The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1) (22 page)

After about a half a minute Shane asked, “Do you feel anything?”

“A little bit of a warm sensation, slightly tingling; like you hand falling asleep but not in an unpleasant way.”

“Good,” said Shane.  That’s what I felt.  “I’m just trying to go through the same motions I went through.  That’s all I wanted to see.  By the time you return I hope to have a checklist of everything we need to do.”

About an hour later Ari returned with a steel plate.  It was slightly thicker than Shane’s instructor but it was the right size.  “I could only find steel.  Everyone told me it would be a week before they could get me brass that wasn’t committed to the crown or one of the other artifact manufacturers.  The weird thing is; I was going to keep looking but an image of me engraving a steel plate just popped in my head, anything like that happen to you?”

“I had the same thing happen to me but I saw brass.  Hopefully that means we are on the right track.”

Shane picked up his notebook and showed Ari a page where he had written down everything that he had done.  He had also made a checklist of the process that he felt would be the right one.

“Ok, first thing you need to do is look at this paper.”  Shane held
out a separate sheet that contained the notes that he had made from the original artifact.  “Your fist task is to copy everything on this paper exactly as you see it onto a paper of your own.  This may not matter but it’s what I did and as meticulous as this gets when you start engraving your artifact it can’t hurt to make sure we don’t miss anything.”

For the rest of the morning
Ari followed Shane’s directions and meticulously copied the glyphs and the scroll work.  Shane made a mug for Ari and spent his time studying up on improving his hide enchantment and the eye pupil issue.  Feeling that he had it resolved by using a one way light filter rather than a reflection or redirect he moved on to reviewing what the instructor had taught him in defending against energy and lumen siphons like the U of J player had used.

They stopped for lunch with
Ari going after food and drink as he felt that due to Shane’s current celebrity status it would probably be best if no one recognize him.  It was near midnight when Ari finally stretched and put his pencil down.  Shane concluded a conversation he was having with the instructor and reviewed his work,

“That looks pretty good.  You have good hand writing,” said Shane.

“What’s next,” asked Ari.

“Nothing,” answered Shane.  “We get a good night’s sleep and discuss the next step in the morning.”

Ari
had not dreamed much in the last several years; at least not any that he could recall.  As he lay in his bed waiting to fall asleep images of the numerous glyphs that he had copied from Shane’s notes kept flashing through his mind’s eye; many he recognized many more he did not.  One in particular seemed to prevail.  Trying to recall his magetech days he was pretty sure it was called kero but he wasn’t sure what it meant.  “
Kero is the glyph for knowledge and intelligence
,” a thought not his own echoed through his thoughts.  Soon the kero glyph faded and a new glyph took its place; the new glyph was not familiar at all; it reminded Ari of a pair of lightning bolts with the haft of a sword held together by a leaf in the shape of the letter “U”.  “
This is custos the protector glyph
,” echoed the outside thought; this time more strongly.

Ari
saw the custos and the kero glyphs side by side and they were surrounded by a myriad of others that seemed to be etched in gold; he looked to see the breadth of the many glyphs that now appeared before him and he realized he was looking at the side of a large pyramid covered in glyphs.  He walked around the pyramid and saw that it had three sides each covered in strange glyphs more complex than any he had ever seen in all his days at both archeological digs and at Wonstrowd.  When he was back where he had started he looked around at his surroundings and found that he was on a raised stone platform that was occupied solely by the large pyramid.  It appeared to be located in the center of a lush green valley surrounded by the tallest mountains he had ever seen.  He felt a tug at his thoughts that drew his attention back to the pyramid; the two glyphs that he had first seen were still there glowing and seemed to beckon to him; for him to understand them.  Not sure what he should do he reached out with both hands and touched them both.

Ari
found himself standing in a well lit room; the only furniture was a chair with a short round table in front of it. On the table were two goblets filled with a clear liquid.  As he began to get his bearings a voice echoed through his mind.  “
Do you seek the laws of wisdom?
”

Recalling Shane’s telling of his experiences
Ari immediately replied, “Yes.  I want to restore the laws given to the Luion at the time of the great magic.”

