The Prophesy: Book 1 - Cave Lupus

 

The boys had returned from Elven Woods an hour before sext. Paschal went to work with Enron to transfer those that would be moved to Eloise, and Sitar proceeded to the transfer of goods. Harp began sealing the city, closing all windows or openings that existed, from the top to the bottom. Each window had a set of sliding granite shutters that, once closed magically, became part of the rock face that constituted the outer wall of the troglodyte city. Nothing could reveal where the windows once used to be.

Duke Imhoteph watched the action with a heavy heart. He had not left his city in ages, but he knew this was necessary. However, he still wondered how the royals planned on escaping the city. From their battlements, they could see across the gorge, and over the bridge. Both were crowded with orcs, which seemed to be busy building catapults and other war machines.

Sext came and the royals, plus the dukes and archdukes of the royal army, spent the lunch hour together in the refectory. Dunbar reported telepathically they were doing progress towards York, but at a slower speed then he had anticipated. As for Yamato, having nothing much to do, he had spent the morning in the Royal library, and reported finding some interesting things, including a plan of the city, and a list of specifications, the later signed Merlin. The plans had another name attached to it: Grand Architect Imhophet.

Paschal looked at him, wide-eyed, and began shaking violently, to the point Harp got worried.

"What's wrong Paschal?"

"When Yamato said that name, I heard a full fanfare in my head, it was deafening! The duke's name kept ringing bells, but like they were off-tune, telling me it wasn't it."

"I felt something similar, but with a lesser intensity."

Yamato looked at the two boys, wondering. "I can tell you one thing, boys. Merlin and Imhophet were very close friends. You can see their exchange in the scrolls I've found in that backroom that was hidden by shaky shelves. They kept suggesting things, debating what to do, and how to do it. From what I've been reading, Merlin had the genius to think things, and Imhophet built them to Merlin's specifications, and sometime beyond."

"Son, have you ever wondered why you could build things right from the start? Remember that perfect cart, which amazed Williams. When you draw, it's like it was a natural language to you. Could it be, Paschal, that you carry the essence of Imhophet, the Grand architect?"

"OWWW!" wailed Paschal, grabbing his head with two hands.

"That does it. Breath easy, Paschal, the pain will pass. You probably will find that you have access to a lot more information, in a few hours. You should lay down."

"I think I'll have to, dad, my head is spinning!"

"As soon as you feel better, Paschal, please join me in the Great Library. I have pulled the scrolls of the city map, but I'm no architect. Many things I cannot understand."

"I will, Yamato. Give me an hour."

"Take your time."

Williams carried a wobbly Paschal to his bed, materialized some water and an ice pack, and stayed with the prince while he rested. Meanwhile the others kept talking about the current events.

"There is one thing I just can't understand, Harold. Why is it that only Yamato can read these hieroglyphs? From what I understand, Harp and Paschal should be able to, as well as yourself."

The Royal Scribe looked at Samson, and cleared his throat.

"May I interrupt? I may have an idea to explain this."

"You know you can. Any idea to explain what is happening is welcomed," replied Harold.

"Your Majesty, maybe Yamato is also a reborn. Do you think that the court of Atlantis was based on a similar structure as ours?

"You have a point there, and it might explain why I knew how to act even if I did not remember where I learned it. Continue on?"

"What if he was the Royal Scribe at your court? From what I gather, Atlantis invented writing, and it survived in varied forms over the millennia. What we need to find out is the name Yamato carried at your court, to trigger his rebirth."

"You may be on the right track. All we need to find is a scroll signed by the scribe with his name. But this is easier said then done. As you know from your own practice, it is the king that signs, even if it is the scribe that writes."

"You are right, there, Pharaoh. But let us not despair, I spent the morning with Yamato, and there are thousands upon thousands of scrolls. I will search for a specific type of contents, an inventory of goods, a tax audit, or something similar. I sign those with my name, to testify as to whom did the audit or the inventory."

"Good luck. If you need help, ask. We have a good two hundred scribes available, from the different courts. One thing bothers me: how will you know the nature of the contents, since you cannot read that writing any better than I?"

"By how it is arranged. Yamato taught me their numerical system. I can be relatively certain they did the inventories or taxes like I do mine: in table form. I should find a scroll or scrolls preferably, that have rows and columns of numbers. I will then ask Yamato to verify that the scroll is indeed an inventory or a tax form."

***

Sitar and duke Imhoteph took a stroll around the battlements and reached the overhang that gave a plunging view of the abysmal moat. The sun, still high, gave ample lighting for their eyes to plunge into the depth of the cut. As the dust and ash storm had abated, the air was clear, and a wall of orcs seemed to be heading towards the precipice. The sun's light reflected on the polished surfaces, giving the impression the pit was a ring of fire encircling the city.

"They are in for a surprise. We are far up, and the light is filtered by a special type of glass, which Harp called polarized, but do not ask me what it means. I have no idea. Even with that glass, the light is blinding."

