Dark Quest (26 page)

“Yes,” exclaimed Egam, “as long as they didn’t retrace their paths exactly, it would appear as the same world, but the inhabitants would be different. And if the intersecting points move over time, they would never be able to get back.”

“Even if they didn’t move, returning would be problematic,” added Jenneva. “Remember, we don’t even know the size of these intersecting points. Egam, we need to spend some more time with the elves and the dwarves. I would like to learn more about their history and the sagas of old.”

“I agree,” stated Egam. “We have much to learn and probably little time to learn it in. Before we go, Mustar, there is something puzzling me about your home. When we first came to the oasis, I threw two coins down the false well and heard no noise. What became of those coins?”

Mustar howled with laughter. “Egam, my old friend, I thank you for your contribution. I hope they were gold pieces. This well, as you can tell, is very old and very deep. At one time it did, indeed, provide water to the surface. It was known as the Bottomless Well. Many considered good fortune would come to those who cast their gold into it. Dropping other than gold could bring death or despair. The illusion we created causes the coins to drop soundlessly into the sand. Hakim cleans out the coins that come from our few visitors. You would be surprised how much we used to profit from the illusion. Sadly, these days we have precious few pilgrims who visit. I wish you a safe journey to the Northlands and thank you for your gold.”

Egam and Jenneva joined in the laughter as they bid farewell to the Sordoan magician and his student.

Egam led Jenneva down the dank corridor towards the sound of hammers venting their fury on solid rock. Jenneva heard singing far off down the twisting tunnel, but all sounds stopped abruptly when she reached the intersection. Egam gripped Jenneva’s hand. “We’ve been detected,” Egam whispered. “Stay close to me and don’t overreact.”

Egam took a few more steps into the darkness that pervaded the dwarf tunnels. “I am Egam,” he called loudly, “and I have come to seek the guidance of King Tugar.”

Swiftly, silent dwarves materializing out of hidden dark alcoves surrounded the two magicians. From around a bend in the underground passage, a dwarf carrying a torch came to greet them. He inspected the pair and nodded a silent signal to his companions and the diminutive miners disappeared. The dwarf with the torch gestured to Egam to follow and turned back down the corridor. The torch lit only a limited portion of the tunnel and its flickering light played with the shadows and Jenneva’s sense of perception.

The dwarf led them along a series of interconnecting tunnels that wound up and down and left and right so many times that Jenneva would be hard pressed to repeat the trip. Finally, she could see a lighted section of the tunnel before her and their escort led the mages into a large chamber. Torches around the wall lighted the huge chamber and the illumination was probably considered bright by dwarf standards, but Jenneva still had trouble capturing all of the details of the room.

Around the edges of the torch-lit room were benches hewn out of stone. Back against the far wall were two magnificent gold thrones, both occupied by dwarves. Dwarves in chain mail armor guarded the two entrances to the chamber. An elderly dwarf came over to Egam and greeted him.

“Egam, you have returned. And this must be your student whom we have heard so much of.” He turned to face Jenneva and said, “I am Doryelgar, Advisor to King Tugar.”

“Doryelgar, this is Jenneva,” greeted Egam. “We are honored to be so welcomed to the House of Talman.”

Jenneva was unsure whether to bow or offer her hand. She felt inadequate in her knowledge of dwarfish ways and promised herself that she would expand the horizons of her studies. “Doryelgar, I am pleased to meet a friend of Egam’s and hope that I am worthy of such welcome to Talman in the future.

The dwarf’s gruff face broke into an imitation of a smile -- or perhaps that is what a smiling dwarf looks like, she thought. “Jenneva, your Master and your man are both welcome in Talman and both speak highly of you. I cannot imagine your welcome ever wearing out. Come, and I shall introduce you to King Tugar and Queen Gilas. It is customary for visitors to bow to our royalty,” he added in a low whisper.

Jenneva nodded her thanks for the dwarf’s hint at protocol. When she bowed to the royal couple she was close enough to see the two figures. King Tugar’s appearance was similar to the other dwarves they saw on the way to the chamber, but the Queen had quite a different look. She was taller than the males and certainly more slender. Her gray hair was long and fine and her skin was very fair and smooth. Her nose seemed much more in proper proportion to her face than the large, bulbous noses of the males. Only her large, circular eyes held a dwarfish appearance and those eyes were very busy inspecting Jenneva.

