~
Slowly I lowered one foot after another stepping carefully onto each step, I had to lift the hem of the dress up to my calves so that I could look down at my feet to make sure they were on the steps. I wondered at how small my feet looked in the fine satin shoes, I was used to them being encased within my normal footwear, tough leather boots. As I approached the halfway point I stepped onto a small landing that changed the direction of the stairs. I stopped there for a minute or two before attempting the final flight. I became aware of laughter and merriment emanating from below me and as I turned the corner and approached the final flight of steps I could see my companions in the room below chatting and enjoying each other’s company.
I was astounded to see each so finely dressed. I couldn’t believe that these friends whom I had accompanied through the wilds, could all brush up and look so smart. I stopped at the top step of the second flight and looked at each one.
Łĩnwéé looking superb in green breaches and jerkin, long grey soft skin boots upon his feet, his beard and hair where washed and brushed neatly and wound into numerous plaits. Upon each hand a fine doe skin glove fastened by a single silver clasp in the shape of a double headed axe.
Tnie in a silver outfit buttoned with many fastenings from below the waist to right below his chin, with matching shoes adorned with a large, square silver buckle, a kind of close fitting skull cap upon his head with a short peak extending over his brow.
There sitting quietly in one corner as alert as ever sat Teouso, only he had opted not to get changed into anything finer for he still wore his clothing the same as I had always seen him, but his topknot had been groomed and retied and he looked a lot cleaner than I had ever seen him before.
My attention was then drawn to a figure walking towards the bottom of the stairs obviously intent on meeting me. Jondris with an outstretched hand beckoned me to come forward a smile upon his face. I walked down each stair trying again not to trip and make a complete fool of myself, he stepped up to meet me and I gave him my hand, feeling a little foolish as he led me down the last steps and took my arm under his. He drew his head close to mine and I could smell the sweet aroma of lemons faintly on his face. I noticed for the first time that his beard and moustache had been trimmed and groomed most spectacularly.
To my surprise he took my other hand and lifting it kissed it gently, then whispering in my ear he said, “Mini, you look stunning.”
I couldn’t help but smile and I’m sure I blushed slightly, but before I could make a reply or even think of a suitable response. I noticed Serinae resplendent in a silk gown of olive green decorated with numerous miniature flowers individually made and sown into the fabric of the skirt and bodice, her long hair was brushed to a sheen, it no longer had within it the ties and dried, scented flowers I had associated with her normal hair style but a single jade green hair comb, the same green as her eyes, held it back away from her face. Her hair still tumbled down to the base of her spine, but intertwined within it were tiny jade green beads that flashed and sparkled as it swung back and forth with the movements of her head. Around her waist was a golden cord at one side this fell at her hip and a small intricately worked pouch hung there out of the top of which could quite clearly be seen the mother-of-pearl handle of her small dagger, the one she had thrown in the tavern in Corbond to thwart the would-be thief. This made me smile as I wondered that someone with such serene feminine beauty and grace on one hand, could in a second become so immeasurably dangerous. I thought, not for the first time, how glad I was that she was a friend and not an enemy.
She was talking with some joviality to Solin who also looked years younger and resplendent in a gold frock with lace overlay and tightly fitting arms, she also wore a small half-length jacket sporting a high collar that framed her face. Her hair was gathered beautifully on top of her head a richly bejewelled tiara setting off the whole effect. The tiara I recognised as the one she wore in the painting upstairs and I noted that the hair style she wore this evening was also the same as in the picture that hung in my room.
I was led towards the table which was set out for a banquet. I could not see the surface of the table itself for placed upon it was a fine tapestry with numerous scenes of High T’Iea life stitched into it. This served as a table cloth, laying upon its surface all manner of finely decorated crystal glasses and silverware awaited.
On the way across the room a drink was offered to me by one of Solin's house servants in house livery the ever present wolfs head and jewel motif upon his breast and even etched into the glass I was offered. I gladly took a sip of the sweet sparkling wine, the aroma of which reminded me again of home, where the woods and the air would be fragrant with spring blossom.
Jondris held my arm and escorted me across to where Solin and Serinae stood. They both looked my way and Serinae smiled.
Solin stepped forward and clasping both my hands in hers said, “welcome my child, you grace us with your beauty.”
