The Echolone Mine (28 page)

Caballa said,
“You do reason like a Vallorin.”

“I am
flattered you both think so,” Tianoman said, “but I am also
disappointed you obviously doubted before. I am Vallorin, know
that, and do not question it again.”

Caballa
bowed.

Tristan shook
his head. “Come, Tian, we didn’t mean anything.”

Tianoman
stared at him.

Tristan
blinked. He rose and bowed. “Forgive me, my Lord Vallorin, and know
I do not doubt.” He lifted his head. “I just kind of forget that my
cousin is Vallorin.”

Tianoman
smiled. “Bugger off.”

Tristan
laughed and sat.

“Tian has a
point,” Caballa murmured. “Torrullin has been in odder
situations.”

“And Saska and
Declan?”

She looked
away. “For them the danger is real.”

“How long can
they last?” Tianoman demanded.

“No more than
ten days.”

“Then we have
three days to question the likelihood of an exit-entrance, four for
Digilan and three to get them out. Tristan, you need Quilla. I must
go. Let us meet for breakfast in the morning, at the Keep.” He
smiled at Caballa and was gone.

“You are going
to do this despite what I say?” Caballa asked of Tristan.

“If necessary,
yes.”

“Then you’re
as fatidic as your grandfather,” she whispered and left the dining
room.

Tristan could
not sleep.

He lay in bed
beside Caballa and when he closed his eyes, he saw the ant trapped
in the straw. Four ants. She breathed rhythmically, but he thought
it a ploy to help him sleep, for he doubted she found it easy to
rest.

After another
hour of staring at the dark ceiling and listening to the unchanging
breathing beside him, he said, “Stop it, just stop it.”

Breathing
ceased and Caballa rolled over to face him. She put a hand on his
chest. “Sorry.”

He put his
hand over hers. “I do not like pretence.”

“And you lied
to me today.”

He turned onto
his side and lifted up on one elbow. A faint glow from the light
outside touched outlines. “Sorry,” he echoed.

She reached up
to pull his head nearer. “Come here.”

They kissed
and then again with rising intensity until all thoughts fled and
sensation took over.

Later, they
managed to sleep.

The Keep

Quilla joined
them for breakfast.

“Lowen’s
translation of the glyphs states there is no exit and
entrance.”

“Torrullin
said an exit was likely because an entrance was prepared,” Caballa
said.

“Knowing
Torrullin, he will tear through the fabric somehow.”

“Not without
magic,” Tristan murmured.

Quilla patted
his mouth with a napkin and pushed his plate aside. “Torrullin does
not need magic.” He put his napkin down. “He needs only
Elianas.”

“For?” Tristan
demanded.

“Elianas has a
power that cannot be removed. If Elianas plays open cards, they can
use it to get out.”

Caballa
shivered. “Will Elianas tell?”

“That would be
the dilemma,” Quilla murmured. He pointed at Tianoman. “Son, I know
you have power now, but you dare not enter Digilan. Digilan is
stronger; only Torrullin could be at ease there. Your father, Tian,
is equal to the challenge also. The day approaches when you will
be, but not yet. I am a friend only, and may thus ask you do not do
this, and hope you will hark to my wisdom.”

Tianoman set
his coffee down. “I want to see my father.”

“You will with
Torrullin at your side. Son, if anything happened to you, Tymall
would …” Quilla sighed and held his tongue.

“What?”
Tianoman demanded.

“Seek
vengeance,” Quilla said. “A Warlock’s vengeance is a terrible force
and, trust me, it will find Valaris again.” Quilla glanced at
Tristan. “Torrullin will dismantle Digilan drop by filthy mist drop
were you to go in as him and were you then hurt in his stead. If
you must, go in as yourself, but seek dispensation from the Warlock
ahead of it. It is likely Tymall will meet you at a portal and you
may put your request to him and Tian could go with you. Do not
enter in deceit or in the hope you will cope. Tris, Tian, neither
of you can envision the hell of Digilan unleashed, but I can. At
the end of it we will not talk of balance and unbalance, dark and
light; we will talk in terms of eternal chaos. Let this notion go
forthwith.”

