Chapter 5 Part 5

The next morning came quickly. Everyone was anxious to get underway, and Armegon and Ultrecht had surprises for them all. The two mages had worked long during the night and had prepared spells that would allow them all to float in the air.

"Why should I want to float in the air?" Ruk asked nervously. It had become obvious that the minotaan was not fond of heights. It had taken much encouragement to get him to step off the balcony to float to the ground the previous day.

"Because," Ultrecht explained. "It will make our trip out of the forest much easier."
Ruk swallowed hard and agreed. No one could fault his courage.

When everything was packed, Avery tied them all together with the ropes. Then he fastened the individual ropes to a single one which he tied to Sounder of the Charge's talons.

Armegon and Ultrecht spun their magic and instantly they all became weightless. Sounder of the Charge took Armegon's cue and flapped his great wings thrice and was aloft pulling the others with him. Carefully and slowly the thunderbird increased his speed until just before the wind drag against the non-streamlined passengers streatched the rope tight enough to be painful.

Forest that had taken hours to cross now blurred by beneath them in a matter of minutes. By midday, they had covered the entire forest. They set down at the woodland's edge.
"We’ll walk for the rest of the day," Armegon told them. "That spell is a fairly short duration spell and we used up a lot of power by casting it several times on each person with delays between activations. Even the delays required magic."

"But we can now travel overland without fear of poison gas or strangle weeds," Ultrecht added.

"There’s one last thing that we should do before going any further," Armegon announced. "Sounder of the Charge is too large to enter the mountain."

The thunderbird groaned. "Have you not the magic to make me smaller?"

"We do," Ultrecht assured him. "But in order for you to stay small as we pass through the areas without magic requires a powerful spell that will make you naturally small. We can reverse the process when we reach home, but if you get stuck here and we are killed then you will never return to your original size." Ultrecht read the alarm in the thunderbird's eyes. "I wanted to be up front and honest with you about the possibilities."

The kilobel nodded grimly. "I will accept that fate if it is necessary. I would risk much for my freedom."

Armegon and Ultrecht prepared their magics. "It’d be best if we could do this at the mountain when we need it, but we have no guarantee that our magic will work there."
Sounder of the Charge indicated that he was ready and Ultrecht proceeded to work the magic. He took some water and dug a shallow hole. When it was deep enough, he extracted some clay and began working the material. Soon he had a model of general shape as Sounder of the Charge. Armegon then lent a hand by producing a small fire and concentrated the flames to dry the clay out into a rigid shape.

Ultrecht began the final phase of the spell, but needed Armegon's help since they were too far from the Tower to effectively summon large amounts of magic individually.
When the work was done, Sounder of the Charge was about the same size as that of a common eagle.

"That should do it," Armegon remarked with approval. "Now we can continue onward."

"We are about a day and a half's walk, by my reckoning," Avery figured.

"Then by nightfall we’ll be only a day from home!" Calista exclaimed.

Avery shifted his pack into a comfortable position and began to walk. "Not exactly," he said.

Calista and the others followed. "What do you mean?"

Armegon explained. "Well when we get there, we’ll have to figure out how to operate the mechanism that will transport us out of this realm. We don't know how many chances we may get, so we’ll be damn sure what we are doing before we do it. That may take some time."

"Don't worry, Cal," Ultrecht advised in a fatherly tone. "We'll get you home to your sweetheart."

They followed Avery for the rest of the day across large meadows broken by small, thin woodland. "They told us that death was not possible in this realm unless it was accompanied by a birth," Ruk mused aloud. "Why then have we been so careful about avoiding creatures like the desert snake and those vines?"

"Actually if you remember," Ultrecht answered, "they said that the area around the Towers were close enough to the outer world for death to occur."

"It is true," Sounder of the Charge added, "my own hunting and feeding has been hard. Long have been the periods between my tastes of meat. I have even sunken to the point where I have eaten plants to abate the pain of hunger. On one occasion I fed on the day old carcass of a doe that had died in birth."

