In Search of Auria (18 page)

The new room I entered seemed to be a
library. Light came from lamps on the ceiling. Like the lantern I
saw at the entrance of the passage, these were also attached to
iron shafts that penetrated into the rock. With the help of their
light, I looked back into the room I was first in; the room was
completely empty with a broken lamp on the ceiling. There was
nothing in the darkness, so there was nothing to fear, after
all.

In the new room, there were five, long
bookcases, divided by aisles. These bookcases were tall and reached
to the ceiling. They were filled with a variety of books; there
were big books, small books, thin books and large books. There were
books with thick artistic covers and books with barely any cover at
all. There were narrow ladders with tiny steps clinging to the
bookshelves. By the slim size of the ladders, there was no mistake
it was for the use of a gnome.

Then, I heard a loud thud. It was the sound
of a book falling flat on the floor. It came from the side of the
room. I approached and found the book on the floor. It had fallen
from a shelf. And the shelf had a ladder on it. The books on the
shelf were organized in a row, except for two that lay open
facedown, covering something.

“Is someone there?” I asked.

It was low, but I started to hear rapid,
nervous breathing. There was definitely something hiding under
those books! It had to be a gnome. I reached for the books and
lifted them away. But, I was not expecting to encounter
this
.

“Holy crap, it’s a baby!”

I had discovered an infant. It was crouching
face down, shrouded in a garment with a cloth hat. I was about to
touch it when it talked with a squeaky voice, “I’m no baby! My
beard will grow soon.”

It stood up and revealed itself to be a
grown, little man. He was about the height of my knees, with cute
round eyes and cheeks, and outward pointed ears. When he realized
my size compared to his’, he put his back against the books and
covered his head.

“A giant!” he shouted. “Please, don’t eat
me, please!”

“Don’t fear me, toddler,” I said
compassionately, “I am no giant and will do you no harm. Tell me,
are you a gnome?” He showed his face and nodded shyly. I quickly
came close to him, and he tensed scared.

“Please, you must help me,” I pleaded,”
Guide me through your passage. I must get to the other side of the
mountain!”

“S-so, you’re not here to eat me?”

“I would never.”

The gnome straightened out and fixed his
tilted cap, “Well, if you are not what I said you were, then what
are you?”

“I, my little friend, am a man of the
surface,” I proudly expressed.

“Ooh, a man,” he said as he looked at my
stature. “I must talk to the Nomac about you. Come, follow me.” He
went to the ladder and slid down.

“Through here,” he pointed to the opposite
wall. He happily trotted his feet and sprinted to it, vanishing
through. It was the same type of illusion as the rock wall outside
the mountain. Knowing what it was, I walked to the wall with
complete confidence, only to smash my face flat. I fell back,
covering my swollen nose. The gnome poked his head out the wall and
saw me squirming on the floor.

“Um, these stone passes are shorter in
height. You will need to bend.”

“You tell me now!”

I approached the wall again, this time bent
down. Inside was a cylindrical tunnel with perfectly smooth walls.
It was illuminated by the same type of lamps.

“By the by, I am Harwit. I can’t wait to
show you to the Nomac,” the gnome told me as he paced in front of
me.

“My name is Erik. It is said that this
passage of yours is a myth, but I have found different.” Every few
paces I had to tilt my head to miss the lamps fixed on the ceiling.
I had to ask from where they drew their fire.

”I have a question. How are these lamps and
lanterns lit? I don’t see any oil.”

“Oh, I guess surface folk don’t know about
it. We use methinus, it is a natural gas deposit located deep in
the earth that has the wonderful property of combustion.”

“…what?”

“Underground air that lights up.”

“Ah, got it!”

Harwit passed through the wall on the other
side. I was still half way because of my uncomfortable bend. As I
neared the end of the tunnel, I could hear Harwit talking to
someone about me, but he was receiving laughs and mocks.

“Oh, Harwit, you liar.” “You must’ve been
daydreaming. Go back to the books and get smart, if you can.
Haha!”

“No, I’m telling you the truth!” Harwit
argued, “We have a man guest and we need to take him to the
Nomac.”

