Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (12 page)

“From The
Unan-Chinneroth.”

The Unan-Chinneroth. The name
given to the Prophet in the ancient tongue. It was used in
services, though not generally in casual conversation. How did
these primitives know of it? And why did they believe the Prophet
to be a danger to the Kelanni?

“I don’t understand.”

The chief motioned with his staff
towards the creature on Keris’ right. The Chandara stepped forward
and set the device down on the truncated branch in front of her.
The machine had a circular flat base, silver in colour, with an
intricate mechanism of silver, red and gold. The creature pressed a
switch on the side.

A glowing light appeared and grew
in the air above the apparatus, finally resolving into the image of
a woman dressed in white, in a style Keris did not recognise. The
projection shimmered slightly, giving it an air of unreality. The
mouth moved, and a voice spoke from the depths of the
machine.

“You are
Kelanni?”
The same question
again.

“Yes, my name is Keris. To whom
am I speaking?”

“I am called Annata.
You must listen carefully, as I do not know how long this link will
stay open, Keris. I am speaking to you from what you know as your
past–three thousand two hundred and thirty-one turns
ago.”

Keris’ mind reeled. “How is such
a thing possible?”

“We were able to use
the power of the white sun. It can be used to…stretch time,
enabling me to speak with you.”

“How–?”

“In my time the
Kelanni are a great civilisation. We have advanced to the point
where we have found out how to do many things that you cannot.
However, a great disaster has
befallen us.
A plague is sweeping through our race. Whether it is natural or
artificial we do not know, but our physicians and scientists have
been unable to stop it.

“Some have taken to
building ships to take us away from this world, but they can carry
no more than a few thousand at most, and we are millions. So others
like me have concentrated on trying to ensure the long term
survival of our race. To that end, we contacted the Chandara, who
agreed to help us. We chose them because they are long lived and
because they communicate memory by chemical means, which is more
permanent than any oral or written form. We then launched a series
of devices like this one, so that they could be recovered by the
Chandara at different points in our future, and we could discover
what would become of our people.

“We learned that
there would be a few survivors, who would start to rebuild.
Eventually, through a boy named Kal, they would even re-discover
the rudiments of lodestone technology. However, from the last
device we were able to send, the one in your time, we found out
that Unan-Chinneroth, the one you call ‘The Prophet,’ had taken
control.

“The Unan-Chinneroth
is not of your world, Keris. Tell me, do you know the meaning of
the name Unan-Chinneroth?”

“No, very few people know the
ancient tongue.”

“It means, ‘without a
tail.’ He is not Kelanni. His skin is white and his blood is
red.

“His people arrived
on the other side of your world and tried to take it over, but they
were defeated. So one of them decided to build a device which would
give his people absolute power. That device works through lodestone
technology. However, in order to complete it, he needed to refine
large amounts of lodestone. So he used his ship to travel to your
side and proclaimed himself, ‘Prophet.’ Then he began to enslave
the Kelanni there to produce the lodestone and build the
weapon.”

“Where is this
weapon?”

“It was being built
at the processing facility you know as Persillan. Eleven turns ago,
there was a revolt at Persillan. The revolt was put down by the
premature detonation of a prototype device, which destroyed the
rebel force. The apparatus was then moved by ship to the other side
of your world. It is being assembled on an island there, although I
do not know its exact location.

“The Prophet
intends to destroy the Kelanni and claim the world for his own
people. You must neutralize the weapon. There is only one safe way
to do this, and that is with the use of a special instrument. I do
not have time now to explain to you how it works, but we have
concealed it at a secret location in our time. It lies on the other
side of your world. To gain access you will need a special key. I
cannot tell you more, except to say that this key is designed so
that it cannot be misappropriated or forged
.

You must take Boxx
with you. It is the key. And you must find other Kelanni who are
willing to help you defeat the Prophet. The process requires
four–four who can pass the test.”

The only people
I know like that
, thought Keris,
are the ones that are walking into a trap at
Gort. Somehow, I have to get there first.

“You must
traverse your world and cross the Great Barrier of Storms to the
other side,”
Annata
continued.

“You mean across the Aronak Sea?”
Keris exclaimed. “That is impossible; no-one can survive the
storms.”

“There is a
way.”
The hologram rippled, and then
stabilised once again. “
On your side of
Kelanni there are two towers. Those towers contain vacuum hole
displacement teleporters–machines that can be used to transport you
instantly to the other side. You must travel to one of these
towers. I will then tell you how to operate it.

“The Prophet must not
discover what you are doing, or all will be lost. Nor must he learn
of the Chandaras’ involvement. They are taking an enormous risk by
helping us. We owe them a great debt.

“When you reach the
other side, I will explain more about the key. If anything goes
wrong, seek out the Chandara on that side and they will aid you.
They can also direct you to where the instrument that you will need
to use to disarm the weapon lies. However, there is one thing you
must know. The instrument itself is very dangerous. You must not
allow–”

The holographic
image suddenly fizzled and went out. Keris stared into the now
silent machine.
Could it be true? Was the
Prophet truly trying to destroy the Kelanni?
The woman from the past must be dead now, she realised; her
bones long since turned to dust. Yet everything she had said made
so much sense. She thought of those who had died– who would yet
die. He had to be stopped. She needed time to think. First though,
she needed to get to Gort.
Or there will
be more innocent deaths.

The Chandara
holding the staff
spoke
up.