“
Your answer of yes has been recorded.  Your age leaves you little time to learn the laws of wisdom but as the glyph of custos has called to you, your life can be prolonged if you are willing to take upon yourself the mantle of the ‘Sicam’ once you achieve Sicam then sufficient years will be added unto you so that the Laws of Wisdom can be imparted to you”.

“What
are Sicam?” asked Ari.

“Sicam
are the guardians of the Dernier Chanson.  The Ouvrir has completed his tasks and the Dernier Chanson is learning the mastery of the glyphs – a Sicam is needed until the Dernier Chanson can once again wield the Laws of Wisdom and restore the Arc and the world balance is once again as it was designed.  The Sicam must protect the Dernier Chanson else the infection that has been placed upon the world of Eliom will prevail and the works of the Elios will be lost and the seed of the Luion will become extinct.

“How do I find this ‘Dernier Chanson’ that I will need to protect?”

“You know him already.  He is the one you know as Shane.”

“I knew there was something special about that kid.  Ok, sign me up I was always more of an action man anyway.”

“The Arc has determined that the custos glyph suits you well.  Your choice for Sicam has been recorded.  For now please be seated and refresh yourself.  If you do not rest in the chair you would find that this dream would be a costly one for your mind.  Now that you will become a Sicam and desire to learn the Laws of Wisdom, drink the entire contents of both of the goblets before you.  The goblet on your left will also assist in refreshing your mind and body as well as make you aware of the lumen within you.  The goblet on your right will provide you with immunity as well as the ability required by the Sicam to detect and remove the infection that has been introduced upon the world of Eliom.  When you are finished you will be returned to your sleep. 

To learn what you
must know as a Sicam you must learn to be a glyph mage, construct a device like the one that you copied from the notes of the Dernier Chanson.  Change nothing but the top right corner glyph.  The glyph that you will use is the custos glyph place the custos glyph within the pyramid.  Change the top right corner glyph only.  When it is complete activate it with the light within your mind.  When the instructor that you shall create is complete and bonded to you, you will begin to understand your role as Sicam and you will be instructed in the knowledge of the Glyph Mage.  Lastly the glyph of kero also called out to you; this is not to be ignored.  Stretch you mind and if you are successful as Sicam sufficient years will be added unto you to learn the ways of mastery”

Ari
tentatively sat in the chair by the table and was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was.  He began to ponder all of the things that the voice had just told him. 
As a Sicam it looks like I’ll be trading my bosses but I’ll still be taking out bad guys,
he thought to himself.
  At least I’ll know that I’m working for the good guys
; he smiled at that.
It will be nice to finally be doing some good for a change.

Remembering to drink the contents of the goblet
s he picked up the left one and took a long drink until it was empty.  It tasted like water although it seemed to have a hint of some sort of citrus flavor.  He put it down and grasped the goblet on the right.  It was the same as the first; definitely water but this one seemed to have an earthy perhaps nutty aftertaste; like spring water flowing fresh through the nettles.  The effects must be from the goblets not the contents.  He studied the goblets and noted the many glyphs that covered the base and stems; he suspected that the glyphs of each goblet were what determined the abilities of the fluid inside.  Finishing the last of the water he sat back in the chair feeling very relaxed. 

As he sat enjoying the comfort of the chair he noticed
a tingling in the hand that had held in the light of Shane’s instructor.  As the sensation grew he noticed that the area around him began to take on a golden glow.  As he looked to determine the source he realized that it was emanating from him.  Then he woke up.

“Shane, wake up,” Ari shook the slumbering man.  Shane mumbled and rolled over and pulled the comforter over his head.  “Come on, wake up its morning.”  Ari was wide awake his dream still crystal clear in his mind; he was ready to move forward.  Ari pulled the cover off of his partners head and shook his shoulder again.

“…Glyphs as objects can be thought of as encapsulating their values within a set of functions...” Shane mumbled in his semi consciousness then went back to sleep
again.

Ari
looked around the room and spied the mug that Shane had enchanted for him.  He filled it with water from the washroom and then touched the glyph that activated the cold water.  With a mischievous grin he slowly poured the nearly ice cold water over Shane’s head.

With a holler Shane leaped from his bed sputtering.
“Ce que l'enfer, what are you doing?”

“It’s morning sunshine, time to get to work.”