"For herbivores it is much easier," Ganatar admitted. "If I crop off a munching of grass, the plant will not die, but will regrow."

"I’m surprised that carnivores haven’t developed to take off a leg and the prey would do the same," Ruk wondered.

"It has been my observation," Sounder of the Charge replied, "that carnivores in this realm were brought in from outside. Never have I seen evidence of successful reproduction among them. Their offspring emerge from the womb as lifeless as stone. It is truly disheartening."

By nightfall, they had journeyed far enough that they could make out the tall mountain that was their goal in the distance. "Tomorrow," Calista whispered softly when Avery had pointed the peak out on the horizon. "Tomorrow we’ll be there."

They bedded down for the evening quietly. The night was broken only by the brilliant green streak overhead and to either side of the mountain, barely perceptible at all, thin threads of red and yellow. Calista found that she could not sleep very well for she was excited at the prospect of returning home. In that respect, the night passed agonizingly slow for her.

The next morning finally came, though and they excitedly packed and struck the trail. The day passed quickly as did the ground. They did not stop for lunch and by mid afternoon, they stood at the base of the giant mountain. The spiral ramp-like path leading up the side beckoned.

Anxiously Calista darted forward to take up the path. As she passed Avery, the ranger grabbed her by the back of her tunic's collar and pulled her up short. "We’ve come a long way and are too close to succeeding to lose our heads now," he warned. "Stay cautious. Most people who die on trips like this do so because they got careless when the hard part was over."

Calista accepted the rebuke with admirable maturity. "Sorry," she said. "You're right, of course."

Avery led the way up the mountain side. He went slowly both to inspect the trail as well as not to tire the others out with an uphill climb. The trail wound up and around and from their ascent they could see the four magical beams from the four Towers all pulsing softly as they entered some unseen openings near the mountain top.

As intriguing as the scene was, Avery took great care not to let himself or the others get preoccupied by what they saw. His caution slowed their progress and the ascent took them the rest of the afternoon. By the time they reached the gates that they had emerged from so many weeks before, the light was fading. They decided to camp at the door that night and resume the final stage of their journey the next day.

Armegon had objected. He wanted to light torches and continue on claiming that the mountain's interior would be little different in the night as it was in the day, but Avery disagreed. His explanation was similar to that he had given Calista earlier. In the end, Avery convinced them all that caution was paramount. "I would rather we get home a day late than not at all," he said to close the argument.

The night passed slowly for those who were anxious to go onward, but it did pass. When morning came, they broke their camp and took what they hoped was one last look at the sunless world. Turning aside, they entered the mountain. No one did so reluctantly.

The interior was just as they remembered. The hollow core was a hole whose depths could not be observed due to the clouds that hovered about not too far beneath them. This time the only difference was a faint shimmering swirl of color in the mists.

"As I recall," Armegon said peering over the side, "there is a large room quite a ways beneath the mists."

Avery began the decent. The spiral walkway passed beneath them this time much faster than it had the last time. Soon they were surrounded by the clouds. They passed several windows, but the thick fog prevented any viewing of the exterior. After ten minutes more, they emerged just as abruptly as if they had walked through a door.

Far below, they could see the floor as a small circle, but the distance was still to far to see the mysterious diamond or the strange designs. They continued their downward hike for another hour when they happened upon the numbers that Ultrecht had written on the wall. The writing told them exactly how far they were above the floor.

Not long after, they arrived at the alcove that led to the strange room containing the platform and chest. "I guess we might take a look while we are here," Avery said as he pulled up to a stop. "Somewhere, here or below is the secret of how to escape from this place."

Ruk checked the door briefly. Satisfied that it had not been tampered with, he gave the doors a good shove. The swung inward. The room had not changed.

"Well," Armegon said as he approached the chest near the dais, "trapped or not, I guess we don’t have much choice now except to open this thing."

Ruk passed his axe to Avery. "Let me," he offered. "I might be able to survive a trap if there is one." He knelt before the chest and examined the lock. There appeared to be no sign as to whether the thing was trapped or not.

