The Echidna's Scale (Alchemy's Apprentice) (25 page)

Marco stood up immediately and pulled his sword, as he looked at the staircase, where no one was visible.

“Who said that?” he asked, as he looked around.

“We did, or rather, I did.  Up here,” a voice answered.

Cassius’s eyes fluttered open at the sounds.

The others looked upward, and saw that there was a small mezzanine high above the balcony, and a young couple were looking down at them.

“Who are you?” Marco asked.

“We’re the guardians of the library,” the man above them answered.  “More importantly, who are you?”

“We’re visitors,” Kate answered.  “We’re here doing some research, looking for something.”

“We observed that,” the woman said.  “It’s quite unusual to see someone from the outside come to the library and try to use it for its intended purpose.”

“Do you live here?” Marco asked.  “Do you know how this library is organized?  Can you help us find something?”

“We will talk to the seniors and discuss whether we may assist you,” the man said, and then both of the observers above stepped back and disappeared from sight.

“Who was that?” Cassius asked, sitting up.

“They said they were guardians of the library,” Kate answered.

“They didn’t seem threatening,” Pesino added.

“I didn’t think the monks were threatening at first either,” Cassius said.

“Well, they know we’re here, and they didn’t try to attack us,” Marco said.  “Maybe they’ll help us.”

“We might as well get back to searching and be aware that we’re being watched,” Kate said.

She and Marco described their efforts during the morning to Cassius, and all four of them went back down to the library floor, where they began working as teams, looking through books to try to find information about monsters in general, and the
Echidna in particular.

They found nothing that afternoon, and as the sun moved to the west, its rays no longer penetrated the library, and the air began to cool.

“Let’s go take a walk around this part of the city, to get some fresh air, then we can come back to have dinner,” Kate suggested as they all mutually agreed to end their studies of the books as the library grew dimmer.

Clovis was a forlorn place.  The walk was Marco’s first chance to see the city in the daylight.   There were other people abroad in the streets, but not many, not nearly as many as the number of buildings indicated had once lived in the city.  Most buildings appeared to be empty, and a sad percentage were crumbling towards ruin.  But there were spots of former beauty, such as the parks and elaborate sculptures and fountains, which were still inspiring to see.

When they returned to the library, they found that the couple who had spoken to them earlier were standing on the steps in front of the great doors, awaiting them.

“We wish to invite you to be our guests for dinner,” the male of the pair said.

“It would be our pleasure to dine with visiting scholars, to learn about the world beyond Clovis,” the female added.

“Please don’t turn this offer down, the chops are already on the grill in anticipation of you joining us,” she added.

“They’re talking meat, hot meat, Marco!” Kate turned to Marco.

Marco looked at the couple skeptically.  He sensed no falseness in their attitude, nothing to make him fear the worst, yet he hesitated.

“Husband beloved, dearest, can’t we eat with these nice people?  I’m growing to like these grilled meats you eat on land?” Pesino surprised him by wheedling in a purring voice that made his heart race.

He looked at her in surprise, knowing that he would say yes – had been manipulated to say it – and as he turned, he saw an exchange of glances between their two visitors.  The two had detected something, and had wordlessly made note of it.

“We will gladly accept your offer,” Marco looked from Pesino back to the others, and he slyly reached his hand out to rest it on Pesino’s shoulder, then slid it to grip the back of her neck in a momentary squeeze that was a return of the joke she had played, and a message that he knew what she had done, and a warning as well.

“My name is Marco,” he introduced himself.

“You are the leader?” the man who had invited them asked.

“He is,” Pesino spoke up.  “And I am his wife, Pesino,” she told them.

“You are a great beauty, and even more,” their female visitor cryptically said.

“I am Cassius, and this is my beloved, Kate,” Cassius introduced the other couple.

“You are all from Fortburg?” the male visitor asked.

“We passed through there, but we aren’t from there,” Kate replied.  “Why do you ask?”

“The torqs that you wear, they are an ancient custom to denote marriage,” their man answered.  “But these days it is rarely practiced anywhere except in the vicinity of Fortburg.”

“I am Acamar,” he continued, “and this is my partner Adhara.

“Follow us please, to dinner, unless you wish to go put anything away or pick anything up from your belongings first.”

They were soon on their way through the library, and then into a hallway in the back, one that was lit with lanterns.  They passed several other people in the hallway, then entered a room where a table was set, lit by candles on the table and on wall scones.  Platters of food were already set on the table, as well as plates and glasses, and a pair of bottles of wine.

“Please be seated,” Acamar told everyone as they drifted to seats around the table, Marco and Pesino on one side together, Kate and Cassius on the other, with the host and hostess at the ends.

They passed the platters of food, and Acamar poured wine for each of them.

“So you were married in Fortburg, but you’re not from there?” Adhara asked as they all began to eat.

“We’re from the Lion City,” Kate answered.

“You’ve come such a long way!” Adhara replied.  “We’ve heard so much news about the city; it’s a very powerful place, isn’t it?”

“How do you hear about the Lion City?” Marco asked.

“We are the guardians of the library,” Acamar answered simply.  “It is our duty to protect the library and to maintain it.  We also seek to add to it.  We have men who are sent out into the world to gather news, and bring it back, so that our editors can compile it and add it to the library.

“The library is always growing.  The reporters go out and learn things.  They write them down and return with their notes.  Some of us write, some of us read, some of us organize,” he explained.

