The Echolone Mine (20 page)

“Not like
this.”

“Not quite,
and yet we went further that time.”

Elianas said
nothing.

“No pleasure
ever came close thereafter,” Torrullin murmured.

“Shut up.”

The hot-cold
fury of betrayal resurfaced, and Torrullin sidled deliberately
closer. Elianas’ breeches were open and he deliberately laid his
hand over Elianas’ groin, his fingers warming the cloth covering
what lay a micron below. Elianas’ hand whipped out, but Torrullin
was immovable.

“This would be
betrayal right now, wouldn’t it?” he whispered, and one finger
stroked firmly.

Elianas
groaned and growled simultaneously. Eyes dilated, he stared at
Torrullin in the intermittent lightning. “You have great darkness
inside, my brother.”

Torrullin
smiled. He stroked again.

Elianas took
his hands from that wrist. “Do it then, and let us discover how we
change everything tonight.”

Eyes
glittering, Torrullin fingers curled.

Elianas
groaned, throwing his head back.

A moment
followed, utterly immobile, and pregnant with possibility.

Torrullin
lifted his hand away. “I wonder who possesses the greater
darkness,” he murmured. A moment later he stumbled up and into the
storm.

Elianas
collapsed and willed control.

It took longer
than it ever had to return.

These are
battle scars. They serve as a mask. They also serve as proof.

A soldier,
Excelsior

Echolone

T
orrullin joined Caballa and Elianas at the breakfast
table, sitting with a curt greeting.

Caballa
glanced from him to Elianas. Elianas refused to say where he
obtained the bruise on his cheek and now Torrullin appeared with a
split lip and a battered eye.

She remarked,
“I know you can heal yourselves.”

Neither
replied.

“Fine,” she
muttered and changed the subject. “Carlin should be finished by
mid-morning. Anethor has opened his home to a gathering soon
after.”

“Good,”
Torrullin said, eating fitfully. He glanced at Elianas, lingered on
the bruise and looked away. He threw his fork down. “Tomorrow is
the meeting at Two Fork Tree.”

“Then the
door,” Elianas muttered. “I cannot wait to shake the dust of this
reality from my feet.”

“Be wary of
what you wish for,” Torrullin murmured.

“Fuck
off.”

Caballa
blinked, surprised by the underlying hatred.

“Behave like a
grown up,” Torrullin said, without looking at him.

“Cute, coming
from you.”

Caballa ate
stolidly.

“You know,
Caballa, when Elianas was a young lad he used to go skulking and
sulking into corners when he couldn’t get his way. Such a cute
youngling he was, too, all pouting …”

Elianas
snarled …

… and
Torrullin burst out laughing. “Not much has changed, I see.”

“Why do you
bait?” Elianas said, anger in every word.

“Because,
idiot, I would not cope otherwise.”

Elianas was
silent and then, “Thank your lucky stars the storm passed in the
early hours.”

“I do not
trust to luck.”

“Boys,
enough,” Caballa said. “Now, I know you two wear your war scars for
a purpose, but unless you want tongues wagging, I suggest you rid
yourselves of them. Then use that volatile energy to clean Allith’s
home; she will be back soon. Understood?”

Torrullin
grinned. “Yes, mother goose.”

“Whatever,”
Elianas muttered.

“Good. Now I
am off to complete a bargain for some of these gorgeous rugs.
Behave yourselves.” Caballa rose and left.

Torrullin
poured coffee, Elianas stabbed at his plate.

“I am sorry,
Elianas.”

He looked up
briefly. “Don’t be. To feel alive comes at an unholy price.”

Torrullin
closed his eyes. “True.”

Elianas rose
and began gathering the dishes.

The entire
village and guests tucked and folded into the head shaman’s
cave.

Allith had
arrived earlier and now sat with her father. Carlin stood proudly,
the sweat dripping from him. It was stifling, but all understood
how he could not withstand the touch of real sunlight.

He began.
“After cross-referencing translations, we think …” He meant the
archaeologists who helped him, particularly Muller. “… we have a
ninety-nine percent certainty in correctness of language. The
wording is definitely Avior, of the Settling Stars Epoch.” He
glanced at Torrullin. “I am sure you prefer I do not detail the
duality of words, but rather head directly into a common tongue
reading.”