Ruk took a long dirk from his belt and wedged it beneath the latching plate. Then he braced himself, put his arm up to protect his face, and then pried the latch free of the wood.

The latch broke free, but no explosion occurred. Cautiously Ruk opened the lid. When the lid was halfway open, the minotaan peered inside scanning the hidden contents. Abruptly he flipped the heavy lid open and grunted.

The others gathered around. Revealed within were a collection of odd items. Four cloth covered bundles and a long wooden box lay nestled inside the chest. The interior of the chest was lined with soft fur. Obviously the contents were considered fragile.

Calista made an even more revealing discovery. A book was strapped to the top of the chest. She pointed it out and Ultrecht greedily groped for the item. He immediately began to thumb through the pages while Armegon removed the items from the chest.

The box, they found contained a pair of rods about a meter long and was fashioned of some black substance. An intricate series of prongs and sockets joined the two rods together to make a longer one topped by a small frustum.

Uncovering the cloth bundles produced a set of four silver cones. They were highly polished and fairly heavy.

The second chest revealed a massive collection of short glass rods each, about the length of an arm. At the top of each of these glass rods was a sphere of some dark, translucent material.

Ultrecht was urgently going through the pages of the book he was reading. "This is fantastic," he said happily.

"What is it?" Armegon asked as he peered over Ultrecht's shoulders.

"This book." Ultrecht pointed excitedly at the pages. "This book explains this entire realm. It tells how the realm was constructed, how the magic is siphoned in from the outside, and how to operate the transportation system."

"So the book details how to get out?"

"That's it," Ultrecht replied.

"What do we have to do?" Calista interrupted.

"Well, first we have to activate what the book calls the Ether Transfer Stations." Ultrecht looked up. "I think we can assume that means the Towers. That done," he continued reading, "we install the four transformer cones in the prismatic wave shafts and install the four anodes. We then stand on the transmitter platform and install the single cathode, the black rod, into the center hole on the platform and press down firmly. The transmitter is supposed to activate at that time and we will be returned to the outside. The transmitter will then alert the proper authorities that an egression has occurred. A technician will be sent to take a census and reset the realm's systems."

There was a few seconds of silence. "Now that’s what I would call deep," Armegon commented. "You mean to tell me that after we leave, someone is going to come here and turn off the Towers and take a head count of the prisoners?"

"That may have been the original intent," Ultrecht guessed, "but after so many eons the builders may no longer exist. It would seem that whoever constructed this place intended that should the prisoners want to badly enough and be resourceful enough, they could escape."

"I wonder how often that’s happened?" Avery asked.

Ultrecht was not listening. "I want this book," he said. "There are some very ingenious applications of prismatics in here not to mention some theories I have never even heard of."

"Perhaps you should leave the book behind?" Ganatar suggested. The unicorn stood behind Ultrecht and to the right. "Otherwise how would someone else know how to escape?"

"Good point," Avery commented. "Look Ultrecht, if you insist on taking that book with you I think you should leave something behind to instruct others on how to escape."
Ultrecht frowned. "I could transcribe the important information, but that would take hours."

"Oh please let's not," Calista begged. "I want to get out of here as soon as I can."

"This information would mean a lot if we could keep it," Armegon remarked.

Ruk's opinion was readable, but he stood at Armegon's side. Since he considered himself in Armegon's employ, it was obvious that he would back Armegon even though he too wanted to leave quickly.

Ganatar and Sounder of the Charge both agreed that they had waited so long for freedom that they could easily wait another few hours.

That left Avery with the deciding vote. "Okay," he decided. "Here is what we'll do.

Armegon and Ultrecht can start transcribing the important texts. While they’re doing that the rest of us will follow the directions to prepare this thing for transport. When we’re ready to go, we’ll leave." He turned to Ultrecht. "I recommend you work as fast as you can and skip the unnecessary parts."

Ultrecht agreed and he and Armegon set about their work. Avery, Calista and Ruk took the components that were packed in the chest and began sorting them.

