The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (3 page)

Gyan strode into Aerie. He had lived there
for centuries and it had been named that for longer than he had
been alive. It was the home of the Great One and was located higher
up the mountain and above the city of Kunscap. Both were founder
built. He had just returned from sending Bure into banishment. He
had not had to do that often. The people of the realm worked
admirably together and the few laws they had were usually
respected. Their civilization functioned well but every once in
awhile a really unstable person emerged and caused all kinds of
problems. Bure was the son of one of those and he apparently had
inherited or perhaps developed those sociopathic traits.

Because of Bure’s actions they now had a very
large problem. He had been spending much time in the Ancient’s
Library trying to find the solution. He had more books to go
through than he had time. There were some areas of Aerie that were
off limits to everyone but the Great One, though he could use some
carefully chosen help in the library. It was restricted to a few
chosen sages but not forbidden like the granite enclosed Realm
Room. He had some ideas of who to hand pick but wanted to ask
council from a sage near to his mind.

He went into his study and closed the door.
This was his personal sanctuary. The room was somewhat
multi-leveled in that the main room had a very tall ceiling height
with a mezzanine, which could be reached by a circular stair, in
the far corner. The upper level had some bookcases as well as
drawers and shelves for things that were very special to him. The
room had all of his favorite things. A rich silk area rug in deep
reds, blues and greens covered the floor and a beautifully carved
desk dominated one side. He went to the comfortable chair by the
fireplace and settled in. Clearing his mind of extraneous thoughts
he visualized his friend.

‘Ree, I need your input on a matter.’

She answered quickly. ‘How may I help?’ ‘I
have to find a solution to our current dilemma and have been
pouring through the mountains of books in the Ancient’s Library. I
need some agile sage minds that can help me get through the
enormous amount of information and extrapolate possible solutions
from any information we find. Though the characteristic of the sage
seed is intelligence, you and I both know that some are just more
flexible and intuitive than others. We simply do not have time. I
would have you here but I need you anchoring with the planet where
you are. Who can you recommend?’

He could hear the smile in her voice when she
answered. ‘Your youngest three sages would be my choice. Erin has
shown remarkable problem solving ability and maturity in the last
few months. Her skills just continue to grow at a surprising rate.
Drune is mature beyond his years and he can easily unearth
information and scrutinize it for how it is applicable. Lor is
quick to pick up on clues and to see the ramifications. I must say,
though, that Drune and Erin lead him in these skills. Bas wouldn’t
be a bad choice but he is a bit of a scamp and can’t resist pushing
buttons. You don’t need that disruption right now.’

‘Thank you, my friend. I will take your words
under advisement, Gyan answered graciously.

Now he indeed heard Ree laugh. ‘You don’t
fool me, Gyan. I’ll bet that you were already thinking the
same.’

He chuckled. ‘You would win that bet.’ and
disengaged the conversation. Gyan sat thinking for a moment. He
would call in Drune and Erin and allow Lor to make his way back
with the guild train. He could always tap him when he arrived.

He cleared his mind again and focused.
‘Drune, this is Gyan. Is it possible for you to turn over Raz’s
wagon to someone else and to make haste to the Aerie? I need you
for a project.’

Drune was intrigued. ‘No problem. Lor told me
tonight that one of the musician apprentice’s would be willing to
drive it if I had some other place to go.’ Gyan smiled. ‘Fine,
please arrange that so you and Erin can leave at early light. I
need to talk to her now. I will see you soon.’ Gyan slapped his
hands on his knees. One more to go.

He threw is thoughts out one more time.
‘Erin, I have a favor to ask of you. This is Gyan. Would you come
to the Aerie with Drune? Your wild companions can safely hunt and
associate with their own kind in the area. There are many raptors
that live and fly the peaks here. Nuit and Keir will have no
trouble finding family and I told you that the skunk population is
untouched in Khanlund. Your companions are welcome to come and go
as they please in the Aerie.’

