The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (10 page)

Erin and Drune looked at Gyan. “Can you
authorize us to see to the progress of the device, discs and glow
stone post caps?” asked Drune. “You can follow up after you talk to
everyone you need to on the merchant train.”

Gyan nodded and called to Sterling. “Please
give these two my emblem and instructions on where the specific
work shops are. Do you have word about the train?” Sterling nodded.
“They are coming, now.” Gyan got up from the table and left
immediately. With a smile Sterling reached into his pocket and
pulled out the Great One’s emblem. “I anticipated his request. He
does this all of the time. He needs to delegate more often. Here
take this and go down the hill into Kunscap. The second lane on
your right is the street of the jewelers. The next one down is
where they are etching the stones and casting the collars for them
as well as the disks. Two more lanes to the left is where they are
putting together the device.”

“Thank you Sterling. We are off.” As they
left the dining room the headed back to their rooms to grab their
coats. Erin also wanted to check her balcony door for Nuit and Keir
should they be around, but her friends hadn’t yet arrived. Minutes
later Drune and Erin were on their way.

Erin and Drune strode down the narrow cobbled
lane to the city below. They turned into the street where the
pieces were being made for the center of city henges and for the
posts themselves. They could tell which buildings were their
targets by the amount of frenzied activity happening. Workers were
scurrying about with tools and supplies for the project. They
proceeded to the heart of the hustle and walked in.

There was a harried man at the counter. His
hair was in a state of disarray as if he had been running his hands
through it repeatedly. He looked up with an
‘I-don’t-have-time-for-this’ look and Erin squelched her grin.
Drune took the front position. He walked calmly up to the man and
showing the Great One’s seal said quietly, “Gyan is busy right now
but he wanted to know how you are doing with the post caps and
discs. He sent us instead of coming himself.”

The man took a deep breath and let it out. He
gathered his thoughts and lifted his hand, slightly, to indicate
for them to wait a moment. He dashed into the back room to check
with the beehive of activity. His expression was frustrated when he
came out again. “We are working as fast as we can and still be
accurate. Probably by late afternoon we will have five of the six
discs done but we are short of what is needed yet for the etched
glow stones and collars.” He looked crestfallen.

Erin cocked her head. “How short? Could you
have twenty-four glow stones,and collars completed by late
afternoon?”

He looked at her, paused, then bolted back
into the hubbub. When he emerged he looked somewhat pleased, but
perplexed. “We have twenty-three completed now. Another one is
being crafted but the other glow stones need to be reshaped before
they can be etched. We may have to go back into the mine to get the
right color and size. They were too big and slightly paler than was
indicated in the plans.”

Drune caught Erin’s reasoning. “I am sure
that the Great One will want to see the five discs and the
twenty-four post caps. Don’t worry about the rest at the moment.
The five and the twenty-four have to be perfect by this afternoon.
Focus on those right now. You have done remarkably well in the
short amount of time.” They gave the man a smile. His expression
was one of pleased relief as he again hastened back into the work
shop.

Drune and Erin grinned at each other! Since
six of the post caps and one of the discs were for the henge here
at Kunscap all they needed completed to leave were the five and the
twenty-four. That part of the plan was definitely looking up! They
walked the two more streets and turned left. There wasn’t frantic
activity to guide them so they looked at the shop signs. They went
into a likely shop and walked up to the counter. The woman behind
it looked very weary and had the disarrayed hair like the other
shopkeeper. Drune again took out the seal. “Is this the place that
is working on the device for the Great One?” She nodded. “We have
it together and have made the faceplate. It is the calibration that
we are working on. It’s going to take several days to check the
position of the sun and the two moons before we can set it
accurately. Until we do that we won’t be able to tell exactly when
and what kind of eclipse is coming. I am really sorry. We are
working as fast as we can.”

“We appreciate that and will report to Gyan
what you have told us. He may check with you later today.”

Erin gave Drune a big smile. “We can leave in
late afternoon or tomorrow morning. It is the physical things we
need to have with us. The information the device will give us is
important but won’t stop us from traveling. Gyan will be with us
and he can keep in touch with someone here who can give us that
information when it is worked out. Let’s see if we can find Gyan.
Do you know where the Guild Caravan would come in and park?”

Drune returned the grin “Follow me!”

They got back on the main street that went
from Aerie to the front of Kunscap. As they rounded the bend to the
center of the founder city they saw the train. People were happily
greeted, as all had homes here. Their goods were being unloaded and
carried away by apprentices. Erin saw Kennet and Lor in
conversation with Gyan. She gave a glad whoop and broke into a run
with Drune but a half step behind. The three men looked up to see
her coming. Conversation stopped as she ran up and gave Lor and
Kennet hugs. She stopped and gave them a big smile. “I stifled my
urges to hug when I was a boy.”

Kennet gave a big chuckle. “Can’t have you
stifling yourself! It is good to see you Erin!”

Lor reached over and messed her hair
affectionately. “It is good to see you two. I hear you have been a
big help to Gyan.”

Drune and Erin turned to Gyan. Drune gave
Erin a wink that said, ‘Go on.’ “Gyan we can leave as early as late
afternoon, if you wish. What we need to deliver will be ready at
that time. The things that won’t be finished will be for here or
the information you can receive on the road.”

Gyan beamed! “That is good news. Some of
these wagons won’t have to be put away. We can use them and as they
empty, they can return. I have already spoken to Bact and he is
putting together a quick moving force. We will mostly be moving by
horse. There will be a wagon with supplies. The other wagons will
be for our emigrants.”

