Dark Quest (3 page)

“She has mind speech capability,” speculated Egam.

“Yes,” replied Jenneva. “She was washed up on shore after the boat she was sailing on broke up in a storm. Her parents did not survive. She refused to speak when I found her, so I started probing her mind. After a few days she mentally answered my questions. She soon realized that I was not a threat to her and was able to speak again. She is a wonderful girl and has been a big help to me here. You are the first visitors that she has seen, so expect her to be quite shy.”

“Oscar,” she continued, “I am so happy for you and Callie. I wish you many years of happiness. I am proud to be considered your friend and look forward to attending your wedding in Kantor.”

“Oscar,” interrupted Egam, “Jenneva and I will both try to attend the ceremony, but if we are unable, do not take it as a slight. We both are very happy for you and Callie and will make every attempt to be in Kantor.”

Oscar realized that Jenneva was not privy to Egam’s intentions and decided that he would not probe any further into their plans. “No slight will be taken, Egam. I know that the two of you are very fond friends and if you are able to attend, we will be happy to see you.”

Shanor returned with two parcels gaily wrapped and gave them to Jenneva. Jenneva presented one to Oscar and another to Callie. “These are tokens of my love to you and your bride, Oscar. You have been a dear friend to me and I trust that your friendship will be shared by Callie.”

Oscar and Callie opened the packages and removed two magnificent matching gold necklaces and put them on.

“They are special necklaces,” Jenneva continued. “They will give you the ability to share your thoughts with each other.

Oscar smiled as he realized what Jenneva meant.

“Oscar!” shouted Callie, “what if they can hear?”

Jenneva laughed. “It’s okay, Callie. They only work for Oscar and yourself. I couldn’t possibly allow Oscar’s thoughts out in the open for the world to hear. The world’s not ready for what goes on inside his head.”

“I’m sorry, Jenneva,” Callie began. “I am not used to this magic stuff. Oscar explained that you and Egam have some very special talents, but I guess I was not prepared for all of this.”

“There is nothing to be sorry for, Callie,” Egam consoled. “Different people have different talents. Your father is a great artist and has abilities to do things with a canvas that none of us here could even approach. Jenneva and I have abilities in a different area. Each of us strives to make the best of the abilities that we have and we each learn to admire the abilities that others have.”

Jenneva gave the group a tour of her home. It was a massive structure and finely decorated, but not opulent. Jenneva’s tastes obviously leaned toward functionality. Her study had an enormous desk and fireplace and the walls were covered with bookshelves. The view from her window included the cove and Oscar’s ship could be seen at anchor. Her library was massive and the bookshelves not only lined the walls, but were freestanding as well. There were several tables sprinkled about and a pair of couches by the windows.

She had many bedrooms and Oscar lost count of them. The kitchen was also quite large and roomy. At the rear of the house was a large garden that reminded Egam of his own hideaway. The garden had spring-fed fountains and benches placed sporadically along the paths. Lining the paths were rows of several varieties of seashells, pearly white and pink in the morning sunlight. Oscar picked up one of the large shells and held it to his ear to listen for the ocean. There were countless varieties of plant life in the garden and Egam caught sight of Tofu roaming through the plants. Egam smiled at the sight of the tiger. Jenneva had adopted the home of her mother, but she was not living in fear or sorrow. She had built a paradise that was comfortable to study in.

Oscar and Captain Hill returned to the ship to unload Egam’s goods. Callie was frightened of the large tiger at first, but Jenneva had shown Callie that he was as gentle as a kitten. Callie was sitting on a bench in the garden and scratching Tofu’s head. Jenneva drew Egam aside. “Egam, you seemed to indicate that we might miss Oscar’s wedding. Is something wrong?”

“No,” replied Egam. “I have made a startling discovery and I wish your help investigating its potential. Oscar and Callie will be continuing on to Dalek and we can discuss it after they leave.”

After Egam’s goods had been brought to the house, farewells were said and Oscar, Callie and Captain Hill departed. Shanor showed Egam to a bedroom and he deposited his luggage. “Shanor, are you happy here?”

