Chapter 6 Part 13

Keeneye saw the flash out of the corner of his eye as he navigated the narrow trail winding up the mountain side, but having been forewarned by Ultrecht, he did not look at it until he had counted to ten. When he finally turned around, all he saw was a gigantic glowing cloud drifting upwards. The cloud took on a peculiar mushroom shape. Keeneye watched as the cloud drifted up through the stratosphere.

"Well I'll be," Ultrecht murmured. "It works!"

"Almost too well," Armegon said from Keeneye's side. "There wasn't much of a time delay."

"We'll work on that later," Ultrecht assured him. "So tell us. What happened?"

"I had a run in with your friend, Quickdraw. You are right about his spell speed. It is phenomenal." Armegon glanced back at the cloud. "I wish we could have studied that a little more."

"Is he dead?" Armegon shrugged. "Tyson was there and warned them of the siege spell. Tyson escaped. I saw him disappear. The other mage and that Blackheart fellow may or may not have gotten out in time."

"Let us hope they didn't," Marlena said as she cuddled closer to Samson. "I am terribly sorry about that spell, Marlena," Armegon apologized. "I think I clipped a few square kilometers of forest with it."

"The price is worth the purchase if you got enough of them to counter the loss." "Oh, I got at least two regiments of troops." Everyone stood in silence for a moment longer contemplating the now dispersing cloud. Finally Keeneye turned and continued the climb up the side of the mountain.

Near the summit, two days later, they discovered a cavern entrance with a fresh breeze blowing through it. The rock was smooth, and sloped gently downward. "This must be the place," Keeneye said as he entered the mountain side. The others followed, their way lighted by the ever useful glow crystals.

No one mentioned the last trek through the darkness they had experienced. This trip, however, was uneventful and short. The way was straight and easy. And within a few hours they emerged on the other side. Together they all gazed down into the hidden valley Armegon's map had described.

The valley was lush with vegetation. Its most dominant feature was a large lake in the center of a ring of mountains. Near the center of the lake was an island. "Wow," Ultrecht exclaimed, "this must have been a huge volcano at one time. This whole mountain range is simply one gigantic caldera."

"We are getting close," Marlena breathed quietly.

"That we are," Samson said in return.

The trip down was a lot easier than the one up. By mid-afternoon, they were into the subtropical environment. And, before the suns had vanished behind the rim of the crater, they were standing on the shore of the lake.

Norwind tested the water with a bare toe. "Not!" He shivered. "Much too cold for my blood."

"Well it is certainly too far to levitate," Ultrecht said. "And I won't have you cutting any trees to make a raft," Marlena insisted.

"We may have to swim," Samson teased Norwind.

"I wouldn't advise it," Keeneye said as he felt the water. "You would probably go hypothermic within ten minutes. That and the thin air at this altitude would probably drown us all."

"Death is just as much a part of nature as is life," Marlena said. "Go find some driftwood or better yet some dead trees to tie together." A two hour search turned up enough unrotted deadwood to construct a raft large enough to carry them all and by nightfall, they were ready to make the crossing. Keeneye, however, advised against a night crossing and in his new position as trail boss, decided to camp for the night.

The camp was alive with anticipation. They had come a long way and were finally about to go home. They were sure that their enemy was either dead or had given up on trying to kill them and was going to leave them alone. Ultrecht, Armegon and Marlena held the night watches letting those doomed to row and steer get some sleep.

When morning broke into a deep twilight as the sunlight illuminated the sky over the crater rim, camp was broken and the raft was loaded. When all passengers were aboard, Samson pushed the raft out onto the lake. Norwind and he push-poled out into deep water. Next, they used some makeshift oars which Keeneye had constructed by stretching cloth across some dead tree branches. Keeneye steered by way of an improvised tiller.

When the sun broke over the rim and shone down into the icy water, the bottom could be seen, but even the longest pole fell far short of reaching it. The pureness of the place had Marlena in a dreamy state of mind, and the attitude was similarly affecting the others. By mid-afternoon, the island shore was close enough to see features.

As the suns began to dip behind the ridge rim, they made a landing on the beach. All in all, Keeneye estimated that they had about six hours of direct sunlight and were due another three hours of twilight.

The beach was of a dark gritty sand from long ceased volcanic processes. Camp was set up, while Norwind and Keeneye proceeded to scout the immediate vicinity as long as daylight permitted. At the same time, Ultrecht and Armegon inspected some rock outcroppings, and Marlena and Samson sat closely near the campfire talking.

