The Five Elements (27 page)

"Hello."

The voice came out of nowhere, startling Aaron and causing him to instinctively drop his head to the floor, but too fast. "Ow!"

"Oops!"

Aaron heard a small giggle.

"Sorry."

Aaron looked up through a kaleidoscope of dancing stars, not at the ceiling this time but at the face of a girl. The girl stood over him, her face lit by a wide smirk and a bright glint of amusement that rose from the depths of her crystal blue eyes. If she really was sorry, she wasn't doing a very good job of showing it.

"Hello," she said again.

Aaron let his dazed stare wander over her. She was no older than he, with blond hair tied into a pony tail and skin so fair it told of too much time indoors. She wore a simple gown, deep green in color, with a slim belt tied at her waist. Aaron figured her for part of Ansanom's household staff. An apprentice wasn't out of the question, either, though he'd never heard any mention of Ansanom having an apprentice or even an assistant, for that matter.

"Hello," Aaron said in response, the stars starting to fade.

She smiled and might have been about to say something else when, next to Aaron, Ensel Rhe finally stirred. The eslar stood in one fluid motion. Aaron followed suit, though his was a demonstration with far less grace. Once standing, he absentmindedly felt his head where it had impacted with the floor. While most of the pain was gone, a dull throbbing remained.

"Do you have fleas?" the girl asked.

"What?" He let his hand fall to his side.

"I asked if you have fleas. You're scratching like you do. I thought maybe you got some, you know, from the dogs." A smile started forming on her lips. It was accompanied by a sputtering of giggles that Aaron suspected might break into full laughter at any moment.

Aaron screwed his face in an expression of shock and annoyance. "No, I don't have fleas. I wasn't scratching, either. You made me hit my head."

"Yes, I saw that. You need to be more careful."

Before Aaron could form a reply she shifted her attention to the eslar.

"Master Rhe," she said, "always a pleasure to see you." She effected a jestful bow. Ensel Rhe ignored any intended slight, replying to her greeting with only his usual narrowed gaze. The girl looked at Aaron. "I hope you haven't had to travel far with him. As you can see, he's not much for conversation."

Aaron opened his mouth to respond, then thought better of it. Instead he looked about the anteroom, hoping in the meanwhile the girl would go away. There was only faint light here, which explained why they'd seen no signs of life from the outside despite the windows right above the main door. Opposite that door was a wide stair: ornate balustrades ushered polished wooden steps up to a tapestry hung landing that was empty one moment and occupied the next as the master of Wildemoore Manor hobbled into view. Immediately, the girl ran to him, to offer assistance it turned out, for even with the girl's aid Ansanom's descent was taken one slow step at a time. Aaron used the time to study the sorcerer who had been his master's confidante and collaborator. He wore trousers, a long-sleeved shirt, and a lab vest much like Aaron's, all of which marked him more as a tinkerer or inventor than a wizard. Aaron knew he was all of those things, though. Like Elsanar, Ansanom was old, though Aaron couldn't remember his master ever having so much trouble with stairs. It was a wonder the old man had made it up them in time to lend his assistance and no doubt the reason the dogs had nearly been at his doorstep before he'd responded. Perhaps it was only bad knees, for he looked sturdy enough otherwise, being neither tall nor lean, but thick-chested, with strong hands that bore the telltale signs of someone accustomed to working with their hands.

"It's happened then, hasn't it?" he asked, eyes sheltered behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles darting from Ensel Rhe to Aaron and then back again. He'd not yet dismounted the last of the steps. "Your presence here can mean nothing else. Are you alone? Is it only you two?"

"Elsanar is not with us," Ensel Rhe said, guessing at the line of the man's questioning. "Norwynne has been laid waste. Many were killed, including Elsanar and his coterie."

The words sent Ansanom into a swoon. Only his housemaid—or whatever she was—kept him from sinking to the floor. Aaron rushed to help, supporting his other side. With some effort, the two of them lowered the old wizard into a sitting position upon the stairs. It took him some small moments to regain himself, time he spent quiet and still, with his strong, wrinkled hands resting lightly on his knees. Then, sighing, he lifted a finger to push his spectacles back from the tip of his nose. "You will have to excuse me. The news you bring is most distressing." He fixed Ensel Rhe with a pointed stare. "How? How did it happen? You must tell me. Leave nothing out."

Ensel Rhe opened his mouth to speak but Ansanom's sudden raised hand stopped him.

