The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (86 page)

Shann opened her mouth, then closed it again. Finally, she managed to gather her wits. “Keris? What are you doing here?”

“That was going to be my question,” the tall woman replied. “I am gratified to see you are still alive. However, I am engaged in some difficult negotiations right now. Your arrival complicates matters.” Her eyes flicked over Shann’s shoulder, taking in Boxx and Rael. “That boy you have brought with you, can he be trusted?” Shann had exchanged no more than a few words with Keris, but already the woman’s arrogance and overbearing attitude were causing her hackles to rise.

Shann raised her head, meeting the challenge head-on. “I trust Rael completely.”

Keris gazed at her for a long moment, as if weighing her statement. “Very well. Follow me closely.” She turned and headed up the divide, not waiting for a response.

Shann could see no other alternative other than to comply. She waved the others forward and hurried to catch up to the other woman. There was something she had to know. “Lyall, Alondo. Are they…?”

“They live.” The tall woman did not turn or speak further.

Shann’s heart leapt at the news. There was so much more she wanted to ask, but now was clearly not the time. She glanced left and right. The Chandara stood on their hind legs like ragged sentinels, watching them, but making no move to hinder their passage. After a short distance, they reached a narrow cave entrance in the hillside. Keris led the way inside, brushing the snow from her shoulders. Rael caught up and touched Shann on the shoulder. “You know this person?”

“Yes.” She raised her voice, making sure that the other woman could hear. “This is Keris. She was formerly Keltar–servant to the Prophet. She crossed the Great Barrier with us.”

Keris made no reaction. “This way.” The cave became a passage that angled downward. The walls were smooth, too regular to be natural, and adorned at regular intervals with glowing vines that suffused this subterranean world with a soft, cold luminescence. After a short distance the passageway split left and right. Keris headed left. A few Chandara they passed eyed them distantly. Finally, they reached an adjoining chamber and Keris ushered them inside. “All right, I don’t have much time, so listen carefully. You will need to stay here for the time being. I would advise against trying to leave. There are no guards, but the Chandara know everything that goes on here somehow, and they will prevent you. They call this place ‘The Warren’. Its layout is similar to a wheel. This is the Outer Warren. The centre or Inner Warren is barred to all creatures except Chandara. Under no circumstances should you attempt to go there.”

“Why? What’s there?” Rael asked.

Keris looked him up and down. “I have no idea. All I know is that Kelanni are strictly forbidden from going anywhere near. If you do, I will not be able to guarantee your safety. These Chandara are very different from Boxx or his people. They are…traumatised. I cannot say more for now. My best advice is to do exactly as they tell you. I have to leave now, but I will return as soon as I can.”

Boxx scuttled over and tugged at Keris’ flying cloak. “I Must Speak To My People. I Have A Gift.”

Keris’ voice was kindly but firm. “Maybe later.” Her cloak whirled about her as she turned and re-entered the passageway.

“Where are you going?” Shann demanded.

Keris looked back, her face a mask of stone. “I’m going to try and get you a stay of execution.”

<><><><><>

Chapter 26

“She was kidding, right?”

Shann was sitting on the floor of what had now become a prison, despite the fact that there was no door. There was also no furniture. The Chandara it seemed, had no use for such things. She roused herself from her inner thoughts and looked up at Rael. “What?”

“The crack about getting us a stay of execution. That was a joke, wasn’t it?”

Shann lowered her eyes. “Keltar never joke.”

“But what about Boxx?” he argued. “It’s one of their own.”

Shann shook her head. “I don’t know. These Chandara are not the same as the ones in our world. It’s hard to say what they might or might not do.”

Rael stood and began to pace the chamber. “This is not right.”

Shann sighed. “What do you mean, ‘not right’?”

He indicated the stone walls. “This…their living here, underground. They’re supposed to be forest dwellers. They’re also supposed to be extinct.”

Shann recalled their conversation from before. “You told me that the forest they used to live in was some way north of here.”

“That’s right, although…something happened to it just prior to the war with the hu-mans. The whole forest died somehow.”

“Died? How can an entire forest die?” she asked.

Rael shrugged. “Disease? Drought? I don’t know. Plant biology was never my speciality.”

“So when their forest died, the Chandara came here.”

“Yes but why here?” He raised his arms, appealing to the heavens. “You would think that forest creatures would move to another forest; not start burrowing into the ground. It’s like…I don’t know…murghal moving to the desert. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Maybe we should ask an expert.
“Boxx?”

The creature perked up. “Yes, Shann?”

“What is this place?” she enquired.

Boxx replied without hesitation. “It Is A Hatchery.”

“It’s a what?” Rael exclaimed.

“It Is The Beginning. The Start Of All Things. Yet These Are Not Hatchlings. Hence It Is Also The End. Only A Gift And A Promise Can Prevent It.”

“A gift and a promise?” Shann repeated.

“Mine Is The Gift; Yours Is The Promise.”

Rael had stopped his pacing and was deep in thought. “Hatchlings…this place has to do with their reproductive cycle.” Shann remembered a humorous discussion she had once had with Alondo concerning Chandara reproduction. They had speculated on it, but neither of them had had the courage to actually ask Boxx the question. “They are a long-lived species–much longer than us, by all accounts,” Rael continued, “but they do not live forever. So they must have a reproductive method of some kind. Maybe…maybe the destruction of their natural environment triggered it?”

“No,” Boxx returned.

Rael was not going to be put off. “A hatchery implies eggs. That would explain why these Chandara are so…protective. It’s natural for a species to defend its eggs.”

“No. There Are No Eggs Here,” Boxx insisted.

“How could you know that?” Shann asked.

“There Has Been No Change. We Change. We Eat. We Remember.”