“You Have Seen Before. Now You
Must Leave.” He turned to the other Chandara on her left. “This Is
Boxx. Boxx Is The Key. Boxx Must Go With Keris. For All
Kelanni.”

The Chandara crowded in the
chamber were watching her expectantly. She raised her
head.

“I am ready.”

The Chandara on the right picked
up the little machine and handed it ceremoniously to Boxx. Boxx
waddled to a side entrance, Chandara clearing a path either side.
Keris followed, ducking once more as she exited the large chamber.
Another narrow path led down the inside of the Great
Tree.

After a short while, Boxx led her
into an anteroom. There was another table rising up from the floor
on which her clothes were neatly folded, with her cloak lying on
top and her pouch of lodestones beside them. Her clothes appeared
to have been cleaned and mended and she was surprised to see her
diamond bladed staff propped up in the corner. The Chandara must
have retrieved it from the top of the pass, but how had they known
she had been there? Had they been watching her?

She dismissed the thought and got
dressed. Boxx stowed the contraption in a pack which it fixed to
its back. The creature then led her back out into the passage and
down a short way until it opened up into another large area.
Sunlight was streaming through an archway at one end. They walked
through and Keris found herself at the base of the Great
Tree.

The gnarled trunk stretched away
left and right and upwards to the very heavens. Orange, yellow and
purple moss clung to its bark and red leaved vines wound around its
lower limbs and spurs, lending it a festive appearance. Massive
roots broke though the rich forest loam, before diving beneath it
in search of hidden wellsprings. It was ancient; how ancient, Keris
could not even guess. She saw Boxx regarding the Great Tree
wistfully.

“The Great Tree; My
Home.”

Keris turned, heading off across
the dappled sunlight of the forest floor.

After a moment, Boxx dropped to
all sixes, and trotted off after her.

Chapter
8

Light was fading from the sky;
casting sprays of orange and ruby red to merge with Ail-Mazzoth’s
sullen crimson glow. The smouldering hues infused the trees with a
lurid radiance, making it seem as if the forest were ablaze. The
Chandara did not seem to use names, but she had learned that
Kelanni of ancient times had called it Illaryon. The name was
vaguely familiar; it lay to the west of Chalimar and its dependent
towns.

They were camped at the edge of
the trees. Keris was seated on the ground, with her legs tucked
under her. She was still wearing her cloak. Boxx was carrying a
quantity of fruits in its pack, which Keris had supplemented from
what she could find. She had not felt so well fed and rested for a
long time. But she had found that there was a price to be
paid.

She was used to
being alone, to working alone. She had learned to rely on herself
ever since her parents had left her at the Dagmar manse. As a
worker on the estate, and later at the Keep and during her training
as Keltar, she had concluded time and again, that the only person
you could truly depend on was yourself. Oh, there were always
people who would show an interest in you; who would listen
sympathetically; who would even declare their wish to become your
friend. But ultimately, it always came down to the fact that they
wanted something from you.
Everyone has
their own agenda.

That is not to say that she was a
loner. There were those at the keep that she regarded as friends.
But she kept them at a certain arm’s length. When it came to the
important things of life, and especially when it came to her work
as Keltar, Keris preferred to work alone. That way she could
analyse, plan and find solutions without distractions. Distractions
like Boxx.

It was like travelling with a
small child. She had learned that Boxx was old. It did not even
seem to know its age. “I Am More Than One Zero Zero Zero Zero Zero
Zero Zero Turns,” it had stated proudly. Keris put it together in
her head. That would be more than ten million turns. The woman from
the past, Annata, had mentioned that the Chandara were long lived,
but even Keris knew that was ridiculous. Nothing could possibly
live that long.

“You can’t be ten million turns,”
she replied dismissively. “You must have got the number
wrong.”

“The Number Is Correct, Keris,”
Boxx insisted.

It occurred to
her that maybe the creature was senile.
Wonderful. I now have a senile companion.
However old it was, it was evident that it had never been
beyond its tree home.

“How Old Are You?...Where Do You
Live?...What Is A Keep?...Why Do You Carry That Branch?”

Keris felt as if she were on a
school field trip. She tried to answer as best she could, but she
felt her patience was being tested to the limit.

“What Is A Female?” The beast
seemed puzzled when she didn’t answer.

However, it was not its incessant
curiosity that was the problem, but rather its speed. It was
capable of trotting along at a fair pace; it was just that she
could travel much faster using the cloak. She was not sure exactly
how much time she had lost while recuperating at the Great Tree,
but she knew that if she were to make it to Gort in time to
intervene, then time was of the essence.

Thus Keris was faced with two
difficult decisions. The first was easy to make, but difficult to
execute. The second would be difficult to make, but easy to
execute.

She began with the first. Raising
the back of her hand to her mouth, she spoke into her Ring.
“Keris.”

There was a
long pause. Finally, the Ring responded with an emerald
glow.
“Is it you, Keris? You haven’t
reported for two days. What happened?”

Well, that answered one question.
She had lost two days. Time enough to overtake the other three and
make it to Gort first, if she didn’t delay. First though, she
needed to conceal her true intentions.

Keris was not
comfortable with deception. For one thing, lying had always been
contrary to the precepts of the Three. It was quite different to
posing as a diamond merchant at the Silver Flagon. That had been no
more than play acting. It had even been amusing in its own way. Now
she was going to have to play false to Mordal. Whatever else he
was, he was also her mentor; the man who had guided and supported
her; who had made her the person she was today. In a very real
sense, she owed everything to him.
And now
I am about to betray him.