"I see that, Prince Sitar. It must be very impressive from the mountains, over there!"

"Probably. I can imagine the impression it gives: the city must literally glow!"

"Do you think they will try to descend into the abyss?"

"Knowing orcs, yes. They believe they can stick on any surface, but this time, even a fly won't be able to get a grip."

"Let's watch. They are getting close."

As the two watched the orcs close in on the gap, they notices the first ones drop on all fours, ready to grip and climb down the cliff face. More and more orcs fell on all fours and began the impossible descent. As they passed over the curve of the lip, Sitar and Imhoteph saw their grip fail and the orcs fall down into the raging torrent below. The orcs on the plateau, unaware of the danger, pushed forward and continued to try and descend, only to fall into the same trap.

"That moat is more slippery than a Venus fly trap, it seems!" Imhoteph exclaimed, ecstatic.

"And the orcs are as dumb as flies! Someone is bound to spot the cascade of dead orcs falling off the moat's river's exit into the gorge, at some point! I wonder how long it will take them to figure something's not right?"

Under the fascinated eyes of the two, wave after wave of orcs walked, no, ran to their doom. As some began to notice something was fishy, they were pushed over the side by the advancing army, who wouldn't stop for anything.

"I hope Harp is right about the filtering system, or the water will not be drinkable shortly."

"I hope so too, prince."

"I'm disgusted, duke. They may have eaten mom, I may hate them with a passion, but this is senseless. Let's go back to the royal suite."

They left the overhang, and quickly made their way to Harold's apartments. As they entered the living room, Paschal came out of his, and met them.

"Paschal, Yamato wants you at the library to look at the plans. He is with Harp."

"Ok, Sitar. Had a good walk?"

"Yes, prince. We saw the efficiency of your polishing. We have no idea of the number of orcs that fell into that trap, or are still falling into it, but they made quite a splash a mile down!"

"Duke, you are as bad as Harp!"

"I take it as a compliment, prince Paschal."

Sitar and the duke joined the kings and Enron, which were looking at the map, and discussing strategy, as Paschal progressed rapidly to the library to join Harp and Yamato. He was surprised to find the Royal scribe and a whole coterie of the scribblers searching for some specific document.

"What are they looking for?"

"An inventory of the goods transferred from Atlantis to here. It might reveal two things: hidden caches, and the name of the Royal scribe of the time," answered Harp, not lifting his eyes from the huge scroll that contained one layer of the city.

"I see. How can I help you?"

"Paschal, you drew these plans! Look at them. We need an exit! I am sure there is one, if only so we could fall on our enemies' backs."

Paschal joined Harp and Yamato at perusing the city plans. Finally, after going through the ones the others had not yet seen with them, he returned to the previous ones.

"This one is, from what I make of it, the ventilation system. A very ingenious system that used the earth's heat to warm the city and the cold air from the mountains to cool it, all this using forced air ducts and the wind. Harp, I want to recover that knowledge. We were geniuses in that other life!"

"There is that section here, that has me bugged, Paschal. It seems to combine two systems?"

"Let me see. That part is the air system, lower levels, from what I make of that other sheet, so hot air. What are these other conduits?"

"I saw something similar in that sheet, over there, Paschal," Yamato pointed, at another huge table.

"Let's see. That is the ten water intakes around the city. See how they are organized so the river pushes the water in, against that porous rock and into the filtering system?"

"That seems right, Paschal. But why this spiral from that particular reservoir down deep below, to come back up in the same reservoir?"

"Remember how it felt hot in the necropolis? The deeper the progress, the hotter it became. I think we designed this particular reservoir to contain hot water. Hot water rises, cold water sinks. This creates a circular movement of the water and ensures it is constantly heated at the same temperature for use. I had been wondering where the hot water came, now I know."

"This means that, when the air needs heating, the heat is recovered from that hot water, which then circulates down because it's heavier! Ingenious!"

Yamato listened to the boys, fascinated by their exchange. The design of this city surpassed even what the Ancients had accomplished. Paschal looked at another plan, and quickly identified the contents.

"That is the sewers. Water was used to flush products into a tank, here, where it rested while it decomposed. There are six such tanks, from what I see. Once one was filled, the water was diverted to another, by pressure valves, so everything is totally automatic. Once the products are dried, and decomposed fully, they can be recovered, to supply the gardens with compost. Note this works by gravity. The sludge compacts and falls down that chute, getting compressed into compact, dry cakes, where all water is removed. From what I see, the water sludge is itself diverted to another filtering system before being released into the river. That way, no one can even detect there is a city upriver from the effluents. By the time it is out of the system, the water is as cold as the surface water, and drinkable."

"We still need to find a way out, Paschal."

"There is this fresh water tank that seems to be of interest. It has a drain, here, see? The drain goes downriver, and follows its bed, on the eastern side, for miles, before taking a slow curve there and exiting, there. These marks indicate height and terrain elevations, and if this is correct, the cave is a good four hundred feet above the river itself when its mouth gapes. The drop from the bottom of the reservoir to the exit is two hundred feet, and is protected from intrusion by a siphon, here."