“That was what it told me before.” She looked up at Rael. “I still have no idea what it means.”

Rael addressed Boxx. “So you’re saying this is a hatchery with no eggs?”

“Yes, Rael,” the creature replied.

Rael threw up his hands in resignation.

“Yes, well right now we have more immediate problems,” Shann pointed out. “Chief among which would be staying alive.”

“You don’t trust your friend to come through for us?” Rael asked.

“Let’s just say it wouldn’t hurt to have a contingency plan in place. If it looks as if things are going badly, then we should look for an opportunity to make a break for it. Keep your eye on me and wait for my signal. As for right now…” She pulled her blanket out of her pack. “…I’m going to get some sleep.”

Rael blinked. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely,” she answered. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. Whatever our captors intend for us, I’m fairly sure we are safe, for the moment at least. This place is the first warmth and shelter I’ve known in two days, and I intend to make the most of it.” Shann bedded down and watched as Rael and Boxx followed her lead. Boxx simply lay with its head on the floor. The last thing she noticed before she drifted off was that the Chandara had what looked like a tear in the corner of its eye.

Later, when she finally came to, she raised herself up and looked around their open cell. Rael was curled up in one corner, still asleep. Of Boxx, however, there was no sign.

~

Keris stood in the middle of the largest chamber of the Outer Warren, surrounded by Chandara. She could not help but be reminded of the Great Tree in the Forest of Illaryon where she had received the message from the past. But these were not the quirky forest-dwelling creatures of her world, jostling and climbing over one another like impatient children. These Chandara were stoic, standing erect on their hind limbs, decked in rough coverings and still as statues.

She had spent the last two days learning about them–trying to gain their trust. It had been an uphill struggle. Her first encounter had been similar to that of Shann and the others; confronted, then surrounded by the creatures. Their distrust of anything on two legs was evident. Keris had shown them the map and explained about Annata.

“Annata Helped Us When The Great Tree Withered,” explained a wizened Chandara that seemed to have been nominated as their spokesman. “Led Us To Where We Could Build The Warren. Then She Told Us Of You; That You Would Come To Our World.”

Keris crouched so as to bring herself down to the creature’s level. “I have come here now because I need your help. I need to know the location of the instrument that Annata concealed.”

“I Cannot Help You,” it stated flatly.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because It Will Make No Difference. This Is The End. The End Of Our Race. Nothing Can Change That. I Cannot Help You.”

Keris was an investigator, not a diplomat. She was the first to admit that she was not skilled in the art of negotiation. But she could not leave it at that. There was too much at stake. She had been told that she was free to come and go, but that on no account was she permitted to enter the area known as the Inner Warren–the hub of this wheel-like complex. Her investigator’s curiosity was naturally aroused, but she was disciplined enough not to risk wrecking these discussions and incurring the wrath of her hosts by flouting the older Chandara’s instructions. Somehow she had to convince them, and the key to that seemed to be to try and understand their current plight. Clearly the loss of their Great Tree had something to do with it. It seemed that the Tree was more than just their home–they depended on it somehow. “The Great Tree Stores Our Essence–Our Memories Of Who We Are, Throughout All The Generations,” it croaked sadly. “Now All Of That Is Gone. Gone Forever.”

“But you said Annata brought you here to preserve your race,” Keris pointed out.

It looked at her, its eyes black points set deep in a wrinkled face. “Annata Does Not Comprehend. The Tree Is In The Chandara And The Chandara Are In The Tree. Each Cannot Exist Without The Other. The Tree Stores Our Essence During The Change. Now There Will Be No Change. It Is The End Of All Things.”

In the library of Kynedyr, Keris had told the image of Annata that she was prepared to end her own life to keep the location of this place a secret in order to preserve the Chandara as a race. Yet it now seemed that Annata had been wrong. There was more to their survival than simply keeping them hidden–much more. Unfortunately, however, Keris could think of no way to help them. The only living Great Tree that she knew of was the one in her world, and there was clearly no way to transport dozens, maybe hundreds of Chandara across the Great Barrier. Even if it could be done, it might not be a good idea. If the Tree was indeed essential to their survival, then it seemed reasonable that it would support a given number of Chandara. Introducing a massive new influx of the creatures to the Forest of Illaryon could potentially threaten the delicate balance there and destroy both populations. She had to face the fact that this group of Chandara might indeed be doomed, as they believed. Sometimes, whole herds of animals would die out due to changes in climate or other circumstances. It was sad, but it was the natural order of things. Still, the fact remained that she needed the information these Chandara possessed. Perhaps if she made an appeal to compassion. “Without the instrument, my people, the Kelanni, will cease to exist,” she told it. “It will be ‘the end of all things’ for us.”

“Kelanni Came. Cut Down Our Forest. Our Forest Died. We Should Not Preserve Those Who Destroyed Us.”

Keris’ mind suddenly went back to her conversation with the crazy old-timer in Kieroth. He had said something about being involved in logging operations in the forest of Atarah. The Chandara had come to view what they were doing. They had even objected, but the loggers had chosen to ignore them. Not long after, the forest had begun to die. Could it be that the Chandara saw those events as connected somehow? “Kelanni did not destroy your forest,” she countered. Yet even as she was saying it, Keris realised that she could not know that for certain. Many Kelanni here shared the same distaste for the Chandara as did the people of her own world, and they were capable of feats that her people were not. It was tempting to blame the Unan-Chinneroth; that would certainly serve her purpose if it were true. But again, she had no proof. Annata had said that she did not believe that what had happened was natural, but she could be wrong. In the final analysis, it was Kelanni who had been seen cutting down their forest. She could hardly blame the Chandara for their conclusion.