Torrullin
nodded.

“Very well,
then here it is.”

Carlin
retrieved a sheaf of dog-eared papers. He began to read.

“
He who
enters cannot leave by the same token
.” He looked up. “The
warning in the curve.” Torrullin waved him on and Carlin bent to
his notes again. “
When all hope is lost, it will be renewed.
When all life has ceased, the seed will sprout anew. In the whorl
will appear all that was, is and must be. Balance is restored, and
the new way becomes fresh. Thus it is foreseen as the stars settle
into their patterns. Thus it will be when the dancing suns and
dying moons meet …
”

“Wait,”
Anethor croaked. He craned over to Torrullin. “Does any of that
make sense to you?”

Torrullin
nodded. “Recently we undertook a journey to restore the balance of
past, present and future, thereby renewing hope and life and
forging for all a fresh and unburdened future. This is most likely
the reason visions have ceased, for all is new. The whorl Carlin
refers to is the realm where this journey took place.”

“Why did you
feel you had to do such a thing?”

“That, my
friends, would take words I do not possess.”

“Ah. And this
dancing, dying stars?”

“Epochs. The
door was set in place during the Epoch of Settling Stars, which is
roughly midway between the Epoch of Dancing Suns and the Epoch of
Dying Moons. We are currently in Dying Moons.”

“And Dancing
Suns met Dying Moons?” Anethor questioned. “On your journey?”

“Indeed.”

“And these
Avior foretold it … accurately?”

“Appears that
way.”

Anethor
sighed. “Then what comes next is no doubt accurate also.”

“No doubt,”
Torrullin echoed.

Anethor
gestured to Carlin, who went on. “
Thus it will be when the
dancing suns and dying moons meet, when all lost memory is
rediscovered, when from sword and seat form is returned, and a city
of light is gifted new light …
”

Torrullin hung
his head. Elianas stared stoically at the Cèlaver.

“Wait,”
Anethor interrupted.

Torrullin
lifted his head. “Part of the balancing of the whorl, please trust
that.”

In the time
realm his memory returned to him, Kalgaia, city of light, was
restored, and Elianas, well, Elianas reformed from sword and seat -
the Lumin Sword and the Throne.

Anethor nodded
after a minute. He gestured.

“Ah, um …
and a city of light is gifted new life. This is the wording of
oracles.
” Carlin swallowed. “Er …
When these events are
seen, thus will be forthcoming a new journey. This will be the
journey of unbalance, for it is known in all things there are two
parts, one the opposite of the other. In the whorl lay entrance and
exit, in unbalance there is neither. This door before you,
travellers, is but a devised means and may be used only once. Know
now the journey is beyond and there is no return through this door
…
”

Elianas and
Torrullin glanced at each other.

“
The dragon
and the sword will enter together as they must, as is foretold. In
the dark is found light, and in the light is found dark, and
everywhere will be shadow, beyond the veil lies the answer and in
the answer lies the labyrinth where shadows mark the corners of
curves. Lords of all, bring forth the shadows. Balance will fail,
unbalance will sunder, and even shadow will have no power. Nothing
exists. This is the wording of oracles. Bring forth the
shadows.
”

Carlin stopped
reading, shuffled his papers and looked up. “That is it.”

Elianas and
Torrullin still gazed at each other.

“My Lord?”
Allith prompted.

Torrullin
mentally reorganised. “Carlin, thank you. A job well done.”

The Cèlaver
grinned. “I had help, and we all thank you.”

“Thank you
all.” Torrullin gave a general smile. “Anethor …”

“Cut the
bullshit,” the old man said. “What does it mean?”

Bloody hell,
now would be one of those times it paid to be rude. He wished he
could just up and walk.

“I am also
called Dragon,” he said, “and Elianas is the sword referred to. The
reading tells us what we must do.”

Anethor raised
a brow. “Curves, corners, veils and labyrinths? Forgive me when I
say it tells us nothing. And to go in is not to leave? You would
risk it?”