I blushed at this comment for nothing like this had ever been said to me before by another of my kind. I found myself looking at my feet.
Solin clasped my chin gently between her thumb and forefinger and lifted my gaze to meet her eyes. “This is a happy occasion Minervar, I am delighted that so many fare guests are present once again under my roof, it has been a very long time since I had such a party.” She then leaned close to my ear and whispered, “and I intend to enjoy myself.” At this she winked at me and I could not help but smile at her mischievous grin. Truly Solin was one of my race.
As I was the last downstairs and the last to enter the room the fellowship was now complete. Responding to a slight nod from Solin, Jonas who had been standing in the corner of the room produced a gavel in one hand and a brass bell in the other. He hit the bell three times giving off a melodious chime causing all the company to look in his direction as he said, “my ladies and gentleman, exalted guests, pray please make your way to table.”
At this the general hubbub of noise in the room increased as chairs were slid across the wooden floor and people stood excitedly and made their way to the resplendent table set for our meal. As I approached my place a servant again in house livery stood forward and withdrew my chair from under the table, smiling and bidding me to sit. I gathered up the masses of material swishing around my legs and sat down as he pushed the chair back under the table with much grace. A similar act was happening to each guest around the table and I wondered at the number of staff that Solin had, or perhaps had drafted in for this evening. I was suddenly aware of just what a fantastic treat this whole evening was going to be after all the years of studentship and the recent events that had overtaken us.
The meal, the company and the entertainment was exquisite. Łĩnwéé was in his element. His jokes were as raucous as ever and I noticed on numerous occasions the attending staff smiling behind their hands at some of his comments. On one occasion he even winked at one of the maid servants who blushed brightly much to Łĩnwéé’s joy. At one time Łĩnwéé chatted in a more serious way to Tnie who appeared for the first time to respond with unguarded interest.
Serinae spent a good part of the time chatting to Jondris and that pleased me no end that they should have the chance to get to know one another better.
To my great surprise Solin spent a deal of time communicating with Teouso using various hand signals which he seemed to pick up with no problem. I found myself just enjoying the moment, all my friends both old and new seemed to be having a relaxed time, enjoying the company and the fare of the table. That was enough enjoyment for me.
I did get a chance to talk to Solin and I remarked on how beautiful her house was and so full of such marvellous and wondrous things. She thanked me and just said that when you have lived as long as she, and travelled as extensively, you could not help but gather mementos and other trinkets. I asked her about the elven furniture and ornaments, about the pictures in my room that seemed to move to face you wherever you stood. She looked a little
sad and thoughtful and just said that they were from a bygone time lost to history, sadly she remarked “from an age that is unlikely to be repeated.” She then brightened and said, “but no matter, the future is the key not the past, you cannot live in the past, only learn from it.”
I remarked on how you could not live in the future either. She looked deep into my eyes a slight smile on her face and said, “no Minervar my dear, no you cannot, but you can plan for it. The past cannot be changed, although if we ignore it we court many dangers, take heed for it can teach us much. The present, the now, we must be resigned to. But the future my dear, the future, this can be altered with the proper care and attention.” She smiled and winked her eye at me, “that is an encouraging thought, is it not?”
At this she gave me a broad grin and squeezed my hand before she turned and beckoned to Jonas who again stood and striking his little bell as he had before announced our lady host by saying, “my ladies and gentlemen, exalted guests. Please pray silence for your host this evening. I present the most gracious, Lady Solin’De’Teinde.”
At this Solin stood and we all clapped enthusiastically. She glanced around the table at each of us her gaze alighting on each of our faces in turn and smiling she said, “my dear friends, we have not known each other long, but I feel that we have all brought our own to this table tonight, it is with immense pleasure that I speak before you now.”
Another round of clapping,
“You all honour me with your presence. In ancient times of old our peoples, the elder races, would meet in friendship and mutual trust to share with each other all that we had to offer, which was much. My heart gladdens to see such a meeting again and I hope that such times will return to the world.”
Again, a round of enthusiastic clapping. Solin seemed to take strength from this, her shoulders and back straightened, her eyes seemed to shine out deep blue and years seemed to fall away from her.
I was reminded yet again of the figure in the picture upstairs in my room.