“Oh, yes, Master Egam,” she answered. “Jenneva has been wonderful to me and there is so much beauty here. I miss my parents, but I know that they are gone and that I must live without them. I am very happy that Jenneva has taken me in and treated me as her own.”

“I’m glad too, Shanor. You will make good company for Jenneva. She is a very special person and we are both fortunate to know her. If anyone can develop your abilities, Jenneva is the one to do it. Come, I have two more packages outside and you can help me bring them to Jenneva’s Study.”

The ten-year-old girl helped Egam carry the two packages. Jenneva entered the study and Egam gave her the Secor painting. She was thrilled with the gift and Egam helped her hang it over the fireplace. Egam then unwrapped the other package. It was a door and frame very much like the ones that Jenneva had seen in Egam’s cave.

“Jenneva, you remember my experiments with transportation. I think I may have made a breakthrough. If I am correct, we will be able to walk through this door to my cave.”

“Egam, that’s fantastic! If you are right, we will be able to travel great distances instantaneously. How does it work?”

“The doors are a matched pair. I found some transportation spells in Habas' library and didn’t quite understand them. I tried to apply the spells to the doors in my cave, but they didn’t appear to have any effect. Of course, I didn’t have a specific destination in mind. Then I tried casting the spell on the doors in pairs and then placing the doors at opposite ends of the cave. I was able to walk through one door and exit at the other side of my cave. If I am correct, we should be able to walk through this door directly into my laboratory.”

“What if you are wrong, Egam?”

“I don’t know, but I plan to try it,” Egam answered.

“Couldn’t you have picked a closer location to try it?” Jenneva asked.

“Yes, I suppose so. I sent another door to Lord Habas so that I can go from my laboratory directly to the Palace, but I wanted you to have a door, also. If I am wrong and the experiment does not work, I want you and Habas to know of it. I originally planned to perform the experiment by going to the Palace, but no one would know if I actually attempted it or not. I also think that you have a better chance at picking up on my studies than Lord Habas does.”

Jenneva knew that a magician had to take chances to learn new methods of using their gifts and Egam was appropriately preparing for his failure. It would be a tremendous breakthrough if it worked; still, she would miss Egam greatly if it failed. “Fine, Egam, we will try your door, but not before we have spent a few days together, first. If I am to lose you too, I plan to be prepared for it. Come, let’s go to the laboratory and I’ll show you what I’ve been working on.”

They left the study and Shanor tagged along. Jenneva first went out the front door of the house and mumbled some words. The mountain disappeared and only her home remained. It was a magnificent structure standing eight stories tall. The outside surface was a fine, white stone -- smooth to the touch. There were windows on each floor and a small tower extending from the roof. “I started to continue my work on illusions when I first came here. The Eyes of Lothar got me started, but I wanted a spell that could create an illusion to people who weren’t present when the spell was cast. You had something similar in the Boulders for your laboratory, but Lothar actually took it much further. This illusion is physical as well. You could actually climb my mountain and not realize that it was an illusion.” She waved her hand and the mountain reappeared, even the entrance was gone. Another wave brought the entry door back.

“Impressive,” Egam declared. “You will have to share this with me before I leave.”

“That and more, Egam.” Jenneva led the way into the laboratory. “I’ve been spending a lot of time on the theories of Universes. I wonder where Sarac is and if he has the capability to return here. His library is quite extensive, but the information regarding Universes is inadequate. From the reading that I have done, the Origin Scroll seems to be a fairly benign spell. According to the theory, parallel universes exist in a sort of onionskin arrangement. It is as if the geological features of planets transcend all layers of the onion. In other words, each layer or skin of the onion would appear geologically the same to a person who had switched layers. Life in the different layers could be dissimilar, though. The Origin Scroll, when used to destroy a universe, peels a layer off of the onion. I believe the life forces drop through to the next layer with no feeling of movement.”

“You mean that the layers are like another dimension, such as time?” Egam questioned.

“Yes. Time may even be the distinction. I don’t know, but it does indicate that the destruction of a Universe does not necessarily mean the end of life in that Universe,” she explained.