"The cones must go down to the bottom level," Ultrecht explained. "There are four shafts around the perimeter of the design. We thought them chimneys at first, but according to these schematics, the shiny object at the top is a mirror that will reflect the ether beams down to the cones."

"So we have to carry the cones down there and put them in the shafts?" Avery asked.

"That is what the book says," Ultrecht confirmed. "When the beam hits the silver, it reflects and disperses from a concentrated form into a usable magic wave that strikes that glorious diamond in the center. The interference pattern in the diamond generates a powerful magical field which operates the transmitter."

"It would appear," Armegon added, "that the function of the Towers is exactly what we thought it was. They are eather pumps. The magical flux would not be strong enough from one single pump to operate the transporter, so they need four separate sources, far enough from each other that they do not interfere with each other to generate the necessary magic." Calista and Ruk blinked mutely. Neither understood a single word. Avery, however seemed to understand, and therefore knew what needed to be done."

With some effort, Ruk cradled a pair of the heavy cones in his huge arms. Avery took the third and Calista strained greatly to carry the fourth. The task proved too difficult and she found that she could not carry it more than a couple of steps. Putting the cone down, she huffed from the effort. "These things are too heavy to carry," she complained as she kicked the knee high cone of silver. She winced at the pain in her foot. "Can we roll them down to the floor?"

"They won't roll straight," Avery informed her as he too set his cone on the floor. "Their shape is wrong."

"Then how about pushing them over the side and letting them fall to the floor? They are metal. Surely they won't break."

"Probably not," Avery admitted, "but what if one does? Where will we be then?"

"I can carry one at a time," Ruk suggested. "Two may be a little too much, even for me." He placed one of the two cones he carried on the floor.

"Might I offer a suggestion?" Ganatar interrupted. "It might be easier if you place the objects on a sled or blanket and drag them along."

"Capital idea," Ruk clapped his hands. "That’ll do quite well."

"I would be more than happy to pull the load," Ganatar continued.
Avery responded by spreading a pair of blankets one atop the other on the floor. He and Ruk placed the cones near the center of the blanket, and then Avery strapped the blankets to a makeshift harness and affixed the load to Ganatar. The unicorn leaned into the weight and the mass slid easily across the floor. "Excellent," the ranger remarked. "Sounder of the Charge can watch the ramp in case we get visitors and we’ll take the cones down to the floor."

"The cones are fairly generic," Ultrecht said from his reading. "It won't matter which one you use, but you must place one cone in each shaft."

Avery led Ganatar and Ruk out the double doors and back onto the descending ramp. Calista followed as did Sounder of the Charge, who immediately took to the air and swooped down into the depths. He returned after a few moments and reported that there were no surprises waiting below. Then he climbed upward in a spiral of his own until he was swallowed by the swirling clouds.

Calista followed Ganatar, Ruk and Avery in their long walk to the bottom of the fissure. It took almost an hour and a half for Avery did not want to pull the cones too fast. He was afraid that if too much speed built up they would be difficult to keep on the blanket.

After a while, though they did reach the floor. The giant diamond still glistened in the dim light, but the small alcoves that were to house the cones dimly pulsed with colored light. Red, blue, gold and green the shafts each hailed the Tower that was facing it.

Avery knelt and experimentally waved his dagger in the empty alcove beneath the shaft. Nothing happened so he repeated the gesture with his hand. Again nothing resulted from the action. Finally he got on his back and stuck his head in the shaft. The long dark tunnel displayed a softly glowing green light at the far end. "Okay," he said. "Let's put one of the cones here on this small tripod."

Ruk lifted one of the heavy silver cones and placed it upon the tripod. An alarming creaking sound followed as the cone and tripod sank lower and the cone dropped to the level of the floor. A split second later, the shaft lit brightly and a flare of green light fanned out across the room from the alcove.

Fortunately everyone was standing near the wall and therefore the shadow zone prevented them from being illuminated. Not that it would be a bad thing to be hit by the light, but Avery gave voice to the collective opinion that there was no reason to tempt fate. He sent Ganatar and Calista back up the spiral ramp while he and Ruk each took a cone and worked their way around to the other alcoves.