"A siphon?" wondered Yamato.

"A siphon is an underwater section. In this case the siphon starts right under the water tank and lasts a mile."

"How could that be of use to us?"

"Well, see that branch, that gently climbs up from the bottom of the siphon, and that side gallery?"

"Yes? But aren't they all under water?"

"They are now, but when we evacuate the tank's contents using the drain, that segment, which is currently underwater, will dry up. The tank's bottom is barely three feet below the floor of that side tunnel, and the siphon's upper lip is exactly at the same depth, or height, depending on where you look at things. The advantage of a siphon is that it will drain the service tunnel as well as the tank, completely. We can get down that tank, once it's empty, and open the inspection door, which, albeit narrow, is wide enough for a horse and its packages, and high enough as well. We travel twenty or so feet down this steep slope, turn here and start climbing out. The funny thing is there is a long stretch of tunnel, there, that is perfectly horizontal and perpendicular to the river's flow. From the plans, it crosses the gorge, below the river's bed, something like five hundred feet below it, before starting a steep climb towards the surface."

"How do you know we won't be drowned?"

"A siphon's efficiency is based on atmospheric pressure, Yamato. It can siphon out water up to a differential of thirty three feet, and we have three feet, here."

Yamato looked at Paschal, perplexed, but not doubting the prince's knowledge. After all he seemed to read these plans like he had made them. But then, he had!

"Paschal, we need to find the way to open the reservoir's drain."

"That's the most simple. It's a weight - counterweight mechanism, much like the door you so effortlessly closed in the Cave. It's located here, in a section that has been closed to access except for mages, which we are, may I remind you?"

"How long will that take to drain?"

"Given the huge volume of the tank and the narrow aperture of the drain, forty-eight hours. If we start tonight, say at vespers, in two days, it should be done."

"That's perfect, Paschal. By then I will have figured out the bridge, and that will leave us time to finish the sealing. Have you found a plan of the bridge?"

"Yes. Look at it, on the table over there."

The three moved towards another table and looked at a series of cross sections of the bridge.

"The most intriguing is this part. I was considering collapsing the bridge when we left, but it may not be necessary. This section is supposed to rotate, creating a three hundred foot gap between the gorge's lips over on the other side, and that rock piton. If we followed the plans, this piton is also three hundred feet from that other section, which leads to the drawbridge. There is that dry tunnel that passes under the riverbed and joins this spiralling corridor in Kantar. On the other side, a narrow, and very tight spiralling hallway climbs to that cave hidden directly below the bridge. You surpassed yourself, Harp, when you thought of this. First, there are huge wheels that pull the bridge as they turn, flat cross-section, here. Then there are vertical guides that make sure the entire system remains aligned. Third, you were probably worried about the deck buckling or twisting, because the mechanism makes the two giant wheels move from the center of the bridge towards the extremities, and twists them, creating additional support as the weight is spread longitudinally on the indented wheels."

"How is it powered? That bridge is gigantic!"

"There, it's my turn to answer, Yamato," replied Harp. "See these crystals, there? They are orichalque, a powerful accumulator of magic. By releasing the magic they have stored, these wheels will turn, and believe me nothing will stop that bridge from swinging. It takes a mage to do it, and he has to focus on these regulators you see there, also made of the same material. This material has very strange properties, my other self tells me. Depending on polarity it can act as conduit or accumulator; depending on crystal form it has the capacity to be as transparent as air or as opaque as rock, softer than gold, or harder than diamond, all this because it has eight crystalline forms, that can be combined at will by a magic user. The window Sitar and the duke used to inspect the abyss and watch the angel dive attempt of the orcs is orichalque. The only place this strange metal can be found is in our homeland, Atlantis. The next best is what wraps my stick, mithril, and is a bit more common, albeit difficult to extract, since it requires a lot of energy, but less then orichalque."

"Let's go see dad. Are you coming with us, Yamato?"

"No, I am fascinated by these scrolls. I have yet to figure out the type of material they are made of."

"Show me?" Harp asked.

"Here, touch it!"

"These are ridulian crystal sheets, Yamato. They relate our origins. I thought they had been lost! Look at these symbols; they are the sacred writings of Atlantis. Only mages could read them. They are runes!"

"I saw that at the bottom of the bridge drawing, written in another hand than the one that did the plan. I thought they were scribbles."

Harp looked at Yamato, wide-eyed. "Show me!"

After a look, Harp said, "Bridge! Rotate!" that is what it says."

"Another verbal command?"

"It seems like it. The answer came to me as soon as I saw the writings."

"But if it is verbal, you will have to say it verbally, as it was said at the time!"

"I know. Don't push, and I'll probably access that memory in time."

As they were ready to leave the library, the master scribe walked to Yamato and asked him to look at a scroll.