Shane recognized the look in the older man’s eyes, “I guess this means that you had the dream.”

Ari
related the dream to the young mage finishing with a determination for him to tell him what to do next.  Shane contemplated the different glyph design that the older man had been given versus his own.  From what he had learned so far it made sense that the instructor needed to suit the student and given the specific title of Sicam that had been conferred upon his new friend Ari he was curious to see the difference between the two.

“Why don’t you go get breakfast while I look into where we need to go from here; by the time you get back we can look at the options.” Shane instructed. 
Ari agreed and was out the door moments later.

Shane was just finishing dressing and had put the wet bedspread over a chair to dry when Ari returned; wearing the face that Shane had seen when they first met at the warball game; a look of concern on his face. “Pack up your things we need to go.”

“Why what’s going on?”

“It seems that martial law has been declared and the crown is locking down the city we have roughly an hour to get out before soldier sweep this area.  The Crown has declared war on Old Luion and is commandeering all magetechs into the military or putting them under direct supervision of IDAD.  An edict was put in the paper this morning that anyone from Old Luion is to be considered an enemy.”

The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. 
Ari opened the armoire and activated one of the screens.  The image was that of Roger from the Ox Horn.  Ari quickly went to the door and let the man in.

“Come on in Roger,”
Ari welcomed.  “You’ve already met Shane Chason.  Shane you remember Roger from the Ox.”

Shane nodded to the tavern owner who smiled and nodded back.

“Monsieur Stafford, the wagon is out back we should hurry”

“Stafford,” Shane looked quizzically at
Ari.

“Long story, I’ll have to tell it to you some time,”
Ari said as he had begun breaking down his surveillance artifacts.  “Grab you gear and get it outside in the wagon.  Roger, can you give us a hand?”

Shane and Roger had all of his duffle bags and boxes soon loaded, except for
a few that Shane had decided to leave behind, all stacked neatly with Rogers belongings in the back of a large wagon by the time Ari had his gear packed.  They each grabbed the cases, bags, and boxes, of Ari’s and within moments the loading was complete.

Roger pulled out a
n oversized tarp and with Shane and Ari’s help the load was soon concealed beneath.  Taking the extra canvas which was nearly the length of the wagon they rolled it up and placed it behind the tail gate which they secured behind it.  “It looks a little conspicuous to me,” Ari commented as he appraised the wagon load.  “A full wagon headed out bound screams that we’re on the run.  Can you do that little number you used to hide yourself on the wagon?” Ari directed toward Shane.

Shane scratched his head
as he thought out loud, “I can put it on the wagon but it would probably make it look like we were sitting in the air behind a pair of horses.  Let’s see what we can do to the tarp.”  Shane un-shouldered his pack and dug around and pulled out one of his scribes.  He quickly placed the proper hide glyphs on the tarp.  Unfortunately as soon has he activated the enchantment only the tarp disappeared; the wagon and the contents remained fully visible.

Roger jumped back in astonishment.

“Ari laughed, “Brace yourself Birdie, you’re in the presence of the first true glyph mage in probably seven hundred years.”

Since the tarp and the glyphs were no longer visible, Shane used his mastery ability and withdrew the lumen from the glyphs on the tarp.  “I have an idea,” he said and he unfastened the tail gate letting the excess tarp fall to the ground.
  He quickly unrolled it then pulled it up over himself and wrapped it tightly around his body.  He reactivated the lumen and in a muffled voice asked, “Can you see me?”

With a “no” from
Ari and a “sacre bleu” from Roger, Shane once again deactivated the glyphs.  “Ok fellas we need to unload everything and put the tarp on the bottom as well as the top.”

Half an hour later the load was reloaded and covered by the tarp – top and bottom.
  Shane reactivated the glyphs and the wagon instantly appeared unloaded.

The men quickly climbed aboard with Roger on the driver’s side; with a snap of the reins they headed toward the nearest exit.

As the neared what Ari had hoped was the least guarded entrance to the city they observed six guards loitering nearby.  A wagon in front of them was flagged to a halt and what appeared to be a farmer and his wife were asked to step down and the wagon was searched by the men.  Roger pulled to a halt behind them and one of the soldiers indicated for them to wait