He turned to Kennet and Lor again. “Kennet
again thank you. I have told all of the mayors what you did. I also
mentioned your ‘witches don’t bleed’ line and urged them to use the
same statement. Lor I need you here as my agent, while I am gone.
I’ll talk to you later with the details. Go freshen up in Aerie.
I’ll see you soon.” Lor turned, nodded his goodbyes and left.

Kennet stood before them still. “Great One,
if you need someone to drive the main supply wagon I would like to
be considered. My wife died last winter and my son is newly
married. If I can help you in whatever it is you have to do to
stabilize the realm, I would like to be part of it.”

Gyan gave him a level look, then slapped him
on his shoulder. “We would love to have you on this quest of ours.
Do what you have to do, pack warm clothes and go see Sterling about
supplies.” Gyan turned to his two sage assistants. We’ll swing by
the workshops on our way back to Aerie.”

On their way back to the workshops Drune and
Erin filled him in. “All we need are five discs and twenty-four
etched glow stones with their collars. When the others are
complete, Lor can oversee their installation in the Kunscap henge.
As for the device, it is complete but not calibrated. That will
take some time. When it is set accurately Lor can tell you the type
of eclipse that is coming up next and when it is due to happen.
Meanwhile we can be covering the realm with the henge items and
looking for the latent sages.” Gyan was nodding, appreciating the
concise logic that they presented.

They turned into the shop that was working on
the device. When the harried woman started to apologize to the
Great One for not having the piece in working order, he held up his
hand. “Gert, I understand the need for careful calibration. I want
the device to be accurate. How long do you estimate it might take
to achieve this?” “It might take up to a week. I know you need it
today. I’m so...”

Gyan cut her off. “A week will be fine. If
you should complete the calculations before that, that is even
better.” He held up a finger to emphasis his next point. “As soon
as you have it accurate take it to Lor in Aerie. Show him how it
works and show him when the next eclipse is. He will be my deputy
while I am gone. I will get the information from him. I appreciate
it enormously that you have constructed it so quickly. You haven’t
let me down and you won’t. Do a good job.” He gave her a smile and
they left the shop.

It wasn’t much further and they were in the
jewelry and glow stone shop. The man at the counter was the same
one that Drune and Erin had met. He wasn’t looking quite as
pressured as he had been. He first brought out the five discs. Gyan
looked them over carefully. He was quite familiar with the plans as
he had studied them before he had turned them over to the guild
craftsmen. He couldn’t find a flaw in any of them. “Good job, Kith.
These are ready to be carefully packed. Let’s see the etched glow
stones in their collars.”

Kith
meticulously wrapped
the discs and placed them in a box, as an assistant was bringing
out the first of the special glow stones. Gyan silently inspected
the engraving of the symbol on each stone, the uniformity of the
warm amber color and the special metal collars that were to be
fastened to the top of each post, securing the stone in place. By
the time the twenty-fourth piece came out of the back room,
everyone was holding his breath. Erin had watched the process and
had looked them all over as they came out. The accuracy of the
etching and the consistency of the color were impressive. Finally,
Gyan looked up and looked into the sea of faces from the back work
room. “You are all a credit to your craft. These are superb!” There
were cheers and sighs of relief.

“Please carton these well. We don’t want any
damage to come from them being jostled in the wagon. They need to
go immediately to Kennet’s wagon. Tell him that I said that these
will help save the realm and they need to be packed accordingly.”
There were whoops and laughter for his words. The release of
tension was palatable. “Now, you have one more disc and six more
etched glow stones to prepare. Make sure they are also perfect
because they will be installed here at Kunscap. When you have those
done contact Lor at Aerie. He will be in charge of seeing to their
installation. Good job everybody!” With pats on the back and
shaking of hands Gyan and the two young sages left the shop to head
up the hill.

“Erin, I need to speak to Nuit and Keir.
There are four enhancers to deliver. I need to give Lor and Alliz
theirs and one to each of us. We also have to put on our special
pendants and wear them from now on. There is no telling where we
will find a latent. There could be one here and we wouldn’t know
because we haven’t been wearing the medallions. Could you check
with your friends and meet me in the dining room? I need to speak
to Sterling.”

When Erin entered her room she saw that
someone had let her companions in the balcony door. ‘It is so good
to see you! Who let you two in?’

Nuit answered. ‘Sterling was packing your
belongings for travel, saw us arrive, and let us in.’

‘Well, I’ll fill you in on the details later
but suffice it to say that we were able to search out information
that the ancients hid for us. There are several things that we will
be doing all at once and we are getting ready to leave Kunscap to
do them. Gyan has requested that you join us in the dining room. He
has somethings to talk over with you two.’

Drune stood in her doorway. “It looks like we
are packed to go. Welcome back Nuit and Keir. Nuit would you like
to perch on my arm while we go to the dining room or would you
rather fly?” Nuit heard his question through Erin’s mind and flew
to his arm. Tempo was not in the room. The last time she had seen
him he had fallen asleep in the dining room at breakfast. Keir flew
to her shoulder and they walked down to the dining room.

As they entered Erin saw that Tempo was still
asleep on his chair and that Gyan had arrived before them. He had
placed their personal pendants beside their places at the table, as
well as the diminutive tigereye enhancers. He greeted them all
warmly, “I have given Alliz her new enhancer. She will not be
joining us as she is resting. Lor will.” he said as Lor walked in.
Gyan smiled and continued as he handed Lor his little stone, “As I
was saying, those stones we don’t need at the moment, Lor will put
away where we found them. He will also clean up the library and in
doing so will read our notes so he will be informed.” Gyan gave the
younger man a grin to match Lor’s rueful clowning expression. Then
he turned to Erin and raised an eyebrow. She gave him a small
nod.