The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (21 page)

“When the ancients came to Ose, that is the
name they gave our planet, they learned everything there was to
learn about the planet. For instance, you know that the founder
cities were located where they were because of the geothermal
energy there and the type of rock formation that allowed for
building in the cliff.” There were nods around the entire crowd.
“How many of you have been to two or more founder cities?”

There were about two dozen hands raised.
“Each city has a ‘Green’ or a ‘Commons’ in front with posts around
the space.” There were heads nodding. “Well, it seems that these
were placed there with a purpose. They are called henges. They are
sort of..” and he placed his fingers on the inside of his wrist,
“.. pulse points or connections for this energy flow.”

“We carry with us some special glow stones to
mount on the tops of the posts of each founder city henge. There is
also a special disc that will be buried in the center of the henge.
This is supposed to help focus the geomagnetic energy to bring
Ose’s batteries up to charge.” He shrugged. “Does that make any
sense?” There were dazed and perplexed looks around the people
gathered but many started to nod slowly.

Gyan paused then said, “I have a question for
you.” Everyone perked up. “Does anyone know of a ‘Wild Henge’, or
ring of tall stones on the Pastarham plains not far from here,
across the Mear river?”

All of the people younger than their fifth
decade shook their heads. The older ones all looked more
thoughtful. The man who’d asked how Gyan communicated with Tempo,
slowly raised his hand. “I remember seeing such a thing when I was
a stripling. It was northwest of here near old Grai’s cabin. He was
a sheep herder and kept to himself. I don’t think it’s still there.
Why, Great One?”

Gyan gave the man a nod of respect and
thanks. “In the archives, with the instructions about the city
henges, there was a directive to put a special disc there to
complete the geomagnetic charging. We will need to find where that
spot was and put up another one if that is gone. We have some other
cities to visit first but we’ll be on the plains looking before ten
days are up. Are there any other questions or concerns?” There was
shaking of heads. Gyan glanced at Drune and Erin as he scanned the
crowd. They were smiling and moving toward the front edges of the
crowd. “Well, we must get to Morraton. If questions occur to you,
ask Mayor Cesler. If he doesn’t know he can get a hold of me.”

Gyan started to step off of the porch when
Tempo’s tail went straight up and a high pitched growl came out of
his throat. Erin, who was a step away yelled, “Quake!” and grabbed
for the post. The crowd had started to disperse when some had heard
the skunk and thought the animal was going to attack. When the
youth yelled out ‘quake’ they turned in question. In less than a
minute the ground shivered and rocked under their feet. Several
people abruptly sat down in the dirt. Others started to run but the
grass was moving beneath their feet. Buildings shook and a porch
down the way lost one of its posts and the overhang sagged
drunkenly. Thankfully, it was a short quake and not very strong.
Gyan, who had sat down abruptly on the last step, got up and dusted
himself off. He nodded to Tempo and then to the people. “Like I
said, skunks are great early warning systems!” He chuckled and
slapped Erin on the back. Let’s get to Morraton.”

The Great One’s cavalcade pulled into
Morraton just as the sun was setting. The ruddy hue of the sky cast
a golden light on the facade of the founder city making it sparkle
like a jewel. A lad of less than ten years had been sitting on the
steps watching for them. As soon as he had spotted the riders
coming he ran in and told Mayor Cesler. That was why, as they
pulled up to the city’s stable, Cesler was waiting for them.

The mayor greeted the leader of the realm
with a hearty handshake and a slap on the shoulder. “It is good to
see you, Gyan! It has been too long since you have graced this
city. Come in, man! I have quarters set aside for you and your
entourage. You mentioned once that you needed to meet many of our
citizens so we are having a large dinner for you tonight and a
public gathering tomorrow. Right now I will show you to your
quarters so you can wash up. There is time for a short meeting in
my office before dinner.”

“Some of my men will stay with the wagon but
most will be with us. Bast will see to the rotation. It is good of
you to accommodate us all. Have you met Drune and Erin? They are my
invaluable counselors for this trip.”

The mayor smiled at the two. “Drune, it has
been awhile since I had seen you. There had been a rumor of your
death. I’m glad to see you hale and hearty! Erin, I have not
officially met you. You were a mere lad, with Lor last time I saw
you. You are looking more feminine now!” He gave a short burst of
laughter.

“Let me take you to your rooms.” The mayor
kept up a cheerful dialog as he led them to the rooms prepared for
them. “When you are cleaned up a lad will show you to my office. I
will see you in a bit.” He waved them into the rooms and strode
away. The three of them didn’t take long in washing up and changing
their clothes for fresh ones. They all stepped out of their rooms
within moments of each other and followed the boy to the mayor’s
office.

When they sat down in the Mayor’s office,
Gyan got right to business. “Cesler, There are things that you need
to do right away. Your outside courtyard has six posts around it.
Each founder city has a similar structure. The ancients tell us
that these six posts frame a special space. It is called a henge.
The henges are thin spots of planetary geomagnetic energy. One of
our correction actions is to put a special glow stone cap on the
top of each of the six posts. We brought your set to you.”

Mayor Cesler nodded. “No problem, Gyan.”

“The other thing you need to do in Morraton’s
henge is bury a disc that we also brought you, at the center
point.” Cesler’s face paled as he groaned. “The fountain out there
might make doing that difficult.” Gyan puts his hand on the man’s
knee. “Is the fountain exactly in the center? Did you move any of
the posts, over the years? I haven’t measured but by my eye it
looks like it isn’t a hexagon.”

Cesler thought about that. “I vaguely
remember that the posts went further out. I need to check the
archives of the city. If the posts nearest the city are in the
original position, but the shape was collapsed to make it a smaller
common space, we could calculate where the other posts need to be
and move them. Then the fountain would be off center and we could
bury the disc.”

