The Five Elements (26 page)

She started doodling to at least make it appear as if she were working. What she was really doing was thinking of Aaron and of home. She missed Aaron’s companionship. And home—she tried to think of why she missed home. She gave it a full minute before she gave up, unable to come up with a single reason. There were some things: the rollicking through the alleyways, the games of crutchit, the respect and awe she inspired because of her daring, defiance, and simple ability to thumb her nose at the rules time and time again. But things had been changing of late. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she knew they were. She was getting older, with new responsibilities, and it seemed those days of finishing her chores and having the rest of the day to herself were fast waning. It had started with her apprenticeship under Nora. How she'd detested that woman and her work ethic. Up before dawn, working in that hot, cramped chamber in the Underkeep with its vats of boiling oil and scented herbs that Shanna had to clean and chop and grind until her arms felt like they might fall off. Her blood boiled just thinking of it all. But that life was over. Her home was gone. Nora was dead. Shanna had a new life ahead of her now, a new purpose, and—

"You are not making very good progress."

So lost in her thoughts, Shanna had not noticed Erlek rise from the divan nor had she noticed his approach as he now stood hovering over her shoulder.

"Because I don't know what to do." She almost told him right there what she thought of his 'logic problems', but she bit her tongue and kept it to herself. She didn't want to provoke the man unnecessarily. She still needed to learn from him.

"It is a basic mathematical problem. See here, you need two equations to solve this particular—"

He went on and on, nothing of what he said having any meaning to Shanna. As he delved deeper, he quizzed her periodically. He was halfway through an explanation of the second when, after she'd failed to answer a single question of his correctly, he stopped.

Erlek sighed. "What did Elsanar teach you then? Let us start there."

"He didn't teach me anything. I already told you, I didn't have anything to do with Elsanar."

"Yes, but surely he must have instructed you, perhaps in subtle fashion through a tutor or—"

"No."

"He must have recognized your potential and would have readied you—"

"No, again."

Erlek let out a second sigh. "It seems we must start at a more fundamental level then." He swept away the papers in front of her, then he went to a bookshelf that had been empty during her last visit but which was now lined with leather bound books. The spines on many of them were identical and marked with only a number whose value rose sequentially from left to right. Aaron used a similar numbering system on his journals, though he had far fewer on his bookshelf. Erlek passed over all of those as he selected one at a lower shelf. Returning with it already open to a particular page, he placed the book before her.

"I think we shall take a different approach. This is not mathematics. It is a dissertation on metaphysical connections and theories concerning attunement written by a man named Jeddar Fruke, a scholar of Seacea who died some two hundred years ago. It is one man's view of things, but I have found many of his theorems to be quite accurate. It is as good a place as any for you to begin."

Shanna looked over the page with a sour look on her face. The type was small. Line after line of text made the reading very unattractive.

"Now," Erlek said, "I have business with the captain, and shan't return for an hour or more. Do not leave the room. If you need anything, see that Mirna fetches it for you. I expect to have seen significant progress upon my return."

He'd almost left when Shanna remembered she had commitments of her own. "Wait! I want to see the people from Norwynne, to make sure they're alright."

"You have reason to think they are otherwise?" Erlek asked.

"No, but I'd still like to see them, to talk to them."

Erlek thought for a moment. "Very well. But only after I've returned. For now, see to your reading."

With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Shanna immediately pushed her chair away and, leaving the book on the desk, plopped herself down on the cushioned divan. She stretched, making no effort to remain quiet about it. Then she just lay there for a few precious moments, not caring if Erlek returned right then and there. She had an hour. An hour she did not intend to waste reading some crusty old book written by some crusty old scholar. She'd made a promise to Jadjin and the others that she intended to keep. She'd not wait another minute—let alone an hour—to see it fulfilled. Suddenly charged with purpose, Shanna jumped up. The first order of business was where to find them. She could wander the airship and possibly get in trouble for poking her nose where it didn't belong, or she could find Tom and have him show her. As tempting as it sounded to explore the ship on her own, she chose the latter approach. Better if she didn't attract attention to herself, something she was sure to do if she were seen wandering around by herself with no earthly idea where she was going. Besides, she only had an hour. She'd best make the most of it.