Solin took a deep breath and continued. “I have so enjoyed the opportunity to talk with each of you; I have been reminded, once more, of the rich tapestry of culture that exists within our world.” Here she retrieved her glass of wine from the table and held it in front of her. She once again looked at each person sitting there at that table in her house and said, “a toast. I drink to each race, to each culture, may we continue to flourish, continue to share, express our own individual virtues in peaceful conduct.”
At this we all took a sip of wine, all except Łĩnwéé who downed the contents of his in one mouthful and turning presented his empty glass to the maid servant behind him with a bottle in her hands. Solin laughed her infectious laugh and we all of us joined her, a crescendo of mirth for Łĩnwéé turned back only to see us all looking at him and laughing at the quizzical expression upon his face.
Solin spoke the amused grin wiped from her face. “But, I must say that it is not only for social purposes that I arranged this gathering here tonight, although I have enjoyed this part of the evening immensely. I admit I have another motive for getting us all together.” At this Solin gestured to some of the servants standing behind us around the table and said, “Please my friends replenish you glasses make yourselves comfortable and indulge me in the telling of a story that I wish you all to hear.”
At this I perceived her glance momentarily at Serinae as the servants passed among us pouring wine into our glasses. I was amused to see Łĩnwéé down the contents of his full glass and once again present his glass to the waitress who smiling again seemed happy to refill it yet again. Once we were all seated and looking expectantly towards our host she began.
“As I alluded to earlier, there is a reason that you are gathered here, and I wish to show you something that I hope will prove of great interest. What you are about to hear and see I discovered many years ago whilst traveling in the northern wastes.”
She paused, perhaps thinking on some memory from the past, then again looking up she continued. “In my younger days I travelled much. I sought many things; my appetite for discovery knew no bounds. I travelled the length and breadth of Dahl’Ambronis. But this was not enough. My thoughts increasingly turned to a place I had not yet travelled to. Lands where few had travelled in fact. The only people I had ever met that had travelled some of these lands were the Grûndén who told stories, some of which I’m sure where true, but others I suspect were widely exaggerated.”
Here she paused and smiled towards Łĩnwéé who raised his glass and cheered in response.
“So after many years of traversing this world, my thoughts turned to the one place where I had not yet been. So it was my friends that with the help and diplomatic guidance of the Grûndén. Especially through the efforts of one of their number in particular, I had still with great trial managed to make contact and achieve and audience with the Ognod clans of the north.”
At this we all collectively gasped and began to talk amongst ourselves, I for one wondered at how she had managed to be welcomed by the Ognods, I only knew them to be barbaric enemies, war mongers who would kill on a whim.
Solin put up her hand bidding us again to silence and when she was ready she continued. “You may think the Ognod clans to be wild and untamed and you would be right for the most part. Many of them do not suffer outsiders into their territories, even other Ognod. But there is one clan that will accept visitors, my Grûndén host was welcomed there, I got the impression that this relationship went back a long way, back to ancient times, even before the Ognods came south in force to invade the southern lands. But with an appointed escort I was able to travel far and wide in those lands. This was not without incident mind you, there were many dangers in doing so and I risked much to be there. But I was searching for antiquities as well as anything else I could learn from the Ognods.
One day in the high mountains of the Iron Hills, as is called the Smòlt Erûûn by the Grûndén, we came across a hanging valley. Something drove me there to that place, something unexplained. We climbed the precarious path to the valley entrance and crossing the threshold could finally look down upon the whole valley as it stretched back into the mountains. I could see there below us stood an ancient temple. My Ognod escort became somewhat agitated and no attempt at persuasion on my part could get them to go any further forward along the path. In fact they tried to persuade me away from walking on down into the valley. I in turn tried to beckon them to follow me but they would not, so I was forced to venture on alone. I walked down into the valley and as I got near to the temple I could perceive that the building was in deed very ancient and had fallen into ruin. I approached closer thinking to explore its interior and find out more about its purpose.