“Grow a beard and then we’ll believe you,
Dimwit
. Haha!”

I felt bad for the little guy. He probably
was the ass of his people. He was trying to help me, so I had to
return the favor. He was about to prove them wrong.

“Harwit, wait for me!” I yelled out loud,
purposely making my voice deeper than usual.

Immediately, the others shut up. I
dramatically stretched my arms out through the illusion wall and
placed them at the edge of the tunnel. Then, stomping heavily, I
emerged and stood tall. I was now in a larger tunnel with a ceiling
double my height. Lamps were in galore all around, so much it felt
like sunlight. The tunnel was like a town street with clothing
shops, bars, and grocer markets. And all the gnomes around raised
their heads up to me. They wore cone and square hats of different
bright colors. Most of the males had elegant white beards that
reached to their bellies. All of the females had black hair with
stone decorations and pony tails. And the young ones had no beards,
but were more excited to see me than their adults.

“See, I said he was real. A man of the
surface,” Harwit showed me off.

“Are these people the Nomac you told me
about?” I asked.

“No, these are my fellow gnomes of the
mountain.”

Then, a chubby gnome approached us and
bumped Harwit aside, “You want an audience with the Nomac? Then,
follow me.”

“Why should you take him?” another gnome
blurted out, “You just want to take all the credit for finding him…
Let’s share and take him together.”

A third came and started tugging on my
boots, trying to pull me away. Soon the whole crowd started a
discussion on who should take me to the Nomac. With the loud voices
and pointing of fingers, Harwit got pushed to the side and I got
annoyed. I reached down, picked him up and sat him on my
shoulder.

“I’ll go with Harwit,” I remarked, “Show me
the way, friend.”

Harwit smiled and pointed to the right end
of the tunnel. The gnomes got out of the way as I took my massive
steps. The females hid behind the males as I accidentally crushed
over barrels and carts.

“They wanted to take you because of the Know
Quests,” Harwit explained the situation, “We gnomes classify our
role in society not by our power or gold, but by our knowledge. The
more wits you have, the more you’ll get of the other two. Anyway,
we set on quests around the world to learn about other lands,
cultures, creatures, and etcetera. The Nomac is the wisest of all
of us, so he has the most power and influence. If the other gnomes
had taken you, the Nomac would have given them a reward for
presenting you, funding their quest. I don’t think that even the
Nomac himself has been face to face with a man of the surface.”

“So, after a Know Quest, a gnome would
return with knowledge that in turn would be rewarded with social
status,” I replied.

“Exactly! Knowledge is everything.”

“Well then, good for you, Harwit. Soon you
will receive a nice reward to fund your Know Quest.”

Harwit raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t
realized it, “Yo-you are right! I have never gone on a Know Quest
before, never had a reward.” He put on a broad smile on his face
and anxiously pointed out the way. The rest of the gnomes followed
us as we reached the end of the tunnel. There was no illusion at
the end this time. Instead, it was very bright. I thought it was
going to be another well lit tunnel, but was I wrong. I stepped
into the biggest of chambers. The ceiling was immeasurably high,
like if the mountain had been mined completely hollow. The road in
front of me continued until I could see it no more. The buildings
were a few feet higher than me and were cone-shape in structure.
The smaller, humble buildings had an egg-like shape. Large lamps
shone every road and corner, but also rows upon row of lanterns had
been installed on the walls of the hollow mountain, shining in a
spiral all the way to the very top.

“Welcome,” said Harwit, “to the City of
Gnomes!”

I walked on the direction that Harwit
gestured me to, inevitably making a commotion at every step. I saw
gnomes looking at me dumbfounded from the windows of their cone
buildings, or run away when they saw me walking their way. I
finally saw a large yellow cone building sitting on a small hill.
It had a decorative gold halo around the top and triangular windows
circling the bottom.

“That’s the Nomac Manor,” Harwit pointed
out. I continued my walk, hearing sighs and yaps with each of my
stomps. This moment reminded me of when I first met Auria. I was
amazed to see someone like her; a wonderful creature, a living
myth. The gnomes must be feeling the same for me.

