The Echolone Mine (63 page)

Elianas stared
at him. “Interesting.”

Tristan
cleared his throat. It surprised him how quickly they could forget
they were not alone. “Someone needs to back up for my benefit.”

Elianas jumped
in before Torrullin could speak. “You said you did not want to be
responsible for another death, Torrullin. Is this wise?”

“It is most
unwise. Tristan, however, is immortal, Kaval, Valla, partly Danae,
and exceptionally talented with magic
and
he has the Light.
We need a controlling element, but if you still disagree, then I
shall end it now.”

“No, damn it,”
Tristan said.

Elianas’ gaze
was unreadable again as he sat there thinking hard. “In this, then,
our unity.”

“Good. Let us
begin.”

A walk along
pretty paths make for a restful soul.

Anonymous

Avaelyn

“L
et us first put the layers in place. One, there are
innumerable realms under Reaume’s influence, and Ariann has the
same. A few are shared by both. Our reality is a realm also and
forms part of Reaume. Thus, if Reaume fails, we fail, but in what
manner remains speculation. Reaume and Ariann are joined by Lethe,
and we must assume Lethe also controls a number of realms. Further,
not knowing of Lethe until now, it is not unlikely other bodies of
control influence yet other realms. In other words, the spaces
between might be so numerous we will never know the full tale. This
is a form of Eternity. Time itself cannot be measured, for there is
no beginning and end. It isn’t straight and directional. It is,
however, cyclical, but is an ellipse that may stretch out so thin
the opposite curve may be viewed by an adept, and it may widen so
radically there cannot be view and, as we said earlier, it could
even function as a coil. It goes on and returns without break or
landmark, and this, too, is a form of Eternity.”

“Yes,” Tristan
said. Elianas said nothing.

“There are
universes beyond this, there are galaxies we may never know of, and
the stars may never be counted. We live and breathe with every kind
of Eternity around us at every instant, and in such vastness we are
made small. We should be humbled, but we are not. Given such
Eternity, the grasp of a thing beyond imagination, I hope you might
grasp an added dimension to it, for this is where Elianas and I
function.”

Elianas
glanced at him.

Tristan
waited.

“Alternates,
Tristan. Eternal alternates. I know we discussed this in the Time
realm to Nemisin, and, yes, Kalgaia was restored in an alternate,
but do you grasp they are with us right now?”

“Like
realms?”

“Much like
realms, but only certain realms occupies the same space as reality,
and never all of it. They are able to overlap at points, where a
Walker would use it as portal. Alternates occupy exactly the same
space and do so all the time. There is no portal and there is no
overlap. Each is separate and yet, where we are right now, this
point, an eternity of this point stands with us. With me?”

“Theoretically,” Tristan muttered, and Elianas grinned.

Torrullin
paced closer and sank onto his haunches before his likeness.
“Imagine this point,” and he pressed the air between them with one
finger extended, “as a line that goes up and down without end. Each
tiny pixel on that line is an alternate and in every alternate
there is Reaume, Ariann, Lethe and all other bodies, all other
universes, galaxies, stars and planets, as well as eternal time.
Above, below and all around us.”

“Goddess,”
Tristan breathed.

Torrullin
inclined his head and rose. He paced away again.

“A realm is a
dimension added to what we know, usually from the fourth sense to
the fourteenth. Most average out at about the eighth dimension of
sentient perception, and most sentients see no further than the
third. These dimensions are part of the space lattice, which is an
arrangement of fourteen seemingly impossible points governed by
wish and will. Every alternate has its own space lattice, but the
understanding of an alternate is outside of any lattice.”

He halted.
“Tristan, the concept
understanding
, never mind if one knows
theoretically, academically or sorcerically, goes beyond law,
lattice and eternity. Understanding is feeling without the
explanations.”

Elianas stared
frankly at Torrullin.

Torrullin
paced around again and Elianas’ eyes followed. He paced behind the
man and came to a halt there. Elianas was still, staring at an
indefinable point.

He leaned to
Elianas’ ear. “Understanding, Danae, is feeling without
explanation. It doesn’t need to
know
.”