"What is it, you think?" they heard Yamato ask.

"An inventory of sorts," replied the Scribe, which halted the boys right in their track. If Yamato had a similar shock to the one Paschal had faced they wanted to be around! Yamato perused the scroll, muttering.

"It is indeed an inventory, and it lists the goods arriving from Atlantis. This one talks of orichalque, mithril, gold, platinum, and other metals. This part is about a weapons inventory. And this reports the loss of a cargo in the crossing of the narrows north. Why are you interested?"

"First, we have found no such metal here, and it must be somewhere. Second, who did the inventory?"

Paschal and Harp looked at each other. This would be the test. Yamato descended to the end of the scroll, looking for the seal and signature at the end of the long list.

"It is signed THTH, Thoth, the inventor of writing!" With that, Yamato collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

"Finally! Now we know who he is!" chorused the boys. They levitated the unconscious man and brought him to his suite to rest.

"Let's go report our findings to dad." Harp said, decisively.

"One thing bugs me, in all this, Harp. Why didn't he react that way in the cave? It's not the first time we see that name."

"I think everything must be done in a specific order, Paschal. Like the Far Seers had planned the entire process from the first minute we walked in here. Yamato was too preoccupied with the story to reason that he might be in it, but with the past day's events, it began to surface, and now it's out."

The two boys quickly reported their findings to the other royals, who were fascinated by Harp's speculation concerning the order in which events seemed to unfold. Who would be next?

***

After a short break, Sitar and Harp went in quest of the descending spiral that would eventually lead them to the underside of the bridge.

"I hope it's still intact," mused Sitar.

"What?"

"The passage. Seventeen thousand years is a long time for that kind of structure."

"I think it's indestructible. The inner layer is orichalque, and will probably survive the continent."

The two boys teleported quickly down the spiralling hallway to rest their legs, as it seemed to be a long way down. The line of sight rule prevented long distance jumps. Finally reaching the bottom, they met a wall, to their deception. Harp simply pushed magic into a brick that stuck out, and the wall moved aside.

"How did you know?"

"It seemed odd, and I just wanted to fix the wall."

"You will always surprise me, Harp."

The long, straight hallway was dark, but the use of the magic stick to beam light revealed the way was clear for a long distance. The two boys teleported and materialized on top of a flat circular platform.

"Wow, look below! Spikes!"

"Yes, Sitar, this passage is for mages only. Here is the second disk." Harp indicated, as his magic light brought into view another flat surface. The boys leapfrogged from one disk to the next until they found themselves faced with another wall. Again Harp pushed on a stone that seemed out of place, and the wall moved aside silently. The climb up the even tighter spiral was slower than the descent had been but they finally reached the exit. Again the door responded to a slight magic push, and the boys found themselves in a vast room occupied by a huge orichalque crystal, and a series of control crystals.

"This is it, Harp. Now you must say the command in that language you do not remember."

Harp began by exploring the cave, noticing that everything seemed in perfect order. There wasn't even a spider, not a speck of dust, and the smell was fresh, as if there was ventilation.

"Let me inspect the underside of the bridge. There is a trap door up that flight of steps. I want to make sure everything is still in order under it. Not that I expect it to be as clean, but we might find that some tooth in the wheel is worn or damaged. If so, I will use magic to repair it by materializing the proper elements."

"OK, Harp. Be careful, there might be orcs!"

"I hope so!"

"You are bad!"

"Good for me, bad for the orcs!"

Harp quickly climbed the stairs and found himself under a trap door that was to be lifted. He gently moved the locket, and began to try and lift the trapdoor. Apparently, it was stuck, so Harp used his mage sight to view what the problem was.

"Dirt, lots of dirt! A foot of dirt!"

"Any orcs?"

"Let me see. Yes, they seem to consider the underside of the bridge as a nest. They are going to be in trouble shortly! I won't open the trap. I'm locking it back. I'll use mage sight to view the bridge's underbelly."

Harp carefully inspected the bridge, the moving mechanism, the track bed, and found nothing to complain about.

"It seems the dirt has protected the bed. We can move the bridge."

"Won't the dirt be a problem?"

"Not really. This thing is designed to crush rocks. It will turn, and anything in the way will either be converted to a thin layer of slime, or pushed right off the deck."

"Ok. The poor orcs! Converted to pancakes! When do you plan to do it?"

"Did you have to talk food? Now you made me hungry! As for moving the bridge, I'll do it tomorrow morning, after I've done my topside inspection from the bridge's superstructure. Not that I expect much to be visible."

"Ok. Let's go back."

The boys quickly retraced their steps, and, having set waypoints, quickly made their way back to the royal suite, just in time for vespers.

***

Yamato emerged from his slumber just as the food was being served in the royal suite.

"Feeling better, Yamato?"

"Yes, Pharaoh. I remember some more as I slept. I was one of the last to leave our kingdom, and escorted a precious cargo. We never made it. There is a huge structure, in that desert, designed by Paschal. It is besides a pyramid, which was a lure. A cat sitting or crouching guards the door. Under it, between its paws, is a magic door. There lies the last cargo that left Atlantis.