Gyan nodded. “Not to put any pressure on you
man, but you have ten days or less to get it done. I suggest you
delegate the research to someone tonight. Also do you have a lintel
somewhere in the city with this symbol carved on it?” Gyan pulled
out a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to the mayor.
It had the celtic shield knot design on it.

Cesler looked at it. “This one I know. It is
on the lintel by the city archives.”

Gyan grinned. “It was by the archival room in
Yerra also. I hope the ancients were always that predictable. It
will make finding the spot easier in the other cities.”

Cesler returned the smile. “What do I do to
the lintel?”

Gyan reached out and demonstrated with an
imaginary block. “Grasp the design piece and turn it counter
clockwise. There should be a box or a bag behind it. I need it for
what we have to do in Morraton. We will return what we don’t use
and the container has to be replaced into the niche against another
time of need. That is the bare bones of what needs to be done. We
are in a time crunch. We will be here perhaps a day and I’ll try to
fill you in a little more later.”

“I understand.” Cesler stood. “I can hear
people gathering for the dinner. Let me introduce you around.
Immediately after dinner I will take care of the lintel. Since the
post changing is recent history we should be able to access that
information quickly. Thesr, the city legist, has a daughter in the
city archival office. I will speak to him right away. Don’t worry,
Gyan, we will have our task completed easily before the time
deadline. It is top priority!”

They filed out of the office into a courtyard
of milling people. Erin guessed that this was just the reception
and not all would be at dinner, but it made it easier to mingle in
search of a latent sage. While the Great One was being introduced
around she could drift. She saw Tobl, the cobbler, and went to say
hello. When he saw her in the crowd his face lit up.

She spoke first as he wasn’t sure what to
call her. “Hey, Tobl! It is good to see you! The boots are holding
up well! When I was here last I was called Terran but my name is
Erin. Bure and his kin had murdered my parents and were looking for
me, so I disguised myself.”

His grin got wide. “Nice to meet you, Erin! I
am glad that you were able to outsmart them and that Bure is
banished. We don’t need that sort of trouble in the realm. You
traveling with the Great One now?”

“Just for this trip. When the Great One asks,
it is an honor. I’ll see you around. I am supposed to meet several
citizens and need to stay moving.” With a smile and a wave she
continued to move around the room.

Erin had her ‘door’ open, also. They needed
to check the tone of emotion. She saw Drune across the room and
catching his eye, raised her eyebrow. He shook his head that he
wasn’t detecting any problems. She had been weaving through the
people for fifteen minutes when she spotted the friendly laundress
that she had met when she had been with the guild train. Changing
directions, she angled her path to intercept the woman and say
hello. As Erin approached the group the woman was in she felt her
pendant get warm. It cooled though before she reached the group.
She paused and turned at an angle from her previous path then
continued on.

Tacking back and forth through that area of
the room she felt it again, only to lose it. Adjusting her steps to
narrower patterns she finally paused by a young woman in the early
third decade of life. She was beautiful with a warm brown skin
tone, liquid brown eyes and thick black hair. Erin stopped and
searched the crowd for Gyan. He caught her glance and she angled
her head at the woman and nodded. He raised his brows, then turned
to Cesler beside him. Erin looked at the woman and saw that she was
looking back. Stepping forward, Erin smiled and held out her hand.
“Hello, I’m Erin. I am currently traveling with the Great One’s
party but was here with the guild caravan a few weeks ago.”

The woman shook her hand and nodded. “Didn’t
you have a skunk with you? I thought you were a boy!”

Erin laughed. “I still travel with a wild
skunk. He is great as an early warning system for quakes and eating
the vesi. I was disguised as a boy because Bure and his kin had
murdered my parents and were looking for me.”

Erin felt the woman was distressed with her
story and was trying to sense the nature of that. The woman
clarified with her next words. “My name is Glori and I am of the
herbal and healer guild. That was a sad time because of the same
people. We had just lost Auntie Jes and then Zinar. Later we heard
who had killed them and all because those sick individuals believed
in witches! It was a real shame to lose two such wonderful people
for such a stupid reason!” Erin put her hand on the other woman’s
arm in understanding and the pendant became very warm.

“I understand that Auntie Jes died before
anyone found her, but you must have been attending Zinar when he
passed from our sphere. I’m sorry. I was with my parents when they
died. There was nothing that you could have done. The poison was
incredibly lethal.” She gave Glori a quick, one arm hug. She didn’t
want her to feel the heat from the pendant. “Dinner will start
soon. Will you be here for the public meeting tomorrow?” Glori
nodded. “I’m sure we will see each other again. It was nice meeting
you.” Erin said and with a wave made her way toward Gyan.

They were beginning to sit down to dinner
when a woman in her mid-fourth decade, slipped through the closing
door and found her seat beside the legist, Thesr, and across the
table from Gyan and his two council members. Erin’s pendant got
warm and she looked at Gyan. He nodded almost imperceptibly. Thesr
patted her hand and turned to them. “This is my daughter, Yvon. She
was looking up something in the archives for you.” He turned to the
handsome woman and asked. “I assume you found it?”

She smiled at him then turned to Gyan. “My
father gave you my name. I assume you are the Great One.” She bowed
her head in respect and as a hello.

Gyan laughed. “That is my title. My name is
Gyan and these two are my council on this trip. This is Drune of
the miners guild and this is Erin. She hasn’t settled on her guild
affiliation but has talent in archival, herbology and also has
knack with animals. I’m sure there are some other skills I’m not
aware of. We are glad to meet you, Yvon.” She smiled and nodded her
recognition to the introductions.