The Dreamer's Curse (Book 2) (18 page)

Now came the fun part.

According to Hube, there were several possible ways to
construct a sub dam. But because they weren’t in the dry season—far from it—they
were limited on what they could build with. He had also been unsure of what
kind of rock or soil surrounded the water. If it was some sort of impermeable
rock around it, then fine. They could build a masonry dam. If not, well, then
they would probably have to resort to a sand dam. But Sevana didn’t like Option
B whatsoever. Unlike a masonry dam, the sand dams had to be built in stages,
over several days. A masonry dam could be built in one go, and right now,
that’s what everyone preferred to do.

Now that the soil was out of the way, the water exposed,
they could finally get a better idea of what they were dealing with. Sevana
extracted her see-through glasses from her pouch (a special invention of hers
that let her see through
everything
) and put them on before peering over
the side of the hole.

“Hmmm. I’m seeing bedrock.”

“Impermeable?” Hube asked hopefully.

“It certainly looks that way. I cannot see any water in the
rock itself.”

All the men standing around her let out long sighs of
relief.

Sevana raised her head and took a good look at the sky. She
estimated another three, perhaps four hours of light left. “Hube, you think we
can put the sub dam in today?”

He lifted his eyes to the sky, making the same calculations
she had just done. “I think we might can, if you’ve got spells to harden cement
with.”

She gave him a cocky smile. “Actually, I do.”

He grinned right back at her, revealing crooked teeth. “Then
let’s get crackin’.”

The spring did not prove to be particularly large or
fast-moving, so the dam they built was more than adequate for the job. The pool
they’d constructed held up as well, although Hube calculated that it wouldn’t
be quite large enough to hold more than two days of water. They spent most of
the next day constructing another timber pool and linking the two with a pipe
to deal with overflow.

After that, of course, it came down to a waiting game.

Well, Sevana waited. Everyone else seemed intent on playing
in the pool. Granted, with that crystal clear water coming straight from the
ground, it was perfect to play in. But half the draw had to be Master’s “toys.”
Not only were his toys floatable, but they were animated. He had dolphins,
sharks, and even one miniature whale in there thrashing about. The kids had a
heyday trying to ride them.

Not quite trusting Master to remember he had an eight-year-old
“hammer” in the water with him when toys were about, Sevana sat in the shade of
a large weeping willow, kicked back in her favorite portable chair, and just
watched the show. If Sky started drowning, she’d levitate him out.

The two wolves, not interested in playing in the water,
seemed intent to lay in the shade of a tree and catch a long nap. Sevana had no
idea when they’d been introduced to each other, but considering the way that
Gid had pillowed his head on Hinun’s stomach, they were friends now. She
laughed softly to herself when Hinun’s feet started twitching. Now, what did he
chase in his dreams? With him, it could either be rabbits or children.

Since she had nothing else better to do, she pulled out her
Caller while she sat there. “Pierpoint.”

It took a few seconds—judging from the sounds, Pierpoint had
been startled by her call and dropped something breakable, or at least the
crashing sounds and cursing made her think so. But he picked it up with only a
huff and a slightly disgruntled look.
“Sevana.”

“How expensive was it?” she couldn’t help but ask, evilly
amused by his frustration.

“Quite expensive, thank you ever so much for asking,”
he growled sarcastically, brows beetled together.
“And to what do I owe this
honor?”

“I’m waiting on something so I thought I would update you.”

Pierpoint’s expression showed a mixture of relief to get an
update and sardonic amusement that she
only
called because she had
nothing else better to do.
“Pray, do continue.”

She skipped the failed attempt and her interesting excursion
to the other end of Kindin, starting with the solution they’d thought of and
what they’d done so far. The two magicians had packed up and gone home already,
and almost as an afterthought, she passed along the message that Aren needed to
pay them. Pierpoint reached over and scribbled down a note to make sure that
was done.

“So at the moment you’re waiting on the water to drain
out of the fountain completely so you can remove the—what did you call it?”

“Gadgick,” she supplied.

“Wherever did you get that term from?”

“Jacen.” Seeing his blank expression, she elaborated with a
sigh, “Jacen Windau? Artifactor? Specializes in ancient artifacts?”