Egam pondered this revelation for several moments before speaking. “That might explain the sudden discovery of other races. The elves, for example, appear to be a much older race than man; yet in some old manuscripts where you might expect mention of them, there is no reference. If our whole civilization was suddenly dropped into their world, they would appear to be a mystery just uncovered.”

“Yes, and the same would be true if they were suddenly dropped into our Universe,” she continued. “The geological land would be familiar to both races, but at some point in time, their histories would be different.”

Egam began to see where this was heading. “So, Sarac may be entirely alone in his Universe or he may be in the company of some race we have no knowledge of.”

Jenneva nodded. “The information that I have cannot answer the question, but it leads me to believe that the Universe created by the spell does not have to be a new Universe. I mean . . . it would be new to the realm of Universes, but it could be created with a history already intact. And, if the history is already intact, then there is reason to believe that life forms can already exist there.”

“Jenneva, if what you say is true, why can’t we utilize some transportation spell to traverse across Universes?”

Jenneva was obviously excited. “Exactly, Egam. That’s why I’m so excited about your doors! If we can construct a portal across a great distance, it would seem logical that some variation should be able to allow us to cross layers of the Universe.”

“Yes, but when we do, we had better be ready for Sarac,” Egam stated.

“Well, we have an awful lot of work to do between now and then; besides, we would have to figure out how to get one of your Doors there, first.”

“Yes, Jenneva, we do. On a different topic . . . why does Shanor call me Master Egam?”

“Shanor was a very frightened little girl when I found her. She reminded me of myself when I stumbled into your cave. I told her stories about how you took care of me and became my Master, teaching me all that you knew. She is thrilled to actually meet my Master. She believes that I saved her life and that you saved mine. I’m afraid I have encouraged her in this area because it gives her hope and I feel that hope is what she needs most right now. She can see that I survived my ordeal to become a young lady and she knows that she will persevere, as well.”

“She’s a lovely young girl, Jenneva. We need to learn where her abilities reside and develop them. I suppose she’s off playing?”

Jenneva looked around and realized that Shanor was nowhere in sight. “No, I can’t imagine that she would be far off. She seemed to follow you wherever you went. I’m afraid I played you up rather well, Egam.”

Egam followed Jenneva down the hall looking for Shanor. They checked the garden and the parlor and still no Shanor. After searching the entire house they returned to Jenneva’s study. “I’m worried, Egam. She has never gone off before.”

“You don’t suppose she heard us talking and is distraught that I am taking you away from her, do you?” asked Egam.

“No,” Jenneva replied. “She knows that I would never abandon her. Besides, she thinks the world of Master Egam and was so excited that you were actually here.”

Jenneva slumped in her chair and began to fidget. Suddenly, there was a pounding sound echoing through the room. Jenneva looked toward the hallway and saw that the door to the room was open and no one was there. Egam leaped out of his chair and ran to the Door he had brought and opened it. Shanor was standing there crying. She ran through the door and threw her arms around Egam. Jenneva came over and comforted Shanor. “What happened, Shanor?”

It took a few moments for Shanor to gain control. Finally, she said, “I didn’t want you to lose Master Egam, so I wanted to try the Door for him in case it didn’t work. I went through and closed the door behind me. I was in a very strange place. It was a large cave and there were no exits. I figured that this must be Master Egam’s home and that the Door worked, so I figured I would come back and tell you. When I tried to open the Door it wouldn’t open, so I tried the other Doors. Two of them, I just walked through and came out the other side. The last one took me to a strange room filled with books and flasks. It was sort of like Jenneva’s laboratory only much smaller. Then a man came in and he was angry. He started yelling at me and I got scared, so I ran back through the Door and slammed it shut. He started pounding on the Door and I was afraid he would break through. Then I came back to this Door and tried it again, but it still wouldn’t open, so I started beating on it.”

Jenneva gave her old Master a quizzical look and Egam explained. “The Door is a two-way device, but it has a safety feature. If you don’t want to allow access to your side for some reason, you can just close it. If your side of the Door is closed, no one can come through, they can only knock. Shanor must have gone through to Lord Habas. He had no way of knowing who she was and figured someone had discovered my cave by accident. I should go through and assure him everything is okay.”