old and young, all attempting to talk at once. Then a voice boomed out for quiet, and everyone obeyed.

  Jhond understood he was merely a spectator at this spectacle. The owner of the voice stood, a tall man with fair hair. He strode toward the center of the room, the others turning to listen.

  "All is set; it merely requires the final words. When they are spoken, we magi will withdraw from the eyes of man." He walked to a small pedestal to his right and lifted the cylinder placed there. He raised it high for all to see. "The strands of time will show the way when the need arises. They will teach the chosen of the power he will wield. Only he destined to be the Eynan will be sealed by the words of power."

  The scene froze for a second before fading, and Jhond found himself back in the room in the tower, being watched closely a very worried-looking Ninian.

  As Jhond's eyes came back into focus and Ninian realized he was "back," Ninian visibly relaxed. "Where were you?" he asked sharply.

  "I'm not sure where, and I'm even less sure of when," Jhond replied with a wry smile. "I think it was at the time of the magi setting up all the paraphernalia to withdraw from the world of men. I could see a huge hall of some sort, full of people, and there was a man speaking. He said something about all being set and it only requiring the final words."

  He frowned, thinking. "And there was mention of the strands of time and that they would teach the chosen about the power he will wield. I think that's pretty accurate. I probably missed some of the detail but that's the main gist."

  "Did you see who was speaking...what he looked like?" Ninian asked.

  "Yes, he was about middle-age, tall with fair hair, and his eyes were deep blue, sort of penetrating."

  "That description fits pretty well to the doyen of the House of Reeve. I told you about him. You know," Ninian continued thoughtfully, "if you saw that when you put your hand through that...shield, it must be linked to whatever is in the chest."

  Jhond's hand was still resting inside the chest, through the shield. However, the blue haze was no longer visible. "Do you suppose they're in here, the str
ands of time?" he asked, moving his hand and feeling the various packages inside the chest.

  "Why don't we find out? Can you take those out?"

  Jhond answered by grasping a large package from the base of the chest. He lifted it out without any problem whatsoever and placed it on the floor next to the chest. It hadn't been very heavy. He took a deep breath and glanced at Ninian before very carefully peeling back the oily cloth covering. Inside was an oval shape that seemed to be made of fine wire, both gold and silver in color. The wire twisted and overlapped, but the surface felt flat and smooth.

  Jhond turned it over in his hand, but could see nothing in the interior and felt nothing in his hands or in the center of his being where the sense of his talent always began. Feeling puzzled and somewhat disappointed, he passed the item over to Ninian.

  As Ninian reached to take it from him, Ninian recoiled as if the item was hot to the touch. He glanced at Jhond and then stretched to touch it again. "Wow, this thing is powerful," he commented, taking it. The item glowed ever so slightly in his hands.

  "But I felt nothing," Jhond said, puzzled.

  "Remember the crystals," Ninian prompted.

  Jhond nodded as he reached in for another large package. He placed it on the floor again and began to uncover it. This time he revealed a cylinder, about fourteen inches long by eight inches in diameter. Jhond picked it up by the top and bottom, turning it over in his hands, and Ninian, watching him, understood that this time he could feel something. Jhond's eyes shone with a power never seen before. The top and bottom of the cylinder were dark and impenetrable. The sides looked rather like glass, except it was impossible to see through it properly; it shimmered and it was similar to looking through a waterfall. It was completely sealed.