“We would risk
it, yes. You see, the balance we restored has an unfortunate side
effect - absolute unbalance. Only now is it clear, having heard
these old words, although there have been pointers in the last few
days. In itself, unbalance is acceptable, for the way of most
things is to know the opposite, yet the two are now separate,
entirely
separate
. Balance stands alone, and will thus
falter without unbalance.

“Did we know
this would happen? No. Would we have gone in and restored balance
had we known this would happen? Yes. We
needed
balance in
the form of known and accepted reality. Without it we would not now
be sitting here. However, it cannot stand alone and continue to
function in the current form. Unbalance stands alone and cannot
maintain chaos without the balance which roots it. Despite every
tenet of morality, friends, the universe requires the chaos factor
- chaos is creative, it
makes
life.”

Allith said,
“This is why Echolone suffers. Because the exploitation is part of
balance, we are powerless to stop it. If there were unbalance, we
could boot them out.”

“Exactly.”

“How do you
fix it?” Muller asked.

“By bringing
forth the shadows,” Anethor murmured. “Shadows lie between light
and dark, thus connecting them eternally. They connect all things
that are opposite.”

“Well put,”
Torrullin said.

“How?” Allith
frowned.

Elianas spoke.
“We choose a path in life to follow, all of us. Some choose to walk
in the Light where the soul rejoices in all that is good, and
others walk in the Dark where evil flourishes …”

“Not everyone
is wholly good or bad,” Carlin murmured.

“Agreed, and
yet the soul makes a choice. Then there are those who walk in
Shadow, from which vantage one can see both light and dark.”

“Many must
walk in Shadow, then,” Petin pointed out.

“Few manage
it,” Elianas murmured.

“You are one
of them?” Allith asked.

Elianas
inclined his head.

“Then you must
be,” she said to Torrullin.

“I am.”

Muller
muttered, “You fix this balance thing by being in Shadow?”

“Shadow is
already present in balance,” Elianas said. “Now we must take it to
unbalance. Where we exit, we also connect the opposites, and thus
both stand.”

“It says you
cannot leave,” Petin frowned. “I’m not going with you, not for
this.”

General
laughter.

“It says we
cannot use the
door
to leave,” Torrullin said. “I know it
says in unbalance there is no entrance and exit, yet entrance is
given. Thus exit will be found.”

“It’s like a
realm,” Anethor murmured.

“It is exactly
like a realm.”

“Dedication,”
Anethor sighed.

Torrullin
smiled. “Precisely.”

“I think it’s
stupid and dangerous,” a villager spoke up. “That door has been
there for ages, it can continue for ages. Nothing will happen.”

“Not
immediately,” Caballa said, standing. “I was in the whorl and I saw
the beauty that is life in balance and I fought hard to keep it. I
have also seen unbalance on Ardosia, where the Darak Or Margus
exterminated Valleur as if we were less than animals, and I fought
hard to stay it. In both I succeeded, yet hear me when I say I
could only appreciate the perfect balance of a good and peaceful
life having nearly lost everything. For good to be, there must be
evil. For light to shine, there must be dark to drive away, and the
shadows tell you of success. If no one goes through that door, you
are right, it will remain and nothing will happen … to the door.
Yet, mark me, in time, anarchy will be the balance you regard as
normal, and, no, that is not unbalance, for anarchy will rule. Or
everything will be peaceful, perfect balance, and life will
stagnate. In the end, sentience will fail. Nothing will exist. No
one needs brave the door today or even in a hundred years, yet
before too long it must be done.”

There was
silence and then a gentle ripple of applause.

Caballa
smiled.

“I take it,
then, you are going to brave the door?” Allith asked of
Torrullin.

“Dragon and
sword, yes.”

“When?”

“After the Two
Fork Tree meeting.”

Allith lifted
a finger. “If this is part of balance, how do we prevent
exploitation?”

“We reason,
Allith. The issues are not that far gone. But we have to reason
now.”

“Will they
heed?”

“Oh, they will
heed.”

Allith
grinned. “All right.”

“My Lord?”
Carlin called out. “Is the door a devised means?”

“Anything
built by man is devised.”