Prophecy, Child of Earth (50 page)

'I assure you, he was most sincere."

In love and in war

(Two things I adore)

They tell me that all things are fair,

So don't be surprised

As I pluck out your eyes

While I bugger your fat derriere.

Your children and wife will be put to die knife

When we've sated our carnal desire,

Though long after you're cold

They may live to grow old

Because we don't easily tire.

Rhapsody laughed. "Utterly charming," she said to Achmed. "Is this a new one?"

The Firbolg king shrugged. "In all the years I've known him, he's never been at a loss for a marching song," he said. "I'm sure there are thousands more I've not heard yet." A moment later the Sergeant emerged from the hidden crevasse and entered the tunnel.

'Is she gone, Grunthor? Did she make it out of the Bolglands safely?"

'Yeah," the giant replied, sponging the sweat off his brow. "We followed 'er as far as the breastworks allowed, into the province o' Bethe Corbair and onto the Krevensfield Plain before we turned back. She's a good ways into Roland, miss, and many leagues past the Moot."

Rhapsody sighed in relief. "Thank you," she said earnestly. "I can't tell you how grisly the vision was that accompanied her. Well, at least now she's safe and on her way back to Tristan Steward, that imbecile. I can't believe he sent her out Here, unguarded like that."

'Obviously she's expendable, or whatever he wanted was too important to wait for the mail caravan," Achmed said, pulling up his hood.

Rhapsody smiled slightly. "It's the latter, though I can't understand why. It's a shame. She clearly loves him."

Grunthor blinked. "Oi don't remember 'earing that part."

'She didn't say it, but it's obvious."

Achmed stood up and shook his cloak out, an air of irritation wrapped around him. "Well, maybe he'll make it all worth her while when she gets back, then," he grumbled. "Can we go now? I could scarcely give a damn as to whether or not Tristan Steward's knobbing a servant girl."

Rhapsody rose as well. "Yes. Show me the Loritorium. I've been thinking about it since I left for Elynsynos's lair."

Firbolg king specifically positioned himself at the entrance to the underground vault so he could watch Rhapsody's face as she entered the Lor itorium for the first time. Despite being prepared for her reaction, he felt a chill run through him as the wonder of sight spread slowly across her countenance, lighting it with a glow that rivaled the sun in the world above.

'Gods," she murmured, turning slowly beneath the high marbled ceiling, staring into the firmament of the cavern. "What a beautiful place. And what a shame that no one ever saw it finished. It would have been an unrivaled work of art."

'I'm glad you like it," he said impatiently, annoyed by the reaction he had experienced yet again in watching her. Rhapsody's extraordinary beauty was a source of power he had made glad use of when it served his purposes. He was not happy to be reminded that he was occasionally vulnerable to it himself as well.

"Now can you please help us determine what this silver hrekin is." He pointed to a pool of the glimmering liquid. It shone up from the cracks between the marble slabs, the puddle noticeably smaller than it had been when he first found it.

Rhapsody bent over the gleaming liquid and extended a hand toward it. She felt a strong vibration dance across her outstretched fingertips, causing them to tingle, then burn. She closed her eyes and hummed her naming note, trying to discern the origin of the vibration.

Her mind suddenly filled with a jumble of images, some thrilling, some of them ghastly. The swirl of pictures caught her off balance and involuntarily she stepped back.

'What is it?" Achmed asked as he gripped her arm, helping her regain her equilibrium.

'It's memory," Rhapsody said, rubbing her eyes. "Pure, liquid memory." She looked around the square at the altars placed at each of the directional points, then walked to each of them, trembling with excitement. She pointed at the case designed to hold one of the August Relics that had been shaped somewhat like a stone birdbath.

'Listen," she said, trying to remain calm. "Can you hear the song?"

'Stay back, miss," Grunthor warned. "It's trapped."

'I know," Rhapsody said. "It's telling me that, too."

'What is?" Achmed demanded.

Rhapsody's face glowed even brighter. "In that basin is a single drop of water—can you see it?" The Bolg squinted, then nodded. "It's one of the Ocean's Tears, a rare and priceless piece of living water, the element in its purest form." She whirled and pointed to another of the cases, a long, flat altar carved from beautiful marble in muted shades of vermilion and green, brown and purple.