"Interesting, my friend, but we are far from there."

"I know, and I'm sad. We will need what is in there someday."

"Do you know what it is?"

"Actually, no. All I know is it is important."

"We'll see how things go."

Samson looked at the boys, and asked "And what have you been up to?"

Enron was the first to reply.

"Well, I enrolled the horses and wolves to hep me polish the bridge's pillars. We are using the water mist sprayed by the falls. It carries enough abrasives to do it."

"Fine, how far are you in that process?"

"We are finished, except for the last pillar that has that strange top. That should be done tomorrow morning."

"I'll be on the top of the bridge to check things out, Enron. Limit yourself to a superficial polishing, please. The substrate is artificial, and I do not want it to be damaged."

"Artificial?"

"Well the bridge rotates. What I want to know is what covers the track."

"How can a bridge rotate? I don't get it."

"Let me show you." With that Harp materialized a thin scroll, a pen, ink, and began to draw a sketch.

 

Rotating Bridge Sketch

"See that horizontal bridge span? It rotates until it meets the stoppers at each end of the pillar. The pillar itself is rooted in natural rock, but the topmost section is artificial. It is designed so that the bridge doesn't buckle as it rotates, and each wheel moves along the axis to support the bridge. It has guides, under the deck, to make sure it doesn't slide or leave the track. Paschal did a much better drawing than that, but I think you understand the principle. What I need to inspect, tomorrow, from the superstructure, is the island's surface. There was a foot of dirt under the bridge, so I expect there will be more elsewhere."

"How does this work?" asked Harold, fascinated.

"Well there are powerful magic motors that turn the dented wheels that will in turn pull the structure around. The motors have a static part, and a rotating part. When I will let the flow of magic enter the static part, it will pull on the rotating part, making it spin. That in turn will, by means of gears, transfer the force applied to the big gears that support the bridge deck. I could do a drawing, but it would probably have little significance for you. It is applied magic field theory."

"I believe you. I'm better at cutting throats than understanding magic field theory," said Yamato.

"And you, Paschal, what did you do?"

"Well, I searched for the control room for the drain. I found it where I expected, and, just before we began supper, I triggered the drainage. The flow is regular, and the level is dropping according to plan. We should be able to use the drowned tunnels to escape this trap, with the orcs none the wiser."

"Williams?"

"I have been completing the task begun by the boys, closing all windows and locking them. I still have for another day of work to do."

"Theresa?"

"We have collected all that is to go to Eloise, and begun transferring the contents. I am a bit less efficient than the boys at that, but I'm improving."

"Talking about transfers, Theresa, I will personally do the transfers for the scrolls, and empty the Royal library. Its contents must be preserved, and I want to be able to find it in one single place."

"Fine with me, Yamato, I have enough work to get white hairs!"

"Duke, archdukes, anything to add?"

"We decided to coordinate our different units, and unify our command. The time for separate entities veering for attention is past. The scenery of the plateau covered with orcs drove the last nail into the coffin of independent command," explained Volant.

"I am glad to hear that. I was wondering when the reality of things would get beyond your personal ambitions."

"Volant forgets to mention one thing," added the Archduchess of Solon.

"And what is that?"

"It was by observing the united command of the animals that we figured we were the ones that were in error. There is no debate between species. Wolves obey, horses obey, and it matters not who gives the order, for these are orders, albeit we cannot understand them."

"Well, finally, sagacity has reached the two-legged!"

"The two-legged, your majesty?"

"Humans, elves."

"Ah!"

"Let us retire for the night. Dunbar being absent, first watch falls on Williams, followed by Yamato, Theresa, and Samson takes the prime. We will speed up the transfer of goods tomorrow. Be vigilant. We never know what is hanging in the balance and who could strike. Ambassador? May I have a word with you, please?"

"Yes, King Harold. What can I do for your service?"

"I wish to entertain you about the Order of Magic. We have not had time to discuss its history, more than what I have learned over the past few days. All I know is my son, when he was Merlin, founded it, but his memory is partial at best, and is slow coming back, as it is for all of us. I suspect there is a reason for this, more than likely to protect our sanity."

"I will do my best to answer your questions."

The king and the mage retired to a nice living and enjoyed a cold drink, while discussing the issues and the history of magic as known by the mage. That left a sour taste in Harold's mouth and made him worry even more.

«Dad, do not worry about Ian, we keep watch twenty four hours a day, in rotation. We are four, and one of us is always watching with another as backup on request.»

«Thank you, Harp.»

***

The next morning, Harp woke up Sitar half an hour before dawn,

"I need a visual anchor here so I can teleport back in safely."

"OK. What is your plan, Harp?"