As I neared the place, I could see upon the great steps leading up to the massive doors of the structure, there sat an ancient Ognodess clad in ragged animal hide, she appeared to be quite alone. I could see she was very old, her hair long and thinning and as white as the snow around her, she glanced at me with dead eyes, for I could clearly see that she was blind, for each eye socket was empty and deeply scarred as if her eyes had been put out violently. But I felt her mind reach out to me and she beckoned me come forth. I did so cautiously. Once I stood before her she stood shakily and leaning heavily upon a thick oaken staff, she beckoned to me and led me into the interior of the temple. She was muttering some incantation continuously under her breath, over and over again she said the words, not once did she falter in her utterances, not even to take a breath it seemed. Even though I had a rudimentary understanding of the Ognod language, I could not understand what she said so put her utterances down to the ravings of a confused mind.
The inside of the temple was empty apart from a rickety wooden table, chair and a cot in one corner, a fire fuelled by some dried animal dung by the smell of it gave some warmth and a dim glow. I could see that a large amount of rubble and debris lay around on the floor, in places even snow had been blown in or fallen through some uns
een cracks or holes in the ceiling perhaps. It looked although the temple had been ransacked as nothing of any recognition could be seen within. All the pedestals were empty and alcoves set along the wall at regular intervals held nothing. The floor was littered with the remains of pots and various statues, all it seemed had been pulled down and smashed. The ancient Ognodess moved to a section of wall behind the altar or where the altar would have once been placed and waited for me to approach. As I neared her she suddenly grabbed my right hand with a speed that belied her age, I let out a scream and tried to struggle but I was held in an iron grip that was quite obviously not going to be relaxed. These additional exertions didn’t have the slightest effect on the tone or volume of the incantations; she continued to murmur under her breath. So I gave up struggling and the old Ognodess dragged me forward to the wall. She continued to rant her strange chant as before but now slightly louder and in more earnest. She ran her other hand shakily over the wall in front of her, each finger crawling like spidery legs across the surface of the wall as if trying to locate something, she was dislodging years of dust and debris, eventually revealing upon the wall an etched rune, a rune I recognised as one of fire. I was looking at this when the Ognodess again dragged me forward and lifting my arm placed the palm of my hand against the rune on the wall.”
At this Solin slowly lifted one of her hands palm outwards and we could all see a rune etched into the palm of her hand as if burnt there like a farmer would burn his mark into the hair on the hide of his animals.
She continued, “I felt a burning pain in my hand immediately it touched the wall,” Solin grasped the wrist of the hand into which the rune was etched as if remembering the pain, but continued, saying, “I wrenched my arm free of the Ognodess’s grasp, well I think she actually released me at that point and I fell to my knees for the pain in my hand was agony. But suddenly I could hear a deep rumbling noise through the pain and turning could see a section of floor close by dropping down and separating to form a staircase, dust and debris fell from the ceiling above and the floor vibrated like a minor earth quake. The Ognodess quiet now, her chanting forgotten, once more grasped my wrist and dragged me forward and beckoned me go down the stairs. I refused, but she slapped me around the face and pushing me to the first step threatened to cast me down. So I walked forward onto the topmost step. As I descended all sorts of horrors sprang to mind but fortunately none came to reality. I proceeded cautiously down the steps, my breath came painfully for the air within the chamber was as icy cold as death, every drop of moisture had frozen on the rock and on the steps on which I trod making them slippery, but I pressed onward.
My breath fell to the floor in minute ice crystals; it made a sound like the faint tinkling of many tiny bells. Eventually I reached the bottom and looking around in the gloom found set into the wall many alcoves in which lay the large skeletons of deceased Ognods, some still with skin stretched across or sometimes hanging from the blackened bones. I moved along looking in revulsion at the grizzly sight when I came across an alcove, in which stood something cylindrical in shape wrapped in a piece of goat skin. This underground chamber must have been sealed and air tight for millennia for no dust had settled down here and of course any damp had frozen solid so everything was preserved perfectly. I looked closer at the cylinder shape, the pain in my hand forgotten and the chill on my skin but a memory. For this was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for, the whole reason for my travelling here and I began to bless my good fortune. I approached the cylindrical item and noticed runes were also stitched into the leather of the skin, I winced as I reached for the item, but no pain revealed itself as I picked it up. I looked back up the stairs to the distant square hole through which I had entered where the old Ognodess still silent was smiling a toothless grin and excitedly beckoning me return. I proceeded to climb back up the staircase keeping a cautious eye on the old Ognodess. But as I approached her I felt a pang of sympathy towards her for I could see behind her toothless smile that her tongue had been cut out of her mouth or perhaps she had never possessed one. No wonder I could not understand her chanted words earlier.