Erin smiled. ‘You know how to make a favor
irresistible! We will be there as soon as possible. I assume we
will leave at first light. It will be nice to meet you in
person.’

..........

Erin had just fallen asleep when Gyan had
contacted her. She propped herself up on her elbow and looked at
Tempo, who was looking back at her. ‘I guess we are going to help
the Great One. That suits me fine because I would rather be working
on a useful task than just waiting for my world to destruct around
me. We need to get some sleep because I think we will be traveling
hard tomorrow.’

Erin’s last words before settling down proved
very accurate. Drune woke her in the pre-dawn and they ate
breakfast, loaded the pack horse, and were ready to go almost
before Tempo could circulate through the camp to catch vesi for his
breakfast. It had been the little skunk’s pattern to be nearby when
the campers were preparing to put on their boots in the morning.
Vesi, nasty little stinging rodents, were attracted to boots so
people would shake out their footwear before putting them on. Tempo
would pounce and eat the crunchy pests. It was a great system.
Tempo found an easy breakfast and the guild members appreciated
elimination of the loathsome creatures. The little skunk made his
rounds rapidly and managed to return in time to be placed in a
hollow on top of the packs. Goodbyes were said and they were
off.

The road they traveled wove through a narrow
valley in the most mountainous province in the realm. They were
surrounded by peaks and the valley, though flatter than the
surrounding countryside, climbed steadily. It was much too hard on
the horses to gallop the whole way but what they were able to do
was cover a lot of distance then get off and walk for a while to
let the animals cool down. Tempo would forage as they stretched
their legs. It was on one of these slower spells that Erin noticed
steam coming from a few of the peaks. She pointed it out to Drune
who stopped dead in the middle of the road and stared. “Erin, those
volcanos have not been active in many centuries. I have prospected
on that one,” he pointed to one with a steam plume, “for rhenon and
gemstones. That they are waking up is not a good sign. We can’t
make the city in one day but we can get closer. We need to
move!”

Erin held up her hand. “Let me talk to the
horses.” She went to each one and explained briefly the urgency.
‘Let me know when you need to change pace. I don’t want you injured
but we need to cover more ground.’ The pack horse answered for the
other two. ‘I’m carrying a little more weight than the other two.
If I get tired we could switch the packs to Shep or Fos and someone
could ride me. Right now we are good to go.’ Erin relayed the
message then scooped Tempo onto the pack horse and mounted Shep.
They quickly moved into a lope to warm the horse’s muscles, then
into a gallop.

By communicating with the horses they were
able to travel further between walks. They did switch the burden of
the packs and that allowed the horses to be less tired. It was late
afternoon when Tempo gave a loud growl and spoke in Erin’s mind.
‘Quake’ Erin yelled the same word to Drune who was ahead. She
simultaneously told the horses and reassured them. ‘We need to
watch for rocks and ground moving but we are in this together. The
quake won’t last long. Stay calm.’ They slowed to a walk then
stopped because they didn’t want the horses to stagger and fall as
the ground moved beneath their hooves. The animals didn’t like it
and laid back their ears but for the most part remained calm. As
soon as the ground stopped moving they were walking again. They had
increased speed back to a lope when just behind them there was a
rumble and a clutter of house-sized rocks slid down a nearby slope
and half way across the road. If they had been slower they would
have been at that spot when the slide hit. It was a chilling
thought. Drune and Erin looked at each other. ‘Are you three up to
getting out of here?’ She asked the horses. The answer was a
universal tossing of heads and all quickly broke back into a
lope.

They had gotten to a wider section of the
ascending valley and could see the lights from Kunscap in the
distance when they ran out of light. Being surrounded by mountains
it seemed to take longer for the moons to rise. The horses were
tired. They had made phenomenal distance that day and deserved a
good night’s rest. Drune took the packs and saddles off the horses
and set up camp. Erin made sure that each horse was fed, watered
and groomed after they cooled down. She talked to each and praised
their efforts. Tempo was off hunting and Keir was nearby settling
down for the night. Erin and Drune were quiet as they ate. It had
been an exhausting day and all they wanted to do was get some rest
and resume travel as soon as they could tomorrow.