She crept across the room to the door, cautiously sticking her head out. The coast was clear. Gently shutting the door behind her, she tiptoed down the hall and abruptly stopped when she realized she'd no idea where Tom might be. She thought a moment. She might not know where he was, but she knew exactly where to start looking.

She found the berthing, a large space thick with swinging hammocks, further belowdeck about mid-ship. Many of the airmen slept, for they'd been occupied with the storm and were understandably weary from their efforts. Not all, though, for a few huddled at the room's center. Shanna silently approached them. A quick peek over a shoulder revealed a familiar sight. Crutchit dice. Much to Shanna's relief, Tom was amongst the players. He spotted her, too. With a smile on his face, he ushered her from the berthing so they could speak without having to whisper.

"Hello, Shanna!" Tom said with genuine enthusiasm. "Come to try your hand?" He tossed a thumb in the direction of the game.

Ordinarily, she'd already have elbowed her way in. But she'd not come here to play games. "No," she said. "I came to ask a favor."

"Oh?"

"I need you to show me where they're holding the prisoners. The ones who came onboard the same time I did."

Tom thought a moment. "I'm not so sure—"

"Please, Tom. I don't want to get you in trouble, but I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"Oh, there'll be no trouble over it. It's just that… well, that's where the savant sets up his lab. It’s not a pleasant thing to see all laid out. I chanced upon it once. Thought it best not to do so again."

Tom was right. Shanna had seen the lab with her own eyes. She knew what went on there. Still, none of that was supposed to be happening now. Erlek had promised.

"Tom, I have to get down there to make sure they're alright. If Erlek's done anything to them…" She'd kill him, sooner than planned. No matter how since she could not command the Element presently, but she'd find a way.

Tom, responding to the urgency in her voice, agreed to show her the way.

The laboratory was setup much like before, though this time with just a single table laden with glass containers, tubules, and instruments all secured in place against the movement of the airship. There was also the examination table which, the last time Shanna had seen it, had held Corrin. At one corner of the room was a cage. Inside were her folk. As they approached with only Tom's small lantern for light, Shanna saw something that had not been present in the previous laboratory. Whatever it was, it was as big as a wagon and covered in canvas so that Shanna saw only bits and pieces of metal shining from the faint light. Curious, she lifted a corner of the covering. She saw gears and pistons and what she guessed to be strange looking vats. Copper tubes ran everywhere. Shanna let the canvas fall into place, then she returned her attention to those in the cage. They greeted her with squinted, tired gazes. Only Jadjin greeted her arrival with anything close to a smile.

The place stank. Shanna spotted a chamber pot inside the cage. It was obvious it had not been emptied of late. Worse, last night's storm had spilled some of its contents across the floor. That, and the unwashed prisoners' bodies still smelling heavily of the floodwaters almost made Shanna turn around in search of fresh air.

Jadjin offered no verbal greeting this time. Nala and the man Shanna still had no name for huddled close together. Rail, who'd taken a corner of the cell for himself, peered at Shanna with something akin to a blank stare, except that Shanna saw a certain recognition—and a certain disappointment—in it. The army man, Sergeant Tippin, whose mustache was now a greasy smudge across his unshaven face, stood as well as he could in the shortened cell and, gripping the bars with each hand, asked, "Have you come with the keys?"

As one, the others' faces lit up in expectation of her answer. They were already convinced she carried them, for why else would she be here?

Why else, indeed, Shanna thought. It was with regret and a fair amount of shame she told them that no, she hadn't come to free them. Not yet. "I'm here to make sure you're alright. I know what happened to the others, but it isn't going to happen to any of you. I made a deal with the savant. As long as I do what he says, he won't hurt you."

"A deal?" Tippin again. "Does this deal involve getting us out of this cell?"