"Forgive me! The news you bring is a shock. We so seldom receive visitors that I fear I have completely forgotten my manners." With effort and some assistance, Ansanom stood. "Perhaps introductions are not necessary? In any case, I am Ansanom, master of Wildemoore Manor, and this is my apprentice, Serena."

Apprentice? Not a housemaid, then. Aaron hoped her magical skills were coming along better than her skill as a greeter. Serena flashed Aaron a brilliant smile which he did not feel compelled to acknowledge.

"Ensel Rhe, I know," Ansanom said. "It is good to see you again, my friend. While the wear of the road is evident upon you, still it warms my heart to see you in one piece." Ansanom smiled, a quick gesture that melted into seriousness as he turned his gaze upon Aaron. "You, of course, are Aaron, assistant to Elsanar—to the
late
Elsanar—and the young adept who single-handedly advanced our work in combinatory energy by leaps and bounds."

Aaron bowed his head, all too aware that all eyes were on him. "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir," Aaron said. "Thank you for letting us into your home."

Ansanom's face lit up. "Such manners!" He threw a glance at his apprentice. "Take note, Serena. Perhaps you could learn a thing or two."

Serena flashed the man a sour expression.

"Now," Ansanom said, "let's get you inside. Come! I can see that you are both cold and wet and no doubt famished, too. Accept my apologies for making you wait this long."

The old sorcerer had barely started shuffling away when Ensel Rhe's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What of the hounds?"

Master Ansanom fixed his guests with a stare. "As long as you remain within these walls, they'll be no bother. Come morning, we'll have to deal with them. My compression canon startled them, didn't it?" He smiled. "Always wondered if that particular invention would ever prove its worth. I dare say that now it has. In any case, for the time being, let the dogs trouble you no more. Now, come! Serena! Fetch hot water and towels. Then bring tea!" The girl scampered into action. "Aaron, Ensel Rhe, if you will follow me. I'm afraid I move a tad slow. Age has rendered too many of my joints arthritic."

Ansanom led them through a closed door off one side of the stairs. Though the room beyond was dark initially, a wave of the sorcerer's hand ignited a blazing fire within a stone fireplace. Chairs surrounding a large, square table set at the center of the chamber were revealed. Ansanom waved at them to sit. They obliged him the moment they'd spread out jacket and cloak across the hearth to dry. They'd been seated only a few minutes when Serena emerged with a tray holding towels and two small washbasins. She set one of the basins in front of each of them along with a towel, then went to fetch the tea. Water in the basins was hot and felt immeasurably good to Aaron as he wet the towel and washed his hands and face. Ensel Rhe did the same. Ansanom remained quiet, lost in the flickering of the fire. By the time they were done, Serena had returned with another tray, this one arranged with fine ceramic cups and a steaming kettle that quickly filled the room with the scent of cinnamon.

"Ah, the tea!" Ansanom said, pushing himself closer to the table.

Serena set the tray down and then carefully filled each of the teacups, handing them out to the guests first and then Ansanom. She smiled at Aaron as she placed a cup in front of him. Aaron, still unsure what to make of her, managed a quick smile in return. Serena took none of the tea for herself, nor did she take a seat at the table, instead choosing to stand in attendance close to the fire.

"Months ago," Ansanom said as his guests drank, "I offered to take Elsanar and anyone else he felt was in danger into my home. Wildemoore is such an out of the way place that few know or care to come this far. It saddens me that Elsanar never took me up on my offer, though I am immeasurably glad that you two have." Ansanom leaned in his chair and removed his glasses. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Elsanar and I corresponded often. You know this well enough, Ensel Rhe, for you carried many of our communications to and fro. Relevant to current circumstances was one such letter in which Elsanar made mention of a man named Erlek Abn Nee. The name may or may not be his real one, which is unto itself more important than one might think, for it is the man's past which concerned Elsanar very much."

"The name is familiar," Ensel Rhe said. "We learned of him sometime after your warning about the first assassin. We—myself and Aaron—suspect a connection between Erlek, the assassins, and what happened to Norwynne."

Ansanom's eyes opened. "A connection, eh?" He thought for a moment before concurring. "No doubt, I think. No doubt." He sat up, returning his glasses to their perch on his nose in the same motion. "Perhaps you should tell me of recent events. Serena, sit. We may be here for some time."