Jenneva blushed and found herself bowing again to the Queen. The Queen’s face broke into a broad smile and she addressed Jenneva. “Welcome to Talman, Jenneva. I apologize if my inspection has made you uncomfortable. I have not laid eyes on one so fair.” Queen Gilas stole a glance at her husband and added, “Obviously, the same can be said for King Tugar. We forget our manners.”

Jenneva glanced at the King as he coughed into his hand. King Tugar faced Egam and spoke. “Yes, welcome, Egam and Jenneva. Tell me, how is Alex and what brings you to Talman?”

Egam smiled. In all the years he had known the ornery King, Egam had never seen him distracted before. “Alex is well, thanks to your gracious gift, King Tugar. I am sure he would have liked to accompany us, but his task is not yet complete. Jenneva and I have come seeking information on the lineage of Talman.”

King Tugar looked rather surprised. “Of what use is Talman’s lineage to a wizard?”

“We have theories regarding your origins,” began Egam, “that we will make known to you, but if Your Majesty will permit, I would prefer to hear the lineage before answering the question.”

King Tugar scowled. He was not used to taking suggestions or giving out information without knowing why. Jenneva detected the frown and interrupted. “Your Majesty, we do not seek to hide any information from you. If we were to divulge our theory before hearing the history of your people, it might influence the teller in the amount of detail spoken. We are very eager to share our theory and that is why we have traveled so far to come here.”

“Very well,” the King proclaimed, “Doryelgar can recite the lineage, but where do you wish him to begin?”

Egam looked at his old friend, Doryelgar, and said, “We are most interested in how the dwarves came to dwell in Talman. The lineage from that point forward, while I am sure it is quite interesting, has no bearing on our theory.”

“You seek information from many generations ago,” offered Doryelgar. “You will find this information to be very dry and confusing, but I will recite that which was told to me.”

Queen Gilas signaled and a pair of stone chairs were pushed into position for the magicians to rest on.

Doryelgar continued. “Back in the golden age of King Frakis, the dwarves were numerous and plentiful. Our mines were very extensive and minerals were abundant. At that time, all dwarves lived in Lanto, an area you call the Southern Mountains, but man did not exist then. The dwarves were very prosperous and wanted for nothing, but because of their large population, game was becoming scarce. The search for food was causing the hunters to be gone longer and longer each trip. King Frakis decided that the dwarves must spread out more and sent out explorers in search of other mountain ranges. Most of the explorers returned, finding nothing but ocean. One group, however, reported a vast mountain range far to the north. This mountain range was massive in size, even greater than all of Lanto.”

“Would that be the Boulders or what you call Talman?” Egam asked.

“Yes,” replied Doryelgar. “Anyway, King Frakis decided that his brother, Prince Arak, would take an expedition to these mountains and found a new colony. He would become King Arak of Talman and the two nations would be ruled separately, but always be one with each other. King Arak was given five years to found the colony and then he was to report on the wealth of the new land. The expedition got under way and headed for Talman. During the journey they had to pass through a vast land inhabited with elves.”

“Elves?” interrupted Egam. “What land was this that contained the elves?”

“There were great forests across the plains of what is now Targa and Sordoa,” the dwarf answered. “In those forests, the elves lived. They did not take kindly to great numbers of dwarves crossing their land. There were skirmishes and small battles along the way, although there were no major wars. King Arak finally arrived in Talman and found the area well provisioned with both game and minerals. Talman was a paradise for the dwarves and King Arak decided to send one of his sons back to Lanto early, so that King Frakis could send some more of the population. He sent Prince Sork with a company of men and they returned with the news that no one lived in Lanto anymore.”

“Did they encounter the elves on their way to Lanto and back?” asked Jenneva.