Caballa
thought she should have called Quilla in herself.

Tristan and
Tianoman looked at each other and then Tristan said, “Would the
Syllvan be capable of arranging a portal meeting?”

“You could
ask,” Quilla smiled. “You will find they would do most anything if
it is to Elixir’s benefit.”

Tianoman
sighed. “Sometimes I wish I was like him.”

Quilla smiled
sadly at the young man. “That is a terrible wish.”

Nobody said
anything, and then they moved on.

“Do you
recommend sending a Tracloc in?” Caballa asked.

“No,” Quilla
said.

“Then it’s
moot,” Tristan frowned.

“No, it isn’t.
You should inform Tymall of the situation.”

“Why?”
Tianoman asked.

“Because
Tymall might offer insight we are unaware of. Digilan, after all,
is a huge portion of unbalance.”

“Gods, that
makes sense,” Tristan murmured.

“And,” Quilla
added, “the Syllvan will know better than anybody if an exit
exists.” He waggled a finger in Tristan’s direction. “Talk to the
Syllvan and Tymall, and we shall know what to do next, but do not
ask for a Tracloc. That poor soul would be as trapped as our four
friends, were he to enter, and is less likely to escape.”

Tristan drew
breath and released it. He gazed at Caballa. “I am not like him, I
know that.”

She smiled.
“Then there is no trap.”

Tianoman moved
onto something else. “Elianas has a power they can use? Which
power?”

Quilla’s
cherubic face stilled. “I wish I knew.”

“You believe
it is dangerous.”

“Power alone
is not dangerous; people are. Elianas, unfortunately, appears as
contrary as Torrullin, and this may be a way to establish
control.”

“Over?”
Tianoman frowned.

“Torrullin,”
Quilla said. “Easy if only one retains power.”

Caballa said,
“No, he won’t use it until Torrullin has power returned. Elianas
doesn’t want a hollow shell.”

“You think he
seeks to control Torrullin?” Tristan asked.

“Torrullin
seeks to control Elianas,” Quilla murmured. “The two are locked in
an ancient battle of wills.”

“How do they
control each other?” Tristan asked.

Tianoman said,
“I cannot tell you. Some matters are for Vallorins only.”

“Quilla?”
Tristan demanded, after glaring at his cousin.

“It is
different for different races.”

“Fine, then
how would a Q’lin’la control a Q’lin’la?”

Quilla smiled.
“Friendship needs not control.”

“You know what
I mean.”

Quilla shook
his head. “As Q’lin’la leader I cannot reveal that.”

“Forgive my
bluntness, but you are the only Q’lin’la.”

“It matters
not, Tristan. The transferral of power we are talking of here is
not a matter for light discussion, nor should the knowledge be made
known. It is not a matter of trust; rather it is matter of truly
knowing. Your own journey must take you to it.”

Tristan
glanced at Caballa. “Do you … gods, you do! Tell me.”

“I am
forbidden to say.”

“By whom?
Torrullin?”

“By the laws
that govern this knowledge.”

“How did you
find out? Caballa, please. We said no lies, no pretence.”

“I cannot tell
you, Tristan. It is forbidden.”

“But you can
tell me how you found out. Tell me, so I might follow the same
path.”

Tianoman laid
a hand on his cousin’s arm. “The journey is different for all who
stumble upon this knowledge. Leave it, leave Caballa.”

“Easy for you,
with your Throne,” Tristan snapped. “Surely the head of the Kaval
needs know how to exert control over a recalcitrant power?”

“It is not
exerting control; it is absolute control. It is taking power away,
making it your own, using it, and leaving a husk behind,” Quilla
said. “Unless you have that kind of power, you need not know how to
take it from another. Both Elianas and Torrullin must know the
price and are locked in this battle. One day one will win … or both
will walk away.”

“Did you see
it?” Tristan demanded of Caballa.

She glared at
him. “Tristan, I love you, but now you push too hard.”

“Caballa!”

She hurtled to
her feet. “I slept with the man about to become Elixir! I am a seer
and so is he, and knowledge flowed! Goddamn it, you are stubborn!”
She stalked from the chamber.

Tristan,
aghast, did not see the look Tianoman and Quilla shared.