Erin was completely asleep in her bedroll
when Tempo curled up against her and closed his eyes. He had a full
belly and had detected skunk scent in the area. He was a satisfied
little animal. Nuit was nearby keeping watch.

They reached Kunscap by mid-morning. It was
the provincial ‘seat of law’ but because it was also the home of
the realm’s Great One it was a bigger founder city than any other.
The entire foot of the mountain was honeycombed with businesses and
homes. Looking at it from the front there were tiers of windows
several stories tall with walkways and balconies strung between.
Erin knew, by being in the other founder cities, that they were
powered by geothermal vents in the mountain and that all of the
shops and public offices were on the ground floor. There were
several large archways into the city and a large plaza out front
paved with glow stones in an intricate pattern and flanked by
beautifully gem encrusted columns. On either side of the old city
were streets of outbuildings.

Erin couldn’t see how they were going to get
to the Aerie which she had spotted higher up the mountain and
further back from Kunscap. Drune had been here before and instead
of going directly to the front arches, after leaving the horses in
the immense city stable, he led Erin down a street to the right of
the city entrance. Tempo kept pace with them and Keir flew up
ahead. They carried their packs down the street and around a spur
of the hill to another road that climbed up the mountain to Aerie.
The road was cobbled with old glow stones so tightly fit that there
wasn’t a blade of grass growing in it’s entire length.

They climbed the old road until they passed
though a large open gateway. The posts on either side of the
opening reminded Erin of those in Ree’s garden. Keir was waiting
for them on the top of the gateway. Drune slipped his pack off just
inside the courtyard and gave it to a couple of lads to take to
their quarters. Erin did the same. Tempo looked up at Erin. ‘As one
of your companions and not a ‘pet’ I would prefer to walk beside
you as you meet the Great One.’ Erin nodded. She wouldn’t think of
insulting the little skunk’s dignity.

Keir landed on her shoulder. ‘I think riding
on your shoulder would be safer for me than flying through
hallways.’

Erin grinned. ‘Both of your preferences are
very wise.’

Drune led the way into Aerie where they were
met by a dignified older man. He was short and slender with thick
snow white hair. He looked up at them with bright black eyes and
nodded his greeting. “I am Sterling. I’m to bring you to the Great
One.”

Drune responded with the need to get out a
pressing message. “We need to first report that there has been a
rock slide across the road several miles back. It happened right
behind us or we may not have been able to get here.”

Sterling nodded. “I’ll see to relaying your
message. Thank you. Would you like to freshen up before meeting
Gyan? It is up to you entirely. You will be having lunch with him
and it is not quite ready.”

Erin nodded. “I would like that immensely,
particularly since there is time.”

Drune nodded in agreement. “That sounds
wonderful.”

“Then come this way and I will show you to
your rooms.”

Sterling led them through the great hall and
up two staircases. Erin was keeping track where she was but was
also taking in the beauty of the place. Nothing was ornate but the
materials used were beautiful. Occasionally lintels or posts were
lightly carved. Sometimes the motif was natural like a small bird
perched on a branch with leaves. Other times it was a design
similar to the celtic knot that she had seen in Ree’s home. There
seemed to be a pattern to these small embellishments. It was like
they were indicators for the room name or use. Sterling stopped
beside two rooms. One had a small carving of a squirrel sleeping
with its tail wrapped near its head. The other had an owl perched
on a branch. Erin smiled that her guess was somewhat correct.
Sterling pointed to the room with the owl. “Erin, this one is yours
and Drune, yours is the other.” indicating the one with the curled
up squirrel above the door. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes to show
you to lunch.” He nodded to them and left.