Calista had made several circuits of the ramp when she noticed something on the floor below. As Ruk placed a second cone in its shaft, the green glow raining upon the diamond was countered by a golden shower of light. The light seemed to be confined, however to the area above the spiral arms. From the floor level, it had looked as if the light was spread out evenly, but from above, she could see that the light beams were spiraling inward.

Avery placed the third cone in one alcove and a crimson hue enveloped the room adding its light to the green and gold. A wild curtain of multiple colors flooded the area. Avery leaped up and caught the edge of the ramp. He pulled himself up and circled halfway around the room until he was above the fourth alcove.

Ruk placed the last cone in the remaining alcove and the Tower in the ice wall added its blue light to the shimmering soup of color below. Like a drunken rainbow, the swirling colors remained separate in the spiral, but as they drew near the diamond they merged and a white glow pulsed from the priceless gemstone.

Ruk jumped upwards and caught Avery's extended hand as the ranger lay on the ramp floor reaching downward. With a grunt, Avery hauled Ruk up over the ledge and the pair stood for a moment admiring their handiwork. Avery and Ruk then joined Calista and Ganatar.

Calsita pointed out the light paths and Avery suggested that she explain what she noticed to Ultrecht at a later time. He claimed that Ultrecht might find it a valuable observation.

They climbed the ramp in a time span of about half of an hour. With no packs to burden them and the belief that home was a matter of moments away, they found the reserves of strength to liven their steps greatly.

When they returned to the room where Armegon and Ultrecht waited, Sounder of the Charge joined them. He mentioned that he had flown back outside for one last look around. "A farewell and good riddance," he added.

Armegon reported that the paperwork was almost complete and that they needed only five more minutes.

Calista reluctantly agreed to that short time span, as did the others. Avery returned to the crystal rods and the long black rod. Per Ultrecht's instructions, he assembled the longer one by joining the two ends together then he carried the entire collection to the dais.
He began sorting the glass rods by the shape of their bases. A collection of four rods with triangular shaped bases he took to the outermost of the circles engraved on the floor. He began placing the rods in the holes, one each, and each rod commenced a gentle and pleasant hum when it slid home. In a moment four rods were humming away in the outer ring. Before their eyes, the outer ring began to glow with a white light.

Avery returned to the dais and collected the next set of rods This time the square bases were placed into the holes of the second ring inward. The humming sound increased as the new rods sang forth with a higher pitch that harmonized with the first set. The second ring illuminated to match the first.

"You two had better climb aboard," Avery yelled above the noise to Ultrecht who was flipping through the book, probably to make sure he had not missed anything.

Armegon and Ultrecht joined the others. leaping across the glowing circles and everyone climbed onto the dais. When everyone was safely on the dais, Avery and Ruk continued their task.

Avery and Ruk illuminated the third ring by setting the pentagon shaped rods into that ring. The three part harmony of music made the walls vibrate. The light was getting much too bright, and Avery squinted to protect his eyes as much as possible.

When the circular shaped rods were placed in the fourth, innermost ring, the musical hum increased to its maximum and the walls began to crack. The light was so bright by then that they were all shielding their eyes. Avery and Ruk returned to the dais and Avery grappled for the last rod. Then he felt his way to the center of the dais where he located the last hole. Holding his breath, and knowing that if they had made any mistakes, this would doom them to live the rest of their lives in the sunless world, he slid the last rod into the deep hole until the oddly shaped cap sat flush with the floor.

Avery's skin crawled and the noise throttled his head until he could barely think. He felt as if he were dreaming. He dreamed of the starry nights he had missed and the face of Captain Thundersledge, the dwarven ice boat skipper, flashed before his eyes only to be chased away by a haunting freckled face framed in auburn hair with a pair of icy blue-violet eyes. Then he felt warm all over. Uncovering his eyes, he looked out over a mountain range at the beautiful sight of a pair of setting suns.