Chapter 1 part 6

A few hours later, Ultrecht peered up from his reading. He and Armegon had been going over the Tome’s texts as well as the spell that Mager and his comrades had cast. The demeanor in his eyes confirmed what Marlena had discovered. "It seems," he said in a monotone voice, barely hiding his anger, "that our journey across the barrier that separates our multiverse from this one has drained off a portion of our life force." His announcement was not taken well. "That has manifest itself by costing each of us some of our skills or powers."

"Some power!?" retorted Tyson angrily.

"It bloody near cost me my spell casting abilities!" Marlena exclaimed.

"Here him out, my lady," Samson said as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Ultrecht has never steered us wrong before."

"And I don't intend to let him start," mumbled Tyson as he stepped over to the table. He eyed Ultrecht for a moment then turned to the sorcerer. "Armegon, is what he said true?" It was not that Tysone distrusted Ultrecht, but that Ultrecht was know to occasionally understate things of great import.

Ultrecht ignored Tyson. "The power loss is proportional to the total abilities; therefore, the more you had to begin with, the more you lost. For example, while Marlena's powers were cut down to about a third of what they were costing her her major spells, Avery's powers also cut to a third are still great enough to include major healing."

"It could be worse," offered Scarlet.

"In addition," added Armegon, "the preliminary readings indicate that the portal we must use to return is closing, and we have a limited time to get back through."

"It's worse," returned Seymore.

Ignoring Seymore's attempt at humor, Keeneye asked, "How do we get back?"

"It would appear," said Ultrecht as he turned a page in the Tome, "that we must undertake a journey, find this multiverse's spring of the Well of Time and immerse what the tome calls our Codex into its waters."

"How do we know that there is a Well of Time?" Keeneye asked.

"Every multiverse has one," Ultrecht assured him. "In laymen's terms: in order for time to pass, there has to be a place for the present to go to become the past. That is the Well of Time. Theoretically it permeates the entire multiverse and connects to all universes. I would not be surprised if it was the conduit we were pulled through to begin with."

"I can not confirm your reasoning," Mager said, "but I can see that you are well versed in the workings of time."

"The elements are my specialty," Ultrecht told him. "Just last month I was working on a spell that would allow me to travel through time."

"Tell us about it later," Samson interrupted, "after we get home. So, we find the Well of Time. What will happen then?"

"If I understand this correctly, our presence in this multiverse is causing a disturbance in the flow of the time stream. Right now a bubble has formed around us. It is a safety valve, so to speak, to prevent the breakdown in causality."

"Causality?" Keeneye asked.

"Causality," Armegon explained, "is the order of flow of events in a time stream that maintains continuity. It keeps result from preceding cause."

"Like a tree falling before the ax cuts it," Scarlet offered.

"Precisely," Armegon agreed.

Ultrecht continued. "The time stream has formed a bubble around us to protect causality. But given time, we will be integrated into this multiverse, and our return will be quite impossible unless someone back home summons us back through."

"And the only ones powerful enough to do that probably doesn't want us around to interfere with their aspirations anyway," Tyson cut in.

“So passage from one universe to another cannot be initiated by us?" Samson asked.

"Correct," Ultrecht replied. "A multiverse has the power to absorb, but not to expel."

"Absorption is passive and expulsion is active." Avery posed. "Passivity usually requires less effort and energy."

"Right. Any other questions?" Ultrecht asked.

"Yeah, what is a Codix?" asked Norwind.

"I believe that it is an item that was produced as a result of each one of us crossing the barrier and represents us as we are in our home multiverse. But the Tome doesn't tell us what it looks like."

"It looks like this."

Everyone turned to see Samson holding up what appeared to be a scroll case. He walked over to the table where Ultrecht was sitting and handed the scroll case to him.

Ultrecht eyed the scroll case suspiciously. It was about three hands long with a diameter about the size of his forearm. There appeared to be no openings or any evidence that it did so. "Mager," Ultrecht asked as he absently traced his name, which was etched into one side of the cylinder, "have you seen anything like this?"

"No," Mager said, "I am afraid not."

Ultrecht addressed Samson. "Where did you find it?"

Samson pointed to the table where nine other cylinders lay. "There," he answered.

"That table," Mager said, anticipating Ultrecht's next question, "was where the material components of the spell were cast."

"Well," Avery said, as he spread the map, which he had received earlier on the table, "if that is a Codix, then our problem is half-solved. Now, all we have to do is locate the Well of Time." He addressed Mager, "You don't happen to know where it is, do you?"

Mager walked over to a shelf, retrieved a leather-bound book and laid it open on the table. He began skimming through the book's pages as if seeking for something in particular. Finally, he stopped and pointed to a passage near the top of one of the pages. Everyone crowded around to investigate.

"It says here," Mager began, "in the Book of Bakkas, that the Well of Time's location is known only to the Oracle of the Twilight Dragon." He looked his guests in the eyes, "according to legend, few who travel to the Oracle ever return."

"That is probably just a tale," said Tyson. "You can bet we'll return." There was iron in his voice.