"Well, no. The savant didn't say anything about freeing you. Not yet, at least. Though there really isn't anywhere to go. We're on an airship and—oh, but you saw that when they brought you onboard, didn't you? We're…" Shanna looked to Tom, thinking to ask their elevation, when instead she realized she hadn't introduced him. "This is Tom."

Sergeant Tippin was not interested in exchanging pleasantries. His face betrayed his growing annoyance.

"This has gone on long enough, girl. You were supposed to have been working on getting us freed, not gallivanting about with some ship's boy or making deals with the man who laid waste to our home."

"I have not been gallivanting about. Tom showed me the way down here. If he hadn't, I might not even be here right now. As far as the deal—it's the only thing keeping you alive right now. You think you'd be a bit more appreciative."

"I'll be plenty appreciative when you get us out of this cell, get a sword into my hand, and we take control of this ship."

That last statement caused Tom to stand up on his tip-toes. "Ah, excuse me, sir, but if you mean to harm my cap'n—"

"Shut up, boy." Tippin directed himself at Shanna. "Now, the old man keeps the key to our cell on his person. I saw him—"

"Don't tell him to shut up," Shanna said. The sergeant's sudden hostility had thrown her off, but only for a moment. "You shut up."

It was Tippin's turn to pause as the full measure of Shanna's words sank in. Once they had, his look of annoyance became one of anger.

"Look here, girl—"

"My name isn't 'girl'. Nor is his 'boy'. Maybe you should be a little bit nicer or I may just—"

"What? What might you do,
girl
?"

"That's enough, both of you! This helps none of us." It was Jadjin who interrupted. "Now, Shanna makes a good point. Even if we were free, where would we go? We're onboard an airship, already how many leagues from home? Forget any notions of taking over the ship, sergeant! There is only the one of you. Even if the airmen are helpless, which I doubt they are, there are still the dwarves to contend with." The healer woman paused to take a breath. "We are being treated fairly. We've been given food and water—"

"Only because the savant wants us fit and healthy before he sucks the life from us," Tippin said.

"—but could perhaps do with a few additional essentials. Do you think you could get us some clean linen, fresh water, and soap, Shanna?"

She nodded. "Yes." It was a good thing the healer was here otherwise Shanna was quite sure she would have stormed off already.

"Good. In the meanwhile, we shall simply have to wait this ordeal out until we get to wherever it is we are going. Do you know where we are going?"

"Yes, I do. Erlek—the savant—said we are going to a place called Cauldron Mountain. I don't know anything about it, except that…" Shanna was suddenly uncertain as to how much she should reveal. Should she tell them about the Elements? Should she reveal the part Erlek wanted her to play in their recovery? Should she tell them what Erlek planned to do with them once he'd recovered them all? The last was something Shanna didn't even know the answer to. "Except that he said we'd be there in a few days." Best to keep her part in this a secret for now, until she understood it more herself.

Shanna promised to bring them the requested items, then she followed Tom through the lab. Tippin said nothing as she left, though his look of disgust said enough. Only Jadjin wished her well. Even that was in a half-hearted voice.

She let Tom bring her all the way to Erlek's cabin lest she somehow get lost and arrive late. A quick thank you sent Tom back to his duties or his game of crutchit, leaving Shanna alone once more. The book Erlek had set out for her remained on the page where she'd left it. She did not return to it. Instead she sat on the divan, crossed her arms, and did nothing at all.

A
ARON STARED UP AT THE shadows dancing across the far-off ceiling. He didn't care that the floor was hard on his back, nor that the anteroom was cold. His clothes were wet and uncomfortable, but the room was dry, clean, and quiet in a mesmerizing sort of way. He heard only his own breathing and Ensel Rhe's, who lay next to him where he'd fallen. Not injured, Aaron didn't think, but not moving, either. They'd made it. Not only that, but for the first time in a long time they were neither running away from anything nor being chased. Aaron could almost imagine life was normal again. Letting out a deep breath, he settled himself into a more comfortable position. He wanted nothing more than to remain just like this for a long, long—