Caballa had
revealed too much.

Chapter 22

The best
advice anyone is able to share, when advice is sincere and may be
regarded as less than criticism, is to be yourself always. On the
other hand, to follow it, you have to know yourself.

Book of
Sages

Syllvan
Grotto

A
ngry with Caballa, Tristan did not
return to their cottage.

He began the
retrace to the Syllvan and found it easy. When he stood before them
he realised he was expected.

The sentient
tree trunks sat in their ponderous silence waiting for him to
speak.

He bowed and
spoke greetings.

The central
Syllvan said, “We welcome you, Tristan Skyler Valla. You may put
your first question. We shall be answering at random this
occasion.”

Tristan drew
breath. “I was expected?”

“Of course.
You are Kaval leader.”

“It had
nothing to do with Caballa’s vision?”

“That, too,”
another chuckled, and added, “You are wasting questions.”

Tristan
inclined his head. “Would you open a portal to Digilan for me?”

“Straight to
the point,” a Syllvan murmured. “We like it. We shall open the way,
but you may not enter as Elixir. In fact, we prefer you do not
enter at all.”

“How do I
converse with the Warlock without entering?”

“We shall send
for him.”

Tristan stared
at the grotto floor, and then, “Do I need to speak with him?”

A long silence
in which the Syllvan pondered how to answer, and then the answer
came, “He cannot tell you anything we cannot, yet we feel Tymall
Valla is an integral ingredient in understanding Elixir. You need
to see him to know more about Torrullin. Tianoman will aid you in
this.”

Another
Syllvan spoke. “Be at the site of portal this night. A meeting will
be arranged for ten bells.”

Tristan bowed.
“Thank you.”

The central
trunk warned, “Do not tell the Warlock where Elixir is.”

Tristan
blinked. “Why not?”

“Tymall
remains impulsive where his father is concerned. We do not want the
Warlock demanding access.”

“I shall guard
my tongue, be assured. Now, is there an exit from the Path of
Shades?”

“Yes, always,
but not from the space Elixir occupies at present.”

“Then how does
he get out, all of them?”

“They do not,
young lord,” a Syllvan on the far left murmured. “There is no exit,
no entrance.”

“Yet they are
in,” Tristan snapped.

“We shall
regard that as question, and answer thus; the door was an
alchemical process, which means the four entrants were altered in
state. They are no longer matter; they are energy, and energy flows
even into a place where there is no doorway. I hear you think if
energy flows in, energy flows out, and you would be right; however,
energy requires direction in order to flow to a point where it can
again become something else, and there is no direction within the
Path.”

“They are
trapped?”

“Yes … and
no.”

“What does
that mean?”

“It means they
cannot exit, but they can be removed.”

“How?”

“This we do
not know with clarity. We do know it will come to pass.”

“You have two
questions left,” a Syllvan murmured.

Tristan, about
to question how they knew it would come to pass, paused to think.
He stared at then, but did not look. A minute ticked by before he
focused.

“Does Elianas
have a power to be employed within the Path?”

Dead
silence.

Then the
Syllvan all moved. Giant heads craned towards each other and a
rapid, intense communication ensued, mostly in silence, but with
significant arm waving and otherworldly grunts and clicks.

Tristan
watched them and realised he had stumped them. Thus he waited and
wondered what form the answer would take.

Then, “How do
you know Elianas has power?”

“We all know
he has power.”

“We mean an
added power, young lord.”

“Quilla
suggested it,” Tristan frowned.

“Ah, the
Q’lin’la would not make a mistake, we agree. He further suggests
Elianas has a power that may be used to exit the inner space of the
Path?”

“That was my
reading, yes.”

The central
Syllvan remarked to his fellows, “Elianas must have control of
energy.”

“Is it
possible?” a companion asked.

“Elixir has
control over all space and time, thus it is not unlikely the
Eternal Companion controls energy. They do complete each
other.”

“Can it be
used to break from the sanctum?”

“We have
wondered how they would be removed,” the central one murmured.
“Perhaps this is the way of it.”

“Perhaps,”
another affirmed.

Tristan paced
forward. “I have a boon to ask.”