"See that bridge I-beam, at the nearest end? The plans say it is four feet wide, more than ample space for me to materialize safely. As soon as I'm there, I'll lay down on my belly, and progress by line of sight teleportation to the other end. The hard part is the piton of rock we see across, which hides the rotating bridge part. I will have to teleport to ground level. We see orcs on the piton, lots of orcs, but I also see pines. I might well decide to set them on fire, if only to create a distraction."

"And roast orcs."

"And roast orcs!"

"How do you think the orcs will react?"

"Two possibilities: one, they try to run and hang on the cliff side, escaping the fire, or they are dumb, and climb up, cornering themselves without any escape route."

"They probably will try the cliff."

"Yes, and before waking you up I verified with the horses. They say it's so slippery now someone could ride it on his ass to enter the river and not even get a rock burn. They have been finishing the polish, with the help of the wolves, during the night."

"So, the river gets polluted, orcs get a final bath, and the carnivorous fishes get fat!"

"Exactly. Aren't we good for the fishes?"

"I doubt those that lived in the Kwai would agree."

"Well, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. Let's get moving."

"Don't you want me to go with you?"

"No, the fewer we are, the less likely the orcs will get the idea that something is up."

"OK. I'm ready."

"Teleporting!" With that, Harp teleported to the nearest T-beam of the bridge, and reported safe arrival.

«Lucky we do it this early, the wind is already strong, I wouldn't like to have to hold to the cables for dear life!»

Harp hopped from one I-beam to the next, always staying on his belly and in the middle of the I. Ten minutes later, Sitar saw the forest on the piton erupt in fire, the wind blowing the burning twigs around, spreading it in a wild miniature forest fire. Some orcs tried to outrun the fire, climbing up, only to be caught by the fast advance of the fire. Others tried to hang to the cliff face, only to find they couldn't grip anything and ended up sliding down and falling into the river. However, others took refuge on the bridge, some began climbing towards where Harp was hidden.

«Harp! Orcs climbing below you!»

«Damn! Ok, I had not expected that. Let's see if they like a slippery oily surface to climb on!»

«I'll do the whole far side from top to bottom, you deal with the T beams and X-beams on your side, Harp. Do the whole length we don't want anyone being able to reach the I-beams.»

The boys focussed and materialized tons of lubricants that sprayed and dripped on the bridge's superstructure. Orcs could be seen falling off the bridge's struts into the river and on the bridge deck, splattering it with ugly guts and orc parts.

«Orcs must be really dumb, Sitar. It's raining oil and they don't even react to try and find what's up. It's like it's an everyday occurrence!»

«Yes, they are; I have extended the oil rain to cover the piton. The fire is redoubling in intensity, and creating a dark black cloud. The rock face is even more slippery now. Once the fire diminishes, you should teleport to ground level, and use the oily cloud to mask your displacements.»

«I see that. I'll move upwind, that way the cloud will mask me and I will have breathable air. Here goes, there is a boulder I can clearly see on the upwind side of the road, and no orcs around.»

Harp quickly teleported from the top of the bridge to the rock, and then to another, and another. Finally he could see the rotating bridge, but his deception was great. Orcs seemed to be like spiders on its structure.

«Damn it! These cockroaches have occupied the place I wanted to be! Here goes for another local oil rainfall. The weather has become so unpredictable lately!»

The sudden flooding of the bridge with a deluge of oil had the expected results, as orcs couldn't maintain their grip on its beams. The only ones that could hold station were those on the I-beams, exactly where Harp wanted to be!

«I have had it! Roast!»

The now oil-covered structure burst into flames, forcing the orcs on the I-beams to either select death by drowning, burning, or falling on the bridge deck. The intensity of the fire was slight, and did not even heat up the bridge, but was enough to clear the area Harp wanted to occupy. As soon as the fire went out, Harp cooled the target area with a thin layer of ice that melted rapidly as it absorbed the residual heat. He was then able to teleport himself to his objective and he began examining the artificial island.

Harp stood up, and began a quick survey of the top of the island. He could see orcs on it, and a thick layer of topsoil, covered with bushes and an occasional softwood tree. Nothing the bridge couldn't shove aside when it moved. He just cut the few trees' roots, so their extraction wouldn't, per chance, damage the track the bridge would be using. All trees were downwind, and would eventually collapse off the island in a common direction if left to their own devices. Harp, satisfied with his handiwork, linked with Sitar.

«Ready to visualize!»

«Link!»

Harp vanished from the top of the bridge, unnoticed by any but a bird that was flying down to eat some choice orc morsel on the bridge deck.

***

"Where did you find that oil, Harp?" wondered Harold.

"Well, you told us of your trip before finding us; and I figured it might be useful one day to know where you had found the oil. The wolves call these hills the foul smelling, because they liberate vapours they can detect. Once I had a wolf fix point, it was easy to skim the topmost part of the contents of these artificial caves. I figured they would be the slickest, and the most volatile, therefore the most likely to burn."

"I wonder where your son's powers will stop, Pharaoh," wondered the ambassador.