I dreaded that climb back up the stairs, I feared the old Ognodess wanted me to fetch whatever it was I held and may kill me once she had it, but as I stood on the top step ready to run she turned away from me and walking across to the wooden cot she lay down and gave a great breathing sigh almost of relief it sounded to me. As I turned my attention to the object in my hand I slowly began to unravel the old skins that surrounded it, but my attention was caught by something dropping from the old Ognodess’s robes and landing upon the floor, after walking across to her, I bent to pick up whatever it was that had dropped. I noticed it was a picture in an old wooden frame, I looked more closely and could see quite clearly in the picture was depicted a city. This was not a city that I recognised, it was surrounded by greenery of thick lush trees and shrubs, the city did not appear large but in its centre stood a large four sided building, much bigger, but not unlike the temple within which I now stood. I thought for a moment that maybe it was a picture of the same temple, but no, it could not be, for it was definitely larger and depicted in a place where the climate was very different to where this temple stood. I began to muse that perhaps it was this temple but in an age past when the climate was perhaps much warmer than now.
I offered the picture to the Ognodess who didn’t move or acknowledge me so I put my hand upon her shoulder and as I touched her robes they fell away revealing just dusty bones some of which powdered at the movement of the robe and then the whole thing crashed to the floor and lay still. I jumped back in shock and put my hand over my mouth to stop my screaming.
After gathering myself, I put the picture hastily in my bag and wanting to get out of that place did not continue to unravel the cylindrical item I had recovered but instead placed it also in my pack and left the temple.
I turned and made to leave by the same way I had entered. My attention was taken by an illuminated carving above the doors which I had not noticed on entering. There was depicted a city, I could see the fields surrounding the place, the high stockade walls and the buildings within. There sitting high on top of the hill in the centre stood a large building. Above this city lay a massive picture of something unknown, it dwarfed the city beneath. I could see it had many suns or star’s perhaps depicted shining forth from above, casting light over everything below. Between the city and this large floating object was a circular disk inside of which abstract silvery shapes could be seen. At the bottom of the carving a number of other smaller pictures were painted. These depicted a golden tree, a double headed war axe and a strange square object I did not recognise. Another showed a pyramid like structure and then one I did recognise, there were of the two twins of which the Ognods speak, Grouund and Gruoond they are called and here they sat in the typical pose depicted in many places throughout the Ognod lands, they were seated facing each other their knees drawn up under their chins and their clawed fingers resting atop their knees. The last picture showed a strange representation. There was a six pointed star and in the centre of this star was a face, it looked upwards as if it gazed at the heavens, the hands either side framing this face with palms upwards. All of these separate little artworks were joined by a line stitched in golden thread; it looked like some kind of roadway, for figures of beings were depicted walking along these interconnecting roads.
Eventually I left the temple. As I walked through the doorway the sun on the snow blinded me and I put my hand over my eyes. Through my squinting eyelids I could perceive away distant a group of Ognod warriors were approaching from down the path I had come earlier. Initially I thought this may be my escort who finding the courage to follow me at last had wandered down into the valley. I waved to them and shouted, they looked in my direction and gave out a great war cry, and came towards me running. I then noticed that these Ognods were dressed differently from my escort, for one thing the clothing in which they were adorned was much thicker
than my escort wore suggesting that they were resident perhaps here in the snowy mountains for they also wore thick fur lined helmets upon their heads with heavy leather ear protectors.
To my dismay I realised my mistake and now frightened for my life I tried to hide back inside the temple but they had already closed the gap between us and again let out a great cry of anger and continued to run towards me. Each held their weapons, I was shocked for each blade was soaked in blood. They came bounding across the snow at a fast pace. I ran for my life and could hear the great pounding of their boots compressing the snow, following ever closer behind. I daren’t turn for I would not risk a fall in the snow so that they would catch up to me, instead I looked around for a means to escape, but could see none for I now stood at the narrow end of the hanging valley, sheer rock surrounded me on three sides except for the fourth direction towards the valley entrance where the Ognods approached, I was trapped. I was in great fear for my life, I turned in fear and closed my eyes I hoped for a swift death.