Just as the long twilight came to an end, Keeneye and Norwind returned with some exciting news. Just a few kilometers east of their position was a river inlet river with a strong inflow current.

" This could be what we are looking for," Armegon said, "I have heard of islands with rivers emerging from them, but I have never seen an island where a river flowed from the sea to the center.

"Imagine that," Ultrecht reflected. "A land form with a positive gradient, but a negative divergence."

Norwind rolled his eyes. "What?"

"The water flows uphill," Armegon translated.

"Yeah, right."

"Well, there is one thing about it," Keeneye said. "Anything that weird has to be connected to the Well."

"Your logic is infallible," Armegon laughed. It was decided to investigate this unusual phenomenon first thing in the morning as it held greatest probability of leading them to the Well of Time. Until then they made camp and enjoyed an uneventful and long needed rest in the pseudo paradise of the crater.

The next morning they awoke to the long twilight between sunrise and the suns' appearance over the mountain crest. The sounds of wildlife rose from the island promising a day of pleasant travel. They broke camp cheerfully--each sensing the closeness of their home.

Before the suns came into view they had reached the inward flowing river. The island was large, but not excessively so. By midday, the river came to a stop at a waterfall in the very center of the island. Armegon and Ultrecht agreed that it probably dropped into an evacuated magma chamber.

A quick survey of the waterfall failed to produce a passage downward, but at the expense of a whole afternoon of searching, Keeneye and Norwind discovered what Ultrecht suspected was a lava tube. Even though the suns were already disappearing for the day, it was decided to keep moving onward. So they descended into the long dead volcano's bowels.

The lava tube was full of jagged rock, igneous in nature. Outcroppings of obsidian tore at bare flesh and loose clothing like swords, leaving none of the travellers unscathed. This and the absence of light, save the glow of Ultrecht's light stone, kept their progress at a slow pace.

Keeneye guessed that they had barely gone two kilometers when the tube came to an abrupt stop. It was suggested that this was a dead end where the lava had cooled and plugged the tube. The thought of backtracking and looking for another entrance was not too appealing, but the lack of alternatives left little choice. By the time they emerged it was far into the night. Camp was quickly made and soon they were settled for the night.

Another uneventful night passed and everyone woke refreshed. Over the next four days, an extensive exploration of the interior of the island revealed three more lava tubes. The largest of which heralded a distant rumble that almost certainly was the sound of falling water. Reassured, they again descended into the volcano's interior.

This time the way was not so difficult. The passage was wider and appeared worn. However, it too came to a dead end about one kilometer in. This plug, however, was obviously not natural. A wall of solid obsidian formed a smooth barrier to their path. In the center of the obsidian was a tetrahedral outcropping resembling a miniature pyramid.

"Well I have to admit, I was not expecting this." Ultrecht's surprise echoed what everyone else was thinking.

"A door," Armegon suggested.

"Possibly," Ultrecht agreed. "If so, how do we open it?"

"Knock?" Norwind laughed. Armegon looked at Ultrecht who shrugged in answer. They both looked at Norwind. Seeing this he put up both hands and backed away.

"Hey, I was just kidding."

"It was your idea," Marlena said.

Norwind submitted. He approached the door and inspected it carefully. This close to home, he was not about to fall prey to some trapped door. Through the door, the muffled roar of the waterfall could be heard. The door itself showed no signs of danger, so Norwind reached out and gently touched the polished surface. It was warm and very smooth.

Norwind moved his hand and touched the protrusion. It was cool and hard but still nothing happened. Bracing himself for any possible result, he grabbed the protrusion with both hands and shoved. The door swung open to reveal a bright light silhouetting Norwind from the others. As their eyes adjusted, they saw Norwind and the large chamber beyond.

The chamber was immense. One could not see the far side in spite of the sunlight shining down from the top of the waterfall. The suns were almost at the zenith and the entire cavern was alight; however, it did not appear as a cavern. The roof was so distant and there was so much water in the air that clouds formed and a haze obscured the ceiling. They were standing on a ledge which descended via a set of steps to the base several hundred meters below. The floor was made of packed sand. The walls receded in both directions away at a gentle, almost indiscernible curve.

"Is it just me or is this thing bigger on the inside than it was on the outside?" Keeneye asked as they descended.

"It is definitely larger than the island," Ultrecht assured him. "Perhaps as large as the whole mountain, but I doubt it is much larger."

It took them longer to descend to the chamber floor than they would have expected. The steps were slippery from lack of use in a highly humid environment. A thin layer of mildew made the footing chancy.