'And that is a slab of Living Stone," she continued, "still alive from when the Earth was born."

'The Earthchild is formed from the same substance," Achmed reminded her.

'It looks as if the case for wind is empty," Rhapsody said. She pointed to the hole in the vaulted ceiling overhead. "I would guess that Gwylliam in tended that to be the place where he would house the piece of a star, the
seren
—ether—that he brought with him from the Island. The manuscripts you showed me seemed to indicate it.

'That explains how these pools of memory were formed. Action causes vibration, and vibration remains behind, dissipating only when it blends with other vibration or is swallowed by the wind or the sea, the two greatest repositories of vibration. This place was sealed, airtight, and filled with pure and powerful forms of elemental lore, like the altar of Living Stone and the Ocean's Tears. All that magic blended with the vibrations of what transpired here and made the memory solid." She bent beside the little gleaming pool. "I suspect it has begun to dissipate since you opened the tunnel and let in some of the air from the world above. Still, centuries of trapped vibrations have left a strong signature in this place."

Achmed nodded. "And can you discern from that liquid memory whether or not the firewell was plugged intentionally, or by accident?"

Rhapsody walked over to the blocked fountain in the heart of the Lorito-rium and walked around it slowly. The heat from the vent grew suddenly more intense, as if the fire beneath it was responding to her presence. She closed her eyes and reached her hand out to the plugged pipe, then let her fingers come to rest on it. As her mind cleared, she began to hum a note of discerning.

Grunthor and Achmed watched in amazement as silver mist from the pool around the fountainhead rose into the air like heavy rain, forming an indistinct image of a human figure. The figure was hazy, its actions not clear, but it seemed to be looking over its shoulder. It turned and approached the fountain, then dissipated into the air.

Rhapsody opened her eyes, and in the torchlight the men could see them gleaming in emerald intensity.

'The answer to your question is yes, it was deliberate," she said quietly. "The fountainhead was plugged, as were the other wells that vented the smoke from Gwylliam's forges. All that caustic vapor was directed into the Colony." A moment later she lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Achmed waited for her to come around again, anxious for more details and the chance to question her further. After a few minutes he saw her eyes clear.

'Now I remember," she said softly, almost to herself. She turned to the two Bolg. "The man who plugged the fountainhead did so on purpose, and a long time ago. I had seen him once before, though I didn't recognize him at first."

'But you eventually remembered who he was?" Achmed asked.

'Well, in a way. When we first came here, when we were exploring the royal bedchambers of Canrif, I had a vision of Gwylliam sitting morosely on the edge of his bed, a corpse with a broken neck lying beside him." Achmed nodded. "The man who plugged the vent was that corpse."

'Can you describe him?"

Rhapsody shrugged. "Unremarkable in appearance, blond hair with traces of gray in it, and blue-green eyes. Other than that I don't recognize him from any surviving manuscripts or frescos we have found. But it doesn't matter. If that was the F'dor's host, and somehow I suspect that it was, it has taken on another host by now, since that man is dead."

Achmed exhaled slowly. "So the F'dor knew about the existence of the Colony."

'So it appears."

'It must know the Earthchild is here, then. That means it will be back."

«_,'s that residue in the channels cleared?"

Achmed twisted the oily rags into a knot and tossed them into a heap at the edge of the Loritorium's square. He ran a finger through the gutter below the nearest streetlamp.

'Yes, at least near enough to keep from igniting when you open the wellhead."

Rhapsody looked at him askance, and he bristled, then turned to Grunthor for confirmation. "What do you think, Sergeant?"

The giant Bolg was otherwise occupied. He was standing before the altar of Living Stone, gazing down at it as if listening to distant music. Finally he shook his head as if shaking off sleep, and turned to see the quizzical expressions on both of his friends' faces.

'Hmmm? Oh, sorry, sir. It's clear enough, Oi suspect."

'What about the vents, Grunthor?" Rhapsody asked. "Can you tell if there will be any adverse affect on the Colony if this is unsealed?"