“We all take turns cleaning and repairing,” Adhara added between bites of her food.

“How many of you do this?” Marco asked cautiously, surprised by the news.  “Do the monks help you?”

“There are fifteen or twenty score librarians,” Adhara answered.  “But we have nothing to do with the monks, other than share the city and engage is some trade with them. They mostly keep to themselves – praying, farming, tending their chapels.”

“So you know the library pretty well,” Marco jumped to the topic that concerned him.  “Will you help us with our search, as we asked this morning?”

“Within limits, we are permitted to help you,” Adhara answered.  “The council wishes to know what it is you’re searching for.”

“We are seeking information about the
Echidna, so that we can find out where it is.” Marco answered.

“You want to learn the myths of the
Echidna?” Acamar asked.

“We want to learn where the actual monster is, where it lives,” Marco clarified.

“But it is just a myth.  There is no such thing as an actual Echidna, you know,” the man answered firmly.

“But there is; there must be.  I was appointed to go find it and bring back one of its scales,” Marco insisted.

“Someone was leading you astray,” Adhara gently shook her head.  “This is just a story.”

“I was directed by the spirit of the island of Ophiuchus.  I was specifically told that I had to get a scale from the monster,” Marco spoke firmly.

The two librarians looked down the length of the library at each other, concern in their eyes.

“The island of Ophiuchus is also just a myth, Marco, my friend,” Acamar told him.  “Our reporters have heard stories about it, but never been able to visit it.  It doesn’t exist.”

“Are all your reporters males?” Marco asked.

The two looked at one another again.  “I think they all are male, but what female could travel the world so easily without trouble?” Adhara asked.

“Only a female would be able to reach the isle; it is forbidden to men.  Males usually can’t even see it,” Marco explained, as the heads of his companions twisted steadily back and forth from he to the two librarians while the exchange continued.

“How could you receive this command if you did not go to the island, if you could not even see it?” Acamar challenged.

“I was on the island just by chance,” Marco grew less certain about how to answer.  “I had been shipwrecked in the sea, and my friend and I were swimming, trying to find land, and we found the island.”

The two listeners were clearly skeptical, Marco could see.  If their doubted the
Echidna and they doubted Ophiuchus, they would probably doubt the sorcerer and the mermaids in his story as well as many other things.  It hardly seemed worth a battle to try to convince them.

“Well, this is all very
interesting,” Acamar told them.

“So how do you like the pork chops?” Adhara asked.  Apparently she too had decided to change the topic.

“We haven’t had anything this delicious since we left Fortburg, and the food there wasn’t even this good,” Cassius said enthusiastically, and the conversation turned to a discussion of the librarians’ farm operations outside the city, and a promise to carry out a visit to the farm.

“Thank you for such a wonderful meal,” Pesino said as they all stood to leave after dinner.

“Will you be the ones to assist us in our search through the library books tomorrow?” Marco asked.

“Perhaps some others will join you,” Acamar said, indicating that he did not plan to.  “You will have someone, be assured.”

The four visitors left the quarters of the librarians with a lantern to help them see the way back to their balcony campsite, and they talked as they went.

“They clearly don’t believe in the
Echidna,” Cassius said.  “What does that mean?  Maybe there is no such creature?”

“There surely must be one, or at least be a scale left from one,” Marco said.  “They didn’t believe in the Isle of Ophiuchus either, and I’ve been there, many times.

“They probably don’t believe in mermen or mermaids either,” Marco added, drawing indignant sputters from Cassius and Pesino as they mounted the steps.  “They may not even believe in pixies,” he said as Gawail rose from the front of Pesino’s cape.  “We’ll find out tomorrow.”

Though it seemed unnecessary, Marco chose to be prudent and mount a rotation to keep a guard awake during the evening.  He took a middle shift, and sat on the balcony when his turn came, looking at his golden right hand.

There was power in the hand, and that power had flared forth to save his life on several occasions.  The power was a gift from Iasco, the sorceress priestess, who had endowed her own powers in the hand when it had been severed from Marco’s arm, and the power had resided in the hand when it had been reattached and healed.

The power of his hand had manifested itself without any conscious effort on his part.  It had responded to urgent needs on his part, especially urgent needs to assist or aid or rescue.  The power in the hand had rescued his own life, but he had used it when others were in need, and he had an inkling that there had to be a way to channel his desire to help into the hand in a way that would bring its powers forth.

He sat intently, looking up and looking around the library to see if anything was amiss, in need of investigation.  There was nothing in sight, no sounds beyond the normal sounds of the building at night, and he refocused his attention on his hand.  In the darkness the hand was only faintly visible, and he wished that there was some way to look inside it; would he see a single spot where the sorcery energy resided, or would there be an even, wide distribution of energy through the golden flesh.  Would it make a difference, he wondered.

There was energy in there, and he was going to need to be able to use it.  Regardless of what the librarians said, he knew there was a great mother of monsters out in the world somewhere, and it was his task to find that horror.  The road would be difficult, he was sure, and the battle to secure a scale from the
Echidna would be formidable.  He was sure now that he would have to know how to harness the power of his hand in order to win such a battle.

When he had started out, he had been ignorant, completely ignorant, of the challenges of the world.  Despite his battles in Barcelon, he hadn’t been prepared for the toil needed so far in his quest for the
Echidna.  Just the mundane task of the journey to Clovis had been a taxing endeavor, one that had stretched him to the limit of his abilities.  And the journey going forward was likely to be worse.