Facing the Nomac Manor, I was surprised to
see a tiny, spirited dog on a leach. It was guarding a set of large
doors. It lively barked at me as I approached. For me it was
little, but for the gnomes it would be the size of a horse.

The doors opened and out came a gnome with a
green cap and a red beard. He held a short whip.

“Quiet, Dingus!” he yelled, “What’s to bark
about?” But, when he saw me, he jumped back with a gasp, “What in
the beards?!”

“Calm down, Rubas,” Harwit said, “Quick,
alert the Nomac. Tell him Harwit has someone to show him.”

The red bearded gnome nodded repeatedly and
went back inside. Soon enough, he came back out with a group of
gnomes and invited us in. I placed Harwit down and entered behind
him, bending and squeezing through the portal. I was now in the
lobby of the building. Here the ceiling was high enough that I
could stand by hunching my upper body. There at the lobby I could
hear the chirping and croaking of animals. Along the walls were
square bird cages with canaries, large crystal containers with
frogs, and a thin glass case trapping a colony of ants.

“Impressive, right?” Harwit said proudly,
“These are some of the creatures brought by the Nomac after his
epic Know Quests. Have you ever seen them?”

Was he kidding me? I used to play with these
things when I was a kid, and for the gnomes these were some prized
trophies? They knew a lot about underground nature, but I was
beginning to think they didn’t know much of the upper world. We
went through a narrow hallway to finally enter a circular hall.
This round room was flooded with books, books, and more books. The
ceiling fashioned a diamond shaped chandelier with a golden frame
and ruby embedded corners. And in the center of it all was a
triangular table, with the Nomac sitting behind it. His green, gold
brimmed hat combined well with his blonde, curly beard. His thick
dark eyebrows pinched together and his lips pouted. He seemed to be
the angriest of the gnomes.

“Respectful Nomac”, Harwit announced, “I,
Harwit, bring to you a—”

“I know what he is,” the Nomac interrupted,
“We’re not all idiots.”

Harwit lowered his head and went to the
side.

“So, man, tell me,” said the Nomac,” what is
your purpose in the City of Gnomes?”

I kneeled to show respect, and for my head
not to hit the chandelier, “I seek passage through your tunnels to
get to the other side of the mountain.”

“I once received a report that your kind was
building a bridge over the river. It must be finished by now. Why
don’t you use that?”

“Oh, eh, that bridge broke under giant
pressure…”

“Ha!” the Nomac smirked, “Man’s
architecture. I wouldn’t trust it for a second.”

“Yes, well, I---”

“We have a mountain that stands without its
core. That is
real
architecture!”

The gnomes around laughed and nodded.

“Um, anyway, will you grant me passage
through your---”

“No.”

“What?” I looked at him bewildered, “Why
not?”

“Because you’re an intruder,” the Nomac
blurted, slamming his hands on the table. “Listen, tall guy, I
don’t know how you entered our city, but we don’t take intruders
lightly. Now, leave or face the consequences.” Suddenly a horde of
red bearded gnomes flocked the room from the hallway, wielding
clubs and pickaxes.

“Wait,” I shouted, “I earned my way here. I
killed the beast!”

Suddenly, all the gnomes in the room stood
quiet and slowly turned their heads towards the Nomac.

“Y-you killed the Bunyip?” the Nomac
stuttered.

“If you mean the beast of infinite
appearance, yes I did. I took the arrow coffer from the carcass,
and with it, opened the turning column.”

“You mean the compass and the drill-bit
cylinder,” Rubas said like if the terms were obvious.

“Uh, yeah, those things. I have the right to
be here. You cannot chase me out!”

The Nomac bit his lip and looked around,
trying to find an excuse to expulse me, but couldn’t.

“All right, all right. With the courage to
face the Bunyip, and defeat it, too, I grant you a limited stay in
our city.
But
…”

There it was. That sniveling
but
.

“…only to here. No access to the other side
for you.”

“You don’t like my kind very much, do you?”
I sighed. The Nomac kept still, pouting his lips. I shook my head
and stared at the floor.

“Don’t worry, Erik,” Harwit tried to cheer
me up, “there must be another way around the mountain you can
take.”