Grunthor closed his eyes and stretched out a massive hand; he brought it gently down on the altar, trembling slightly, as if touching a lover's face for the first time.

The thrill of the contact almost unbalanced him. It shot through his fingertips and up his arm, setting his shoulder afire with heat and life.

Within his mind he could see the veins of the earth around him, the ravines and cracks in stone and clay layer, the strata of rock above them, surrounding them. He let his mind follow the vent of the firewell through its ancient outlets and intakes, noting their unobstructed passageways. The sensation was a bit akin to following a dear friend through the hallways of a beloved ancestral estate, each nook and special alcove lovingly proffered for viewing. With great difficulty he tore his mind away before he became utterly lost to the journey.

'No, miss, it's all clear," he said. "What few passageways remain within the vent system 'ave long since been emptied. Besides, the Grandmother's dug out a few ventilation tunnels of 'er own since then."

Rhapsody nodded, satisfied. Carefully she slid her small hands into the fountainhead's pipe on either side of the rock that was wedged there. Basalt, Grunthor had said it was. And he had known the true name of the rock; the Earth had spoken it to him. She called on her abilities as a Namer and carefully spoke the word, singing the song of the basalt.

The rock, wedged for centuries, began to hum in the presence of its name.

Rhapsody took a breath, then changed the song.
Magma
, she sang,
just cooled,
still molten
. Her fingers slid further into the hot stone, now molding around them like clay. She gave the blockage a strong pull, freeing it from the foun-tainhead, and then heaved it to the ground before it could solidify on her hands.

With a roar, a small jet of fire from the Earth's core leapt up through the wellhead, splashing liquid heat and light to the Loritorium's ceiling. The flame that issued forth from the firewell was blindingly bright, the illumination so intense that the three cried out in pain to a one as it shot forth from the fountainhead. Rhapsody fell back, shielding her eyes.

In the new light the Loritorium took on an entirely different aspect. The polished marble gleamed with a new radiance, making the streets shine. The half-finished frescoes on the walls were revealed in all their exquisite detail, the intricate carvings in the stone benches made obvious for the first time. The crystal domes of the streetlamps twinkled like stars in the fire's reflection. In but a single moment the new, pure light was banishing the darkness of the place's ignominious history. The firejet settled into a bubbling flame, burning quietly within the confines of its receptacle.

Once her eyes adjusted, Rhapsody looked at the fire fountain with satisfaction, then around to the system of lamps and channels connected to the great repository of lampfuel. "This place will be magnificent when you finish it," she told Achmed excitedly. "It will be perfect for scholarship and study, just as Gwylliam intended it to be."

'Assuming we live that long," Achmed said impatiently. "Now that the silver sludge has confirmed that the F'dor once knew about this place we have to expect that an attack will be coming. It's just a matter of time."

'If that was the case, why didn't it happen before now, before the Bolg were organized?" Rhapsody asked.

'That's what we're bringing you down to the Colony to determine," he said, gesturing toward the opening. "The Grandmother won't tell us the prophecy unless we're all there. I'm hoping there might be some answers in whatever the Dhracian sage foretold."

Rhapsody picked up her gear and slung it over her shoulder. "I see," she said teasingly. "Whatever that may be, we're going to do it because some
Dhmcian
seer said so." She smothered a laugh at the scowl that twisted the Firbolg king's face, then followed the two of them through the tunnel Grun-thor had burrowed into the buried Colony.

j runthor could see the annoyance building in the lines of Rhapsody's brow, even by the light of his torch. She and Achmed had been arguing without stopping since they had left the Loritorium and begun their descent into the tunnel that led to the Colony.

'It makes even more sense that the F'dor is Llauron," Achmed was saying, ignoring the thunderclouds building in her eyes. "He lived here, in Canrif, before the war. He very well might have had access to the Loritorium in those days. He undoubtedly plans to reform the Cymrian state—you even acknowledged that he sought your help in reuniting them—and make Ashe their Lord."

'That makes no sense whatsoever," Rhapsody growled. "If Llauron was the F'dor, and he wanted to make Ashe the Lord, why would he rip his chest open, and almost kill him?"