Suddenly a cry was stifled and I heard grunts and a scream of pain from behind me and turning to see what had happened I perceived that each of the Ognods lay still upon the ground. From each an arrow protruded from their bodies, blood spattered the snow around them. One had been hit at the base of the skull and the arrow was protruding through his open mouth, bizarrely his tongue was severed and hung limply from the arrow head. My heart fell thinking that I had now gone from one danger to another. However, a small hooded figure came into view holding a long bow in which waited another notched arrow. To my great relief I noticed that the bow was unmistakably of T’Iea design. But that did not mean the figure was friendly so I stood still holding my breath.
The figure proceeded to check that each of the Ognod corpses was in fact dead. The figure placed a booted foot on the back of each Ognod in turn and pulled the arrow clear of the body. But instead of replacing the arrow into a quiver the figure just discarded it upon the ground beside the dead Ognod from which it was removed. I wondered at this and stood transfixed having backed up to the wall of the valley where the cliffs rose vertically going up forever it seemed and I could go no further. I was anxiously wondering what was going to happen next, clearly the figure was no ally of the Ognods and my heart relaxed its frenzied beating in some relief.
But to my great relief the figure held up one hand palm towards me and said in a female voice speaking in perfect T’Iea, “do not fear my lady I mean thee no harm. She then pulled the hood back from her head and I let out a long breath as I perceived the beauty of one of my own kind looking at me. I think my knees collapsed from under me as I found myself kneeling in the snow. That my friends, is how I first met Serinae all those years ago.”
Serinae had by this time stood and made her way around behind Solin's chair and was standing behind her, a hand gently resting upon Solin’s shoulder.
Solin reached up and grasped Serinae’s fingers and she smiled as she asked, “how long ago Serinae?” There was a moment of silence before Serinae eventually answered, “Five hundred years of man almost to the day my lady.”
Solin sighed and turned to look into Serinae’s eyes and each of them smiled at the other a knowing smile of old friendship, deep respect and mutual affection. Solin turned back to the table.
She thought for a moment then continuing said, “It took us many months but we finally found ourselves arriving here in Amentura. I have had this house ever since. I have never found out what the connection is between the picture and the item I recovered from the Ognod temple. At this she beckoned to Jonas who left the room only to return some minutes later with a plain looking oak box set with a single lock, the box he placed upon the table in front of Solin. She reached out and muttered some words under her breath. I heard a faint metallic click and the lid of the box sprung open. After lifting the lid fully, she reached inside the box and withdrew two items, the first a cylindrical shape wrapped in cloth, the second a picture in an old wooden frame.
Gesturing to Jonas who then removed the box from in front of her, Solin placed both items upon the table in front of her. She slowly sat down and stared at the items. Then picking up the picture she motioned to Jondris who sat on her right to take the picture and when satisfied pass it to the next person so that each of us gathered around the table could inspect it.
When the picture came to me I could see that the wood of the frame was ancient, almost fossilised into rock, it had several splits and pieces missing and I wondered about the pictures history, who had painted it and where it had hung originally. The picture itself was indeed of a large central building covered in carvings and surrounded by smaller buildings. The whole was surrounded by thick vegetation. Trees and plants with bright flowers and many liana-like growths drooping between them. I passed the picture on to Łĩnwéé. He looked at it deeply and gave a cry,
Solin looked up, “do you recognise this place master Grûndén?”
“This city, it be that o’ the Old Ones, the Keepers. The place they call TeraT’Inu’Itil, if I nat be mistaken.”
Solin asked excitedly, “you have been there? You know where it is?”
“It nat be o’ this world but be built in another place. I have nat been there nay. But the Grûndén, that be me people know o’ it, fo’ some have been there to travel t’ certain mines t’ which only the Old Ones can grant access.”
“Mines not of this world?” It was Serinae who spoke.
“The Old Ones, they have mastery o’er travel into the planar voids. Places beyond the world o’ men ye un’erstan’. In ancient times t’ Old Ones asked the Grûndén t’ mine certain minerals from within the voids, an’ o’ course t’ get us there they ‘ad t’ provide the correct paths.”