Mager nodded at the resolve in the people whom he had alienated from their home world. He truly believed that, if anyone could return from the Oracle of the Twilight Dragon, they could. "I believe you," he said sincerely.

"Mager," Avery said as he returned to the map, "where is the Oracle?"

Mager pointed to a lone island in the polar region of the map. "There." He swallowed hard with a distinctive strain in his voice. "Somewhere within the boundaries of the Ice Kingdom, a place noted for its hatred of non-humans."

"That may be of use in time," Avery said thoughtfully.

"Okay," Tyson sighed, "then where are we now?"

"Seron, I think," said Avery as he pointed to the large city's location on the map.

Mager was taken aback. How was it that this halfelf from another world who had never been outside of this vault or its dungeon knew which city he was in he thought openly.

Seeing Mager's questioning glance, Avery explained, "It is not difficult to smell that we are near a very large deposit of freshwater and forest land. There are only two cities that meet those requirements with a population big enough to support this temple. And, the other city, Aspberg, is listed here on the map as being oppressed by a religious military dictatorship. I've never seen one of those that was benevolent." Avery waved his arms around. "And since I see no evidence of evil in this place, I concluded we most be in Seron."

"An excellent display of reasoning," Armegon commented and slapped the other halfelf on the back.

Samson was more serious. "If that is true, my companions, then we must travel over land through forest and over sea by boat in order to reach our destination," he paused to gaze at Ultrecht, "unless you spell slingers want to spin up a teleportation spell."

"No!" Mager exclaimed, while holding up a frantic hand. "No, please listen. One of the ways the gods keep up with powerful mortals is to monitor the use of certain high level spells and spell-like items. If you try to teleport or plane shift or anything likewise, they will know of your existence. Then, they will seek you out."

"What an attention getter," Seymore said.

"If it is all the same to you," Norwind said, "I would rather we not announce ourselves unless absolutely necessary."

"Well then, we have another problem," Avery interrupted. "According to the map, it is a four weeks' march just to get to the ocean on horseback." He paused to do some rapid mental calculations, "or," he continued, "about four days by air."

"How long will it take to get to the Twin Cities?" asked Mager.

Avery made a few more calculations. "Five or six, depending on trails and weather or about a week and a half by air."

"Why should we go there?" Keeneye asked.

"Because it is the only good city close by where you can catch an iceboat."

"Iceboat?" asked Norwind.

"The northern waters are frozen," Mager explained, "so, the inhabitants of that area put sails on sleds and ride them over the ice. It is a very fast form of travel."

Norwind surveyed the map again. "If that is the case, why don't we go by land or air up to here." He pointed to the map. "Freon."

"Not a good idea," Mager responded. "For one thing, Freon is a wicked and evil place and is allied with House Blackheart."

"Blackheart?" asked Seymore. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Lord Serpentine Viperious Blackheart is the pseudo mortal son of the Godking and is pledged to serve the god, Set, to honor Set's alliance with the Godking." Mager pointed to another city that was not too far from the one Avery had indicated that they were in. "He is also the ruler of Aspberg, a thoroughly wicked and diabolical city as you so wisely deduced." Mager sighed, "I strongly advise that you stay as far away from the long arm of Lord Blackheart as you can."

"Serpents, Vipers and Asps?" Seymore repeated. "Someone is obsessed with snakes."

The patron of House Blackheart is Set, the snake god. Lord Blackheart was named in his honor," Mager told them.

"In any case," Samson Okmar said, as he hefted his pack onto his back and picked up the great Sword of Balance from where he had lain it, "I suggest we get moving. Our time is running out and we have been here for almost half a day."

"Agreed," Ultrecht added, "let's strike out to trail until we can acquire or purchase air passage." Then, turning to Mager he asked, "Do you know where we might find some airborne mounts?"

"No," the mage answered. "For the most part, mounts that fly are rare and only used by the most aristocratic and popular personalities. An airborne mount would certainly draw unwanted attention, and enough of them to carry all of you would be almost impossible to find anyway. So I am afraid I can’t help you there, but I can offer you some fresh supplies."

"Well at least that's a start," Keeneye replied.

"It is the very least I can do. I feel I must atone for my mistake in some way."

"A noble thought," Samson agreed.

"I only wish I could do more," Mager continued. "But, I can not expose my hand in this. You are unknowns. You might be able to move about freely, but I can not. I would only draw attention to you."

"We appreciate any help you can give us," Avery said, "and we understand your caution."

Mager led them to an exit and there he stopped a passing servant. He spoke briefly to the middle aged man and then nodded to Ultrecht. “This is one of my servants. He will see to it that you are given the best this temple has to offer. He is bound to a vow of silence, but he can read. If you need something, simply write it out for him. If you do not understand the word of our laguage, ...”

Armegon cut him off. “I have already picked your language up,” he said in Mager’s own tongue. “It is a natural gift of mine. We should do well.”

Mager nodded and then turned about to contemplate the large room where he and his comrades had spent the last week working and dying. He did not spare them a second glance as his unwilling visitors passed from the room and from his life. He wished them well, but he had his own problems to deal with and could not afford them any more of his time.