"I don't want to know, I'm already scared enough as it is!"

"Anyways, Harp, what is the situation atop the island?" Enron asked, always mindful of the global picture.

"There is a thick layer of topsoil, a few dozen softwood trees, whose roots I cut; they are all downwind from the island and as the day progresses and the wind picks up, they will fall over in the river. There are bushes and other saplings, but nothing worth mentioning. There were rabbits, but the orcs just about ate everything, even the rat population. Nothing will stop the bridge from turning on its axis."

"What about the keywords?"

"I haven't given thought to it, I am confidant that when the moment comes, I will remember it."

"Paschal, how is the emptying process going?"

"A quarter done, and progressing smoothly. We are on schedule."

"Teleportation of the city's contents, Theresa?"

"We resumed this morning, it is going as planned, assuming we do not find hidden caches of goods."

"Yamato, the library?"

"I've visited Volant's palace, but found it wanting in space for that precious cargo, so I've been working on a deep-mountain cache for it. The problem is finding a dry rock bed. Eloise is near a lake, and the water table is high. The necropolis is good for its purpose, and will do well for things not sensitive to humidity, but scrolls are another matter."

"There is an abandoned mine up in the hills, Yamato," proposed Volant.

"Yes, the baron told me about it, I visited, but it leaks from everywhere."

"Yamato, you are doing this wrong," mused Harp. "What you need is to put the library in sealed containers, that way, whatever the environmental conditions, the contents will be safe. In fact, stasis containers would be nice, since this stuff is dead, and wouldn't be damaged by stasis."

"How is that library organized anyways?" Sitar asked.

"By date. It's a nightmare. The librarian just made sure that things stayed piled up in the same order."

"Yamato?"

"Yes, Paschal?"

"Who was the royal librarian that set up this system?"

"Err me?" Yamato replied, blushing profusely.

"We do not have time to devise another classification technique, Yamato. We will keep this method, and label each container with the date of its contents. How many containers will we need?"

"If we go by year, twenty thousand give or take a few hundred."

"That many? Why?"

"Well, the library continued accumulating stuff since this city was opened for business, some seventeen thousand years ago. The rest is the archives dating from before the cataclysm, some seven thousand years ago, and I've yet to look at that new room I found. According to the label on the door, it is the Stars library, whatever that means, and the script on the few scrolls I looked seem to predate ours by a long shot."

"I thought you invented writing?"

"That's what the Egyptians believed, but I only introduced them to it, Sitar."

"Anyways, Yamato, me and my brothers will create the stasis containers, and you and the others place the contents in them. Once they are full, and you are sure you have all the pertinent records for a specific year, one of us will seal the container. We will then pile it up in the hallway, in order of date. Once the library is empty, you will go to these mines with one of us. We will begin sending the containers from the oldest to the newest, so they are arranged properly in the mine. Once this is done, the mine's entries will get sealed," Harp decided.

"What if a container is too small?"

"Come on, do you really think we cannot plan on extensible containers?"

"Sorry Harp, I'm still functioning in the standard world, were a box has a specified volume."

"You are excused."

The next few days saw the goods being evacuated. Family goods were also stored in containers prior to being sent to Eloise, as it was found a lot more convenient than bulk transfers. Finally, vespers of the second day came around, and everyone was nervous, waiting on the last report from Paschal on the water level. The main doors had been closed and locked, and all windows were sealed, giving the city a dark, phantom feel to it.

"You could hear ghost walk, now, I think. There is an eerie quiet, and a lot of echo." Theresa commented.

"That's because all the furniture, tapestry, and anything that usually absorbs sound is gone," Harold explained.

Paschal popped into the royal suite and reported.

"The passage is clear. I went down in the reservoir as the last of the water drained. The surface was slippery so I dried it. The door is open, the passage is clear. I have left a teleport mark, but we will need someone to monitor the teleporting of the army down the reservoir. The passages would be practicable, but would take too much time. Yamato is assembling our army. Duke, what about your people?"

"They are in the royal hallway, awaiting the signal to move."

"The army goes first, then your people," decided Harold. "Harp, Sitar, you stay here to seal things when we are done; Paschal, you act as primary transfer, Enron, as destination anchor. Samson, you lead, I will be in the rear, making sure there are no stragglers. Yamato, lead with the cavalry. I do not want surprises at the end of that tunnel. Theresa, make sure they take the right turn up the climb!"

"Fine dad, I will wait for Yamato to confirm the cavalry has reached the exit before going into the chamber to activate the bridge rotation. Sitar? As soon as the last unit has left the siphon, open the valve to let the water back in. If all goes as planned, I should be with you. Theresa, stay at the branch, we will need your anchor point to get there without getting wet."

"Fine, Harp."

"Move out, you have your orders!" stated, forcefully, Harold.

***

The process began as each took its assigned station. That promised to be a long night. Harp and Sitar were not inactive, as they did a last round of the city, checking for any stragglers and teleporting the occasional lost in thought individual they found. As each layer was checked, it was sealed, preventing anyone from going back up.