As Serena took a chair next to Aaron, Ensel Rhe related events as he knew them, starting with the warning of assassins he carried from Wildemoore to Norwynne to the tremors and subsequent flooding that had waylaid the city. From there, he spoke of their escape and subsequent pursuit by the hounds. Aaron remained quiet, reliving the events in his own mind and shifting uncomfortably more than once when memories of the many deaths—Shanna's in particular—returned to him.

Ansanom, like Aaron, remained quiet, listening attentively and moving only to lift his teacup to his lips. The moment Ensel Rhe fell silent, though, he jumped in.

"Let us first speak briefly of the hounds, for their role in all of this is probably the least and therefore our discussion of them the briefest. Only powerful, eldritch magic could have summoned them into our world. I do not believe there is any doubt that Erlek Abn Nee was the one who did this. The hounds' master, a demon named Krosus, cannot be killed, for he is not truly alive. The pack he leads is tenacious. I'm afraid nothing short of their prey's death will stop them. In this hunt, that prey is you, Aaron."

The sound of his name caused Aaron to straighten in his chair. "But why?"

"Because Erlek Abn Nee fears you, Aaron," Ansanom said. "He fears you above all others. He lies awake at night thinking of the utter ruin you might bring to all of his carefully conceived plans if only you learned the truth about yourself."

Aaron swallowed. "What truth?"

"The truth of who and what you really are."

"What do you mean?" Aaron rubbed his palms—suddenly sweaty—across his pants. All eyes were on him. "Everyone seems to think I'm something I'm not. I tried telling Master Rhe…" Seeing that Ansanom had something more to say, Aaron fell silent.

"All things must be told in their proper order and so it shall be now. To understand what I will ultimately tell you, you must first know this: five hundred years ago, this man, this savant, the one named Erlek Abn Nee, lived. You need not ask how, for I shall tell you. But first, we must go back all those many years to the time of the druids. The druids were a caste of powerful earth wizards, attuned to the world around them and able to draw energy from the earth itself. Such a repository was and always will be unparalleled. Imagine infinite power, if you will, and you've glimpsed the essence of the power the druids commanded. Such power does not come without cost, though. The druids were restrained and bound by oaths, vows, and promises of servitude. Never had there been a more altruistic lot. They cared nothing for themselves or the things you or I might want from life. For them, life was devotion, piety, and, above all else, servitude.

"That is what most historians believe, at least. The truth is that though they might be druids, beneath it all they were still just men and women, with the same inherent failings of us all. A faction within their ranks, made up of individuals grown weary of their service, plotted their sundering from the druid hierocracy. There are many reasons for this: greed was undoubtedly the greatest of them. For you see, these men and women knew all too well that one does not give up the oath without also giving up the power. This was a wholly unacceptable compromise, a conundrum they set themselves to solving before they openly disavowed themselves from the hierocracy.

"Thus was born the Four Elements, devices that correspond to each of the very elements of fire, water, earth, and air. The plan of these elementalists was this: create the Elements, then openly declare their autonomy. They thought mere possession of the Elements was deterrent enough to keep the druids from acting against them. They were wrong, for such blasphemy—such exploitation of the earth—was intolerable. Druid engaged elementalist in battle, with the druids intent on carrying out a sentence of death. Even with the Elements, the elementalists were no match. They were slain, all but four, who were charged with a very special task: to each take one of the Four Elements to the furthest reaches of Uhl and there scatter the devices to the Four Winds where no one—not druid nor elementalist nor anyone else—would ever find them. More than that, once these four had fulfilled their duty, they each were to take their own lives so that their secret would die with them.

The plan worked so well the tale would probably end there were it not for one man: Tarn Galangaul, who was one of the four. Once an oath-breaker, always an oath-breaker, eh? Tarn Galangaul completed the first part of his charge, secreting away one of the Four Elements, but he did not commit the ultimate sacrifice as he was supposed to. Instead, he disappeared. His exact ambitions remain unknown. Perhaps, in time, he meant to try to seek out the Elements for himself. Perhaps he only wanted peace. I only learned that sometime after he hid the single Element, he settled into obscurity, possibly married, and most certainly, begot children. It is unfortunate for him that, eventually, the druids found him. When they did, Tarn made sure they learned nothing of his scions. He, of course, did not survive. With the last of the elementalists dead, the Lord of Time worked his will and knowledge of the elementalists and the Elements disappeared. Such lore might have remained buried forever if not for Erlek.