“No,” answered Doryelgar. “The elves were gone, as well. Obviously, the elves had taken it upon themselves to attack Lanto and all must have perished in the great battles. Only Talman survived. It was a time of great mourning for dwarves and has since been called The Suffering. During Prince Sork’s absence, King Arak sent out more explorers and they discovered Cazra, which you call the West Mountains. It was also abundant with all of the necessities for a superb home. When King Arak received the report of the loss of Lanto, he was furious and determined that the dwarves would never again settle all of their people in one location. He gathered his sons together and decided to spilt the world into three kingdoms. He made his son, Sork, King of Lanto and sent him back with dwarves to reestablish the colony. Another son, Zyck, he made King of Cazra and sent dwarves with him. His third son, Tias, he named heir to the Talman throne. It is from Frakis, Arak, and Tias that King Tugar is descended.”

“Were elves known to King Frakis before the expedition left Lanto?” asked Egam.

“The elves were first discovered on King Arak’s journey,” answered Doryelgar. “Had they been discovered before, King Frakis would have sent emissaries to open up trade with them. It is fortunate that he did not, because the entire dwarf race might have been eradicated. At least King Arak and his people were able to escape before the Great War.”

“Are there records of the exact path taken by King Arak?” Jenneva queried.

Doryelgar thought long before answering. “The dwarves did not make maps of the journey. They did, however, maintain journals of their trip and described many sights seen along the way. Where are you going with this, Egam? I find your interest in the elves most perplexing. While relations are somewhat better with the wood dwellers today, dwarves will never forgive The Suffering.”

“How about if there was no Suffering?” asked Jenneva.

“How dare you speak such words in this hall!” shouted King Tugar. “You try my patience, Jenneva. While Egam and Alex may speak highly of you, it will matter little if you continue to suggest that the loss of thousands of my people never happened. I will not stand for it.”

Egam stood and bowed to King Tugar. “King Tugar, Jenneva and I would never try to make light of The Suffering. I beg your forgiveness for any slight we may have caused. As Doryelgar will attest, our profession is one of constant questions. We magicians take nothing for granted and always question known truths. It is our nature and we are merely trying to correlate our thoughts to your people’s actual history. While no one doubts the validity of The Suffering, indulge us for a few moments of speculation. It will not harm the memory of those lost, if for just a moment, we postulate a different theory for the missing colony of Lanto.”

“A different theory?” the King ranted. “Thousands of my people lost and you wish to offer a different explanation from the fact that the elves slaughtered them?”

Queen Gilas laid her hand on King Tugar’s arm, trying to calm him. “You upset my husband with such talk. Times are peaceful with the elves now. Why do you wish to dredge up such memories?”

“Your Highness,” interrupted Jenneva, “you may banish me forever for my foolish words, but I believe that your people still exist. Certainly not King Frakis, but I believe his descendants still thrive in Lanto. In fact, I think there are two Lanto colonies.”

Doryelgar rose now and stared at Jenneva and then at Egam. He had known Egam for many years and had never known him to talk of rubbish. “How is it that you believe there can be more than one Lanto colony?”

Egam sat back down, drained from the stress of dealing with the King’s emotions. “We have reason to believe that King Arak led his people through a gateway to another Universe. In fact, after hearing your account, I think he may have actually led them through two Universes. Consider for a moment that you said King Frakis sent explorers across the continent. Could all of those explorers missed sighting a single elf?”

“And in the Great War,” added Jenneva, “is it possible to believe that not a single dwarf or elf survived the destruction?”

“When King Sork returned to Lanto with his people,” asked Egam, “did he find great graveyards and piles of bones? Other than the tunnels, did he find any signs that the great nation of Lanto ever existed?”

“I recall the description from his journal,” replied Doryelgar. “He spoke of the nation of Lanto as if it had been completely removed, as if it never existed. What you are proposing, Egam is preposterous. That would mean that Lanto still exists somewhere and they would believe that King Arak died at the hands of the elves.”

“Not necessarily the elves, Doryelgar,” Egam stated. “At that time, I don’t think they knew of the elves’ existence because I don’t think there were any elves in that Universe.”

The chamber fell silent as each individual tried to rationalize what these revelations would mean. Finally, King Tugar broke the silence. “I can not dismiss The Suffering on your words, Egam. There have been thousands of years of war against the Elves because of The Suffering. I would like to believe that my people somehow escaped the massacre, but I will require proof and proof you cannot deliver. Let us be done with this nonsense.”