Solin smiled broadly, “indeed master Grûndén, then it has been of great value bringing you here, for you have explained much. Perhaps then you may also shed some light on this.”
Solin I could see was in the process of unwrapping the cloth from around the cylindrical object. Once this had been removed there revealed in front of us I supposed was the cylinder she had described in her tale, wrapped in ancient goat skin into which was etched many runes just as she had described in her story.
All eyes grew intent as Solin grasped the object and started to unwrap it from its skin covering. Layers of old skins dropped from the object each laid out flat with some reverence by Solin. Eventually revealed before us was a crystal cylinder capped at either end with a flat metal disk into which was ornately worked many depictions of the heavens, stars, moon and sun. The crystal itself between the two end caps seemed featureless on the outside, being smooth and translucent, but within some kind of swirling oily mass or mist could be seen as if the intention was to obscure whatever lay within the cylinder. Solin stood the cylinder upright in the centre of the table. We waited but nothing happened.
Then Solin explained, “I didn’t find the time to inspect this object until I arrived in this city, for the road we trod was long and arduous and I won’t bore you with the details, but once settled in this house, my thoughts eventually returned to this object. It seemed to me that the old Ognodess wanted me to have it, for what reason I could not even begin to understand. I had no clue as to what it was, I had seen nothing like it before and I spent many hours researching it and experimenting with it. “But I have not been successful,” she said with a hint of disappointment. “So far I have not been able to unlock the cylinder’s secrets, indeed if it even has any. Even the material from which it is made will not be cut or marked by any means that I have at my disposal. The runes upon it are none that I recognise and for all my knowledge and understanding, I still to this day have gained no knowledge of them. The only other place I have seen similar is within that old Ognod temple where I gained these artefacts.”
We all continued to stare at the cylinder as if willing it to do something or to reveal to us exactly what it was, or what purpose it served. I was aware of a movement at the table opposite where I s
at and looking up saw Teouso stand slowly and approach nearer to where the cylinder stood upon the table, he glanced at each of the skins covered in runes and tapping himself upon the chest and then looking at Serinae pointed at his forehead, I was lost to what he was trying to say but Serinae was looking at him intently. After a few more gestures where he held his hand on his chest and with his other hand waved it over the skins and then placed this same hand on his forehead.
Serinae said, “I believe Teouso is trying to say that he has an understanding of the runes depicted on the skins.”
At this Teouso started nodding his head vigorously and made a strange clicking noise in his throat.
Solin stood and gestured towards the rune covered skins and looking at Teouso she said, “be my guest easterner, if you know these characters or what they represent then please feel free to do as you will.”
So gathering up the skins Teouso moved across to a window where the last of the evenings light was shining through. As the waning light from the sun shone through the glass, we could see it illuminated the runes on the old parchments as if bringing them back to life, as if the sunlight had recharged them somehow for they seemed to glow, or even to burn with a golden light.
Eventually after exposing each of the skins to the sunlight Teouso took them up again and returning from the window began arranging them upon the table, laying one parchment over another, interlinking runes as he went, the runes all shone now with an intensity that could be seen through each of the parchments even the very bottom most one could be clearly seen through all the layers as if the parchments were transparent. We watched intently.
After a while it became obvious what Teouso was doing, he didn’t recognise the runes at all, but what he did recognise was that each mark upon each of the skins was in fact part of a rune and now that the patterns shone brightly he was overlaying skins one upon the other aligning them exactly in such a manner that each mark, or marks, made up a complete rune. It dawned on me this was a puzzle. We were all transfixed by what he was doing and after several attempts and reattempts he stood back, seemingly satisfied with his work. He then took up the cylinder and carefully placed it onto the piled parchments where a circle shape was now clearly etched, the diameter of which matched exactly the diameter of the cylinder. Almost immediately the room was filled with a bright light which slowly dimmed revealing a tall slender figure standing in the middle of the parchments, a ray of projecting light shone out from the cylinder to where the figure stood. This figure was dressed in white and he or she glowed with a bright white light, but I found I could suffer looking upon the figure standing there once my eyes had adjusted.
We looked from the figure to Teouso in astonishment and Solin clapped her hands together in joy saying, as she giggled, “well my eastern friend you have accomplished something that I never managed to do in all my long years.”