Yamato finally reported reaching the end of the tunnel across the river, and asked for assistance.

«It has a magic seal, and when I tried to open it, it required the signature of Merlin.»

«Damn it! I can't even have a pee in peace! Hold it, I'm coming.»

Harp quickly focussed on Yamato's position, and materialized beside him. A quick touch of his hand and the hidden door glowed and opened silently, revealing the sandy floor of a natural cave, high on top of a ridge overlooking a road.

"Follow that trail and turn south, we are going to Ma's capital, some miles away."

"Thank you Harp, By the way, what did you want me to hold?"

"Yamato!" Harp, replied, laughing. "Get your brain out of the gutter!"

Yamato blushed, as the meaning of his question came to him. Before he could say sorry, Harp teleported to Sitar, as they resumed their last inspection of the city and the sealing.

Finishing their inspection and joining Harold, the two boys reported the city was finally emptied of inhabitants.

"Paschal, go down to join Enron at the bottom of the tank. When the last have entered the hall, Paschal will close the door and seal it, dad. Wait until you have reached Theresa to signal to Sitar to open the valves for the refilling. Dad, we are done up here. You should be joining Enron to help down there as well."

"OK, son. See you shortly."

Harp quickly used his waypoints to navigate back to the control chamber under the bridge.

"Now, to find that command!"

Harp sat down on the floor, taking the lotus position, and relaxed, beginning to enter a trance. Totally relaxed after fifteen minutes, he asked his embedded memory to remember the command.

"Brú! Snúa!⁶⁴⁶⁴ ("Icelandic: Bridge! Rotate!")"

Nothing happened, but Harp knew why. He had to put his hands on the control crystals while saying the words. He stood up and said the words out loud as he pressed on the control crystal. The sound of whirling could be heard as the motor picked up speed. The whine reached a level even Harp's sharpened hearing couldn't detect, then, suddenly, a differential gear slid into place and the bridge could be heard moving majestically on its axis.

Harp had expected some shaking, but the bridge was well buffered, and only a small vibration told him something was happening outside. The process was slow, but finally came to a stop, and the crystals, which had gone from green to gold, became red, clearly indicating the bridge was open, and impassable.

Satisfied that all was in order, Harp teleported to Sitar's location directly.

"All done, Sitar. What about you?"

"I'm waiting on Paschal."

"OK. I will telekinetically seal the passage to the bridge from here. The waypoints are perfect to do that. Give me five to focus." After the time estimate had elapsed, Harp acknowledged Sitar, and signalled he was ready to leave.

"We got the go from Paschal. I'm opening the valves."

"Well, lets seal this control room and teleport to Theresa, This will close the chapter on Kantar until we come back."

The two boys did as they said, and quickly found themselves in the lower reaches of the exit tunnel, beside Theresa.

"Well it's done. We have set the trigger for the eleven-fold stasis field that will make the city impenetrable except for us. It should activate in four hours, we will be out of reach of this protection dome by then. Let's move."

The three set to walk and catch up with the rear guard of the army an hour ahead of them.

As they walked, the boys exchanged impressions about the city and its destiny.

"There is one thing I cannot understand, Harp."

"What is it, Theresa?"

"How can magic have held sway so long here?"

"That is the reason the orcs wanted to conquer it at any costs. It sits on a magic reservoir."

"Like a cistern?"

"Sort of, but in fact it is a huge crystal of orichalque. Orichalque is not of this world. It is invisible to standard eyes; only mage sight can see it. As the planet rotates around the sun, it passes through a tenuous magic field, and orichalque collects it, charging itself with the power."

"How did it reach this planet if it is not of this world?"

"It fell on it, when this world was young and still liquid, and floated to the surface. From my memory, I know there are few pockets of orichalque, and that they are located in specific places. Orichalque has strange behaviours: it attracts orichalque, but repulses other material. This has consequences: the orichalque imprisoned during the creation of this world has been attempting to escape, to reach the surface, but is stuck below a layer of rocks. All is in balance, Ka's balance. See, a small mass of orichalque cannot escape because attraction overrides repulsion; but a big mass of orichalque can escape. When this world collected orichalque, it was in tiny bits and pieces, which fell and got stuck. The orichalque then began to migrate and collect in pockets of ever increasing size, but the collecting was too slow and it got embedded in the crystal of the earth."

"Interesting! What about mithril?"

"Mithril is the dust of dead stars. We are star dust, and that one material is the second most potent collector of magic, after orichalque."

"Are you telling me we contain mithril in our body?"

"Yes, in infinitesimal quantity, and that is what constitutes our magical core."

As the trio emerged from the cave, they felt the final seal install itself on Kantar.

"This will not go unnoticed by the orcs, believe me. They will be mad, Harp!"

"Let them, I've been holding back too long," replied Harp.

Theresa and Sitar exchanged a glance as if to say, "Holding back? When?"