Torrullin
straightened and moved away, and continued as if that had not
happened.

“Elianas and I
a long time ago realised - understood - this cyclical realm was too
small to contain us, and once we understood, we realised there were
alternatives. We call them planes.” He smiled. “Not the Plane realm
- that is a flatland, and Plane describes that. The planes we speak
of have curves and corners.” He rounded the armchair he had been
sitting in, flicked a searching glance at Elianas, and sat. “This
is the fourth cycle for us, but if you really add together years by
counting the actual cycles we have delved into …” He lifted a brow
at Elianas.

The dark man
shrugged. “A thousand, twenty thousand cycles? Who counts these
things?”

Tristan
gaped.

“Some we
visited a year, or a mere day, while others hosted us for a
generation, two, three. Some an era, some an age, some a mere
millennium, others an entire cycle. They are all different and
that, naturally, is where the allure and challenge lies. In some we
were normal people, in others as we are here. In some we did only
good, but in others … not. This is why Elixir works here; it is a
power that could be harnessed due to the understanding of the
planes.”

“Alhazen is
explained the same way,” Elianas murmured. He had not again looked
at Torrullin.

Tristan
muttered, “And how do you get in and out?”

“Much like
transport; we think ourselves in. A Walker here is a Walker there,
but that is realm travel. Plane travel is as simple as wanting it
and going.”

“Gods, and how
do you land up in the same place?”

Elianas
laughed. “At first we messed up.”

“The first
time that happened,” Torrullin said, “I ended up searching for
Elianas for a year before I realised he was on a different
plane.”

“And now?”

Silence.

“Ah. Soul
mates,” Tristan murmured.

Elianas’ eyes
moved to him in the slow incremental manner that signified an
astonishment he was unwilling to reveal. “
We
enter other
planes, not just our souls.”

Torrullin’s
gaze had moved to unobtrusively study Elianas’ reaction.

“It occurs to
me,” Tristan said, “unless you are thus connected, you would go to
different planes every time you try to go together.”

Elianas’ eyes
hooded.

“Enemies can
be soul mates, too,” Tristan added.

Elianas said.
“And how would you know?”

“A
feeling.”

Elianas leaned
back and smiled. “Very clever.”

Tristan gave a
lop-sided grin. For a moment there he felt quite clever, but now he
was at a loss for words.

Torrullin
filled the silence. “We use each other’s signatures to go in.”

“Except you
have no signatures.”

“Not to you,”
Elianas murmured.

Tristan dipped
his head meaningfully. “Are you not making my point, Elianas?”

The dark man
blinked and Torrullin smiled to himself.

Tristan moved
on. “I assume what happened in these planes in the past is the
issue between you? And the issue is why you need me?”

“Nicely put,”
Elianas said.

“Stop it,”
Torrullin muttered.

“Well?”
Tristan demanded.

Elianas
laughed. “Feels a bit like confession!”

“Isn’t it just
like confession?” Torrullin asked. “Are we not talking to the
Light?”

Elianas’ mirth
was gone. “We?”

“You do not
have to say anything. In fact, you don’t have to be here.”

“You will fill
his head with crap, Torrullin.”

“You care?”
Torrullin acted astounded.

Elianas
pretended mortification. “You have to ask?”

Just like a
bickering married couple, Tristan thought, and was then embarrassed
when both men swivelled their heads to look at him.

“I thought you
are able to guard your thoughts,” Elianas muttered, but there was a
glimmer of amusement in his gaze.

“Sorry.”

Torrullin
laughed, shaking his head.

“But, you know
what?” Tristan tackled it. “That is how you are. So close and
familiar with each other’s habits, to you it’s second nature to
argue without thought.”

“About the
little things, agreed,” Elianas said.

“We have spent
much time apart,” Torrullin said, “enough to garner secrets. Due
thought is given there.”

“And due
argument.”

“And
battle.”

“And score is
kept,” Elianas said.

Tristan threw
his hands in the air.

Elianas
sighed. “Tell him, for god’s sake. The crucible awaits.”

Torrullin
rose. “Let’s take a walk.” He strode over to the edge, jumped down,
and set off on a path into the beauty of the forest.