Standing on the floor, the sight of the waterfall was awesome. When the suns shone directly above the opening, it appeared like a miniature sun itself. From that sun hung a wavering ribbon of silver that dangled down and disappeared in a cloud of mist near the center of the chamber.

It took almost two hours to walk the distance to the wall of mist that surrounded the center of the chamber. They penetrated the mist slowly. The sound of the water was now deafening and the noise could be felt as well as heard. Eddies of mist swirled around changing their visibility from five meters at best to a complete white out. In less than a few steps everyone was damp from head to toe. A few minutes later, water began to drip from noses and hair.

The noise and dreary wetness chilled and rattled their bones making everyone miserable. The lack of visibility, coupled with the numbing of the mist blowing around and the deafening of the noise, blanketed the senses and gave rise to the question as to whether they were making any progress at all.

Fear began to grow as the absence of the three major senses of sight, hearing, and touch forced them to rely on their other senses. But the mist had no smell and the taste of water in their mouths yielded no flavor. The blandness relieved everyone of the remaining two senses.

Their fear grew. Fear born of the lack of input from the environment mounted to a point that even an occasional touch of another body could not dispel the surging anxiety. The roaring of the water was nearing the point where independent thinking was not coherent and a strong wind was blowing now crosswise to their forward travel.

Armegon took charge. He tied them together with rope and made sign language to each one to let him lead. The thickness of the mist was so severe that at the head of the rope all he could see was the rope disappearing into the fog behind him. He knew that Keeneye was less than two meters away, but the poor visibility hid that fact. Armegon, deprived of the his five senses, relied on his sixth sense. He felt magic ahead.

He felt the magic at a potential greater than anything he had felt before, but it was waning. It was like listening to a musical note. The pitch determined the power of the magic and the volume determined its strength. Armegon stumbled along leading the blind for about half a kilometer. Many of them felt the same fear and anxiety he had felt only theirs was worse. His sixth sense gave him some input from the environment.

Suddenly, like walking into a lighted room, the mist and wind ended. As if passing through a curtain, each of his companions emerged from the fog and Armegon saw that each of them were soaked and pale from the experience, but otherwise unharmed. They stood at the core of the chamber. From the sky, the waterfall fell into a rapidly swirling pool of silvery water. Through the opening, the two suns could be seen. One of the distant fireballs was almost out of view as it moved behind the rim. His sixth sense ebbed and he knew the magic he had felt earlier, which had guided him was now gone.

As if in agreement, the swirling of the pool ceased and the wind died leaving the mist to dissipate until it resembled a simple light fog. The waterfall continued unhindered, but it was obvious that the magic was gone.

"We missed it," Marlena said in a hollow voice barely discernible above the roar of the water. "It is too late; the gate has closed."

"Impossible," Ultrecht protested. "We should have at least a week left. We were very careful about that calculation."

Armegon thought for a moment. "Ultrecht," he said, "can you take a dimensional reading?"

Ultrecht made a few gestures and drew a triangle in the air in front of him. He spoke some gibberish and then drew an inverted triangle. After a moment, he turned to face his spectators. "The connection between worlds is still present, though that connection is fading rapidly. I suspect about three days until the gate closes."

"Then where is the gate now?" Samson's question spoke for everyone.

"It would appear that the Well of Time is here, but not now."

"Ah," Armegon grasped, "This is the Well but not the Time."

"I don't get it," Keeneye complained.

"The Well of Time," Ultrecht explained, "only appears at certain times. Probably when certain conditions are met. Otherwise, it is just a well."

"What conditions?"

"Right off hand," Armegon said, "I would think that the Well of Time appears during the interval between the transits of the two suns."

Ultrecht agreed. "That is a good theory."

"So we can't go home until tomorrow noon," Marlena asked.

"That is about the size of it," Armegon confirmed.

"Until then?"

"We wait."

That is exactly what they did. They returned to the edge of the chamber as far away from the noise as possible and made camp. There were no combustibles in the chamber so they wrapped up in blankets and ate rations. When the light was completely gone, only Ultrecht's light stones kept them from the total darkness and thunder that reminded one and all of the trip through the mist.

If the cold meal and damp blankets weren't bad enough, the noise inhibited sleep and made for a long uncomfortable night. On more than one occasion, Keeneye caught himself on the verge of bolting for the doorway to leave the place altogether. He knew the others were having similar thoughts.

After an eternity of noise and night, the greyness that signaled the coming day appeared at the crater top making it look like a hole in the darkness. The light revealed six weary faces. Apparently, no one had gotten any sleep.