“Ahhh. I know the man by rumor and reputation, but little
else. You consulted with him, I take it?”

“We did. In fact, I fully intend to give the gadgick to him
once we’ve removed it. He’s the one most qualified to deal with it.”

“Heaven knows I wouldn’t really know what to do with it
either. I’ll assure the king that it will go to an expert. He was talking about
destroying the thing.”

As tempting as that idea had been for her, “No. We don’t
dare. For one thing, we’ll lose valuable information that we’ll probably never
have a chance of gaining ever again. For another, I’m not sure how tough that
thing is. For all I know, it’ll take throwing it into a live volcano.”

Pierpoint arched a brow at her.
“A trifle extreme, don’t
you think? But I get your point. Regardless, I don’t feel it’s necessary if
it’s going to your friend. I’ll inform Aren of all of this. How much longer
until the gadgick can be removed, do you think?”

“Hmmm, I think we can take it out either late tomorrow or
the following day. The water is draining out of the fountain nicely. We’re
waiting for what little remains to evaporate just for the sake of caution.” No
one wanted to be marked for transportation again by getting wet like Sevana
had.

“I’ll pass it along.”
He cocked his head slightly and
half-turned to look behind him.
“Are they playing in the timber dam?”

“They certainly are,” she confirmed, uselessly considering
he could see it for himself.

“Is that safe?”

“Probably not. Master’s in there after all.”

Pierpoint let out a short chuckle.
“He’s mischievous in
water, I take it?”

“He’s mischievous all the time,” she corrected with a roll
of the eyes. “Put him in water and he’s an outright devil. Why do you think I
refuse to go in there?”

He just laughed again, shaking his head.
“I’ll go make
the report to the king. Anything you want to add?”

“Not a blessed thing.”

“Then keep us posted,”
he ordered before the Caller
went still.

She looked up at the pool as she put the Caller away,
scanning the water for a certain head of blond hair. In this area of mostly
brunettes, she spotted him quickly. Sky had stopped clinging to the sides and
now splashed around energetically, even flip-flopping and swimming the other
direction on the turn of a penny. Ohhh? Master had done quite well
drown-proofing the kid, it seemed. Good. She didn’t need to worry about him
anymore then.

Putting her hands comfortably over her stomach, she leaned
further back in her chair, closed her eyes, and took a well deserved nap.

~ ~ ~

Even with the nice, sunny weather it took a full two days
for enough water to evaporate before they deemed it “safe” to go anywhere near
the fountain. With the pitiful little puddles of water here and there, the
gadgick didn’t have anywhere near the power it needed to even activate itself,
much less transport anyone.

Hube had said that the decorative piece on the very top of
the fountain had been carried over here intact, the only piece that had been
moved without being dismantled first. Sevana pulled out a wand and scanned the
area just in case, but the results came up positive very quickly, confirming
that the gadgick had indeed been enclosed in the top part. She’d spent her free
time examining it from a distance and had a fair idea of how to get the gadgick
out.

The fairy girl holding the jug of water looked pretty and
all, but in truth, the design had a practical element to it as well. The jug
she held had the perfect place to put the gadgick. In olden times, perhaps the
gadgick hadn’t been left in place all of the time, but instead put in there
when it was needed. (Sevana certainly wouldn’t have left it running all the
time. The magical energy that wasted alone made her head spin.) The jug
provided a place to put the gadgick where it didn’t run the risk of being
damaged or knocked over but had direct access to flowing water. The decorative
stone grill over it simply sat in place, several notches in the jug’s opening
giving it stability and support.

The only real problem she had was reaching the jug. The
fountain stood a good five feet taller than she. Even standing on a chair
wouldn’t give her the necessary height. But with the three-tier build of the
fountain, trying to use a ladder would be beyond awkward. It really only gave
her one option. “Sarsen, lend me a shoulder.”

“You mean let me be your footstool,” he translated dryly.

She gave him an impish smirk. Sarsen and Master had been too
curious to let her retrieve the gadgick alone, so they had trailed after her
when she announced her intentions. In fact, quite a few people from the village
had shown up as well, although for what, Sevana had no idea. If they expected a
show, they’d be sorely disappointed. Removing the gadgick would be
anticlimactic in the extreme.