Tristan, glad
of a change in scenery, followed, but when he looked over his
shoulder to check on Elianas, Elianas stood on the low ledge, sent
a mocking wave, and vanished indoors.

“He’s not
coming.”

“I am not
surprised. I caught him off-guard in returning here, especially
with you.”

“Off-guard?”

“He has plans
to make before the crucible.”

“Like?”

“Only he
knows.”

“You don’t
mind?”

“Mind? No.
Everything he does brings us a step closer.” Torrullin turned a
mysterious smile on him, and then slowed to a relaxing amble
through the glory of the autumn trees.

Tristan
changed the subject. “This is a beautiful world. How did you manage
to have it deeded to you?”

“Most worlds
were uninhabited during the Dancing Suns and with the stagnation in
first cycle little had changed. I found this one by chance, and in
second cycle made sure Nemisin heard about it, telling him I
suspected the prize quartz could be mined here. He annexed it, I
had done him a favour, and he deeded it to me.”

“Why tell him?
Why not simply make it yours?”

“It would not
be valid through time.”

“Ah. What
favour?”

“A little
matter of a concubine, a spy and a thief. A conspiracy. I exposed
the spy, caught the thief red-handed and slept with the concubine.
Nemisin was very relieved, and averted political suicide.”

“He bribed
you?”

“For Avaelyn I
was prepared to be bribed. And the concubine was sweet, amorous.”
He laughed. “Unbeknownst to Nemisin that liaison went on for
years.”

“Where was
Elianas?”

“Mixing
potions and studying hard.”

Tristan pulled
a face. “Yiddin put me in a room doing that almost as soon as we
returned to Valaris twenty-nine years ago. My mother was horrified
and my father intrigued.” He smiled. “He tried some spells in later
years, did you know that?”

“Samuel?”
Torrullin chuckled. “And?”

“He wasn’t
very good.”

“Samuel’s
magic was in the heart.”

“Yes.”

“Tristan, you
do know you cannot have children, right?”

“I know.”

Torrullin did
not push further. “Elianas is co-owner of Avaelyn.”

“Ah. The
neutral ground.”

“More than
that. This is home. This never belonged to anybody else.”

They came to a
clearing. Green grass peaked through leaves of gold, russet and
amber, and tiny birds swept among the treetops.

“One could be
happy here,” Tristan, said, entranced.

“Yes, and I
have been happy here.”

“I’m glad.”
The question was unspoken.

“Elianas has
been happy here also. This is why we always come back. This is why
the deed needed to be unassailable.”

Tristan nodded
as he wandered further into the bright glade. “And here is a good
place to tell me why there is also underlying hostility.”

Torrullin sat
in a sunny spot. He squinted and then undid his boots and loosened
his tunic. The Medaillon glittered against his chest. He tilted his
head to catch the sun on his face.

Tristan
lowered to the grass and likewise removed his boots. He was soon
flat on his back, one knee raised. He waited.

Neither had
removed swords.

“Nemisin
started it. He wasn’t a bad person, just undermined. Lord Sorcerer
attempted to avoid future stagnation, and thus made fires under his
butt and one blaze saw him use Elianas against me. Elianas’
loyalty, however, lay with me, and it lay with the Danae. He told
me what Nemisin expected, but I accused him of being a traitor.
There was a storm and a fight and when I had subdued him, there was
fire in his eyes. It began that night, collusion, a conspiracy,
acknowledgement of attraction. We pushed, testing the limits, and I
knew betrayal approached. We were pushing too hard; there was no
other option.”

Torrullin
paused. “There was no other option - I never saw that before.
Betrayal began in dream state, and it exposed desire, completely
laid it bare, until we knew we were no longer dreaming. The line -
the Goddess of Souls - appeared between us.”

Another pause
then and Torrullin decided not to be graphic. “It went to the very
edge. Elianas fled this place and I had to let him go. A week later
there was a report of a murder in Kalgaia, then another two days
later, then more. A serial killer, an evil beyond the ken of the
Valleur, and the Danae in particular. I investigated to discover
Elianas literally slitting a man’s throat.”