Sarsen blew out a breath and sank to one knee. “Fine, fine.
Climb aboard.”

She swung one leg up and around so she could sit on his shoulders,
like a child getting a ride from their father or favorite uncle. Sarsen held on
to both of her legs just below the knee, giving her some stability, then slowly
rose back to his feet with a grunt of effort.

“You comment on my weight and I’ll kill you,” she warned
him.

“Did I say anything?”

“I could hear you thinking.”

“Children, no bickering in front of the clients,” Master
scolded them. His words would have gone over better if his tone hadn’t sounded
so amused.

They left Master at the base of the fountain as Sarsen
carefully stepped closer, putting Sevana within arm’s reach of the top section.
She had to raise her hands high over her head to reach the jug, but she didn’t
have to stretch
that
far, and she could mostly see what she was doing.
The stone grating had been there for so long, though, it had more or less
wedged itself into place. She had to tug, firmly, in rhythmic pulls before it
started to slowly grate its way free.

Expression tight in concentration, she put both sets of
fingers through the holes of the grate and gripped firmly. The stone felt cold
against her skin, and a little harsh, but not rough enough to be abrasive.
Fortunate, that. She’d hate to scratch up her hands just getting this thing
free. But she didn’t dare use magic of any sort, not after what happened last
time.

“Sev, I have to ask…” Sarsen hesitated, body tensing as if
not sure how she would take this question. “Why did you end up on the far side
of Kindin? What were you dreaming of to be transported to a primeval forest?”

She let out a snort. “What makes you think I’d remember the
dream?”

“Well, the image had to be powerful enough for the gadgick
to use it,” he pointed out a tad defensively.

Sevana paused and turned to look at the top of his head. “I
remember once, while we were both apprentices, that you dreamed you rode a
pink, talking elephant across the Wasteland.”

He stopped with his mouth hanging open, no good retort to be
found anywhere. “Ah. Your point being that dreams don’t make sense?”

“Nor should we expect them to.” She shrugged as she went
back to the task at hand, yanking hard. Stubborn little piece of…
ugh
.  “There’s
a whole group out there that believes in dream studies, and the psychology
behind it, but personally I feel like it doesn’t really matter.”

“So there’s no rhyme or reason why you ended up in the woods
in the dead of night.”

“I blame it on Hinun,” she responded mock-serenely.

“Why?” Sarsen seemed to find this funny as his shoulders
jerked in a silent chuckle. “‘Cause he isn’t here to defend himself?”

“He was sleeping with me and no doubt dreaming of hunting in
the woods.”

“That sounds plausible and all, but it doesn’t explain that
smile of evil satisfaction you’re wearing.”

“Children,” Master requested mildly from the bottom of the
fountain, “Can you please focus?”

The grate finally came free, tumbling into her hand with
nothing more than a last groan of protest. She almost lost her balance after
expecting resistance and not finding any. Fortunately, Sarsen’s grip on her
legs kept her from toppling right over him and straight into the basin. Puffing
out a breath, she righted herself again and put the grating next to a carved
stone flower, propping it up temporarily. Then, very cautiously, she reached in
with both hands and felt inside the jug. “I feel something cold and smooth. Not
stone. Porcelain?”

“Can you pull it free?” Master inquired, tone betraying a
certain amount of caution.

“I think so.” She didn’t feel any resistance at all this
time. With her fingertips, she urged it to come out in slow degrees. When it
came close enough, she grabbed it more firmly and pulled the top out of the jug
entirely.

Well, well, well.

It certainly resembled porcelain, her tactical sense hadn’t
been wrong on that, but she’d never seen the likes of this before. It glowed
faintly—thank all mercy she hadn’t used magic—with crisp lines of white
engraved into the light gray of the body. It looked stunning, really. Sevana
thought of written incantations as practical things, not particularly visually
appealing, nor were they meant to be. But this was both. One hand on the top of
the gadgick, she slid it free completely, balancing the base with her other
hand. Oh? It didn’t have the simple cylindrical design that Jacen had shown her
in his catalogue remnant. Instead, both ends flared out slightly, the interior
of the gadgick completely hollow. Now that she could see all of it, she saw
that the design around it was beautifully detailed. If she hadn’t known better,
she’d have taken it for some sort of vase.